pleasure is to be done Ric. Turnar CHIEFE PRIEST ¶ Looke Supremacie CHILDREN How children are not forbidden to come to Christ. SUffer ye children to come vnto mée c. ¶ Unto such as children be doth the kingdome of God perteine therefore ought children to be brought vnto Christ not onelie by Baptime which is the seale of the kingdome of heauen but also by godlie education and bringing vp Sir I. Cheeke They brought vnto him also Babes ¶ The children were tender and young in that they were brought which appeareth more euidentilie in that that they were infants which is to be marked against them that are enimies to the baptising of child 〈…〉 Beza And shall be filled with the holie Ghost ¶ Sith that children mâ—ie be filled with the holie Ghost euen in their mothers wombeâ— who can forbid them to be baptised For Saint Peter saith who can forbid those folkes to be baptised with water sith that they haue receiued the holy Ghost as well as we Act. â—o1 47. Againe Paule faith He that hath not the spirite of Christ is not his But the children are Christs they then haue the spirit of Christ so ought to be baptised Sir I. Check ¶ Looke Baptising of children How children ought to be brought vp Saint Paules doctrine is that children be brought vp in godlinesse and good ciuilitie which both be comprehended in his words when he saith Yée parents bring vp your children in nurture and awe of the Lord. The same is taught and confirmed in Tobie where he saith All the daies of thy life beare God in thy minde beware thou consent not vnto sinne First he willeth him to studie godlinesse next to beware of sinne that he be not entised therevnto Hemming Of children adopted ¶ Looke Adoption Of the children of this world Children of this world are wiser in their generation then the children of light ¶ This is a most gréeuous complaint that worldlie men are more carefull in getting temporall goods which perteine onelie to this present life and continue but a verie short time then Christians are carefull for the getting of heauenlie goods which shall endure for euer Hemming Men that are giuen to this present life contrarie to whome the children of light are set S. Paule calleth those spirituall and the other carnall Beza How the children of God are holpen of the Infidels And all that were about them strengthenâ—d their handes with vessels of siluer and golde c. ¶ The Babilonians Chaldeans gaue them these gifts Thus rather then the children of God should want for their necessities he would stirre vp the verie hearts of Infidels to helpe them Geneua What is vnderstood by children in this place If a man die hauing no children c. ¶ Under which name are daughters also comprehended but yet as touching the familie and name of a man because he that left daughters was in no better case then if he had left no children at all for they were not reckoned in the familie By the name of children are sonnes vnderstood Beza CHILIASSIS Of the fond opinion of this man THe Chiliassis whoÌ„ in latin we maie call Mellenarij thought that this inheritaunce of the whole world shal be declared before the ende of this worlde when Christ as they thought should reigne a thousand years in this world with his Saints hauing destroied and ouercome all the wicked And these men it should seeme followed the Oracle which is said to come from Elias yâ— the world should endure 6000. yeares these yeares they thus describe saieng that 2000. yeares passed away before the lawe 2000. vnder the lawe and so manie shall be vnder yâ— Gospell Afterward they adde a thousand years in which say they shall be the chiefe rest so that the thousand last years they call the sabaoth And so they appoint a wéeke in which euerie particular daie is called for a thousand yeares according to that which is said A thousand yeares is with the Lord as one day and againe One daie as a thousand yeares Augustine maketh mention of this opinion in his 20. booke and 7â— chapter De ciuitate Dei and saith that it was after ◠〈…〉 tollerable and that he himselfe once was of the same opinion But that which they added concerning pleasures delighte worldlie honours which they said all the faithfull shoulde for the space of those thousand yeares eniâ—ie togethers with Christ he earâ—estly veproueth c. Eusâ—bius Cesariensis in the third booke of his history saith that this opinion had his beginning of Cheriâ—hus the heretik of whom Dâ—omsius Bishop of Alexandria expâ—unding the Apocalips of Iohn thus writeth That hée was altogether giuen to lustes and vnto the bellie and therefore attributed these carnall delights vnto the kingdome of Christ which shuld continue a thousand yeares Pet. Maâ— vpon the Rom. fol. 88. CHORE How this Psalme made by the children of Chore is vnderstood A Mysticall Psalme made by the children of Chore. ¶ We reade in the 16. Chapter of the booke of Numeri that a certeine man named Chore which was the great Nephew of the Patriarke Leui or els to whom Leui was Perannus his great graund-father with other Captaines mo rebelled against Moses and Aaron whose fact displeased almightie God so sore that he caused the earth to open and to swallowe vp Chore with all his companie their wiues children and all their substaunce Now séeing that all his substance wife and children went the same waie that he did how can it be true that the children of Chore should be makers and setters foorth of this 42. Psal. of Dauid as the title thereof maketh mention To this question aunswere is made in the 26. of Nu. where it is written yâ— when Chore was swallowed vp of the earth God miraculouslie preserued certeine of Chores children of whose ofspring there came afterward certeine that proued verie excellent learned men and notable wise men namelie these foure Ethan Heman Calcal and Darda as who should saie these men excelled all other Loe such noble men came of the spring of Chore of whome the title of this Psalme and diuerse other Psalmes to their perpetuall name and renowme doth make mention calling them the children of Chore because they sprang of yâ— séede of Chore and of his children whom God did miraculously preserue from the swallowing of the earth and not because they were his naturall children For it is well knowne that Chore liued in Moses time against whoÌ„ he was yâ— chiefe in stirring vp of rebellion against him Againe Ethan Heman Calcal Darda which were the naturall sonnes of Mahol liued and flourished in Salomons time which was 400. and almost or altogether fourescore yeares after that Chore was killed So that these men could not be the naturall sonnes of Chore but they are called his children and his sonnes because they came of his porgenie and of his ofspring CHOSEN Wherefore
and the crueltie of the Iewes toward Christ. Like dogges are they at all times which Iewishlie and heinouslie persecute the members of Christ that is the faithfull T. M. A quicke dogge is better then a dead Lion ¶ This Prouerbe is the saieng of the Epicures the which beléeueth not the immortalitie of the soule The Bible note ¶ He noteth the Epicure and carnall man which made their bellie their God had no pleasure but in this life wishing rather to be an abiect and vile person in this life then a man of authoritie and so to die which is meant by the Dogge and Lion Geneua Beware of Dogges c. ¶ Beware of Dogges which barke against the truth to fill their bellies Geneua DOMES DAIE ¶ Looke Daie DOORE An exposition of these places following I Haue set a doore open before thée ¶ Paule glorieth that a doore was open vnto him 2. Cor. 2. 12. that is to saie that occasion was giuen him by God wherby to enter into the hearts of the heathen by the word of the Gospell In this wise must this present place be taken namely yâ— Christ had opened a way whereby the Church of Philodelphia might allure other churches to the faith of Christ by her owne example howe much so euer their aduersaries brabled against them whether they were Iewes or Gentiles or false Apostles And therefore by saieng and no man can shutte it his meaning is this namely no man shall be able to â—et you but that you shall preferre my Gospell to manie So at this daie there is a great doore set open vnto Gods seruaunts while the Antichrists and persecutors burst a sunder that is to saie the waie is opened for them to enlarge the bounds of Christes kingdome by preaching his worde and to beate downe the grose errours of vngodlinesse by the brightnesse of the Gospell Because that when God determineth to enlarge the borders at Christs Kingdome there is no power so high that is able to let it Marl. vpon the Apoc. fol. 61. For so much therefore as I finde thée thus grounded in faith bée thou certeine and sure of it I haue sette before thee an open doore I haue illumined thy sences and cléered thy vnderstanding to knowe the holie Scriptures and perceiue the high mysteries written therein so admitting thee 〈…〉 my Kingdome And this doore canne no man 〈…〉 againe Neither shall the power of this worlde nor 〈…〉 the gates of â—ell be able to preuaile against this opening Bale And when the doores were shut ¶ In this place the Euangelist doth diligentlie note the time that Christ our Sauiour came in to his disciples not meaning that he went in through the doores for the Gréeke hath not Diasâ—roon Kekleismenoon that is to saie through the doores beeing shutte but Toonsnroon Kekleismenoon that is to saie The Gates or Doores béeing as a man might saie late in the euening and at that time that the Gates and Doores be wont to be shut Or els could not Christ our sauiour through his diuine power cause the doores were they neuer so surelie shut to open vnto him of their own accord as when he deliuered Peter out of prison by his Angel then not onelie the chemes that he was bound withall fâ—ll off from him but also all the doores locks did open of their owne selues and did giue him passage Act. 12. 7. Againe how the Apostles were deliueredâ— Reade Act. 5. 19. Sir â— Cheeke ¶ Whereas some thinke that doores were opened for him that he might enter in according to the manner of men it disagréeth much with the minde of the Euangelist Therefore we must not thinke that Christ entered in without myracle to the ende he might declare his diuine power to make his Disciples the more attentiue Neuerthelesse that is most false which the Papists doe affirme as that Christs bodie pearcâ—d the doores which were shut This they therefore affirme that they might make his glorified bodie not onely like vnto a spirit but also so incomprehensible that no place can coâ—rein the same But the wordes of the Euangelist sound no such thing because he saide not that he entered through the doores that were shut but that he stoode sodeinlie in the middest of his disciples when the doores were shut we know that Peter came foorth of the fast barred prison shall we therefore saie that hée pearsed through the midst of the yron Gates This were too absurde and childish Let vs content our selues with this that Christ purposed by a notable miracle to confirme the Apostles in the fayth of his resurrection Marl. vpon Iohn fol. 594. ¶ So that no man opened him the doores but hée by his diuinepower caused them to open of their owne accord As of Peter is read Act. 5. 19. and 12. 10. Geneua DORCAS Looke Tubitha DOSITHEANS What manner of men they were THe Dositheans were such as in diuers Ceremonies seuered themselues from the Iewes some of them would marrie yet liue and continue Uirgins They fasted from all liuing creatures They began of Dositheus Who showing his followers an example of fasting famished himselfe to death thereby proued himselfe a foole â—pipha li. 1. tom 1. haeres 1â— DOVBTING Of the doubting of Abraham other holie persons WHether Abraham anie thing doubted when God promised to him a childe the Scripture séemeth to leaue in suspence For in the 12. of Genesis it is written that he laughed said Shall a childe be borne vnto me of an hundred yeares of age And shall Sara bring forth a childe being 90 yeares of age I would to God Ismael might liue in thy sight These words haue a showe both of ioie and admiration being ioined notwithstanding with some doubting And this Scripture therfore maketh mentioÌ„ of these things yâ— the faith of Abraham which is so highlie coÌ„mended shuld in no wise be thought to haue bene without doubting which are accustomed to spring of the flesh humane sence but because the faith of the Patriarke ouercame those doubtings therefore it is praised Neither do we read there that Abraham was accused of incredulitie as Sara was which also laughed And if a man weigh the outwaâ—d laughter they were both alike But God which is the searcher of the hearts vnderstood right well the faith of either of them Holie men although they beleeued the promises of God yet sometime through humane weaknesse they somewhat doubted and therefore it came to passe oftentimes that they required signes and miracles to confirme their weaknesse which thing we read in Gedeon and Ezechias the King But in this place is shewed a remedie against such temptations namelie to call backe our thoughtes from humane lets and to fixe our eies onelie vpon the power of God Of this thing the Angell admonished the blessed Uirgin saieng No word is impossible with God although it appeared not by the words of the Uirgin that she doubted but onelie asked how that should come to passe
Churches in this sorte Although a man had lyen with our Ladye Christs mother and had begotte her with childe yet were he able by the Popes pardons to pardon the fact How he wrote to Pope Leo. In the yeare of our Lorde 1518. the tenth yeare of King Henry the eight Luther wrote first to Leo Biopsh of Rome concerning the vse of pardons and in certeine priuate disputations called in doubt diuerse things concerning the Bishops supremacie for which after he was troubled lastly proclaimed an heretike vnder the defence and maintenaunce of Frederike◠Duke of Saxonie he preached writ against his power All Germanie soone after forsooke the Bishop of Rome and so was the whole state of Religion by his meanes altered among them Sleadane How he was troubled with the lusts of the flesh When I was a Monke I thought by and by that I was vtterly cast away if at any time I felt the lust of the flesh that is to saye if I felt any euill motion fleshly lust wrath hatred or enuie against my brother I assaide manie wayes to helpe to quiet my conscience but it wold not be for the concupiscence and lust of my flesh did alwaies returne so that I coulde not rest but was continually vexed with these thoughts This or that sinne thou hast committed Thou art infected with enuy with impaciencie and such other sinnes therefore thou art entered in this holy order in vaine and all thy good works are vnprofitable If then I had rightly vnderstood the sentences of Saint Paule The flesh lusteth contrary to the spirite and the spirit contrary to the flesh and these two are one against another so that ye cannot doe the things that ye would do I shuld not haue so miserablye tormented my selfe but shoulde haue thought and sayde vnto my selfe as now commonlye I doe Martin thou shalt not vtterlye be without sinne for thou hast flesh thou shalt therefore féele the battell thereof according to that saieng of S. Paule The flesh resisteth the spirit Dispaire not therefore but resist it strongly and fulfill not the lusts therof thus doing thou art not vnder the lawe c. Luther vpon the Gal. fol. 251. Let all troubled consciences comfort themselues by this example of Martin Luther and say as he sayde The question that Luther put foorth a little before his death Luther a little before his death moued this question to his friends as they sate at supper Whether we should know one an other in the lyfe to come or no and when they were al desirous to learne of him What saith he chaunced to Adam He had neuer seene Eue but what time god shaped her he was cast into a meruailous dead and sound sléepe But awaking out of the same when he sawe her he asked not whence shée is nor whence shée came but sayth Shée is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones But howe knewe he that Uerily béeing full of the holy Ghost and replenished with true knowledge of God he spake thus In lyke manner shall we also in another life bée renued with Christ and shall knowe more perfectlye our parents wiues children and whatsoeuer is besides then Adam that time knew Eue. Sleadane Luthers praier before his death O God my heauenly Father the father of our Lord Iesus Christ and of all consolation I giue thée thanks that thou hast reuealed vnto me thy sonne Iesus Christ whome I haue beléeued whome I haue professed whome I haue loued whom I haue set foorth and honoured whome the Bishoppe of Rome and all that wicked rabell doe persecute and dishonour I beséech thée my Lorde Iesus Christ receiue my soule my heauenly Father although I be taken out of this lyfe albeit I must leaue this bodye yet knowe I assuredly that I shall remaine with thée for euer and that no man can take me out of thy hand Slea What sects is sayd to rise out of him Looke Sect. Macedonius Of his crueltie and tumult he caused in the Church MAcedonius a Priest of Constantinople taught that the holy Ghost was a creature and no God Betwéene this man and one Paulus was great strife whether of them should succéede Alexander in the Bishoprick of Constantinople So that Hermogenes maister of the chiualrie was slaine of the people when he came with the Emperours authoritie to stablish Macedonius whom the Arrians fauoured And being Bishoppe of Constantinople he practised extreame crueltie in the Church constraining the Christians to receiue the Communion with the Arrians in such wise that if women or children refused to doe the same he did either cut off their paps or by such other cruell torments force them therevnto He caused much tumult and businesse in the Church till at last a Sinode was assembled at Constantinople of 180. Bishops against him Cooper ¶ Macedonius at the first being an Arrian deposed by Acacius sect could not quiet himselfe but fell from the Arrians into an other heresie He denied the Godhead of the holye Ghost terming him the seruant and drudge of the Father and of the sonne This opinion they say Marathonius Bishop of Nicomedia taught before him These heretiks be called Pneumatomachoi Socrat. li. 2. chap. 25. Epiph. haeraes 73. MAGI What the Magies were BEholde there came wise men from the East to Hierusalem ¶ Wise men or Magi in the Persians tongue signifieth Philosophers Priestes or Astronomers and are héere the first fruites of the Gentiles that came to worshippe Christ. Geneua ¶ The wise men called Magi that came fom the East were neither kings nor Princes but as Strabo sayth which was in their time sage men among the Persians as Moses was among the Hebrewes He saith also that they were the Priests of the Persians Tindale MAGISTRATE What a Magistrate is THE worde Magistrate is deriued from Maister and signifieth the authoritie office of them which do eyther by right of inheritance gouerne subiects peoples or cities either haue y◠rule appointed thē by free electiō choise some do deriue the word Maister from the Latin Aduerbe Magis which is to say More for that master can do no more them others and excelling them in dignitie and authoritie Some doe drawe the worde Maister from the Gréeke word Menisos which signifieth greatest But whether that Maister come of the Aduerbe Magis either of the Greeke word Mènisos euerie way Magistrates do represent y◠authoritie office of Maisters And we be also therby enformed that it were méete for them which doe rule others to aduance and passe them whome they do rule in the prerogatiue of wisdome and authoritie Musc. fol. 546. How Magistrates are the Ministers of Gods iustice As the true Church doth acknowledge the ministers of the Gospell as the true ministers of God ordeined by him for the administration of spirituall things euen so doe shee knowledge the Magistrates as ministers of his iustice ordeined of him for the confirmation of the publike peace and
that Paule was the seruant of Iesus Christ onelie and so not the seruant of God the Father nor of the Holie Ghost Or these wordes that Paule spake vnto the Kéeper Beléeue in the Lord Iesu doe discharge him from beleeuing in the other two persons of the holie Trinitie Of the Baptime of Infants Note héere that the Fathers made a league with God not onelie for themselues but also for their posteritie as God againe for his part promised them that he would be the God not onelie of them but also of their séede and post eritie wherefore it was lawfull for them to circumcise their children béeing yet Infants And in like manner it is lawfull for vs to baptise our little ones being yet Infants forasmuch also as they are comprehended in the league For they which haue now the thing it selfe there is nothing that can let but that they maie receiue the signe It is manifestlie written in the. 29. Chapter of Deu. That the league was made not onelie with them which was present but also with them which was absent and not yet borne Pet. Mar. vpon Iudic. fol. 75. Concerning young children because their faith is vnknowen to vs it is requisite that they be partakers of yâ— fruites of the sacraments and it is not verie likelie that they haue faith because they haue not the vse of vnderstanding except God doe worke in them extraordinarilie the which appeareth not to vsâ— neuerthelesse we cease not to communicate to them Baptime First forasmuch as there is now the same cause in Baptime which was sometime in Circumcision which is called by Saint Paule the seale of righteousnesse which is by faith and also by expresse commaundement of God the male children were marked the eight daie Secondlie there is a speciall regard to be had to the Infants of the faithfull For although they haue not faith in effect such as those haue that be of age yet so it is that they haue the séede and the spring in vertue of the promise which was receiued and apprehended by the Elders For God promiseth not vs onelie to be our God if we beleeue in him but also that he will be the God of our ofspring and séed yea vnto a thousand degrees that is to the last end Therfore said Saint Paule that the children of the faithful be sanctified from their mothers wombe By what right or title then doe they refuse to giue them the marke ratification of that thing which they haue possesse alreadie And if they alleadge yet further that although they come of faithful Elders or parents it followeth not yâ— they be of the number of the elect by consequent they be sanctified For God hath not chosen all the children of Abraham and Isaac The aunswere is easie to be made that it is true all those be not of the kingdome of God which be borne of faithfull parents but of good right we leaue this secret to GOD for to iudge which onelie knoweth it yet notwithstanding wée presume â—â—stlie to be the children of God all those which be issued descended from faithfull parents according to the promise Forasmuch as it appeareth not to vs the contrarie According to the same we baptise the young children of the faithful as they haue vsed and done from the Apostles time in the Church of God we doubt not but God by this marke ioined with the praiers of the church which is their assistaunt doth seale the adoption election in those which he hath predestmate eternallie whether they die before they come to age of discretion or whether they liue to bring foorth the fruites of their faith in due time and according to the meanes which God hath ordeined Beza The place alleadged of the Anâ—baptists is in the Actes where the Eunuche was not permitted to be baptised before confession made of his faith ¶ The aunswere is made thus that that was done to the Eunuche must not be drawen to the Infants of Christians rashlie to kéepe them from Baptime which onelie is to be obserued in straâ—ngers to religion those that are of full age For we affirme that such as are strangers from the Church of Christ as sometimes were the Iewes and Gentiles and as are at this daie the Iewes and Turkes and other such like ought not to be baptised vntill they haue made profession of their faith But the reason of Infants borne of Christians is of a farre other sort and case for they are accounted among the children and household of the Church by reason of the lawe of Couenaunt They be holie and Christ commaundeth them to be brought vnto him It is manifest they please God because their Angels alwaies sée the face of the father And although our capacitie cannot conceiue their state and condition yet Christ testifieth they haue faith and that they haue the Holie Ghost the examples of Iohn Baptist and others teach vs. Gualter fol. 385. How baptime is no baptime but to the childe Christ bidde the Church to baptise in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holie Ghost If a Priest saie these words ouer the water and there be no child to be baptised these words onelie pronounced doe not make Baptime And againe Baptime is onelie Baptime to such as be baptised and not to anie other standing by As Baptime is no Baptime but to the childe that is baptised and not to the standers by so the Sacrament of the bodie is no Sacrament but to them that worthelie receiue Whereas Saint Austen saith that Infants are baptised In Fide Susceptorum in the faith of their Godfathers yet in so saieng hée meaneth of the faith of Christ which the Godfathers doe or ought to beléeue and none otherwise Iohn Philpot in the booke of Martirs Significations of baptime As the people of God in the time of Iosua were conueied through the water of Iordane into the Land of promise following the Arke of God which the Priest bare before them euen so are all we that beléeue in Christ conueied out of the Kingdome of Satan into the Kingdome of God by Baptime following our Arke Christ which is gone before vs. The passing of Helias through the water of Iordane and so lifte vp into Heauen doth signifie in a shadow to vs that our passage into Heauen should be made by Baptime The cleansing of Naaman the Sirian in the Water of Iordane from the filthie Leprosie at the commaundement of Helias doth prefigure vnto vs the spirituall cleansing from sinnes to be made by Baptime through the inwarde working of the holie Spirit That Baptime should be a figure of Christs death buriall and resurrection is proued by that he termed his passion by the name of Baptime when he aunswered the children of Zebedy on this wise Can ye be baptised with the Baptime that I am baptised withall Hemmyng Considerations of baptime We must be fullie resolued that
times alwaies his praise shall be in my mouth Chrisostome saith when God is blessed and thanks be giuen of men vnto him then more plentious blessing is wont to be giuen of him for their sakes by whom he is blessed For he that blesseth maketh him debter of a greater blessing Calfehill fol. 116. By blessing vnderstand not the wagging of the popes or Bishops hand ouer thy head but praier as when we saie GOD make thée a good man Christ put his spirit in thée or giue thée grace and power to walke in the truth to followe his commaundemēts as Rebeccaes friends blessed hir when she departed saieng Thou art our sister growe into thousand thousands thy séed possesse the gates of their enimies And as Isaac blessed Iacob saieng God giue thée of the dew of heauen and of the fatnesse of the earth abundance of corne wine and oile And Gen. 28. 3. Almightie God blesse thée and make thée grow and multiplie thée that thou maist be a great multitude of people giue to thée and to thy séede after thee the blessing of Abraham that thou maist possesse the land wherein thou art a straunger which he promised to thy grandfather such like Tindale fol. 145. What Gods blessings are Gods blessings are his giftes as in the first Chapter of Genesis he blessed them saieng Grow and multiplie haue dominion And in the. 9. Chapter he blessed Noe his sonnes and gaue dominion ouer all beasts authoritie to eate them And God blessed Abraham with cattel and other riches And Iacob desired Esau to receiue the blessing which he brought him that is the present and gift God blessed the. 7. daie That is gaue it a preheminence that men should rest therein from bodilie labour and learne to know the wil of God and his lawes how to worke their works godlie all the wéeke after God also blessed all nations in Abrahams séed that is he turned his loue and fauour vnto them giueth them his spirit and knowledge of the true waie and lust and power to walke therein and all for Christs sake Abrahams sonne Tindale fol. 5. Who is blessed and sanctified of God He is blessed which kéepeth himselfe that which he is by new birth that is to wit which continueth in walking in newnes of life according to the which Christ saith Blessed are they which heare the word of God and kéepe it Luke 11. 28. Also Blessed is he to whom the Lord imputeth no sin in whose heart there is no guile Psal. 32. 1. 2. Rom. 4. 8. Marl. vpon the Apoc. fol. 276. ¶ Blessed is that man of the Lord yea holie iust and perfect maie he be reported also of all men which hath portion conuenient in y◠first resurrection with Dauid Magdalene Zacheus Peter Happy are they which hearing the word of God retaineth it in their liuing for they being renued with the glad tidings of life are depured by the spirit of Christ sanctified so made the habitacles of the holie Ghost Bale vpon the Apoc. fol. 59. Some peraduenture will aske who be they that be blessed and sanctified of God truelie all they whome Christ hath sanctified in his bloud and washed their sinnes in his bloud that hath faith and doth beléeue their sinnes onelie to bée taken awaie by Christ and his bloudshed for their remission of sinnes which will beléeue surelie till they die These be they which be truelie hallowed and sanctified in God the father and these bée holie and blessed whether men do blesse them or curse them Other there be that be sanctified as of men and of the Pope of the Cardinalls of Bishops or Abbots but these be not holie nor blessed except that Christ hath sanctified them in his bloud and hath remission of their sinnes by Iesus Christ which thing they beléeue surelie or els they be not sanctified of God nor blessed be they neuer so oftentimes blessed of the popes holy hand and all his thrée crosses with all the miters of his Cardinalls and Bishops Bibliander in the exposition of Iude. Of the sacramentall blessing Iesus tooke bread blessed c. ¶ To blesse is not to make a crosse but rather to giue thanks as he himselfe doth expresse by by when he speaketh of the cup. Againe where Marke vseth this word blessed Mathew Luke and Paule doe saie he gaue thanks both in Gréeke and in the Latine Sir I. Cheeke And when he had blessed ¶ Marke saith had giuen thanks and therefore blessing is not a consecrating with a coniuring of murmuring force of words and yet the bread the wine are chaunged not in nature but in qualitie for they become vndoubted tokens of the bodie and bloud of Christ not of their owne nature and force of words but by Christ his institution which must be recited and laied foorth that faith maie finde what to laie holde on both in the word and the element Beza The cup of blessing which we blesse c. ¶ When I spake saith Chrisostome of blessing I spake of thanksgiuing and speaking of thanksgiuing I open all the treasure of the goodnesse of God and rehearse those great giftes of his For with the cup we adde the vnspeakable benefites of God and whatsoeuer we haue obteined So we come vnto him we communicate with him thanking him that he hath deliuered mankinde from errour that when we had no hope and were wicked persons he admitted vs brothers and companions to himselfe with those and such other rendrings of thankes we come vnto him Héere ye sée what Chrisostome tooke blessing to be Calfehil fol. 106. What it is to blesse the Lords name Blessed be the name of the Lord. ¶ We maie not onelie picke out the words but also consider of what minde they procéede and that they be spoken trulie and vnfainedlie for how is it possible that we should blesse the name of God if we doe not first acknowledge him to be righteous But he that grudgeth against God as though he were cruell and vnkinde cursseth God because that as much as in him lieth he lifteth himselfe vp against him He that acknowledgeth not God to be his father and himselfe to be Gods childe ne yéeldeth record of his goodnesse blesseth not God And why so For they which taste not of the mercie and grace that God sheweth vnto men when he afflicteth them must néedes grinde their téeth at him and cast vp and vomit out some poyson against him Therefore to blesse the Lords name importeth as much as to perswade our selues that he is iust and righteous of his owne nature and not onelie that but also that he is good and merciful Lo◠héere how we maie blesse Gods name after the example of Iob that is by acknowledging his Iustice and vprightnesse and moreouer also his grace and fatherlie goodnesse towards vs c. Caluine vpon Iob. fol. 32. ¶ Héereby he confesseth that
God is iust and good although his hand be fore vpon him Geneua He that shall blesse in the earth shall blesse himselfe in the true God and he that sweareth in the earth shall sweare by the true God By blessing and by swearing is ment the praising of God for his benefites the true worshipping of him which shall not be onelie in Iudea but through all the world Geneua How this place of the Psalme is expounded And he shall receiue a blessing of the Lord. ¶ When he speaketh of blessing he doth vs to wit that not all they which in title onely vaunt themselues for worshippers of God shal be pertakers of the promised blessednesse but they that are aunswerable to their calling from the heart Howbeit it is a very effectuall encouragement to godlinesse to and good life when the faithfull heare that they misspend not their labour in following righteousnesse because there is an assured blessing laied vp for them with God Caluine BLINDE Who be blinde ANd blinde ¶ That is to saie one whom Christ enlighteth not which knoweth not God nor Iesus Christ whome hée hath sent Concerninn blindnesse sée Iohn 9. 41. Also he is called blinde which séeth not how miserable and néedie himselfe is Marl. vpon the Apoc. fol. 68. Why God is said to blinde men The cause why God is said to blinde men is for that when he hath bereft them of right vnderstanding of minde and of the light of his holie spirit he giueth them vp to the Diuell to be caried awaie into a wilfull wicked minde Rom. 1. 28. and sendeth them strong illusions 2. Thes. 2. 11. And so executeth iust vengeaunce vpon them by the minister of his wrath Marl. vpon the Apoc. fol. 92. ¶ God is said to blinde mens eies so oft as he doth reuoke or take awaie the contemned light of his truth and sinceritie leauing them that delight in darknes stil for then the Lord permitteth his worde to be preached to the vnthankfull and vngodlie receiuers vnto their iudgement or condemnation For so verelie doth the Euangelicall and Apostolique doctrine teach vs to thinke This saith the Lord is condemnation or this is iudgement that the sonne of God the verie true light came into the world and the world loued darknesse more then light And Paule said If yet the Gospell be hid it is hid in them that perish in whom the God of this world hath blinded the senses of their vnderstanding c. Pullinger in his Decades fol. 492. The meaning of this place following Except thou take awaie the blinde and the lame thou shalt not come in hether ¶ The Iebusites spake this in derision béeing perswaded that the◠strong holde was of such force y◠Dauid could not ouercome it although it were defended onelie by lame and blinde men Some write that they spake this of a confidence they had in their Idolls which the children of God estéemed as blinde and lame The Bible note ¶ The Children of God called Idolls blinde lame guides Therefore the Iebusites meant that they should proue y◠their Gods were neither blinde nor lame Geneua BLOVD What is meant by bloud And bloud went out of the wine fat vnto the Horse bridles ¶ By the name of bloud the Scripture is wont to betoken vengeaunce and reuengement and so meant Iohn to describe the greatnesse of Gods wrath in this place Marl. vpon the Apoc. fol. 218. ¶ By this similitude he declareth the horrible confusion of the Tyraunts and Infidells which delight in nothing but warres slaughters persecutions and effusion of bloud Geneua How our cleansing is by Christs bloud And made them white in the bloud of the Lambe ¶ That is to saie in faith and in following the sufferings of Christ. But how can bloud make them white will some man saie I aunswere after the same manner that the Authour of the Epistle to the Romanes saith If the bloud of Bulls and Goates and the ashes of a Bullocke besprinkling them that are defiled doe hallowe them as touching the cleansing of the flesh how much more shall the bloud of Christ who by the euerlasting spirite hath offered himselfe vnspotted vnto GOD cleanse your consciences from deade workes to serue the liuing GOD. The Saints therefore and the faithfull being cleansed by the bloud of the Lambe both from originall sinne and also from actuall sinne committed through humaine ignoraunce and weaknesse and béeing preserued that they should not giue their assent to pestilent errours against y◠faith are said to haue cleare yea and also comelie garments Marl. vpon the Apoc. fol. 111. ¶ There is no puritie nor cleannesse but by the bloud of Christ onelie which purgeth our sinnes and so maketh them white Geneua And sprinckling of the bloud of Iesus Christ. ¶ Héere S. Peter séemeth to haue had respect vnto the olde Ceremonie of bloud sprinckling for euen as it was not inough then that the Sacrifice should be offered and the bloud thereof shed vnlesse the people had bene sprinkeled with the same so now at this present it shall profit vs nothing that Christs bloud is shed vnlesse our conscience be cleansed and purified therewith which thing is done by the ministring of the holie Ghost which doth sprinkle our consciences with Christs bloud to wash them withall Sir I. Cheeke How the verie flesh and bloud of Christ is not in the Sacrament It was not lawfull by Moses lawe to eate nor drinke the bloud neither of man nor of beast And the Apostles themselues somewhat fauouring the infirmitie of the Iewes did institute that men should abstaine from bloud Now if the Apostles had taught that in the sacrament the very flesh and bloud of Christ is eaten and dronken with the téeth and mouth it had bene a great occasion to haue excluded al y◠Iewes at once from Christ againe the Apostles would haue bene too scrupulous if they had so groselie vnderstood it to haue dronken the very bloud séeing it was so plaine against Moses Lawe Reade the 10. of the Actes where as Peter had the cloath sent downe I. Frith Bloud is the soule ¶ S. Augustine vppon these wordes saith thus So is the Bloud the Soule euen as the Rocke was Christ. And in the same Chapter he ioineth these thrée sentences together The Bloud is the Soule the Rocke was Christ and This is my Bodie as being all both of like meaning and also of like manner of vtteraunce ¶ Saint Ambrose expounding the same words saith thus When Moses in that place called the Bloud the Soule doubtlesse he meant thereby that the Bloud is one thing◠and the Soule another For this is my bloud in the new Testament ¶ The wine signifieth that our soules are refreshed and satisfied with the bloud of Christ spirituallie receiued so that without him we haue no nourishment Geneua How the bloud of Martirs is the seede of the Church And there fell
GOD And wée béeing regenerate it bringeth vs forth to battaile and vnto good workes Héerevnto Chrisostome addeth the lawe reproueth but loseth not from sinne Grace loseth from sinne and reproueth not The lawe reproueth sinne and increaseth it Grace forgiuing it suffereth vs not to be vnder sinne c. Pet. Mar. vpon the Rom. fol. 134. How this following is vnderstoode And of his fulnesse haue all wée receiued euen Grace for Grace ¶ This sentence is sundrie wise expounded I will first shew you Saint Austens minde These be his words vpon this place That brethren all we haue receiued out of his fulnesse out of the fulnesse of his mercie haue we receiued what Remission of sinnes that we might be iustified by fayth And what moreouer Grace for Grace that is to witte For this Grace whereby we liue of Fayth we shall receiue an other Grace namelie Euerlasting lyfe But what else is it saue Grace For if I shall saie this is due to me I assigne somewhat to my selfe as to whome it is due But GOD crowneth the giftes of his mercie in vs. Thus yée sée Saint Austens meaning to witte that all good giftes and in the ende euerlasting lyfe is not a recompence of our merites but commeth of the frée liberalitie of God because it pleaseth him so to reward his former graces and to crowne his owne gyftes in vs. And so hée calleth faith whereby wée are iustified one Grace and euerlaâ—ing lyfe an other grace verye truelie and godlye to the confusion of the common Idolles Souldiers Other expounding Grace for Grace Grace vppon Grace teach that out of this fulnesse of his sonne GOD gaue to our Fathers vnder the olde Testament the spirite of feare whereby as children vndâ—r a Schoolemaster they were kept in and restrained that they shoulde not stray abroad after fleshlie lusts but be ledde foorth and framed to some goodnesse And in the new Testament hée giueth the spirit of fréedome whereby with more franke and free hearts with more ioifull courage by the motion of the spirit we doe the thing that pleaseth God not that our Fathers were altogether voide of this frée spirit but because of their childlie age they were kept more vnder by feare the spirite was not so richlie larglie giuen to them as to vs I meane vniuersallie touching gods ordinarie disposition For to some speciall person the spirit was larglie giuen and more larglie then it is nowe The exposition of other is that God loueth and fauoureth vs because of the loue and fauour that he beareth to his sonne as Saint Paule writeth That he hath made vs acceptable in the beloued For by nature we are the children of wrath the loue and fauour that we finde in Gods sight is for that of his own goodnesse he hath made vs the members of his most dearelye beloued sonne and so loueth vs as a parte of his sonnes bodie Other thinke that the meaning of these words is that GOD powreth all his graces into the Lorde Iesus and by him conueieth the same vnto vs as by a Conduct pipeâ— I leaue to your choise which of these expositions ye will take B. Traheron By grace vnderstand fauour The meaning is for the fauour that God the Father hath to his sonne Christ hath he receiued vs into fauour So as Christ is beloued of his Father euen so are we beloued for his sake Rom. 5. 15. T. M. ¶ All grace and all that is pleasant in the sight of God is giuen vs for Christs sake onelie euen out of the fulnesse and abundance of the fauour that he receiueth with the father Tindale ¶ Grace for grace That is God doth fauour vs and giue grace to so manie as beléeue in Christ are become his members The Bible note What is vnderstood by grace and peace Grace to you and peace from God By grace héere is vnderstood the fauour of GOD wherewith he fréelie forgiueth sinnesâ— By peace the tranquilitie of conscience prâ—céeding therof Tindale How these words Grace and Truth are expounded But grace and truth came by Iesus Christ. ¶ By grace some vnderstand that that maketh vs amiable and acceptable and getteth vs fauour before God and man By truth they vnderstand true sincere perfect sound and sure righteousnesse Other by grace in this place vnderstand forgiuenesse of sinnes by truth the fulfilling of all the figures and shadowes in Moses lawe in which signification you shall take the words the sâ—nce shall be good and godlie B. Traheron The grace saith Saint Austen which is giuen of the largnesse of God priuilie into mans heart cannot be despised of no manner of hard heart for therfore it is giuen that the hardnesse of the heart shal be taken awaie Wherefore when the father is herde within and doth learne that he must come vnto his sonne then taketh he awaie our stonie heart and giueth vs a fleshlie heart by this meanes he maketh vs his children of promise and the vessels of mercie which he hath prepared to glorie But wherefore doth he not learne all men to come to Christ because that those yâ— he learneth he learneth of mercie and those that he learneth not of his iudgement doth he not learne them These places following are alleadged of D. Barnes against Free will Saint Austen saith that there is no hardnesse of heart that can resist grace Dunce saith that there maie bée an obstacie in mans heart S. Austen saith that grace findeth the heart in hardnesse and obstinacie But Dunce saith that there is a mollifieng that precedeth grace which is called attrition Saint Austen saith when the Father learneth vs within then taketh he awaie our stonie hearts But Dunce saith that we can doe it by the common naturall influence that is wée can dispose our selues of congruence Saint Austen saith how all men be not taught to come to Christ but onelie they that be taught of mercie be taught and if it be of mercie then it is not of congruence by attrition The meaning of these places following For by grace are ye saued through faith ¶ So then grace that is to saie the gift of God and Faith doe stande one with an other to which two these be contrarie to be saued by our selues or by our workes Therefore what meane they which would ioine together things of so contrarie nature Beza And grace for grace ¶ This place is diuerslie expounded Some vnderstand the first grace to be that by yâ— which through faith we receiue remission of our sinnes the other grace to bée lyfe euerlasting the which kinde of Grace is giuen to the faithfull according to the saieng of the Apostle but the grace of God is eternall life Rom. 6. 23. But other some will haue the first to bée that which in the olde Testament was giuen to the Iewes The other to be more copious and large and giuen to all men But the simple sence
of Saints namely buriall not papistical canoniâ—ation or false worshipping which hath bene vsed with great abuse Marl. vpon Math. fol. 313. How Iohn is thought to worke miracles after his death He is risen from death and therefore are miracles wrought by him ¶ It is an Heathenish beliefe to thinke that men can do greater things after their death then in their life time and héereof did spring the vaine worshipping of dead folkes Sir I. Cheeke ¶ He spake after the common errour for they thought that the soules of them that were departed entered into another bodie Geneua Wherefore Iohn was called Helias Iohn Baptist was called Helias because he came in the spirit and power of Helias most sharply rebuking sin That so men knowing their owne sinfull nature and the damnation yâ— hung ouer them should the more gladly embrace Christ the sauiour redéemer of the world Sir I. Cheeke Wherefore Iohn Baptist did no miracles Iohn did no miracles ¶ God would haue no miracles done by Iohn least the people should haue attributed too much vnto him And therefore he would haue him onely to teach to testifie For as the bodie of Moses his sepulchre are hid vnto this present day and that by the iust prouidence of God least that superstitious flesh in visiting the body of Moses should commit Idolatrie euen so for iust cause Iohn than whome other wise there arose not a greater among womens children wrought no miracles For if so be the gift of miracles had bene ioyned to his doctrine and holinesse of lyfe the people could scarce haue ben driuen srom beléeuing him to be Christ c. Marl. vpon Iohn fol. 394. Of Iohns Baptime The Baptime of Iohn whence was it c. ¶ Héere the Baptime of Iohn is taken for that heauenlye doctrine which he taught For as water doth wash awaye the filthinesse of the bodie so doth true doctrine make the soule cleane deliuering it from superstition and erronious doctrine Sir I. Cheeke Unto what then were ye baptised and they said vnto Iohns Baptime ¶ By this place Iohns Baptime signifieth Iohns doctrine which therefore is so called for that he sealed his doctrine with the seale of Baptime in them that beléeued The Bible note Meaning what doctrine they did professe by their Baptime for to be baptised in Iohns Baptime signifieth to professe the doctrine which he taught and sealed with the signe of Baptime to bée baptised in the name of the Father c. is to be dedicate and consecrate vnto him To be baptised in the death of Christ or for the dead or into one bodye vnto remission of sins is that sinne by Christes death may be abolished and die in vs and that we maye growe in Christ. Math. 3. 11. Mar. 1. 8. Luke 3. 16. Ihon. 1. 27. Act. 1. 5. and 2. 2. 11. 16. Geneua Baptime in this place is taken for the doctrine and not for the lauer of water For the baptime of Christ and the baptime of Iohn which is done in the water is all one els Christ who was baptised by Iohn ought to haue bene baptised againe Héere then we doe gather that these folkes not twice baptised with the water of Baptime but were twice instruccted and at length after perfect instruction they were baptised with water in the name of Christ. Sir I. Cheeke Of the difference betweene Iohns Baptime and the Apostles The difference betwéene the Baptime of Iohn and the Apostles was onelye this that Iohn baptised them to beléeue in Christ that was for to come and the Apostles baptised them to beléeue in Christ which was come alreadie and had suffered for the remission of sinnes of as manie as beléeued in him Tindale IOHN THE EVANGELIST Of this Iohns life written by Saint Hierome IOhn the Apostle whome Iesus loued right well béeing the sonne of Zebedeus and Iames the Apostles brother whome after the Lordes death Herode had beheaded wrote his Gospell last of all the rest being desired there to by the Bishops of Asia both against Cerinthus and diuerse other heretiks But principally against the Ebeonites which euen then arose which Ebeonites auouch that Christ was not before Marieâ— by reason whereof he was enforced to shew of his diuine natiuitie They say that beside this there was an other cause of his writing because that when he had read the volumes of Mathew Marke Luke he well allowed the text of the storie and affirmed that they had said truth but had onely made their storie of one yeares act in the which after the imprisonment of Iohn Christ suffered Wherefore omitting that yeares actes which were sufficientlye entreated of all thrée he sheweth such thinges as were done before Iohn was imprisoned which thing maye euidently appeare to such as shall diligentlye read the volumes of the foure Gospels the which thing also doth take awaie the disagreeing that séemeth to be betweene Iohn the rest He wrote beside the premises one Epistle which beginneth thus That which was from the beginning which we haue heard which we haue seene with our eyes c. The other two which beginne The elder to the well beloued Ladie and her children c. And the elder to the best deloued Caius whom I loue in the truth c. are affirmed to haue bene written of Iohn the Priest whose seuerall tombe is at this day to be seene at Ephesus many suppose that there are two memorials of this same Iohn the Euangelist of which matter we wil entreate after we shal by order come to yâ— lyfe of Papias his scholer In the 14. yeare â—hen at what time Domicianus after Nero stirred vp the second persecution Iohn being banished into the I le of Pathmos wrote yâ— reuelation which is intituled the Apocalips which Iustin the martir and Ireneus doe make Commentaries vpon But after Domician was slaine and all his acts reuoked by the Senate because of his ouermuch crueltie he returned to Ephesus in the time of Prince Neruai and continued there vntil the time of the Emperour Traiane he instituted and gouerned all the Churches of Asia and ther continued till he was impotent for age He died the thréescore and eight yeare after the passion of the Lord Iesus And was buried a little beside the same Citie Eras. in his Paraphras A noâ—able historie of this Iohn When Iohn was returned to Ephesus fr 〈…〉 the I le of Pathmos he was desired for matters of religion to resort to yâ— places borâ—â—ring néere vnto him And comming to a certeine place he sawe a goodly young man both of bodie and countenaunce on whom he east such a fauourâ— that he committed him to the Bishoppe there charging the Bishoppe most earnestly and that two seuerall times to sée him diligently instructed in the doctrine and faith of Christ. And so Iohn returning againe to Ephesus the Bishop toke the young man and brought him home and diligently instructed him in the waies of Christ and
not onely know Christ but also they knew both Moses and Helias that talked with him notwithstanding they had neuer séene them before The rich man being in hell knew both Abraham and Lazarus being in ioye Saint Gregorie in his Dialogue sayth There is a certeine thing sayth hée in Gods elect and chosen people which is to bee meruayled at for they béeing in Heauen doe not onelye knowe them whome they knewe in this worlde but they shall knowe also the good people which they neuer sawe euen as perfectlye as though they had afore both seene and knowne them For when they in that euerlasting inheritaunce shall sée the auncientâ— Fathers they shall not bée vnknowne to them in sight whome they alwayes knowe in worke For when all there with one cleerenesse do behold God what is it that they shall not there know where they knowe him that knoweth all things How the Heathen doubt not in this doctrine I haue a greate desire sayde Cato the elder to sée your Fathers whome I honoured and â—oued But I wish not onelye to talke with them whome I haue knowne in this world but with such also as of whom I haue hearde and read yea and I my selfe haue written If I were once goinge thetherward I woulde neuer haue minde to tourne hether agayne Againe he sayth O that noble and pleasaunt daye when it shall be my chaunce to come vnto the heauenlye companye and blessed fellowshippe and departe from this troublesome and stinking worlde for then shall I goe not onelye to those men of whom I spake vnto you before but also vnto my Cato who was as worthye a man as euer lyued and as noble And it is written of Socrates that when he went vnto his death among many other things he sayd that it is a most blessed and godlye thing for them to come together which haue liued iustly and faythfully And saith he what a greate pleasure thinke you it to be friendly to talke with Orpheus Mâ—saeus Homerus Hesiodus and such like verily I would dye full oft if it were possible to get those things yâ— I speake of c. Basil. ¶ Looke Luther Labans Gods How easie Labans Gods were to steale away â—Herfore hast thou stolne away my Gods ¶ Chrisostome expounding this complaint of Laban against Iacob for stealing away his Gods saith thus Wherfore hast thou stoln away my Gods O what a passing folly is this be thy gods such ones that a man may steale them And art thou not ashamed to say Wherfore hast thou stolne away my Gods This is resembled to the Sacrament hanging in the Pixe Canopy which be as easie to steale away as Labans Gods wer LABOVRS The meaning of this place following OTher men laboured and ye are entered into their labours ¶ This ought to be vnderstoode of the preaching of the kingdome of God Among the Israelites and among whom the Prophets had laboured alreadie into whose labours the Apostles did enter But when the Apostles did preach amonge the heathen they were the first labourers as Paule saith I haue planted Apollo hath watered Againe I haue layd the foundation and an other hath builded vpon it 1. Cor. 3. 6. and. 10. Sir I. Cheeke LADDER What is signified by this Ladder ANd behold ther stood a ladder vpon the earth yâ— top of it reached vp to heauen ¶ By this Ladder of many steps is signified the degrées of generatioÌ„ by the which Christ after the flesh descended from Adam vnto the virgin Marie which brought him forth which degrées are numbred in the beginning of Mathews Gospell Lyra. ¶ It maye signifie Christ by whose mediation all graces come downe to vs and all helpe and by whom we ascende vp into heauen The Bible note ¶ Christ is the Ladder by whom God man are ioyned together by whom the Angels minister vnto vs. All graces by him are giuen vnto vs and we by him ascend into heauen Geneua LAY MEN. How lay men ought to read the Scripture TAke héede to thy selfe therefore onely that thou forgette not those things which thine eyes hath seene that they depart not out of thy heart all the dayes of thy life but teach them thy sonnes and thy sonnes sonnes Heare O Israel the Lord our God is Lord onely and thou shalt loue yâ— Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soule and with all thy might All these wordes which I commaund thée this day shall be in thy hart and thou shalt shew them vnto thy children and thou shalt talke of them when thou art at home in thy house as thou walkest by the way when thou lyest down and when thou risest vp And thou shalt vinde them for a signe vpon thy hand they shall be warnings betwéene thine eyes and thou shalt write them vpon the poasts of thine house and vpon thy gates c. Thy word is a Lanterne vnto my féete and a light vnto my path Blessed is the man that setteth his delectation in the wil of God and his meditation on Gods lawe night and daye ¶ Héere men bée blessed that studye the worde of God D. Barnes Take the helmet of health and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God ¶ Héere is it lawfull for laye men to haue the spirit of God D. Barnes If anye man come to you and bring not this learning receiue him not into your house nor yet salute him ¶ This was written to a Ladie and her children D. Barnes Christ saith to the Pharesies search Scriptures for in them ye thinke to haue eternall life All Scripture giuen by inspiration of God is profitable to teach to improue to enforme to instruct in righteousnesse that the man of God maye be perfect and prepared vnto all good workes You may all interprete Scripture one by one that all may learne and all men maye haue comfort But lette your women kéepe silence in the congregation c. If anye will learne anie thing let them aske their husbandes at home ¶ The women was learned belike for he néede not to commaunde them to kéepe silence and if they were vnlearned And also how should the women learne of their husbands at home except they were learned themselues D. Barnes The noblest of Thessalonica which receiued the worde searched the Scriptures dayly whether those thinges that Paule spake were true or no. Priscilla and Aquila did expound vnto Apollo which was a great learned man the perfect vnderstanding of Scriptures ¶ These wer lay persons of whom this great learned and eloquent man disdayned not to be taught nor was not ashamed to be instructed in the doctrine of Christ of a poore christen man and his wife D. Barnes Also Eunuchus that was the treasurer to the Quéene of the Aethiopians did reade Esay the Prophet the which he vnderstoode not till God sent him Philip to declare it vnto him
for couetousnesse as when I cherish or flatter a rich man for his goods when I make much of them that haue done me plesures and may doe me moe The fifte way I may loue for my sensuall lust as when I loue to fare deliciously or els when I mad or dote vpon women The first way to loue my neighbour for the loue I beare to God is onely worthy to be praised The second way naturally deserueth neither praise nor dispraise The third the fourth and the fift to loue for glorie and aduantage or pleasure all three be stark naught Lupset LOVVLINESSE Wherefore lowly men come to worship THe lowly person shall come to worship ¶ Not for that lowlinesse deserueth these things but that these fall vnto the lowly for the lowlinesse of Christ. Hemmyng ¶ Saint Augustine saith that the whole lowlinesse of man consisteth in the knowledge of himselfe Caluine Psal. 9. Of loosing binding ¶ Looke Binding loosing Of the loosing of Lazarus ¶ Looke Lazarus LVCIFER What is meant by Lucifer ¶ Looke Nabuchodonosor LVKE The life of S. Luke written by S. Hierome LVke a Phisition born at Antioch was not ignorant of the Gréeke tongue as his writing do shew he was a follower disciple of the Apostle Paule a companion of al his peregrination he wrote a volume of the Gospell of whom the same Paule saith on this wise We haue sent with him a brother whose praise is in the Gospel throughout all the Congregations And againe to the Collossians Most deare Lucas the Phisition gréeteth you And to Timothie Luke is with me alone He set foorth also an other speciall good booke which is intitled the Actes of the Apostles the storie whereof came euen full to Paules time béeing tarieng two yeares at Rome that is to say vnto the fourth yere of Nero the Emperour there whereby we do wel perceiue that the same booke was made in the same Citie Therfore as for the circuites of Paule of Tecla the Uirgin and all the tale of Leo by him baptised we recken among the Scriptures that be called Apoâ—ripha For what manner a thing is it that a companion which neuer went from his elbow should among his other matters be ignoraunt of this thing alone Tertulian which was néere vnto that time reporteth that a certaine Priest in Asia being an affectionate fauourer of the Apostle Paule was conuict before Iohn for being Author of that booke and that the Priest confessed himselfe to haue done the thing for the loue that he bare to Paule and the booke by reason thereof to had escaped him Some Writers déeme that as often as Paule in his Epistles saith according to my Gospel he signifieth of the worke of Luke And that Luke learned the Gospell not onely of the Apostle Paule who had not bene conuersant with the Lord in the flesh but also of the rest of the Apostles which thing Luke also himselfe declareth in the beginning of his owne workes saieng As they haue deliuered them vnto vs which from the beginning sawe them themselues with their eyes and were Ministers of the things that they declared The Gospell therefore he wrote as he had heard but the Actes of the Apostles he composed as he had seene He liued lxxxiiij yeares not hauing any wife Buried he was at Constantinople vnto which Citie his bones were remoued conuaied out of Achaia together with the bones of Andrew the Apostle in yâ— 20. yere of Constantius yâ— Emperour Eras. In this second booke the blessed Euangelist S. Luke whose life we haue set foorth already at the beginning of his Gospell doth declare write vnto vs if we will be Theophile that is to say vnfained louers of God what was done and wrought for our secular comfort after the glorious Resurrection most triumphant Ascention of our Sauiour Iesus Christ how that our Lord Iesus did both promise also gaue most abundantly his holy spirit vnto all his Disciples And what this spirit did worke by the preaching of the word both in the Iewes and also in the Gentiles that beleeued in Christ this booke hath alwayes bene in great estimation and that most deseruingly For the Actes of the Apostles saith S. Hierom seeme to be but a bare history because in them onely the infancie of the Church which then began to spring is set forth but if we consider that Luke the Phisition whose praise is in the Gospell hath written them we shall also perceiue that all his words are the phisick of a languishing sick soule What other thing I beséech you is this sacred heauenly history but one of the chiefest parts of the Gospell For truly in yâ— other bookes which are intitled the Gospell the corne of wheate are cast into the ground discribed But héere in this booke yâ— selfe same corne is set foorth being already sprong vp and declaring most effectually his riches vnto the world Againe if we had not by Luke known after what manner Christ forsooke the earth where and in what place how and after what fashion the promised Comforter did come what beginning the Church had wherein it did flourish by what meanes it did increase should we not haue lacked a great parte of the Gospell Therefore Bede did right well saieng that Luke had not onely made an historie vntill the Resurrection and Ascention of the Lord as the other did but also did so set foorth by writing the doings of the Apostles as much as he knew to be sufficient to edifie the faith of the readers hearers that onely his booke touching the Actes of the Apostles was by the Church thought good to be credited all other which presumed to write of the same matter being reiected disapproued Chrisostome also to them that did meruaile why S. Luke had not written forth all the Apostolicall historie vnto the ende or that he had not described the Actes of euery one of them seuerally in books by themselues doth aunswere godly saieng These are sufficient vnto them that will apply their mindes and take héede Therefore leauing vnprofitable questions why was not this written or that written let vs take heede vnto those wholesome saiengs of the Euangelist that so we may apply this most comfortable salue ministred vnto vs by him vnto our wounded soules Sir I. Cheeke Luke warme ¶ Looke Colde LVNATIKE Of the man that was lunatike MAister haue pitie vpon my sonne for he is lunaticke ¶ They that at certaine times of the Moone are troubled with the falling sicknesse or any other kinde of disease But in this place we must so take it that beside the naturall disease he had a diuelish phrensie Beza LVTHER What he vvas LVther was an Augustine Frier And began to write against the Bishop of Romes Pardons in the yeare of our Lorde 1517. The cause why he first wrote against the Bishop of Rome Frier Tecel the Pardoner made his proclamations vnto the people openly in the
CHRIST which taught them not to forsake their wiues but in any wise to kéepe them sauing alonely for fornication And this place of S Paule Haue we not power c. doth proue how S. Peter after his Apostleshippe and also other disciples of Christ caried their wiues about with them when they went a preaching Wherefore it is a false lye to say that they had forsaken their wiues D. Barnes Let Bishops and Priests read this thing he speaketh against mispending of goods that is offered to helpe poore men with the which doth teach their children prophane letters and maketh them to read Comedies and to sing baudy songs of iestes and these children they finde of the charges of the Church ¶ Heere the Bishoppes and Priestes had children which they could not lawfully haue if they were vnmaried D. Bar. The Councell of Nicene willing to reforme the life of men did set certaine lawes At the which certaine men would haue had a lawe to be brought in that the Bishops Priests Deacons and Subdeacons should not lye with their wiues which they had maried before their consecration But Paphuntius a Confessour being vnmaried himselfe did withstand them and saide that their mariage was honourable and it was pure chastitie for them to lye with their wiues so that the Councell was perswaded not to make any such lawe affirming it to be a grieuous occasion both vnto them also vnto their wiues of fornication The Councell did allowe this sentence so that nothing was decreed as concerning this thing but euery man was left vnto his free-will and not bound of any necessitie ¶ Héere is to be noted that this holy Councell did not recken it an vnpure or a filthie thing for a Bishop or a Priest to company with his wife but doe graunt that it is a pure and a cleane chastitie for a Priest to company with his wife D. B. Innocentius the thirde in his Decretalls writeth on this manner These Priests that after the manner of the countrie hath not forsaken the coniunction of mariage if they doe breake wedlocke ought grieuously to be punished seeing that they may vse lawfully Matrimonie ¶ Marke that this was the manner of certaine Countreyes that Priests might marry Ergo it must néedes followe that Priests mariage is not forbidden by Gods Lawe And if it be not forbidden by Gods Lawe is it in the Pope to compell men so violently vnto that thing the which God hath not bound them too D. B. The Maister of the sentence writeth on this manner Our weaknesse is prone to fall into filthinesse But it is helped with honest mariage And that thing that is vnto whole men an offence is vnto sicke men a remedie ¶ Marke how the Maister of the sentence saith that we are ready to fall into filthinesse and how mariage is an honest remedy how can men then after their owne learning condemne mariage as no honest thing séeing their owne Clearkes calleth it honest D. B. We read in our owne Chronicles that in the time of King Henry the third which raigned the yeare of our Lord. 1101. Priests might lawfully marrie wiues insomuch that Anselme then Archbishop of Canterbury in a Seane that he helde at London did make a Decrée that Priests should forsake their wiues the which was both against Gods lawe and mans For the text of our Sauiour Christ is cléere Quos Deus coniunxit homo non seperat It is better saith Epiphanius for him that is fallen in his course meaning them that cannot continue in the thing that they haue vowed to take a wife openly according to the lawe and so to be restored into the Church againe as one that before hath done euill and as one that hath fallen and hath bene broken and hath now néede to be bound and not daily to be inwardly wounded by secret dartes wherewith the Diuell continually doth assault them ¶ Loe héere Epiphanius doth not onely allowe marriage of Priests Uotaries before priesthood and vowing but also after priesthood vowing nameth marriage done in such case lawfull that marriage after their vowe so broken is a meane to restore them againe to the Church if they were fallen from it by breking their vowe So that you sée by Epiphanius iudgment yâ— the marriage of priests euen after their vowe is not onely a marriage but also a lawfull marriage Wherefore they that say the marriage of such meaning of them that marrie after they haue vowed is no marriage but rather adulterie me séemeth they doe not aduisedlye inough consider what they say for they be deceiued by an appearaunce of truth for by the meanes of that foolish opinion whereby they thinke the marriage of such professed women as haue forsaken their vowe is no marriage if they marrye there commeth no small inconuenience which inconuenience is this wiues bée seperated from their husbands as though they were whores and not wiues And when they will restore the diuorsed to sole life their husbandes are compelled to be verye adulterers when their owne wiues beeing alyue they marrye other husbands Saint Paule speaking of marriage and meate saith thus Euery creature of God is good to the faithfull and none is to be refused béeing taken with thankes-giuing for it is sanctified by the word of God and praier ¶ This Maior or ground we haue of Saint Paule wherevnto I adde this Minor or meane proposition But marriage is a creature of God that I am sure you cannot denie vnlesse ye will saye marriage is a creature of the Diuell as the olde Heretikes Saturnius Basilides and their fellowes did whervpon must follow this cenâ—â—sion Ergo mariage is good and not to be refused béeing taken with thankes-giuing for it is sanctified by the worde of God and prayer This sounde Silogismus prooueth plainely that the marriage of a Priest is not onely a marriage but also a good marriage and a good thing for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer Ponet Saint Paule calleth the Bishop Priest and Deacon by the name of husband and their yoake-fellowes by the name of wiues and saith the Bishop must be the husband of one wife and lykewise the Deacon And further hee saith For the auoyding of fornication let euery man haue his wife c. In which generall sentence Priests must be comprehended if they bée men Yea and their marriage not onely a marriage but also an honouradle marriage or els cannot marriage be honourable in all estates as Saint Paule writeth to the Hebrewes Ponet Siritius being an enimie to Priests marriage calleth theyr wiues Suas vxores their owne wiues which thing he would not haue done if he had taken their marriage to be no marriage And furthermore he maketh a distinction betweene yâ— children whom the Priests had A proprijs vxoribus by their own wiues and those children which they had a Turpi coitu by vnlawfull
workes which thou hast done and shall doe for the loue of our Lord Iesus Christ be vnto thée auailable for the remission of thy sinnes the increase of desert grace and the reward of euerlasting life Amen ¶ Ye heare the merite of Christ mentioned in these words but if ye weigh them well ye shall perceiue that Christ is there altogether vnprofitable and that the glory and name of a iustifier and Sauiour is quite taken from him and giuen to Monkish merites Is not this to take the name of God in vaine Is not this to confesse Christ in words and in very deede to denye his power and blaspheme his name c. Luther vpon the Gal. fol. 72. Of the profite that is of the Moone HE appointed the Moone for certaine seasons ¶ The Interpreters agrée that this ought to be vnderstood of the ordinary and appointed â—easts For inasmuch as the Hebrewes are wont to recken their months by the Moone they vse hâ—r as the directer of their festiuall daies and as well â—or their holy assemblies as for their méetings about politike affaires Notwithstanding I doubt not but that ther is the figure Synechdoche as if the Prophet had said that the Moone not onely putteth a difference betweene the nights and the dayes but also boundeth the yeres and months consequently serueth to many purposes because the distinction of times is fetched out of hâ—r course MORNING AND EVENING How this place of Iob is vnderstood FRom Morning to Euening they be destroied ¶ Some expounde this as though it were meant that men perish in small time and that is very true But héerewithall there is yet more that is to wit that we passe not a minute of our lyfe but it is as it were approching vnto death If we consider it wel when a man riseth in the morning he is sure that he shall not step forth one pace he is sure he shall not turne about his hand but he shall still waxe elder elder and his life euer shorteneth Then must we consider euen by eye sight that our lyfe fléeteth slideth away from us Thus we sée what is meant by consuming from morning to euening Ca. vpon Iob. fo 75. MORTIFICATION What true mortifieng is TO mortifie is nothing els but for a man to be violent against himselfe and to withstand and resist wicked lusts Peâ— Mar. vpon the Ro. fol. 203. The flesh is mortified when the custome of sinne is abolished and the spirit is quickened when we begin to performe newe obedience vnto God Mortifie therefore your members c. ¶ The true mortiâ—ieng is when the feare of God doth fray vs from sinne so that our hearts trembleth for feare of Gods iudgement when wée are tempted or entised vnto sinne The heart beeing thus striken with the feare of God acknowledgeth his weaknes and calleth vnto God vnfainedly for helpe This mortifieng is the worke of the Holy ghost Rom. 8. and worketh out wardly a sobernesse of liuing and other godly exercises Sir I. Cheeke ¶ Extinguish all the strength of the corrupt nature which resisteth against the spirit that ye may liue in the spirit and not in the flesh Geneua How we cannot mortifie the flesh by our owne free-will If you mortifie the déedes of the flesh by the spirite ye shall liue ¶ S. Austen vpon this place Thou wilt say saith he that can my will doe that can my frée-will doe What will what manner of free-will except he lift thée vp thou lyest still how canst thou doe it then by thy spirit seeing that the Apostle saith as many as be led by the spirit of God be the children of God wilt thou doe of thy selfe Wilt thou be ledde of thine owne selfe to mortifie the déeds of the flesh What wil it profite thée for if thou be not voluptuous with the Epicures thou shalt be proud with the Stoikes Whether thou be an Epicure or a Stoike thou shalt not be among the children of God for they that be guided by the spirit of God be the children of God not they that lyue after their owne flesh not they that lyue after their owne spirit but as many as be led by the spirit of God But héere a man will say Ergo then are we ruled and we doe not rule I auns were thou both rulest and art ruled But thou dost then rule well if thou be ruled by the good spirit vtterlye if thou doe want the spirit of God thou canst doe no good Thou dost truly without his helpe by the frée-will but it is but euill done vnto that is thy will which is called frée-wil and by euill doing is she made a bondseruaunt When I say Without the help of God thou dost nothing I vnderstand by it no good thing For to doe euill thou hast frée-will without the helpe of God though that be no fréedome Wherefore you shall know that so doe you goodnesse if the helping spirite bée your guider the which if he be absent can doe no good at all Auguâ— de verbis Apost ser. 13. MOSES How Moses came by his impediment of speach OF Moses it is written that the King of Aegypt on a time for his daughters sake tooke the childe Moses in his armes and set the crowne vpon his head which Moses as it were childishly playing hurled if downe to the ground and with his feeâ—e spurned it Then the Priests and Soothsaiers séeing that cried out saieng that this was he whom before he had prophecied should be borne which should destroy the kingdome of Aegypt except he werâ— preuented by death Then Termuth the Kings daughter excused the childe alleadging that his age had yet â—o discretion And for proofe thereof caused burning coales to bée put to his mouth which the childe with his tongue lickâ—d wherby he euer after had an impediment in his tongue And by this meanes their furie at that time was appeased T. Lanquet The cause why Moses fled from Pharao Moses being about the age of 40. yeares fledde for feare of Pharao when he had slaine the Aegyptian Iosephus saith that it was for displeasure because in the warres of Aethiope wherof he was Captaine he tooke to wise the Kings Daughter of Aethiope How Moses seemed to doubt in Gods promises When God said to Moses that he wold giue the people flesh to eate euen a moneth long he aunswered shall the Shéepe and the Oxen be slaine for this people to eate which are vi hundred thousand or shall the fish of the Sea be gathered together to serue them ¶ Héere it séemeth that Moses did doubt in Gods promise which was not so For he doubted no more that God was able to accomplish and fulfill his word then Mary the mother of Christ did doubt in the words of the Angell when shée said How shall this be séeing I know no man Lyra. How the Lord was angry with Moses and why Moses being in his Inne the Lord met
But if they will teach you things of their owne then heare them not then dde it not For certainly such men séeke their owne and not the things that pertaine to Christ Iesu. ¶ The Chaire of the which our Sauiour Christ maketh mention héere doth not signifie the authoritie of Moses which the Scribes abused but it signifieth the place out of the which they purely red and interpreted the law of Moses ¶ To sit in Mosâ—s chaire is nothing els then to shewe out of the Lawe of God how men ought to liue And although it be not certaine out of what place they didde speake or preach yet notwithstanding their coniectures is probable which referre it to the Pulpet which Esdras made to haue the Laws taught in He therefore sitteth in Moses Chaire which preacheth not of his â—wne braine but by the authoritie and word of God Marl. vpon Math. fol. 521. ¶ So long as the Scribes safe in Moses seate and continued in the pure and simple interpretation of the Lawe teaching those things which the Lord had commaunded and taught in the name of God For Saint Austen very well and according to the minde of Christ expoundeth that the Scribes sitting vpon Moses seate taught the Lawe of God and that therefore the shéepe ought to heare the shepheards by them as by hirelings To the which words he addeth by and by saieng God therefore teacheth by them But if they goe about to teach theyr owne inuentions neither heare them nor follow them To the which sentence agréeth that which the same Father hath in his fourth booke De doctrina Christiana saieng Because the good and faithfull do not heare euery man but obediently heare God himselfe therefore they are heard profitably which also lyue not profitably Therefore the seate not of the Scribes but of Moses constrained them to teach that which was good For in their life they did what them lust but the seate being none of theirs suffered them not to teach what they lusted Marl. vpon Math. fol. 522. ¶ We ought to haue an eye most especially vnto the doctrine of the Preachers whether they sit in Christs chaire or not that is to say whether they teach Christs doctrine or not for by their doctrine we shall be either iustified or condemned and not by their liuing Sir I. Cheeke How Moses did eate the body of Christ ¶ Looke Manna How this place is vnderstood And Moses wrote this Lawe ¶ Before Moses time the doctrine which contained the manner of seruing God was not put in writing but onely deliuered by word of mouth by the fathers to theyr children from one generation to another The Bible note How we are sent to Moses and the Prophets They haue Moses and the Prophets let them heare them ¶ We are bidden to beléeue Moses and the Prophets and not the dead and if we will néedes heare the dead speake Christ ought to be sufficient for vs which being reuiued taught none other doctrine but that which he had taught in his time that is to say Moses and the Prophets Sir I. Cheeke ¶ Which declareth that it is too late to be instructed by the dead if in their life time they cannot profite by the liuely word of God as faith commeth by Gods word so is it maintained by the same So that neither we ought to looke for Angells from heauen or the dead to confirme vs there by onely the word of God is sufficient to life euerlasting Geneua Why Moses was bid to put off his shooes Put off thy shooes from thy feete ¶ Moses could not be suffered to talke with God afore he didde put off his shooes whereby we vnderstande that wée must put awaye all fleshly and carnall lusts and so approach vnto God in faith purenesse of heart Let them héere which will not touche holye things with theyr bare hands without gloues learne of the Angell of the Lorde what they ought for to doe in such things Of Moses death and buriall which maketh against reliques We read of Moses the seruaunt of the Lorde that hée died in the lande of Moab and the Angell of the Lord buryed him in a valley but no man knoweth of his Sepulcher vnto this daye which thing was of purpose by the prouidence of God appointed so that the Iewes might haue no occasion thereby to comâ—nitte Idolatry But if the translating of dead bones had bene either for the glorye of God or commoditie of man the reliques of such a one as Moses was should not haue bene hidden For doubtlesse of all Prophets he was the greatest by the testimonie of God himselfe who called him faithfull in all his house to whom he spake mouth to mouth by vision and not in darke wordes and yet was not his body shrined nor his bones carried in procession nor anye Chappell erected for him Indeed the Diuell did attempt no lesse then to make it matter of superstition for we read that there was a strife betwixt him and Michael about Moses body but the Angell of the Lorde withstood him I. Calfehill MOTHER OF GOD. Wherein Mary the mother of God was most blessed TO be the childe of God is a great deale greater grace then to be the mother of God which Saint Austen proueth thus Beatior â—rgo Maria c. Mary was more blessed or full of grace in that the receiued the faith of Christ then in that she conceiued the flesh of Christ. Motherly kinred coulde haue done Mary no good vnlesse she had borne Christ more blessed in hir heart then shée bare him in hir flesh Againe he sayth Master mea quam c. My mother whom ye haue called blessed therefore is blessed because she hath kept the word of God not because the word in hir was made flesh How mother is taken for grandmother He put downe Miacha his mother ¶ Mother for grandmother As Dauid is oftentimes called father of them of whom he was grandfather And as Zephora Moses wife calleth Raguel father which yet was hir grandfather How the Church is called our mother Forsake not thy mothers teaching ¶ That is of the Church wherein the faithfull are begotten by the incorruptible séede of Gods word Geneua MOVNTAINES How Mountaines heere doe signifie Scriptures LEt them that be in Iewry flye then to the mountaines ¶ That is to say let them that be in Christs profession flye to the scriptures the scriptures of the Apostles and Prophets be the mountaines c Our Lord knowing that there should be such confusion in the last daies therfore commaundeth that Christen men yâ— beléeue in Christ willing to haue an assurance of the true faith shuld haue recourse to nothing els but vnto the scriptures Otherwise if they haue regard vnto any other thing they shal be offendâ—d and perish not vnderstanding what is the true Church and by meanes héereof they shall fall in abhomination of desolation Iewel fo 722. ¶ S.
repentaunce sought of them but onely that they must beléeue Arbitramur hominem iustificari absque operibus legis We béeing taught of Christ thinke saith Thomas according to the truth of the Apostle that euery man whether he be Ieâ— or Gentile is iustified by faith Act. 15. 19. By faith purifieng theyr hearts and that without the workes of the lawe And that not onely without the Ceremoniall workes which did not giue grace but also without the workes of the Morall commandements according to that saieng of Titus 3. ver 5. Not of the workes of the righteousnesse that we haue wrought The reason is presumed that we are saued for our merites the which he excludeth when he saith Not of the workes of the righteousnesse which we haue done but the true reason is the onely mercie of God There is not therefore in them the hope of iustifitation Sed in sola fide but in faith onely Workes are not the cause that any body is iust before God but they are rather the executions and the ministring of righteousnesse In this point though he swarue from the truth in many other points he speaketh right I. Bridges fol. 143. Our Aduersaries when they doe teach that the iustifieng of vs doth not consist in faith onely but in workes also what doe they els but obscure the glory of Gods grace and extoll the merite of our workes They doe not waye that it is necessarye that our iustifieng doe consist in faith onely for as much as it is bestowed freely If they cannot abide the word onely or alone let him leaue it and vse this word fréely For in case we be iustified fréely by faith as the Apostle doeth testifie it must néedes followe that we be not iustified by faith works but by faith onely If it be not by faith onely but by workes withall then is it not freely but of duetie If it be of dutie and not fréely then there is no glory of Gods grace at all Musculus fol. 229. ONE Of one Mediatour ¶ Looke Mediatour What the Prophet Ose doth meane by one head THen shall the Children of Iuda and the Children of Israel be gathered together and appoint themselues one head ¶ To wit after the captiuitie of Babilon when the Iewes wer restored but chiefe this is referred to the time of Christ who should be the head both of the Iewes and Gentiles Geneua ¶ The number of the Children of Israel shall be as the sande of the Sea shore that cannot be numbred And it shall come to passe in the place where it was sayde vnto them Ye are no people of mine there shall it be sayd vnto them ye are the children of the lyuing God And the Children of Iuda the Children of Israel shall assemble together and shall appoint to themselues one head Upon which words S. Hierom writeth thus All these things shall come to passe because it is the great daye of the séed of God which séede is expounded not the Pope but Christ. There shall assemble together the Children of Iuda that is to say the Apostles the Children of Israel that is to say the Heathen conuerted together that is to say in one Church and shall appoynt vnto themselues one head that is to say not one Pope but one Christ. Iewel fol. 101. ¶ Let vs remember saith Augustine the corner stone that is Christ and not the Pope and the two walls the one of the Iewes and the other of the Heathen Iewel fol. 101. Of one Sheepefold And there shall be one Shéepefold ¶ When the Gentiles haue receiued the Euangelicall faith they shal be associate and ioyned to the faithfull people of the Iewes and so of them both there shall be one folde that is of the Iewes Gentiles there shall be one Church One God saith Paule one Faith and one Baptime Therefore we must be one euen as wée are called into one hope c. They which gather vpon this place that there shall be a mutual consent and agréement among men in the whole world insomuch as none shall remaine as Inâ—â—dell or vngodly doe erre and know not the Scriptures neither doe consider what is the state and drift of this place Againe ther are some which gather of this place that after the last day of Iudgment all both good and bad shall be gathered into one place of eternall life But the opinion of those men is most foolish For then shall the Shéepe be seperated from the Goates the iudgement of the Shéepe shal be one the iudgement of the Goates another as the Scripture plainly testifieth Marâ— vpon Iohn fol. 374. Of one Spirit He that cleaneth vnto God is one spirite with him ¶ Nico. Lyra vpon this place saith Vâ—us non secundum rem c. One spirit with God not one in déede but one in loue or according to affection So that we are vnited vnto God by faith and loue and none otherwise ORACLE What an Oracle is AN Oracle is properly the minde and aunswere of God by some diuine Interpreter declared as by some Prophet Priest or otherwise by man ORIGENIANI Of whom these Heretikes bare their name ORigeniani were Heretikes called after aâ—e Origen not he that was the great Cleark of Alexandria they condemned marriage yet liued they beastly their manner was to haue among them religious women like Nunnes whom they deâ—â—led yet vsed meanes to kéepe them from swelling Epiph. haer 63. Of the Heretikes that sprang of the learned Origen Origeniani againe were Heretikes which so called themselues of Origen Adamantius the great Clearke of Alexandria they taught as Epiphan saith haeres 64. that there was no resurrection that Christ was a creature the Holy ghost a like that the soules were first in heauen came downe into the bodies as it wer into prison that in the end the diuels should be saued Epiphanius as I read in Socrates Eccl. hist. li. 6. ca. 11. was become the enimy of Origen through the spite malice of Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria The diuell bare Origen a displesure he procured heretikes to father vpon him lewd opinions He complaineth himselfe in a certaine Epistle how that Heretikes corrupted his works Pamphilus Martir the great friend and familiar of Eusebius wrote an Apologie in his behalfe Eusebius li. 6. ca. 3. 18. 20. 26. reporteth of the famous men that fauored Origen Socrates Eccle. histor lib. 6. cap. 12. writeth in his commendation Athanasius gaue of him a notable testimonie Chrisostome would in no wise bée brought to condemne either Origen or his works Socrates li. 6. cap. 11. 12. 13. ORIGINALL SINNE That no man is without originall sinne THe death of our Lord Iesus Christ the sonne of God is a mightie remedie against the wound of originall sin wherewith the nature of all men is in Adam corrupt and slaine and from whence the infection of all concupiscence hath sprong Augustine in the Articles falsely
not that the Lord there speaketh of the fault of sinne Now if it be so what is that to their Purgatory forasmuch as by their opinion y◠paine is ther suffered of those sins whereof they deny not the fault to be forgiuen in this present lyfe But that they may no more carpe against vs they shall haue yet a plainer solution When the Lord meant to cut off all hope of pardon from so hainous wickednesse he thought it not inough to say that it should neuer be forgiuen but the more to amplifie it he vsed a diuision wherin he comprehended both the iudgement that euery mans conscience féeleth in this life and the last iudgement that shall be pronounced at the resurrection As though he shoulde haue sayde Beware ye of malitious rebellion as of most present damnation for he that of set purpose shall endeuour to quench the light of the holy Ghost shall not obeteine pardon neither in this lyfe which is giuen to sinners for their conuersion nor in the last day when the lambes shall be seuered by the Angels of God from the Goates and the kingdome of heauen shall bée cleansed from al offences Then they bring forth also that parable of Mathew Agrée with thine aduersarie least he delyuer thée to the Iudge and the Iudge to the Sergeant and the Sergeant to the prison from whence thou shalt not gette forth vntill thou haue paide the vttermost farthing If in this place the Iudge doe signifie God and the aduersarie plaintiue the Diuell the Sergeant the Angell and the prison Purgatory I will gladly yéeld vnto them But if it bée euident to all men that Christ meant there to shew into how many daungers mischifes they cast themselues y◠had rather obstinatly pursue the extremitie of the lawe then deale according to equitie and good right to the end to exhort his Disciples the more earnestly to agrée with equitie where then I pray you shall Purgatory be found Cal. in his Inst. 3. b. cha 5. Sect. 7. How Purgatorie came from the Heathen As for the fansie of Purgatory it sprang first from the heathen and was receiued among them in that time of darknesse long before the comming of CHRIST as it maye plainely appeare by Plato and Virgil in whome ye shall finde described at large the whole common weale and all the orders and degrées of Purgatory Saint Austen sayth the olde Heathen Romanes had a sacrifice which they called Sacrum Purgatorium a Purgatory sacrifice Iewel 300. An Argument of Purgatory It is impossible that remission or purging from sins shuld be made without bloud Paule to the Hebrues But in Purgatory ther is no bloud but fire Ergo in purgatory it is impossible that remission or purging from sinnes should be made Obiection Purgatory is good to feare men from sinne Aunswere Christ and his Apostles thought hell fire inough yet besides the fleshly imagination cannot stande with Gods word what great feare can there be of that terrible fire which thou maist quench almost for thrée halfe pence How our sinnes are onely purged by Christ. By his owne person he hath purged our sinnes ¶ These words by his owne person haue an Emphasis or vehemencie which driueth away all sacrificing Priests from such office of sacrificing séeing that which he hath done by himselfe he hath not left to be perfected by other so that the purging of our sins may more truely be thought done past then a thing to come and to be done Latimer Doctor Readmans opinion of Purgatory Being asked what his opinion was concerning Purgatory and what the Schoolemen iudged thereof he aunswered that the subtill reasons of the Schoolemen concerning Purgatorie séemed to him to be no lesse vaine and friuolous then disagréeing from the truth Adding thereto that when we be rapt vp to the clowdes to méete Christ comming to iudgement with a great number of Angels in all glorie maiestie then euerie one shall be purged with fire as it is written The fire shall goe before him and shall flame round about his enimies and the fire shall burne in sight and round about him shall be a greate tempest saieng that diuerse of the olde writers approued this his sentence concerning Purgatory Booke of Mar. fol. 1540. PVRPLE AND LINNEN WHich was clothed in Purple Linnen ¶ Uery gorgeously and sumptuously for Purple garments were costly and this fine linnen which was a kinde of linnen that came out of Achaia was deare as golde Beza PVTTING ON OF HANDS Looke Laieng on of hands Queene of Heauen Who it was they called the Queene of Heauen AND the women kneded dough to make cakes to the Quéene of heuen That is they sacrifice to the Sunne Moone and starres whom they called the Quéene of heauen Geneua As to burne incense to the Quéene of heauen c. It séemeth that the Papists gathered of this place their Salua Regina Regina coeliletare Calling the virgin Mary Quéene of heauen so of the blessed virgin and mother of our sauiour Christ made an Idoll For heere the Prophet condempneth their Idolatrie Read the fourth of Kings chap. 21. verse 5. Epiphanius saith Ne quis comedat de errore c. Let no man eate of this errour touching S. Mary For though the trée be faire yet is not this fruit to be eaten Although Mary be beautifull holy honorable yet in she not to be adored But these women worshipping S. Mary renue again y◠sacrifice of wine mingled in the honour of the Goddesse Fortuna prepare a table for the diuell not for God as it is written in the Scriptures they are fed with the meat of wickednesse And againe Their women boult flowre and the children gather stickes to make fine Cakes in the honour of Queene of Heauen Therefore let such women be rebuked by the Prophet Ieremy and let them trouble no more the worlde and let them not say we worshippe the Quéene of Heauen Iewel fol. 313. QVESTIONS AS touching Questions Saint Paule saith to Timothy thus In these things I would haue thée confirmed these be good and profitable for men but foolish questions and questions of vanities those shunne for they vnprofitable and vaine Of good questious Naaman asked Elias the Prophet whether if his maister should goe vp to the Idols Temple and worship he might do so or no. The Eunuchus asked Philip the exposition of these words He was lead as a shéepe to the slaughter Act. 8. 23. Esay 52. 7. Iohn asked this question Art thou he that shall come or shal we looke for an other Mary asked this question How can these things be done vnto me sith I haue no knowledge of man Thomas asked this question Lord tell vs the way that is Lord what is the way Peter asked this question Lord whether shall we goe Thou hast the words of eternall life Nichodemus asked this question
the winde doth signifie a man inconstant As in Math. 11. 7. and Luke 7. 24. Geneua What is meant by the brused Rede A brused Réede shall he not breake c. ¶ By the brused Réede and smoking flaxe the aduersaries of Christ the Scribes and Pharesâ—es are vnderstoode whose power is likened vnto a brused Râ—ede and their furâ—e wherwith they persecuted the innocent vnto smoking flaxe so that it had bene as easie for Christ to haue destroyed them as it is to breake a sunder a brused Réede or to quench smoking flaxe Some suppose that the same should be vnderstoode of the Publicans and sinners whom he did not contemne nor despise but mercifully called them vnto him Sir I. Cheeke A brused Réede c. ¶ That is he will beare with them that is infirme and weake Geneua READING What profit commeth of reading holy Scripture AVgustine sayth Reading cléereth and purgeth all things who will euer be with God must euermore pray and read Aug. de tâ—mpor sermo â— If we either read not the Scriptures our selues or bée not desirous to heare other read them then are our 〈…〉 dictnes turned into wou 〈…〉 and then where we might haue had remedy we shall haue iudgement Aug. Ser. 55. Heare me ye men of the world get ye the Bible that most wholesome remedy for the soule if ye will nothing else yet at the least get the new testament S. Paules Epistles the Acts that may be your continuall and earnest teachers Chrâ— vpon the Coll. in hâ— 9. Homâ—â— Isidore saith saith that reading bringeth great profit to the hearers Tertulian saith when ye come together to the reading of holy Scripture wée féede our faith with these heauenly voyces we raise vp our affiaunce wée fasten our hope And againe he calleth the reading of thâ— scriptures the féeding of our fayth Let one of you take in hand the holy booke let him call his neighbours about him by the heauenly words let him water their mindes and also his owne Chris. in Gen. hom 6. Being at home we may both before and after meat take the holy booke in hand thereof receiue great profit and minister spirituall foode vnto our soules Chris. in Gen. Homi. 10. Would God we would all doe according as it is written Search the Scriptures Origen in Esay Homi. 10. Harken not héereto onely héere in the Church but also at home let the husband with the wife the father with the childe talke together of these matters and both to and fro let them enquire and giue their iudgements and would God they wold begin this good custome Chrisost. in Math. Homil. 78. Looke Scripture REGENERATION What this word Regeneration importeth THis worde Regeneration importeth as much as a man might say new birth As if after that wée were once borne we are borne yet againe And therefore it importeth forthwith a reformation fo the man which is a rising againe from the dead which is wrought in the spirit as the last resurrection shall be wrought in the flesh Pet. Viret Regeneration standeth chiefly in these two points In mortification that is to say a resisting of the rebellious lusts of the flesh and in newnesse of life whereby we continually striue to walke in that purenesse and perfection wherewith we are clad in Baptime How Regeneration is taken in these places following Ye which followed me in the regeneration c. In this worke whereby the world is chaunged renued and regenerate or to ioyne this word with the sentence following and so take regeneration for the day of iudgement when the elect shall in soule and body enioy their inheritaunce to the end that they might know that it is not sufficient to haue begun once Geneua By the washing of the new birth ¶ Baptime is a sure signe of our regeneration which is wrought by the holy Ghost Geneua How this place is vnderstood Except a man be borne of water and spirit ¶ Nichodemus vnderstoode not the opinion concerning regeneration or newe birth of man Therefore our louing and mercifull Sauiour more plainely expoundeth these things which before he spake mystically teaching that to be borne againe is nothing else but to be borne of water and of the spirit and that the same is the true manner of regeneration But all men for the most part by this sentence of our Sauiour Christ vnderstand Baptime and many of them doe héereby make Baptime so necessary that they affirme it impossible for a man to attaine to saluation except he be washed with the water of Baptime so disorderly they include the assuraunce of our saluation vnder the signe when as the whole Scripture attributeth the grace and power of regeneration to the Holye ghost as maye appeare in diuers places of Scripture but specially by these places noted in the margent And as touching this place we ought to vnderstand the same simply of mans regeneration and not of Baptime For the purpose of Christ was to exhort Nichodemus to newnesse of life because he was not capable of the Gospell vntill he was a newe man Therefore this is the simple meaning of this place That it behooueth vs to be born againe that we may be the sonnes of God and also that the Holy ghost is the Author of the second birth Marl. vpon Ioh. fol. 66. REYNES What they signifie YE shall vnderstand that the reynes or kidneyes of a man is that intire part from which springeth chiefely the strength the desire of naturall generation which effect or desire in man because of all other effects it is the most mightiest therfore the Scripture vseth to call the secrets or the priuie thought or effects of a man by the name of the reynes or the kidneyes Insomuch as when the Scripture saith that God knoweth all our harts our thoughts then the Scripture saith Scrutans corda reâ—es Deus God is the searcher of hearts and reynes that is of the most priuie and secret thoughts that be in man R. Tur. Trye out my reynes and my heart ¶ By the heart and reynes will he signifie the delectations and affections of yâ— flesh which let him to follow God As in the Psa. 16. 7. T. M. ¶ My reynes also teach me in the night ¶ God teacheth me continually by secret inspiration Geneua ¶ Examine my reynes and my heaâ—t ¶ My very affections and inward motions of the heart Geneua Thou hast possessed my reynes ¶ Thou hast made me in all parts and therefore most needes know me Geneua Thou art néere in their mouth and farre from their reynes They professe God in mouth and denye him in heart which is héere meant by the reynes Esay 29. 13. Math. 15. 8. Geneua REIOICE Wherefore we should chiefely reioice REioice because your names are written in heuen ¶ Though we should worke miracles and cast foorth diuells yet ought