others That same Ephraem hath yet gonne farther in this hée searcheth out more narrowly the dealinges of the world and preuenteth that same glorious pompe in our professors that lay open their thoughts and ripp vp their cogitacions to bée séen of men with which kynde of people I professe my selfe mutch to haue delt withall and glad I am it pleased God to let mée haue sight of sutch in these my younge dayes for that I may beeware the better in ryper yéeres But his councell it is not to praye for our selues but for all euen sutch as bée Christians and of the Lorde and not for our fréends but euen for those that hate vs I thinke hée hath sufficiently glaunced at our Anabaptists that beside their error in mislyking our manner of prayer holdinge with none but sutch as is framed and ordered by them intertayne but litle order in the Church but careles in life and suspected in their dealing make the Gospell a couering and the word a cloake to dissemble with regard sutch as fauor them presume to appoincte the elect of the Lord at their seuerall iudgments pray for sutch as bée of their Church kéepe secret the dealinges of vngodly men least their profession and calling bee dishonested as though Dauid could not offend or Abraham transgresse the will of God bee it reuerently spoken and with feare but the Churche of God should suffer Shipwracke for it I speake as one mooued and sory I am that I am at holme And this sore it is so festred writhed already into the harts of men that an Iron to seare it is better thē a plaister to mollefy it with And if God doo not giue an other spirit or dalyaunce bée deferred as yet it is I haue at this tyme but looked at them if God permit and leysure serue and these outragious enemyties stil continue I am not purposed to leaue them so rawly But ouerslipping my self I haue plunged vnaduisedly to come so neere vs truly so it may bee For better a great deale is it to kéepe him that is abroad and strike the enemye then to rushe vpon our fréendes that bée at holme And yet not so nor so wisely neyther if wee consider all For it is wisdome to cut of him in thy owne Campe first if so thy liberty permitteth thee and then to wrestle with the forraner but content I am and I striue not nowe I will arme my selfe agaynst some other time Only let them take heede they come not nearer for if they doo though now they bée without reatch yet Pen Inke and Paper shall neuer spare them wel to leaue this of our disordered and crooked dealing let vs approtche to that which is more pleasaunt and frutefull then is this and if thou wilt pray and pray aright pray thus First in spirite Ephe. 6.8 Iude. 20. and in many other places the reason hereof is For that the man alwayes occupyed in his traficke is not able to vse the body the ioynctes the lymmes the outward gesture as other doth whose leysure suffereth them to praye at all times but euen this is required in him as in all other to lifte vp himself to erecte and reare him vp in soule in spirit in hart vnto the Lord that the affayres and dealings in this world ouercome thée not Secondly in fayth Math. 2.12 Mark. 11.23 Ioh. 15.7 Iam. 1.6 and the 5.15 Ephe. 3.12 Ephe. 2.8 and els wheare For as God hath left vnto vs all manner of instrumentes to woorke by as hee hath giuen vs a meane and way on earth to labour by as man hath his seuerall manner to inritch him with So for the spirituall affayres for thy woorke for thy waye for thy labour for thy custome to attaine thy honor with all is theare of vs all as common vnto all one onely instrument which is sayth Thirdly it must bée donne in the name of Christ alone wher in is secluded all manner worship and inuocation eyther of Saincts eyther of men eyther of creature on the earth That prayer vsed of them in Aegipt to Isis so named of the glory which they saw in the Moone Also they of Athens that worshipped the vnknowne god Actes 20. As they which were at Rome that serued Minerua Pallas Iuno Hereules with the rest diuersly inuented by the Ethnickes All els whatsoeuer they bee condempned by this for it ought to be in the name of Christ the reason is that wée take it not as a charactar or fondly for the repeating therof as that there should be any forse vertue in it But théese bee the causes for which wée are charged and inioyned to thinke that wée haue saluation in the name of Christ ¶ The first cause for which wee pray in the name of Christ For that hée onely forgiueth sinnes Math. 9.2 Actes 10.43 Rom. 8.4 1. Cor. 5.18 Ephe. 1.7 and the fourth the thirtéenth verse otherwise wée might pray to the Blocke and to the stone and to the thinge that créepeth and profiteth vs not For what aduauntage had wée in sorrowing all the dayes of our life and in the ende when the wrinckels in our sace appeareth and the messenger doth his duty and citeth vs before the Lorde then wee bée still in death and life is kepte from vs then this is the ende bereof Namely that our transgressiōs may be hid and our sinnes couered and that wée may haue remission of the same and life eternall which is the first cause we pray in the name of Iesus Christ The second for that hee is the way the truth and the life Ioh. 14.5 and 26. Ioh. 11.2 Ioh. 14 6. Actes 3.15.1 Ioh. 1.2.1 Ioh. 5.11 Colos 3.4 By this wee are secluded from all licentious liberty of the Gentilles from all inuention of man from all fonde and phanatical illutions For if wee séeke for lyse wee haue it in Christe that dyed for vs to bringe vs out of death If for a guide wee haue the spirit that will conducte vs in the right way and leade vs to his Father if the truth there was no blemish found on his lippes nor deceypt in his tongue and hée brought in the truth the Gospell of his Father and the woord of lyfe kept secret from the beginning of the world and reuealed in these latter daies vnto the sonnes of men wherfore wee néede to séeke no farther wée haue all things wrought in Christ The thirde for that hée is the accomplishment and ende of the law This may seeme litle to apperfayn to vs but whē we cōsider the by the law came in death and by the fulfillinge of the lawe came deliueraunce from death it may appeare what a glorious God hée was and moste victorious that hath ouercome the sharpenes thereof and vanquished the power of the Deuill that kepte this as a handwrighting agaynste man that of himself was neuer able to fulfil it wherfore wée pray in the name of Christ for that hée hath abolished the strength and force of sinne
and peace in Christe Take this among you to whom I owe it and my presence I thrust vpon you whose looke and countenaunce I neuer saw as yet to reade this not rende this that knowinge and followinge vnderstanding not wandring as hearetofore your duety and obedyence our prayers our request should bee rightly offered vp before God When as therfore wee present our selues beefore his Maiesty let our supplycations bee framed thus O our Father which art in Heauen IN the whole course of the Scriptures the men of God when they prayed to the Lorde vsed to call vpon him in the name of their Fathers Abraham Isaack and Iacob that hée would remember his promise made vnto them and his couenaunt vnto their posteritie but now the scepter being giuen from Iuda and the Lawgiuer hauing lost his title and Siloe nowe come to comfort his people wée leaue that olde and auncient spéeche of Abraham and of Iacob Wee take a more familier and common language and cal vppon God as wee woulde or coulde speake vnto one that loueth vs or as to him that dwelleth with vs or to suche a one as teacheth vs or to such a one as nurtureth vs or as to a louing and kinde man who for his tender and natural affection beareth with vs The threates of the lawe take no holde vppon those that call vppon him Not the fire at Sinai is able to discourage those be his for he hath abolished the olde scourge and the hatred and wrathe he conceiued against man and he is reconciled and made a father vnto vs in his sonne Christe Firste then here appeareth the loue of God that when wée were dead in sinne and chayned to the weakenesse and beggery traditions of the Iewes he hath nowe appointed a more excellent and vndefiled lawe that will not permit the sprinkling of bloude nor the death of creatures that were innocent No more now to shake the earth nor to appeare in fiery cloudes nor to haue his seate like pillers of brasse to discourage vs but to make an attonement he hath sent his onely begotten sonne that tooke our shape vppon him and became weakenes to make vs strong and to make an agréement betwixt him and vs that he might be kinde and fatherly vnto vs. Secondly he hath assured vs for euer of his loue and in his Christe made an eternall testament that cannot be broken to the ende wée shoulde acknowledge him and call vpon his name all the dayes of our life Can the mother forget her young one or the Eagle those that shée fostered Will the Storke returne no more to her egges shée hid or the Partridge discouer her nest to giue vp her young ones to the enimie if all this could happen yet will not the Lorde forget vs For as is bonde betwixt father the sonne and as is the couenaunt betwixt the mother and her babe and as is the loue of the Turtle to his mate so is the Lord fixed to vs He is a rightuous God he will not breake his promise and wée may claime our priuiledge fréely for he hath giuen it vs freely in his sonne purchased in a great prise bought without any substance that wee gaue euen with the life of his onely sonne so that hee will not forsake vs to the ende that be his neyther giue vs ouer for he is our father The assurance hereof appeareth by the will that hee lefte vs at his departure that in that he bequeathed vs his Indentures to shewe for it For as power and auctoritie was giuen to Christ bothe in heauen and earth and those which were in the worloe those his father gaue vnto him So hauing title and interest therevnto hée made vs his heires and fellowe brethren that wée might haue one father with him and haue our mantion and mâ—elling there where he hath and to shew this vnto vs more perfectly hee lefte vs when hee tooke his leaue on earth these his letters his seale to shewe for it Firste he that willed and dyed and gaue vs this testament is christe His heires he made all such as be of his churche His executours and administratours be the pastors of his flocke Witnesses at his death and that bare recorde hereof be his Apostles The riches he gaue vs the substaunce he bequethed vs is the kingdome of his father The title wee haue to it the writings wee can shewe for it be his last wordes at his laste supper which hee strengthened and sealed in his bloud It is not vnknowen howe shrewde a fall man had at the firste that bruzed and mangled his ioyntes in such sorte as that wee which are his children are lame almost euer since Nowe to comfort vs in our weakenesse and to teache vs to go better then before we did God hath lefte an ordinarie meane to craue for helpe at his hande For as the father helpeth his tender and beloued childe when he néedeth and the mother cannot refraine from teares when the infant weepeth No more can our God and our father but pittie vs and the state of man when hée asketh Two things I haue in this place offered mée that I would gladly open The first what wee should eschewe and auoide in our supplications and prayers wee make to the Lorde The seconde is the vse hereof which the sonne of God hath giuen vs And albeit I haue set downe before in my former treatise to my young scholler a large and plentifull discourse to trouble his young head withall Yet it is such as the grauest father that I knowe may looke vppon I professe neyther will I striue herein the weightinesse of the cause and my small skill and fewe yeres that yet I know But for all that giue mee leaue to speak to them of the countrie and to the husbandman I medle not with you of the citie And if I haue forgot my selfe to pleasure them pardon mee but this once If not the rudenesse I haue learned since I gaue ouer my studie is ciuilitie enough to speake Northerenly to the labouring man. It commeth to my remembraunce that I assayed before to beate some knowledge of the abuse of prayer into the mindes of my auditours But looking at it then neuer touching it I am admonished that there is something to be do e in it nowe Therefore to féede here vppon the grosenesse of our stomackes before we come to taste of swéeter meates I haue to clip away the peruersnesse of our time vsually nowe accustomed among men And it is the prayse wée looke to reape at the hands of God for that we either staye long at the temple or vse tedious and wearisome prayers at our méetings But if thou praye vntill the night and then goest late to bed or if thou continue till the twilight when the cocke warneth thee to come home yet it is nothing to the Lorde if thy praying forgetteth following him when thou returnest
a King his Scepter and royal seate it would dismay vs if happely we forgate our homage went awrye the messenger of death is readie for vs If as to consuming fire what eye coulde abide him for if the beast that touched the burning mountaine was shott thorough what hope hath man to skape when a flaming fire must go before him and thousandes thousandes minister vnto him and ten thousande times ten thousande stande before him when the seates shal be set the bookes oponed and iudgement giuen what mercie then can wee looke for at Gods hande But if wee called on God as on him that is the fountaine of life howe coulde we call vpon him when we be in death And if you prayd vnto him as the ruler of the worlde then is man beaten downe that coulde neuer as yet among all the beastes thereof be tamed But sée howe louing a Lord God we haue that in our transgressions woundeth vs not in our sinnes striketh vs not in our disobedience remēbreth vs not in our euil wayes punisheth vs not that neuer thinketh on our iniquities but calleth vs as children to aske at his hands the more willingly to trayne vs vp in his feare hath for all our manifolde transgressions made himselfe a father to vs But from whence cometh this our father is Adam and he is dead and we be his children and howe can we liue To him he gaue a charge to sweat it out and to labour on earth what then can happen to vs but miserie Then which way so euer wee looke on our selues wee are in death and whence haue wée this therefore that wee call on God as on our father Pardone mée if being a man as you bée I am inquisitiue to search out what man is And say what you will yet will not I be satisfied til I knows more For as Crisostome is plentifull in the description of man So I thinke that as the shippe is in the Sea that tottereth or as the fether in the ayre that houereth or as the trée on earthe that shaketh euen like portion indge I to be allotted to man when he offendeth For wishe any thing that is good that can not man do without God wil neither willeth he that God wisheth without God please And that I will and that I may I do not if he permitteth not So wish I yet misse I if he directeth not Trewe it is that Isychius saide in man there is two natures or rather properties one is that wee carrie about with vs it is dust the other it is giuen vnto vs it is the spirite both these making but one man yet do wée not know on Christ Salonius writing vpō Ecclesiastes giueth wisedom vnderstanding vnto man aboue al others that haue life and in the same hée giueth vs free passage to know God but it is in Christe And Agustine in his Apognosticon agaynst the Palagian guieth vs liberty to Ploughe to Till to labor to Sowe to Spinne to Carde to drinke to eate to féede our cattell and our Beastes if so you will to vse the Arrowe and the Bowe and the Hearbes but to come vnto God and to haue any portion from him without Christe that hee permitteth not Sedulius vpon the Corrinthians giueth no liberty vnto vs but only to sinne and Primatius in his Treatise on the Romans is of the same iudgement so that in the ende when our deedes bee ransackt our thoughts sought out what is it that wee can clayme of the Lorde Then hereon wée stand Christ which alwayes hath bin with his Father the liuely and expresse Image of his godhead came into the world and was debased for vs and we béeing of his flesh and the same mould that hee was of beeinge perfecte man in all poynctes sinne onely accepted hée hath made vs one with him and taken vs into the same felowship of his kingdome and of his Sainctes and wee are made Sonnes with him vnto one Father Vnto this it was alluded by Dauid As the Father hath pitty on his Children so hath the Lorde on all such as call vpon him faithfully Esay touched this in his comparison that hee maketh with the Woman and hir Infant whom though shée could forget sucking at hir Brestes yet would not the Lorde forsake vs If I were not drawne into a narrow straight by the importunitée allotted to mee at this present I would see what that were which man so mutch braggeth of and if it were possible that frō top to toe hee had no one blemish to bee found within him Yet if a man might enter into his hart and search his Sinewes and his cogitations within how corrupte and vnfauorye should wee finde him well this is our comforte and it is the noate of Maister Gualter that hee is not onely a Father in gouerning the world and the whole trayne that waiteth theron but hee is our Father And as in Iob hee is called the Father of the Aungelles and of the Sainctes and holy men which loued him so that it is litle vnto vs and small prositte haue wee therby beeinge neyther Aungels or so holy as they if of his bounty mercy it were not sayd vnto vs here that hee is our Father toe but I consider yet an other thinge and why saye wee not O my Father as well as O our Father Ciprïan on the prayer of the Lord giueth this reason This prayer it is cōmon to vs all sayth hee for when we pray wee pray not for one but for all because all they we are one And he is sayd to be our Father euen of vs as many as be sanctified as be renewed as bee strengthned in his Spirit as for other they stande aloofe and wish they may to come vnto vs come at any time they shall not Thus you know hee is a Father and hee is our Father it is adioyned he is our God hée is aboue and it is in Heauen These three I ioyne togeather neyther will I seuer them For as hée is far aboue the reatch and capacitie of man so hath he no terrestriall Throne to sit in but a more bright and gloryous Seate is that of the Lorde our god And as was the Arke and mercy Seate within wherunto no mā durst presume to come and looke into it but sutch as God had chosen from the rest so to his kingdome and his Empire shall no man approtche but sutch as hee hath elected in his Christ It may seeme a vayne thing to aske this question why wee praye to God Yet sutch is the vanity and ignoraunce of man that hee knoweth not and such is his dulnes the he answereth not but the weakenes it is alike in vs all that searcheth not To say the truth this question is aboue that I can well attayne vnto and the reasons that may bee giuen they bee so innumerable I bare not enter now into them If God do
his wife And why Moses that spake vnto the Lorde face to face had not the power nor wisedome at that instant to sanctifie the Lorde at the waters of Merebath I could not a long time disgest that same of Saul that though he had grace most plentifull yet fell be from it Nor of Achitophell that was so often times in the tabernacle of the Lord and in the ende strangled him selfe so villenously with a halter Or why Iudas that was among the twelue and I doubt not but he did myracles preached to yet fell so strangely in the end And hardly was I satisūed when I found a doubt of a number in the booke of God whose dealinges were somtimes commended whose liues at length so altered whose endes were feared and despised of many The first sorte were good and are saide to haue pleased the Lorde God and I knowe and I am assured that they had the spirite of the Lorde aboundantly yet did they fall verie grossely The seconde forte that I reckoned vp had the Spirite of the Lorde for a season and it was taken away from them for it was abused by them and they had their portion whiche was condemnation The thirde sort that I finde are such as fell and did rise and yet in the ende howe they ended and dyed for that they are not condemned we haue lefte it to the Lorde Three sortes of men I synde and three sortes of workinge and thrée manners of operations by the Spirite The first from death vnto life and saued dayly by renouation The second from life vnto death that fell continually by reprobation The thirde betwixt them bothe that lined sinned and offended and were strengthened I doubt not but saued but by imputation by grace through Christe The Creature cannot bee as is the Creator neyther Adam as was God that made him But hee that hath the fulnesse of the Spirite of the holye Ghoste in ample and full measure dwelling in him remaining in deitie in godhead in diuinitie hath that which is proper to God and Christo Then neyther man neither creature neyther any thing on earth can haue this propertie to winde the Spirite as he listeth for it is proper onely to the Lorde Elias prayed for rayne God heard him When he fled from Iezabell he was nourished by the Angell of god Elias deuideth the waters and is taken vp into heauen in a flerie Charriot If hée prayed he had it not of himselfe he acknowleged the gift there of from God. If the Angell was sent from God he did not commaunde it nor trust in his owne might he confessed one that sent him He deuided the waters for the spirite of God did moue him yet stayed he his time for the spirite of God did leade him And he was taken vp not of himselfe but at the commaundement and will of God that called him Are they better then Elyas I neuer sawe it yet Are they stronger then Moses that made Aegypt to quake Then shewe me thy myracles and commaund the waters the Sea the ayre the heauens to obey thée Yet shalt thou be but a man and be ruled by the Lorde Are they more perfect and vpright then Samuel Hardly is it to be credited And yet worke what thou canst worke it is not of thy selfe The spirite it is not thine Thy déedes and dealings be not thine owne Thy cogitations and thoughts if they be good I say with Paul and with the prophets They be the giftes of God. Will the Sunne and the Moone rule the heauens or be they not ruled of the Lord Can the clouds scatter their droppes abroade Or the horie frostes lie on the grasse Or the caterpiller eate vp the hearbes Or drought consume them on the earth Or the pestilence ransake the kinges Pallaces Or death do his mesage in aresting thée If the Lore send them not No more canst thou doe any good if he guide thée not The gould is digged in the earth the cloddes be broken the drosse is purged the fine mettaile is laid vp for store And so is man by the Lorde altered renewed strengthened and clensed and kept against the day of righteousnesse Can the potte pleade with his maister Be it of brasse or clay of Copper or Siluer or of Gould Or the plante that is set in the earth be it peare or aple or what fruite else soeuer may it reason with him that graffed it for that it might haue ben made one of a better tast Why then shoulde we murmur at the Lorde that ruleth vs and giueth a boundaunce of his spirite and vprightnesse of life according to his will and secrete purpose Not as man thinketh at his owne pleasure to vse or abuse as him listeth It is very true that the holy ghost appeared visiblie by signes on the apostles like clouen tongues and is saide to come in fyre But it is no argument God sheweth his powre visiblie by his spirite Ergo God is in vs really in spirite For I knowe that the Apostles were not deisted in that place made so perfect that they could not sinne For Paul resisted Peter to his face in the Gallathians For that when he was in Antiochia before certeine came from Iames he eate with the Gentiles But when they were come he withdrewe him and seperated himselfe fearing them whiche were of the Circumcision In like manner Barnabas So that it is no argument They receiued the holy ghost Ergo they sinned not But euen God in his elect wil be glorified in that they falling downe rise againe so gloriously In déede the Persians doe reason here that therfore the fire is God because the holy ghost appeered as fire And these heritickes that they be as God because God is saide to dwell in them Truth it is that the spirite of God is the earnest of our inheritaunce and that we are the temples of the holy ghost yet but by a way of comparison For wee finde it in the lawe get you out from among them O my people And seperate your selues from them saith the Lorde And touch not him that is vncleane the one expresseth the other As the Temple is kepte and consecrated to god so ought our bodies and soules to be hallowed sanctified and kept cleane vnto the Lorde As touching the beasty and lasciuious life wherevnto they be giuen no heart can suffer it and my pen it shaketh to report it But if that be true that is in Paul. Let not sinne reigne in your mortall bodies to obey the lustes thereof If that be so in the Galathians Fornicatours idolaters adulterers wantones buggerers théeues dronkerds extortioners raylers shall nót inherite the kingdome of God If it be true to the Corinthians to avoide Fornication let euery man haue his wife let euery woman haue her owne husbande If vnto the Ephesians beware of fornication vncleanesse coueteousnesse let it not be
confession if thou aske it not in humblenesse and méekenesse of spirite but art swelled and puffed vp with Pride as though thy owne righteousnesse and the strength of thine owne armes bad brought it to passe For which cause we pray that our debts may bee forgiuen vs and our transgressions pardoned vs and we acknowledg that we owe much vnto the Lord god For séeing that our sinnes are as the stayned clothe of a woman for the we hatch Cocatrice eggs and weaue the spiders webbe Is not his hande vpon vs and his consuming wrath hath it not alreadie snared vs and are wee not intangled vnto death And is it not time to begin to pray w humilitie confesse our sinnes for here glittereth forth the first hope we haue in Christ in that he was a propitiacion for vs to his father that cannot any otherwise be satisfied then in acknowledging our sinnes Chiefly here and before all els we haue to vnderstande what is ment by this for giue vs our debtes For as touching our duetie wee owe much vnto the Lorde feare obedience loue reuerence with sutche like Beeing so mutche bounde the more vnto our God as his mercie is greate and his loue surpassing our loue or his kindenesse without ende whiche is set forth to be seene of man in these two thinges The first is in the eternal couenant which he hath made with man whereby his frée mercy is séene by not imputing vnto vs our sinne The other is the weakenesse and imbecillitie of all flesh so that being debters we are alienated from the Lord hauing no hope of peace left vnto vs but by his onely grace to fulfil that Rom. 3. That all haue sinned and are destitute of the glorie of God and that euery mouthe might be stopped and the whole world culpable in his sight For though there appéere a certeine notice and glimmering â—f perfectioÌ„ as it were in the saincts of god Yet till they bee moued by the spirite they runne at randals and then wheÌ„ they are best they fall often Wherefore here is condempned those vpstart and newfangled vanities nowe of late fleeringe to and fro in the mindes of men that by counterfait and glosing speech insinuate I knowe not what kinde of holinesse in themselues And there is a byworde of late crept into our Church taken as I suppose from the contrarietie of their manners And we must be puritans in the name of God and seuer our selues from other congregations and truely paraduenture more aptely then they are a ware of For Puri tanquam spuri agréeth right God he mercifull vnto vs I knowe some that goe a tippe Tooes and mince it as neately in talke as any courtier of them all can doe at meate and yet by your leaues be not angry w them neither they be as vily spleafooted and treade their shooes as much a wry as the homelest carter of them all that keepeth the Plough thorough out the yeare And when I haue consithered all they bee but men But blessed be our Lorde the man Iesus Christe that hath ginen vs an other meane and opened vnto vs a better way and permitteth vs to haue falts and some blemish and suffereth vs to fall oftentimes and then giueth vs leaue to lay the burthen of our sinnes vpon his shoulders For euen thus it is prepared the vnlesse Moses haue one to holde vp his arme the victorie wil be lost and yet if it be so that he hath helpe for a season such is our nature our fragilitie such the he is wearied fo if ye haue not a stone to vnderprop him to stay his elbow on It is in hazard the he falleth not they al. And if Dauid coulde not promise him any assuraunce in his life but that he fell so sodeinly at the sight of a silye woman that washed her bragge they asmuche as they will and liue they as well as they can yet at length by trusting so much to this tower they may paradueÌ„ture some one or other time be ouertakeÌ„ but this two headed serpeÌ„t I let it alone God wil one day as be hath of late mangled the one of them so I doubt not but he wil sharpeÌ„ an other sword shal cut off both This péece of this prayer calleth vs to the tribunall seate of God and our names written in his booke our plea can be no other then for mercie so that what we haue not of our selues that haue we from the lord and condempned by sinne in the flesh wee are raised by him in the spirite For all fleshe sinneth the iust man liueth by fayth Dauid I doubt not did see this When be acknowleged his imbicilitie and gaue way vnto weakenesse and sawe his conception how it was in sinne and knewe his thoughts howe they were euil from his youth I labour more in this for that I haue had of late to deal with some that prestime to seuer them from those be wicked and accompt althings as righteousnesse that procedeth from them These I desire in the Lorde to reade ouer the Prophets And if from Adam till the floude all had their infirmities If Adam fell if our first mother gaue vs so vnluckie a drinke that we al haue béen blistered therwith from our cradelles If Abell offered vp the first fruites of his shéepe as a sacrifice to the Lorde yet commended to bee a iust man If Noah him selfe commended of the Lorde fel so grossely in incest and ouercome in drinke we be no better then our fathers we may fal I speake not here to vphold sin no the lord God is my witnesse whom I serue in his Christ that since the first fast the I supped of the Cupe of the Lord from the time I set my foot vpoÌ„ the doore of his threshold to sée what was don ther I haue abhorred to the death the ways of death And let this bée my witnes at the day of the Lorde and let mee looke at that day for the Crowne of glorye as I haue sought with all endeuor to builde vp his Churche and detested iniquitye Let no man suspecte mee here for I know I haue to deale with curious heads that take euery light ocrasion for their purpose I shiner them in péeces for this cause onely if I can and I cut them of For this is my Faith and this I know That by the first man came in death by the second man Christ came in life The first is of the fleshe to condempnation The second of the Spirite to Saluation And that which commeth of it selfe ryseth vp in man to cast downe man being only sinue scrawling in our mortall bodies and is made righteousnes in the man Christ in whome we haue an earnest by the spirite Our spirite witnessing with the spirite of God that we be inheritours of life so that I leaue to vs no good thing as of our selues but I referre my selfe to the
handes of God in his sonne Christe in whome onely I rise a perfect man to life eternal As for others if they thinke to get any thing by their labour let them bragge thereof when they haue gotten it For as the Carpinters of Noe when hee made the Arke so are these that made a house to saue some yet saued not them selues And they may glorifie the Lord in one or other their dooings Glorie in the beauens till they be changed shall they neuer haue Lactantius as I thinke of his milde and pleasaunt wordes he spake in his booke de Ira hath wiped away all the sleights of man as touching this question For Subiecta est peccato fragilitas carnis qua induti sumus The fragilitie of our flesh saith he is subiect prone to sin wherwithal we are clad In his booke Contra Gentes in his 13. Cap he hath confessed the very like that no man can be without sin during his above in the flesh Gregorius Nazianzen in his Oration so termed wher with all bee comforteth De patre tacente giueth it proper only to the Lorde God to bee without sinne In his Oration Infamatrice Agaynst Iulian the seconde as els where in many places setteth downe that God hath so ordeyned the no man on earth should bee without sinne And Ambrose bet down the same in his time that I stand on now And in his first Booke Chap 2 Quis est sayth bee qui mundum Cor a peccato habeat Aut non delinquat in Lingua sua Is there any man sayth Ambros that hath a cleane hart that is vnspotted and frée from sin Or that hath not offended in his toung Herunto it is alluded in the Scriptures where it is so often attributed vnto our satisfaction our clensing our washing our purginge or makingecleane our fréedome in Christe This suppressinge and beatinge downe of the insolency flaming a fresh in our age might in one Psalme 32. bée sufficiently raked out Wherin Dauid speaketh no one woord of iustification in vs But hee counteth that man happye whose iniquities bée forgiuen and whose sinnes bée couered hee accompteth him blessed to whom the Lorde imputeth no sinne In Esay the Lord him selfe speaketh where hee comforteth as it were his people Israell shewing it was only hee that did blot out their transgressions and of him selfe hee did it and hée would no more remember their iniquities Red ye neuer as yet that Parable in Math. Where the kingdome of Heauen is compared to one that is ritch and wealthy hauinge many debters amonge the rest hee had one that ought him ten thousand Talents when hee had not wherwith all to pay hée his wife and all that hée had should haue bin solde But thinke you if Christe had not taken compassion of him and for giuen him all his debt If hee had â—yeu by the héeles and fettered all the dayes of his life yet that hee coulde euer haue payde the vttermoste Farthing Verely as the womaÌ„ with the bloody Flixe spent hir substance and mended not so if wee touch not the hem of his garment and debase our selues litle it is wée can looke for at the hands of God. But now this is our comfort in all extremity that God hath commaunded vs to pray in the name of his Sonne Christe And this is the Irrefragable testimony of his goodwill that hée maketh vs sure of the remission of our sinnes For hée hath promised and hee fayleth vs not but so far as the Easte is from the West so far hath hee set our sinnes from vs. Thus mutch for the first note wée are all debters that is sinners offenders against the Lorde Not to discourage any man for God forbid but as willinge to lifte them vp as they bée to mount into the Heauens if they could so that it be discretly doone I haue adioyned a shorte Lesson borowed of M. Gualter in his Treatise on Luke Page 284. Hicergo obseruemus quoad nos peccata exmera gratuita mi fericordia remitti nullo nostrorum operum aut meritorum respectu quae in nobis prorsus nulla sunt In meaninge this It is only one Lorde that hath remitted vnto vs pardoned our sinnes without our desarte yet is hée rightuous neither is there any thing deminished in his iustice For that which was ours sin is wiped away and clensed in his blood And in due time according to his first purpose came he tooke our flesh vpon him and wiped away the curse and malediction was due to vs by his cure vpon the Crosse so that wée attayne our rightuousnes onely in the Lorde And as otherwayes you may know him Very swéet and comfortable is Lactantius in his 77. Booke cap. 1. The Aucthor of life and our rightuousnes which wée haue of God is only God him selfe Arnobius in lib. 2. Contra gentes saith that it was all alone one Bishoppe Iesus Christe that gaue Saluation to our soules and that could giue the spirit of Eternitye And Epiphanius in lib. 3. Tomo 20. hath thus Christ without his passion wrought not our redemption but in that bee dyed for vs and gaue him self vnto his father a full Sacrifice for our soules in his blood hee hath perfectly washed away our sinnes and hath rased out the handwrighting agaynst vs and nayled it to the Crosse Hilarye In his Trinitate second Booke sayth properly for this The Virgin that is Mary his birth and his bodye after that the crosse death and hell were a meanes to worke our saluation which tendeth to this That albeit our sinnes be manifolde and many in number yet are they al forgotten in Christ And to encourage vs the more he hath left vs a mean to attaine the same which is faith Of the death of Christ how did Esay Euangelize long before of that which appeared notwithstanding long after Surely he hath borne our infirmities car ryed our forrowes yet wé did iudge him as plagued and smitten of GOD and humbled But hee was wounded for our transgressions Hee was broken for our iniquities The chasticement of our peace was vppon him And with his stripes wee are healed All wée like sheepe haue gone astraye wee haue turned euery one to his owne way the Lorde hath layde vpon him the iniquitie of vs all And Peter hee him selfe hath set out as one that sawe and knew the Lorde The excellent and great mercie of God that are not redéemed with corruptible things as siluer Goolde by a vaine conuersation from our fathers but with the pretious bloude of Christ as of a Lainbe vndefiled and without spot Therfore in Titus he is said to haue giuen himselfe for vs that he might redeeme vs from all iniquitie purge vs to bee a peculier people vnto himselfe zealous of good workes And in one verse doubtlesse euen in Tymoth Is the full saluation of man set downe where according
in Israel there was scarce any weapons to fight withal Nowe our Swordes can not helpe vs our manlynes kéepe vs wee are affrayde of our shaddowes as wee goe in the streetes Your huffinge carrowfing is turned to bloodsheading our freendlynes and familiaritye is turned to enimity Our loue and our neighboring is turned to brawling Nay our Cuppes and our banqueting is turned to murthering I am perswaded before the Lorde that a nomber of Swashbucklers nay euen of vs Gospellers bee fitter to sporte it out with Dalila and daunce it out with Herodias then to come to the Temple to heare Moses God mende the state hereof and giue vs more of his peace and blesse vs with his rest if it bée his wil And send a strong Easterne winde to rid away these Catterpillers that wee dye not all But let them alone the common wealth will bee so weary that what with men for their Sonnes and Mothers for their Children and men Women and Children for their heapes of Carcases that lye scrawling in the streetes they wil be glad eare it bee long to spewe them out There is yet another kind of felowe that I marke and ment in these words of Christ for giue our debts and as the Adder is more sharpe and her force daungerous when she commeth vnlooked for then when wee may a voide her so be these I talke of that lye hidden in the thicket till they spie their opertunitie and then wreake their malice on their brother This enuious man little remembreth what our Sauiour Christe did that when he could haue slaine him yet saued him When death and distruction was limitted for his portion with hipocrites wrought a good worke and brought to passe a full satisfaction for his sinnes And for a certeintie if the wicked man knew from whence he fetcheth this same if once he sawe that vgly shape and monstrous visage of that deformed creature that brought this to the worlde I suppose that for the hatred they owe vnto the Deuill and Sathanas hee woulde from hence foorth neuer vse it And of these there is two sortes One is for his neighbours losse for the euill successe that happeneth to his brother this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ioy pleasure that is takē in other mens mishaps vnfoldeth the inwards cogitations of the heart Sheweth that we be not perfect and vpright before him and it is that the Lorde will require at our handes This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is next followe brother with him that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The seconde kinde of malyee secreatly wrapped within man. For he that is sorie for the good successe of any one though he be a wicked man hath little consideration that the sunne shineth aswel on the good as the hadde And how gorgeous a shew and what couering soeuer they haue to shadowe it with be they well assured the Lord will not suffer it Here it commeth that a fonde affection leadeth a number he hath this man he hateth that man his reason is not to seeke he is an enimie to the gospell This is but the shift of one that halteth and such idle excuces shall not excuse thée at the day of wrath I can giue testimonie of this and my conscience beame witnesse that I finde it true Whether I may accuse the dayes or no wherein I am I cannot tell Refuse the dealinge of some I may for good occasion whose consiences are sore troubled and they dismaied for a péece of breade and a cake and for an holy day That is happiest and counted wisest that maketh religion his warrant and his profession his Canape to dissemble gloriously That heapeth vp riches greedely robbeth his brother vncharitably that gloseth shamefully and walketh vnbrotherly yet will he bee a gospeller and deale precisely I say no more it goeth verie harde with vs when men of conscience in greate and weightie matters shall strayne their conscience as they doe and life and death shal be too little for others if they shall giue place but to trifles That swallowe vp Cammelles and be strangled with a small and tender knatte That lay great heauie burthens vppon other mens shoulders and beare not so much as the weight there of them selues Surely they shall not escape the vengeance that is to come nor eschew the firce wrath of the highest They shall pearishe in the vanitie of their thoughts and consume away at the looke of the Lorde of hostes For they haue not knowen the Lord their maker nor beléeued him in faith nor professed his power nor looked for iudgment neither make they an accompt of his comming in the Clowdes neither take they any héed to forgiue other men their debtes There is other kinde of men that I note héere I put them in the same Catalogue for as I vnderstand they be fellowe brethren and pitie it is to deuide them they be so friendly And these bee sutch as forgiue all but for aduantage will bee lye their neighbours and for their profit dissemble with many and for that they will not shame the gospell take an oth now and then to ridde their brethren out of thraldome and accuse them they fauour not And slaunder them they fansie not and raise vp reproches though they haue suffered the heat of many summers ratle forth their gun shot against the godly Yet forgiue they their debts as they woulde be forgiuen of god But I wishe them to remember not that in Virgilius Talia voce refert curis ingentibus aeger Spem vultu simulat premit altum corde dolorem Nor that which Plautus hath in Trinummo Sapiens quidem polipse fingit fortunam sibi A politike man the worlde nowe doth smile vppon him as to knowe from whence he came that hee is the Temple and glorious building of suche a one as will not suffer straunge merchaundise to be set at sale within his libertie For if the midwiues in that they saued the lyues of young children whose bloude Pharao gaped for were knowne by their infirmities to be but women in that they lyed in so good a cause out of doubte a litle corner is left to these men the are nothing so good as the midwiues were Neither saue they any ones life muche lesse in their beastly and malicious quarels allowed of God. If Abraham founde his reward and Sara his wife agast at Abimelech returned and had the shame for that she said she was his sister knowe first that neither Sara neither Abraham bee here neither is your case a like Thirdly that his weakenes shall not saue your rashenesse Though Rahab the harlot did saue the three men that came as spyes to Hierocuntia and had her reward Notwithstanding you haue erred and that grossely For both the commoditie of them in Israel and the whole lande is to be preferred beefore your priuate gaine and when you approue it by the word of God
not the Aucthor of sinne Hée that sendeth his Prophettes to reclayme them And his Preachers to winne them And his word to bring them And his Christ to serue them is not the Aucthor of sinne God it is that sent his Prophets to feede them And his Minysters to instructe them And his Gospell to renewe them And the life of his Sonne for the lyâ—â— of vs all to bring vs to eternall life Then God is not the Aucthor of sinne The Sun might turne him selfe and take his seate in Cancer And the Moone coulde pause and stay hir swifte Voiage which shée kéepeth beefore I shoulde faile in this I will not then beate so mutch on this Iron The Scripture teacheth vs reason leadeth vs Experience guideth vs Nature it selfe directeth man to this That hée whiche sitteth vpon the Cherubins and taketh the Heauens in his arme and stretcheth forth his legges towardes all the corners of the earth and looketh so fiersly vp on the Sonnes of men and iudgeth accordinge vnto equity and hath his Loynes girte with a Siluer Gyrdle and his legges of Brasse That commaundeth the Sunne the Moone and the Starres and theydare not resist him That sayth dooe this and they dooe it And so gloriouslye reygneth on the earth and sendeth his Ministers of flaminge fier to consume the wicked and hath his Habergions and instrumentes of Iron for the vngodly against the day of wrath It séemeth to mée very vnreasonable that any one man béeing neuer so mutch blinded should not sée his Maiesty his brightnes his perfection his guidance his gouernment his Aucthoritie his rule to bee perfecte to bée pure to bée vnspotted to bée glorious and excéeding comely euen in the créeping wormes Then let this suffise to stay vpon for the libertine and outlaw and denyer of the godhead of our Lorde That hee erreth hee is deceaued hee findeth it amisse That God either is or can bee the Aucthour of sinne The Maniches with the Martianistes that are dependant hereon haue small inheritaunce with the Lorde that haue deuided his kingeâ—ome and giuen a Regimente to a good God and an other to an euill God and cut him in péeces as it were and depriue him of his right that is due vnto him Agaynst whom it were a long disputation for his prouidence and his rule are depending hereon it is more requesite for him to handle that hath the Oares the Sea at liberty then for mée that runne in so narrowe a streame This I say as all things were made created by onely one true and eternall God to fulfill that in Genesis In the beginninge God created Heauen and earth And in Iohn In the beginning was the word the worde was with God and God was the worde all things were made by him and without him was nothing made that was made And by him were all things bothe in heauen and in earth visible or inuisible Whether they be Maiesties or Lordships eyther rules or powers All thinges were created by him and for him he was before all thinges and in him all thinges consisteth It is therefore Sacriledge and breach of the powre of the Lord to giue any thinge vnto any other or make his powre equall with the works of his hands that framed and fashioned all at the beginning But now to the seconde opinion As for these wée leaue them to the Lord the at his comming in the Heauens will looke vppon them whom they shall wel know to bée maker and Creator of all when the Element shall melte with fier and the Heauens fold like a Scroll And all that is in heauen and in earth obay him For the bréefe instruction hereof I will aunswere two Argumentes in this second cause One is this Adams sinne was iniquitie God willeth none iniquitie Therefore God willed not Adam should sinne If he willed not sinne then he doth not wil it nowe for he is now as he was then And to this tendeth the next He that doth the wil of God pleaseth God. Adam in breaking the commaundement pleased not God. Therefore God willed not he should sinne And Pigghius a bastarde diuine The Iewes in crucefying Christ did that God would That God would deserueth not death That which deserueth not death is not sinne That is not sinne is not to be punished Then the Iewes in dooing that God woulde be not to be punished And nowe I require yee to giue me leaue a little and marke my spéech I doubt not but you wil sée and confesse with me the power of the Lords that out of that is euill can bring that is good to fulfill his will. Wherein I can not meruaile that Ierome stucke so stifely in the deniall of his prouidence and did not thinke that he was busied in small trifles or had to do with matters of little valewe And I note the blindenesse of our Papistes with whome Phillip Melancton bare was very frée and ernest in this and a man fearefull by nature gaue place vnto the papists in more things then this But for my owne part I teach thus this doctrin not in my owne name but in the Lords as hauing glened it by corne and corne from the most excellent best learned men vnder the Sunne of late days for God hath giuen vs more light then to them in former age in flourishing state among men Out of whose life I confesse my self to haue borowed much if ought the it be I possesse And Zwinglius and Oecolampadius the two lights very starres of their time are witnesse here Martinus Luther Martinus Bucer men of singuler learning and wisedome shall testifie the same and I call to witnesse in this behalfe Petrus Martyr and Iohannes Clauine of which two for sundry sciences for readines and liuelinesse in witte for eloquence and handsome handling of the scriptures no one can bee compared of late daies to them the LORD God did manifest him self so plainly to them I offer you there fore taken from these men my iudgement opinion to the thrée former argumentes To the first The will of any one is saide to bee of these sortes We are said to will a thing when we appoint and ordeine any thing to be done though we bee not partaker of the deede and delight not in the same The seconde Wee also are saide to will when we with or desire or delight or take pleasure or ordeine or constitute or ioy or thinke it good or estaeme it as comely or mainteine the same The third Wee are said to will a thing vppon the contraritie thereof For not forbidding it it commeth to passe we are often times said to be willing vnto it But as for the Lorde the God of hoastes he worketh by an other way and his iudgement is aboue the capacitie of man For God wrought not naughtines in Adames heart first But ordeined that sathan moued by his owne cankered and corrupt nature
there hath bin darkenes and ioy vvhere sorrovv and truth vvhete vvas ignoraÌ„ce so out of the kindome of Satan is the kingdome of Heauen made more glorious and better accepted among men The vvicked hee blindeth the godly hee stirreth vp by his temtations he doth make those that be the Lordes more vvarye God neâ—â—â— forsaketh hist but in desperate cases vseth mightily to restore hiâ— children God vvilhaâ—e his to mourn a season that they may be glad and reâ—oyce vvith great honor No trueth is in his lippes but falshod and lyes be the vveapons of the diuell Of euill Parents often times good children and of an euill stocke good branches yet onely the vvill of God that is tyed vnto no person God is not tyed to the greatest number but hee taketh vvhere he pleaseth and chooseth vvhere he listeth God seeth 〈◊〉 and in due time executeth his fierce vvrath Prayer refiss teth all troubles and if vve vvere at the dore of death yet are vve deliuered by it This serpent vvith many heads God vvill bring dovvne and you shall see him treden vnder foote The Pope vvil fall ere long and his time as it is but short so it is the easier to be borne as he is novve rent torne in peeces and his legges also and feete almost cut off The enimies backbite the vvorde and God and the Gospel if any fall neither knovve they hovv out of their fall ther commeth vp strength and abey the better armed Our strife is for trifles albeit great shevve be made of conscience all men may see hovv small â—â—nscience these haue vvhich leaue their vocatioÌ„ their calling the church the faithfull contemning brotherly felovvship absent them from preaching and hearing the vvorde and distike al but such as they vvould haue this is puritie vvith securatie Very subtil is Sathan seeketh by all meanes to suppresse religion euen by couler of Religion This diuisioâ— came in but of late yeares and Sathan mightely preuailed I knovv not vvhat this precise life meaneth this dealinge vvilleth but I knovv it is against the vvill of God. Flyinge from the Church ronninge froÌ„ preaching so small frequentinge of the Temple on the saboth vvil cause the Lord to take his Gospell from vs. It is filthy wheÌ„ priuate men become Preachers God taketh to him no man can take from him Gods loue vvas seen before the vvorld in electing vs at the creation in giuing to vs in the vvorld in calling vs then in Christ in redeeming vs and it vvilbee fully shevven in beâ—uen vvhen he crovvneth vs. All things do appertaing to the Lorde for he vvas made all in all for vs. Wee haue no glorie but in Christ nor kingdoÌ„ but in Christ noâ— honour but in Christ therefore are vve joyfull glad onely in Christ Faith finisheth and disposeth all things An instumeÌ„t to vvorke vvith all sharper then any svvord to deuide the vvorde of life Though god defer long yet hee vvill pay vs in the ende Man vveake of him selfe vngodlye he is perfited and chauÌ„ged by the Spirit of God. The time it is appointed vvhen vvee shal come to God beefore that vvee are as men in this vvorlde drovvned in sin and vvies kednesse If the conteÌ„pt of this be death vvhat shall become of them that do contempt it The ordinarie meane to come to God is by hering by this life by life God in him our heauen and our saluation and our life The loue of the father is the loue of his Christ that came for man dyed that out of death there might spring foorth life to all beleeuers No man is crowned if he haue not runne for it no man hath it if also hee win it not no man doth win it bntby strength no man is strong but in God so that wee must stay til God giue vs povver that we may haue the victorie Althings are giuen to knowe God but these are giuen to knowe God our neighbour our selues and his Christ in whome wee finishe and end all The ende of our prayer is that the king dome of God his Christe may shine darkenes and popery and dregs of superstition may bee abolished The kingdoÌ„e of God. Nothinge so accepted to the Lord as a vvillinge and ready minde to serue him M. Gualter Ciprian Pelagius con dempned heare The obedieÌ„ce of creatures to the Lorde doth continu ally checke vs that dâ—scbay him break his commauÌ„dements The life of man is for a time but he that feareth God liueth for euer The incomprehencible vvisedome of God and the vveakenes of man. Gods prouidence in guiding and prouiding for al. Two kindes of Heretickes bee condempned here the housholde of faith Free vvill men banished by this place MaÌ„ striuinge vvith God is as a beast but vvhen he fighteth vvith him he vanisheth as doth the dust Simon Magus the beginner of the houshold of faith some call it the family of loue The beastlinesse of man drovvned in sinne Carpocrates heresie Prodicus errour Donatistes their fall In time of peace men do occupie them selues vvith idle questioÌ„s and among those that thinke them selues purest are greatest â—eresies The house hold of faith brought in among the â—ermans A reason that vve all do sinne this man doth erre The sinneof the elect are not to death but falling they rise again by grace The imbecilitie and fall of the faithfull The godly are neuer cast off the vvicked vvhen they stande fall dovvn to hell The spirit of God is not tied to man but man is â—ied to the spirit Three kindes of operation and vvorking by the spirit Reason that man ruleth not the spirite of God. A comparisoÌ„ vvith the Fathers and our men that in all manner dealings crye out that it is the spirite of God. The dumbe creatures are a vvitnesse against vs that obay the Lord yet man doth not MaÌ„ on earth is a straunger but kept of the Lorde till the daye of iudgement Error and faulte of a false argument The fall of man is for tvvo endes to knovv his ovvne vveaknes to praye the more earnesty Heresy of the Persians Their false conclusion taken avvay Argumentes to proue that vve bee ful of sin and that hee vvhich continueth therin shall die the death The Famely of Loue condempned The doctrine of Balaam Nicolitans that make other mennes vviues coÌ„moÌ„ condempned Manlynes is beastlynes humanity is villany vvheÌ„ grace vvanteth Nazianzon Ambrose Epiphanus that doth alovve mariages Ierom. Basill Athanasius The revvarde of sin is death The abuse of our men that vsurpe the glorie of god and edifying and suffer all things and he accounted as vvicked that misti keth them This errour is common but as God loueth the good and the godly so he hateth the vvicked and the sinners they be not the Lordes In this age increased this grosle ignorance after Christ the fourth age Iudges take heede hovve you admitt othes for this herisie is commonly sprong vp it is