hath ouerthrowen death that we beleuing in him myght lyue for euer and not dye Ought not this to engender extreme hatred of sinne in vs to consyder that it did violently as it were plucke God out of heauen to make him feele the horrours and paynes of death O that we would sometimes consyder this in the middest of our pompes pleasures it would bridle the outragiousnesse of the fleshe it would abate and asswage our carnall affectes it woulde restraine our fleshly appetites that we shoulde not run at randon as we commonly do To commit sinne wylfully desperatly without feare of god is nothing els but to crucifie Christ a new as we are expressly taught in the 〈◊〉 to the Hebrues Which thing if it were dencâ—â— printed in all mens heartes then shoulde not sinne raigne euery where so much as it doth to the great griefe and torment of Christe nowe sittyng in heauen Let vs therefore remember and alwaies beare in minde Christe crucified that therby we may be inwardly moued both to abhorre sinne throughly and also with an earnest and zelous heart to loue god For this is another fruite which the memoriall of Christes death ought to worke in vs an earnest and vnfayned loue towardes god So God loued the worlde sayth saint John that he gaue his only begotten soÌ„ne that whosoeuer beleued in hym shoulde not perishe but haue life euerlasting If god declared so great loue towardes vs his seely creatures how can we of ryght but loue him agayne Was not this a sure pledge of his loue to geue vs his own sonne from heauen He myght haue geuen vs an angel if he would or some other creature and yet should his loue haue ben farre aboue our desartes Nowe he gaue vs not an angell but his sonne And what sonne His only sonne his naturall sonne his welbeloued sonne euen that sonne whom he had made Lorde and ruler of al thinges Was not this a singuler token of great loue But to whom did he geue him He gaue him to the whole worlde that is to say to Adam and all that should come after him O lord what had Adam or anye other man deserued at Gods handes that he should geue vs his owne sonne We are all miserable persons sinfull persons dampnable persoÌ„s iustly driuen out of paradice iustly excluded from heauen iustly condempned to hell fyre And yet see a wonderfull token of Gods loue he gaue vs his only be gotten sonne vs I say that were his extreme and deadly enemies that we by vertue of his blood shed vppon the crosse might be cleane purged from our sinnes and made righteous agayne in his sight Who can chose but maruaile to heare that god should she we such vnspeakable loue towardes vs that were his deadly enemies Indeede O mortall man thou oughtest of ryght to marueyle at it to acknowledge therein Gods great goodnesse and mercie towards mankind which is so wonderful that no fleshe be it neuer so worldly wyse may wel conceaue it or expresse it For as Saint Paul testifieth God greatly commendeth and setteth out his loue towardes vs in that he sent his sonne Christ to die for vs when we were yet sinners and open enemies of his name If we had in any maner of wyse deserued it at his handes then had it ben no marueile at all but there was no desert on our part wherefore he shoulde do it Therefore thou sinful creature when thou hearest that GOD gaue his sonne to dye for the sinnes of the worlde thinke not he dyd it for any desert or goodnes that was in thee for thou wast then the bondslaue of the deuill But fall downe vpon thy knees and crye with the prophete Dauid O Lorde what is man that thou art so mindefull of him or the sonne of man that thou so regardest him And seeing he hath so greatlye loued thee endeuour thy self to loue him againe with all thy heart with all thy soule and with all thy strength that therin thou mayst appeare not to be vnworthy of his loue I report me to thyne owne conscience whether thou wouldest not thinke thy loue ill bestowed vpon him that could not finde in his heart to loue thee agayne If this be true as it is most true then thinke howe greatly it behoueth to thy duetie to loue God whiche hath so greatly loued thee that he hath noâ— spared his owne onlye sonne from so cruell and shamefull a death for thy sake And hitherto concerning the cause of Christes death passion which as yet was on our part most horrible and greeuous sinne so on the other side it was the free gift of God proceeding of his meere and tender loue towards mankind without any merite or desert of our part The Lorde for his mercies sake graunt that we neuer forget this great benefite of our saluation in Christe Jesu but that we alwayes shewe our selues thankefull for it abhorring all kinde of wickednesse and sinne and applying our myndes wholy to the seruice of God and the diligent keeping of his commaundementes Now resteth to shewe vnto you howe to applie Christes death and passion to our comfort as a medicine to our woundes so that it maye worke the same effect in vs wherefore it was geuen namely the health saluatioÌ„ of our soules For as it profiteth a man nothing to haue salue vnlesse it be well applied to the part affected So the death of Christ shall stand vs in no force vnlesse we applie it to our selues in suche sorte as God hath appoynted Almightie God commonly worketh by meanes and in this thing he hath also ordained a certaine meane wherby we may take fruite and profite to our soules health What meane is that forsooth it is fayth Not an vnconstant or wauering fayth but a sure stedfast grounded and vnfaigned fayth GOD sent his sonne into the worlde sayth Saint John. To what end that whosoeuer beleueth in hym shoulde not perishe but haue lyfe euerlasting Marke these wordes that whosoeuer beleueth in him Here is the meane whereby we must apply the fruites of Christes death vnto our deadly wounde Here is the meane whereby we must obtaine eternall lyfe namely fayth For as saint Paul teacheth in his Epistle to the Romanes With the heart man beleueth vnto ryghteousnes and with the mouth confessioÌ„ is made vnto saluation Paul beyng demaunded of the keeper of that prison what he should do to be saued made this aunswere Beleue in the Lorde Jesus so shalt thou and thyne house both be saued After the Euangelist had described and set foorth vnto vs at large the life and the death of the Lorde Jesus in the end he concludeth with these wordes These thinges are written that we may beleue Jesus Christe to be the sonne of God a through sayth obtayne eternall lyfe To conclude with the wordes of saint Paul which are these Christ is the ende of the lawe vnto saluation for euery
as of the dead to geue reward to the good and iudgement to the euill That these linkes therefore of our faith should al hang together in stedfast establishment and confirmation it pleased our Sauiour not straight way to withdrawe himselfe from the bodyly presence sight of his disciples but he chose out-â—l-dayes wherein he woulde declare vnto them by manifold most strong argumentes and tokens that he had conquered death and that he was also truely risen againe to life He began saith Luke at Moyses and al the prophetes and expounded vnto them the prophesies that were written in all the scriptures of him to thintent to confirme the trueth of his resurrection long before spoken of whiche he verified in deede as it is declared very apparauntly and manifestlye by his oft appearaunce to sundry personnes at sundry times First he sent his angels to the sepulchre who dyd shewe vnto certayne women the emptie graue sauing that the buriall linnen remayned therein And by these signes were these women fully instructed that he was rysen agayne so dyd they testifie it openly After this Jesus himselfe appeared to Marie Magdalen after that to certayne other women and straight afterwarde he appeared to Peter then to the two disciples whiche were goyng to Emaus He appeared to the disciples also as they were gathered together for feare of the Jewes the doores shut At another tyme he was seene at the sea of Tiberias of Peter and Thomas of other disciples when they were fishyng He was seene of more then fiue hundred brethren in the mount of Galilee where Jesus appoynted them to be by his angell when he sayde Behold he shal go before you into Galilee there shall ye see hym as he hath sayde vnto you After this he appeared vnto James and last of all he was visibly seene of all the Apostles at suche tyme as he was taken vp into heauen â–ª Thus at sundry tymes he shewed hymselfe after he was rysen agayne to confyrme and stablish this article And in these reuelations somtime he shewed them his handes his feete and his side and bad them touch him that they shoulde not take hym for a ghost or a spirite Somtyme he also dyd eate with them but euer he was talkyng with them of the euerlastyng kyngdome of God to assure the trueth of his resurrection For then he opened their vnderstandyng that they myght perceaue the scriptures sayde vnto them Thus it is written and thus it behoued Christe to suffer to rise from death the third day and that ther should be preached openly in his name penaunce and remission of sinnes to all the nations of the worlde Ye see good Christian people howe necessarie this article of our fayth is seeing it was proued of Christe him selfe by suche euident reasons and tokens by so long time and space Nowe therefore as our sauiour was diligent for our comfort and instruction to declare it so let vs be as redy in our beleefe to receaue it to our comfort instruction As he dyed not for him selfe no more dyd he ryse agayne for hym selfe He was dead saith Saint Paul for our sinnes and rose agayne for our iustification O moste comfortable worde euermore to be borne in remembrance He dyed saith he to put away sinne he arose agayne to endowe vs with righteousnes His death tooke away sin maledictioÌ„ his death was the rauÌ„some of them both his death destroyed death ouercame the deuill which had the power of death in his subiection his death destroyed hell with all the damnation therof Thus is death swallowed vp by Christes victorie thus is hell spoyled for euer If any man doubt of this victorie let Christes glorious resurrection declare hym the thyng If death coulde not kepe Christ vnder his dominion and power but that he arose agayne it is manifest that his power was ouercome If death be conquered then muste it folowe that sinne wherefore death was appoynted as the wages muste be also destroyed If death sinne be vanished away then is the deuilles tyranny vanished whiche had the power of death and was the aucthour brewer of sin and the ruler of hell If Christ had the victorie of them all by the power of his death and openly proued it by his most victorious and valiaunt resurrection as it was not possible for his great myght to be subdued of them and then this true that Christ died for our synnes and rose agayne for our iustification Whye may not we that be his members by true fayth reioyce and boldly say with the prophete Osee and the Apostle Paul Where is thy darte O death where is thy victorie O hell Thankes be vnto God say they whiche hath geuen vs the victorie by our Lorde Christe Jesus This mightie conquest of his resurrection was not onlye signified before by diuers figures of the olde Testament as by Sampson when he slewe the Lion out of whose mouth came sweetenes and hony and as Dauid bare his figure when he deliuered the lambe out of the Lions mouth and when he ouercame and slew the great gyaunt Goliath and as when Jonas was swallâ—wed vp of the Whales mouth and cast vp agayne on lande alyue but was also moste clearely prophesied by the prophetes of the olde Testament and in the newe also confyrmed by the apostles He hath spoyled saith saint Paul rule and power and all the dominion of our spirituall enemies He hath made a shewe of them openly and hath triumphed ouer them in his owne person This is the myghtie power of the Lorde whom we beleue on By his death hath he wrought for vs this victorie and by his resurrection hath he purchased euerlastyng lyfe and righteousnesse for vs It has not ben enough to be delyuered by his death from synne excepte by his resurrection we had ben endowed with ryghteousnes And it shoulde not auayle vs to be delyuered from death except he had rysen againe to open for vs the gates of heauen to enter into lyfe euerlastyng And therefore saint Peter thanketh God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ for his aboundaunt mercie because he hath begotten vs sayth he vnto a lyuely hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christe from death to enioy an inheritaunce immortall that neuer shall perish which is layd vp in heauen for them that be kept by the power of God through fayth Thus hath his resurrection wrought for vs life righteousnes He passed through death and hell to the intent to put vs in good hope that by his strength we shall do the same He payde the raunsome of synne that it shoulde not be layde to our charge He destroyed the deuill and all his tyrannye and openly triumphed ouer hym tooke away from hym all his captiues and hath raysed and sette them with himselfe amongst the heauenly Citezins aboue He dyed to destroy the rule of the deuill in
the expresse and liuelye image of God he woulde notwithstanding humble him selfe and take vppon him the fourme of a seruant and that onely to saue and redeeme vs O how much are we bounde to the goodnesse of God in this behalfe Howe manye thankes and prayses do we owe vnto him for this our saluatiō wrought by his deare and onely sonne Christe who became a pilgrime in earth to make vs citizens in heauen who became the sonne of man to make vs the sonnes of God who became obedient to the lawe to deliuer vs from the cursse of the lawe who became poore to make vs rich vyle to make vs precious subiect to death to make vs liue for euer What greater loue coulde we seelye creatures desire or wishe to haue at Gods handes Therefore dearelye beloued let vs not forget this exceeding loue of our Lorde and sauiour let vs not shew our selues vnmyndful or vnthankefull towardes him but let vs loue him feare him obey him and serue him Let vs confesse him with our mouthes praise him with our tongues beleue on him with our heartes and glorifie him with our good workes Christe is the light let vs receaue the light Christe is the trueth let vs beleue the trueth Christ is the way let vs folowe the way And because he is our onely maister our onely teacher our onely shepheard and cheefe captayne therfore let vs become his seruantes his schollers his sheepe and his souldiers As for sinne the flesh the worlde and the deuill whose seruantes and bondslaues we were before Christes comming let vs vtterly cast them of and defie them as the cheefe onely enemies of our soule And seing we are once deliuered from their cruel tyrannie by Christ let vs neuer fal into their hands againe lest we chance to be in a worse case then euer we were before Happy are they saith the scripture that continue to the ende Be faythful sayth God vntil death and I wil geue thee a crowne of lyfe Agayne he sayth in another place He that putteth his hand vnto the plough and looketh backe is not meete for the kyngdome of god Therefore let vs be strong stedfast and vnmoueable abounding alwayes in the workes of the lord Let vs receaue Christ not for a tyme but for euer let vs beleue his worde not for a tyme but for euer let vs become his seruaunts not for a tyme but for euer in consyderation that he hath redeemed saued vs not for a time but for euer and will receaue vs into his heauenly kingdome there to raygne with him not for a tyme but foreuer To him therfore with the father and the holy ghost be all honour prayse glory foreuer and euer Amen ¶ An homilee for good Friday concerning the death and passion of our sauiour Iesu Christ. IT shuld not become vs welbeloued in christ being that people whiche he redeemed frō the deuil from sinne and death and from euerlasting damnation by Christ to suffer this time to passe foorth without any meditation and remembraunce of that excellent worke of our redemption wrought as about this time through the great mercy and charitie of our sauiour Jesus Christ for vs wretched sinners and his mortall enemies For if a mortal mans deede done to the behofe of the common wealth be had in remembrance of vs with thankes for the benefite and profite whiche we receaue thereby How much more redily shoulde we haue in memorie this excellent act and benefite of Christes death whereby he hath purchased for vs the vndoubted pardon and forgeuenes of our sinnes whereby he made at one the father of heauen with vs in suche wyse that he taketh vs now for his louing children and for the true inheritours with Christe his naturall sonne of the kyngdome of heauen And verily so muche more doth Christes kindnes appeare vnto vs in that it pleased him to deliuer him selfe of all his godly honour which he was equally in with his father in heauen and to come downe into this vale of miserye to be made mortall man and to be in the state of a most lowe seruaunt seruing vs for our wealth and profite vs I saye whiche were his sworne enemies whiche had renounced his holy law and commaundements and folowed the lustes and sinfull pleasures of our corrupt nature And yet I say did Christe put him selfe betwene Gods deserued wrath our sinne and rente that obligation wherein we were in daunger to God and payde our dette Our dette was a great deale to great for vs to haue payde And without payment God the father coulde neuer be at one with vs Neyther was it possible to be losed from this dette by our owne habilitie It pleased him therefore to be the payer thereof and to discharge vs quite Who can now consyder the greuous det of sinne whiche coulde none otherwyse be payde but by the death of an innocent and will not hate sinne in his heart If God hateth sinne so much that he would allowe neither man nor Angell for the redemption thereof but onely the death of his onelye and welbeloued sonne who will not stande in feare thereof If we my freendes consyder this that for our sinnes this most innocent lambe was driuen to death we shall haue much more cause to bewayle our selues that we were the cause of his death then to crye out of the mallice and crueltie of the Jewes whiche pursued him to his death We did the deedes wherefore he was thus stricken and wounded they were onely the ministers of our wickednes It is meete then we shoulde step lowe downe into our heartes and bewayle our owne wretchednes and sinful liuing Let vs know for a certainetie that if the most dearly beloued sonne of God was thus punished and stricken for the sinne which he had not done him self how muche more ought we sore to be stricken for our dayly and manifolde sinnes whiche we commit agaynst God if we earnestlye repent vs not and be not sorye for them No man can loue sinne which God hateth so much and be in his fauour No man can saye that he loueth Christe truely and haue his great enemie sinne I meane the aucthour of his death familiar and in frendship with him So much do we loue God and Christe as we hate sinne We ought therefore to take great heede that we be not fauourers thereof least we be founde ennemies to God and traytours to Christe For not onelye they whiche nayled Christe vppon the crosse are his tormentours and crucifiers but all they sayth saint Paule crucifie agayne the sonne of God as muche as is in them whiche do commit vice and sinne which brought him to his death If the wages of sinne be death and death euerlasting Surely it is no small daunger to be in seruice thereof If we liue after the fleshe and after the sinfull lustes thereof saint Paule threatneth yea almightie God in saint Paule threatneth that we shal surely dye
the daunger of your soules So nowe lyke obedient chyldren thus purified by fayth geue your selues to walk that way which God moueth you to that ye may receaue the end of your fayth the saluation of your soules And as ye haue geuen your bodyes to vnryghteousnes to synne after sin so now geue your selfe to ryghteousnes to be sanctified therein If ye delyght in this article of your fayth that Christ is rysen again from death to lyfe then folowe you the example of his resurrection as Saint Paul exhorteth vs saying As we be buried with Christ by our baptisme into death so let vs dayly dye to synne mortifiyng and kylling the euill desires and motions therof And as Christe was raysed vp from death by the glorye of the father so let vs ryse to a newe lyfe and walke continually therin that we may likewyse as naturall chyldren liue a conuersation to moue men to glorifie our father which is in heauen If we then be risen with Christ by our faith to the hope of euerlastyng lyfe let vs ryse also with Christe after his example to a newe lyfe and leaue our olde We shal then be truely rysen if we seeke for thynges that be heauenly if we haue our affection on things that be aboue and not on thynges that be on the earth If ye desyre to knowe what these earthly thynges be which ye shoulde put of and what be the heauenly thynges aboue that ye should seeke and ensue saint Paul in the Epistle to the Collossians declareth when he exhorteth vs thus Mortifie your earthly members and olde affections of synne as fornication vncleannesse vnnaturall luste euyll concupiscence and couetousnesse whiche is worshipping of idols for the whiche thinges the wrath of god is wont to fal on the children of vnbeleefe in which thinges once ye walked when ye liued in them But now put ye also away from you wrath fiercenes malitiousnes cursed speakyng filthie speaking out of your mouthes Lie not one to another that the olde man with his workes be put of and the newe be put on These be the earthly thinges whiche S. Paul moueth you to caste from you and to plucke your heartes from them For in folowing these ye declare your selues earthly and worldly These be the fruites of the earthly Adam These shoulde you daily kil by good diligence in withstandyng the desyres of them that ye might rise to righteousnesse Let your affection from henceforth be set on heauenly thinges sue and searche for mercie kyndnesse meekenes patience forbearing one another and forgeuyng one another If any man haue anye quarrell to another as Christe forgaue you euen so do ye If these and suche other heauenly vertues ye ensue in the residue of your lyfe ye shall shew playnely that ye be rysen with Christ that ye be the heauenly chyldren of your father in heauen from whom as from the geuer commeth these graces gyftes Ye shall proue by this maner that your conuersation is in heauen where your hope is and not on earth ▪ folowyng the beastly appetites of the fleshe Ye must consyder that ye be therefore cleansed renued that ye shoulde from hencefoorth serue God in holines righteousnesse al the dayes of your lyues that ye may raigne with them in euerlastyng lyfe If ye refuse so great grace whereto ye be called what other thing do ye then heape to you damnation more more and so prouoke God to caste his displeasure vnto you and to reuenge this mockage of his holy sacramentes in so great abusyng of them Apply your selues good freends to lyue in Christ that Christ may still liue in you whose fauour assistence if ye haue then haue ye euerlastyng life alredye within you then can nothyng hurt you Whatsoeuer is hitherto done cōmitted Christ ye se hath offered you pardon clearly receaued you to his fauour agayne in ful suretie wherof ye haue him now inhabiting and dwelling within you Only shew yourselues thankefull in your liues determine with your selues to refuse auoyde al such thinges in your conuersations as shoulde offend his eyes of mercy Endeuour your selues that way to rise vp agayne which way ye fell into the wel or pit of sin If by your tongue ye haue offended now therby rise agayne and glorifie God therewith accustome it to laude and prayse the name of God as ye haue there with dishonored it And as ye haue hurt the name of your neighbour or otherwise hindered hym so nowe intend to restore it to him agayne For without restitution God accepteth not your confession nor yet your repentaunce It is not enough to forsake euil except you set your courage to do good By what occasion soeuer you haue offended turne now the occasion to the honouring of God and profite of your neyghbour Trueth it is that synne is strong and affections vnrulye Hard it is to subdue and resist our nature so corrupt leauened with the sowre bitternes of the poyson whiche we receaued by the inheritaunce of our olde father Adam But yet take good courage sayth our sauiour Christe for I haue ouercome the worlde and all other enemies for you Synne shall not haue power ouer you for ye be now vnder grace saith saint Paul. Though your power be weake yet Christe is rysen agayne to strength you in your battayle his holy spirite shall helpe your infirmities In trust of his mercie take you in hande to purge this olde leauen of sinne that corrupteth and sowreth the sweetenes of your lyfe before God that ye may be as newe and freshe dowe voyde of all sowre leauen of wyckednesse so shall ye shewe your selues to be sweete bread to God that he may haue his delyght in you I saye kyll and offer you vp the worldly and earthly affections of your bodyes For Christe our Easter lambe is offered vp for vs to slea the power of synne to deliuer vs from the daunger therof and to geue vs example to dye to synne in our lyfe As the Jewes dyd eate their Easter lambe kept their feast in remembrance of their deliueraunce out of Egypt Euen so let vs kepe our Easter feast in the thankfull remembraunce of Christes benefites whiche he hath plentifully wrought for vs by his resurrection passing to his father whereby we be delyuered from the captiuitie and thraldome of all our enemies Let vs in lyke maner passe ouer the affections of our old conuersation that we may be delyuered frō the bondage therof rise with Christe The Jewes kept their feast in abstayning from leauened bread by the space of seuen dayes Let vs Christian folke kepe our holy day in spirituall maner that is in abstainyng not from material leauened bread but from the old leauen of synne the leauen of malitiousnes and wyckednesse Let vs cast from vs the leauen of corrupt doctrine that wyl infect our soules Let vs
errour of Purgatorie out of our heades neyther let vs dreame anye more that the soules of the dead are any thing at all holpen by our prayers But as the scripture teacheth vs let vs thinke that the soule of man passing out of the body goeth straightwayes eyther to heauen or els to hell whereof the one nedeth no prayer and the other is without redemption The onlye Purgatorie wherein we must trust to be saued is the death and blood of Christe which if we apprehend with a true and stedfast fayth it purgeth and clenseth vs from all our sinnes euen as well as if he were now hanging vpon the crosse The blood of Christe sayth saint John hath clensed vs from all sinne The blood of Christe sayth saint Paul hath purged our consciences from dead workes to serue the liuing god Also in another place he sayth We be sanctified and made holy by the offering vp of the body of Jesus Christe done once for all Yea he addeth more saying With the one oblation of his blessed body pretious blood he hath made perfect for euer and euer all them that are sanctified This then is that Purgatorie wherein all Christian men must put their whole truste and confidence nothing doubting but yf they truely repent them of their sinnes and dye in perfecte fayth that then they shall foorth with passe from death to life If this kinde of purgation wyll not serue them let them neuer hope to be releassed by other mens prayers though they shoulde continue therein vnto the worldes ende He that can not be saued by fayth in Christes blood howe shall he loke to be deliuered by mans intercessions Hath God more respect to man on earth then he hath to Christe in heauen If any man sinne sayth saint John we haue an aduocate with the father euen Jesus Christe the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sinnes But we must take heede that we call vpon this aduocate whyle we haue space geuen vs in this life lest when we are once dead there be no hope of saluation left vnto vs For as euery man sleepeth with his owne cause so euerye man shall ryse agayne with his owne cause And looke in what state he dyeth in the same state he shal be also iudged whether it be to saluation or dampnation Let vs not therfore dreame either of purgatorie or of prayer for the soules of them that be dead but let vs earnestly diligently praye for them whiche are expresly commaunded in holye scripture namely for kinges and rulers for ministers of Gods holy worde and sacramentes for the saintes of this worlde otherwyse called the faithfull to be short for all men liuing be they neuer so great enemies to god and his people as Jewes Turkes Pagans Infidels Heretikes c. Then shall we truely fulfill the commaundement of God in that behalfe plainely declare our selues to be the true children of our heauenly father which suffreth the sunne to shine vpon the good and the bad and the rayne to fall vpon the iust and the vniust For whiche and al other benefites moste aboundauntlye bestowed vppon mankynde from the beginning let vs geue him hearty thankes as we are most bound prayse his name for euer and euer Amen ⧠An Homilee of the place and tyme of prayer GOD through his almighty power wisedome and goodnes created in the beginning heauen earth the Sunne the Moone the starres the fowles of the ayre the beastes of the earth the fishes in the sea and all other creatures for the vse commoditie of man whom also he had created to his owne image and likenesse and geuen him the vse gouernement ouer them al to the end he shoulde vse them in suche sort as he had geuen him in charge commaundement also that he should declare him selfe thankful and kynde for al those benefites so liberally so graciously bestowed vpon him vtterly without anye deseruing on his behalf And although we ought at al times in al places to haue in remēbrance to be thankful to our gracious Lord according as it is written I wil magnifie the lord at al times And agayne Wheresoeuer the lord beareth rule O my soule prayse the Lord Yet it appeareth to be Gods good wil and pleasure that we shoulde at special times and in special places gather our selues together to the intent his name might be renowmed and his glory set forth in the congregation and assembly of his saintes As concerning the tyme whiche almightie God hath appoynted his people to assemble together solemly it doth appeare by the fourth commaundement of God Remember saith God that thou kepe holye the Sabbath day Upon the which day as is playne in the actes of the Apostles the people accustomablye resorted together hearde diligently the lawe and the prophetes read among them And albeit this commaundement of God doeth not bynde christian people so straytlye to obserue and keepe the vtter ceremonies of the Sabbath day as it was geuen vnto the Jewes as touching the forbearing of worke and labour in tyme of great necessitie and as touching the precise keeping of the seuenth day after the manner of the Jewes For we keepe now the first day which is our sunday and make that our sabbath that is our day of rest in the honor of our sauiour christ who as vpon that daye rose from death conquering the same most triumphantly Yet notwithstanding whatsoeuer is found in the commaundement apparteyning to the lawe of nature as a thyng most godlye moste iuste and needeful for the setting forth of Gods glorie it ought to be retayned and kept of all good Christian people And therfore by this commaundemēt we ought to haue a tyme as one day in a weeke wherein we ought to rest yea from our lawfull and nedefull workes For like as it appeareth by this commaundement that no man in the syxe dayes ought to be slouthfull or ydle but diligentlye to labour in that state wherein God hath set him Euen so God hath geuen expresse charge to all men that vpon the sabbath day which is now our sunday they should ceasse from all weaklye and workeday labour to the entent that lyke as God him selfe wrought sixe dayes and rested the seuenth and blessed and sanctified it and consecrated it to quyetnes and rest from labour euen so Gods obedient people shoulde vse the sundaye holyly and rest from their comon and daily businesse and also geue them selues whollye to heauenly exercises of Gods true religion and seruice So that God doth not onely commaunde the obseruation of this holy day but also by his owne example doth stirre and prouoke vs to the diligent keeping of the same Good natural children wil not onelye become obedient to the commaundemēt of their parents but also haue a diligent eye to their doings and gladly folow the same So if we wil be the children of our heauenly father we
also we may be assured to get his fauour that is both able wyllyng to do vs all pleasures that are for our commoditie and wealth Christe doth declare by this how much he accepteth our charitable affection toward the poore in that he promiseth a rewarde vnto them that geue but a cup of cold water in his name to them that haue neede thereof and that rewarde is the kingdome of heauen No doubt is it therfore that god regardeth highly that which he rewardeth so liberallye For he that promiseth a princely recompence for a beggerly beneuolence declareth that he is more delighted with the geuyng then with the gyfte and that he as muche esteemeth the doyng of the thyng as the fruite and commoditie that commeth of it Who so therefore hath hytherto neglected to geue almes let hym know that God now requireth it of him he that hath ben liberal to the poore let him knowe that his godly doings are accepted thankfully takē at gods handes which he wyll requite with double treble For so sayth the wyse man He whiche sheweth mercie to the poore doth lay his money in banke to the Lorde for a large interest and gayne The gayne beyng cheefely the possession of the lyfe euerlastyng through the merites of our sauiour Jesus Christe to whom with the father the holy ghost be al honour and glory for euer Amen The seonde part of the sermon of almes deedes YE haue hearde before dearely beloued that to geue almes vnto the poore and to helpe them in tyme of necessitie is so acceptable vnto our sauiour Christe that he counteth that to be done to him selfe that we do for his sake vnto them Ye haue heard also howe earnestly both the apostles prophetes holy fathers doctours do exhort vs vnto the same And ye see how welbeloued and deare vnto God they were whom the scriptures reporte vnto vs to haue ben good almes men Wherefore if either their good examples or the holesome counsell of godly fathers or the loue of Christ whose especial fauour we may be assured by this meanes to obteyne may moue vs or do any thyng at all with vs let vs prouide that from hencefoorth we she we vnto Godward this thankful seruice to be myndfull and redy to helpe them that be poore and in miserie Nowe wyll I this second tyme that I entreate of aimes deedes shewe vnto you how profitable it is for vs to exercise them and what fruite therby shall aryse vnto vs if we do them faythfully Our sauiour Christe in the Gospell teacheth vs that it profiteth a man nothyng to haue in possession al the ryches of the whole worlde and the wealth or glory thereof if in the meane season he lose his soule or do that thing whereby it should become captiue vnto death sinne hell fire By the which saying he not only instructeth vs how muche the soule health is to be preferred before worldly commodities but also serueth to stirre vp our myndes and to pricke vs forwardes to seeke diligently and learne by what meanes we may preserue and kepe our soules euer in safety that is howe we may recouer our health if it be lost or impayred and how it may be defended and maynteyned if we once haue it Yea he teacheth vs also thereby to esteeme that as a precious medicine and an inestimable iewel that hath suche strength and vertue in it that can either procure or preserue so incomparable a treasure For if we greatly regard that medicine or salue that is able to heale sundrye and greeuous diseases of the body muche more wyll we esteeme that whiche hath lyke power ouer the soule And because we might be better assured both to knowe and haue in redynesse that so profitable a remedye he as a most faythfull and louyng teacher sheweth hym selfe both what it is and where we may fynde it and how we may vse and applye it For when both he and his disciples were greuously accused of the Pharisees to haue defyled their soules in breakyng the constitutions of the elders because they went to meate and washed not their handes before accordyng to the custome of the Jewes Christe aunswering their superstitious complaynte teacheth them an especiall remedye howe to keepe cleane their soules notwithstandyng the breache of suche superstitious orders Geue almes sayth he and beholde all thynges are cleane vnto you He teacheth them that to be mercyful and charitable in helping the poore is the meanes to keepe the soule pure and cleane in the syght of god We are taught therefore by this that mercyfull almes dealyng is profitable to purge the soule from the infection and filthie spottes of sinne The same lesson doth the holy ghost also teache in sundrye places of the scripture saying Mercyfulnesse and almes geuing purgeth from all synnes and delyuereth from death and suffereth not the soule to come into darknes A great confidence may they haue before the hygh God that shewe mercie and compassion to them that are afflicted The wyse preacher the sonne of Sirach confirmeth the same when he sayth That as water quencheth burning fyre euen so mercie and almes resisteth and reconcileth synnes And sure it is that mercifulnesse quayleth the heate of synne so muche that they shall not take holde vpon man to hurt him or if ye haue by any infirmitie and weaknes ben touched and annoyed with them straightwayes shall mercyfulnesse wipe and washe them away as salues and remedies to heale their sores and greeuous diseases And therupon that holy father Ciprian taketh good occasion to exhort earnestly to the mercyfull worke of geuyng almes and helpyng the poore and there he admonisheth to consider how holesome and profitable it is to releeue the needy and help the afflicted by the which we may purge our synnes and heale our wounded soules But here some wyll say vnto me If almes geuyng and our charitable workes towardes the poore be able to washe away synnes to reconcile vs to God to delyuer vs from the peryll of damnation and make vs the sonnes heires of Gods kingdome then is Christes merites defaced and his blood shed in vayne then are we iustified by workes and by our deedes may we merite heauen then do we in vayne beleue that Christ dyed for to put away our synnes and that he rose for our iustification as saint Paule teacheth But ye shall vnderstande dearely beloued that neither those places of scripture before alleaged neither the doctrine of the blessed martyr Ciprian neither any other godly and learned man when they in extolling the dignitie profite fruit and effect of vertuous and liberall almes do say that it washeth away synnes and bryngeth vs to the fauour of God do meane that our worke and charitable deede is the originall cause of our acception before God or that for the dignitie or worthynesse thereof our sinnes may be washed away and we purged cleansed of al the spottes of our iniquitie for
this a full perfect and blessed estate Coulde any thing els be well added hereunto or greater felicitie desyred in this worlde But as the common nature of all men is in tyme of prosperitie and wealth to forget not only them selues but also God Euen so did this first man Adam who hauing but one commaundement at Gods hande namely that he shoulde not eate of the fruite of knowledge of good ill dyd not withstanding most vnmindefully or rather moste wylfully breake it in forgetting the straight charge of his maker and geuing eare to the craftie suggestion of that wicked serpent the deuill Whereby it came to passe that as before he was blessed so nowe he was accursed as before he was loued so now he was abhorred as before he was most beautifull and pretious so nowe he was moste vyle and wretched in the sight of his Lorde and maker Insteade of the image of God he was nowe become the image of the deuill Insteade of the citezin of heauen he was become the bondslaue of hell hauing in hym selfe no one part of his former puritie cleannesse but being altogether spotted defiled insomuch that nowe he seemed to be nothing els but a lumpe of sinne and therfore by the iust iudgement of god was condempned to euerlasting death This so great and miserable a plague if it had only rested on Adam who first offended it had ben so muche the easyer and myght the better haue ben borne But it fell not only on hym but also on his posteritie children for euer so that the whole broode of Adams flesh should sustaine the selfe same fall punishment which their forefather by his offence most iustly had deserued Saint Paul in the fifth Chapter to the Romanes sayth By the offence of onlye Adam the fault came vpon all men to condempnation by one mans disobedience many were made sinners By which words we are taught that as in Adam al men vniuersally sinned so in Adam all men vniuersally receaued the reward of sinne that is to say became mortall subiect vnto death hauing in them selues nothyng but euerlasting dampnation both of body and soule They became as Dauid sayth corrupt abominable they went all out of the way there was none that dyd good no not one O what a miserable wofull state was this that the synne of one man should destroy and condempne al men that nothyng in all the worlde might be looked for but only pangues of death paynes of hell Had it ben any maruaile if mankinde had ben vtterlie driuen to desperation beyng thus fallen from life to death from saluation to destruction from heauen to hell But beholde the great goodnes tender mercie of god in this behalf Albeit mans wickednes sinfull behauiour was such that it deserued not in any part to be forgeuē yet to the intent he might not be cleane destitute of al hope and comfort in tyme to come he ordeyned a new couenaunt made a sure promise thereof namely that he would send a Messias or mediatour into the world which shoulde make intercession put him selfe as a stay betweene both parties to pacifie the wrath indignation conceaued against sinne to deliuer man out of the miserable curse and cursed miserie wherinto he was fallen headlong by disobeying the wyll commaundement of the only Lord maker This couenaunt and promise was first made vnto Adam him selfe immediatly after his fall as we reade in the thirde of Genesis where God sayd to the serpent on this wyse I wyll put enmitie betweene thee and the woman betweene thy seede her seede He shall breake thyne head thou shalt bruse his heele After warde the selfe same couenaunt was also more amplie plainely renued vnto Abraham where God promised him that in his seede all nations families of the earth should be blessed Agayne it was continued and confirmed vnto Isahac in the same fourme of wordes as it was before vnto his father And to the intent that mankinde myght not dispaire but alwayes lyue in hope almightie god neuer ceassed to publishe repeate confirme continue the same by diuers and sundrye testimonies of his prophetes who for the better perswasion of the thing prophesied the tyme the place the maner and circumstaunce of his birth the affliction of his life the kinde of his death the glory of his resurrection the receauing of his kingdome the deliueraunce of his people with all other circumstaunces belonging thereunto Esaias prophesied that he should be borne of a virgin and called Emanuel Micheas prophesied that he shoulde be borne in Bethlehem a place of Jurie Ezechiel prophesied that he shoulde come of the stocke and lynage of Dauid Daniel prophesied that all nations and languages shoulde serue him Zacharie prophesied that he should come in pouertie riding vpon an Asse Malachie prophesied that he shoulde sende Elias before him whiche was John the Baptist. Hieremie prophesied that he should be solde for thirtie peeces of siluer c. And all this was done that the promise couenaunt of God made vnto Abraham his posteritie concerning the redemption of the worlde myght be credited and fully beleued Nowe as the Apostle Paul sayth when the fulnesse of time was come that is the perfection and course of yeres appoynted from the beginning then God accordyng to his former couenaunt and promise sent a Messias otherwyse called a mediatour vnto the worlde not such a one as Moyses was not such a one as Josua Saul or Dauid was but suche a one as shoulde deliuer mankinde from the bitter curse of the lawe and make perfect satisfaction by his death for the sinnes of all people namely he sent his deare and only sonne Jesus Christ made as the Apostle sayth of a woman and made vnder the lawe that he might redeeme them that were in bondage of the lawe make thē the chyldren of God by adoption Was not this a wonderfull great loue towardes vs that were his professed and open enemies towardes vs that were by nature the children of wrath and fyrebrandes of hell fyre In this sayth Saint John appeared the great loue of God that he sent his onlye begotten sonne into the worlde to saue vs when we were his extreme enemies Herein is loue not that we loued him but that he loued vs and sent his sonne to be a reconciliation for our sinnes Saint Paul also sayth Christ when we were yet of no strength dyed for vs being vngodlye Doubtlesse a man wyll scarse dye for a ryghteous man Peraduenture some one durst dye for him of whom they haue receaued good But god setteth out his loue towardes vs in that he sent Christe to dye for vs when we were yet voyde of all goodnesse This and such other comparisons doth the Apostle vse to amplifie and set forth the tender mercie great goodnes of God declared towardes mankinde in sendyng downe a sauiour from heauen euen Christe
he rose from death to lyfe in that he ascended into heauen and so foorth What other thing dyd he shew therein but only that he was perfect god coequal with the father as touching his deitie Therfore he sayth The father and I are all one which is to be vnderstood of his godhead For as touching his manhood he sayth The father is greater theÌ„ I am Where are nowe those Marcionites that denie Christ to haue ben borne in the fleshe or to haue ben perfect man Where are nowe those Arians whiche denye Christe to haue ben perfect God of equall substaunce with the father If there be any suche ye may easyly reproue them with these testimonies of Gods word and such other Wherevnto I am most sure they shall neuer be able to aunswere For the necessitie of our saluation dyd requyre such a mediatour sauiour as vnder one person should be a partaker of both natures It was requisite he shoulde be man it was also requisite he shoulde be god For as the transgression came by man so was it meete the satisfaction shoulde be made by man And because death accordyng to S. Paul is the iust stipende and rewarde of sinne therfore to appease the wrath of God and to satisfie his iustice it was expedient that our mediatour shoulde be suche a one as might take vpon him the sinnes of mankinde and sustayne the due punishment therof namely death Moreouer he came in fleshe and in the selfe same fleshe ascended into heauen to declare and testifie vnto vs that all faithfull people whiche stedfastly beleue in hym shall likewyse come vnto the same mansion place whereunto he beyng our chiefe captayne is gone before Last of all he became man that we thereby might receaue the greater comfort as well in our prayers as also in our aduersitie consydering with our selues that we haue a mediatour that is true man as we are who also is touched with our infirmities and was tempted eueÌ„ in like sort as we are For these and sundry other causes it was most nedefull he shoulde come as he dyd in the fleshe But because no creature in that he is onlye a creature hath or maye haue power to destroye death and geue lyfe to ouercome hell and purchase heauen to remit sinnes and geue ryghteousnesse therefore it was needefull that our MeÌ„ssias whose proper duetie and office that was shoulde be not onlye full and perfect man but also full and perfect GOD to the entent he myght more fully and perfectly make satisfaction for mankind God sayth This is my welbeloued sonne in whom I am wel pleased By which place we learne that Christ appeased and quenched the wrath of his father not in that he was only the sonne of man But muche more in that he was the sonne of God. Thus ye haue hearde declared out of the scriptures that Jesus Christe was the true Messias and sauiour of the world that he was by nature substaunce perfect God and perfect man and for what cause it was expedient he should be so Nowe that we may be the more mindefull and thankefull vnto God in this behalfe let vs briefly consyder and call to minde the manifolde and great benefites that we haue receaued by the Natiuitie and byrth of this our Messias and sauiour Before Christes comming into the worlde all men vniuersally in Adam were nothyng els but a wicked and crooked generation rotten and corrupt trees stony ground ful of brambles and bryers lost sheepe prodigall sonnes naughtie and vnprofitable seruauntes vnryghteous stewardes workers of iniquitie the broode of Adders blind guides sitting in darknesse and in the shadowe of death to be shorte nothyng els but chyldren of perdition and inheritours of hell fyre To this doth saint Paul beare witnesse in diuers places of his Epistles and Christe also him selfe in sundrye places of his Gospell But after he was once come downe froÌ„ heauen and had taken our frayle nature vppon hym he made all them that woulde receaue hym truely and beleue his word good trees good ground fruitefull and pleasaunt braunches chyldren of light citezins of heauen sheepe of his folde members of his body heyres of his kyngdome his true freendes and brethren sweete and liuely bread the elect and chosen people of god For as saint Peter sayth in his fyrst Epistle and seconde Chapter He bare our sinnes in his body vppon the crosse he healed vs made vs whole by his stripes and whereas before we were sheepe going astray he by his comming brought vs home agayne to the true shephearde and Byshop of our soules makyng vs a chosen generatioÌ„ a royall priesthood an holy nation a peculier people of GOD in that he dyed for our offences and rose agayne for our iustification Saint Paul to Timothie the thirde Chapter We were sayth he in tymes past vn wyse disobedient deceaued seruing diuers lustes and pleasures liuyng in hatred enuie maliciousnesse and so foorth But after the louing kindnesse of God our Sauiour appeared towardes mankynde not accordyng to the ryghteousnesse that we had done but accordyng to his great mercie he saued vs by the fountayne of the newe byrth and by the renewyng of the holy ghost whiche he powred vpon vs aboundauntly through Jesus Christe our sauiour that we beyng once iustified by his grace shoulde be heyres of eternaâ—l lyfe through hope and fayth in his blood In these and suche other places is set out before our eyes as it were in a glasse the aboundaunt grace of God receaued in Christ Jesu whiche is so muche the more wonderfull because it came not of any desert of ours but of his meere tender mercy euen then when we were his extreme enemies But for the better vnderstanding and consyderation of this thyng let vs beholde the ende of his comming so shall we perceaue what great commoditie and profite his Natiuitie hath brought vnto vs miserable and sinful creatures The ende of his comming was to saue and deliuer his people to fulfill the law for vs to beare witnesse vnto the trueth to teache and preache the wordes of his father to geue light vnto the world to cal sinners to repentaunce the refreshe them that labour and be heauy laden to cast out the prince of this worlde to reconcile vs in the body of his fleshe to desolue the workes of the deuill last of all to become a propitiation for our sinnes and not for ours onelye but also for the sinnes of the whole worlde These were the cheefe endes wherefore Christ became man not for any profit that should come to him selfe thereby but onely for our sakes that we might vnderstande the will of God be partakers of his heauenly lyght be delyuered out of the deuils clawes releassed from the burthen of sinne iustified through fayth in his blood and finally receaued vp into euerlasting glory there to raigne with him foreuer Was not this a great and singuler loue of Christ towardes mankynd that being
We can none otherwyse liue to God but by dying to sinne If Christ be in vs then is sinne dead in vs and if the spirit of God be in vs which raysed Christ from death to lyfe so shall the same spirite rayse vs to the resurrection of euerlasting lyfe But if sinne rule and raigne vs then is God whiche is the fountaine of all grace and vertue departed from vs then hath the deuill his vngratious spirit rule and dominion in vs And surelye if in suche miserable â—iate we dye we shall not ryse to lyfe but fall downe to death dampnation that without ende For Christe hath not so redeemed vs from synne that we may safely returne therto agayne but he hath redeemed vs that we should forsake the motions thereof liue to righteousnes Yea we be therfore washed in our baptisme from the filthynes of sinne that we should liue afterwarde in the purenesse of lyfe In baptisme we promised to renounce the deuill and his suggestions we promised to be as obedient chyldren alwayes following Gods will pleasure Then if he be our father in deede let vs geue him his due honour If we be his children let vs shew him our obedience like as Christ openly declared his obedience to his father which as saint Paul wryteth was obedient euen to the verye death the death of the crosse And this he did for vs all that beleue in him For him selfe he was not punished for he was pure and vndefiled of al maner of sinne He was wounded saith Esai for our wickednes and striped for our sinnes he suffred the penaltie of them him selfe to deliuer vs from daunger he bare sayth Esai al our sores and infirmities vpon his owne backe No payne did he refuse to suffer in his owne body that he myght deliuer vs from payne euerlasting His pleasure it was thus to do for vs we deserued it not Wherfore the more we see our selues bound vnto him the more he ought to be thanked of vs yea and the more hope may we take that we shall receaue all other good thinges of his hand in that we haue receaued the gifte of his onelye sonne through his liberalitie For if God sayth Saint Paul hath not spared his owne soÌ„ne from paine and punishment but deliuered him for vs all vnto the death how should he not geue vs all other thinges with him If we wante any thing eyther for body or soule we may lawfully and boldlye approche to God as to our mercifull father to aske that we desyre and we shall obtaine it For such power is geuen to vs to be the children of God so many as beleue in Christes name In his name whatsoeuer we aske we shall haue it graunted vs For so well pleased is the father almighty God with Christ his sonne that for his sake he fauoureth vs and will denye vs nothyng So pleasant was this sacrifice and oblation of his sonnes death which he so obediently and innocently suffred that he would take it for the onelye and full amendes for all the sinnes of the worlde And such fauour did he purchase by his death of his heauenly father for vs that for the merite thereof if we be true Christians in deede and not in worde onely we be now fullye in Gods grace agayne and clearelye discharged from our sinne No tongue surelye is able to expresse the worthines of this so precious a death For in this standeth the continual pardon of our daylye offences in this resteth our iustification in this we be allowed in this is purchased the euerlasting health of al our soules Yea there is none other thing that can be named vnder heauen to saue our soules but this onelye worke of Christes precious offering of his body vppon the aulter of the crosse Certes there can be no worke of any mortall man be he neuer so holy that shal be coupled in merites with Christes moste holye act For no doubt all our thoughtes and deedes were of no value if they were not allowed in the merites of Christes death All our ryghteousnes is far vnperfect if it be compared with Christes ryghteousnes For in his actes and deedes there was no spot of sinne or of any vnperfectnes And for this cause they were the more able to be the true amendes of our vnryghteousnes where our actes and deedes be ful of imperfection and infirmities therfore nothing worthy of them selues to stirre God to anye fauour muche lesse to chalenge the glory that is due to Christes acte merite For not to vs sayeth Dauid not to vs but to thy name geue the glory O lord Let vs therfore good freends with al reuerence glorifie his name let vs magnifye and prayse him for euer For he hath dealt with vs according to his great mercy by himselfe hath he purchased our redemtion He thought it not enough to spare him selfe and to sende his Angel to do this deede but he would do it him selfe that he might do it the better and make it the more perfect redemption He was nothing moued with the intollerable paynes that he suffered in the whole course of his long passion to repent him thus to do good to his enemies but he opened his heart for vs and bestowed him selfe wholly for the raunsomming of vs Let vs therefore nowe open our heartes againe to him and studie in our lyues to be thankfull to such a Lorde and euermore to be myndefull of so great a benefite yea let vs take vp our crosse with Christe and folowe him His passion is not onely the raunsome whole amendes for our sinne but it is also a most perfect example of all patience and sufferaunce For if it behoued Christ thus to suffer to enter into the glorye of his father how should it not become vs to beare paciently our small crosses of aduersitie and the troubles of this world For surely as saith saynâ— Peter Christ therefore suffred to leaue vs an example to folow his steps And if we suffer with him we shall be sure also to raigne with him in heauen Not that the sufferaunce of this transitory lyfe should be worthy of that glory to come but gladly should we be contented to suffer to be lyke Christ in our lyfe that so by our workes we may glorifie our father which is in heauen And as it is paynefull and greuous to beare the crosse of Christe in the greefes and displeasures of this life so it bringeth forth the ioyfull fruit of hope in all theÌ„ that be exercised therewith Let vs not so much beholde the payne as the rewarde that shall follow that labour Nay let vs rather endeuour our selues in our sufferaunce to endure innocentlye and gyltlesse as our sauiour Christ did For if we suffer for our deseruinges then hath not patience his perfect worke in vs but if vndeseruinglye we suffer losse of goodes and lyfe
auayle vs to haue in meditation the fruites and pryce of his passion to magnifie them and to delyght or trust to them except we haue in mynd his examples in passion to folowe them If we thus therefore consyder Christes death and will sticke thereto with fast fayth for the merite and deseruing thereof and will also frame our selfe in such wyse to bestowe our selues and all that we haue by charitie to the behoofe of our neyghbour as Christe spent him selfe whollye for our profite then do we truelye remember Christes death and being thus folowers of Christes steps we shal be sure to followe him thyther where he sitteth now with the father and the holye ghost to whom be all honour and glory Amen ¶ The seconde homilee concerning the death and passion of our sauiour Christ. THat we may the better conceaue the great mercy and goodnesse of our Sauiour Christ in suffering death vniuersally for all men it behoueth vs to descende into the bottome of our conscience deeply to consider the first and principall cause wherefore he was compelled so to do When our great graundfather Adam had broken Gods commaundement in eating the apple forbidden him in paradice at the motion and suggestion of his wyfe he purchased therby not onelye to him selfe but also to his posteritie for euer the iust wrath indignation of God who according to his former sentence pronoūced at the geuing of the cōmaundement condemned both him all his to euerlasting death both of body and soule For it was said vnto him Thou shalt eat frely of euery tree in the garden but as touching the tree of knowledge of good ill thou shalt in no wyse eat of it For in what houre soeuer thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death Now as the Lorde had spoken so it came to passe Adam toke vppon him to eate thereof and in so doing he dyed the death that is to saye he became mortall he lost the fauour of God he was cast out of paradice he was no longer a citizen of heauen but a fyrebrand of hell and a bond slaue to the deuil To this doth our sauiour beare witnesse in the Gospell callyng vs loste sheepe which haue goue astray wandred from the true shephearde of our soules To this also doth saint Paule beare witnesse saying That by the offence of onely Adam death came vppon all men to condempnation So that no we neyther he nor any of his had any ryght or interest at all in the kyngdome of heauen but were become plaine reprobates and castawayes being perpetually dampned to the euerlasting paynes of hell tyre In this so great miserie and wretchednes if mankind could haue recouered him selfe againe and obtayned forgeuenes at Gods handes then had his case ben somwhat tollerable because he might haue attempted some way how to deliuer him selfe from eternall death But there was no way left vnto him he coulde do nothyng that might pacifie gods wrath he was altogether vnprofitable in that behalfe There was none that did good no not one And howe then coulde he worke his owne saluation Should he go about to pacifie gods heauie displeasure by offering vp brent sacrifices according as it was ordayned in the olde lawe by offering vp the blood of Oxen the blood of calues the blood of goates the blood of lambes and so foorth O these thinges were of no force nor strēgth to take away sinnes they could not put away the anger of God they could not coole the heate of his wrath nor yet bryng mankynd into fauour againe they were but only sigures and shadowes of things to come and nothing els Reade the Epistle to the Hebrues there shall you find this matter largely discussed there shal you learne in most plaine wordes that the blooddy sacrifice of the olde lawe was vnperfect and not able to deliuer man from the state of dampnation by any meanes so that mankind in trusting thereunto shoulde trust to a broken staffe and in the ende deceaue him selfe What should he then do Shoulde he go about to obserue and kepe the lawe of God diuided into two tables so purchase to him selfe eternall life In deede if Adam and his posteritie had ben able to satisfie and fulfill the lawe perfectly in louyng God aboue all thinges and their neyghbour as them selues then shoulde they haue easily quenched the Lordes wrath and escaped the terrible sentence of eternall death pronounced agaynst them by the mouth of almightie god For it is written Do this thou shalt liue that is to say fulfill my commaundementes kepe thy selfe vpright and perfect in them accordyng to my wyll then shalt thou liue and not dye Here is eternal lyse promised with this condition so that they kepe and obserue the lawe But suche was the frailtie of mankinde after his fall suche was his weakenes imbecilitie that he could not walke vpryghtly in Gods commaundementes though he woulde neuer so faine but dayly and hourely fell from his bounden duetie offending the Lord his God diuers wayes to the great encrease of his condempnation insomuch that the prophete Dauid cryeth out on this wyse All haue gone astray all are become vnprofitable there is none that doth good no not one In this case what profite coulde he haue by the lawe None at all For as saint James sayth He that shall obserue the whole lawe and yet faileth in one poynt is become giltie of all And in the booke of Deuteronomie it is written Cursed be he sayth God which abydeth not in all thinges that are written in the booke of the lawe to do them Behold the lawe bringeth a curse with it and maketh vs giltie not because it is of it self naught or vnholy God forbid we shoulde so thinke but because the frailtie of our sinfull fleshe is such that we can neuer fulfill it accordyng to the perfection that the Lorde requireth Coulde Adam then thinke you hope or trust to be saued by the law No he could not But the more he looked on the law the more he sawe his owne dampnation set before his eyes as it were in a most cleare glasse So that now of him selfe he was most wretched and miserable destitute of all hope neuer able to pacifie Gods heauie displeasure nor yet to escape the terrible iudgement of God wherinto he and all his posteritie were fallen by disobeying the straight commaundement of the Lorde theyr god But O the aboundaunt ryches of Gods great mercie O the vnspeakable goodnes of his heauenly wysoome When all hope of righteousnes was past on our part when we had nothing in our selues whereby we myght quenche his burning wrath worke the saluation of our owne soules and rise out of the miserable estate wherin we lay Then euen then dyd Christ the sonne of God by the appoyntment of his father come downe frō heauen to be wounded for our sakes to be reputed with the wicked
to be coÌ„dempned vnto death to take vpon him the rewarde of our sinnes and to geue his body to be broken on the crosse for our offences He sayth the prophete Esai meaning Christe hath borne our infirmities hath caried our sorowes the chastisement of our peace was vpoÌ„ him by his stripes are we made whole Saint Paul like wyse sayth God made him a sacrifice for our sinnes whiche knewe not sinne that we should be made the righteousnesse of God by him And saint Peter most agreeably wryting in this behalfe sayth Christe hath once died suffered for our sinnes the iust for the vniust c. To these myght be added an infinite number of other places to the same effect but these fewe shal be sufficient for this tyme Now then as it was said at the beginning let vs ponder weigh the cause of his death that therby we may be the more moued to glorifie him in our whole lyfe Whiche yf you wyll haue comprehended briefelye in one worde it was nothyng els in our parte but onlye the transgression and sinne of mankinde When the angell came to warne Joseph that he should not feare to take Mary to his wife Did he not therefore will the childes name to he called Jesus because he should saue his people from their sinnes When John the Baptist preached Christ and she wed hym to the people with his finger Dyd he not playnely say vnto them Behold the lambe of God whiche taketh away the sinnes of the worlde When the woman of Canaan besought Christ to helpe her daughter which was possest with a deuil did he not openly confesse that he was sent to saue the lost sheepe of the house of Israel by geuing his life for theyr sinnes It was sinne then O man eueÌ„ thy sinne that caused Christe the onlye sonne of God to be crucified in the fleshe and to suffer the most vyle slaunderous death of the crosse If thou haddest kept thy selfe vyryght if thou haddest obserued the commaundementes yf thou haddest not presumed to transgresse the wyll of God in thy fyrst father Adam then Christe being in fourme of God needed not to haue taken vppon him the shape of a seruaunt being immortall in heauen he needed not to become mortal on earth beyng the true bread of the soule he needed not to hunger being the healthfull water of lyfe he needed not to thirst being life it selfe he needed not to haue suffred death But to these and many other suche extremities was he dryuen by thy sinne which was so manifolde great that god could be onlye pleased in hym and none other Canst thou thinke of this O sinful man and not tremble within thy selfe Canst thou heare it quietlye without remorse of conscience and sorowe of heart Did Christ suffer his passion for thee and wylt thou shewe no compassion towardes hym Whyle Christe was yet hangyng on the Crosse and yelding vp the ghost the Scripture witnesseth that the vale of the temple did rent in twaine and the earth dyd quake that the stones claue asunder that the graues dyd open the dead bodyes rise And shall the heart of man be nothyng moued to remember how greeuously and cruelly he was handled of the Jewes for our sinnes Shall man shew himselfe to be more hard hearted then stones to haue lesse compassion theÌ„ dead bodies Call to minde O sinful creature and set before thyne eyes Christe crucified Thinke thou seest his body stretched out in length vppon the crosse his head crowned with sharpe thorne his handes his feete pearsed with nailes his heart opened with a long speare his fleshe rente and torne with whippes his browes sweating water and blood Thinke thou hearest hym nowe crying in an intollerable agonie to his father saying My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Couldest thou behold this wofull sight or heare this mournefull voyce without teares consydering that he suffered all this not for any desart of his owne but only for the greeuousnes of thy sinnes O that mankinde shoulde put the euerlasting sonne of God to such paines O that we should be the occasion of his death the only cause of his condempnation May we not iustly crye wo worth the time that euer we sinned O my brethren let this image of Christe crucified be alwayes printed in our heartes let it stirre vs vp to the hatred of sinne prouoke our mindes to the earnest loue of almightie god For why Is not sinne thinke you a greuous thing in his sight seing for the transgressing of Gods precept in eating of one apple he condempned all the world to perpetuall death and would not be pacified but only with the blood of his own sonne True yea moste true is that saying of Dauid Thou O Lorde hatest all them that worke iniquitie neyther shall the wicked and euill man dwell with thee By the mouth of his prophete Esai he cryeth mainely out agaynst sinners and sayth â—o be vnto you that draw iniquitie with cordes of vanitie and sinne as it were with cart ropes Dyd not God geue a plaine token howe greatly he hated abhored sinne wheÌ„ he drowned all the world saue only eyght persons when he destroyed Sodome Gomorra with fire and brimstone when in three dayes space he killed with pestilence threescore and ten thousande for Dauids offence when he drowned Pharao and al his hoast in the red sea when he turned Nabuchodonozor the kyng into the fourme of a bruite beast creeping vppon all foure when he suffered Achitophel Iudas to hang them selues vpoÌ„ the remorse of sinne whiche was so terrible to theyr eyes A thousand such examples are to be found in scripture yf a man would stand to seeke them out But what neede we This one example which we haue now in hande is of more force ought more to moue vs then all the rest Christe being the sonne of god and perfect God him self who neuer committed sinne was compelled to come downe from heauen to geue his body to be bruised broken on the crosse for our sinnes Was not this a manifest token of Gods great wrath and displeasure towardes sinne that he could be pacified by no other meanes but onlye by the sweete precious blood of his deare sonne O sinne sinne that euer thou shouldest dryue Christe to suche extremitie Wo worth the tyme that euer thou camest into the world But what booteth it now to bewayle Sinne is come and so come that it can not be auoyded There is no man liuing no not the iustest man on the earth but he falleth seuen times a day as Salomon sayth And our Sauiour Christe although he hath deliuered vs from sinne yet not so that we shal be free from committing sinne But so that it shal not be imputed to our condempnation He hath taken vpon him the iust rewarde of sinne which was death by death
one that doth beleue By this then 〈…〉 wel perceaue that the only meane and instrument of saluation required of our partes is faith that is to saye a sure trust and 〈◊〉 in the mercies of God Whereby we perswade our selues that God both hath and 〈◊〉 our sinnes that he hath accepted vs againe into his sauour that he hath released vs frō the bondes of dampnation and receaued vs againe into the number of his elect people not for our merites or desartes but onlye solely for the merites of Christes death and passion who became man for our sakes and humbled him selfe to sustayne the reproche of the crosse that we thereby might be saued and made inheritours of the kingdome of heauen This fayth is required at our handes And this yf we keepe stedfastly in our heartes there is no doubt but we shall obtayne saluation at gods handes as did Abraham Isahac and Jacob of whom the scripture saith that they beleued and it was imputed vnto them for ryghteousnesse Was it imputed vnto them onlye and shall it not be imputed vnto vs also Yes yf we haue the same fayth as they had it shal be as truly imputed vnto vs for righteousnesse as it was vnto them For it is one fayth that must saue both vs and them euen a sure and stedfast fayth in Christ Jesu who as ye haue heard came into the worlde for this ende that whosoeuer beleue in him shoulde not perishe but haue lyfe euerlasting But here we must take heede that we do not hault with God through an vnconstant and wauering saith but that it be strong and stedfast to our liues ende He that wauereth saith saint James is lyke a waue of the sea neyther let that man thinke that he shall obtaine any thing at Gods handes Peter comming to Christe vpon the water because he fainted in faith was in daunger of drowning So we yf we beginne to wauer or doubt it is to be feared lest we shall sinke as Peter dyd not into the water but into the bottomlesse pit of hell fyre Therefore I saye vnto you that we must apprehende the merites of Christes death and passion by faith and that with a strong and stedfast fayth nothyng doubting but that Christe by his owne oblation and once offring of him selfe vpon the crosse hath taken away our sinnes hath restored vs agayne into Gods fauour so fully and perfectly that no other sacrifice for sinne shall hereafter be requisite or nedefull in all the worlde Thus haue ye hearde in fewe wordes the meane whereby we must applie the fruites and merites of Christes death vnto vs so that it may worke the saluatiō of our soules namely a sure stedfast perfect and grounded fayth For as all they whiche behelde stedfastly the brasen serpent were healed and deliuered at the very sight therof from their corporall diseases and bodyly stinges euen so all they which beholde Christe crucified with a true and liuely fayth shal vndoubtedly be deliuered from the greuous woundes of the soule be they neuer so deadly or many in number Therfore dearely beloued yf we chaunce at anye tyme through frailtie of the fleshe to fall into sinne as it can not be chosen but we must nedes fall often yf we feele the heauie burden thereof to presse our soules tormenting vs with the feare of death hell and dampnation let vs then vse that meane which God hath appoynted in his word to wit the meane of faith which is the only instrument of saluation nowe left vnto vs Let vs stedfastly beholde Christe crucified with the eyes of our heart Let vs only trust to be saued by his death and passion to haue our sinnes cleane wasshed away through his most precious blood that in the end of the world when he shal come agayne to iudge both the quicke and the dead he may receaue vs into his heauenly kingdome and place vs in the number of his elect and chosen people there to be partakers of that immortal and euerlasting life whiche he hath purchased vnto vs by vertue of his bloddy woundes To him therfore with the father and the holy ghost be al honour and glorie worlde without ende Amen An Homilee of the Resurrection of our Sauiour Iesus Christe For Easter day IF euer at any tyme the greatnesse or excellencie of anye matter spirituall or temporall hath stirred vp your mindes to geue diligent eare good Christian people and welbeloued in our Lord and Sauiour Jesus Christe I doubt not but that I shall haue you nowe at this present season moste diligent and ready hearers of the matter whiche I haue at this tyme to open vnto you For I come to declare that great and most comfortable article of our Christian religion and fayth the resurrection of our Lorde Jesus So great surely is the matter of this article and of so great wayght and importaunce that it was thought worthie to kepe our sayde Sauiour still on earth fourtie dayes after he was rysen from death to lyfe to the confirmation and stablishment therof in the heartes of his disciples So that as Luke clearlye testifieth in the first Chapter of the Actes of the Apostles he was conuersaunt with his disciples by the space of fourtie dayes continuallye together to thintent he would in his person beyng nowe glorified teache and instruct them whiche shoulde be the teachers of other fullye and in most absolute and perfect wise the trueth of this moste Christian article whiche is the grounde and foundation of our whole religion before he would ascend vp to his father into the heauens there to receaue the glorye of his most triumphant conquest and victorie Assuredly so highly comfortable is this article to our consciences that it is euen the very locke and key of all our Christian religion and fayth If it were not true sayth the holy Apostle Paul that Christe rose agayne then our preaching were in vayne your fayth whiche you haue receaued were but voyde ye were yet in the daūger of your sinnes If Christ be not rysen againe sayth the apostle then are they in very euill case and vtterly perished that be entred their stepe in Christ then are we the most miserable of al men which haue our hope fixed in Christ if he be yet vnder the powre of death 〈…〉 not restored to his blisse againe But nowe is he rysen agayne from death sayth the Apostle Paul to be the first fruites of them that be a sleepe to thintent to raise them to euerlasting life agayne Yea yf it were not true that Christe is risen againe then were it neither true that he is ascended vp to heauen nor that he sent downe from heauen vnto vs the holy ghost nor that he sitteth on the right hand of his heauenly father hauing the rule of heauen earth raigning as the prophete sayth from sea to sea nor that he should after this worlde be the iudge aswell of the liuing
vs and he rose agayne to sende downe his holy spirite to rule in our heartes to endowe vs with perfect righteousnes Thus it is true that Dauid song Veritas de terra orta est et iustitia de coelo prospexit The trueth of gods promise is in the earth to man declared or from the earth is the euerlasting veritie Gods sonne rysen to life the true righteousnesse of the holy ghost lookyng out of heauen and is in most liberal larges dealt vppon all the worlde Thus is glory and prayse rebounded vpwarde to God aboue for his mercie and trueth And thus is peace come downe from heauen to men of good and faythfull heartes Thus is mercie and trueth as Dauid wryteth together met thus is peace and ryghteousnesse imbrasing and kissing eache other If thou doubtest of so great wealth felicitie that is wrought for thee O man call to thy mynde that therefore haste thou receaued into thyne owne possession the euerlasting veritie our sauiour Jesus Christ to confyrme to thy conscience the trueth of all this matter Thou hast receaued hym yfin true fayth and repentaunce of heart thou haste receaued hym yf in purpose of amendement thou haste receaued hym for an euerlastyng gage or pledge of thy saluation Thou hast receaued his body which was once broken his blood which was shedde for the remission of thy synne Thou hast receaued his body to haue within thee the father the sonne and the holy ghost for to dwell with thee to endow thee with grace to strength thee agaynst thyne enemies and to comfort thee with their presence Thou hast receaued his body to endow thee with euerlasting righteousnes to assue thee of euerlastyng blisse and lyfe of thy soule 〈…〉 r with Christe by true fayth art thou quickened agayne sayth saint Paul from death of synne to lyfe of grace and in hope translated from corporal and euerlastyng death to the euerlastyng lyfe of glorye in heauen where nowe thy conuersation should be and thy heart and desyre set Doubt not of the trueth of this matter how great and hygh soeuer these thynges be It becommeth God to do no litle deedes how impossible so euer they seeme to thee Pray to God that thou mayest haue fayth to perceaue this greate mysterie of Christes resurrection that by faytâ— thou mayst certaynely beleue nothyng to be impossible with god Onlye bryng thou fayth to Christes holy worde and sacrament Let thy repentaunce shewe thy fayth let thy purpose of amendement and obedience of thy heart to Gods lawe hereafter declare thy true beleefe Endeuour thy selfe to saye with Saint Paul From hencefoorth our conuersation is in heauen from whence we looke for a sauiour euen the Lorde Jesus Christe whiche shall change our vile bodyes that they may be fashioned like his glorious body which he shal do by the same power wherby he rose from death and wherby he shal be able to subdue all thynges vnto hym selfe Thus good Christian people forasmuche as ye haue hearde these so great and excellent benefites of Christes myghtie and glorious resurrection as howe that he hath raunsomed synne ouercome the deuill death and hell and hath victoriouslye gotten the better hande of them all to make vs free and safe from them and knowyng that we be by this benefite of his resurrection rysen with hym by our fayth vnto lyfe euerlastyng beyng in full suretie of our hope that we shall haue our bodyes lykewyse raysed agayne from death to haue them glorified in immortalitie and ioyned to his glorious bodye hauyng in the meane while his holy spirite within our heartes as a seale and pledge of our euerlastyng inheritaunce By whose assistence we be replenished with all ryghteousnes by whose power we shal be able to subdue all our euyll affections rysyng agaynst the pleasure of god These thynges I say well consydered let vs nowe in the rest of our lyfe declare our fayth that we haue to this moste fruitful article by framyng our selues therunto in rysyng dayly from sinne to righteousnes holines of lyfe For what shall it auayle vs sayth saint Peter to be escaped deliuered from the filthynesse of the worlde through the knowledge of the Lorde and sauiour Jesus Christe if we be entangled agayne therewith and be ouercome agayne Certaynely it had ben better sayth he neuer to haue knowne the way of righteousnes then after it is knowne and receaued to turne backwarde agayne from the holy commaundement of God geuen vnto vs For so shall the prouerbe haue place in vs where it is sayde The dogge is returned to his vomite agayne and the sowe that was washed to her wallowyng in the myre agayne What a shame were it for vs beyng thus so clearely and freely washed from our synne to returne to the filthynesse thereof agayne What a follie were it thus endowed with ryghteousnesse to lose it agayne What madnesse were it to lose the inheritaunce that we be nowe set in for the vyle and transitorie pleasure of synne And what an vnkyndenesse shoulde it be where our sauiour Christe of his mercie is come to vs to dwell within vs as our gâ—este to dryue hym from vs and to banishe hym violently out of our soules and in steade of hym in whom is all grace and vertue to receaue the vngratious spirite of the deuyil the founder of all naughtines and mischeefe How can we fynde in our heartes to shewe suche extreame vnkyndnesse to Christe which hath now so gently called vs to mercie and offered him selfe vnto vs and he nowe entred within vs yea howe dare we be so bolde to renounce the presence of the father the sonne and the holy ghost For where one is there is God all whole in maiestie together with all his power wysedome and goodnesse and feare not I say the daunger and peryll of so traiterous a defiaunce and departure Good Christian brethren and sisters aduise your selues consyder the dignite that ye be nowe set in let not follie lose the thyng that grace hath so preciously offered and purchased let not wylfulnesse and blindnesse put out so great lyght that is now shewed vnto you Onlye take good heartes vnto you and put vppon you all the armour of God that ye may stand agaynst your enemies which woulde agayne subdue you and bryng you into their thraldome Remember ye be bought from your vain conuersation and that your freedome is purchased neyther with golde nor syluer but with the price of the precious blood of that most innocent lambe Jesus Christe which was ordeined to the same purpose before the worlde was made But he was so declared in the latter tyme of grace for your sakes which by hym haue your fayth in God who hath raysed hym from death and hath geuen hym glory that you shoulde haue your fayth and hope towarde god Therefore as you haue hytherto folowed the vayne lustes of your myndes and so displeased God to
vnreuerentlye not discerning the Lordes bodye Ought not we then by the monition of the wise man by the wisdome of God by the fearefull example of the Corinthians to take aduised heede that we thrust not our selues to this table with rude and vnreuerent ignoraunce the smart whereof Christes Churche hath rued and lamented these many dayes and yeres For what hath ben the cause of the ruyne of Gods religion but the ignoraunce hereof What hath ben the cause of this grosse idolatrie but the ignoraunce hereof What hath ben the cause of this mummishe massyng but the ignoraunce hereof Yea what hath ben and what is at this day the cause of this want of loue and charitie but the ignoraunce hereof Let vs therfore so trauaile to vnderstand the Lordes Supper that we be no cause of the decaye of Gods worship of no idolatrie of no dumme massing of no hate and malice so maye we the boldlyer haue accesse thyther to our comfort Neyther neede we to thinke that suche exact knowledge is required of euery man that he be able to discusse al high pointes in the doctrine thereof But this muche he must be sure to hold that in the supper of the Lorde there is no vaine ceremonie no bare signe no vntrue figure of a thing absent But as the Scripture sayth the table of the Lorde the bread and cuppe of the Lorde the memorie of Christe the annuntiation of his death yea the Communion of the bodye and blood of the Lorde in a marueylous incorporation whiche by the operation of the holye ghost the verye bonde of our conâ—unction with Christe is through fayth wrought in the soules of the faythfull whereby not onlye theyr soules lyue to eternall lyfe but they surely trust to winne to their bodyes a resurrection to immortalitie The true vnderstandyng of this fruition and vnion whiche is the bodye and the head betwixt the true beleuers and Christe the auncient Catholique Fathers both perceauing them selues and commendyng to theyr people were not afrayde to call this Supper some of them the salue of immortalitie and soueraigne preseruatiue agaynst death other a deificall Communion other the sweete dainties of our Sauiour the pledge of eternall health the defence of fayth the hope of the resurrection other the foode of immortalitie the healthfull grace and the conseruatorie to euerlastyng lyfe All which sayinges both of the holy Scripture and godly men truely attributed to this celestial banquet and feaste yf we woulde often call to minde O how woulde they inflame our heartes to de 〈…〉 e the participation of these mysteries and oftentimes to couet after this breade continuallye to thirste for this foode Not as speciallye regarding the terrene earthly creatures which remayne but alwayes holdyng faste and cleauyng by faith to the rocke whence we may sucke the sweetenesse of euerlasting saluation And to be briefe thus much more the faithful see heare and knowe the fauourable mercies of God sealed the satisfaction by Christe towardes vs confirmed and the remission of sinne established Here they may feele wrought the tranquilitie of conscience the encrease of fayth the strengthning of hope the large spreadyng abrode of brotherly kindnes with many other sundry graces of god The taste whereof they can not attayne vnto who be drowned in the deepe durtie lake of blyndnesse and ignoraunce From the whiche O beloued washe your selues with the liuyng waters of Gods worde whence you maye perceaue and know both the spirituall foode of this costly supper and the happy trustinges effectes that the same doth bring with it Now it foloweth to haue with this knowledge a sure and constant faith not only that the death of Christe is auayleable for the redemption of all the world for the remission of sinnes and reconciliation with God the father but also that he hath made vppon his crosse a full and sufficient sacrifice for thee a perfect clensyng of thy sinnes so that thou acknowledgest no other Sauiour redeemer mediatour aduocate intercessour but Christe only and that thou mayst say with the Apostle that he loued thee and gaue him selfe for thee For this is to sticke fast to Christes promise made in his institution to make Christe thyne owne and to applicate his merites vnto thy selfe Herein thou nedest no other mans helpe no other sacrifice or oblation no sacrifisyng Priest no masse no meanes established by mans inuention That faith is a necessarie instrument in al these holy ceremonies we may thus assure our selues for that as Saint Paul sayth without fayth it is vnpossible to please god When a great number of the Israelites were ouerthrowen in the wildernesse Moyses Aaron and Phinees dyd eate Manna and pleased God for that they vnderstoode sayth Saint Augustine the visible meate spiritually Spiritually they hungred it spiritually they tasted it that they myght be spiritually satisfied And truely as the bodily meate can not feede the outward man vnlesse it be let into a stomake to be digested whiche is healthsome and sound No more can thy inwarde man be fed except his meate bereceaued into hisâ—oule and hart sound whole in fayth Therfore saith Ciprian when we do these thinges we nede not to whet our teethe but with sincere fayth we breake and diuide that holy bread It is wel knowen that the meate wee seeke for in this supper is spiritual foode the norishmeÌ„t of our soule a heauenly refection and not earthly an inuisible meate and not bodylye a ghostly substaunce and not carnall so that to thinke that without fayth we maye enioye the eatyng and drynkyng therof or that that is the fruition of it is â—ut to dreame a grosse carnall feeding basely obiecting and byndyng our selues to the elementes and creatures Whereas by the aduice of the counsel of Nicene we ought to lyft vp our mindes by faith leauing these inferiour and earthly thinges there seke it where the sâ—nne of ryghteousnesse euer shineth Take then this lesson O thou that art desyrous of this table of Emissenus a godly father that when thou goest vp to the reuerent Communion to be satisfied with spirituall meates thou loke vp with faith vpon the holy body and blood of thy god thou maruel with reuerence thou touche it with thy minde thou receaue it with the hand of thy heart and thou take it fully with thy inwarde man. Thus we see beloued that resortyng to this table we must plucke vp all the rootes of infidelitie al distrust in Gods promises we must make our selues lyuing members of Christes bodye For the vnbeleuers and faithlesse can not feede vpon that pretious body whereas the faythfull haue theyr life their abiding in hym their vnioÌ„ and as it were their incorporation with hym Wherefore let vs proue and trye our selues vufaignedly without flattering our selues whether we be plantes of that fruitful Oliue liuyng braunches of the true vine members in deede of Christes mystical body whether God
mens heads as repentaunce amendement of life and speedye returnyng vnto the lord God of hoastes And no maruayle why For we do daily and hourely by our wickednes and stubburne disobedience horriblye fall awaye from God thereby purchasing vnto our selues yf he shoulde deale with vs accordyng to his iustice eternall dampnation So that no doctrine is so necessarie in the Churche of God as is the doctrine of repentaunce amendement of lyfe And veryly the true preachers of the Gospell of the kingdome of heauen and of the glad and ioyfull tidinges of saluation haue alwayes in their godly sermons and preachinges vnto the people ioyned these two together I meane repentance and forgeuenes of sinnes euen as our Sauiour Jesus Christe did appoynt him selfe saying So it behoued Christe to suffer to ryse agayne the thirde day and that repentance and forgeuenes of sinnes should be preached in his name among all nations And therefore the holy Apostle doth in the actes speake after this maner I haue witnessed both to the Jewes to the Gentiles that repentaunce towardes God and fayth towards our Lord Jesu Christe Dyd not John Baptist Zacharias sonne begin his ministerie with the doctrine of repentaunce saying Repent for the kingdome of God is at hande The like doctrine did our sauiour Jesus Christe preache hym selfe and cōmaunded his Apostles to preache the same I myght here alleage very many places out of the prophetes in the whiche this most holsome doctrine of repentaunce is very earnestly vrged as most nedefull for all degrees and orders of men but one shal be sufficient at this present tyme These are the words of Joel the prophete Therfore also nowe the Lorde sayth Returne vnto me with al your heart with fastyng weepyng and mournyng rent your heartes and not your clothes and returne vnto the Lorde your God for he is gratious and merciful slow to anger and of great compassion and redy to pardon wickednes Wherby it is geuen vs to vnderstād that we haue here a perpetuall rule appoynted vnto vs which ought to be obserued and kept at all times that there is none other way whereby the wrath of god may be pacified and his anger asswaged that the fiercenes of his furie and the plagues or destruction which by his ryghteous iudgement he had determined to bring vpō vs maye depart be remoued and taken away Where he sayth But nowe therefore sayth the Lord returne vnto me It is not without great importaunce that the prophete speaketh so For he had afore set foorth at large vnto them the horrible vengeaunce of god which no man was able to abide and therfore he doth moue them to repentaunce to obtayne mercie as yf he shoulde say I wyl not haue these thinges to be so taken as though there were no hope of grace left For although ye do by your sinnes deserue to be vtterly destroyed and God by his righteous iudgemēts hath determined to bryng no smal destruction vppon you yet nowe that ye are in a maner on the very edge of the sworde yf ye wyll spedyly returne vnto hym he wyll most gently and most mercifully receaue you into fauour again Wherby we are admonished that repentaunce is neuer to late so that it be true and earnest For sith that God in the scriptures wylbe called our father doubtlesse he doth followe the nature and propertie of gentle and mercifull fathers which seeke nothing so much as the returning againe and amendement of their chyldren as Christe doth aboundauntly teache in the parable of the prodigall sonne Doth not the Lorde hym selfe say by the prophete I wyll not the death of the wicked but that he turne from his wicked waies and liue And in another place If we confesse our sinne God is faythfull and righteous to forgeue vs our sinnes and to make vs cleane from all wickednesse Whiche moste comfortable promises are confyrmed by manye examples of the scriptures When the Jewes dyd wyllingly receaue and embrace the wholesome counsel of the prophete Esai God by and by dyd reache his helping hande vnto them and by his angell dyd in one nyght slea the moste worthye and valiaunt souldiers of Sennacheribs campe Whereunto may kyng Manasses be added who after al maner of dampnable wickednes returned vnto the Lorde and therefore was hearde of hym and restored againe into his kingdome The same grace and fauour dyd the sinfull woman Magdalene Zacheus the poore theefe and many other feele All whiche thynges ought to serue for our comfort agaynst the temptations of our consciences whereby the deuill goeth about to shake or rather to ouerthrowe our faith For euery one of vs ought to applye the same vnto hym selfe and say yet nowe returne vnto the Lorde neyther let the remembraunce of thy former lyfe discourage thee yea the more wicked that it hath ben the more feruent and earnest let thy repentaunce or returnyng be and foorth with thou shalt feele the eares of the Lorde wide open vnto thy prayers But let vs more narowly loke vpon the cōmaundement of the Lorde touchyng this matter Turne vnto me sayth he by his prophete Joel with al your heartes with fasting weping and mourning Rent your heartes and not your garments c. In which wordes he comprehendeth al maner of things that can be spoken of repentaunce whiche is a returning agayne of the whole man vnto God from whom we be fallen away by sinne But that the whole discourse thereof may the better be borne away we shall fyrst consyder in order foure principall poyntes that is from what we must returne to whom we must returne by whom we may be able to conuert and the maner howe to turne to GOD. First from whence or from what thynges we must returne Truely we muste returne from those things whereby we haue ben withdrawē pluckt and led away from god And these generally are our sinnes which as the holy prophete Esai doth testifie do separate God and vs and hide his face that he wyll not heare vs But vnder the name of sinne not only those grosse wordes and deedes which by the common iudgement of men are counted to be filthy and vnlawfull and so consequently abominable sinnes but also the filthy lustes and inwarde concupiscences of the fleshe whiche as saint Paul testifieth do resist the wyll and spirite of God and therefore ought earnestly to be brydled and kept vnder We must repent of the false and erronious opinions that we haue had of god and the wicked superstition that doth breede of the same the vnlawfull worshipping and seruice of God and other lyke All these thinges must they forsake that will truely turne vnto the Lorde and repent aryght For sith that for suche things the wrath of God commeth vpon the children of disobedience no ende of punishment ought to be looked for as long as we continue in such thinges Therfore they be here condempned
These words are sufficient to proue that Peter was alredye iustifyed through this his lyuelye fayth in the onely begotten sonne of god wherof he made so notable and so solemyne a confession But did not he afterwardes moste cowardlye denye his maister although he had heard of hym Whosoeuer denyeth me before men I wyll denye hym before my father Neuerthelesse assone as with weeping eyes with a sobbyng heart he did acknowledge his offence and with earnest repentance did flee vnto the mercy of God taking sure holde thereupon through faith in him whom he had so shamefullye denyed his sinne was forgeuen him for a certificate and assurance therof the roome of his Apostleship was not denyed vnto him But now marke what doth followe After the same holy Apostle had on Whitsondaye with the reste of the Disciples receaued the gyft of the holy ghost most aboundauntly he committed no smal offence in Antiochia by brynging the consciences of the faythfull into doubt by his example so that Paule was faine to rebuke him to his face because that he walked not vprightlye or went not the ryght way in the Gospell Shall we now say that after this greeuous offence he was vtterly excluded and shut out from the grace and mercy of God that this his trespasse wherby he was a stumbling blocke vnto manye was vnpardonable God defende we shoulde saye so But as these examples are not brought in to the ende that we shoulde thereby take a boldnesse to sinne presuming on the mercye and goodnesse of God but to the ende that if through the fraylenesse of our owne fleshe and the temptation of the Deuill we fall into the lyke sinnes we shoulde in no wyse dispayre of the mercy and goodnes of God Euen so muste we beware and take heede that we do in no wise thinke in our heartes imagine or beleue that we are able to repent aright or to tourne effectuallye vnto the Lorde by our owne myght and strength For this must be verifyed in all men Without me ye can do nothing Agayne Of our selues we are not able as much as to thynke a good thought And in another place It is God that worketh in vs both the wyl and the deede For this cause although Hieremie had sayde before If thou returne O Israel returne vnto me sayeth the Lorde Yet afterwardes he sayeth Turne thou me O Lorde and I shall be turned for thou art the Lorde my god And therefore that holye wryter and auncient father Ambrose doth playnely affirme that the turnyng of the heart vnto God is of God as the Lorde hym selfe doth testifie by his prophete saying And I will geue thee an heart to knowe me that I am the Lorde and they shall be my people and I will be their God for they shal returne vnto me with their whole heart These thinges beyng consydered let vs earnestlye pray vnto the liuyng God our heauenlye father that he wyll vouchsafe by his holye spirite to worke a true and vnfained repentance in vs that after the paynefull labours and trauayles of this lyfe we may liue eternally with his sonne Jesus Christe to whom be all prayse and glorye for euer and euer Amen ¶ The seconde parte of the Homilee of Repentaunce HJtherto haue ye heard wel beloued how needeful necessary the doctrine of repentaunce is how earnestly it is throughout all the scriptures of God vrged and set foorth both by the auncient prophetes by our Sauiour Jesu Christ his Apostles and that forasmuche as it is the conuertion or turning agayne of the whole man vnto God from whom we go away by sinne these four pointes ought to be obserued That is from whence or from what thinges we muste returne vnto whom this our returnyng muste be made by whose meanes it ought to be done that it may be effectual and last of all after what sort we ought to behaue our selues in the same that it may be profitable vnto vs and attayne vnto the thing that we do seeke by it Ye haue also learned that as the opinion of them that denie the benefite of repentaunce vnto those that after they be come to God and graffed in our sauiour Jesu Christe do through the fraylenesse of theyr fleshe and the temptation of the deuill fall into some greeuous and detestable sinne is most pestilent and pernitious So we muste beware that we do in no wyse thynke that we are able of our owne selues and of our own strength to retourne vnto the Lorde our God from whom we are gone awaye by our wyckednesse and sinne Nowe it shall be declared vnto you what be the true partes of repentaunce what thinges ought to moue vs to repent and to returne vnto the Lorde our God with all speede Repentaunce as it is sayde before is a true returning vnto God whereby men forsakyng vtterlye their idolatrie and wickednes do with a lyuelye fayth embrace loue and worship the true lyuyng God onelye and geue them selues to all maner of good workes whiche by Gods worde they knowe to be acceptable vnto him Nowe there be foure partes of repentaunce which beyng set together maye be lykened to an easie and short ladder whereby we may clymbe from the bottomles pit of perdition that we caste our selues into by our daylye offences and greeuous sinnes vp into the castle or to wre of eternal and endelesse saluation The fyrst is the contrition of the heart For we must be earnestly sorye for our sinnes and vnfaynedlye lament be wayle that we haue by them so greuously offended our most bounteous and mercifull God who so tenderlye loued vs that he gaue his onely begotten sonne to dye a most bitter death to shed his deare hart blood for our redemption and deliueraunce And veryly this inward sorowe and greefe being conceaued in the heart for the haynousnesse of sinne if it be earnest and vnfayned is as a sacrifice to God as the holy prophete Dauid doth testifye saying A sacrifyce to God is a troubled spyrite a contrite and broken heart O Lord thou wylt not dispyse But that this may take place in vs we must be diligent to reade and heare the scriptures and worde of God whiche most lyuely do paynt out before your eyes our naturall vncleanlynesse and the enormitie of our sinfull lyfe For vnlesse we haue a through feeling of our sinnes how can it be that we shoulde earnestlie be sorye for them Afore Dauid did heare the worde of the Lorde by the mouth of the prophet Nathan what heauinesse I praye you was in hym for the adultrie and murther that he had committed So that it myght be sayd right wel that he slept in his owne sinne We reade in the Actes of the Apostles that when the people had hearde the Sermon of Peter they were compunct and pricked in theyr heartes Whiche thing woulde neuer haue ben if they had not heard that holsome Sermon of
were able to heale all my diseases A curious sorte of men to knowe another mans lyfe and slouthfull to correct and amende their owne Why do they seeke to heare of me what I am whiche wyll not heare of thee what they are And howe can they tell when they heare by me of my selfe whether I tell the trueth or not syth that no mortall man knoweth what is in man but the spirite of man which is in him Augustine woulde not haue written thus if auriculer confession had ben vsed in his tyme Beyng therfore not led with the conscience therof let vs with feare and tremblyng and with a true contrite heart vse that kynde of confession that God doth commaunde in his worde and then doubtlesse as he is faythfull and ryghteous he wyll forgeue vs our synnes and make vs cleane from all wyckednesse I do not saye but that if anye do fynde them selues troubled in conscience they may repayre to their learned Curate or Pastour or to some other godly learned man and shewe the trouble doubt of their conscience to them that they may receaue at their hand the comfortable salue of Gods worde but it is agaynst the true Christian libertie that any man shoulde be bound to the numbryng of his synnes as it hath ben vsed heretofore in the tyme of blindnesse and ignoraunce The third part of repentaunce is fayth wherby we do apprehende and take holde vppon the promises of God touchyng the free pardon and forgeuenes of our synnes Whiche promises are sealed vp vnto vs with the death and bloodsheddyng of his sonne Jesu Christe For what should auayle and profite vs to be sorye for our sinnes to lament and bewayle that we haue offended our moste bounteous and mercyfull father or to confesse and acknowledge our offences and trespasses though it be done neuer so earnestly vnlesse we do stedfastly beleue and be fully perswaded that God for his sonne Jesu Christes sake wyl forgeue vs al our synnes and put them out of remembraunce and from his syght Therfore they that teach repentaunce without a liuelye fayth in our sauiour Jesu Christe do teache none other but Judas repentaunce as all the Schole men do whiche do onlye alowe these three partes of repentaunce the contrition of the heart the confession of the mouth and the satisfaction of the worke But all these thynges we fynde in Judas repentaunce whiche in outwarde appearaunce dyd farre exceede and passe the repentaunce of Peter For fyrst and foremost we reade in the gospel that Judas was so sorowfull and heauie yea that he was fylled with such anguishe and vexation of mynde for that which he had done that he coulde not abide to lyue any longer Dyd not he also afore he hanged hym selfe make an open confession of his faulte when he sayde I haue synned betraying the innocent blood And veryly this was a very bolde confession whiche might haue brought hym to greate trouble For by it he did lay to the hygh priestes elders charge the sheddyng of innocent blood and that they were moste abhominable murtherers He dyd also make a certayne kynde of satisfaction when he dyd cast their money vnto them agayne No suche thyng do we reade of Peter although he had committed a very heynous synne and most greeuous offence in denying of his master We fynde that he went out and wept bytterlye whereof Ambrose speaketh on this maner Peter was sory and wept because he erred as a man I do not fynde what he sayed I know that he wept I reade of his teares but not of his satisfaction But howe chaunce that the one was receaued into fauour agayne with God and the other cast away but because that the one dyd by a lyuely fayth in hym whom he had denyed take hold vpon the mercie of God and the other wanted fayth whereby he dyd dispayre of the goodnesse and mercie of God It is euident and playn then that although we be neuer so earnestly sorye for our synnes acknowledge and confesse them yet all these thynges shal be but meanes to bryng vs to vtter desperation except we do stedfastly beleue that God our heauenly father wyll for his sonne Jesu Christes sake pardon and forgeue vs our offences and trespasses and vtterly put them out of remembraunce in his syght Therefore as we sayde before they that teache repentaunce without Christe and a lyuely fayth in the mercie of God do onely teache Cains or Judas repentaunce The fourth is an amendement of lyfe or a newe lyfe in bryngyng foorth fruites worthy of repentaunce For they that do truely repent must be cleane altered and chaunged they muste become newe creatures they must be no more the same that they were before And therefore thus sayde John Baptist vnto the Pharisees and Saduces that came vnto his baptisme O generation of vypers who hath forewarned you to flee from the anger to come bryng foorth therefore fruites worthy of repentaunce Whereby we do learne that if we wyll haue the wrath of God to be pacified we muste in no wyse dissemble but turne vnto hym agayne with a true and sounde repentaunce whiche may be knowne and declared by good fruites as by moste sure and infallible signes thereof They that do from the bottome of their heartes acknowledge their synnes and are vnfaignedly sory for their offences wyll cast of al hypocrisie and put on true humilitie and lowlynesse of heart They wyll not onlye receaue the Phisition of the soule but also with a moste feruent desyre long for hym They wyll not only abstaine from the sinnes of their former lyfe and from all other filthy vices but also flee exchew and abhorre all the occasions of them And as they dyd before geue them selues to vncleannesse of lyfe so wyll they from henceforwardes with all diligence geue them selues to innocencie purenesse of lyfe and true godlynesse We haue the Niniuites for an example whiche at the preachyng of Jonas dyd not onlye proclayme a generall fast and that they shoulde euery one put on sackloth but they all dyd turne from their euill wayes and from the wyckednesse that was in their handes But aboue all other the historie of Zacheus is moste notable For beyng come vnto our sauiour Jesu Christe he dyd say Beholde Lorde the halfe of my goodes I geue to the poore and if I haue defrauded any man or taken ought away by extortion or fraude I do restore hym foure folde Here we see that after his repentaunce he was no more the man that he was before but was cleane chaunged and altered It was so farre of that he woulde continue and byde styll in his vnsatiable couetousnesse or take ought awaye fraudulentlye from any man tâ—at rather he was most wylling and redye to geue away his owne and to make satisfaction vnto all them that he had done iniurie and wrong vnto Heare may we ryght well adde the synfull woman whiche when she came
that we should do no hurte to our fellow subiectes though they hate vs and be our enemies much lesse vnto our prince though he were our enemie Shall we not assemble an army of such good felowes as we are and by hazarding of our liues and the lyues of such as shal withstand vs and withall hazarding the whole estate of our coūtry remoue so naughty a Prince No sayeth godlye Dauid for I when I myght without assembling force or nūber of men without tumult or hazarde of anye mans lyfe or shedding of any drop of blood haue deliuered my selfe and my country of an euill Prince yet woulde I not do it Are not they say some lustie and couragious captaynes valiant men of stomacke and good mens bodies that do venture by force to kill and depose their king beyng a naughtye Prince and their mortall enemy They may be as lusty as couragious as they list yet sayth godlye Dauid they can be no good nor godlye men that so do for I not onely haue rebuked but also commaūded him to be slaine as a wicked man which slue kyng Saul mine enemie though he beyng weery of his life for the losse of the victory against his enemies desyred that man to slay him What shall we then do to an euil to an vnkynde prince an enemye to vs hated of God hurtfull to the common wealth c. Lay no violent hand vpon him sayth good Dauid but let hym lyue vntyll God appoynt and worke his ende eyther by naturall death or in warre by lawfull enemies not by trayterous subiectes Thus would godly Dauid make aunswere And Saint Paule as ye hearde before wylleth vs to pray also for such a prince If kyng Dauid would make these aunsweres as by his deedes and wordes recorded in the holy scriptures in deede he doth make vnto al such demaundes concerning rebelling against euill Princes vnkynde princes cruell princes princes that be to their good subiectes mortall enemies princes that are out of Gods fauour and so hurtfull or lyke to be hurtfull to the common wealth what aunswere thynke you woulde he make to those that demaunde whether they beyng naughtie and vnkynd subiectes may not to the great hazard of the lyfe of many thousandes and the vtter daunger of the state of the common wealth and whole realme assemble a sort of Rebels or to depose to put in feare or to destroy their natural and louyng princes enemie to none good to al euen to them the worst of al other the mainteiner of perpetual peace quietnes and securitie most beneficiall to the common wealth most necessarie for the safegarde of the whole Realme What aunswere would Dauid make to their demaunde whether they may not attempt cruelly and vnnaturally to destroy so peaceable and mercyfull a Princes what I saye woulde Dauid so reuerently speaking of Saule and so pacientlye suffering so euyll a king what would he answer and say to such demaundes What would he say nay what would he do to suche hye attempters who so sayde and dyd as you before haue hearde vnto him that slue the king his maister though a most wicked prince If he punished with death as a wicked doer such a man With what reproches of wordes would he reuile suche yea with what tormentes of most shameful deathes would he destroye suche hell houndes rather then euyll men suche rebels I meane as I last spake of For if they who do disobey an euyll and vnkynde prince be most vnlike vnto Dauid that good subiect what be they who do rebell agaynst a most naturall and louyng Prince And if Dauid being so good a subiect that hee obeyed so euyll a king was worthy of a subiect to be made a kyng hym selfe What be they who are so euyl subiects that they wil rebel against their gracious prince worthy of Surely no mortall man can expresse worth wordes nor conceaue in mynde the horrible and most dreadfull dampnation that suche be worthy of who disdaining to be the quiet and happy subiectes of their good prince are moste worthy to be the miserable captiues vile slaues of that infernall tyraunt Satan with hym to suffer eternall slauerie and tormentes This one example of the good subiect Dauid out of the old Testamen may suffice and for the notablenesse of it serue for all In the newe Testament the excellent example of the blessed birgin Marie the mother of our sauiour Christe doth at the fyrst offer it selfe When proclamation or commaundement was sent into Jurie from Augustus the Emperour of Rome that the people there should repayre vnto their owne cities and dwellyng places there to be taxed neyther dyd the blessed virgin though both highly in Gods fauour and also beyng of the royal blood of the auncient natural kinges of Jurie disdayne to obey the commaundement of an heathen forraigne prince when GOD had placed suche a one o 〈…〉 r them Neyther dyd she alleage for an excuse that she was great with childe and moste neare her time of deliueraunce Neyther grudged she at the length and tediousnes of the iourney from Nazareth to Bethlehem from whence and whyther she must go to be taxed Neyther repined she at the sharpnesse of the dead tyme of winter beyng the latter ende of December an vnhandsome tyme to trauaile in speciallye a long iourney for a woman being in her case but all excuses set apart she obeyed and came to the appoynted place where at her cōming she found such great resort and thronge of people that fyndyng no place in any Inne she was fayne after her long paynefull and tedious iourney to take vp her lodging in a stable where also she was deliuered of her blessed chylde and this also declareth how neare her tyme she tooke that iourney This obedience of this most noble and most vertuous Ladye to a forraigne and Pagan Prince doth well teach vs who in comparison to her are moste base and vyle what redye obedience we do owe to our naturall and gratious Soueraigne Howbeit in this case the obedience of the whole Jewyshe nation beyng otherwyse a stubburne people vnto the commaundement of the same forraigne heathen prince doth proue that suche Christians as do not most redyly obey their natural gratious soueraigne are farre worfe then the stuburne Jewes whom yet we accompt as the worst of all people But no example ought to be of more force with vs christians then the example of Christ our maister and sauiour who though he were the sonne of GOD yet did alwaies behaue him selfe most reuerently to such men as were in aucthoritie in the world in his time he not rebelliously behaued him selfe but openly did teach the Jewes to pay tribute vnto the Romane Emperour though a forraigne a Pagan Prince yea him selfe with his apostles payd tribute vnto him finally being brought before Pontius Pilate a stranger borne and an heathen man being Lord president of Jury he atknowledged
his aucthoritie and power to be geuen him from GOD and obeyed paciently the sentence of most painful and shamefull death which the sayd Judge pronounced and gaue most vniustlye agaynst hym without any grudge murmuring or euyll word once geuyng There be manye other examples of the obedience to Princes euen suche as bee euyll in the newe Testament to the vtter confusion of disobedient and rebellious people but this one may be an eternall example which the sonne of GOD and so the Lorde of all Jesus Christ hath geuen to vs his Christians and seruauntes and suche as may serue for all to teach vs to obey Princes though straungers wycked and wrongfull when God for our synnes shall place suche ouer vs Whereby it followeth vnauoydably that suche as doe disobey or rebell against their own natural gratious soueraignes howsoeuer they call them selues or be named of others yet are they in deede no true Christians but worse then Jewes worse then Heathens and suche as shall neuer enioy the kyngdome of heauen whiche Christ by his obedience purchased for true Christians being obedient to him the king of all kinges and to theyr Prince whom he hath placed ouer them the which kingdome the peculier place of all such obedient subiectes I beseche God our heauenly father for the same our sauiour Jesus Christes sake to graunt vnto vs to whom with the holy ghost be all laude honour and glory now and foreuer Amen Thus haue you heard the second part of thys Homilee now good people let vs pray The prayer as before ¶ The thirde parte of the Homilee agaynst disobedience and wilfull Rebellion AS I haue in the first parte of this treatise shewed vnto you the doctrine of the holy scriptures as concernyng the obience of true subiectes to their princes euen as well to suche as be euill as vnto the good and in the seconde parte of the same treatie confyrmed the same doctrine by notable examples lykewyse taken out of the holy scriptures so remayneth it now that I partlye do declare vnto you in this thirde parte what an abominable sinne against god and man rebellion is and howe dreadfullye the wrath of God is kindled and inflamed agaynst all Rebels and what horrible plagues punyshmentes and deathes and finally eternall dampnation doeth hang ouer their heades as how on the contrary part good and obedient subiectes are in Gods fauour and be partakers of peace quietnesse and securitie with other Gods manifolde blessinges in this world and by his mercies through our sauiour Christ of lyfe euerlasting also in the world to come How horrible a sinne agaynst God and man rebellion is cannot possible be expressed accordyng vnto the greatnesse thereof For he that nameth rebellion nameth not a singuler or one onely sinne as is theft robbery murther such lyke but he nameth the whole puddle and sinke of all sinnes agaynst God and man agaynst his prince his countrey his countreymen his parentes his children his kinsfolkes his frendes and agaynst all men vniuersally all sinnes I say agaynst God and al men heaped together nameth he that nameth rebellion For concernyng the offence of Gods maiestie who seeth not that rebellion ryseth first by contempt of God and of his holy ordinaunces and lawes wherin he so straitly commaundeth obedience forbiddeth disobedience and rebellion And besydes the dishonour done by rebels vnto Gods holye name by theyr breakyng of theyr othe made to their prince with the attestation of Gods name and callyng of his maiestie to witnesse who heareth not the horrible othes and blasphemies of Gods holy name that are vsed dayly amongst rebels that is either amongst them or heareth the trueth of their behauiour Who knoweth not that rebels do not onelye them selues leaue all workes necessarye to be done vpon workedayes vndone whyles they accomplish their abominable worke of rebellion and to compell others that would gladly be well occupyed to do the same but also how rebels do not onely leaue the Sabbath day of the Lord vnsanctified the Temple and Churche of the Lorde vnresorted vnto but also do by their workes of wickednes moste horriblye prophane and pollute the sabbath day seruing satan and by doyng of his worke making it the deuils daye in steede of the Lordes day Besydes that they compell good men that would gladly serue the lorde assembling in his Temple and Churche vpon his day as becommeth the Lordes seruantes to assemble and meete armed in the feelde to resiste the furye of suche rebels Yea and manye rebels leaste they should leaue any part of Gods commaūdementes in the firste table of his lawe vnbroken or anye sinne agaynst God vndone do make rebellion for the maynteynaunce of theyr Images and Idols and of their idolatrye committed or to be committed by them and in dispite of God cut and teare in sunder his holy worde and tread it vnder their feete as of late ye knowe was done As concernyng the second table of Gods law and all sinnes that may be committed agaynst man who seeth not that they be not conteyned in rebellion For fyrst the rebels do not only dishonour their prince the parent of their country but also do dishonour and shame their naturall parents if they haue any do shame their kinred and freendes do disherite and vndo for euer their children and heyres Theftes robberies and murthers whiche of all sinnes are most lothed of most men are in no men so much nor so pernitiously and mischeuously as in rebels For the most errant theeues and cruellest murtherers that euer were so long as they refrayne form rebellion as they are not many in number so spreadeth their wickednes and damnation vnto a fewe they spoyle but a fewe they shed the blood but of few in comparison But rebels are the cause of infinite robberies and murthers of great multitudes of those also whom they should defende from the spoyle and violence of other and as rebels are manye in number so doth their wickednesse and damnation spreade it selfe vnto many And if whoredome and adultry amongst suche persons as are agreeable to suche wickednesse are as they in deede be moste damnable what are the forceable oppressions of matrones and mens wyues and the violating and deflowring of virgins and maydes whiche are moste ryfe with rebels how horrible and damnable thinke you are they Nowe besydes that rebels by breach of their fayth geuen and oth made to their Prince be guiltie of moste damnable periurie it is wonderous to see what false colors and fayned causes by slaunderous lyes made vppon their prince and the councellers rebels will deuise to cloke theyr rebellion withall which is the worst and moste damnable of all false witnes bearyng that may be possible For what shoulde I speake of couetyng or desyryng of other mens wiues houses landes goodes and seruauntes in rebels who by theyr wylles would leaue vnto no man any thyng of his owne Thus you see that al gods