he chosinge from death hath redéemed to life and that the grace of Christe cometh onely vnto them who by frée election before they were borne were predestinate to saluation and that others like as they be ordeyned before to euerlastinge damnatiō so also thei cōtinue in their sinnes To procéede any further if it were lawfull yet were it not expedient But now seinge it were no lesse wicked than hurtfull to rushe thorough from whence the Lorde kéepeth vs as it were by holdinge ouer his owne hande it were our duetie to embrace reuerently that whiche the Lord deliuereth vs to holde our selues contented ther withall without makyng any further inquisitiō For the right rule of beinge wise in this behalfe is suche a sobernesse as coueteth to knowe no more than is reuealed in the Scriptures Certainely God would that nothinge should be hidden from vs but such as the knowledge thereof were superfluous or more darke thā that our capacitie could atteine to the vnderstandinge of it Wherefore we are the more vnthankefull but if we temper our desire of searching according to the meane which himselfe obserued in teachynge vs why maruell we then if they throwe themselues headlonge into the bottomlesse pitte or dash themselues against the rockes who after the maner of madmen rushe violently against God They accuse God of crueltie bicause he adiudgeth to damnation suche as are yet vnborne But they shall one daye féele him a iuste iudge or rather they féele him so alreadie inwardly although they acknowledge it not They cauill that preceptes are giuen in vayne concerninge maners that lawes are made in vaine and that iudgementes are vniustly executed in punishinge euill dooers seing all thinges are ruled or rather rolled by destinies As who should say God did not so gouerne his elect with his holy spirite giue ouer the castawaies to be troubled by the Deuil that he maketh the doctrine of Godlinesse and exhortacions fruiteful vnto the one and holdeth the other as conuicte of wilfulnesse and vnexcusable bicause they obeyed not his warninge I omitte how little they profite by diffaminge the Prouidence of God with the slaūderous name of destinie For we neither dreame of intricate knottes of causes with the Stoikes nor submit the gouernance of the worlde to the Starres nor imagine a necessitie of thinges in the very nature of thinges it selfe Howbeit the same is it that Heathen mē call fatal The predestination of God therefore is far another thing thā the Heathen destenie but let this brawlyng about woordes cease in this cace If say they that necessitie of thinges be prefixed by the eternal decrée of God it is superfluous to teache what euery mans duetie is For teachinge shall alter nothyng of that which is alreadie determined But they ought to haue considered by the way that doctrine was by God himself ordeined to this end that it should be an vnderseruaunt to his secret determinations Whome by his eternal adoption he hath predestinated to life doth he not by doctrine as it were by the hande stretched out leade thē thither as he had predestinated thē For what els is an effectual vocatiō than an accōplishment of the electiō which before was hidden He may by sundrie threates compell y e reprobates to no purpose as it semeth howbeit in asmuch as by this meanes he maketh thē vnexcusable herein also appeareth some strength of y e doctrine Foolish mē perceiue not in how goodly order the woorkes of God agrée amonge themselues Herupon it cōmeth to passe y e thei rashly set at variance with the will the doctrine which is nothing els thā the minister of his eternall will Let vs learne therfore that God speaketh not to mē to thentent to reueale vnto thē or to correct those things which he had determined w t himself lōg before but rather y t he might teach them by triall how firme stedfast they be It cannot come to passe that they should perish whom he hath ones chosen from the beginning bicause he will not haue thē perish he cōmitteth them to the trustie tuitiō of Christ. Moreouer to y e entent thei may haue Christ to their shepeherd it behoueth y t they be gathereded into his folde Therfore when by giuyng eare to the voice of their shepeherde the elect doo atteine saluation it is nothinge else but a bringyng of their election vnto his appointed ende by the outwarde preachynge of the Gospell He commaundeth the same doctrine also to be set before the reprobates and why is it to the entent to disanull that that he had determined of their damnation Nay rather that their wilful vnbeliefe should make more apparant what auaileth the grace of the secrete election For what brighter mirrour cā there be made wherin this grace may cléerely appeare than when in the common doctrine by the same callinge of God by the like instrument of callinge there is so great difference of men that some obstinately refuse that whiche othersome obediently embrace Yet we sée in the meane while howe the woorde whiche is spoken by the mouth of a man although it amende not the hartes of the wicked yet it striketh their consciences and restraineth their malapartnesse as it were a bridle Now we must intreate of the Offences whiche we haue assigned to the seconde sorte Many complaine that the Gospell is the fountaine of discorde bicause that assone as it springeth vp there bud out debates with it or rather as if a trumpet were blowen to some battell men arme themselues one against another It is surely to be confessed that Christe hath pronounced that debate and fightinge should sprynge vp with the Gospell but it is to be weyed vpon what occasion it cometh so to passe First if men rise wilfully against God when he goeth about to bringe them to conformitie we haue tolde you before by what meanes that happeneth It is a harde matter that thei that stande to much vpon the reputation of their owne wisedome shoulde yelde thēselues willing to be taught of Christ. But nowe when the lustes of the fleash whiche reigne in men are so many and like a sorte of fierce and vnruly beastes doo we maruell if they make a tramplyng and stirringe agaynst the yoke and the brydle But it is to much wronge to lay the blame of that euill vpon the Gospell the cause whereof is in our selues They doo euen as vprightly who for feare of trouble and for hate of discorde abhorre from the doctrine of peace They thinke nothinge to be better than a quiet state what then if some Tyrāne should by his horrible and outragious crueltie obteine thus much that whiles he rauisheth maidens and honest wiues whiles he spoyleth euery good mā of his goodes whiles he murthereth the giltlesse like a cutthrote all men amazed for feare shoulde holde their peace shall tyrannie vnder this pretence deserue prayse now if it be demaunded what maner of peace this is whiche many sticke not to purchace
amonge the people for the holy Ghoste teacheth that where preachinge fayleth the people goe to hauocke and experience sheweth that one of these twoo mischieues ensueth whē preachynge is stayed to wete either no Religion at all wherof procéedeth Atheisme and Epicuresme or els euery man to haue a Religion by him selfe which is the very Originall cause of all Heresie and Scisme in the Church of Christ. It is the Deuilles policie to haue preachinge set apart to the ende that he may haue a time to scatter his darnell cockle in y e Lordes fielde wherein if he be not spéedely preuented it is to be feared that the Deuill which hath bene cast out will returne againe to his old possession and findinge it vacante readie trimmed for him settle him selfe and seuen other Deuilles with him worse then he is so it fall out with vs as with the froward generatiō whose ende was worse then the beginnynge Which extréeme miserie the Lord vouchsafe to preuent with his mercie that we our posteritie may cōtinewe in y e light of his truth that the same may continewe with vs to the ende At Barwicke the firste of October Anno 1566. Your good Lordshippes most humble to commaunde Arthur Goldinge To Laurence Normandie a man endewed with excellent gyftes Iohn Caluin sendeth gréetinge WHereas for many considerations I had vowed some parte of my trauels vnto you in my hart I haue déemed this little woorke woorthie to be chosen before others bicause your example may auaile and that not smally to bringe in credite the doctrine whiche it conteineth For since the time that forsakynge your countrie willingly you haue come hither as a bānished man we two can best beare witnesse with how many and how violēt practises of Sathā you haue bene assaulted yet there are other also that knowe of it The fourth moneth after your departinge came tidinges of your Fathers death It could not be but that you muste néedes thinke that which malicious persones letted not to speake how the cause of his death might be ascribed to thought to the entent that all the blame might be laide vppon your necke Anon after followed a moste sharpe wounde that your wife beyng suche a woman as euery good man would wishe him selfe the like was takē away in the chiefe flowre of her age Here also it coulde not otherwise be but that diuers tēptatiōs perced your minde beynge not a man of a blockishe nature Now sounded in your eares the slaūders of euill men that she was drawen out of her natiue soyle in an vnluckie hower to leaue her wretched life almoste in an other worlde But this touched you nerer at the hart that they should haue any colour bicause they reported that your purpose was cursed of the Lorde with a sorowfull issue I omit the other innumerable prickinges which you could not but féele inwardly For seynge widowhoode is a grieuous euill it was to excéedinge a griefe to you to be depriued of suche a cōpanion of your life And to encreace the heape of your sorrowes laste of all came also the buriall of your little daughter In the meane while the Deuill powred out of other places all the mischiefe he could deuise to the entēt that ouerwhelminge your wounded hart he might dispatch you out of hāde Finally you were driuē to swallow vp more trouble within one halfe yéere than many that are cōmended for the haultnesse of their courages haue suffered all their liues longe That was a heape of stumblingblockes cast against you by the sutteltie of Sathā euen at your firste settinge foorth in your race to haue compelled you to pull backe your foote againe But you puttyng your affiance in the inuincible power of Gods spirite gaue ensample to all others that there is no let so déepe difficulte which by the same ayde may not be waded out of And therewithal you haue tried with what armour the Lorde is wonte to furnishe his seruantes as often as he calleth them to the encounter I remember whē I first tolde you your Father was dead and that I alledged the example of Abraham whome the men of his age mighte call the murtherer of his Father in that Thare followinge him when he went frō home miscaried by the waye you made me answeare by and by that for asmuche as God did bothe beare witnesse to your doyng and also allowed it you passed nothinge for the slaunders of the wicked and that nothinge grieued you but that your Father bearynge you companie in your iourney had not made you like vnto Abraham For you were neither so nice nor so prowde that you would eyther refuse to be Abrahams companion or that you would shunne that slaunder whiche God setteth out with great commendation Howbeit your wife did of her selfe wonderfully asswage and mitigate the sorrowe of her death before she departed from vs. For there coulde no apter medicine haue bene wisshed than those heroicall woordes of hers whiche she vttered vpon her death bedde when takinge me by the hande she thanked God who had brought her on his hāde in to such a place where she might die with a quiet cōsciēce when bewailyng in her harte the state of her former life she cried out that she was double happie in that beynge lately drawen out of the cursed iayle of Babilon she should now also depart out of the miserable pryson of the bodie when out of the liuely sence of her conscience disputinge of her owne sinnes of the gilte of eternall death and of the dreadfull iudgement of God not womanlike she extolled highly the grace of Christ with like humblenesse and affiance embraced it as a holly Anchor I doo so well remember her howe she vttered these woordes not onely plainely and distinctly but also with an vnaccustomed earnestnesse euen at her last drawinge on that me thinkes I sée her yet still Therfore when I sawe you on the contrary part nobly striuyng to subdue the heauinesse of your harte I marueled the lesse that a man shoulde be stoute in sorrowe beynge helped with so many and so goodly remedies I will not tarrie in rehearcinge of others This I saye onely when the Deuill had framed a buisie Labyrinth of an vnmeasurable heape of stumblingblockes for you you ouercame them all in such sorte that you maye not onely be a méete admonissher counseller vnto others but also that such as are somewhat weakeharted beynge encouraged by your example may woorthely take a new stoutenesse vnto them Yée may sée that the moderatenesse of an vpright minde is a very defēsible towre wherof you haue giuen a singular proofe partely in other thinges but specially herein in asmuch as hauing lefte in your countrie thinges whiche leade some men to ambition and holde other some faste with their enticementes you are touched with no desire at all of them so that it may appeare you beare the want of them with as quiet and vpright a minde as you
at hande to accuse them Let them herken to their owne conscience bearyng witnes against thē Let them not harden their hartes against the prickes of sinne then there shalbe no daūger for them at all of finding any thing to be ashamed at in the death of Christ or to scare them frō him with the slaunder of his crosse or finally to withdraw them selues from him for any let Of this thinge ye may behold a very goodly image in the womā of Samaria Who as longe as Christ disputed with her of the misticall drawinge of the water of life was pleasantly disposed to prattle with him to ouerthwart him was pretely bold to dally iest with him but assoone as he had ones touched her cōsciēce by casting her in the téeth with her whoredome by by forgetting her merie conceites she reuerently acknowledged him for a Prophete whom newly before she sticked not to disquiet with her taūts Therfore whosoeuer is offēded by Christ for ioyninge his Godhead in one persone with the Manhood or whosoeuer thinketh it an absurde thinge to séeke lyfe at him that was dead and to call the cursed Crosse the wellspringe of all grace and saluation lette vs assure our selues that they are therefore offended bicause that beynge vtterly voide of the feare of God they haue no taste at all of the spirituall doctrine Wherefore let not their astonishment be a stumblinge blocke to vs but rather let vs be carried from the humaine nature of Christe to the glorie of his Godhead whiche maye turne all curious questions into admiration let vs de directed from the death of Christe to his glorious Resurrection whiche may wipe away all the slaunder of his Crosse lette vs passe from the weakenesse of the fleshe to the poure of the Spirite whiche may swallow vp all foolishe thoughtes Sure it is that Paule was endewed with suche an vnderstandinge when he saide thus I am not ashamed of the Gospell of Christe for it is the poure of God to the saluation of them that beléeue For by these woordes he meaneth that none are ashamed of the Gospell but suche as take not holde of y e healthfull power thereof moreouer he declareth by and by after that it cannot otherwise be taken holde of than when the wrath of God is made manifest to our destruction Who can now maruell that meate hath no fauour with them that haue no taste For who so euer is so astonied y e he sléepeth soundly beyng touched with no reuelation of the wrath of God he differeth nothing in the acknowledginge of Christe from such as in discerning of sauours haue their taste taken from them As for suche men we are not wonte to passe so muche of them that any of vs would therefore lothe our meate bicause they refuse it But this kinde of Offence which riseth likewise out of the doctrine is more violent and more common bicause that whereas of Nature we like well of our selues and woulde haue all our owne thinges to be had in high estimacion we finde nothing left vnto vs there sauyng vtter pouertie of all good thinges For there al the wisedome of men is condemned of follie and their rightuousnesse vertue is brought to a thing of naught Now this thing seemeth so intollerable to our proude fleshe that for very spight they gnashe their téeth as many as haue not learned to denie thē selues For men are euer desirous to kéepe somewhat of their owne albeit that in some behalf thei giue place to God against their willes yet they can by no meanes abide that al should be taken frō thē at ones At the beginning they séeme very wise they are puffed vp with trust in their owne power they like well of their owne rightuousnesse Afterwarde beinge admonished by God partly also conuicted by experience they finde that their wisedome stackereth and that their power and rightuousnesse halteth And yet they cannot by any meanes be perswaded to beléeue that they are vtterly destitute of al wisedome rightuousnes And what other thinge is this than as it were by composition to parte stake with God Now the Gospell pronounceth that light whiche we imagine our selues to haue to be vtter darknesse and it in such sorte leaueth vnto vs no droppe at all of rightuousnes that is pronoūceth it to be stinkinge filthinesse before God what so euer we bringe of our selues Hereat the worldly wisemen begin to chause the hipocrites become madde And this was the chiefe cause why at the beginning of Christes kingdome all the sectes of the Philosophers together w t al the politicke gouernours did set thēselues so earnestly against the Gospell For they might not endure to haue their owne wisedome defaced which thei thēselues honored as an Idoll for the which thei knew thēselues to be had in great reputacion Wold God the auncient Doctors had made lesse curtesie to offende suche kinde of men For while they studied to make medicines to asswage their maladie thei left vnto vs a watrish and vnkindly péece of diuinitie Origen Tertullian Cyprian Basill Chrysostome and the reste of that order would neuer haue spokē so of their owne frée motion but whiles they sought a mitigation to appease y e worldly wisemē or to auoide their displeasure thei confounded heauen and earth togither To bring mā altogither vnder foote was a hatefull thing repugnant to common reason therfore they séeke a mitigation approchyng nearer to the fleshly vnderstadinge but in the meane time the purenesse of the doctrine is prophaned Nothing then had bene better than to haue crushed the byle harde to the intent iudgemēt might be giuen by the filthinesse of the matter But nothinge is more euident than that men haue alwayes bene stirred vp with outragious pryde to make adoo agaynst the Gospell The same cause also moued the Iewes to that beastly rage wherewith the Euangelistes specially Luke and Paule doo witnes them to haue ben caried For they stroue in defence of their rightuousenesse whiche was nothinge els than smoke and yet it séemed to them more precious than Christe Both of thē ranne with might and mayne to assaulte the Gospell but the Iewes ranne more furiously whereby it might manifestly appere that nothinge is more spightfull than the Hypocrites Of this Offence Christ him selfe speaketh generally whē he saieth that the children of this world doo hate the light of the Gospell least their euill woorkes should appere For were the Gospell put awaye then as though the light were cléerely quenched the deceitful and transitorie wisedome of the fleash shineth in darkenesse and reigneth like a Prince and counterfeite holinesse spreadeth her winges proudely euery way about her But assoone as Christe the onely Sonne of rightuousnesse with the brightnesse of his Gospell sheweth him selfe those thinges which heretofore occupied the chiefe roume of honour doo not onely vanishe away but are as little sette by as dunge This verely is the grounde of
but rather we ought to call to minde that the Churche was ordeined for this purpose that it should continually goe a warfare vnder the Crosse as longe as it wandereth in this worlde But if we were handsome and indifferente interpreters of the woorkes of God the thinge whereat we take occasion to be offended shoulde be the beste comfort for vs that coulde be For wheras the state of the Churche is for the most parte miserable and alwayes vnstable or rather for asmuche as it is continually tossed with diuers stormes as it were in a roughe sea firste the Lorde giueth an euident token of his wonderfull prouidence and secondely it is a profitable and as muche necessarie exercise for the triall of our faithe and patience If the Churche were so founded and altogither fortified that it might staye vppon the owne power it shoulde differ nothinge from an earthly kingedome neither would any man doubte that it were gouerned by mans pollicie if it had stoode all at one ordinarie stay vnto this daye But whē we sée that through as it were innumerable deathes it hath neuerthelesse continued aliue so many hundred yéeres it can none otherwise be but we muste néedes gather that it was preserued by the power of God This greate power of God other circumstances doo make more manifeste in that when it was assaulted on all sides with deadly daūgers wherwith oftentimes it might haue bene ouerwhelmed maugre welnéere the whole worlde whiche wrought the worste it coulde againste it it alwaies scaped as it had béene from shipwrecke I say nothinge herein whiche any manne may not easely acknowledge in him selfe who so euer will sette before his eyes the Histories of all times This is an olde cōplainte of the Church that it hath béene assaulted oftentimes from her youth vp and hath had the vngodly her vtter enemies that they haue ploughed vppon her backe and drawen longe furrowes vpon her By this voice the spirit of God would rayse vp the godly sorte that lie gronynge vnder moste greuous miseries to the entent that rūninge through all degrées of ages from the beginnyng of the worlde thei should know that the Churche hath alwayes ouercome by sufferance Heruppon ought we to set our mindes continually to the entēt that if at any time the present state of our time doo trouble vs the remembraunce of those thinges whiche our fathers haue suffered in time past may refreshe vs. And therefore it shalbe expedient to haue a description of all times gathered togither to the entent that euery one of vs may from thence set before our eyes examples méete to asswage our miseries as often as the race and néede shall require Howbeit ere I procéede any further it is néedefull to note wherupon so many and so sundrie chaunges whereby the Church of God is oftentimes turned and as it were whéeled about doo arise The knowledge of this thinge is not to be fetched from farre obscure coniectures seinge the continuall starting of men frō God hath broken the course of his grace whiche otherwise had bene continuall whiche thing ye may vnderstande almost from the beginnyng of the world When Moyses speaketh of Seth and his sonne Enos it is there recited that at the same time the name of God was begonne to be called vpon Whereby we vnderstāde that the true worshipping of God which in the cursed ofspringe of Cain was in maner vtterly decayed was restored anew againe that it might thriue florish in the world Scarce eight generations passed when all the posteritie of them whom God had segregated to himself for his owne children had throwen themselues in such wise into all kinde of wickednesse that with themselues they destroyed by floud of water all the whole world defiled with their abhominations At such time as the Church was brought to eight persones it séemed then at leastwise so purged that y e little séede whiche remayned should of it selfe bringe foorth nothinge but pure holinesse And yet anon after it diminished almoste by the fourthe parte The posteritie of Iaphet also within a while after fléeted awaye There remained no more but the householde of Sem the whiche it selfe ere it was any longe time grewe out of kinde also so that God did worthely exclude frō him a greate parte of it When the Ofspringe of Abraham beynge by wonderful power brought out of Egipt had passed the redde Sea and was goynge towarde the lande of Promisse who would not of luckie beginninges haue iudged that there shoulde haue ensewed a continuance of a happie state Notwithstandinge euen the very same in whose deliuerance God had shewed so manifest a proufe of his power made no ende of sinninge vntill suche time as by horrible meanes they were all destroyed in the wildernesse At length the children of them toke possession of the said lande but yet suche a possession as wel néere in sixe hundred yéeres after had no stabilitie bicause they themselues throughe their owne falsenesse and vncōstancie did eftsoones trouble it Neuerthelesse the Lord did diuers times restore them to a tollerable order All the which notwithstandinge neither the remembrance of their first deliuerance nor the rodde that was laide vpon them so oftentimes to chasten them nor the present féelinge of punishments nor the often pardoning of them could kéepe them in awe but that by shakinge of the yoke of God they procured newe mischiefes to themselues Moyses had tolde them before how it would come to passe that when they were fatte and well fedde they would kicke againe but the thing in déede was farre woorse what doth the storie of the Iudges reherse but continuall backeslidinges Wherefore if any be offended at the sundry shakinges wherunto they sée the Churche subiect in this worlde let them caste their eyes vppon that Glasse and they shall leaue wōderinge to sée them haue vncertayne abidynge vppon Earthe who with so great vnconstantnesse of faithe doo wauer before God After that the Kingedome of Dauid was erected there séemed a more certaine grounded kinde of a state like to continewe to haue bene stablished But that lamētable slaughter of the Pestilence which by the space of thrée daies after a monstruous maner raged in the worlde abated greatly that felicitie By and by after the death of Salomon the bodie of the Realme was deuided and the torne members ceased not afterward to byte one another And moreouer both Kingdomes were miserably turmoyled by forraine warres Shall we say their destenie drane them thereunto Nay rather they thēselues through their sinnes enforced and hastened the vengeance of God For euen wherein they séemed most innocent namely whyle Dauid goeth through with numberynge of them bicause it was the peculiar faulte of one man yet the holy Historie saieth plainely that God was wrothe with them all At length followed that greate conuersion little differinge from vtter destruction when all the whole Nation was led captiue to Babilon But surely if their owne desperate
times and all nations make mention of els where How vnuincible the strength of faith is where the hartes are susteined by the vertue of the spirit it is made manifest in others The Heroicall haultenesse of harte whiche the Lorde hath set foorth to be séene of all ages in one man beynge vanquished and taken prisoner woulde neuer haue bene beleued but by such triall of the Crosse. Certaine other notable examples of the same sorte which I coulde readely reherse I passe ouer for the nonce But let euery man wey with himselfe these and innumerable suche others They saye that nowe women are ledde vnto death to the entent that not onely mē but also whole peoples should haue the lesse pardon who for the gayne of a small interest of transitorie peace in the worlde haue not sticked to denie the Sonne of God the author of eternall life and to depriue themselues of his heauenly kingedome Finally the Lord himselfe knowes beste howe muche those thinges shall profite them whiche nowe are commonly counted for great euilles It is our duetie to take with stoute courages what so euer calamities happen hopynge for suche issue as is to be wisthed for at the Lordes hande and alwaies to grounde our selues vppon this pointe that how so euer the Churche is pressed for a time our moste deare Father whiche taketh singular care thereof will neuer suffer that it be ouerwhelmed and decaye If Christe muste beare rule in the middes of his enemies as by the witnesse of the holy Ghoste is testified longe agoe his kingedome cannot be amonge vs without a kinde of warfare and continuall strife If we be like shéepe appointed to the slaughter and that our aduersaries burne in woodnesse like Wolues Lette that precepte of the Lorde come to our remembraunce that we muste possesse our soules in patience vntill suche time as he may make perfect his strength in our weakenesse Surely the Apostles were in no happier cace when they cried out boldlie why doo the Heathen so furiously rage and why doo the people imagine vaine thinges We also if we vnderstoode what that sayinge meaneth to sée God in Heauen whensoeuer he giueth the vngodly bridle we beinge furnished with the same confidence that the Apostles were shall carelesly laugh all the worlde to scorne although they were in harnesse There follow Offences which the cōmon people beléeue agayne to procéede of the doctrine but in very déede are the propre naturall issue eyther of lewdnesse or of vnskilfulnes or els of curiousnesse The Scripture teacheth vs in this wise of the corruption of our nature that we bringe with vs a natiue viciousnesse and malice from our mothers wombe wherby it commeth to passe that an euill trée cānot bring foorth other than euill fruite vntill we be newe graffed agayne by the grace of Christe Here mans reason gathereth that men thēselues are not only faultlesse while they sinne but also that the faulte is iustly to be ascribed to God who createth them suche that they séeme to be borne to sinne Let euery man examine his owne conscience and he shall out of hande holde his peace For there we shall finde that whiche the Scripture so often testifieth how that the leudnesse which cleaueth in vs is the welspryng of all vices and that we therfore committe all euilles bicause we doo couet y t whiche displeaseth God How cometh it then to passe that they whome their owne conscience findeth giltie within doo busilie séeke here and there for vaine excuses to acquite themselues and others from the gilte not so content neither doo make God also accessarie to their offence If they were not minded to deceiue themselues wilfully to their owne destructiō would they not condemne the vice which they sée in themselues rather than laye the faulte thereof vppon another bodie But goe to for asmuch as thei séeke after a sorte to haue some cloke such as it is to hide their blasphemies with let vs shew them at one woorde that they doo shamelessely without any colour say euil Shal he boast himselfe to be innocent whome it is manifest to sinne with his good wil when they haue saide all that they can in the ende we come to this pointe that nothinge is imputed vnto them of God saue that whiche they doo willingly And what mā vnder the Sunne would quitte them in wilfull misdéedes Now shall it not be frée for God to condemne that whiche men doo lawfully condemne But they stande in altercation with God bicause he hath not giuen them a better minde a vprighter hart as who should say he had not giuē them so at the beginninge For the lewdenesse that reigneth in vs our learnynge imputeth not to Gods creation but to the corruption of nature They make exceptiō againe that it is against equitie for them to suffer for another mās faulte This exceptiō might peraduenture haue some colour if they beyng frée from their owne sinne coulde shewe that they were burdened with an other mannes faulte But seinge they haue in such wise lost their rightuous nature in their first father Adam that they are of their owne selues become sinfull why doo they complayne of wronge done vnto them as if they were giltlesse Uerely they doo as ranke théeues are wont who while they are caried to punnishment doo fall a reuilinge and slaunderinge the Iudge And suche kinde of men cōmonly as they are readie to committe mischiefe so also haue they their tounges at will in raylinge But what winne they by their malapert raylinge in this wise For neither is their owne shame made lesse thereby nor the iudge any thinge stayned and that they themselues knowe well inough but that beinge blinded with despayre they take a miserable comforte of a foolishe reuengement Hitherto I haue answeared their blasphemies whiche bewray their owne wickednesse openly Howbeit as yet remayne the slaunders of Sadolet Pighius and such like whereby they misreporte our doctrine as though it brought with it diuers and almost infinite absurdities If there rise thereof any Offence it is bicause our writinges are not perused what shoulde I then doo but onely exhorte all those whiche beinge carried away with preposterous Offence doo eschew the vnknowen truth that thei procure not to themselues a double punishment of their rashnesse For they doo bothe defraude themselues of saluation offered vnto them and besides that they shall not scape vnpunished for giuinge hastie iudgement with a lie the cause beinge not hearde Nowe that Predestination is a sea of Offences howe happeneth that but onely by our owne either curiousnesse or malapertnesse Here is meante of the secrete Iudgement of God thorowe the brightnesse whereof mennes mindes if they approche ouer nie muste néedes be not onely dazeled and dimned but also vtterly swallowed vp And yet as much as our capacitie could beare and as much as was for our behoofe our Lord hath declared in his Scriptures namely that we are all forlorne sauinge suche as