who haue bin constant in y ◠faith haue suffred death for Christs sake That so they may be taught by their name to remēber whose name they beare y t they neither speake nor doe anie thing vnworthy of their name As if any bee called Iohn that hee praye for grace and desire to be filled with grace that he giue witnesse of Christ that hee is the Lambe of GOD which taketh away the sinnes of the worlde that hee rebuke vice boldelie as Iohn did in Herode though hee were a mightie Prince Or if he be called Paule that hee so become a follower of Paule as Paule was of Christe and saye with Paul That I might liue vnto God I am crucified with Christ Thus I liue yet not I now but Christ liueth in mee and heare Christ speaking vnto him as did Paul fal down say Lorde what wilt thou that I doe So let him that is called Thomas touche the bosome of Christ and handle his woundes and make a good confession as Thomas did and say My Lord and my God Let Matthew forsake his custome euen the deceitful gaines of y ◠world and followe Christ Let Daniel remember Daniel and though he should be throwen in to the denne of Lions or be burnt in the fire or suffer any cruell tormentes yet let him not therfore forsake God but put his whole trust in him Thus should our names teach vs that whether we write them or vtter them or heare them spoken they may put vs in minde of christian duetie and Godlines The other Sacrament of Christes Church is the sacrament of the Lordes Supper whiche some haue called the Sacrament of the Altar some the Sacrament of the holie table some the Sacrament of bread and wine but wee most properly may call it the sacrament of the bodie and blood of Christ And that we wander not at large but may stande in certaine ground I wil expounde those words of our Sauiour This is my bodie and this is my blood of the newe testament that is shed for manie for the remission of sinnes This matter these two or three hundreth yeeres late past hath beene encumbred with manie questions and much controuersie Some saie the woordes are plaine Christe him selfe spake them hee is almightte and can doe what soeuer hee will hee hath not spoken otherwise then hee meant If wee expounde them by signes and figures wee take away the force of the holy mysterie and make nothing of it the woordes muste bee taken euen as they lye they must not haue any other construction Therefore at this day many wise men which yeelde from other pointes of superstition and in many other thinges receiue the truth stand here and sticke at this and cannot yeeld I will declare the whole matter simplye and plainely and submit my selfe to the vnderstanding and capacitie of all men That which I will vtter heerein shall not be of my selfe but of the Fathers of the Churche not of those whiche haue beene of later yeeres but of the most auncient not of the Heretiques◠but of the most Catholique which euer haue beene the enemies and confounders of Heretiques I wil shewe the vse and order and faith of the Primitiue Churche whiche was in the times of the Apostles and of Tertullian Ciprian Basill Nazianzene Hierome Augustine Chrysostome and others Catholique and godly learned Fathers Let no man regarde mee or my speeche I am onely a finger these are cleare and bright starres I doe but shewe them vnto you and poynt them that you maye beholde them God giue vs grace that wee may see them truely and by them bee able to guyde and to direct our waye let vs laie aside all contention and quietly heare that shall bee spoken Whatsoeuer shall bee saide if it bee true if it bee auncient if it be Catholique if it bee so cleere as the sunne beames let vs humble our heartes and beleeue it There is no trueth but of God Whosoeuer resisteth the truth resisteth God First I will shewe you that we doe truelie and indeede eate the bodie of Christ and drinke his blood And this shall be the foundation and key of entraunce into all the rest Secondely I will open these woordes This is my body and there howe by what sort in what sense and meaning the bread is the body of Christ Thirdly that the bread abideth still in former nature and substance as before euen as the nature and substance of water remayneth in Baptisme Fourthly how the body of Christ is eaten whether by faith or with the mouth of our bodie and how the body of Christ is present in the Sacrament Fiftly What difference is betweene the body of Christ and the Sacrament of the body of Christ Sixtly howe wee ought to prepare our mindes and with what faith and deuotion wee must come to the receiuing thereof Wee saie and beleeue that wee receiue the body and blood of Christ truelie and not a figure or signe but euen that bodie whiche suffered death on the crosse and that blood which was shed for the forgiuenes of sinnes So saieth Christ My fleshe is meate in deede and my blood is drinke indeede And againe Except yee eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drink his blood ye haue no life in you And againe He that eateth me euen he shall liue by me Wee say there is no other substantiall foode of our soules and that hee is diuided among all the faithfull and that hee is voyde of saluation and the grace of Christ whosoeuer is not partaker of his body and blood This we say and may not flee from it hereafter Yet least happily any should be deceiued we say this meate is spirituall and therefore it must be eaten by faith and not with the mouth of our bodie Augustine saith Vt quid paras dentes ventrem crede manducasti Why preparest thou thy teeth and thy bellie beleeue and thou hast eaten And againe Nolite fauces parare sed cor Prepare not your iawes but your heart As material bread nourisheth our bodie so doeth the bodie of Christ nourishe our soule and is therefore called bread Deus panis intus est animae meae saith Augustine God is the inward bread of my soule For wee receiue him and eate him and liue by him But heereof hereafter more at large Nowe let vs consider the wordes of Christ This is my body this is my blood These woordes you say are plaine open easie and manifest So are they yet albeit they are plaine they must haue a right construction The plainest woordes that bee vnlesse they bee duelie expounded may breede errour S. Iohn saith The word was made flesh These words are plaine yet of these plaine wordes Apollinaris did breede an heresie Christ saith My father is greater then I. His woordes are playne yet did the Arrians gather thereof an heresie that Christe is not equall with his
and the like murtherers But the Godly when they see any disorder they doe nothing like the other they mourne in their heartes to see that the trueth is not rereyued and to see the mindes of their brethren so obstinately hardened they make prayer to God for them they are deepely touched with the feeling of suche calamittes whiche GOD layeth vppon other The zeale of Moses coulde not like the Idolatrie of the people yet hee went vnto the Lorde againe and sayde Nowe if thou pardon their sinne thy mercie shall appeare but if thou wilte not I praye thee rase mee out of thy Booke which thou hast written Christ lamented ouer Hierusalem O Hierusalem Hierusalem which killest the Prophetes stonest them which are sent to thee how often woulde I haue gathered thy children together as the hen gathereth her chickins vnder her wings ye would not Beholde your habitation shall be left vnto you desolate Paul suffered much at the haudes of the wicked Iewes They troubled y e church of god they hindred y e course of the gospell they were enemyes of the Crosse of Christ they were Dogges they were conâ—â—sion Yet he sayeth I haue great heauenes continual sorrow in mine heart for I would wish my selfe to be separated froÌ„ Christ for my brethren are my kinsmen accordinge to the flesh which are the Isralites Dauid saith Mine eyes gush out with riuers of water because they keepe not thy Lawe And agayne My zeale hath euen consumed me because mine enimies haue forgotteÌ„ thy words Againe I saw the transgressours and was greued because thei kept not thy word And when hee saw the whole nation of Israel wasted by the enimies how mournfull a complaint made he to god O god the heathen ax come into thine inheritance thine holye temple haue they defiled made HierusaleÌ„ heaps of stones The dead bodies of thy seruants haue they giuen to be meat vnto the foules of the heauen the flesh of thy saints vnto the beasts of the earth At this time whâ— the tabernacle was lost wheÌ„ Saul was vnquiet and the Priestes were sâ—ayne and the Prophets despised and the people lef without al comfort hee powreth out his heare in these wordes Zelus domus tuae comedit me O Lorde the zeale I beare vnto thine house hath eaten me vp It inflameth my heart drieth my blood consumeth my marowe Such a care had bee for the house of God it was death vnto him to see it so destroyed and layde wast So Christ when he sawe the temple of God fowly and vnseemely abused that they made the holy place a place for their vnlawfull and vnhanest game by vsurie that they turned Religion into robberie solde oxen sheepe and doues and keept their bankes for exchaunge in the temple when the Priestes and Leuites whiche shoulde serue God were become marchantes and serued them selues when the temple or house of God which Dauid purposed and Salomon finished and Ezechias and Esras and other Godly Princes preserued in whiche was kept the booke of the Law whether al the people assembled together to serue God was not vsed lyke gods house but like a common faire or market and was made a denne of theiues When these grosse abuses were suffered and things were let runne to such extremities and al this vnder pretence of holines as if it were not onely lawfull but needes it must be so moued with zeale hee coulde not abide it He made a scourge of smal cordes droue them all out of the temple and poured out the changers mony and ouerthrew the tables saide make not my fathers house a house of marchaÌ„dise And his disciples remembred that it was writteÌ„ the zeale of thine house hath eaten me vp This was no frantique or melancholy passion neither in Moses nor in Dauid nor in Christ Moses was a very meeke maÌ„ aboue al that were on the earth Dauid was a man that heareth not and in whose mouthe are no reproofes And Christ sayde learne of me for I am humble and meeke When his disciples Iames Iohn grewe wrothfull against the Samaritanes that would not receiue hym and sayde Lord wylte thou that wee commaunde that fire come downe from heauen consume them euen as Elias did He turned about and rebuked them saide yee know not of what spyrite you are Yet through zeale for Gods house Christ whypped out the buiers and sellers Dauid shed foorth teares abundantly and Moses dashte in peeces the tables of Gods commandements Al men ought to bee pacient gentle in matters appertayninge to them selues but in Gods cause no man must yeelde or bee patient In our dayes vppon whom the ende of the worlde is come when wee did lately see those times wher of our sauiour foretolde so longe sâ—theuce that desolatioÌ„ should be in the holy place and such confusion ignorance and blindenes that men shoulde stomble at noone dayes that truth should be a stranger vpon earth that men should forsake wholsome doctrine and giue eare vnto fables that the mysterie of iniquitie should work and the very elect if it were possible bee deceiued what trial was made of true godlye zeale How notably did it shew it selfe agaynst the rage and furie of the wicked What should I speake hereof The exaÌ„ples are fresh you can not forget them you hearde of them so late it is so late since you did beholde them What moued so many so learned so vertuous to yeelde their backes to the scourge their neckes to the tormentours their bodies to the fire to forsake their goodes their friends their parentes their wiues and childreÌ„ but the zeale of Gods house Neither death nor life nor Angels nor thinges present nor things to come was able to separate them from the loue of God They continued stedfast vnto the ende the zeale of Gods house dyd eate them vp But now God hath restored vs he hath taken away the desolation from vs hee hath giuen vs his trueth he hath reuealed the man of sinne he hath raysed vp a banner of hope We se and enioye such thinges as many kings and Prophets would haue eniayed and could not What remayneth but that we take the zeale of the Lords house into our heartes and seeke by all meanes the glory of the same As our good fathers and brethren shewed the vehemencie of their loue in disly king the disorders which troubled y e church of God so in this blessed peace which God giueth to his Church let vs witnesse our earneste zeale in seeking that it may be made beautifull and established for euer Let our next care be to continue possession Kingdomes are preserued by the same meanes by which they were first gotten That which is conquered by zeale by carefull zeale must bee kept It was saide of Annibal that he knew how to get the victorie but howe to vse it bee knew not Many haue lost that by negligence which they had by diligence
and I will confesse against my selfe my wickednes vnto y e Lord. Call to minde how you haue gotten your goods how you haue vsed thē whether you haue delighted in thē or put any confidence in thē Call to minde how you haue taken care for your Children seruantes if by your good meanes they haue bene nourtered in the feare of y t Lord. In these such other parts of your lyfe lay open your sinnes let them come forth before you acknowledge thē against yourselfe vnto the Lord say boldly because you may saye it truelye I am an vnprofitable seruant I haue not done that which I ought to haue done there is no good thinge dwellinge in mee the Law in my members hath preuailed agaynste the Lawe of my minde It can not bee but God wyl cast his eyes vpon you and wyl heare you and wil pardon the wickednes of your sinnes What wanteth in you to the fulnesse of righteousnesse is already satisfied in the rigeteousnes of Christ God hath saide and sworne As I liue saith the Lord God I desire not y e death of the wicked but y t the wicked turne from his way liue And againe if the wicked will returne from all his sinnes y t he hath cōmitted al his transgressions y t he hath committed thei shal not be mētioned vnto him The Lord is ful of compassion mercy For as high as the heauen is aboue the earth so great is his mercie towared them that feare hym As far as the East is frō the West so farre hath he remoued our sinnes frō vs. Christ himselfe saith God so loued the world y t he hath giuen his only begotten sonne that whosoeuer beleueth in him should not perish but haue life euerlasting And S. Paul god setteth out his loue toward vs seeing y t while we were yet sinners Christ died for vs much more thē being iustified by his blod we shalbe saued frō wrath through him Thus in time of sicknes are we put in minde to examine and view our sins to solace our selues in y t bloodshedding of Christ Farther he that is sicke is counsailed to call to minde what any man hath trespassed him to forgiue them because God is y e God of loue and if any man hate his brother hee abideth in death and we are commanded to saye forgiue vs our trespasses as we forgiue them that trespasse against vs if we doe forgiue men theyr trespasses our heauenly father will also forgiue vs. But if we do not forgiue men theyr trespasses no more wil our heauenly father forgiue vs our trespasses That so all we which are redeemed with one price by the precious blood of the vnspotted lambe may ioyne together as partakers of one inheritance and the children of one father and so goe forewarde to one glorie by one way and become al one in Iesus Christ our Lorde In this case the good father calleth his sonne vnto him and exhorteth him in this manner My sonne harken vnto mee these be the last words which I shal speake vnto thee Thou seest in me the weakenes and decay of flesh thou shalt be as I am now One passeth before another the worlde and the beauty thereof fade away and come to an ende Trust not the worlde it wil deceiue thee walke aduisedly knowe y t thou shalt giue an accompt of thy doings For we must al appeare before y e iudgement seate of christ y t euery man may receaue the things which are done in his body according to that hee hath done whether it be good or euil Deceiue no man by wrongful dealing encrease not thy goodes by extortion nor by vsury he that giueth his money vnto vsurie shall not enter into the tabernacle of the Lorde Hee that taketh vsury of his neighbour killeth him without a sword The Lord wyll auenge it he wil not blesse yl gotten goods they cannot prosper they wyll neuer continue nor remayne vnto the third heire My sonne in all thy doings feare the Lord. If thou feare the Lord thou shalt prosper in the day of thine ende thou shalt bee blessed Medle not much with other mens busines least thou be entangled with controuersies abhorre the flanderer double tongued Let my doings which am thy father be euer before thyne eyes Those few goodes which I haue were truly gotten I haue not gathered them of the teares and heauines and vndoing or hindering of any Be faithfull to thy wife and besides her know none other Helpe thy neighbour accordinge to thy power and turne not thy face from the poore needie Be mercifull after thy power If thou hast much giue plentiously if thou hast licle do thy diligence gladly to giue of that litle Be not slowe to visit the sick whatsoeuer thou takest in hande remember the ende and thou shalt neuer do amisse As for me I haue passed the vanities and miseries of this world The Lorde hath giuen and the Lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord. He is the Lorde my God let hym doe with me as it seemeth good vnto hym I knowe that this shall hasten my saluatien And that Christ shalbe magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death I haue not so liued that I am ashamed to liue neither am I afrayde to die for we haue a gracious Lord. I know that if my earthly house of this tabernacle bee destroyed I haue a building giuē of God that is an house not made with handes but eternal in y ◠heauens They that die in the Lord are blessed they shall rest from their labors Christ is vnto me both in lyfe and in death aduantage In such sort do the Godly prepare themselues to their iourney out of this life Then the Minister prayeth that he e may bee constant in this faith he strengtheneth him confirmeth him in it He exhorteth the sicke to commende him selfe vnto God he prayeth vnto God that he will giue his Angels charge ouer him to keepe him and defende hym that hee fall not into temptation He teacheth him to saye O lord in thee haue I trusted let mee neuer be confounded Come Lord Iesus come and take mee vnto thee Lord let thy seruant depart in peace thy kindome come I am thy sonne thine am I O saue me into thine hands O Lord I commende my spirite thou hast redeemed mee O Lorde God of trueth In this state he dyeth and hath his eyes alwayes fastened vpon God and so seeth how indeede the dead are blessed which dye in the Lord. Thus doth the Churche of God instruct all men to liue and to die and to bee in readinesse Thus ar the sicke amonge vs annointed with the inner in uisible oyle of y ◠mercie of God Thus are they put in minde to haue the oyle of faith and of a good conscience and that their lampes may euer be burning that so they may enter in with the
CERTAINE Sermons preached before the Queenes Maiestie and at Paules crosse by the reuerend father IOHN IEVVEL late Bishop of Salisburie Whereunto is added a short Treatise of the Sacraments gathered out of other his sermons made vpon that matter in his cathedrall Church at Salisburie Imprinted at London by Christopher Barker Printer to the Queenes most excellent Maiestie 1583 To the right honorable Sir William Cicil Knight Lorde high Treasorer of England and to the right honorable L. Robert Dudley Earle of Leicester two of her Maiesties most honorable priuie Counsaile most worthie Chauncelours of both the Vniuersities Oxforde and Cambridge VNtrue reportes and sclaunders can neither giue falsehoode any credite among the wise nor disgrace the due estimation of the trueth Howbeit it seemeth there are some which hope it will turne them to no small aduauntage if to other their secrete and wicked practises they ioyne a sleyght of ill speaking of sclaundering the writings the godly sayings the life and the death of those whome it hath pleased God to vse to the setting forth of his Gospel and thereby to the great comfort of his people Among others vpon whom this hath bene practised they haue made some especiall choice of the late Bishop of Salisburie a man of famous memorie whose life and death is truely and syncerely written by M. Doctour Humfrey Howsoeuer they dealt vncharitably with him in his life Christian and godly discretion would they should spare to reproche the dead Or if not so yet in wisedome they might foresee that when matters are called to tryall such things cannot passe for currant lawfull wherof some due proofe hath not bene yeelded Yet as though the discredit of that one man who in great humilitie did acknowledge himselfe inferiour to many godly fathers then liuing in this Church of England were ynough for them to ouerthrowe all that whole worke which the Almightie God hath by his right hand and strong arme established they deliuer by tradition certaine false obseruations of his either simple or negligent or wilfull and malicious gathering and abusing the holy Scriptures of God and the auncient writings of the Fathers It is a harde thing for him that speaketh much to speake nothing worthy iust reprehension But it is much harder to escape the reprehension of corrupt Iudges euen when he shal speake most vprightly His defence is abroade published by himselfe And notwithstanding the endeuour of a learned aduersarie was to empeache it yet by his last and a moderate answere he auouched it good and approued his plaine and syncere dealing to the consciences of all men Whom it may please to vnderstande after what sort he prepared himselfe to the accomplishment of those two notable bookes of the defence of the Apologie and the Replie which are as two double Canons prepared for the battery of errour and superstition must needes confesse his diligence and reuerent proceeding in such cause to haue bene such as for which he may well be compared with any whomsoeuer the former or this present age hath thought therefore worthie commendation For besides his aduised obseruation of all such things as in the aduersaries bookes deserued answere and besides that he disposed a summarie and full collection of such matter as he would vse for the disproofe of the same the which he conceiued in short notes this may be a notable testimonie that he had purpose to set downe the aucthorities out of the Fathers and the quotations truely and playnely whereas in times before hee had gathered sundrie bookes of common places out of the Greeke and Latine and later writers he did peruse a fresh the authors themselues and made euery where in them speciall markes for the difference of such places whereofhee made choyce Those were all drawen forth and layde to their themes by certeine scholers who wrote them out by such direction as he had giuen vnto them So reuerent regard had he to do the worke of the Lord and to defend the trueth faithfully With like reuerence also did he in all places where he was occasioned to preach handle the word of God Albeit his giftes of reading and vnderstanding memorie were great yet it appeareth he did seldome or neuer deliuer any exposition vpon any peece of scripture before any Congregation in the meanest parish of the countrie but vpon diligent studie and whereof he drewe his notes In this his care Gods prouidence wrought mercifully for his Church that so there might be some way to deliuer in common vnto all the fruites of those godly trauailes which he gaue forth to some one especiall part of the Church Hereby it is that these his Sermons preached before her Maiestie and at Paules crosse come nowe to the reading of all such before whome they were once spoken to seeke that of them in true practise of Christian religion for which they were in their times vttered Why I make choyce of these among so many so excellent his sermons pronounced in those places if any be curious to aske let him aduisedly consider the state of Gods Church amongst vs in these dayes and bestowe his paynes to reade these which are offered to his Christian iudgement and then make to himselfe a charitable answere And if at such seuerall times as that reuerende father in the feare of God moued his petitions before the conscience either of her highnesse or of your honors or of any others the good children and seruantes of God he were so well acquitted that he was thought to speake vprightly in true zeale for the aduauncement of Gods glorie and like a wise buylder of the house of God no doubt in this rehearsall of them altogether they shall worke that wholsome effect if through the assistance of Gods holy spirite they be considered now with as great diligence as hee was then heard with good attention Your honours haue wel declared that you measured not your louing affection to him by the short terme of his life which giueth great hope that his humble requestes so many as are to craue ayde and furtherance of aucthoritie shall in good time be preferred They are such as shew how desirous he was to see the peace and prosperitie of Ierusalem and that the kingdome of God might neuer againe be taken away from vs. He sheweth what thinges they are by which this may bee brought to passe that among all the meanes which mans wisedome can prouide next to the high meanes of princely authoritie the chiefest is that all particular Churches may bee furnished with sufficient learned and godly Ministers and therefore that tender due care be had to encrease the nomber of them Their seruice is most needeful in the ouerthrowe of Iericho the citie which God will haue destroyed and in the buylding vp vnto God his Temple at Ierusalem The care which Magistrates take hereof and that laborers may be sent into the Lordes haruest which may defende the cause of Christ against those which charge
obedience But as touching our spiritual Hiericho Iosuah suffered nothing to stand he burnt houses and palaces and killed man woman child cattel without mercy altogether For so God had giuen him in commandement and so is it often written of him that where the Lord gaue any people into his hands he left nothing remayning no were it neuer so little Of this pollicie Moses speaketh If you wil not driue out the inhabitaÌ„ts of the land before you theÌ„ those which ye let remaine of them shalbe pricks in your eies thornes in your sides shall vexe you in the land wherein ye dwell Destroy not some onely to leaue some you shall leaue nothing no not a little If you doe leaue you breake the commandement of God In religion no part is to be called little A heare is but little yet it hath a shadowe In the bodie a little disquiet is oftentimes cause of death The Ciniphes were but litle yet are thei reckoned among the great plagues of God Metellus a noble man of Rome by receiuing a haere in his milke was choked with it died thereof Some thinges are smal and do no hurt some things though they be smal do great hurt Therefore doth God straightly charge his people to keepe the law saying Thou shalte not turne awaye from it neither to the right hand nor to the left And S. Paul saith A litle leauen leaueneth the whole lumpe I speake not this because I thinke nothing at al may be left to any special purpose For eueÌ„ in Hiericho where was made a general destruction God himselfe commanded that all siluer gold and vessels of brasse iron should be saued not saued only but be brought into the Lords treasurie How be it the things that may bee reserued must not be dust or chaffe or hay or stubble but gold and siluer yron and brasse I meane they may not be things meet to furnish and mainteine superstition but such thinges as be strong and may serue either directly to serue God or els for comelines and good order Such thinges may be reserued notwithstanding they came out of the spoyle of Hiericho Now to stay the restoring of Hiericho many good wayes may be deuised For our consideration at this present and because the time is farre spent I will name onely foure vnto you The first Maintenaunce of schooles learning Secondly vnderstanding of the cause that is that euery man may consider what hee hath left what he hath receyued out of what darknes into what light he is come Thirdly kindnes towards God thaÌ„kfulnes Fourthly the discipline of y e church With these 4. by gods grace we may keepe Hiericho from restoring Of eche of these a few words so I wil end That learning and knowledge is able to hinder the builders of Hiericho it is so playne that it needeth no speech In the time of Moses Law Aaron the great Bishop and high Priest had writteÌ„ in a tablet before his brest doctrine and truth not onely learning but also trueth wherby was meant that neither might be without other For as learning is daungerous and hurtfull without religion so is religion vnable to defend it selfe and to conuince the gaine sayers without learning For this cause the Heathen when they erected temples in the honour of their gods did also builde libraries that is places to keepe bookes that by such meanes their priests might grow in knowledge be better able to perswade others to their religion Strabo writeth of the Smyrnians that they builte a temple in the honour of Homer and ioyned therto a library Augustus the Emperour built a temple and also a library in the honour of Apollo Traianus in like maner built a library and called it Ulpia after his own name At Rome in the Capitol where al y t gods â—ad a solemn place for to be worshipped in there was also placed a library Athens was a famous Uniuersitie had many colledges and schooles â—f learning Academia Sâ—oa Lycâ—um Canopus Pritanneum Tempe Cynosura in whiche places were diuers sects of Philosophers Such were â—n Persia the wise men whom they called Maâ—i in Babylon the Chaldees in India Brachmaâ—es in Aethiopia Gimnosophistae in Fraunce and England Druides others in other countries In al times y t kings princes which did set forth religion were also builders of schooles and colleges auaÌ„cers of learning The people of Israel were neuer in better state as P. Phagius a â—earned man noteth out of their story then wheÌ„ they had in euery towne village Bathe chenesioth and Bathe medraschoth that is Synagogues wherein they assembled together and places to preach in The same Phagius reporteth of Hierusalem that there were in it more then 4. hundred common schooles Synagogues in which y â— Law of God was taught The Patriarke Iacob was called Minister domus doctrinae a Minister of the house of learning because he applied himself to the knowledge of y e law of god to godlines The Prophets of God had their schooles to breed vp vnder them such as might after their death draw y e people from idolatrye and resist the false Prophets They which were so taught by them were called Filij Prophetarum The sonnes of the Prophetes Samuel taught in such sort at Rama Elias and Elizeus the Prophetes in suche sorte taught the Law of God besides Hiericho Saint Iohn the Euangelist taught at Ephesus and Eusebius reporteth out of Philo that S. Marke had at Alexandria sundrye schollers which gaue themselues to reading and reasoning and expounding of the Scriptures Others did the like at Antioche and at other places Out of such schooles it pleased God to take many excellent men and place them in his Church as Origen Tertullian Cyprian Lactantius Arnobius Basilius Nazianzenus Chrysostomus Hieronimus Ambrosius Augustinus who were brought vp in al kind of learning and became shyning starres bright lightes in the house of God notable defenders of religion ouerthrowers of idols and confounders of Heretikes ChristiaÌ„ princes herein haue witnessed their zeale in setting foorth the glory of God After Charles y e great had made his notable conquests he erected fiue famous Uniuersities one at Paris another at Tolouse another at Papia another at Padua another at Prage Suidas reporteth of Leo the Emperour Cum aliquaÌ„do Eulogio PhiloÌ„sopho stipendium dari iussisset c. WheÌ„ Leo on a time coÌ„manded that Eâ—logius a Philosopher shold haue his princely reward a noble maÌ„ of his court saide that that money would be better employed for maintenance of souldiers Nay saith hee I would rather it might be brought to passe in my time that the wages whiche are nowe bestowed vpon souldiers might bee giuen to mainteyne Philosophers Alexander Seuerus so highly esteemed that famous and notable Lawyer Vlpian that when certain of his souldiers ran fiercely vpon Vlpian purposing to slay him the Emperor stept
to y t original as the vse is in trying of mesures where in tryal whether is true or fals ye haue euermore recourse to the standard For if ther be any falt whatsoeuer it be the standerd wil bewray it This order Christ himselfe vsed with the priests Pharises saying Domus mea domus orationis vocabitur My house shall bee caled the house of praier But you haue gone froÌ„ the paterne or original you haue made it a harbour for theeues And whereas the contention stoode vpon diuorse Christ called them to y e first original A principio non fuit sic From the beginning it was not so they twayne shall be one flesh And S. Paul when the holy mysterie of the Lordes Supper was abused called theÌ„ home to the first institutioÌ„ I haue receiued of the Lorde that which I also haue deliuered vnto you By this standerde Christ reproued the Sadduces Erratis nescientes Scripturas You erre not knowing the Scriptures And by the same hee confuted the Deuil when hee came to tempt him Soriptum est It is written This standerd shall bee able to warrant vs if we can saye truely Scriptum est For as the learned father Irenaeus sayth Scriptura est basis fundamentum fidei nostrae The Scripture is the pillar foundation of our faith It is rashnesse to beleeue without the warrant or direction of the Scriptures It is not deuotion nor catholique faithe but foolish rashnesse Now howe many wayes and in howe many poyntes the Church of late dayes hath dissented from the Churche of Christe and of the Apostles which no doubt was the Catholique Church it were almost an infinite worke to recken vp For they disagree in so many things y t in maner they agree in nothinge Notwithstanding I wil lay out one or two things before you and by them your wisedomes shall ghesse the rest Christ gaue the Sacrament of his body and blood to bee frequented in the Congregation that all shoulde bee partakers thereof in remembrance of his death and sayde Hoc facite in meam commemorationem Do yee this in remembrance of mee Thus Christ hymself ordayned and commanded thus the Apostles and the catholique fathers in the primatiue Church vsed it and there can no commandement nor example be shewed forth to the contrary Yet our later fathers agaynst Christ agaynst the Apostles against the primitiue church haue thought it sufficient that one priest alone should communicate for all the rest Christ deliuered the holy Communion vnder both kindes and so was it vsed in the Primitiue Church and in the times of the doctors Chrysostome Ambrose Gregorie Augustine and Hierome But our fathers in the Councill holden at Constance of late yeares haue gone from the originall and haue decreed against Christ himselfe against his Apostles and Doctours that to minister the Communion to a lay man vnder both kinds is an open heresie Alas good brethren I beseeche you consider by the way in what state was the Church of Christe then when Christes owne institution and the Apostles doctrine was called heresie Christ his Apostles the catholque fathers vsed their praiers in a common tongue that the people might perceiue what was saide in the Church say Amen But how neere our later fathers come to that originall it needeth no rehearsal For you haue heard it taught you as a necessary doctrine that your prayers should be in the Latine tongue although you did not vnderstand what ye prayed for and that kinde of prayer hath bene called deuotion God left order to his Church Non facies tibi sculptile thou shalt not make thee any graueÌ„ image From Christs time for the space of 500 yeres there was no allowance of images in the Catholique Church but our later fathers caÌ„not take it for a Church vnlesse it be decked set about with images The Apostles were maried as Ignatius and Ambrose witnes so were others y e ministers of the Church after them as it is wel knowne for 1000. yeres after Christ To hold good this originall there haue bene certayne Canons set downe Si quis doâ—uerit sacerdotem sub obtentu religionis propriaÌ„ vxorem coÌ„temnere anathema sit If any man teach y t a priest for color of religioÌ„ should conteÌ„nâ— his wife let him be accursed And y e general couÌ„cel holden at GaÌ„gra as it is set downe also by Gratian If any put differeÌ„ce betwene the priest that is maryed by reson of his mariage that he should not offer for that cause coÌ„meth not to his offring he is accursed yet pope Hildebrand one of the later fathers decreed coÌ„manded that no man should heare such priests Masse that had a wife but caused their tenth to bee burnt their prayers blessings to be holden as curses and the sacrament which they had consecrate to be spit at and troden vnder mens feete You wyll saye These be but smal matters and may be borne withal for decencie and good order But you shal vnderstand that the canons of the Apostles and diuers of the first Bishops of Rome and other holy Fathers required that all such as were present at the ministration of the Communion shoulde also bee patakers of the Sacrament accounted worthy to be put out af the Church whosoeuer would not communicate with the Minister And Chrisostome calleth such a one impudent malepert Quisquis mysteriorum coÌ„sors nonest c. whosoeuer saith he doth not communicate standeth by he is shameles malepert CoÌ„munioÌ„ vnder one kinde is no smal matter but such a matter of such weight that Gelasius calleth it opeÌ„ sacrilege to minister y e sacrament in one kinde Common prayer in a straunge tongue is such a matter that it taketh away the very vse of coÌ„mon prayer For the people as Paul saith cannot say Amen nor be edified nor giue God thankes And the Emperour Iustinian in a law that he maketh touching the publike prayers of the Church saith thus we coÌ„mand al Bishops priests to minister the holy oblatioÌ„ the prayer at y e holy Baptism not vnder sileÌ„ce but with such voice as may bee hard of the faithful people to the intent that the harts of the hearers may be stirred vp to more deuotion c. And let the holy priests vnderstand that if thei neglect ani of these things they shal make answer therfore at the dreadful iudgment of the great God our sauiour Iesus Christ And yet neuerthelesse wee our selues vnderstanding the same wyll not passe it ouer nor leaue it vnpunished To haue images in the church of God is no smal matter It is forbidden by a general councel called EliberinuÌ„ Epiphanius a catholique father calleth it abhomination The violent inforcing of sole life is such a matter that S. Paul calleth it doctrinaÌ„ daemoniorum the doctrin of deuils And Daniel saith it is one of the marks of Antichrist Neither
wee pray together and vnderstande what we pray This was the order of the Primitiue Churche this was the order of the Apostles of Christe If wee compare this with the former wee shall soone see the difference betweene light and darknesse The kingdome of God nowe suffereth violence The sounde of the Gospell hath gone ouer all the worlde and the whole worlde is awaked therewith and draweth to it The sunne is risen the day is open God hath made his kingdome woonderfull among vs. It is nowe time nowe is it time that wee shoulde arise from sleepe for nowe is our saluation neere Nowe it is in our mouth wee can speake of it GOD graunt it may bee neerer vs euen in our heartes The night is past GOD graunt it be past for euer that we be neuer againe throwen into the darkenesse of death that the worde of life the trueth of Christ be neuer againe taken from vs. And it shall neuer be taken away if wee bee thankefull Unkindenesse can neuer scape vnplagued Let vs wake let vs wake our sleepe is deadly Let vs pray to GOD to awake vs hee is able to rayse the dead Our Sauiour saith The houre shall come when the dead shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God and they that heare it shall liue Lazarus was dead yet hee hearde the voyce of Christe and rose vp agayne and came abroade Let vs put on Iesus Christ let it appeare vpon vs that we weare him let vs not be ashamed of his Gospell it is the power of God to saluation If we be ashamed of him and of his wordes hee will be also ashamed of vs when he commeth in the glorie of his father with the holy Angels Let vs cast away the workes of darkenesse and all doctrines of superstition and ignorance Let vs beholde the troubles and miseries of other countries Heauen and earth our brethren the care of our saluation the Sonne of God himselfe put vs in minde that it is nowe time Whiles we haue time let vs doe good let vs seeke God whiles hee may bee founde The Lorde wayteth when hee may shewe his mercies Let vs turne vnto him with an vpright heart So shall he turne to vs so shal we walke as the children of light so shall wee shine as the sunne in the kingdome of our Father so shall God bee our God and will abide with vs for euer And thou O most mercifull Father wee beseeche thee for thy mercie sake continue thy grace and fauour towardes vs let the sunne of thy Gospell neuer goe downe out of our heartes let thy trueth abide and be stablished among vs for euer Helpe our vnbeliefe encreace our faith giue vs heartes to consider the time of our visitation Apparrell vs throughly with Christ that hee may liue in vs and so thy Name may bee glorified in vs in the sight of al the world Amen FINIS ¶ Ornatissimo viro Thomae Randolpho armigero serenissimo ad Scotos Legato integerrimo QVis te iunxit amor docto Randolphe Iuello Oxonia exilium musa laborque notant Et quod ad exequias defuncti ducere plectrum Triste Buchananos Patritiosque facis Quis tibi gratus erit pro tali munere certè Auctior hoc studio gratia facta tua est Nec nihil ex illo referes Sacra signa redemptor Essent vt fidei tessera fida dedit Haec tuus exposuit sanctè tibi dedico ne sit Tam rarae fidei tessera nulla piae Tuae dignitatis studiosus Iohan. Garbrandus ⧠A treatise of the Sacraments gathered out of certaine Sermons which the Reuerend Father in God Bishop Iewel preached at Salisburie I Haue opened vnto you y â— contents of the Lordes prayer shewed you vpon whom wee ought to call what to aske and y â— articles of our ChristiaÌ„ faith in God y e father y â— sonn the holy Ghost of y e church of remission of sins of the resurrection of life euerlasting c. And I haue opened vnto you the ten commandements in them what our duetie is towards God towards our Prince and magistrates towards our pareÌ„ts towards our neighbour towards our selues Al this haue I done simply plainly without al shewe of learning that it might the better sinke into our heartes Nowe I thinke good to speake of the Sacraments of the Church that al you may know what they are because you are all partakers of the holy sacraments Christ hath ordeined them that by them hee might set before our eyes the mysteries of our saluation and might more strongly confirme the faith which wee haue in his blood might seale his grace in our hearts As Princes seales confirme and warrant their deedes and charâ—ers so doe the Sacramentes witnesse vnto our conscience that Gods promises are true and shall continue for euer Thus doeth God make knowen his secret purpose to his Church first he declareth his mercie by his worde then he sealeth it and assureth it by his sacraments In the word we haue his promises in the sacraments we see them It woulde require a long time if I should vtter that might be saide in this matter especially in laying open such errours and abuses as haue crept into the Church But I wil haue regard to this place and so frame my speech that the meanest simplest may reape profite thereby That you may the better remember it I wil keepe this order I wil shewe you what a Sacrament is Secondly who hath ordained them thirdly wherfore they were ordained and what they worke in vs fourthly how many there are and then I will briefly speake of euery of them A Sacrament is an outwarde and visible signe whereby GOD sealeth vp his grace in our heartes to the confirmation of our Faith Saint Augustine saith Sacramentum est inuisibilis gratiae visibile signum A SacrameÌ„t is a visible signe of grace inuisible And y t wee may the better vnderstand him hee telleth vs what thing we should call a signe A signe is a thing that besides the sight itself which it offreth to the seÌ„ses causeth of itself some other certaine thing to come to knowledge In Baptisme the water is the signe and the thing signified is the grace of God Wee see the water but the grace of God is inuisible we cannot see it Moreouer he saith Signa cum ad res diuinas adhibentur Sacramenta vocantur Signes wheÌ„ thei be applied to godly things be called sacramentes The signification and substance of the sacrament is to shew vs how we are washed with the passion of Christ and how we are fedde with the body of Christ And againe If Sacraments had not a certain likenes and representatioÌ„ of the things wherof they be sacraments then indeed they were no sacrameÌ„ts And because of this likenesse whiche they haue with the things they represent they be ofttimes termed by the names of the things themselues Therefore after a
seuen in due signification and right meaning taken for sacraments For in such sort as these are called sacramentes that is because they signifie some holy thing wee shall finde a great number of thinges which the godly learned Fathers haue called Sacramentes and yet I trow we must not holde them as sacraments ordeined to be kept and continued in the church for then shoulde there bee not seuen but seuenteene sacramentes S. Bernard calleth the washing of the Apostles feete a sacrament Ablutio pedum sacramentū est quotidianorum peccatorum The washing of feet is the Sacrament of daily sinnes So Leo calleth the crosse of Christ a sacramēt Crux Christi quae saluandis est impensa fidelibus sacramentū est exemplū The crosse of Christ which was giuē to saue the faithfull is both a Sacrament also an example Tertullian calleth the whole state of Christian faith Religionis Christianae Sacramentum The sacrament of Christian religion S. Hillary in diuers places saith Sacramentum orationis sacramentum esuritionis sacramentum sitis sacramentū fletus sacramentū scripturarū The sacramēt of praier the sacrament of fasting the sacramēt of thirst the sacrament of weeping the Sacramēt of the scriptures Thus much for the nūber that by the institutiō of Christ there are but two sacramēts as Cardinal Bessarion confesseth Haec duo sola Sacramenta in Euangelijs manifesté tradita legimus We reade that these two onely Sacraments were deliuered vs plainly in the Gospel I wil now speake briefly of the sacramentes in seueral leaue all idle vaine questions and onely lay open so much as is needful profitable for you to know Baptisme therefore is our regeneration or newe birth whereby wee are borne a new in Christ are made the sonnes of God heires of the kingdome of heauen it is a sacrament of the remission of sinnes and of that washing which we haue in the blood of Christ We are al borne the children of wrath and haue our part in the offence of Adam S. Paul saith By one man sinne entred into the world August saith Non dixit veniet super eum sed manet super eum Respexit originem c. Christ saide not it shal come vpon him but it abideth on him He had regard to our ofspring whē he saith the wrath of God abideth on him Vpon which when the Apostle also looked hee said and we our selues also were sometimes the children of wrath That which in Adam was imputed to his offence not to bee of nature is now in vs which are come of Adā become natural Therefore saith the Prophet Behold I was borne in iniquity and in sinn hath my mother conceiued me So y t we all haue cause to crie out mone with Saint Paule I see another law in my members rebelling against the law of my minde leading me captiue vnto the lawe of sinne whiche is in my members O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the bodye of this death Here of speaketh our sauiour That whiche is born of the flesh is flesh that which is borne of the spirite is spirite And for this cause saith he except a man bee borne of the water and the spirite hee cannot enter into the kingdome of God For this cause are infants baptized because they are borne in sinne and cannot become spirituall but by this newe birth of the water and the spirite They are the heires of the promise the couenaunt of Gods fauour is made vnto them God saide to Abraham I will establish my couenant betweene me and thee and thy seede after thee in their generations for an euerlasting couenaunt to be God vnto thee and to thy seede after thee Therefore saith the Apostle If the roote be holy so are the branches And againe The vnbeleeuing Husband is sanctified by the wife and the vnbeleeuing wife is sanctified by the Husbande else were your Children vncleane but now are they holy When the Disciples rebuked those that brought little Children to Christ that he might touch them he saide Suffer the little children to come vnto mee and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of GOD. And againe Their Angelles alwaies beholde the face of my Father which is in Heauen The kingdome of Heauen is of such saieth Christ not onelie then of those but of other like infantes which shall bee in al times As God tooke the seede of Abraham to be partakers of the couenant whiche hee gaue to Abraham so hee appoynted that euerie man childe of eyght dayes olde shoulde bee circumcised And Abraham circumcised his sonne Isaac when he was eyght dayes old as God had commanded him May wee thinke that the promise of God hath an ende so that it reacheth not to our children Or might the children of the Iewes receiue the signe of the couenant and may not the children of the Christiās Whatsoeuer was promised to Abraham the same is also perfourmed vnto vs. Wee enioye the same blessinges and free priuiledge of Gods fauour Saint Paule to the Galathiās saith Know ye that they whiche are of faith are the children of Abraham Againe If yee bee Christs then are ye Abrahams seed heires by promise Nowe is the signe of the Couenaunt also chaunged and Baptisme is in steede of Circumcision as Saint Paule declareth and calleth them circumcised which are baptized In whome meaning Christe also yee are circumcised with circumcision made without handes by putting off the sinful bodie of the fleshe through the circumcision of Christ in that you are buried with him thorow baptisme Our Sauiour giueth charge to his Apostles to baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the sonne and of the holy ghost The Apostles baptized not only such as professed their beliefe but whole housholdes The keeper of y ◠prisō was baptized with all that belonged vnto him So was Crispus the chiefe ruler of y ◠Synagogue his housholde and the housholde of Stephanas Infantes are a parte of the Churche of God they are the sheepe of Christ and belong to his flocke Why shoulde they not beare the marke of Christe they haue the promise of saluation Why should they not receiue the seale whereby it is confirmed vnto them they are of the felowshippe of the faithfull Augustine saith Vbi ponis paruulos non baptizatos profecto in numero credentium Where place you young children which are not yet baptised Verily in the number of them that beleeue Why then shoulde not they be partakers of the sacrament together with the faithfull And as the children of the faithfull by right ought to be baptized So such others also as were borne of vnbeleeuing parents and were aliants from the common wealth of Israel and were strangers from the couenant of promise and had no hope if they acknowledge the errour in which they liued and seeke
that by the sinne of one man death hath entred into the worlde and that the reward of sinne is death but who knoweth if God haue forgiuen them their sinne Who is his Counsailour who knoweth his meaning Our children are the children of God Hee is our God and the God of our seede They bee vnder the couenant with vs. The sobrest waye is to speake least and to leaue them to the iudgement and mercie of God Howbeit if any should despise and of wilfulnes refuse this holy ordinaunce so that they woulde in no case bee baptized or suffer their children to bee baptized that were damnable Otherwise the grace of God is not tyed so to the ministration of the sacrament that if anye be preuented by death so that he cannot bee receiued to the felowship thereof he shoulde therefore be thought to bee damned For many haue suffered death for Gods cause for their Faith in Christ who neuer were baptized yet are they reckoned and are indeed blessed Martirs So Valentinianus a Christian Emperour died without baptisme yet doeth Ambrose commend him and nothing doubteth but that hee is saued Hee saith Audiui vos dolere quod non acceperit c. I haue heard that you are grieued because he tooke not the Sacrament of baptisme Tel me what other thing is there in vs but our wil our desire Againe Hee which was endued with thy spirite O God how might it be that he should be voyde of thy grace Or If this moue you because the misteries were not solemnly ministred are not the Martirs crowned if they be only nouices that be not yet christned But if they be washed in their blood then is he also washed in his godlines and in his desire S. Augustine saith Hee is not depriued from the partaking and benefit of the sacrament so long as he findeth in himself that thing that the sacrament signifieth Constantinus the great was the first Christian Emperour yet was not baptized vntill the time of his death Qui cum Nicomediae ageret saith Theodoretus lāguore grauatus nec ignorans vitae huius incertum gratiam baptismatis est adeptus Who when he was at Nicomedia being grieuously sick and knowing the vncerteinty of this life was baptised The theef vpon the crosse was not baptized Yet Christe saide vnto him this day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise The Prophete Ieremie and Iohn Bapt. were sanctified in their mothers wombes By these fewe it may appeare that the sacrament maketh not a Christian but is a seale assurāce vnto all y t receiue it of the grace of God vnlesse they make themselues vnworthy thereof And y t no man may despise this holy ordinance keepe backe his infants frō baptisme for in so doing he procureth his own dānation In time of ignorance manie could see this and acknowledge it that the outwarde baptisme by water was not necessarie vnto saluation so that the children or others that died without it were for lacke thereof damned The church hath alwayes receiued three sortes of Baptisme the Baptisme of the spirit or of blood or of water If any were preuented by death or hindered by crueltie or persecution so that they coulde not receiue the sacrament of Baptisme at the hands of the minister yet haueing the sanctification of the holie Ghost or making their faith knowne by their suffering they were borne a newe and baptized God hath his purpose in vs and our children Before we be borne when we had dōe neither good nor euil he hath mercie and compassion on vs. Iudgement appertaineth vnto God He knoweth who are his No man knoweth the thinges of God but the sprite of God onely And thus much of the Sacrament of Baptisme which is the badge and cognisance of euery Christian If any bee not baptised but lacketh the marke of Gods folde wee cannot discerne him to be one of the flocke If anie take not the seale of regeneration we cannot say he is borne the childe of God This is the ordinarie way let vs vse it let vs not despise nor foreslow to receiue the Sacraments they are the meanes by which God maketh sure his good will towardes vs. It shall not bee amisse to speake a worde or two of the naming of your children Some are herein ouerseene they refuse to call their children by the names of holy men and women because they thinke it to sauour somwhat to much of religion and therefore eyther they name them at aduenture hauinge no regarde at all howe they be named or els they giue them the names of Heathen men cal thē Iulius Caesar Hercules Lucretia Scipio or such like These althogh they were notable in wisedome learning chastitie boldenesse and in conquestes yet were they Heathen men and knew not God The name is nothing it commendeth vs not to God Yet may a Christian father bee ashamed to call his childe by the name of suche who were enemies to the crosse of Christ Chrisost a godly father saith Non solum hic parentum monstratur pietas sed magna erga pueros diligentia c. In this thing that is in the naming of their children both the godlines of the parentes also their great care for their childrē is declared And how haue they forthwith frō the beginning taught the children which were borne vnto thē giuing them warning by the names wherwith they cal them that they should practise vertue They did not giue names at aduenture without reason as is vsed nowe a daies For now mē say let the child be called after the name of his grādfather or great grādfather but our olde fathers did not so They tooke all heed to cal their children by suche names which should not only prouoke thē to vertue which carried y e names but should teach al others much wisedome whosoeuer shold remain many yeres after thē Againe he saith See how great vnderstanding they of old time had that euen y ◠womē named not their childrē rashly or by chance but called thē by names that foreshewed such thinges as might happē after And of Lia Iaacobs wife he maketh a special cōmendation Vidisti quomodo nō simpliciter neque temere nomina natis indiderit Vocauit eum Simeon quoniam audiuit inquit Dominus See how shee nameth not her children simply nor at aduenture she called him Simeon because saith she the lord hath heard Therfore he saith Igitur nos ne vulgaria nomina pueris indamus neque auorū c. Let not vs therefore giue names vnto our children y ◠are cōmon names or because they were the names of our grandfathers or great grādfathers or of such who haue been famous for their perētage but rather let vs cal thē by y ◠names of such as haue excelled in vertue haue bin most faithful towards God Let thē carrie the names of the Apostles of y e prophets of y e Martirs of such
est Hoc non dicet nisi pariter caecus He y t is blind in his heart within seeth not Christ that is our bread And is he blessed No man wil say so vnlesse it be one as blinde as he Chrisost saith Where as the carkeis is there are Eagles The carkasse is y â— body of Christ in respect of his death But hee nameth Eagles to shewe that who so will approche to this bodie must mount aloft and haue no dealing with the earth nor bee drawen and creepe downward but must euermore flee vp and behold the Sunne of iustice haue the eye of his minde quicke and sharpe For this is a table of eagles that flie on high not of iaies that creepe beneath So saith Saint Hierome Let vs goe vp with the Lorde in to heauen into that great parlar spread and cleane and let vs receiue of him aboue the cuppe of the new Testament He saith They that rise not vp by faith receiue not the cuppe of Christ So saith Hillary The bread that came downe from heauen is not receiued but of him that hath our Lord and is the member of Christ This is the vndoubted meaning of the olde fathers that the wicked are not partakers of the passion of Christ because they lacke faith whereby onely Christ is receiued of vs. As Augustine saith How shal I holde Christ beeinge absent how shal I thruste my hande vp into heauen that I may holde him sitting there Sende vp thy faith and thou holdest him By this meanes we draw nigh to Christ we hyde our selues in his woundes wee sucke at his breast we feede of his bodie and comfortablye lay vp in our mynde that his flesh was crucified and wounded for our sakes Nowe let vs examine what difference is betweene the body of Christ and the sacrament of the bodie It behoueth vs to take eche part aright as it is least we be deceiued and take one for another Origen saith Simpliciores nescientes distinguere c. Simple meÌ„ not being able to discerne what thinges in the Scriptures ought to be applyed to the outwarde man and what to the inner beinge deceiued by the likenesse of woords haue turned them selues to a sorte of peeuishe fables and vaine fantasies Therefore sayeth Chrysostome Magnum crede mihi bonum est scire quid sit creatura quid sit Creator c. Beleeue me it is a great matter to vnderstande what is the creature and what is God the Creator what are the workes and what is the workman The difference heerein is this A Sacrament is a figure or token the bodye of Christ is figured or tokened The Sacrament bread is bread it is not the bodie of Christ The bodie of Christ is flesh it is no bread The bread is beneath the bodie is aboue The bread is on the table the bodie is in heauen The bread is in the mouth the bodie in the heart The bread feedeth the outward man the bodie feedeth the inwarde man The bread feedeth the bodie the body feedeth the soule The bread shall come to nothing the bodie is immortall and shall not perish The bread is vile the bodie of Christ glorious Such a difference is there betweene the bread whiche is a Sacrament of the bodie and the bodye of Christ it selfe The Sacrament is eaten as well of the wicked as of the faithfull the bodie is onely eaten of the faithfull The Sacrament may bee eaten vnto iudgement the body can not bee eaten but vnto saluation Without the Sacrament we may be saued but without the bodie of Christ wee haue no saluation wee can not bee saued As Saynt Augustine saith Quinon sumit carnem Christi non habet vitam qui eam sumit habet vitam eam vtique aeternam Hee that receiueth not the fleshe of Christ hath not life he that receiueth the same hath life and that for euer Such a difference maketh Epiphanius Hoc est rotundae figurae insensibile quantum ad potentiam c. This thing that is the sacrament is of a rounde forme for it was a great thick round cake and touching any power that is in it vtterly voyde of sense But wee knowe that our Lord is whole sense whole sensible whole God whole mouing Again S. August saith for the difference of them The Sacrament of Christs bodâ— is receiued of some vnto life of some vnto destruction but the thing it selfe that is the flesh of Christ wherof this is a Sacrament is receiued of all men vnto life and of no man to destruction whosoeuer shall be partaker of it Of the difference which is betweene a figure of any thing and the thing it self Chrysost saith Audisti fuisse figuram ne ergo mirare neque omnia require in typo Neque enim typus esset si omnia quae veritati accidunt haberentur Yee haue heard that it was a figure therefore maruell not being a figure require not al thinges to agree for otherwise it were no figure These and such like reasons no doubte mooued the godly Father to say as wee haue learned to say Aliud est Sacramentum aliud res sacrameÌ„ti The Sacrament is one thing the matter of the Sacrament which is Christes verye body is another thing And therfore he saieth Honorem tanquaÌ„ religiosa habere possunt stuporem taÌ„quam mira noÌ„ possuÌ„t These things speaking of the sacrament of Christes body maye haue honour as things appointed to religion but wonder as things maruellous they can not haue Thus are wee taught by the Catholique Learned Fathers to put a difference betweene the Sacrament and the body of Christe and that the one of them is not really lapped vp or shut within the other that the one as Epiphanâ—us saith is vtterly voyde of sense the other whole sense and whole sensible that the one is receiued 〈◊〉 destruction vnto some as Saint Augustine â—aith the other is receiued of all men vnto life That the one is a figure as Chrysostome sayth the other a trueth It remayneth that wee consider howe wee ought to prepare our heartes and with what faith and reuerence wee shoulde resorte to these holy mysteries Wee may not come as we vse to doe to our vsuall meates For here in a mystery and Sacrament of bread is set before vs the bodie of Christe our Sauiour and his blood in the Sacrament of Wine Wee see one thing wee must conceiue another thing Therefore we must in such manner be affected as if we were present to beholde his death vpon the crosse and the sheading of his blood for our sinnes Let vs set before our eyes that dreadfull tragedie and the causes and effectes of his death that so our heartes may bee the rather mooued to yeelde that allegeance obedience and reuerence which is due Wee were the children of wrath the enemies of God shut vp vnder sinne and the heires of euerlasting
damnation In this case God so loued y â— world that he gaue his onely begotten Sonne y â— whosoeuer beleeueth in him shoulde not perishe but haue life euerlasting And as Saint Paule sayeth God sent his owne Sonne in the similitude of sinful flesh and by sinne coâ—â—emned sinne in the fleshe There was no other thing in He auen or earth which woulde be taken for our ransome Therefore was the Sonne of GOD brought before the Iudge and arraigned as a Theefe and condemned and scourged and put to death his side was opened with a speare and the bloode flowed out and he sayde It is finished that is to say the price for man is nowe payed Thus beeing in the fourme of God hee thought it no robberie to bee equall with God but he made himselfe of no reputation tooke on him the fourme of a seruaunt and was made like vnto men was founde in shape as a man He humbled himself and became obedient vnto the death euen the death of the Crosse Hee gaue his bodye to bee crucified and his blood to bee shedde for our sakes There was no other sacrifice left for sinne woe worth the sinne of man that was the cause of the death of Christ What were the effects of his death What followed God hath highly exalted him and giueÌ„ him a name aboue euery name that at the name of Iesus should euery knee bowe and that euerie tongue should confesse that Iesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father God spake out of the heauens and saide This is my beloued sonne in whom I am well pleased Hee crowned him with glorie and honour hee hath not onely aduanced Christ but vs also together with him And made vs sitte together in heauenly places in Christ Iesus Hee hath made vs like to the Image of his sonne Thus hath hee made vs an acceptable people and hath renewed the face of the earth so y â— nowe hee saith not as he did to Adam thou art earth and shalt returne to earth but he saith Thou art heauen an immortall and vndefiled inheritance that fadeth not away is reserued in heauen for thee This is the effect and value of the death of Christ All these thinges are layde before vs in the holy Table if wee haue eyes to see and beholde them There may wee see the crucifiyng of his bodie and the shedding of his blood as it were in a glasse Therefore Christe sayeth doe this in remembraunce of mee in remembraunce of my benefite wrought for you in remembrance of your saluation purchased by me Saint Paul saith As often as ye shal eate this bread and drinke this cuppe ye shew the Lordes death til he come In this supper lieth a hiddeÌ„ mystery There is the horror of sinne there is y e death of our Lorde for our sinne represented howe he was wounded for our sinnes and tormented for our iniquities and ledde as a lambe to the slaughter There may we see the shame of the crosse the darkenesse ouer the worlde the earth to quake the stones to cleaue asunder the graues to open and the dead to rise These thinges may we see in the Supper this is the meaning of these holy mysteries Therefore let euery one examine him selfe and search and weigh his owne hearte whether he be the childe of GOD and a member of the bodie of Christe and so let him eate of this bread and drinke of this cuppe The sacrament of the Lordes Supper is a holie foode the seale of our Faith the assuraunce of Gods promises and a couenant betweene God and man He that doeth vn worthely thrust himselfe to this table eateth and drinketh his owne damnation When a sicke man of a weake and feeble stomacke sitteth downe to eate with them that are whole whatsoeuer he eateth or drinketh it doth increase his sicknesse To them that perish the worde of God is a sauour of death vnto death Who so disagreeth from Christ neither eateth his bread nor drinketh his blood as saith S. Augustine If any of vs come to the Sacrament of the bodie of Christ and yet make our selues the members of the Diuell wee treade Christe vnder our feete we regarde not his body crucified nor his blood shed for vs we regard not the price of our saluation wee are guiltie of his death we betraie the innocent blood we are fallen from grace and Christ hath died in vaine for vs. Let vs remember Christ was forsaken scorned buffeted crucified and left vpon the crosse he was a worme and no man a reproch among men Nature it selfe yearned and yelded at the sight hereof The whole lande grewe darke the earth did quake the sunne lost his light the powers of heauen were moued the rockes were clouen the vaile of the temple rent the thiefe repented said Lorde remember me when thou coÌ„mest into thy kingdome the centurion glorified God and said of a suretie this man was iust Where is the power of Christs death now Where is the force and power of his word By these meanes he speaketh to thee and calleth saying Beholde O man thus haue I sought thee these things I suffer for thy sake that thou shouldest eate my flesh and drinke my blood be made one with me that thou mightest come into mee and I into thee I haue made thee a member of my bodie bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh Thou that wallowest in thy sinnes thou Sodoma and Gomorrah thou childe of destruction which hast reioysed in my shame and arte not moued with the paines which I haue suffered what might I do for thy sake to saue thee that I haue not done What might I suffer and haue not endured it O be a partener of my death that thou matest haue part in my resurrection Let vs die with Christ let vs bee crucified vnto the worlde Let vs bee holy Egles and scare aboue Let vs goe vp into the great parlar and receiue of our Lorde the cup of the newe testament There let vs beholde the bodie that was crucified for vs the blood which was shead for vs. There let vs say this is the raunsom of the world this was once offered hath made perfect for euer al them that beleue this entered once into the holy place and obtained euerlasting redemption for vs this standeth alwaies in the presence of God maketh intercession for vs this is the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world by this bodie I am now no more earth ashes by this I am now not a bondman but made free This bodie hath broken the gates of hell hath opened heauen In this are all the treasures of Gods mercie by this the prince of darkenes is cast foorth in this bodie shall he come againe to iudge the quicke and the dead Let no vncleane or filthie person no adulterer no vsurer no cruel extortioner or deuourer of Gods people offer him selfe to
the receiuing of this Sacrament If any bee such a one I require hym by the body blood of Iesus Christ and by the iudge of the quicke and the dead that he come not to the Lordes table that he betraie not the sonne of God It were better he had neuer bene borne and that a milstone were hanged about his necke he throwne into y e sea Let vs not deceiue our selues God wil not be mocked He receiueth dānation y t receiueth vnworthely Let vs fall downe before our Lorde and giue thankes vnto hym Let vs say what shall I giue vnto the Lord for al that he hath giuen vnto me I wyl take the cup of saluation call vpon the name of the Lord. Let vs say O Lord our Lord how wonderful is thy name in all the world Let vs say prayse the Lord O my soule and all that is within me prayse his holy name Let vs purpose and promise amendement of our lyfe let vs goe out with Peter and weepe let vs fall at Christes feete with Marie Magdalene and with our teares washe his feete Let vs saye with Dauid I haue sinned to the Lorde Let vs saye with the Prodigal sonne father I haue sinned agaynst heauen and against thee I am no more worthy to bee called thy sonne Let vs saye haue mercy on mee O God accordyng to thy great mercie thou art my God I am thy seruāt O saue me for thy mercies sake Let vs offer vp our bodies a liuing pure holy and acceptable sacrifice to God So shall we be partakers of the death of Christ and of his resurrection Thus haue we briefly gone through the whole matter of the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ and followed the same order which was set down First that we do in the Sacramente truely eate the bodie of Christ Secondly what is the meaning of the wordes Hoc est corpus meum Thirdely whether y ◠bread remeaine in nature substance Fourthly whether it be eaten with the mouth of the bodie or by faith onely Fiftly what difference is betweene the bodie of Christ and the mysticall signes Sixtly howe we must be prepared and with what deuotiō we ought to come to receiue this Sacrament Hauing thus treated of the Sacramentes of the newe testament and said so much as is needfull for you to knowe of them both as well of Baptisme which is the sacrament of our regeneration as of our Lordes supper which is the sacrament of our refection or nourishment I will now in fewe wordes speake something of confirmation of matrimony of ecclesiastical ministerie which some call holy orders of repentance or penance and of extreme vnctiō which some of late yeeres haue called Sacraments and by ioyning these to the other haue made vp the nomber of seuen Sacramentes so haue charged the Church with fiue sacramēts more then Christ did euer ordaine For these fiue wante either the worde or the element or both and therefore may not bee taken for true sacraments Such as haue with all their skil shewed them selues helpers and furtherers of our aduersaries yet haue plainely cōfessed that they are not sacraments of Christes institution Alexander of Hales saith of confirmation The sacrament of confirmation as it is a Sacrament was not ordained either by Christ or by the Apostles but afterwarde in the Counsel of Melda Which Counsel was kept many yeres after Christ And Durandus saith of matrimonie Matrimonie in due and proper kinde of speach is no Sacramēt And Bessarion a Cardinal cōfesseth as it was shewed before that in due and right consideration none of these fiue may be called Sacramentes We reade saith he that these two onely Sacramentes were deliuered vs plainely in the Gospel First of Confirmation which is so called because that which was done on our behalfe in baptisme is ratified and confirmed many parentes had not such due care as they ought in the godly bringing vp of their childrē so that many children knew not whether they were baptized or no many were neuer taught what couenant was made betweene them God in their baptisme many swarued away from Christian profession and caried them selues to the fellowship of the heathens and of the sonnes of God became the sonnes of the deuel Upon this occasion the Churche of God laieth charge vpon the parentes and the witnesses of the baptizing of younge children that they teach thē the waies of the Lorde to know y e holy mystery that they haue receiued and what they haue promised and professed in baptisme that they put them in minde howe God hath called them out of the kingdome of darknes vnto his wonderfull light and to the fellowship of the saintes in light When the children of the Christiās were thus brought vp had learned the religyō of Christ and to walke in the waies of Godlines they were brought to the church by their parents presented vnto the Bishop and yeeled a reason of their faith openly before the whole congregation they professed they would so beleue that they would liue and die in that faith Then the Bishop and all the people fell downe on their knees and prayed vnto God that he would continue the good thing hee had begonne and the bishop laying his hande vpon them cōmended them vnto God This was the ratifying of the professiō which they made by others at their baptisme and for that cause called Confirmation Now whether it be a sacrament and when I say a sacrament I meane a ceremonie commanded by God in expresse wordes For God onely hath the authorytie to institute a Sacrament Sacraments are confirmations seales of the promises of God and are not of the earth but from heauen As Christ saith The babtisme of Iohn Whence was it from heauen or of men Chrysostome saith The misterie were not of God nor perfect if thou shouldest put any thing to it Marke and iudge your selues shal see whether this were a sacrament instituted by Christ Augustine said Accedat verbum ad elementum fit sacramentum Ioine the worde to the creature it is made a sacrament This creature or element is visible as are water bread wine The word which must be ioyned is the commandemēt institution of christ without the word and the commandement and institution it is no sacrament I protest y t the vse and order of confirmation rightly vsed is profitable and necessarie in the Church no way to be broken But all y t is profitable necessarie is not a sacramēt Christ did not commāde it he spake no word of it Looke and reade if you doubt it Christes wordes are written and may be seene You shal neuer finde that hee commanded Confirmation or that hee euer made any special promise to it Therefore may you conclude that it is no sacrament Otherwise being rightly vsed it is a good ceremonie wel ordeined of our auncient fathers The Apostles layde their handes on
them and confirmed them which were baptized of Iohn But that proueth not this confirmation that was extraordinarie it was a miracle The holy Ghost came downe vpon them and lightened their hearts by this laying on of the Apostles handes But it is not so nowe the holy Ghost doth not now descende in visible forme vpon those which are confirmed there is no such miracle wrought There is no neede that it should so be There was no commandement either to appoint it vnto the Church or to continue it vntyl the comming of Christ and the end of the worlde Therefore it is no Sacrament by the institution of Christ Hitherto of the vse Now somewhat of the abuse Nothing so good and holy but it may be abused The worde of God hath bene abused to Heresies to Necromancie to Charmes and Sorcerie and Witchcrafte The supper of the Lord was abused in y â— time of S. Paul He telleth the Corinthians This is not to eate the Lords Supper Lesse marueile then if this happen to a ceremonie Time rusteth and consumeth all things maketh many a thing to proue naught in the ende which was first deuised for good The brasen Serpent at the first was made by Moses and set it vp for good purpose But after warde it was abused The children of Israel did burne incense vnto it and therefore Ezechias brake it in pieces The first abuse in confirmation was that it was done in a strange tongue y â— no man might vnderstand what was ment Then that they receiued to confirmation such children and so young as were not able to make profession of their faith so that the infant promised he knew not what and the Bishop ratified and confirmed where there was nothing to be confirmed he set to his seale where there was nothing to be sealed These abuses were farre vnmeete for the Church of God Besides these ther was great abuse in the manner of doing For thus the Bishop said Consigno te signo crucis confirmo te chrismate salutis I signe thee with the signe of the crosse and coÌ„firme thee with the oyle of saluation Thus they vsed to doe these were their words with the oyle of saluatioÌ„ They tooke not this of Christ nor of his Apostles nor of the holy auncient fathers It agreeth not with our Christian faith to giue the power of saluation vnto oyle He that sâ—eketh saluation in oyle looseth his saluation in Christ and hath no parte in the kingdome of God Oyle for the bellie and for necessarie vses of life It is no fit instrument without commaundement or promise by the worde to worke saluation More they said he was no perfect ChristiaÌ„ that was not anointed by the Bishop with this holy oile This was another abuse For whosoeuer is baptized receiueth thereby the full name of a perfect Christian and hath the full and perfice couenaÌ„t and assurance of saluation he is perfitely buried with Christ doth perfitely put on Christ and is perfitely made partaker of his resurrection Therefore they are deceiued that say no man is a perfite Christian that is not marked with this oyle Els the Apostles and holie Martyrs were but halfe Christians because the lacked this oyle Els what hope and comfort might the pore fathers haue In what state shall he thinke to finde his childe if he die before confirmation passe without perfite Christendome verely they write thus Sine oleo Chrismatis nemo potest sisti ante tribunal christi Without y e oyle of chrisme no maÌ„ can appeare before the Iudgment seat of Christ Againe they say confirmation is more honorable then baptisme because any priest may baptize but confirmation is giuen onely by a Bishop or a suffragain So doe they giue a greater preeminence to confirmation which is diuised by man then to the holy sacrament of baptisme which Christ him selfe ordained I neede not speake more hereof the errour is so grosse so thicke so sensible and palpable Againe when they blessed or halowed their oyle they vsed these wordes Fiat domine hoc oleum te benedicente vnctio spiritualis ad purificationem meÌ„tis corporis O Lord let this oile by thy blessing be made a spritual ointmeÌ„t to purifie both soule body O Christ Iesu where was thy crosse where was thy blood and the price of thy death and passion when a drop of oyle was of power to worke remission of all sinnes to saue and defende against al the dartes of the wicked spirites and to refresh both bodie and soule Yet so were we taught so were wee lead I faine not these things The words may be seene Neither do I speake this to bring you to a misliking or loathing of our latter fathers but onely that wee may humble our heartes and giue thankes to GOD that hath brought vs out of that darkenes and giuen vs better knowledge Nowe a worde or two of the bringing vp of children and preparing them to confirmation Wherein I woulde God the olde order were duely obserued that they were instructed perfitly to know relygion theyr duetie to God and so might be brought before the Congregation and make an open profession of their faith with promise that neither tribulation nor anguish nor persecution nor famine nor nakednes nor fire nor sword nor life nor death shall euer make them denie their faith Hereof might much be spoken but I will be short The whole standeth in knowledge and in the feare of God that they may knowe God walke before him in reuerence and in feare and serue him in holines and righteousnes al the dayes of their life The Iewes are a miserable people they liue in errour they die in their owne blood yet haue they so much vnderstanding that they bringe vp their children in the knowledge of God and that knowledge they teach out of the worde of God They remember what charge God gaue them Thou shalt teach them thy sonnes and thy sonnes sonnes Therefore a father must teache his childe what God is That he is our father that he hath made vs and doeth feede vs and geueth vs all thinges needefull both for body and soule that he is our Lord and therefore we must serue him and obey him and do nothinge whereby he may be displeased that hee is our iudge and shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead and that all men shall come before him to receiue according as they haue done in the flesh He must put his childe in minde of his baptisine and teach him that it is a couenent of Gods mercie to vs and of our duetie to God that it is a misterie of our saluation that our soule is so washed with the blood of Christ as the water of baptisme washeth our bodie So must he also teach his childe the misterie of the Lordes supper what and how he receiueth there to his comfort that as the bread is broken and the wine poured out so the bodie of Christ was
heauen before men for ye your selues go not in nether suffer ye theÌ„ that would enter to come in Of these and against them God speaketh by the Prophet Ieremie Wo be vnto the pastors that destroy scatter the sheepe of my pasture And by the Prophete Zacharie O Idol-shepherd that leaueth the flocke Thou hast eares and hearest not thou hast eyes and seest not thou hast a tongue and speakest not and a heart but vnderstandest not thou art an idole Christ sayde to thee feede my lambes feede my sheepe but thou carest not for them Thou hast the roume of an Euangelist and Pastour and Teacher but thou gatherest not the saintes together thou doest not the worke of the ministerie thou buildest not vp the bodie of Christe They shall perish in their wickednesse but their blood wyll I require at thy handes Here note this ministerie of the Churche was not ordeined to offer sacrifice for forgiuenesse of sinnes Whosoeuer taketh that office vpon hym be doeth wrong iniurie to the death and passion of Christ He only is called of god an high Priest after y e order of Melchisedec He onely by his owne blood entred in once into the holy place obtained eternall redemption for vs. He only with one offeringe hath consecrated for euer them y t are sanctified He only hath said Consummatum est It is finished The ransome or price for mans saluation and for forgiuenesse of the sinnes of the worlde is payde in mee in my death vpon the Crosse Of hym alone and onely of hym hath it bene spoken This is my well beloued Sonne in whom I am well pleased And by Esay With his stripes only we are healed It is he only which hath made of both one It is he only which did put out y â— hande writing of ordinaÌ„ces y â— was against vs he euen tooke it out of the way and fastened it vppon the Crosse He alone is our hye Priest the Lambe of God the Sacrifice for sinnes the Altar the Propitiation for sinners and redeemer of the world He only hath appeased the wrath of god He onely appeareth in the sight of GOD to make intercession for our sinnes All others whatsoeuer Apostles Prophetes Teachers and Pastours are not in office to offer any propitiatorie sacrifice but are called to the ministerie of the Saintes to the edification of the bodye of Christe and to the repayringe of the Church of God Thus muche of the holy ministerie of the Church which standeth in the setting foorth of the mysterie of our saluation both by the Preachinge of the woorde of GOD and by the due and reuerent ministration of the Sacramentes The principallest parte of this office is to preache repentance that so wee may amende our lyues and bee conuerted vnto GOD. So Ioel the Prophet followed hys ministerie sayinge Rent your heartes and not your garmentes and turne to the Lorde your God for he is gracious merciful So S. Paul teacheth that true circumcision is by putting off the sinnefull body of the fleesh that it is in mortifying our members that bee on the earth Fornication vncleanesse the inordinate affections euil concupiscence couetousnes which is idolatrie y â— it is in putting away al these thinges wrath anger maliciousnes cursed speakinge filthy speakinge out of your mouth in putting of the old maÌ„ with his works and putting on the new which is renewed in knowledge after y e image of him that created him So Iohn Baptist said Repent for the kingdome of God is at hand Prepare ye y â— waies of the Lord make his pathes straight So our Sauiour Christ when he began to preache said Am end your liues for the kingdome of God is at hand Therfore it wil not bee amisse now to speake of repentaunce which some of late yeares haue chaunged into pennaunce and there of haue also made a Sacrament Here it behoueth to rippe vp the whole lyfe of man There is not any man that liueth and sinneth not God sayeth The imagination of mans heart is euyll from his youth The Prophet Ieremie saith The heart is deceitful and wicked aboue all things who can know it Saint Iohn therefore saith If wee say that we haue no sinne wee deceiue our selues trueth is not in vs. Of hymselfe Saint Paul saith I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing Of hymselfe the Prophet Dauid sayeth There is nothiÌ„g sound in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there rest in my bones because of my sinnes For mine iniquities are gone ouer mine head as a weighti burtheÌ„ they ar to heauy for me He saith If thou O Lord straightly markest iniquities O Lord who shal abide it So sayth the Wise man A iustman falleth seuen times God is a righteous God and the auenger of all them that offendeâ—â— Saint Paul saith The wages of sinne is death And the Prophet Ezechiel The soule that sinneth shall dye For this cause then God ordayned the ministerie of his worde and appoynted certayne to this office that they shoulde warne his people of theyr sinnes and feare them by the terrour of Gods assured displeasure and heauy wrath As is seene by y t to Esay Cry aloude spare not lift vp thy voyce lyke a trumpet and shewe my people their transgressions the house of Iacob their sins So Saint Paul vnto Timothie I charge thee before God the Lorde Iesus Christ which shal iudge the quick and dead at his appearing in his kyngdome preach the word be instant in season out of season improue rebuke exhort with all long suffering and doctrine So woulde God haue our filth layde open before our eyes that wee might weigh and iudge our owne heartes that euery man might make charge vppon him selfe and saye I am an vnprofitable seruant my righteousnesse is as a foule and steined cloth My soule hath sinned and hath deserued to dye the death In this case some fall into desperation and saye as sometimes dyd Caine My sinne is greater then can be pardoned God withdraweth his mercie from mee I am vnworthie of it I haue offended against the holy spirit of GOD mine owne conscience accuseth me I haue no parte in the kingdome of GOD and of Christe there is no sacrifice left for my sinnes Thus the wicked liue in trembling and agony as dyd Cain thus they leaue their lyfe with horrour and miserie so haue they no grace to repent no taste nor feelyng of the mercie of God But the children of God though they bee wounded yet they finde reliefe in the certayne hope of Gods mercie Though they say I am a sinner my sinnes are more in number then the heares of my head I haue offended against heauen and earth Yet they know that Christ came to call sinuers to repentance that hee healeth those that are