thy kingdome come Therefore Eucherius vppon the kings doth figuratiuely drawe the kingdome of Saul vnto Christ in that they of Israel lost the kingdome and gouernement by his reprobation and it shoulde be recouered againe vnder the Messtas by free gift Lactantius giueth a spiritual heauēly kingdome vnto Christ for that he was obedient and fatthfull to his father and fulfilled all thinges euen to the death of the crosse therefore he hath giuen him a kingdome and honour and rule Also Epiphanius maketh a comparison betwixt the house of Israel and Ierusalem from whome the scepter and kingdome was some times taken away but saith he for euer shall our glorie last which we shal haue in the throne of the Lorde And his kingdome it is not on yearth for so he testified vnder that testimonie hee gaue vnto Pontius Pilate Therefore Cyprian Christ may be called the kingdome of God whome we looke for dayly and in our prayers desire he woulde come spéedily for in so much as he is our resurrection our glorie our crowne therefore shall we rise be made like vnto him and raigne with him most gloriously It is true and certeine as there is a dominion and sceptar on earth so there is and shal bee a kingdome in heauen so that at such time as wee pray and desire to be with Christe we desire to bee with him in his kingdome which in the ende hee will giue vnto vs in heauen Then as the power of Sathan is great and as he hath his pollicie and ingins readie prepared to snare vs so hath the Lord God his ordinarie meanes to bring vs to his kingdome and hee layeth vp in store for those that bee his against the day of his comming First of all the kingdom of God was knowen and opened inlarged verie aboundantly by his worde which he gaue vs so that they which were snared intangled by Sathan had to runne vnto that eternal decree and heauenly Oracle that was deliuered by the Lorde The séede of the woman shall tread down the head of the Serpent with this as with spirituall foode were our fathers fedd and liued in the hope which they had in one Christ for they hoped for an heritage and for a kingdome and for their redemption which they knewe shoulde bee fulfilled in their season Secondly the amplification and increase of the kingdō of God was shewed to man in that when the appointed houre was come he sent his onely begotten sonne into the worlde that beeing made man of the virgin Marie he might take our weakenesse vppon him and beare our infirmities that our nakednesse might be no more open before God his father but we might be clothed and couered in his peace First he washed away our sinnes and nayled them vnto the Crosse and adopted vs into the libertie of the children of God That we might falter no more and slide from him he lefte a defence and shielde for vs which is our faith that albeit we haue sinne and iniquitie ranging in our mortal bodies yet by a liuely hope in his bloud we might stande stedfast against the enimie and haue our sinnes no more imputed to vs but be counted able to stande before his tribunal in the merite and death of his sonne and such an assurance is giuen vnto vs of life in that kingdom that Paule bursteth out into a verie vehement speeche and wondereth at the Lord that hath brought to passe so much for vs For who can lay ought to our charge that be the children of God It is God that iustifieth who shall condemne It is Christe that is dead nay rather which is risen againe that sitteth at the right hande of his father and is an intercessor and mediator for vs Wherefore séeing the sonne of God hath made a satisfaction for our sinnes and hath by his resurrection vanquished hell death the diuell and condemnation it doth followe that he hath made vs a frée passage to his kingdome and hath set in good order the perfection that was wanting to make vs obedient children in this life and to giue vs his rewarde at the length euen a crowne of immortalitie and glorie And here commeth in the thirde thing that establisheth and giueth vs full certeintie of our kingdom in Christe whereby he squareth vs as fit stones hewen out in good time for so excellent a building and it is the earnest of the spirite procéeding from his father to direct sanctifie and gouerne vs against all the assaultes and temptations of Sathan And here it commeth to passe that where as by nature and offence of the first man we are vnreadie and vnméete to do that which is acceptable pleasant in his sight nowe by his spirite woorkinge in our mindes and consciences and daily striuing with the fleshe wee finde aptnes in our selues and a more readinesse to obey the Lorde This comforter as he was moste plentifully in great terrour and astonishement manifested to his Apostles at the firste enlarging of the kingdome of God so hath he not forsaken vs thoughe visibly he appeare not vnto vs but doth purge and wipe away our infirmities and lighteneth vs by a perfect calling and secreate operation through the obedience of his name that we may knowe what the holy and perfect and readie will of God is And as Saul a verie wicked and vngodly man was founde prophesying among the Prophets and Amos from the Mulberie trées and from the plough was taken into the temple and Sinagog of Hierusalem and as some of the Apostles from the net and the fishers hooke were altered and chaunged vnto other maner of men so is it with vs made and fashioned againe that were before filthie and wicked we are purged renued clensed and renouated by a more liuelye quickening wee stande boldly before his throne of grace and heare knowe the glad tidings of peace for the spirite maketh intercession with groninges for those that be the Lordes and worketh mightily in our heartes vnto saluation Fourthly and lastly this kingdome of God is increased and inlarged by the preaching of the Gospel a verie ordinarie way that God hath left vnto vs to bring vs to heauen euen to beléeue the worde and obey the Lord God and to attaine to the ful measure and depth thereof which is the eternall decree purpose and determination of his death the ende wherof is our life the cause thereof his onely loue good wil and fauour that he bare to man openly knowen and apparant by the Gospell It is therefore called the Gospell of Iesus Christe the sonne of god Mar. 1. It is called the word of Christe Collos 3. It is called the worde of the Lorde Act. 6. It is called the doctrine of Christ or the teaching of the Lorde Act. 13. And it is called the teaching of him that saueth Tit. 2. It is called the preaching of the Lorde Rom. 16. all which titles epithites giuen vnto the
his wife And why Moses that spake vnto the Lorde face to face had not the power nor wisedome at that instant to sanctifie the Lorde at the waters of Merebath I could not a long time disgest that same of Saul that though he had grace most plentifull yet fell be from it Nor of Achitophell that was so often times in the tabernacle of the Lord and in the ende strangled him selfe so villenously with a halter Or why Iudas that was among the twelue and I doubt not but he did myracles preached to yet fell so strangely in the end And hardly was I satisūed when I found a doubt of a number in the booke of God whose dealinges were somtimes commended whose liues at length so altered whose endes were feared and despised of many The first sorte were good and are saide to haue pleased the Lorde God and I knowe and I am assured that they had the spirite of the Lorde aboundantly yet did they fall verie grossely The seconde forte that I reckoned vp had the Spirite of the Lorde for a season and it was taken away from them for it was abused by them and they had their portion whiche was condemnation The thirde sort that I finde are such as fell and did rise and yet in the ende howe they ended and dyed for that they are not condemned we haue lefte it to the Lorde Three sortes of men I synde and three sortes of workinge and thrée manners of operations by the Spirite The first from death vnto life and saued dayly by renouation The second from life vnto death that fell continually by reprobation The thirde betwixt them bothe that lined sinned and offended and were strengthened I doubt not but saued but by imputation by grace through Christe The Creature cannot bee as is the Creator neyther Adam as was God that made him But hee that hath the fulnesse of the Spirite of the holye Ghoste in ample and full measure dwelling in him remaining in deitie in godhead in diuinitie hath that which is proper to God and Christo Then neyther man neither creature neyther any thing on earth can haue this propertie to winde the Spirite as he listeth for it is proper onely to the Lorde Elias prayed for rayne God heard him When he fled from Iezabell he was nourished by the Angell of god Elias deuideth the waters and is taken vp into heauen in a flerie Charriot If hée prayed he had it not of himselfe he acknowleged the gift there of from God. If the Angell was sent from God he did not commaunde it nor trust in his owne might he confessed one that sent him He deuided the waters for the spirite of God did moue him yet stayed he his time for the spirite of God did leade him And he was taken vp not of himselfe but at the commaundement and will of God that called him Are they better then Elyas I neuer sawe it yet Are they stronger then Moses that made Aegypt to quake Then shewe me thy myracles and commaund the waters the Sea the ayre the heauens to obey thée Yet shalt thou be but a man and be ruled by the Lorde Are they more perfect and vpright then Samuel Hardly is it to be credited And yet worke what thou canst worke it is not of thy selfe The spirite it is not thine Thy déedes and dealings be not thine owne Thy cogitations and thoughts if they be good I say with Paul and with the prophets They be the giftes of God. Will the Sunne and the Moone rule the heauens or be they not ruled of the Lord Can the clouds scatter their droppes abroade Or the horie frostes lie on the grasse Or the caterpiller eate vp the hearbes Or drought consume them on the earth Or the pestilence ransake the kinges Pallaces Or death do his mesage in aresting thée If the Lore send them not No more canst thou doe any good if he guide thée not The gould is digged in the earth the cloddes be broken the drosse is purged the fine mettaile is laid vp for store And so is man by the Lorde altered renewed strengthened and clensed and kept against the day of righteousnesse Can the potte pleade with his maister Be it of brasse or clay of Copper or Siluer or of Gould Or the plante that is set in the earth be it peare or aple or what fruite else soeuer may it reason with him that graffed it for that it might haue ben made one of a better tast Why then shoulde we murmur at the Lorde that ruleth vs and giueth a boundaunce of his spirite and vprightnesse of life according to his will and secrete purpose Not as man thinketh at his owne pleasure to vse or abuse as him listeth It is very true that the holy ghost appeared visiblie by signes on the apostles like clouen tongues and is saide to come in fyre But it is no argument God sheweth his powre visiblie by his spirite Ergo God is in vs really in spirite For I knowe that the Apostles were not deisted in that place made so perfect that they could not sinne For Paul resisted Peter to his face in the Gallathians For that when he was in Antiochia before certeine came from Iames he eate with the Gentiles But when they were come he withdrewe him and seperated himselfe fearing them whiche were of the Circumcision In like manner Barnabas So that it is no argument They receiued the holy ghost Ergo they sinned not But euen God in his elect wil be glorified in that they falling downe rise againe so gloriously In déede the Persians doe reason here that therfore the fire is God because the holy ghost appeered as fire And these heritickes that they be as God because God is saide to dwell in them Truth it is that the spirite of God is the earnest of our inheritaunce and that we are the temples of the holy ghost yet but by a way of comparison For wee finde it in the lawe get you out from among them O my people And seperate your selues from them saith the Lorde And touch not him that is vncleane the one expresseth the other As the Temple is kepte and consecrated to god so ought our bodies and soules to be hallowed sanctified and kept cleane vnto the Lorde As touching the beasty and lasciuious life wherevnto they be giuen no heart can suffer it and my pen it shaketh to report it But if that be true that is in Paul. Let not sinne reigne in your mortall bodies to obey the lustes thereof If that be so in the Galathians Fornicatours idolaters adulterers wantones buggerers théeues dronkerds extortioners raylers shall nót inherite the kingdome of God If it be true to the Corinthians to avoide Fornication let euery man haue his wife let euery woman haue her owne husbande If vnto the Ephesians beware of fornication vncleanesse coueteousnesse let it not be
confession if thou aske it not in humblenesse and méekenesse of spirite but art swelled and puffed vp with Pride as though thy owne righteousnesse and the strength of thine owne armes bad brought it to passe For which cause we pray that our debts may bee forgiuen vs and our transgressions pardoned vs and we acknowledg that we owe much vnto the Lord god For séeing that our sinnes are as the stayned clothe of a woman for the we hatch Cocatrice eggs and weaue the spiders webbe Is not his hande vpon vs and his consuming wrath hath it not alreadie snared vs and are wee not intangled vnto death And is it not time to begin to pray w humilitie confesse our sinnes for here glittereth forth the first hope we haue in Christ in that he was a propitiacion for vs to his father that cannot any otherwise be satisfied then in acknowledging our sinnes Chiefly here and before all els we haue to vnderstande what is ment by this for giue vs our debtes For as touching our duetie wee owe much vnto the Lorde feare obedience loue reuerence with sutche like Beeing so mutche bounde the more vnto our God as his mercie is greate and his loue surpassing our loue or his kindenesse without ende whiche is set forth to be seene of man in these two thinges The first is in the eternal couenant which he hath made with man whereby his frée mercy is séene by not imputing vnto vs our sinne The other is the weakenesse and imbecillitie of all flesh so that being debters we are alienated from the Lord hauing no hope of peace left vnto vs but by his onely grace to fulfil that Rom. 3. That all haue sinned and are destitute of the glorie of God and that euery mouthe might be stopped and the whole world culpable in his sight For though there appéere a certeine notice and glimmering â—f perfectioÌ„ as it were in the saincts of god Yet till they bee moued by the spirite they runne at randals and then wheÌ„ they are best they fall often Wherefore here is condempned those vpstart and newfangled vanities nowe of late fleeringe to and fro in the mindes of men that by counterfait and glosing speech insinuate I knowe not what kinde of holinesse in themselues And there is a byworde of late crept into our Church taken as I suppose from the contrarietie of their manners And we must be puritans in the name of God and seuer our selues from other congregations and truely paraduenture more aptely then they are a ware of For Puri tanquam spuri agréeth right God he mercifull vnto vs I knowe some that goe a tippe Tooes and mince it as neately in talke as any courtier of them all can doe at meate and yet by your leaues be not angry w them neither they be as vily spleafooted and treade their shooes as much a wry as the homelest carter of them all that keepeth the Plough thorough out the yeare And when I haue consithered all they bee but men But blessed be our Lorde the man Iesus Christe that hath ginen vs an other meane and opened vnto vs a better way and permitteth vs to haue falts and some blemish and suffereth vs to fall oftentimes and then giueth vs leaue to lay the burthen of our sinnes vpon his shoulders For euen thus it is prepared the vnlesse Moses haue one to holde vp his arme the victorie wil be lost and yet if it be so that he hath helpe for a season such is our nature our fragilitie such the he is wearied fo if ye haue not a stone to vnderprop him to stay his elbow on It is in hazard the he falleth not they al. And if Dauid coulde not promise him any assuraunce in his life but that he fell so sodeinly at the sight of a silye woman that washed her bragge they asmuche as they will and liue they as well as they can yet at length by trusting so much to this tower they may paradueÌ„ture some one or other time be ouertakeÌ„ but this two headed serpeÌ„t I let it alone God wil one day as be hath of late mangled the one of them so I doubt not but he wil sharpeÌ„ an other sword shal cut off both This péece of this prayer calleth vs to the tribunall seate of God and our names written in his booke our plea can be no other then for mercie so that what we haue not of our selues that haue we from the lord and condempned by sinne in the flesh wee are raised by him in the spirite For all fleshe sinneth the iust man liueth by fayth Dauid I doubt not did see this When be acknowleged his imbicilitie and gaue way vnto weakenesse and sawe his conception how it was in sinne and knewe his thoughts howe they were euil from his youth I labour more in this for that I haue had of late to deal with some that prestime to seuer them from those be wicked and accompt althings as righteousnesse that procedeth from them These I desire in the Lorde to reade ouer the Prophets And if from Adam till the floude all had their infirmities If Adam fell if our first mother gaue vs so vnluckie a drinke that we al haue béen blistered therwith from our cradelles If Abell offered vp the first fruites of his shéepe as a sacrifice to the Lorde yet commended to bee a iust man If Noah him selfe commended of the Lorde fel so grossely in incest and ouercome in drinke we be no better then our fathers we may fal I speake not here to vphold sin no the lord God is my witnesse whom I serue in his Christ that since the first fast the I supped of the Cupe of the Lord from the time I set my foot vpoÌ„ the doore of his threshold to sée what was don ther I haue abhorred to the death the ways of death And let this bée my witnes at the day of the Lorde and let mee looke at that day for the Crowne of glorye as I haue sought with all endeuor to builde vp his Churche and detested iniquitye Let no man suspecte mee here for I know I haue to deale with curious heads that take euery light ocrasion for their purpose I shiner them in péeces for this cause onely if I can and I cut them of For this is my Faith and this I know That by the first man came in death by the second man Christ came in life The first is of the fleshe to condempnation The second of the Spirite to Saluation And that which commeth of it selfe ryseth vp in man to cast downe man being only sinue scrawling in our mortall bodies and is made righteousnes in the man Christ in whome we haue an earnest by the spirite Our spirite witnessing with the spirite of God that we be inheritours of life so that I leaue to vs no good thing as of our selues but I referre my selfe to the
his beames runneth to the heapes of snowe and abideth in chillie frost and is benommed with the blastes of the winde and houereth ouer a fewe chippes at the end of his labour And féedeth chearely on browne breade Yet euen this fame poore creature dandeleth his little one in his armes and hauing so grosse a father and so homely a Nurse this fame little babe it looketh as pertely in face as comely and sheweth it selfe I waraunt you in gesture so neatly as if it had neuer knowen so base a parentage Yet that which is more strippe it of the poore ragges he weareth and apparell him with purple and fine silke set him at thy table and pamper him vp with thine own delicacies he wil leaue al thy meate thy table thy bed he wil bluther til the death and pine away in sorowe he will acknowledge his father he will call and run to the poore herdwoman he will not exchaunge that same thatcht house for the gorgiousnesse brauerie of the court This is a blessing of God the prospereth-him that tilleth in the fielde and increaseth the labour of his handes aswell as that man that is of the city or in the pauilion or in the houses of great men And it is euen the same thing that I vnderstande here when as we pray giue vs this day our dayly bread Euen that God would blesse vs and protect vs and giue vs of his benifites and inlarge our stoore and permit vs to enioy the welth he lendeth vs And sanctifie himselfe in our actions and féede vs in his mercie helpe vs in extréemitie nourishe vs by his creatures guide vs in our labouring in our going in in our going out in the field in the house in our sitting downe in our rising vp at meate at table at borde at bed euen at all times his grace woulde be with vs to defende vs. It is well knowen that man consisteth of soule bodie we shoulde doe iniurie to our selues and detract from the power of God If in our prayer wee vnderstoode those things onely that bee transitorie and apperteine to this life and left the care and foresight of thinges to come that may last and remaine with vs foreuer in heauen Then let the same be in vs the is in the skilfull Mariner and let vs repose no lesse trust in our selues then the Chirurga doth that in daunger or in perill or in rest or in quietnesse omitteth no one thing that is appertinent It is my wishe also in those that are the Lordes to regard this life as though they liued not and to enioy these terrestical benifits as though they had theÌ„ not for their dealings in this life to deale as though they knewe them not For the life to come to be launchers and fearers of such corrupt and putrified members as shall hinder them And to bee phisitions in there dyet and sparing in their life that the cares of this worlde chooke them not But aswell to seeke for the breade that came down from heauen and the spiritual Manna As they be readie to enquire and serch out for there pelfe in this life For as the bodie is fed to encrease it so hath also the spirite of man his preseruatiues to kéepe it And the nourishement hereof is the worde of God euen Iesus Christe the expresse image and liuelines of his father that came downe from heauen and dyed for vs that suffered on the crosse and by his merits and bloude sheading redemed vs our soules bodies and hath made vs inheritors with him in the kingdome of his father Whereunto Paul alludeth Where hee calleth him the spirituall foode that oure fathers fedde on and that selfe same rocke that they stande on and maketh them to bee baptised with the same baptisme that wee are All which I could liuely set forth to haue bene accomplished vnder the ceremonyes in the lawe But that the houre warneth me to make hast And to this interpretation maister Gualter hath alluded in Luke Whose saying I cannot but reuerence that wrote so learnedly Cum homo duabus partibus conslet anima corpore duplici cibo opus est quo totus ali atque conseruari possit Therefore it is our petion that we may haue the knowledge of his sonne Christ reuealed the only salnation of our soules the we may enioy the merites of his death be led confirmed by the working of his spirite very well and truely vnderstoode in this Giue vs this day our dayly breade And here for the acknowledging and full vnderstanding of this verse I haue at this present alluded vnto our temporall benifits and that the force and eâ—â—casie may appeare collected a certeine simile or congruence which I finde mistically to bee comprised in that it is said our dayly bread He that feedeth vs is Christ Our breade is his bodie Our drinke is his bloud Our vessell from whence we drawe it is the Lorde Our feeding is in spirite The corne or graine it is glad tidings of the Gospel The mill or he that grindeth and fashioneth it is god the father and the spirite The bag or vessell it is put into is our bodies The workemen it is deliuered vnto bee his ministers They that eate and feede hereof be his faithfull and olect in Christ This bread is deliuered by preaching It is receiued by hearing We enioy it or feede thereon by following The manner or condition of this breade is sutch It is pure and perfect wheate the sauour whereof is to life It is vnleuened for it is wrought like sweete cakes with holinesse and puritie It is not rawe like dough but seasoned in the fire the furnace of the spirite It is not Mislin It is without blemishe vnspotted kned with sinceritie It is pleasaunt in taste and operation for it saueth vs. It is of many graines made one bodie to knit vs together in one Christe It is not for a season to our bodies it is for euer to our soules in heauen Last of all wee chawe it and consume it by faith This breade hée that tasteth of and vomiteth it vp no more is sure to receiue the right vse thereof And hee may speake boldly with Paul That hée hath a crowne of glorie layde vp for him Hée néede not repent him of his labour or bee forrowfull for his payne taken on the earth For his commendation shal be with the Prophets that are gone before and with the good men of God that are translated from this earthly mantion and sit aboue with GOD in glorie The Spirituall foode I haue touched and made serche for our heauenly meate Let vs nowe procéede to ransacke out that whiche is the bread of our bodye For in this woorde Bread taken alone for corporall and bodyly sustenaunce I comprehende all kynde of foode of the greate and sumptuous Table aswell as the base and homely banquet Thy clothe thy garment thy
handes of God in his sonne Christe in whome onely I rise a perfect man to life eternal As for others if they thinke to get any thing by their labour let them bragge thereof when they haue gotten it For as the Carpinters of Noe when hee made the Arke so are these that made a house to saue some yet saued not them selues And they may glorifie the Lord in one or other their dooings Glorie in the beauens till they be changed shall they neuer haue Lactantius as I thinke of his milde and pleasaunt wordes he spake in his booke de Ira hath wiped away all the sleights of man as touching this question For Subiecta est peccato fragilitas carnis qua induti sumus The fragilitie of our flesh saith he is subiect prone to sin wherwithal we are clad In his booke Contra Gentes in his 13. Cap he hath confessed the very like that no man can be without sin during his above in the flesh Gregorius Nazianzen in his Oration so termed wher with all bee comforteth De patre tacente giueth it proper only to the Lorde God to bee without sinne In his Oration Infamatrice Agaynst Iulian the seconde as els where in many places setteth downe that God hath so ordeyned the no man on earth should bee without sinne And Ambrose bet down the same in his time that I stand on now And in his first Booke Chap 2 Quis est sayth bee qui mundum Cor a peccato habeat Aut non delinquat in Lingua sua Is there any man sayth Ambros that hath a cleane hart that is vnspotted and frée from sin Or that hath not offended in his toung Herunto it is alluded in the Scriptures where it is so often attributed vnto our satisfaction our clensing our washing our purginge or makingecleane our fréedome in Christe This suppressinge and beatinge downe of the insolency flaming a fresh in our age might in one Psalme 32. bée sufficiently raked out Wherin Dauid speaketh no one woord of iustification in vs But hee counteth that man happye whose iniquities bée forgiuen and whose sinnes bée couered hee accompteth him blessed to whom the Lorde imputeth no sinne In Esay the Lord him selfe speaketh where hee comforteth as it were his people Israell shewing it was only hee that did blot out their transgressions and of him selfe hee did it and hée would no more remember their iniquities Red ye neuer as yet that Parable in Math. Where the kingdome of Heauen is compared to one that is ritch and wealthy hauinge many debters amonge the rest hee had one that ought him ten thousand Talents when hee had not wherwith all to pay hée his wife and all that hée had should haue bin solde But thinke you if Christe had not taken compassion of him and for giuen him all his debt If hee had â—yeu by the héeles and fettered all the dayes of his life yet that hee coulde euer haue payde the vttermoste Farthing Verely as the womaÌ„ with the bloody Flixe spent hir substance and mended not so if wee touch not the hem of his garment and debase our selues litle it is wée can looke for at the hands of God. But now this is our comfort in all extremity that God hath commaunded vs to pray in the name of his Sonne Christe And this is the Irrefragable testimony of his goodwill that hée maketh vs sure of the remission of our sinnes For hée hath promised and hee fayleth vs not but so far as the Easte is from the West so far hath hee set our sinnes from vs. Thus mutch for the first note wée are all debters that is sinners offenders against the Lorde Not to discourage any man for God forbid but as willinge to lifte them vp as they bée to mount into the Heauens if they could so that it be discretly doone I haue adioyned a shorte Lesson borowed of M. Gualter in his Treatise on Luke Page 284. Hicergo obseruemus quoad nos peccata exmera gratuita mi fericordia remitti nullo nostrorum operum aut meritorum respectu quae in nobis prorsus nulla sunt In meaninge this It is only one Lorde that hath remitted vnto vs pardoned our sinnes without our desarte yet is hée rightuous neither is there any thing deminished in his iustice For that which was ours sin is wiped away and clensed in his blood And in due time according to his first purpose came he tooke our flesh vpon him and wiped away the curse and malediction was due to vs by his cure vpon the Crosse so that wée attayne our rightuousnes onely in the Lorde And as otherwayes you may know him Very swéet and comfortable is Lactantius in his 77. Booke cap. 1. The Aucthor of life and our rightuousnes which wée haue of God is only God him selfe Arnobius in lib. 2. Contra gentes saith that it was all alone one Bishoppe Iesus Christe that gaue Saluation to our soules and that could giue the spirit of Eternitye And Epiphanius in lib. 3. Tomo 20. hath thus Christ without his passion wrought not our redemption but in that bee dyed for vs and gaue him self vnto his father a full Sacrifice for our soules in his blood hee hath perfectly washed away our sinnes and hath rased out the handwrighting agaynst vs and nayled it to the Crosse Hilarye In his Trinitate second Booke sayth properly for this The Virgin that is Mary his birth and his bodye after that the crosse death and hell were a meanes to worke our saluation which tendeth to this That albeit our sinnes be manifolde and many in number yet are they al forgotten in Christ And to encourage vs the more he hath left vs a mean to attaine the same which is faith Of the death of Christ how did Esay Euangelize long before of that which appeared notwithstanding long after Surely he hath borne our infirmities car ryed our forrowes yet wé did iudge him as plagued and smitten of GOD and humbled But hee was wounded for our transgressions Hee was broken for our iniquities The chasticement of our peace was vppon him And with his stripes wee are healed All wée like sheepe haue gone astraye wee haue turned euery one to his owne way the Lorde hath layde vpon him the iniquitie of vs all And Peter hee him selfe hath set out as one that sawe and knew the Lorde The excellent and great mercie of God that are not redéemed with corruptible things as siluer Goolde by a vaine conuersation from our fathers but with the pretious bloude of Christ as of a Lainbe vndefiled and without spot Therfore in Titus he is said to haue giuen himselfe for vs that he might redeeme vs from all iniquitie purge vs to bee a peculier people vnto himselfe zealous of good workes And in one verse doubtlesse euen in Tymoth Is the full saluation of man set downe where according