fulfilled that the Lord hath spoken of to or against his enimies he him self sayth I say vnto you that if my disciples holde their peace in preaching yet the very stones in the stréetes shall giue their voices and sound my glorie And now is the same in fulfillyng amonge the faythfull for that our aduersaries enimies and persecutors doe what they can and doe vse as many lettes and impediments as may be to defeÌ„d vs from speakyng with our proper tonges the commendation praise and glorie of our sauiour and iustifier Iesus Christ But he himselfe in place of one tongue which they tie wil loose vntie and commaunde a number innumerable to speake prayse and glorifie him worlde without ende The long beardes of the persecuted ouer growen so greatly their garments to vncleane rotten and torne with the filthie vncleane filthinesse of the pryson the biting bitter taunts their enimyes byte them with the cordes halters and stringes they tye them with the engines they vse to strangle them with they all will God coÌ„uerte into tounges which with one voice shall vse so great a harmonie as is most wonderfull to the superlatiue prayses of our moste benifitiall brother and head Iesus Christ And shall discouer that hée onely is our Lord and redéemer and we so persecuted the faithfull witnesses of hys truth and rightuousnesse Those tyranicall tirantes and pestilent persecutors can not heare thys heauenly harmonie that so highely soundeth with so excelent an accorde bycause their owne impietie hath so deadly be deafed them Yet all those whiche are sanctified by Iesu Christ shal hear it and also some of them being waked by it will desire to be consortes complisses and companyons with vs in our crosses vppon coÌ„dition they might be made mates with vs in so greate delight witnesses of so beautifull a rightuousnes dyuine sanctification the which the Lorde hath giuen vs to possesse Our death shall be no more barrein theÌ„ was the death of Iesu Christ whose footesteppes we must follow God will make that the verie ashes of our bodies shall fructifie and bée a cause to make many faythfull chosen children to shewe themselues Bycause that many hearing and séeing our firmenesse in fayth of the gospel and vnderstanding our constancie at our death wherewith we are strengthened from aboue will open their eyes for to sée it and so acknowledge him the author thereof for their father And reduce theÌ„selues to his obedience renouncing the seruice of Images Idols leaue altogither the false religioÌ„ of Antichrist his coÌ„federates For that the wordes of our sauiour Christ must néedes be fulfilled who sayth if a grayne of wheat being cast into the earth doe not dye it remayneth alone whole fructifieth not but if we die it bringeth foorth much fruit as to vs is wel experieÌ„ced likewise if it be in the garner or sheafe in the barne it abideth barren beareth no fruit So that to die suffer in the Lord increase commeth therof as of a grain of wheat that dyeth in the earth and more aboundantly manifold To the iudgement of the worlde and of our flesh by our death we are drawen into perdition but it is verie false and an vntruth for in very déed we die to arise againe to beare and carry most copious aboundant plentie of fruit to our glorification with God the father and to the imitation of his sonne Iesus Christ who brought forth more aboundancie and plentie of fruit by his death then he did by his lyfe So that those which suffer doe fulfill that which the holy ghost speaketh of the faithfull they which haue béene called and iustified sayeth he it is conuenient that they be also glorified bicause that by their death they might fructifie to the glorie of God and bée ioyned togyther and glorified with hym God hath ordeined to sublimate and exalt them that be his So that not onely their persons be liuing instruments of his and their glorie but also their passions serue to the same effecte And thus euerie one of them doeth verifie that which the Apostle S. Paule speaketh of him self saying I doe suffer and fulfill the rest of the afflictions of Christ in my fleshe for his bodies fake which is his churche or congregation So that the passions that euerie one of vs hys members doe suffer is to the filling vp of the measure of conformitie that euerie member of the same bodie oughte to haue with the head Wherefore euery one that is persecuted and killed for the truth endeth the filling vp of his part of that measure and remayneth wholy made conformeable vnto Christ he hath distroyed the whole bodie of sinne and left a confirmation to the rest his fellow members of his patience and constancie bicause they are to passe by the same way after Christ and so come togyther to bée gloryfied with him in his kingdom It appeareth howe our troubles paynes and passions are dignified by reason of the communion that is betwéene the head and his members The holy Ghost doeth call and terme them the afflictions and passioÌ„s of Christ For as by the calamities which he did suffer in his own proper person God was glorified he him selfe lifted vp on high So that by those which we suffer being his faithfull shall we be gloryfied togyther in and with hym Bycause that as he dyd suffer béeing our heade we must also suffer that be his members An excelent comfort against the feare of death vvith a confutation of his povver c. The xxix Chapter ANd therefore sithe hée hathe thus honored exalted vs that he hath made vs wytnesses of hys trueth and of the sauing health that hys sonne dyd bryng into the world and hath sublimate our passions in such sort as consecrating them in his own person that he doth call them his owne wil be glorified in them And also for that our death is so precious before him that he wil take from the world so many liuyng instruments into his presence to hys glorie there is no cause to the contrarie but that we should stifly stand to the professâ—on of hys truth the giuing of our liues ioyfully for the same There bée some which for the vanities and thyngs of thys worlde will ventour lyues goodes and all that they haue yet it sodeinly perisheth The truth of God neuer perisheth no more can none the trust therein Why doe we then flye from being glorifyed with him sith we are no lesse certaine thereof then we are of our passions persecutions troubles death He loued vs with so feruent an effect and so serued vs that he did not rest till tyme that he dyed with wounds of our loue And shall wée bée so vngrateful as to saue or kéepe our liues from him not to venter them with the lyke loue to honour hym likewise with them if we could Shal we so forget
more ayte to set forth wholy togither the glory of him for whom they suffered But herein a number of Papists and diuill Antichristes companions found great occasion to vse many false reportes saying of such a one as did so surely it is easie to be iudged the faith of such Heritikes sée I pray you doth or did he not drink wyne to be drūken and so to dye desperately such blasphemy my translator telleth me he cā finde out an number to many But truely truly suche Trées suche fruites by the diuill planted and by him they beare bring forth What mary abhominable lyes wherof he that filthie feend and diabolicall beast is the author and father Lykewyse and the verie like hath bene in most partes of the worlde as well héere with vs in Spaine as in Italie Germany Portugall Fraūce Flaūders Brabant Zellond Hollond other countreys many mo Thys vertue and strength commeth vnto them by Iesu Christ and by the faith they haue in him his Gospell which will alwayes continue amongest them that bée his What a number more haue we séene with our owne eyes consumed with the fyre what admyrable workes of God haue they shewed in the middest of their greatest passions and how haue they gone to theyr martyrdome Surely many as well men and woemen in olde age as younglings and tender impes both young men and maydes chast bachellers and damosell vyrgines The men as if they had gone to great Tryumphes the maydens as if they had bene ledde to be maried vnto the greatest Lords and Prynces in the world Yea euen in the middest of the fyre and torments dyd they eleuate theyr handes to the heauens with great ioye singyng Psalmes of thanks gyuyng vnto the Lorde for that he had made them worthie for to suffer for hys names sake What is this but fruites of beliefe in the trueth of the Gospell and also that both the one and the other of them were fully assured by the holy Ghost that they went to bée glorified and to ioye of the whole fulfilling of the dyuine promises of God. Those had effectually perfectly and fully prynted and grauen in theyr heartes that Iesus Christ is the resurrection and the lyfe and for that they haue beléeued in him they shall neuer die Whereby wée maye sée that the effycacye and force of Gods worde is of no lesse effecte nor doeth worke no lesse in them that receyue it at this daye then it was to those which receyued it in olde tyme for that it is the same nowe that it was then So that there is no cause to fear death at all and therefore Christ saith vnto his disciples that they should not feare them which kill the bodie and haue no power to touch the soule The power of the Tirants our aduersaries is so weake that it can not reach nor touch but our bodies onely which are mortall and must néedes dye by one meane or other And yet not neither tyll the tyme which God hath appointed and the dayes which hée hath numbred be fully determyned and ended Iesus Christ hath promised and assured vs that they shall not kill our soules Then what doeth it auaile or profite them though they kill our bodies or what regard néede we to haue thervnto considering that in so little a tyme being seperate from the soule it ioyneth therewith again to immortalitie to be no more subiect to the trauayles and troubles of life in this miserable world When we haue a Iewell of golde or siluer if it be olde or broken of a verie good will we deliuer it to the workeman that made it for him to put in his furnace and so to trie it and forge it agayne a new So likewise our bodies whither they be olde or young yet so crooked and subiect to sinne and to fall on euerie side as is possible wherfore should we doubt to giue them vnto God that made them that they may be forged and framed a new for the soule to receiue againe to immortalitie to bée incorruptible voyde of all corruption shyning as cleare as can be The celestiall and heauenly truth teacheth vs that our soules are in safetie so that they can in no wise perish and dye nor yet be hurte with all the tyrannie that our tyranicall persecutors the Pope and hys darlings doe or can doe Bicause as God can not dye nor bée killed no more can they kill our soules the members of hys sonne our heade for that the lyfe that we haue is by and of him Rightuous Abell was killed in his bodie by the crueltie of hys curssed brother Caine yet hys soule dyd lyue by the faith and hope which he had in god So at this present day the séede and posteritie of Abell are killed and slaine by the crueltie and tirannie of Caines successors but for all that their soules doe liue by the faith and hope which they haue alwayes had in God abiding the glorification of their bodies And therefore sith our soules can not dye nor be killed why should we feare them which can but kill the bodie for a tyme There is none but God onely that did giue vs thys lyfe why should not he then haue it when and howe it pleaseth him Bycause that hée onely is both lyfe and death for all without his license and good will our enimyes can not harme nor gréeue vs if they doe the best and worst they can for hée hath so restrayned them in suche a brydle that vnlesse hée loose and let flippe the reines therof they can doe nothing For the Lord hath sayde I will kill and I will giue lyfe So that as we haue our lyues from him euen so commeth our death Wherfore let vs onely feare him and not thē for that if they doe their worst yet they can not doe that they would The diuill that mischieuous malicious olde Dragon doeth alwayes desire wholie to distroy and ouerthrow quyte the church or congregation of Christ but God by his mightie potencie doeth so restrayne the reignes of the brydle wherwith hée hath brideled him that hée maketh hym euermore to recoyle and stande back and in no wyse will suffer hym to haue anye parte of his will nor yet passe nothyng that God hath appointed Of the goodnesse of God in our defence agaynst our persecutors c. The xxxj Chapter HOw often would the aduersaryes of Iesus Christ haue killed hym into how many coūsayls cōsultatiōs haue they entred to the same effect but they could not bring any part of their purposes to passe vntil his houre was fully come and that God the father had let loose the power of darkenesse How many times or how oftē saith he him selfe haue I bene with you in the Temple teachyng and talkyng with you and ye haue not taken mée I am sure they had such hatred to him and his Gospel that there wanted no good will in them
the we cary the venome of waspes vnder our tongues bicause all the commeth out of the mouth is of such force that it killeth Our mouthes are full of curssing and bitternesse we haue our féete swift to runne to shed bloud our wayes manners of liuing are mortal deadly aswell for that they kill as also for that there is nothing in them but calamities and griefes misaduentures and mischiefes which are plaine testimonies of our perdiciō For in that miserable seruitude of sinn in the which we wer tyed deceiued we did not know the way of peace for that we did know nothing that might please god wherby we might be reduced or brought againe to his fréendship we were destitute of the feare and rightuousnesse of god We dyd runne lyke vnbrydled horses into all kinde of wickednesse if it had not béene for the vaine feare of men we had cōmitted openly and publickly all kinde of vice which was hidden in our hartes A man after that the soule is departed from the flesh ther resteth nothing but to bury the body for that it is wormes meate Euen so we beinge deade in sinne and sinfull delighte and God seperated from our soules there remayneth nothynge but to be buryed in Hell and to be made foode for eternall Deathe which we haue most iustly deserued in suche wise that if god would geue sentence definitiue against vs shut vs from the processe of his goodnesse and mercy we should be constrained by our owne proper consciences to confesse and yelde our selues to be well and rightuously cōdempned Bicause our workes our thoughtes our desires hartes and all that we haue within vs hath condempned vs and forced God vnto it who will not suffer so much vnrightuousenesse nor yet tollerate so great and monstrous slanderours of his truthe and bewty of his worke the which wer not our selues before our fal into that estate so miserable all that was in vs was matter and cause of iust condempnacion and to sturre vp the wrath and iudgemēt of God by the which all shal be destroyed and cōsumed bicause that all was darcknesse malediction sinne and the fruites of sinne deformed and extreme contrary to that which God doth require of vs in such maner that we had not nor cold not doo any thing that was good for that we were euil tréese corrupted rotten which colde not bring forth good fruite by reason whereof we haue bene wholly subiect to all the foresayde paynes and punishments cursse malediction that was due vnto vs there hath rested nothing but to be cut of from all the goodnesse of God and put in the company of the diuel and of his ministers all redy condempned Of our blyndnesse in times past The third Chapter THose workes which we hild for good wherein we busied our selues most earnestly in those tymes passed when as we dyd thinck to doo god good seruice thereby they were of such condicion and qualitie that by them we dyd so offend him that we brought our selues more déepely into the lake of perdicion Then we fasted we vsed disciplines of mens tradicions we caused masses to be sayde often tymes we dyd heare them we erected chappels chāteries we prayed with prime and howers we were full of deuocion for soules in purgatori we did chuse dead saints to be our aduocates to the deitie that we might escape from the wrathe condēpnacion therof by meanes of them We dyd make vnfaithfull promises and vnlawful vowes we tooke Bulles we walked stacions pilgrimages we sought for pope antichrists pardons we were awriculerly cōfessed dyd receue the Sacrament the oftener that we might be accompted the more holy merit saluacion the rather We had them that would lende or sell vs merits or deseruinges bicause that Death should not take vs vnprouided But what had we hereby to present to god for to satisfie him for our sinnes these and other the like thinges we did for to serue him with to obteine grace glory at his hāds But with thē all although they were séene allowed of men yet it dyd not open the kingdome of heauen but rather cause it to be shut vp the gates of hell to be set wide open Bicause that all that is most high sublimate supreme in estimaciō amōgst men is greatest abhominacion before god Who dooth neither allowe nor yet is well pleased with any thinge that he dooth not commaunde Neither dooth any man doo any thinge at all according to his will without his spirite norishment Those things which we doo to serue him cannot please him bicause he hath condēpned them by his worde alredy for sinne For that they procéede of our own opinions and the opinions of our fleshly teachers not of the knowledge and loue of his holy will. For all that commeth not therof is sinne as the holy Apostle dooth testifie The summe of all that the lawe diuine dooth aske and require of vs is to loue God with all our hart and our neighbours as our selues to doo right to loue mercy and to haue faith The works that we doo vnder that tytle name of holinesse are not comprehendid in the lawe they procéede not of rightuousnesse mercy and faith without the which it is impossible to please God and therefore he dooth throw them away as wicked and euill and we our selues for most wicked and euil with them And then if the worcks and sacrifises that he dooth commaūd in his lawe be not done according to his cōmaundement he dooth cast them out for euill and abhominable and sayth that he is angry with them so angry at them that he can suffer them no longer How much the more then may he be angry accompt for euill those worckes which he dooth not cōmaunde but by his word dooth rather expressely forbyd them So that all our fayned holinesse is testimony or witnesse againste vs of our greater blyndnesse and condempnacion and will cause the wrath of God to come the sooner to rest vpon vs. Bicause it was all idolatrie with the which we dyd our deuocion It was not to the true God for that we know him not but to those which were gods of our owne imaginacion fayned according to our own inuencion and false gods yet dyd we beare the marcke of the true God which was his holy Baptisme in signe of fayth and fidelitie not to haue none other gods but one the true liuing god nor to serue him by none other rule thē by that which his word teacheth yet we wer to him traytours rebells vnfaithfull Idolatours alyed and confederate with his enimies and giuen to all vnrightuousnesse and wickednesse So that we might say with the Prophet that if the onely mercy of God wer not we had béene for euer vtterly consumed and perished together Of the loue of God and of our calling and
the cause thereof The .iiii. Chapter BVt persisting and going forewarde in suche estate as then was ours which was without Christ reputed as alients and straūgers to the common wealth of Israell and to the couenaunts conteyned in the testament and promise of reconciliacion voyde of hope and without God in this worlde It pleased him who is most ritche in mercy thorough his great loue wherewith he loued vs euen whē we were dead by sinne To quicken vs againe in Christe together with him by whose grace we be saued raysed vp made to sitte together in heauenly thinges through him notwithstādinge as I say that we were dead by sinne and at the brimme or brincke of our condempnacion yet he called vs to his knowledge that we might haue lyfe together in Christ Iesus and beinge so farre from him he called vs nigher by the power vertue of his most precious bloud And so sayth Sainct Paule in another place that God dyd set out and cōfirme his loue and charitie in vs for that we as yet beinge sinners enimies vnto him and so iustly condempned he dyd giue his own sonne to most direfull death to reconcile vs vnto him therby and to make vs partakers of his rightuousnes and sanctificacion So that the whole cause of our perdicion was in our selues bicause that by vs sinne had his first beginninge for that we dyd throw our selues so voluntaryly into his cursed handes who dyd dispoile and robbe vs of all goodnesse Wherfore God so louing vnto vs thought it most necessary for our saluacion to take all vpon him selfe for that wée might thereby obteine remission and forgiuenesse of all our transgression for euer And that being at the first true the condempnacion that we had deserued it might aswell be true the healthe and saluacion graunted to deliuer vs from the same So the holy Ghost dooth testifie vnto vs by the Prophet Osea sayinge from thée thy selfe O Israell doothe proceede thy perdicion and from mée onely doothe come thy saluacion And by the holy Apostle sainct Paule it is sayde that when the beninge kyndenesse and loue of our Sauiour God to man warde apeared he saued vs not by the workes which we had done and are vnrightuous but conformable to his mercy by the washing of the regeneracion or new birth and renewing of the holy ghost the which he hath shedde abundantly vppon vs by Iesu Christe our Sauiour for the iustifyed by his grace we should be made heires thorough according to our hope of the lyfe eternal Wherby it apeareth that of the calling by the which God dyd by is mercy most pitifully call vs vnto him dooth procéede all our health and saluacion Bicause as at the beginning God did make vs of himselfe without receiuinge any helpe of our partes and so gaue vs the being of men that we might be wholly his owne pure woork Euen so hath he now called vs and now that we be called he hath reformed and sāctified vs without our helpe in any thing that we might be his children If Lazarus were dead foure dayes buryed and stincking in his graue and coulde not frée himselfe therefro but the God dyd rayse him from death giue him a newe lyfe Much lesse may we frée our selues from death for that we be captiuated and buryed so by the help of sinne that we are much more deade stincking before God then was the corporall body of Lazarous to the sighte of men But as by the might strēgth vertue and power of that voyce with the which Iesus Christ dyd call him he was set frée from the prison stinge of death purifyed of all corrupcion restored to a new lyfe euen so we by the voyce of the same Lorde are raysed againe to a new lyfe Bicause god dooth call those things which are not as though they were For by the efficacie and strengthe of the voyce with which he dooth cal he doth giue a new being For the euill being of a sinner is as no being before god But in callinge himselfe to mynde to call vpon God with a feruent fearefull and louing heart vnfayned his louinge almightifull kindenesse will giue him a diuine essence participated ioyned with the same woord with the which he called him when as he had no sufficiencie at all to doo the woorks of lyfe We our selues in the estate which we were could not by any meanes doo any kinde of thing that might be pleasant or acceptable to God but dyd cōtinue still sléeping possessid of deathe without any féeling of lyfe We dyd not call nor séeke vpon God but were of the numbre of those which Dauid hath spoken of before which haue not knowen God bicause we called those dead which liue dyd séeke the things we knewe not And therefore it was sayde by the Prophet Esaye I am founde of them that haue not sought me haue apeared manifestly to those which haue not asked after me For that we should vnderstand that he onely did séeke vs dyd call vs and giue him selfe to be knowen vnto vs Yet we in the meane tyme were dronken with obliuion buried in sinne in all kinde of wickednesse also were possessid with the diuel whome we dyd obey in such sort that we accoūted his coūsell and workes for the vphouldinge and rule of our lyfe The cause why that God dyd so call vs out of that duskye darckenesse in the which we were to his admirable light was onely the loue that he had to vs in his sonne Iesus Christe by whome he dyd determine to saue vs By Christ Iesus sayth S. Paule we are chosen to the inheritance predestinated accordīg to the purpose of him which dooth will all thinges conformable to the councell of his diuine wil so that we which doo put our trust in him should be in all thinges for the setting foorth of his honour and glory Of the cause of our calling and redempcion Cap. v. BY the purpose counsell of GOD which he dyd ordeyne before the beginninge of the world that we might be partakers of his healthe and saluacion is the cause why he suffered vs to fall that wée might be made knowen vnto his son by whose merittes we should be made acceptable vnto him Sainct Peter sayth that we haue béene elected and chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in sanctificacion of the spirit to obey him and to be cleansed washed in the bloud of his sonne Iesus Christ Sainct Paule considering the goodnesse of god for his benefits so much vndeserued of men dooth giue thankes vnto him for himselfe and for all the faithful that haue béene called to the participacion thereof and sayth Blessed be God the Father of our Lorde Iesus Christe which hath blessed vs with all maner of spiritual blessing in heauenly things by Christ according as he had
from vs is but lent vs in this worlde But that which God hath giuen vs for our owne I meane the celestial riches which we are heires vnto to inherite for euer they can not be taken away although they doe the worst they can That which is ours is giuen vs for our owne with a pryuiledge irreuocable that we be his children inheritors of his kingdom and partakers of his glory That we also be his inheritance a dwellyng place for him to dwell in for euer with our selues also in him S. Peter doeth reioyce that we doe liue in him eternally and doe holde and account him for our God father and doeth giue thanks saying Blessed be God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ the which according to hys aboundant grace and mercy hath regenerated vs agayne to a lyuely hope by the resurrection from death of our Lord Iesus to enioy an inheritaunce immortall not contamynate but incorruptyble and vndefiled reserued in the heauens for those which are kept by the power of God thorough faith to obteine saluacion So that being kepte by the power of God which passeth strength of castles or any thing els what euill or harme can come or happen vnto vs. Thou dootst hyde them in the secret of thyne owne presence priuilie from prouoking the pride of men sayth the Prophet Dauid also further thou doost hide them as in a tabernacle frō the stowte caluminate strifes of euil tongues So that the greate brauery and boysteous bragges that the wicked doe braue with all it cannot hurt vs For that their pride theyr peuishnesse their caluminates their strifes theyr subtilties nor yet theyr generall and wicked coūsells cannot gréeue vs No more cannot the gréedye gréeuous rauuen nor hawtie hate of the diuel pearce nor penitrate the place where GOD dooth hide vs. That which did happen or fall out to Iesus Christ the same shall happen vnto vs For as he was whipped spoiled spitted on bloud drawen from nayled vppon the crosse otherwise iniured and blasphéemed did remaine the sonne of God and could not bée taken away nor let from callyng and acknowledging of hys God father and continued the redéemer of the world So lykewyse the faithfull the more they bée dishonoured dispoyled condempned cursed and iniurioustie handled the more they remayne alwayes the children of God and hys spirit doeth lyue the rather alwayes in them by the which they inuocate call and acknowledge hym for theyr father So that it foloweth that the worlde and all the greatnesse thereof I meane the tiranous tirany of the persecuting wicked worldlings with all the tirany and cursed crueltie they can doe can not hurt vs. To confirme make vs more strong in our faith the holy ghost by the prophet Dauid doeth declare vnto vs that all which our aduersaries dooe commit thonder out and threatten against vs and the Gospell is in vaine For he saith the gentiles fret rage and fume furiously and the people inuent vaine thinges The kings of the earth doo conspire and the princes and rulers of the Earth doo gather them selues together against the Lord and Christ his annointed It is vayne and shall take none effect at any tyme in vs nor yet nothinge at all that they can afflict vs with be it interior or exterior Bicause the Lord our god hath ouercome all our enimies aswell those which are visible and séene as those which are inuisible not séene And hath ouerthowne them in suche sort that they shal neuer more lift vp their heads against vs And thereof it accreweth and groweth that all is in vaine that they doo or can doo against him that hath ouercome them And moreouer all is in vaine that any fury can doo against the faithfull so that their iudgements and condempnacions are all in vaine For that if the iudgement of God can not preuayle agaynst them bycause they as the Apostle sayeth are knitte in Iesus Christ Howe can any of the iudgementes of theyr enimyes in any point preuayle agaynst them Vaine are their sentences and excommunications agaynst them for that God hath communicated them in Christ and made them partakers of his ryches It is a common practise among them to confiscate spoyle robbe the faythfull of their perishing ryches But yet in vayne bycause that Iesus Christ who is their true ryches will not bée robbed from them Their bodies are imprysoned yet hée reigneth in theyr liberties to ioy reioyce comfort and recreate theyr hartes Moreouer they are burned and receyue other kyndes of death to the imaginations of the persecutors bycause they should not lyue but they shall neuer dye For Sainct Paule sayth your liues are hydden with Christ in God. Fynally theyr instrumentes and other weapons the which they take vp to vse theyr cruelties with it is but in vayne agaynst them I meane agaynst the faythfull for that he that sitteth and is resident in the heauens sayeth the Prophet shall deryde and make a mock at their folly the Lord will laughe them to scorne for theyr great foolishnes They doe think them selues to be of the number of his chosen and yet the more they doe impryson and kill the very chosen in déed so muche the more soouer they thinke to recouer his heauēly kingdom a great mockery no doubt and is no more but as it were an Emmet should fighte with an Elephante or a foolishe flea with a foule Cammell Were it not also foolishe phoprie for a man to fight with a shadowe thinkyng it to bée a man of might Surely they doe none other which persecute fight against the faithfull Of whome the Prophete speaketh saying God hath put his faithfull in safetie so that no harme can touch them and where in no wise they may perish by the peuishnesse of any pelting persecuter There is none that séeketh to hurt or harme them but playeth the part of him that pusheth and fighteth with his owne shaddowe Against the Gospel the kinges princes the wise learned and holy in the world haue discouered and shewed openly some of them their knowledge suttelties threats othersome their valiency might and all of them doo affirme say that they doo nothinge but vpon a zeale of christianitie But that is such a zeale as he the gouerneth the Gloabe and in the heauens dwellith doth deride laugh and make a mocke at And doth threaten that in place and lue of the same he will speake to them in his ire and vex them in his heauy displeasure And also chastise them with an horrible and terrible chastisemēt as he hath done from the beginning and that hath béen séene in our daies But sith it is so and that all is vaine that they doo or can inuent against vs that dooe knowe and beleue in Iesus Christ that he dooth deride mocke them in their doings Let vs not feare their foolishnesse and folly
in moste dispiteous or spightfull maner signe of mockery dyd make him naked dispoiling him of his apparreile cloath him at theyr pleasures with purple and put a réede in his hande and a crowne of sharpe thornes vppon his bare tender head they dyd wounde boffet his tender body with most cruell blowes and strypes of fistes and whips they made as it were a may game of him a king in mockery misconstruing the accompt which ought to haue bene had of him and accompted hym a man deceyued in his opynion a deceyuer of the people and not the sonne of God. Of the same sorte and in the lyke maner doe they deale at this day with and to the faithful the members of his blessed bodie our bretheren onely bycause they call them selues the children of God as in truth they are they doe spoile persecute thē euen vnto the death But they shame not to shew themselues if they be faithful in déed therfore they be not apparelled nor doo not were nor yet delight in the ornaments of honor which are vsed in the world bicause they be not thereof They doe onely apparell thēselues with the spitefull dishonors vsed vnto Christ in thē nothing ashamed therof they are hidden therby couered shadowed from the spite of wicked worldlīgs as he hym self was they are cloathed by their foes the enimies of God with S. Bennets liuery coate in significatiō that they are only allowed known of god though the world doe the contrary that he doeth loue them as childrē though the world doe abhorre them as fooles full of folly deceyued in their opinions of the truth great deceyuors Then are they tryed with a certaine kynde of thing on their heads lyke vnto a myter that is painted full of diuilles which doth signify the kingdom that Christ Iesus gayned for the elected when as hée did were the crowne of thorne did suffer his passion precious death so spitefull vppō the crosse by the diuilles painted theron we may vnderstād the sin hell death the diuil are already ouercome killed they haue no more force against them nor can doe no more harme vnto them then those vaine painted pictures Bicause euen as Iesus Christ dyd lyue héere vppō earth dyd wear those or such like cognisāces or badges of dishonor himself So now he doeth liue reigne vnder those ornamēts apparels in thē his own so scorned spited crucified for his loue and professyng of his name Sith he then is thus lyuing in them then by him in them is distroyed all the workes of the diuill Bycause as S. Iohn sayeth Christ came into the world to the same end Whereby it is manifest that those things by the which our persecutors doe thinke to dryue vs from the knowledge of God for that they know him not them selues are sure signes and perfect tokens of our probation tryall and of the certeine inheritance of his blessed kingdome Wherein after the ende of a fewe houres a moment or twinckling of an eye in effect wée are to enter and shall reigne most trivmphantly in great glorie for euer world without ende It is gréeuous vnto vs the faithful when in béeyng persecuted with the peruerse and crooked crueltie of men if any of vs doe happen to faint and for feare renounce to trust vnto the mercy and ayde of God yet by the gift of his holy spirit we doe not onely repent presently and are greatly gréeved in déede to thinke that so fondly we followed the foolish fleashly folly of our enemies and forsooke the blessed banner of Iesus Christ our carefull captaine But also we are then fresh of force in faith and are litle or nothing discomforted thereby nor do not thinke that much is lost though we did stumble stagger and fall by the crosse as aforesaide and so did doubt in the truth of Christe no nor yet we do not looke for our redirection from men nor momishe mamotes the piuish puppetly pelting patchery priests of Baall It is altogether by the good will and loue of God that we do remēber our selues how that we were not onely without sinne but also subiect greatly vnto the same and not onely to the euils of vs had in experience but also to all kinde of wickednesse by vs vnexperimented And also by his like loue wee do remember that God did make promise vnto vs that his mercy should be euerlasting to the humble and penitent with a speciall pardon and forgiuenes of sinnes without any more remembrance of them For as the father hath pittie and compassion vppō his children Euen so hath the Lord almightie pittie and compassion vppon all them that feare him Bycause he doeth knowe right well of what a myschyeuous massye moulde or mettall we are made off and doeth consider that wée are but dust And therefore sith that our Iehouah our most almightie God as a most louing father hath alwayes had mercy vpon vs let vs be most certainly assured that euen so he wil haue now and alwayes for euer Wherefore let vs forsake and cast of that curssed and execrable mercy offered of our aduersaries the condempnors of the Gospell otherwyse we are to forgo our partes and porcions of the true mercye of God which is at as greate enmytye and contrarie with and to their mercie as can bée Of the true similitude of the true church The xxvi Chapter FRom hēceforth neither let vs not feare nor doubt the trueth of Iesu Christ that is crucyfied nor yet beleue as the blynde doe for amongest the christians at this day the conditiō of Christ and the true doctryne of the Gospell is euen as it was when hée him selfe was conuersant on earth amongest our predecessors The rightuousnesse truth preached taught vnto vs now is so the very same that it was then all one Abhorred and euil spoken of by the world now as then Of those that be giuen to superstition holines such as the world doeth allow he is condempned to bée false fained And of those that be fully fraight with worldly affects wisdom he is condempned to be foolysh very ful of folly all of thē both one other doe condēpne him for an heritike ful of errours And also as at the fyrste he was condemned by the sayde holy and wise of the world the doctors of the law the learned the Bushoppes Prouisors Inquisitors Pharises Iudges of religion Euen so now are their others like vnto them so to be poped that they condemne both hym and his gospel together and as much as in them is they vse and set abroch to kill the heire our principall menber and to throwe hym out of the Viniarde And suche as goe aboute to reedifye and builde againe the Temple so longe layde waste they do reproue and séeke to dispoile them of the chiefe and principall cornerstōe of their
God that did remember and know vs before the beginning of all things visible and did determyne all these his blessings for vs that we shall for euer be buried in obliuion and refuse so smal a thing as worldly affliction I pray you deare friends bretheren wherfore serueth our liues if we will be saued but to glorify him did we not promyse hym to aduenture all things to his glorie and honour wherfore then shall we reserue any thing to the detriment thereof Hée him self went before vs and dyd passe first thorough the pikes of persecution and affliction in the world hée is our head shall we theÌ„ stagger stop or stay in following him beyng hys members whose is the wealth and riches that we haue whose is our life or who did giue vs our honours did not he giue vs all bycause wée should glorifie him as his chosen faithful and beloued then for what cause should we let to glorifie him in all that euer we can or haue Haue we not sayde that with all and in all thinges Iesus Christ did glorifie his father and that we were chosen to be conforme and lyke vnto him And therfore sith we sée it is our duties let vs doe and indeuour our selues all that possiblie we may to accomplish the same at the least a parte that we mighte the sooner attayne to the whole in imitatyng that we might be glorified alyke with him For when wee serue him doubtfully and follow him waveryngly as if wée thought all to no purpose all that we doe in such sort is but in vayne of no validitie nor effect but rather falleth out cleane to the coÌ„trarie for that in doubtful dealing can no true seruice be done nor yet he be glorified So that all maner of doings or workes which are not to his glorie are lost of none effect nor valour but yet all that is done in true faith is of muche validitie and verie effectuall thervnto The which he will neuer forget bicause he doeth so loue vs that he is verie vnwillyng we should loose our labours in anye thing or spend our traueils in vaine He accepteth all that possibly may agrée with his iustice for the great desire and good will hée hath to bée our guarder sauiour kéeper and defender He asketh of his father for vs all things as well honour wealth and riches as healthe lyfe and saluation There is nothing that he taketh into his handes for vs but it taketh effecte in vs there is nothyng in the handes of our persecutors that hath any effect at all or securitie Why doe the foolishe phoppes infected with fylthie incredulitie and misbeliefe loose their lyues euerlastingly but onely bycause they trust not in God rather would saue their lyues to serue the world then lightly to loose them and to glorifie God and yet therein they loose for euer both lyfe and loue of him By the ryghtuousnesse of fayth sayeth Sainct Paule we are constituted and choseÌ„ heires of the world euen lyke vnto our father Abraham Then being heires thereof why doe we feare to put into the handes of God all that we haue Sith wée are sure to receiue it again bettered with so great aduantage He that shall ouercome sayeth the same Lord shall possesse all things I will be his God and he shall be my sonne Thus if we dye for his loue we doe ouercome in ouercommyng we enter into the possessioÌ„ of all things we haue God for our God and we be his true children if we be children we be also heires both in heauen and earth In what then should we doubt sithe to make so great and good an exchange we giue him nothyng yet we remayne with him and receyue all things We gyue nothyng vnto God bycause we haue nothyng that is our owne all that wée haue is his so that in giuing him all we giue him nothing And therefore let vs not be vnwillyng to yéelde all that we may vnto him sith he is so liberall magnificall in giuyng vnto vs all things yea euen till he had giuen hym selfe for vs but let vs loue hym accordyng to our callyng as Iesus Christ our onely sauiour redéemer health saluation and reconciliation and in any wyse let vs loue his honour and glorye more then anye worldlye thing Haue we not hearde of many of the Gentyles that dyd offer them selues vnto death and so desyre it that they kylled them selues wyth theyr owne proper handes onelye vppon desyre to bée delyuered from the paines and trauayles of the world their liues in it And vppoÌ„ some vain hope which they had and thought to finde by their immortalitie of the soule This they did vppon a certayne opynion which was foolishe had amongest a number of them yet they were not onely frée from worldly traueils by this immortalitie but also by their desperate dealinges to departe from their lyues in suche wyse they enâ—ered a new into ten tymes treble more torments yea a number infinite euerlastingly God doth not commauÌ„d of vs any suche maner of death but doeth most ernestly forbid it yet béeing animated by true faith as thus if we beléeue that our lyfe is his and that he is our lyfe so that when our tyme shall come and he shall call vs to render our lyues agayne to him of whom we hold them as tennants at his will that then we doe obey hym and yéeld them vp be it by fire sword halter presse Racke by wyld horsses Tigres Lyons wilde beastes or any kinde of crosse we doo but our duties and no more then we are bounde vnto And in so doing we shewe the fruits of our fayth hope in him proclaime crye out and preach vnto the world and shewe vnto the braue ministers thereof that we be none of theirs but his owne who hath bought and best payde for vs In this maner we shall also openly appeare to haue more estimation of his glorie and rather to fulfill his heauenly holy will then to séeke the maintenance of our liues in this world which perisheth togither with the people thereof He will not in any maner of wise that we run into any kynde of daunger rashly to procure our death Nor yet that we denie and so blasphéeme him to eschue or escape the same But rather that as tyed on a string wée should bée prompte and readie lyke faithfull seruaunts to follow hym so soone as he plucketh or calleth vs we may certainly assure our selues that hée hath counted and numbred our dayes and hath made such a determination for vs as we may in no wyse passe Hée hath put and inclosed our soules in our bodies as in a tabernacle to the end they should be wel kept and preserued vntyll hée hym selfe which put them there shall returne againe to call and receyue them So then in being called we ought not to refuse our filthie lodginges in thys worlde for that we are to receiue a
farre better in the worlde to come both in being and suffering It is not lawfull nor requisite to depryue our selues of our liues nor yet to desire death for any euill that happeneth whatsoeuer for whye it perteyneth onely vnto God to take and giue life accordyng to hys good will and pleasure Hée dyd make vs and can vnmake vs when it pleaseth him hée willeth and desireth nothing but onely that wée be readie and doe gyue our selues wholy to his honour and glorie in suche sorte as he hath prescribed vnto vs by hys worde Whyther it be with losse of life if néede requyre or worldly possessions It maketh no matter bycause that so is executed the offyce indéede of true and perfect disciples What reason haue we thē to feare death for a thing so holy and of such rightuousnesse if it were not for that wée thynke that hée with his vglye and lothsome lookes would haue seignorie ouer vs and take vs into hys rule or Lordship when they so cruelly kill vs If we will giue credit to the word of the Lord we shal clear and plainly sée that then we die not we can not die These same are the words verily verily I say vnto you he that heareth my word beléeueth in him the sēt me shal haue life euerlasting and shal not come in cōdempnation But hath alreadie escaped from death to life He saith also I am the resurrection the life he that beleueth in me although hée were dead yet shall he liue And also all that liue beléeue in me shall neuer tast of sée death nor yet dye These are the true wordes of Gods owne mouth by the which we be fully assured that there is no death at all to them that beléeue in Christ Iesus and that in béeing his he hath alreadye dyed for vs and wée shall dye no more For that by him death is alreadie distroyed and hath no more but as it were the name thereof onely to the faithfull S. Iohn in his reuelation calleth death to the faithful a rest from traueils And in deed to die or departe this lyfe is onely to vs a rest most comfortable with God our lord The lyfe which we liue in this world diserneth not the name of life bicause it is so full of perils daungers but by death as our enimyes terme it we are vppon a sodaine taken foorth of them and deliuered from all and so brought into rest and ioye eternally And therfore S. Paul right wel did desire to be desolued or loosed from his bodie and to be with Christ to ioye of that full libertie alreadye spoken of Iesus Christ dyd distroye death and as death had no power ouer hym no more hath he in none of his members He him selfe sayeth by the Prophet Osée death I will be thy death S. Paule writeth that death hath lost the victorie and is swallowed vp therein And death where is thy sting hell where is thy victorie the sting of death is sinne and the power of sinne is the lawe But thankes be to God that hath giuen vs the victory by our Lorde Iesus Christ So that death hath no power nor naught els wherewith to hurte the faithfull for sinne is the weapon wherewith hée woundeth the which is distroyed by Christ so is death ouercome thus the lyfe that is in vs is eternall and we shall neuer dye And that which our aduersaries offer vnto vs is but a representation of death the which alreadie wee haue ouercome by our conseruator and heade Christ Iesus by whom we possesse the victorie Of the cause that Christ did feare death and hovve constant diuers martirs haue bene sithens in their martirdome c. The xxx Chapter THe cause why that our sauiour séemed to fear death was onely to shewe him self in his manhoode and that he had taken vppon him the sinnes of all mankinde bycause he would winne the victorie of all his enimyes so dryue away the doubt that was in the amased myndes of the faythfull And also to shewe that bicause de dyed death was kylled thereby and could haue no more power ouer vs The true credite and beliefe héereof dearely beloued is verie requisite and necessarie for vs. It hath béene séene that many seruants of God animated by beliefe or faith in the truth of the same haue taken their crosses with great courage ioye and contentment of mynde as if they had gone to feastes of greate honour or as if they ledde a tryumphant Bryde by the hande to sette hyr in some beautyfull throne with the Brydegroome That vertuous Virgyne Agatha when shée was caryed to death out of pryson where long shée had bene with no great worldly delyghtes I warrant you for professing the truth in the Gospell which faithfully shée beléeued sayde that euen then shée went to feastes or a feaste of greate ioye Saincte Vincent or that good holye confessor being laide vppon hoat burnyng coales a broyling for the same trueth made a mocke at his masking persecutors and sayde that the like crosse and death to any Christian was great cause of ioye to hym and all his companion members The godly man Ignacius Bishoppe of Antyoche in the persecution that the terrible Tyrant Traiano committed and vsed against the christians beyng by him an Infidell and his fidell confederates condempned to bée throwen vnto wylde beastes to the ende that most terriblie hée should bée torne in péeces by their terrible téethe Hee hearyng the roaryng of the Lyons prepared amongest other their panyons to execute the sentence gyuen so against him said with great ioy I am the wheat of Iesu Christ which shal be ground by the téene sharp téeth of those execrable beastes to bée made pure and cleane vnto the Lorde And by report of an english mā my friend this translator there was in Essex where as he was borne in England diuers faithfull witnesses as Wats Hawkes Pigot Cawson Ardely Sympson with many others there and as well in other countreis with in the sayd Realme did most ioyfully receiue valiently stande to their tryall by the fire and in the myddest thereof with great gladnesse of their forewardnesse in getting the victorie dyd imbrace the golden flames of the same eche of them saying with great courage O Lord receyue my soule and Lord into thy hands I commend my spirit for thou hast redéemed mée O Lord God of truth Moreouer many of them in going therevnto gladly and in a most triumphant maner like men goyng to moste gladsome ioyes would with great and mightie good will bid their friendes farewell and so in token therof and of the sure hope which they had in the méeting of God and his heauenly company as well those gone before as they that were to come after would drinke a cup of burned wine vnto them as wel therfore as also to moist a little their sences whereby they might be the