But because he chose them from among the nations not for their worthynes but in his mercie to be a peculiar people to him selfe from heauen by his presence he guided them to them he gaue his statutes ordinances his Priestes and Prophets wyth them he made his speciall couenant and gaue vnto their Tribes the Sacramentes seales of his faythfulnesse to them he promised that of the kindred of Israell he would rayse vp his holy Child Iesus which should be and before all times was of the same our eternall God determined to be the sauiour of al the true Israelites These be the causes why he termeth him the God of Israell Because he hath visited and redeemed c. Thrée principall causes mouing forth such prayses the Prophete here declareth first that our God notwythstanding that the sinnes of his Church seperateth his presence from her and in stead thereof draweth his vengeance vpon her as it were with cordes yet the malice of her sinnes cannot break the faythfulnes of him her god But according to his worde by othe also warranted he would vouchsafe in her most miserie so louingly to visit the same his Church and people Secondly he visiteth his chosen Church with inestimable loue moued wyth compassion vpon the vewe of her great miserie who for her sinnes was by his iustice Captiued into seruitude not onely to Caesar but also to Sathan and so holden of him in thrall that no way could she auoyde Sathans force or at the tribunall seat of Gods iudgement escape the iust sentence of condemnation necessarily following her wickednes as a méete merit to the same At his appoynted time according to his good pleasure he wyth his apparant fauor so visiteth the same perplexed Church that from her Captiuitie in sinne and sathans bondes and also from the iust sentence of his great wrath he by his sonne Christ hath perfectly raunsomed so redéemed her not by violēt force taking hir from her bondage as erst frō Pharao nor mouing the hartes of her Conquerors to pitie her miserie and fauor her deliuerance as somtime he did when she was in Babilons captiuitie but aunswering his iustice wyth the bloud and death of his immaculate and iust sonne Iesus hath payed there by the due price of her sinne and deliuerance from his wrath and from Sathans malice to the end that she so redéemed should leade a purchased life voyd of sinne and by his holy spirite redéeme hereafter such ill time as erst they wasted with gréedinesse to iniquitie and by newnesse of life walke as children which in the dungeon of darknes haue séene so great light that as by their former actions his holines was blasphemed so now by their good woorkes his name may be glorified Thirdly when he sayth He hath redemed his people he sturreth all Israell to a double ioy First that their gouernour and Lorde is no lesse then the Lord God who hath made all things that be the Lord of Aungelles of Men and Deuilles and hath al at his becke ruleth al at his pleasure staieth the rage of Lyons and defendeth the innocencie of Doues and the simplicitie of his beloued shéepe As also that he is a visiting God doth not onely create but dayly direct by gouernements from an hye the steps rhodes of all thinges and in his ielousie ouer the wicked for their crueltie to his people visiteth their sinnes wyth scourges and wyth the sworde of his plagues But his people he in visiting finding in them like corruption of nature the mountains of sinne the lyke little regarde of dutie to God and remorse of themselues doth not wyth the wicked destroy them but as a most mercifull Father regarding for his names sake not their deserued plague but the enemies rage against them doth acknowledge them for his and from the shadow of death the Lyons denne the burning Ouen the manifolde captiuities and fierie cheynes of sinne because they are by his owne worke his people he redéemeth them and translateth them into the kingdome of his deare sonne our sauing health Christ Iesus Now let vs good readers applie the wordes of this verse to our selues which not onely in the morning but at all times of prayer finding the lyke causes working in vs we ought wyth ioyfull hartes to the Lorde vnfainedly to say and sing Blessed be the Lorde c. First this Lorde and God belongeth to vs now as to Israell of olde For as they were after the fleshe the sonnes of Abraham So many of them not hauing the fayth of their father lost the promise to him and his séed and we now are in their stéede grafted into Christ by whose spirite and worde preached we are made the children of Abraham not by birth in fleshe for we are of another stocke Gentilles but by the gyft of fayth whereby our heauenly father maketh vs the members of his son Christ who is the true séede of Abraham wyth the rest of the true Israellites Therfore as many as are the children of faith may they and ought they as sonnes of Abraham in déede to sing wyth thankefulnes vnto god Blessed be the lord c. The visitation of our Lord then had and now continually of him vsed chalengeth alwayes ioy of vs For in visiting the wicked wyth his sworde he cutteth the occasion of euill from his people In visiting his people with his rod he deserueth great prayse for to the same his people whensoeuer he sendeth his Rodde to correct their sinnes his stafe of diuine prouidence is also by his mercie therewyth exhibited to be to them a staye of comfort and defence All which most wisely he guideth wyth his merciful hād oftentims not taking from his seruants the smarting salue of his correction vntill the itching sore of their iniquitie by the power of his spirite be taken from them As a most louing Father he visiteth vs for in the middest of his anger he is euer mindful of his mercies He striketh vs but for a season but he consumeth the wicked in his wrath he beateth vs to our good to bring vs vnder his yoke But with his visiting plagues he breaketh in sunder and beateth into morsels the children of iniquitie for the which his holy workes sake we ought euer thankfully to say wyth harte and tongue to the Lorde our god Blessed be the lord c. Thirdly haue not wée manifest cause wyth Zachary dayly to prayse God when wyth him féeling our deserued death readie to deuoure vs and our sinnes prouoking Gods iustice to condemne vs to perpetuall captiuitie to imprison vs in eternall cheynes of darkenesse wyth Sathan he by his spirite doth assure vs that we are his children and enboldeneth vs not whisperingly for feare bringing painefulnesse But to crye out wyth courage enriched wyth his loue that he is
his throne of grace as deare children adopted in Christ to their best beloued father They loue to labour in godly workes as by his word they are commaunded They séeke to liue by faith in Christ as by the Scriptures they are taught They ioy to suffer and beare his crosse and aspiring by lowlinesse of mind they pray his aide and helpe there in with comfort continuing vnder the same They appoynt no time for their release but paciently abide his lotted leysure They looke not on the present troubles but weigh their sinnes his decréed purpose and place as opposite to their aspect the ioye that is set before them They runne with patience the race for them appointed and despising the present shame they still endure the crosse alwayes looking to Iesus christ the authour finisher of their life They blesse those that curse them they loue their enemies and do good to all but their chiefe delight is to ioyne with the houshold of faith They challenge to themselues by nature confusion for sinne and shame for their infirmities and to God the father in Christ our Lord by the instinct of his holy spirit they attribute all honour and glory and forgetting their workes past assay to go forwards to the price set before them expressing thēselues by their good workes to be the Lords building who hath made them an holy habitation and a royall priesthode In hym they offer vp themselues for a spirituall sacrifice dayly yéelding forth the fruites of holy lippes to his priest and willing obedience to his holy will. They by the spirite desire not to followe but defie and kill the lustes of the flesh They fight against Sathan and his impes continually They beare an vnfained hate to alsuperstitious vanities They contemne and despise the beggerly ordinances of the wicked world disdayning to become bondslaues to sinne any more They reioyce in their deliuerance walke in the way of the lord with a sincere hart single mind Though slide they may eftsones by frayltie yet neuer flatte fall they by falshode from the Lord their god Lo these are they of whom our Zacharie speaketh and the Angell poynteth Joseph vnto whē he affirmeth Iesus to saue his people from their sinnes And all if these haue so many fraylties be of such weaknes that they cannot as they would or do as they should perfectly walke before the Lord Yet shall they not feare for his Christ is theirs with him they haue in him iustificatiō sanctification redemption and perfect wisedome By whose vertues and merites they are euer presented before God as a iust and holy people peculiar to the lord To these can come no condemnation or any accusation shal be admitted against thē nor any gilt procure sentence to their losse For it is the Lord that doth iustifie them Finally no power shall or can conuenting conuince them For they haue in their hartes the word which is Gods power to saluation And God him selfe standeth on their side for their defence So that it is more possible for light to become darknes good euill and euill good which neuer shall come to passe then that the Lordes people should not be deliuered from death or yet want the knowledge of their saluation Which knowledge teacheth them to féele in hart and find by truth that the same sauing health consisteth not in their remuneration but commeth of god for his Christs sake by full remission of and from all their sinnes The Lord graunt vs to labour so in his vineyarde which professe his name that we may be not called only but appeare in déede his chosen people Then shall we be sure of our deliuerance in Christ our Sauiour And thus much for these wordes his people in this present verse mentioned The third last branch of this verse is to consider by what meanes his people are brought to féel perceiue that their saluatiō doth consist in the remission geuen of god Namely by this that the same is made knowne to their consciences by the ministerie of the word preached vnto them For all if the price of Christes bloud bée they most soueraigne salue for mās sinne as by the which it is wholy washed away Yet onlesse the Church of God haue sence and perfect féeling hereof in her inward partes and depenesse of hart the same shall nothing profite her For the which cause Christ promiseth being once lift vp as the serpent in the wildernesse was to draw all men to looke and come to him by the instrument of fayth and to his heauenly father in that his most comfortable prayer a little before his death for the comfort of his elect he witnesseth that life eternall consisteth in the knowledge of God the father and Christ his Sonne Also reprouing the Iewes for their rebellion he chargeth their ignorance to bée the cause therof as also shewing his Disciples of their persecuted state perils to death affirmeth ignorance to be the forcing meane hereto This shal they do saith he because they neither know the father nor yet me Paule the Apostle testifieth this to be the meane to apprehend saluation euen to come to the knowledge of the truth Thereto he ioyneth it to the branch preceding saying God will haue all men to be saued and to come to the knowledge of the truth Lo a thing most incident to saluation is to haue knowledge of the truth To conclude who are they which are taught of god but his people And what are they taught of him but the truth of his word Which he writeth with his finger in their hartes as the scripture saith that they may be a knowing people and not ignorant as the Papistes teach but falsely the same to be the mother of deuotion But Christ sayth that ignorance is the mother of error which leadeth to damnation Behold now the scope of this Baptists office was to prepare the Iewish harts by the knowledge of their sinnes and repentance for the same to preuent Gods Iustice by fruitefull acceptation of the Gospell by Christ presently preached to haue him for there God and by him saluation and full deliuerance from their sinnes For the which cause the Angell also before to Zacharie adorned him with noble titles and not to him only doe they belong but to all the true preachers of God with him wherefore they are here of thée deare Reader the better to bée weighed as wordes that doe import the glory of his heauenly Embassage to thine earthly hart Hée is first sayd to bée full of the holy Ghost a thing most necessarie to bée in the true preacher of the word as without the same he can neither preach much lesse profite the people of the Lord. The Apostles from christ therfore receiued the fulnes of his spirit by portion to their aptnes power to execute their
for that horrible gilt to as many as aproched his presēce or to whō he could send forth his heroical voice crying Repent for the kingdome of god is at hand In these .2 verses we haue as before to consider the sugred sence comfortable doctrine which in them is contained And first as touching the spéech of Zacharie to his little babe note the mercy of God to Zacharie himselfe for albeit hée returned incredible spéech to the Angel saying How shal J know this for J am old my wife is of great age Yet god caused the Angel to procede in his message correcting his incredulitie said I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of god am sent to speake to thée to shew thée these good tidings and behold thou shalt be dumbe not be able to speak vntil the day that these things be done bicause thou beleuedst not my words which shal be fulfilled in their season A notable example of gods mercy iustice met togither in the person of this holy priest For whē he refused to giue credit to the preaching Gabriel Gods iustice ouertoke his sinne proclaymed his gilt by the Censure of his iudgement in the preachers mouth which presently tooke effect in him For he comming forth of the sāctuarie was séene not able to speak but made signes vnto the people so remained till the same mercifull God by his holy spirit opened his mouth to vouch his praise by this Prophetical Hymne Whereout wée rightly gather his inestimable mercy measured by his loue which could not be cut short of his purpose by the malice of Zacharies sin or wold depriue this holy man of so great a benefite though his soring sinne deserued it And is this done for him alone No for vs also that beleue in Christ Iesus to vs is god the one same that here he was to Zacharie And therfore is Zacharies sinnes Dauids iniquities Jonas gilt Aaron his fal Ieremies heate Peters denial Magdalens vice Zebedes sonnes with their ambition set down to the church in the holy scriptures that we might haue hope consolation so often as we imitate into their maners take suruey of gods iustice pondered with his mercy vnto these others the godly fathers For he accepting not the persons of flesh but in all places whosoeuer calleth vppon his name shal be saued from their sinnes of what condition soeuer they be To all the elect of God it is said Jf your sinnes were as red as Scarlet J will make them as white as Wooll No one of those are excluded from this comfort Come to me all you that trauell and bee heauie laden and J will refresh you Assured of this also shall all the elect of God be that in whom there remayneth the canker of sinne as it doth in all corrupted flesh in them the mercifull iustice of God shall by his striking Angell be found to correct their sinne For he scourgeth euery sonne that hée receiueth Hée sometimes chasteneth with the scourge of naturall death his beloued that their iniquitie should not cast them with the reprobate into eternal fire And in whom can be foūd his quickning spirit to mortifie their killing flesh in them his prouing hand is euer exercised to purge their sinne and force more fruite But here note with me the hate which god doth beare to the discredit of his word vttered by the teachers of his truth He spareth not to plague the same in his holy ones yea be they neuer so necessary members and helpes to his Church Rather should all Ierusalem be destitute of their preaching Prophet and their sacrifising priest Zacharie then god would spare to chastise the doubtfull hearing of his absolute word Where note he more requireth an obedient eare to his truth then al painful toyl in wilworship or sacrifices by him selfe els commaunded What shal then the obstinate rebellious Papistes the heritiques of our age doe that flatly contemne the same Truely this is the Censure of God against them I haue called saith the Lord ye haue refused I haue stretched out mine hand and none would regard but ye haue despised al my counsell and would none of my correction I will also laugh at your destruction and mocke when your feare commeth like soddaine desolation and your destruction shall come like a whyrle wind when affliction and anguish shall come vpon you Then shal they cal vpon me but I wil not answere they shal séek me early but they shall not find me because they hated knowledge did not chuse the feare of the lord They would none of my counsell but despised al my correction Therfore shal they eate of the fruite of their owne way and be filled with their owne deuises for ease slaieth the foolish and the prosperitie of fooles destroyeth them But he that obeyeth me shal dwel safely and be quiet from feare of euil Secondly we may perceiue the riches of gods mercy who doth not only forgiue Zacharies sinne but enritcheth him with a most speciall gift of prophecie that no man should dispayre to do well because erst he hath bene euill or that any should denie all them apt to the function of God which tofore haue bene inobedient or rebellious to his word No measure not the man by that he was but accept him to that he now is made by the grace of God powred into him And be not thou seuere where God is soueraigne Condemne not the person for those euils which the lords mercy hath not only pardoned but also hath doth endowe with fresh more bountifull giftes then erst hée had or possible some others which malice such men can make apparant to dwel in them selues Idolatrie no dout is an huge sinne but is not infidelitie the mother thereof And incredulitie a beame of that building yet from infidelitie God calleth to his Christ Yea such as haue bene nursed vp in Idolatrie to his seruice And the incredulous to the preaching of faith In whom we sée this simple conuersion let vs acknowledge it for gods worke and do not séeke to apall the place credite of such but rather assist yea to the face of the Apostle and gouernours in the church them euery of them to whom the Lord hath made himselfe knowne hath spoken to their hartes so that they by his grace with Paul haue séene the Lord in their passage embasing themselues before him haue confessed him to be the lord boldly do vouch him tofore kings men Know wel this that at what time the wicked part from their ill their sinnes the lord putteth quite out of his remēbrance Now as of Zacharies person hitherto we haue bestowed the vew of gods mercy towards him So let vs consider now his propheticall wordes to
among the wicked of the earth hath taken them and according to his good will being before the foundation of the worlde was layde hath chosen them to be his people This is the minde of our Prophet saying To giue knowledge c. If we should aske of the Papistes whereby we apprehend Saluation they will say to vs partly by christ and partly by the worthinesse of mans workes Such blasphemies they bray out of their helly hartes But deare reader be not deceiued by their delusions lend thy selfe some leasure to take view for thy wealth of that which here is sayd Were it that saluation could be atteyned by the workes of the law as true it is the law of-God sayth he that doth fulfill the law shall lyue by the law yet are there two absolute reasones ouerthrowing all meritte in man what or whosoeuer by the Lawe The firste is the impossibilytie that is men to perfourme the law The other is the frayltie of man which fulfylling if he could yet can not alwayes stand frée from transgressing the Law of god And at what time he falleth his righteousnes tombleth downe with himselfe in to the dyche and so frustrate is his vaine trust before reposed in his owne holines For the first he that shall by the works of the Lawe become iust before God must in hearte be pure from Sinne for as out of a filthy puddle can naturally come no swéete water so out of a wicked hart can procéede no pure action nor is God pacified from wrath by any worke which procéedeth from a sinfull and a corrupted conscience Search seeke from east to west north south among the sonnes of men behold no where shalt thou find a man whose hart is pure from sinne Nay whose harte is not altogether a lump of that Massie poison so that if God should loke strayghtly vpon him his holinesse should not be able to abyde the tryall of the lord Finally the wisedome of the fleshe is death and is at set battle in enimytie wyth God for it is not subiect to the Spirite nor the Law of God neyther in deede can be So that I conclude with Paule that they which be in the flesh and that is euery Popishe iusticiarie cannot please god Wherfore since the founteine of mans harte is corrupt and poysoned what pleasant action can proceede from his conduites But ye will say the regenerate man meriteth Yet Paule sayth to the man regenerate what hast thou that thou hast not receiued I suppose Paule was regenerate when he wrot his Epistle to the Romanes and yet he of himselfe sayth that his hart is combred wyth the Canker of sinne So that he dare not boast of meritte but rather cryeth out for woe agaynst that guylt of his Regenerate fleshe saying I sée another Lawe in my members rebelling agaynst the Lawe of my mind and leading me Captiue into the Lawe of Sinne that is in my members Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the bodye of this death I thanke God through Iesus Christ our Lorde His desert here he confesseth to be suche that were it not God through Christ our Lorde he caried nothing with him but a body he meaneth soule and body deseruing by meritte euerlasting death And of his impossibilitie to perfourme the act of Iustification by workes he in that place a little before sheweth saying for I know that in me that is in my fleshe dwelleth no good thing for to will is present wyth me but I finde not meanes to perfourme that which is good for I doe not that good thing that I would but the euill that I would not that doe I. If in the best sort of men and most perfect Sinne hath such power how shall the Papistes the ofscourings of the Church boast of their worthinees Nay neyther we or our Fathers are able to fulfyll the law and therefore God sent his sonne in the similitude of sinful flesh and for sinne condemned sinne in the flesh that the righteousnesse of the lawe should be fulfilled in vs that is to say by christ imputed to vs which walke not after the flesh but after the spirit And that no man should bost of his workes being regenerate he more telleth vs that God the father which raised vp his son christ from death shall also quicken our mortal bodies not for any worthines in vs but because of his owne gift euē bicause his spirit dwelleth in vs Thus his diuine wisdome hath disposed the matter that both the action the cause of our true righteousnesse may not descende one steppe from the maiesty of his throne of grace Assure thy selfe therefore Christian reader that in man is no meritte vnlesse to death for Sinne which maketh al men culpable before god So it is his goodnesse to haue mercy vpon all Therfore if thou wilt atteyne to true righteousnesse it is by the lawe not of works but of fayth in Iesus Christ vnto all and vpon all that beleue For the redemption is not in man regenerate or carnall but in christ who hath reconciled vs to the father in his bloud declareth our righteousnesse to come by the forgiuenes of our sinnes so preaching cōfusion shame to vs the glory to him selfe And albeit that fayth which saueth is called a worke yet is not the worke comming from the poure of man for it is the worke of God and his onely gift by the which we obteine christ in whom we haue plentifull redemption from all our sins Now let vs speak of the second branch that is of mans impossibility to stand alwayes fulfilling the law The Scripture saith cursed is euery man that continueth not in al things which are written in the law to doe them And againe when a righteous man tourneth away from his righteousnes and committeth iniury he shal euen die for the same If once departure from well doing demerit death and the iust falleth seauen times and since there is no flesh that sinneth not nor any be he neuer so pefect that alwaies continueth in well doing I aske where shall we finde the meriting man or who shall dare to present him before the Lorde the reuenger of sin Or yet what is he that can deliuer himselfe from the danger of Gods Curse due to his transgressions Vaine therefore and diuelish is the confidence in such Popish doctrine and pernicious is the euill which this opinion bringeth to the soule and great is the iniurie by it committed against christ Iesus the price of thy forgiuenes The man meritor thrusteth Christ Crucifyed vnder his féet setteth himselfe vp in his stead for his owne sauiour by his workes But cast thy accompt by scripturs audite at the foot of the same thou shalt find this debt apparant to such wastfull spenders of their Lordes treasure that such as haue sought
downe by the LORDE in his woorde to haue Iustification without measure because of their numbered vertues suche I saye haue loste that they sought for nor could atteyne to that they would to saye deliuerance from their Spirituall Enemies and to be accompted iust before the Lorde the Apostle so witnesseth saying Israell which followed the Lawe of righteousnesse coulde not atteyne to the Lawe of Righteousnesse because they sought it not by Fayth but as it were by the workes of the Lawe for they haue stombled at the stombling stoane that is they are offended at the Christe which GOD hath set to be the Righteousnesse for his people and refusinge him and his merites they rest vppon the shyuering staffe of their imagined holynesse But the Gentilles sayth Paule which folowed not righteousnes haue atteined vnto righteousnes euen the righteousnes that is of faith that is to say the true righteousnes which cānot be bought by desert but is atteined by faith in the promise of god Here let our enemies the papists wey well with them selues how far they are frō the sense of truth If the holy fathers accepted with God in great fauor receiued not otherwise thē by his mercies his promised christ in him their saluation ful deliuerance also if they séeking him vnfeynedly with sinceritie of harte came so far short of merit the had not the exhibiting mercy preuented his prouoked iustice the same our fathers had perishe How then can they or man or angell for thē obteine for vs saluation or remission of our sinnes by any merit that can procéede frō a creature or creaturs The merits of the papistes are eyther the weight of their Massing Sacrifyces the bloud of Martyres the absolute power of theyr Pope or that which they thinke neuer fayleth the good workes of men men As for the meritte of their masse out of all question it meriteth neyther pardon with God the father nor place in the church of christ his sonne But it being vsed doth derogate as much as it may the Power of Christ whiche alone of God is set vp to for his church in Dauids house and arrogateth the honor of Christ and his office to that abhonable Idoll But beloued children of God geue attentiue eare to the Apostolicall wordes written to the Hebrues and thou shalt plainely perceiue by the power of Gods spirite that the one oblation of christes naturall body on the crosse in his death hath for euer not onely taken away from vs the wrath of God reward of sin but hath therewith abrogated the solempne sacrifices cōmaunded by himselfe in his written word and also hath taken away for all times to come all power from any man or angell to set vp any other sacrifice or oblation propitiatory in place thereof wherefore he sayth by the will of God by the sacrifice of Christ ordeyned of God we are sanctified euen by the Offering of the bodye of Iesus Christ once made Vers 11 And in the same place hée denyeth that the Sacrifyces commaunded of GOD can longer preuayle because that the true Sacrifyce Christ Iesus is alreadye Offered of which and whom they were Fygures Vers 12 And also denyeth that this Christ is any more to be Offered but playnely affyrmeth hym after that his once Oblation to fitte for euer at the Ryght hande of the Father and shall not thence come till his enemies be made his footstole And that all men might be Satisfyed he addeth a reasō wherefore saying for wyth one Offering hath he consecrated for euer those that are Sanctifyed And moreouer he calleth the Holy Ghost for witnesse of the same as in the 15. and 16. verses following and so concludeth vp his Assertion That since Christ Iesus hath thus redéemed vs there is no more Offering for sinne of one or other but in place thereof there is sayth hée set vppe to and for vs an entering into lyfe by a more beautifull manner which hée there calleth a newe and liuing way prepared for vs through the person Christ which is our hye Priest who requireth not sacrifice of vs Vers 23 but an approching hart made pure in conscience and body from sinne by fayth c. Therefore away wyth your Popishe trash your masking masses can no longer shaddowe the trueth Further I pray you whether doth God at any time accept the man for the Sacrifyce or the Sacrifyce for the man I trow the Text sayth that God regarded not Cayn or his Sacrifyce and contrarily he accepted Habell and his Oblation which sturred vp Cayn his wrath to kill his Brother Habell Here it is plaine God respecteth first the man and then his sacrifice if the man be not acceptable his sacrifyce is abhominable as in the Prophet Esay the Lord reproueth the Iewes for their paynefull seruing in will worshippe and sayth he abhorreth their deuises and will not turne towards them with fauor though their sacrifices be costly because they are sinful that offer them And the people for whom they are offred are the children of sinne their handes are full of bloud yea they geue to God that which he asketh not and therefore dislyking vtterly thereof he sayth who required this at your handes And there teacheth them to amend from their Wicked wayes to washe them from their sinnes so will he accept them and their Oblations Christ himselfe also doth nothing more pacifie the Fathers wrath in his most holy sacrifyce then in respecte that according to the Fathers wyll he hath yéelded himselfe for an Oblation as he was of him appoynted by his written woorde saying a body hast thou ordeyned me and loe I am here to doe thy wyll Let the Pope and his Clergye as Christ here doth shew vs the heauenly God or Father his holy written will for their accepted persones in Sacrifysing for the Quicke and Deade and for suche their fayned propitiatorie Sacrifyces and we will not shame for losse of credit to subcribe vnto them But this they can not and therefore they hate the scriptures and would not that wée shoulde Studye in them Because they knowe that there by their Idolatrye is bewrayed and their Trecherie made knowen and that both they and their Sacrifyces are wyth Cayn odious in Gods sight Oh that therefore we coulde wyth our Zachary retourne the Phrase of Popishe speache to the Forge that fyrst framed the same and coulde acknowledge our Saluatson to consist in Gods mercye alone by the meritte of his Sonne Christ in that his Sacrifyce in his naturall Bodye Crucifyed on the crosse once for al al ages By the which sayth the Apostle Peter wée are deliuered from Sinne to liue in righteousnesse for by the b strypes of Iesus Christes Death wée are made whole The bloud of Sayntes is their other Imagined meritte for mennes Saluations and Gods fauour But good reader of Sayntes the Apostles are chiefe and hath not Christ taught
he sheweth himselfe bent to mercie But if both he spare to strike and spende his holy labors by his Propheticall preachers in vaine to the people to whom he sendeth them then and there will he poure out his double plagues to their vtter confusion Let Jerusalem alone suffize to testifye the same And grant O Lord more grace to England that we in no sort receue this thy long suffering aboundant gracious light of thy blessed truth in vaine for thy sonnes sake For then assuredly as it now appeareth by thy handy work is become to be the best Receptacle for thy afflicted members So shall it then be sene an horrible Cage for euery foule byrde and fylthie gryppe and in stede of songes of mirth and ioy howling lamentation and mourning for her great desolation shall found her sorow to the heauens redoūd to the earth againe accompanied wyth thy most terrible plagues in vehement sort Oh the securitie of England Oh the manifest contempt of the English nation Oh the depe dissimulation that enuironeth so the borders of this land as no wher thence it were permitted to haue his passage Wel God sēdeth to thée yet once Zachary Iohn Bap. in plentiful sort to cry with exalted voice incessantly repēt for the day of the Lord is at hand And through the preaching of truth they open the way to saluation in Christ Happie be thou ye twise blessed oh miserable England canst thou in time lende thyne Eares and laye thy hearte to the touche of truethe in this the daye of thy moste louing visitation And thy day of appearing canst be readye to tourne to thy Lorde who shall purge thée lyke vnto moste pure Syluer But if the Lorde take from thée Oh Englande his Worde and Preaching then Desolation is imminent For when Preaching fayleth the people perishe and dye for want of their spiritual breade the force of their lyfe Where is the beautie of the former Hierusalem What is become of the Learned Chorinth the pryde of all Achaia And where is the former glory of that Christian Antioche Is not the east Churche wholy become an Apostata from God and them selues betrothed to the seruitude of sinne his huge enemies And what shal we say of that roging Rome which somtime was the deare church of God is she not now become the seate of Antechrist and the Sinagogue of Sathan Yes forsooth Whence flowed the Floudes of Godlinesse thence commeth the Waters of fylth in the streame of Idolatrie superstition adulterie homicide treason murder couetousnesse and sinnes agaynst nature and the holy Ghost There as in a mirrour we may sée the testimonie of Paule speaking of the Heathen Idolators to the Godly Romanes verifyed For when they professed themselues to be wise they became fooles turning the glory of the incorruptible God to the similitude of a corruptible man c. Wherefore God gaue them vp also to their hartes lustes vnto vnclearnesse to defyle their owne bodies betwéene themselues which tourned the trueth of God to a lye and worshipped and serued the Creature forsaking the Creator which is blessed for euer Amen For this cause sayth Paule God gaue thē vp vnto vile affections The spirit of god foreseeing the lyke Idolatry and sinne to followe in this satanicall Sea warned them by these former plagues to auoyde the seconde destruction set downe by Iohn the diuine in the Reuelation But sith this seate is set for Antechrist and that no man can safely vnder her harbor be sure from Gods wrath or can be permitted to nussle as the Sowe in the myery puddles of her broken Cesternes Let vs wyth on consent recoyle to the commaundement of the Spirite which soundeth the retire from Romish Babilon and her damnable desolation lest running in her chase we be ouertaken by the Lorde which persecuteth her wyth al arma of sundry and sodeyne Fyghtes to her most terrible ouerthrow And always haue before thine eyes that pyller of Salt which sometime was the holy Lots wife who for her great loue she bare to her line bloud which would not lende their eares to God receiued a monstrous shape and lost the beutie of her first Creation A notable example certaynely Vers 10 And to giue knowledge of saluation vnto his people by remission of their sinnes The office of Iohn and how he is to prepare the way of the Lorde is here by Zacharie set downe namely by the Preaching of repentance and driuing the Iews to the view of their sins wherby they might be the more apt to receiue Christ by fayth in him saluation for their sins true righteousnes eternall lyfe This preparation is so requisite as without the same neither shall the wounded man féele his griefe or the dreined conscience gaspe thirst after christes bloud the founteine of health to euery dry sinning soule pined sinner that hungreth his water of life Wherfore his inestimable merit hath not onely giuen a sauiour but hath sent a heauenly voyce to cry out to our deade deafe bodies the knowledge of life and way to saluation which commeth to vs by the forgeuenes of our sinnes at the hands of our good God most merciful father he hauing fully satisfyed his iustice in the person of our crucifyed Christ the chastisement of our peace Thrée especiall poyntes this verse containeth first by what means saluatiō is atteined euen by the forgeuenes of sins Secondly whose sinnes are forgeuen Onely the sinnes of Gods elect chosen people Thirdly the way by the which they atteine to so hie a price Euen by that they haue this saluation made so apparant to them by the ministery of Preaching that they apprehende by fayth Gods spirit opening the hart of the hearer Concerning the first whence new iustification is had is apparantly sene by our Prophet namely that their sinnes be forgiuen thē Neither is there in any one to purchase such remission for then should not our iustification stand in forgiuenes but in mans purchase so god in bestowing life should not giue vs his son but according our merit and his debt pay to vs christ our desert which were to vttermost pestilent blasphemy against God and his Gospell So God loued the world sayth Christ that he gaue his only begoten sonne c. But this verse teacheth vs that our saluatiō is had by the remission of sins seteth downe both the meane for vs to apprehende lyfe and the cause of lyfe also The meane or hande whereby we take holde of christ which is our lyfe is fayth norished and bred in our hartes by the worde preached which accepteth christ as of the Father he is giuen and by the scriptures he is discribed vnto vs The cause here expressed is gods loue who hath predestinate to lyfe all those whom he hath translated from the poynte of death to the kingdome of his deare sonne and from
the same right the instrumentes of destruction of what nature or condition so euer they bee are together with the author of them to be punnished and condemned Hereto he alleadgeth certaine examples of scriptures as of Achan of Corah and his companie In end he thus concludeth If to condemne the organ with the wicked spirit the author it be Iniquum So by the same reason must it be wicked that the bodies of the faithfull together with their soules be made partakers of eternall life and heauenly felicitie But farre be such thoughts from the minds of the godly c. Thus farre Musculus That old father and great learned Doctor Chrisostome vppon the same place of Genesis geueth in effect the same censure whose wordes vpon the Serpents iudgement are as they are reported also by Peter Martir that famous man thus God in this action delt like vnto a man that is a most naturall louing Father who when he séeth his deare sonne slaine doth not only couet the death of the murtherer but the sword Speare euery the instrument wherewith he perished will he likewise séeke to destroy Should I stand to speake of al lets rubbish in this nation I should frō my self to al flesh without great search see such matter aboūd as no reasonable volume could cōtaine their descriptiō Idolatrous papists Atheistes Carnalites Hipocrites Adulterers Drunkardes and sundry wicked vices else in many places many times are lesse loked vpon with iustice censure then such as many wayes els are profitable mēbers in the church of god This is a perilous shrub it would be stubbed vp by the rootes The Lord graunt better regard lest the maiestie on hye take the matter into his owne hand from such as be ouer negligent Gods in earth The Preachers of God must cry out in Sion and tell Ierusalem and Iuda of her faults from the hiest to the lowest to one and other for agaynst this that euill In paine of damnation must the preacher cry out that the desert may be tracked and the hils the valleyes the ragged the croked the old and rotten for age may be altered or quite remoued that in England his prophets may so exhibit to the lord at his comming a prepared people and well instructed whose soules by his spirit being gouerned their bodies by his force shall walke in all holines in his sight as the dayes of their lyfe Then will the Lord yet more delight in our Church state and people he will take pleasure to walke into the garden of our harts there to receiue the redolent smell of the swete fruites spreading themselues far abroad all a long the beds of fayth he will blesse her with beautie and builde hir with precious stones of great price he wil teach this nation himselfe by his worde and will giue thée the more abounding spirit to walke in his statutes he wil be for thée agaynst thy forren foes domesticall enemies a tower of strēgth to assist thée and bruse thē in myerie streates before thy eyes he will destroy the smyth and all his instrumentes the Pope and his pelfe all diuelishe deuises agaynst thée of what force so euer To his faythfull ministers and Teachers will he graunt his ayde and power to be for them a well fenced cytie wyth walles of Brase agaynst all Popishe practises bent to their destruction Finally to some all from thy vertuous Quéene to the faythfull Plowman sowing his séede will he poure forth his grace and spirit his christ and heauen to be thine for euer Vers 11.12 Through the tender mercy of our God whereby the day spring from an high hath visited vs To giue light to them that sit in darkenesse and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace This knowledge of Saluation where by man is brought to the forgiuenesse of sinnes in christ commeth not to vs by purchase of gold and siluer or any other mans merit but by the inward mercy of our God sayth Zachary euen as a naturall mother séeing her child wounded in her armes or taken violently from her to be slaine all the partes of her body and soule are therewith moued with singuler compassion so hast thou O God saith he beholding our most miserable blindnes bandage vnder sinne taken most mercifull pitie in the bowels of thy Fatherly mercies hast sēt to vs this branch thy Christ day spring as the beautie of thy flesh to visit our darkenesse with the light of his trueth and by his lyfe to deliuer vs from the gloming darke death of ignorance sinne to set our conscience quiet in the Iustification by his bloud to embolden vs to approch thy presence as Children to their best beloued Father without terror of death for Sinne or feare of any worldly want For through the comfort of this bright shining sunne of righteousnesse and virident braunche of Jesse his roote the anoynted Christ we shall ouercome whatsoeuer shall set it selfe against vs. To our instruction further comforts let vs as before so in these two verses obserue some such pith as lieth within the vertue of these happy words By this maner of speach the Prophet would haue vs to consider déeply the chiefe and aboundant loue of the ineffable God whose studye and care as it were is onely bent to doe vs the best good though we in no part demerit the same Thrée speciall thinges I obserue to thée gentle reeder in these last verses whereof the first followeth The first is that by the only mercy of God without the merit of man Christ our Sauiour is giuen to vs as himselfe testifieth in the third of Iohn saying So dearely God loued the world that hee gaue his onely begotten Sonne c. Without our merit gaue the heauenly Father his sauing Christ for when we were his ennemies he saued vs Vpon the which most mercifull acte he perswadeth vs that now much more sence we belong to him will he deliuer vs frō wrath The second note is that albeit God in his great mercy hath so copiously enritched vs with the hidden treasure of ful remission from al our sinnes yet hath he therwith nothing impared his iustice but hath by the merit of another himselfe Christ Iesus our Lord which the Prophet here calleth the day spring from an high fully answered the same In whose person mercy iustice haue met together mercy peace haue kyssed each other for in that Christ Iesus tooke vpon him our nature sanctifiing the same by his conception and ioined it to his god head He tooke that person of sinne vppon him which could be subiecte to the crosse and aptly receiued the curse due thereto for our iniquitie and accept to the ful the fury of his fathers iust conceiued wrath In which body he did fully beare the same vpon the
crosse in his bitter death at what time the angrie countinance of his God with the full paines of hell for mans sin was wholy laide vpon him hee was compelled with vehemency to cry my God my God why haste thou forsaken me The fruite of this death is such that as no one of vs hath put our hand to this crosse with him to cary his Fathers wrath for our sin so hath he obtained such redemption as none of vs that beléeue a right in him shal or can tast any part of condeÌ„nation Further to vs our Saluation is most frée But in respect of the price it is the ful satisfaction of the fathers iustice and the valour is the bloud and death of our redéemer Christ Iesus The end is that we being deliuered froÌ„ sinne c should depart from iniquitie and dedicat our selues to the lord in newnesse of life as chilldreÌ„ redemed froÌ„ sin death Regard with feare therefore thy Christ hys death yeeld not thy self to sathans snare for he that willingly by wilfull lustes wil treade his death vnder his féete cannot be partaker of his glory and lyfe The third thing to obserue is the allusion which our Prophet vseth in this place to the former prophesies calling him the day spring or as other the learned translate the word a Braunch For the former translation great comfort is giuen therby to thée deare reader the word rightly considered in such sence as it ought that is to vnderstand by Oriens not the place wher the Sonne riseth but the Sonne himself so doth Malachie vse that metaphorical spech when he calleth Christ the sonne of righteousnes vnder whose winges or beames lyeth health Note heare our Zachary alluding to this Scripture teacheth Christ to be the trewe Messias the same which was of them promised to bee the lord of life by whom the church shuld haue her light full safety Further looke into the Metaphor the sunne is the guide of the world the beawty of the Heauens the light of the starres and firmament by him the vapours noysome and pestilent are taken from men the spring the Harneste the times and seasons haue their comfort and validitie of him The Moone the figure of Gods churche hath her whole light of his light of him depryued she is in her darkenes and eclipsed state by his presence the night vanisheth the stormes and tempestuous tymes are abandoned as barrennes turned into fertilitie euery crooked occurrent vadeth and all comfortes to men and creatures els present theÌ„ selues To aplie the same with a thousand more fruite thou oughtest whensoeuer thou saiest this Psalme to thy heauenly Lorde the only begotten of God the Sonne of righteousnes which is the light of the world the glory of the father the gouernour of al things the way the truth life it self to al that shal be saued which by him self redéemeth vs with his fathers mercy clotheth vs by his spirit regenerateth sanctifieth guydeth vs in him to lyfe euerlasting The Sun entring the house euery dark corner is full of light what filth remaineth is by him manifested So where christ by faith appeareth in mans hart all ignorance is banished and the light of his word reproueth all iniquitie and driueth all error forth of mans soule The learned Beza translateth the word not Oriens but Germen and in his learned Annotations geueth his reason vpon the nature of the Hebrew word tsemach which saith he signifieth not Oriens but germen a branch he affirmeth there the Prophet to allude vnto the wordes of Zacharie before and Ieremie which promised Christ to spring vp as out of the withered stocke of persecuted Dauid of whom the world should make smal accompt but his groth should be maruailous therfore he addeth from aboue that so he may shew his comming vp to be contrary to the plants of the earth This is the stone which commeth out of the mountaine without hands doth preuaile against al the mountaines of the world though the builders refuse him he is chiefe of the corner This Christ is that despised branch which séemed withered beaten for his own sinne but in the daies of his flesh he so visited vs that by his stripes we â—â—e made whole This is the gréene â—â—irident trée vpon whom the cruell Jewes bestowed their whole tirannie This is the trée â–ª vine of whom the faithfull branches receiue their light knowledge saluation and power to passe the passage of heauenly peace This is that branch by maÌ„s iudgement so eaten into the earth as no bâ—dding or spring shuld be permitted him which by his owne power defendeth his owne cause against the Monarches of the world yéeldeth foyle to the gates infernal spoyleth Satan of his pray This is the Lord king of heauen earth to whoÌ„ the powers aboue the spirits below and â—â—n in earth do stoupe fall before his throne as to their only Lord and God in whose hand is life and death Now deare reader this branch is thine geuen thée of God to be thy staffe of defence in the day â—f battel and hath come himselfe to visite thy weake state â–ª geue to thée his mightie aide The Church of God shall dwell â—ost safely vnder the shadowe of this branche for whosoeuer striueth against her â—re sure to find him present in her to whom he hath distended from aboue to geue comfort to her miseries which he câ—â—leth here darknes and the shadow of death he that lifteth at her shall find her as an heauie stone which shal crush them to péeces Further note hee suffreth oftentimes his holy ones to be led into darke troubles and poyntes of death but then is it his nature to visite them So hée came to Joseph in Pharaos chaynes He suffred the Israelits to be driuen to the brinke of the seas backset with Pharaos whole power but then he visited them gaue the light of life lead them in peace the way of the troublesome waters Hezekia Susanna Sydrach Misach and Abednego Daniel Jonas Paule Stephen and many the fathers since hath he by their trial brought forth Sathans power sheâ—ed in his deliuerie his secrete iudgements and their weakenes not able to wound or confound his instrumentes which of them selues are of most féeble force For neyther Sennacheribs blasphemie the Priestes accusation the burning ouen the Lions den the Whalles bellie Aretas ire or Saules furie could cutte shorte his deare children of his presence in thâ— middle of these their deathes but euen when their liues were thought with Peters in Herods person to be subiect to present death then did the Lord beyond all expectation deliuer them Finally to some such as he beyond al time hath predestinate in time to be called hath he appeared to their conciences and body in the extreme darknes of their furie in
them to saye forgeue O Lorde our sinnes Hath not the chiefe of them whose lyfe was angelical whose person to death was eftsoons assailed Paule I mean hath not he writtē doth not he therby yet speake that the merit of eternall life is Gods mercie not mans merit And yet speaking of the suffringes and bloud of martired saintes for the testimonie of God and his Gospel he acknowledgeth that the afflictions of them in this life are not worthy of the glory which shall be shewed to them in the triumphant kingdome of our heauenly father But their merit sayth hée is Gods loue who hath chosen them to bée his sonnes and hath sayth hée annexed them with Christ as heires of the inheritance Note well eternall life commeth not by the bloud and afflictions of martirs not by purchase of mens merits but by the inheritaunce geuen vs in Christ thorough Gods mercie Thus good reader thou séest that this popish post is rotten for age and want of heart what shal we saye of the third matter the Popes pardon Surely if neither his God the Masse nor his saintes bloud can helpe neither can his pardons any thing profite thée for they are all of one force haue all a like authoritie I néede not longer to stand in the confutation of such a wicked taile of the people that boasteth himselfe to bée the onely head of Gods church in earth controler in the heauens prince in Purgatorie and Master of Hell. Bée not offended that I call him that tayle of the people for the warrant is geuen me by the holy Ghost so to terme him The auncient and honorable man he is the head saith Esay and the Prophet that teacheth lies he is the tayle of the people The last of Popish merites are good workes which can not merit Gods mercie for either they precede or folow faith If they go before fayth they are sinne and therefore moue Gods furie rather then merite his mercie If they followe faith they then merite not that which of God is giuen before their birth but expresse by such fruite what well planted trée brought them forth But as no trée meriteth life by the Apple which hée beareth but fast setled in the ground liueth of the iuyce that commeth from the roote so the faythful merite not Gods fauour which is their life by their works the fruites of their fayth but setled and grafted into Christ their foundation they doe receiue their common life from the same roote by the sappe his spirite which from him is sent and geuen to euery of them sufficiently to life eternall What shall we then not worke God forbid Alwayes do and continue in that which is good but cause not a good thing commaunded of GOD to become a pestilent euill to thy conscience Liue and walke in good workes which God hath prepared for thée but let them bée done to the same end which GOD hath directed to them Namely that the outward déede in them may expresse thy inward fayth in Christ our Lord. And further that the Church of GOD may bée profited by them But chiefely that by the same many mouthes séeing thy faythfull actes may bée prepared and stirred vp to glorifie thy Father which is in heauen This is the voice of holy scripture declaring the end of good works to be as we haue said but that they merit not Paule playnely sheweth to the Romanes for and to al in the person of Abraham saying if Abraham were iustified by workes he hath wherein to reioyce but not with god For what saith the Scripture Abraham beleeued God and it was counted to him for righteousnes Now to him that worketh the wages is not counted by fauour but by debt hut to him that worketh not vz. to merit thereby but beleueth in him that iustifieth the wicked his faith is counted for righteousnes Thus then we sée that the fathers with vs haue not merited Christ our onely felicitie but Gods mercie and loue surmounting as I may reuerently say his iustice in iust wrath hath not of dutie but by loue geuen and not sold to vs that beleue in him his Sonne Christ that we should not perish but by him being deliuered from our enemies should haue euerlasting life and power in him to serue him in this time of our mortall flesh in all holines vertuous exercises before him al the dayes of our life Moreouer I note that our Lord God will not haue vs to dwell in vncertainties for our saluation and therefore he sendeth vs to his written word where his promises couenant is by his owne spirit set downe to all flesh for the which cause Zacharie hath relation in this verse to the written promises and couenaunt And to the same sayth John also is the Gospell written to vs now that wee should by that written truth beléeue that Iesus is the Christ the sonne of God and that in beleuing we might haue life through his name As for the vnwritten verities of the Papistes as they are counterfet and forged of their owne brayne so can they bring no comfort to the conscience of the wounded man or satisfaction to the thirstie soule that laboureth to séeke the water of life which God doth geue to those that hunger thirst after the same For nothing els worke they but draw to hell all such as trust and are led by them But he that thirsteth after the water of life els where then in the written sacred scriptures can it not be found Séeke this water in the Scripture therfore good Reader and the Lord will make heauenly riuers to flowe out of thée wherewith thou shalt satisfie thine owne conscience in the same Christ fully and be able also to bring many other to the same saluation which the knowledge of the Lord by his spirite in the scriptures hath wrought in thée Last of all in this verse let vs marke diligently that not otherwise thē in christ Iesus God the father maketh vs partakers of his holy couenant Or yet by any other meanes are we kept within the compasse therof then by the cause it selfe which is Christ the Lord the Alpha and Omega of the same So voucheth the Apostle saying in thy séede which is Christ shal al nations be blessed The obseruations of the sixt verse are also comfortable and profitable Comfortable when we perceiue that our sinnes deserue the breach of Gods loue and extreme iudgement yet God in his mercie doth promise sweare to kéepe his word giuen to the fathers and to deliuer vs from the sayd iudgment as the Prophet in the text sayth and the oth which hee swere c. The profite hereof ensueth in the doctrine following In no case may we gather because God is sayd here to sweare that his word without an oth is doubtefull for the Scriptures euery where approue them absolutely Amen