be to his owne hinderanÌ„ce He that loueth his neighbour will not goe about to defile his neighbors bed with fiilthy and execrable whoredome neither will seeke to coÌ„pany with any woman out of marriage beinge maried will haue enioye his owne wife soberly and doe nothinge vnséeminge the honorable estate of matrimonie Hee that loueth his neighbour will not goe about to plucke awaye from him any part of his substance by violence fraude or anye other vnlawefull meanes Hée that loueth his neighbour will not backbite him or make or forge lyes of him to his disprofit any maner of waye To be briefe he wil so deale with his neighbour as he would haue other men to deale with him Nowe after that the apostle hath set downe certaine godly rules touching the duties of loue and holy life least peradueÌ„ture they might sone slyde out our mindes he thought it good and right néedfull here in the ende of the chapter to perswade vs there vnto by certaine waightye and graue reasons By which he goeth about to perswade all men which belieue in Christ to expresse their fayth by good workes and holines of lyfe which thing in déede is not lightly to be regarded but aduisedly to be considered especially séeing that god doth require it euery where of vs in his holy worde For séeing that god in the beginning when as we were nothing but claye and earth did of his onely grace and goodnes breath into vs the spirite of life placed our first parentes in Paradice a place full of all pleasurs and goodnes and afterward when as we by sinne and transgression had lost that worthines that by creacion wée had and were become subiect to death and eternall damnacion he did restore vs againe to lyfe and confirme vs in y same by the promise of Chrst to come who by the innocencie of his manhood hath recouered that for vs which wée before by sinne and disobedience had destroyed These thinges I saye considered we shal be not only verye much vnthankefull but also most wicked vnlesse we constantly defend this our dignitye bought and obtayned with y price of Christ his bloud and aboue al loue that GOD againe that loued vs first so derely and forth with endeuor our selues euery day more and more to liue as it becoÌ„meth vs walking all the dayes of our lyfe in holy feare before the lord And truly to the performaunce of these thinges the consideracioÌ„ of this perell of scripture may very much profyte vs The which I will deuide into thrée parets 1 The first parte contayneth an exhortatioÌ„ to liue vprightly with certaine great weighty reasons to perswade vs therevnto 2 The second parte setteth downe what we must shunne auoide if we will liue vprightly and honestly 3 The third last parte teacheth to put on a newe garment and to fight against our owne wicked lustes and croked affections The apostle chosen vessell of Christ S. Paule did very well way and consider that such is naughtines corrupcion of mans nature that he is not easily perswaded to doe those thinges which the Lord by his word hath coÌ„mauÌ„ded and to leaue those thinges â—ndone which he hath by his worde forbidden And therfore after that he hath commended vnto vs charity giuen vs to vnderstand howe we should liue least we should let these good lessons slyppe out our mindes he seketh to perswade vs thervnto by certaine weightye and graue reasons The first reason which the Apostle here in this text vseth to perswade vs to liue vprighly to forsake sinne and wickednes is takeÌ„ of the circumstaunce of the time the wordes be these And that cosidering the season it is nowe time for vs to awake out of sléepe In which verse he telleth vs that it is now high time for vs to amend our liues and to serue God especially because good oportunitie serueth therevnto and somuch the rather bycasue the cloudes of ignorauÌ„ce vnbeléefe and wicked lustes are now driuen away from vs by the light of the gospell and knowledge of gods truth and therefore it behoueth vs so to order our liues as they which haue y light and which are still conuersaunt in the open sight eies of all men For they which perceue that all mens eies are bent vppon them haue a diligent care least they should doe any thing that is not séemelye and honest bycause they knowe by experience that if they steppe neuer sâ—â— lyttle aside out of the ryght waye then they shall bée espyed and haue many witnesses ready to accuse them of theyr sinne and iniquitie So in like maner it behoueth vs who liue in the sighte of God and his angels hauing Christe the true soÌ„ne of rightuousnesse a vewer and beholder of all our dooings coÌ„mauÌ„ding vs to walke as before him to take aduised héede y we doo nothing that may offeÌ„d his diuine maiesty bicase if we so doo we shall haue Christ himself a witnes against vs who shall iudge in the last day pronounce sentene vpon all flesh acording to the tenour of iustice and equitye But it appereth that â–ª the talke that is here vsed is not plaine but Metaphoricall For the Apostle maketh mencion of sléepe of waking of night of darkenes of lyght of day And therefore before I procéede any further in the text I thinke it méete and conuenient to declare vnto you what is ment by euery one of these wordes to the ende that that which I am about to teach may bée more manifest and playne to you that be my hearers Know ye therefore that by sléepe hée meaneth sinne and a certen sluggishnes and drowsines to imbrace the gospell to heare gods word and to frame and fashion our liues ther after By awaking out of sléepe hée meaneth a certen desire and readines to doe our duties and such things as God requireth of vs in his worde Aristole therfore doth very well and truely cal waking a liberty or fréedom of the sences and hée calleth sléepe a bande or imprysoninge of them For when a man is a sléepe he hath all his sences so tyed vp imprisoned that he hath neither eyes to sée eares to heare nose to smell handes to touche féete to goe nor hart to conceyue but is like vnto a deade corps that lyeth rottinge in the graue But when a man is a wake then is hée ready ynough to sée to heare to speake to run to goe or to doe any thing belonging to a reasonable creature Therefore the Apostle sayth it is now time for vs to awake out of sléepe as though hée should haue sayd before our regeneration before god had geueÌ„ vs eies te se and harts to beleue the truth we were fast a sleepe in sinne and did lye in the shadowe of death and there was nothing in vs but horrible blindnes so that we could not see the maiesty of god we did not féele and fast the mercies of god offered to vs in Christ
take possession of heauen The longer we liue and the nearer that we approch to death the more earnest we ought to be to serue God and the longer that we haue hard the Gospel and beleued in Christ so much the more earnest wée ought to be to obey the Gospell And therefore séeinge that we haue harde the Gospell many yeares in this Realme of England the more deligent we ought to be to serue God and to liue vprightly and to shewe foorth by our lyfe conuersation that we be dooers of the word and not hearers onely deceauinge our owne selues A prentice in seuen yeares wil learne his occupation and be able to doo hys maister good seruice and he will be more shylful the second yeare then the fyrst and so euery yeare better than another The lyttle chyldrne that goe to the Schole goe forwarde in learninge in thrée or foure yeres will not onelye be able to reade but also to write and to speake lattine But alas we haue gonne to schole not seuen yeares but eighttene yeares we haue had many notable Scholemasters and teachers and yet for all this wée be little amended but like very blockheades we tary styll in our ould lessons and will not take forth into good manners and newe conditions Yea we are more slowe to heare Gods worde and to frame our liues thereafter then we were wheÌ„ it was first preached And we go rather backward then forward And what a reproche and shame is it for vs to be more slowe to serue God then we were in the beginning considering we haue tasted of his mercye and grace so longe and so many yeres together and that in such sorte that we may iustly say Non taliter fecit omni nationi He hath not dealt so with any nation as he hath dealt with vs. You knowe that they which runne for a wager that the nearer they draw to the marke the faster they runne and they make the more spéede So the longer that we haue harde the Gospel and the longer that we haue beléeued so much the holier we ought to be in life and conuersation And truely if ther were no other reason to perswade vs yet consideringe as I haue sayd already that our lyfe is shorte and death knocketh at the dores and the daye of Iudgement commeth on so fast that we may looke for it euery houre we ought to be perswaded to liue vprightly and to walk as it be commeth vs. But alas many at the first hearing of the Gospell shewed them selues zelous and ready to folow it But after a while they gaue ouer euen in the middest of their race and waxed weary of well dooing And truely it appereth that ther hath bene many of these slydebackes in all ages but yet I thinke neuer more than at this day Kinge Asa in the beginning of his raigne was zelous in abolishing of Idolatrie in restoring of sound religion but at the length he began to waxe cold in the zeale of the Lorde imprisoned Hananie the Sear for telliÌ„g him of his fault therfore froÌ„ that time forwarde he felt the smart and bitternes of warre was striken by the hand of God with an extreme disease in the féete and at length taken away by death Ioas likewise was a good Kinge in the beginninge of his raigne and hée liued vprightly all the dayes of Iehoida the Priest who was vnto him a faithful counseller gouerned him by the worde of God but when Iehoida was dead he falleth to Idolatrie and forgettinge the kindenes which Iehoida had done vnto him slewe and sâ—oned to death his sonne Zacharia the Prophet of the Lorde For which it came to passe by the iust iudgement of God that he was slyan by the handes of his owne seruaunts The fiâ—e folyshe virgins went forth with their lampes to méete the Bridgroume aswell as the fiâ—e wise but bicause they faynted in the myddest of their race therefore they were shut out from the mariage and euerlasting life Let these horrible examples moue vs to take heede and to beware that we be not weary of well doing least we in the end perish as they dyd But let vs euery day morning euening risinge and goinge to bed consider that our salutation is now nearer then it was in times past and that therefore we ought with a good courage to goe forward to doo our duties throughly to the ende quietly to suffer that little trouble that is behind And euery day more and more to increase in faith to be more holy in lyfe It followeth in the text the night is passed and the daye is at hande Here is an other reason to moue vs to lyue vprightly and it differeth not much from that which he vsed before For the night hée calleth the ignoraunce of God and Christ the time of blindnes vnbelefe By day he meaneth the light of gods truth by which truth Iesus Christ the true sonne of rightuousnes doth appeare vnto vs And therefore in sayinge the night is passed and the day is come on he meaneth that séeinge we are not now ouerwhelmed with the thick mistes cloudes of ignoraunce as the infidels and vnbeléeuinge bée and as we our selues were in times past we ought to behaue our selues as the childrne of the day and light and not to sléepe still in sinne with the wicked and vnbeléeuinge And here by the way wée haue diligently to note and consider that Paule calleth the ignoraunce of Christ and his gospel night and darknes and coÌ„pareth the vnbeléeuers to such as bée fast a sléepe And verie aptly and not without good cause is the ignoraunce of Christ compared to night For as in the night time all thinges are couered with darknes and as we cannot for want of light knowe what is what and discerne black from blewâ— and redde from russet yea sometimes in the night season we thinke a bushe to be a man a dead thing a liuing creature for then as the Poet saith Est color omnibus vnus all things seeme to be of one hue and coulor so when wee were altogether ignoraunt in gods word knewe not Christ we did mistake things through igoraunce we did so erre y we accouÌ„ted superstision to be good deuotioÌ„ thought our selues highly in gods fauour when as wée were fast tied in the diuells setters and almost plunged into the pit of endles damnacioÌ„ For without the knowledge of gods word we are so blind that we cannot discerne betwene iustice and iniurie protection opression religioÌ„ and superstition Christ and Antichrist good euill Paule himselfe beinge ignoraunt of Christ did with great rage crueltie persecute his disciples thirsted after innoceÌ„t blood he himself coÌ„fesseth y he was sometimes vtterly parswaded that he ought to do many thinges against the name of Christ being led thervnto by a rash blind zeal and as yet wantinge the true knowledge of God. The Saduces
vnto vs euery daye for amendment of lyfe sayinge with S. Paule aryse thou that sléepest and stand vp from death and the Lorde â–ª shall giue thée light and yet for all this we sléepe stil And therfore I fear me that many of vs shall dye in our sinnes without repentaunce and haue our soules buried in hell to euerlastinge paine which if we woulde awake and aryse from sinne shoulde dwell in heauen to euerlastinge lyfe And truely we that be heare in thys country be of all others I feare me fruthest of froÌ„ saluacion For although the trumpet of gods word doe dayly sounde in our eares and although we haue the blacke cloudes of darkenes and ignorauÌ„ce driuen away from vs by the shininge light of the gospell yet for all this we walke not as the childrâ—e of light but are to wel acquainted and ouer much occupied in the vnfruitfull workes of darkenes for howe can we be saide to be the childrne of light when as no fruit of godly life appeareth in all our doinges and when our déeds be such towards our neighbours that they shewe and declare there is nothinge but doung and poyson in our hartes And howe can wée be saide to be awake when as we lye still buried in sin drowned in vice séeinge that we daily commit such déedes as stiâ—cke both before she face of god and all good men We say that a man is awake wheÌ„ as he can do the office of a maÌ„ as talke write go run such like So in like maner a man is said to bée a waked out of the sléepe of sinne wheÌ„ as he beleueth truely in Christ loueth his neighbour and walketh in the waies and commaundementes of the Lorde god Kinge Dauid awaked out of this sléepe of sinne wherein he had laine aboue a yeare when as Nathan the Prophet came vnto him reproued him therfore For after that NathaÌ„ had rebuked him for his whoredome hée began to mislike him selfe earnestly for his sinne coÌ„mitted humbled himselfe before God and cryed out I haue sinned against the Lorde sayinge Miserere mei deus secundum magnum miserecordiam tuam c. Haue mercy on me O God according to thy great mercy and accordinge to y multitude of thy compassions wype away my offeÌ„ces Wash me throughly from my wickednes and clense me from my sinne The Prodigall sonne awaked out of the sléepe of sinne wheÌ„ he forsooke his fylthy strompets and retourned home to his father from whom he had rashly departed submittinge him selfe vnto him and sayinge Father I haue sinned against heaueÌ„ and against thée am no more worthy to bée called thy sonne The wicked Iewes which had crucified Christ harkeninge to the sermon of Peter began to awake out of thys deadly sleépe of sinne when as they began to be pricked in the harte and to say vnto Peter the other apostles Men and bretheren what shall we do which examples doe teache vs y men are then said to be awake and to arise out of the sléepe of sinne when as they are hartely sory for the sinne coÌ„mitted and bringe forth the fruit of repentaunce Thus you sée what is ment by sléepe and arising from sléepe And truely it should séeme that the apostle doth vse this Metaphor of sléepinge and wakinge and of night and day that we might haue good occasions to muse and thinke of these thinges as oft as we sée the sonne â—o arise and as oft as we awake out of sléepe and rise out of our beddes For euen as it is the parte of a good husband not to slugge and slepe in his bedde when as the daye appearinge offereth vnto him good occasion to arise and to go about his busines but to get vp with all conuenient spéede and to goe about such thinges as are néedeful to be done So christian men which haue any care of their owne saluation ought not to let slip the good opportunitie to do good offered to them of god but they ought to shewe them selues readye and diligent to doo those things that God hath coÌ„maunded by his worde An other reason which he vseth to perswade vs to arise nowe out of this deadly sléepe is bicause our saluation is nearer then when we beleued it By which reason he sheweth that it had haue to small purpose to tel vs of these thinges and to haue exhorted vs to holinesse of life before we did beleue in Christ and had the knowledge of the truth But séeing that our saluation is nowe nearer then it was in time past we ought in no wise to neglect thys occasion By saluation he meaneth that full and perfect saluation and blessednesse which we shal be parsakers after this lyfe So that the sence and meaninge of Paule is that our fall and perfect salutation is nowe nearer then it was longe agâ—e and when we did syrst begyn to beléeue For as without sayth beleefe in Christ there is no hope of saluation no remission of sinnes no eternall lyfe to be looked for so heauen and eternall lyfe beginne then to appeare when â—â—yrst God giueth a hart to beléeue and eyes to sée the waye to most blessed immortalytie And the more that our fayth encreaseth and the more that we profit in the knowledge of God the nearer and nearer doo we drawe towardes heauen and moste blessed saluation When as a man diggeth in a gold myne the déeper he diggeth the nearer he commeth to gold The further that the trauayling man goeth on his way the nearer he commeth to his iournies ende So the most happy perfect saluasion that we shall enioy after thys mortal life is nearer vnto vs theÌ„ wheÌ„ we first beleued For when as we began first to beleue then did we begin to set forward in our rate iourneye to goo towards heueÌ„ but now we haue gon a great way in our iorney euery day draweth nearer nearer the day of our deth At which time our souls shal be caried vp into heaueÌ„ Again we are now nearer to the day of iudgemeÌ„t and the world is nearer an end theÌ„ it was mani a yere agoe At which time christ shall raise vp our bodyes out of the dust and make vs partakers of that kingdom whereof his blessed body is pertaker of all redy For then shall mortalyty put on immortality corrupcion incorrupcioÌ„ then may we be bould to say O death wher is thy stynge O hel where is thy victory And truely the consideracion of this full and perfecte saluacion whych is nowe nearer then when we first beleued ought to moue vs to leade a holy and Godly lyfe least that through our slouthe and necligence we lose it and giue testimony to the worlde that it doth not appertaine vnto vs. For our necligence must néedes be accounted horrible and shamefull if we now leaue of to serue GOD when as we haue but a short tyme to liue and be at the very poynt to