vnderstande the difference betwene the lawe and the Prophetes that we may knowe which is the true sense of the Prophecies and threatnings which pertayne to the lawe For the lawe of God doth manifestly require the perfite fulfilling of the commaundements of God and absolute righteousnesse also And if any man doe not fulfill the commaundementes of God perfitely neyther doth performe absolute righteousnesse then doth the lawe curse him and pronounce him to be guiltie as well of corporall as of eternall damnation After the same maner also the prophecies of the law require righteousnesse the which except a man obserue and performe both corporall and spirituall afflictions are threatned vnto him But the Gospell interpreteth these Prophecies threatnings and maledictions of Christ namely that the prophecies and threatnings of the lawe shall procéede and fall vppon impenitent persons but bicause Christ hath satisfied for sinne and hath reconciled vs vnto God the father therefore he which repenteth and turneth by fayth vnto Christ is no more subiect to the threatenings and curses of the lawe Wherefore this Prophecie of IONAS also saying There are yet fortie dayes and then Niniue shall be destroyed is to be vnderstoode with this condicion if ye doe not conuert repent and amende For that such prophecies and threatenings are so to be vnderstoode many other places of Scripture doe testifie As thys But if that people doe repent them of their euill I also will repent me of the plague that I haue deuised agaynst them Here the Lord by the mouth of the Prophet Hieremie teacheth that the prophecy of destruction or plague is vnderstoode with this condition if the Iewes doe not repent For if they had repēted at the preachings of the Prophetes then Hierusalem had not bene destroyed The Lorde also by the Prophete Ezechiell sayth I liue and will not the death of a sinner but rather that he turne from his wickednesse and liue Here agayne the Lorde plainlye declareth how he woulde haue his Prophecies to bée vnderstoode by the which hée threatneth death or destruction vnto sinners For he sayth often times to a nation to a Citie or to a priuate man thou hast grieuouslye sinned agaynst mée by committing this or that sinne Wherefore thou must of necessitie die not only corporally but also eternally This is a moste true and certaine prophecie but yet notwithstanding we must vnderstande it aright Howe God himselfe in this place of Ezechiell sweareth by himselfe by his lyfe that he woulde not simplye haue the sinner to bée damned but rather that he repent him of his sinne and liue And most sure certayne it is that the sinner should dye eternally if he did not repent but if he doe repent then is the plague before threatned retracted Saint Paule sayth If we denie him he remayneth faythfull he can not deny him selfe And agayne he sayth The giftes and calling of God are such that it cannot repent him of them that is god repenteth him not of his promises All these thinges teach that the promises of the Gospell as concerning the redemption from euerlasting death are most sure and irreuocable But the promises and threatnings of the lawe maye be retracted not from the impenitent vppon whome they remayne most firme and immutable but from the godlye and penitent which turne themselues vnto Christ by fayth which cannot deny himselfe to those that beléeue in him Wherefore when our sinnes doe pricke our consciences and accuse vs before God and doe condemne vs to euerlasting death let vs turne to the gospel to Christ who being made accursed for vs hath purchased euerlasting benediction to vs. ¶ And the people of Niniue beleeued God and proclaymed fasting and arayed themselues in sackecloth as well the great as the small of them This place of the repentance of the Niniuets is worthie the remembrance and diligently to be noted and it is not onely knowne to the godly teachers but also to the hypocrytes sacrificing Priestes and Monkes For these men alwayes in speaking of repentaunce are woont to bring foorth streight way the example of the Niniuets and to exhort their Church to repent by theyr example But they choose out in this place onely those things which make more to the stablishing of hipocrisie than to the setting foorth of true repentaunce For that which the text sayth they beléeued in the Lorde they couertly omit and take onely for their purpose fasting and sackcloth and perswade themselues that they preach true repentaunce when they vrge the church to fast certain dayes and to go woolwarde without linnen For they thinke that by eating of bread onely and by drinking water by going woolwarde their sinnes are done away before God and that these are merits for the which God doth omitte the fault and punishment of sinne And in the meane time they make no mentiō of the true acknowledging of their sinnes of the true fayth in Christ for the which fayth alone God is mercifull vnto vs and of the true fruites of fayth and repentaunce But this place conteyneth a manifest and plaine doctrine of true repentaunce Wherfore let vs omit the dreames of Monkes and learne out of this place true repentaunce which God regardeth and which saueth and deliuereth vs in extréeme perils And first of all before we come to the explication of repentance we must know that the repentaunce is not in vaine in the Church but of great force before God obteyning for vs the true and euerlasting saluation There were sometymes certaine heretikes called Nouations which left to the sinner after he was baptised and had receyued once remission of his sinnes no place of repentance But the error of these men is manifestly refuted by many euident testimonies of Scripture As in the thirde of Hieremie where the Lord speaketh to the people thus Commonly when a man putteth away his wyfe and she goeth from him and maryeth with another then the question is should he resort vnto hir any more after that Is not his fielde then defiled and vncleane But as for thée thou hast played the harlot with many louers yet turne againe to me sayth the Lorde And againe he sayth If that nation repent I will also repent The Parables also in the .xv. of Luke teach the same thing by the lost shéepe by the lost grote by the prodigall sonne Wherefore let vs vnderstand that true repentaunce is most acceptable vnto God and auayleable to saluation sometimes corporally as appeareth here by the example of the Niniuets but alwayes eternally Let vs now therfore sée what we must doe when we haue sinned and for sinne deserued most grieuous punishment both corporall and eternall as the Niniuetes deserued First let vs truely repent and wée shall obtaine not onely remission of sinne but also release of punishment It is not necessary that we should be curious or muche inquisitiue when as this present place brieflye yet notwithstanding both godly and truely
had no hope to be deliuered In so great therefore and horrible daunger I was so affected and perswaded that I thought my selfe as touching my corporall health and lyfe to be reiected and cast out of Gods fauour for I neuer looked to escape alyue out of the Whales bellie and to sée and visite the holy temple at Hierusalem to be conuersant among men agayne Thus we haue the Paraphrasticall exposition of these verses in the which the Prophete sheweth the daunger that he was in and the affection of his minde And now let vs sée what thinges ought specially in these wordes to be considered and obserued First of all the Prophete speaketh vnto God and affirmeth that he was cast by him into the sea But it is manifest that the Mariners cast him into the sea And yet notwithstanding we sée that IONAS pretermitting the Mariners sayth vnto God Thou haddest cast me downe Neyther doth he say the rowles and waues of the sea but he sayth thy waues and thy rowles went ouer mée By the which wordes the Prophete teacheth vs that in aduersitie trouble we ought not to haue respect to the instrumentall causes of aduersitie but rather to looke haue regarde vnto God the author of the same For we are so corrupt and affected by nature that we attribute and referre the causes of our afflictions eyther to men or to Sathan And as it is commonly sayd of the Beare that when shée is hurt shée reuengeth hir selfe on that which is next vnto hir euen so man being offended inueyeth agaynst the next or seconde cause by which hée séemeth to bée offended and hurte But if wée consider well wée shall finde it our parts in all aduersitie and trouble to lifte vp our eyes vnto heauen to God the Father the true and first cause of aduersitie and the author thereof For neyther Sathan nor man nor any other creature can hurt vs no they can not moue one heare of our heade vnlesse before power be giuen graunted of God from aboue One heare sayth our sauiour Christ falleth not to the grounde without the will of your heauenly father And the Prophet Ieremie in his lamentations sayth What is he which sayde that neyther good nor euill shall procéede out of the mouth of the most highest The which thing when good and godlye men considered they turned not themselues to contumelious sayinges to blasphemous othes to execrable and bitter cursinges in aduersitie and affliction as though men or anye other creatures had bene the authors of the same But they rather turned themselues by godly obedience and prayer vnto God which is the speciall author of affliction and trouble For althoughe wée our selues are the principall cause of al our afflictions by reason of our sinne yet notwithstanding we speake not of the deseruing cause of affliction but of the inferring and bringinge cause of afflictions the which is God the worker and giuer of all thinges without whose will and prouidence the little Sparrowe falleth not to the grounde So Iobe sayde The Lord giueth and the Lord taketh awaye when the Chaldees tooke awaye his shéepe and oxen when the fire burned his corne and when the winde ouerthrewe the house in the which his sonnes and daughters were banquetting So Daniell sayeth that the Lorde cast the Iewes out of Ierusalem into all landes when as notwithstandinge the Babilonians did it So IONAS in this place affirmeth that the Lorde cast him into the sea when as it appeareth by the text the Mariners did it But we commonly in aduersitie say The Lord gaue and the théeues haue taken The Lorde gaue and the fire consumed The Lorde gaue and the sea hath drowned contrary to the examples of Iob Daniell and IONAS who had not cause vnto the instrumentall cause but vnto the principall cause Let vs learne therfore by this example in all our trouble to lyft vp our eyes vnto the Lorde God of heauen onely and to impute the cause of all our trouble vnto him that we thereby knowing the will of God may conceyue pacience and be stirred vp to repentaunce and inuocation by the which we maye obteyne the true saluation the which we cannot obteyne if we referre the cause of our aduersitie to creatures which are but the instrumentall cause and so fall to banning and cursing them Secondly we sée that IONAS being in the Whales bellie trembled wyth great horror and feare of death When the waters sayth he compassed me euen to the very soule Whereby he declareth that with a fearefull minde he looked euery moment for present death The Legendes of Saynctes doe declare vnto vs that they suffered death voyde almost of all payne and that they went to their death with no lesse courage and ioye than if a Mayde shoulde prepare hir selfe to the daunce And trulye by the goodnesse of God we haue séene by experience that one man hath gone to his death with a more stoute and valiaunt minde than another For we may not thinke that they are in happye state which are withdrawne by great feare of death for God doth oftentimes exercise his Saints with this feare that they maye haue a perfite féeling and vnderstandinge of the imbecilicie and weakenesse of their flesh and may be stirred vp thereby to be the more feruent in prayer to god Who was more stronge more holye and more mightie than the sonne of God And yet notwithstanding when he should suffer death he was vexed with so great feare that hée trembled and bled a bloudie sweate What shall we saye then Did he not knowe that by this death he shoulde redéeme mankinde and enter into the glorie of his father Yes vndoubtedly he knew it What did he feare then He feared to declare himselfe to be a perfite man and by this feare to satisfie for man and to haue the victory ouer the feare of death that if we at any time shoulde be troubled with feare shoulde not dispaire but haue a certayne and sure hope and call vpon God for deliueraunce For he doth not reiect vs for our imbecilitie but the more weake and fearefull wée are the more care hée hath ouer vs Was not Dauid a valiant man a mightie a worthie and a holy Prophete And yet notwithstanding when hée thought vpon the deceytes and crueltie of his enimies he sayde Fearefulnesse and trembling are come vpon me and an horrible dread of death hath ouerwhelmed me By the which he was made so timerous and so fearefull that he sayde O that I had winges like a Doue for then would I flie away and be at rest What was therfore done to so valiant a Worthie that so childishly he should feare death This feare of it selfe is not impietie but it is partly a punishment of impietie For if man had not sinned he had not béene subiect to the feare of death This part therefore of punishement is left euen in the most holye men first that they maye acknowledge
their naturall impietie by the which they haue deserued euerlasting punishment if God for Christs sake had not forgiuen the same Furthermore that they maye be styrred to the more ardencie of prayer and faith So IONAS also although he were so excellent a Prophete that by his preaching he restored the decayed kingdome of Israell as it is written in the xiiij Chapter of the fourth booke of kings Yet notwithstanding he is nowe compassed about with so great feare of death that in dying he is more cowardly and effeminate than any common or rascall Souldiour But God would exercise him in this feare that he might know his owne estate and so be stirred the more earnestly to pray Wherefore let vs not feare our saluation in the perill of death but rather let vs haue a sure trust hauinge respect vnto Christ the sonne of God who hauing suffered the feare of death hath deliuered vs from the malediction of this feare that although we be wrapped and tangled in the same yet notwithstanding we shall not perishe but be saued for Christes sake Thirdly IONAS is not onely vexed with grieuous feare of death but also dispayreth of hys corporall lyfe I am cast sayth he out of thy sight that is thou hast no more respect vnto me to preserue me in this life neyther shall I sée any more thy holy temple that is I am constrained in this Whale to die that I may go no more to the flocke of thy Church in thy temple What is the cause therefore that the Prophete dispayreth of his lyfe where is his fayth Coulde he beléeue that GOD would saue his soule and not beléeue also that he would preserue and saue his body Can not God rayse vp men from death to lyfe how could he not than preserue those in lyfe which are yet liuing Did he not saue the Israelites in the redde sea howe than coulde hée not saue IONAS in the Whales belly These and such like might be obiected to the prophet dispayring of his corporal life in the Whales belly But the prophet by this desperation sheweth foorth no part of wicked incredulitie or distrust no more than Paule did when he sayde we were grieued out of measure passing strength so greatly that we dispaired euen of lyfe Also we receyued an aunswere of death in our selues For there is two maner of deliuerance or saluation from death The one is corporall the other is spiritual And euerye one truely which beleueth in Christ hath the certaine promise of the spirituall and heauenly saluation and deliueraunce from death For Christ hath ouercome death and sayth Euerye one which béeleueth in me shall not die for euer Wherefore we must in no wyse doubt or dispayre of this deliueraunce and saluation For whosoeuer dispayreth of the same shall die for euer The other is the corporall lyfe the which although it hath béene promised and is perfourmed by God towardes manye yet notwithstanding wée haue not a generall promise at the handes of God that euery one which beléeueth in Christ shall alwayes corporally be deliuered from the perils of death Wherfore séeing this externe and corporall deliueraunce hath not a certaine promise it can not certainly be looked for but we must committe our will to the will of god Wherevpon we may gather that our Prophete IONAS dispayred not of the true and eternall saluation and deliueraunce which hath a certaine promise in the séede of the woman and in the séede of Abraham which is Christ As touching the corporall saluation and deliueraunce séeing it hath not a certaine and expresse promise it cannot conceyue a certayne and vndoubted trust but it must call vpon God and repose and commit the certaintie of the deliueraunce to his will. For so Christ taught vs by his praier that we being compassed about with externe and corporall perils from the which to be deliuered we haue no certaine promise shoulde pray vnto God that he woulde vouchsafe corporally to defende and deliuer vs Let this cup passe sayth our sauiour Christ from me yet not as I will but as thou wilt This if we doe with hart and minde then shall wée oftentimes haue a deliueraunce out of perill vnlooked for when all hope is gone euen as it happened to IONAS to the thrée yong men in the fierie Ouen in Babilon to Daniell Dauid and such lyke Yea in all our trouble God will make a way in the midst of the same whereby we may escape But if this deliueraunce happen not vnto vs yet neuerthelesse our celestiall deliueraunce is most sure and certaine by the which whosoeuer beleueth in Christ and calleth vpon the father in his name shall neuer be destitute Now it foloweth in the other verses what the Prophete did in so great feare of death and desperation of life ¶ But thou O Lorde my God hast brought vp my life againe out of corruption when my soule fainted within me I thought vppon the Lorde and my prayer came in vnto thee euen into thy holye temple They that hold of vaine vanities will forsake his mercye But I will doe thee sacrifice with the voyce of thankesgiuing and will paye that which I haue vowed for why saluation commeth of the lord And the Lord spake vnto the fishe and it cast out IONAS againe vpon the drie lande THe Prophete hath rehearsed the troubles afflictions yea the flames of hell fire with the which he was tormented in the Whales bellie Nowe followeth the other part of the Canticle or Psalme in the which the Prophet sheweth what he did to obteyne delyuerance from such narrowe strayts and to slake the tormenting heate and rage of hell fire Although sayth hée I went downe to the bottome of the hilles and was barred in with earth yet notwithstandinge thou O Lorde God hast brought my lyfe againe out of corruption But hast thou deliuered mée I doing nothing or rather dispairing No truly I was not ydle in the Whales bellye but when my soule was troubled within me I remembred thée O Lord that my prayer might come to thy holy temple We sée here that the Prophet in his extréeme necessitie had no other respect and regarde than to the Lorde himselfe to whome he came by earnest and faythfull inuocation and prayer Whereas many of vs being set in affliction and trouble make haste to impacience to curssing to blaspheming the name of god But by this way we obtaine not deliuerance but our affliction miserie is the more increased For if we couet to be preserued and deliuered in aduersity and trouble we must make hast to pray vnto the Lorde For inuocation is the waye by the which we purchase vnto vs true deliuerance Euery one sayth the Prophet Ioell which inuocateth or calleth vpon the name of the Lord shall be saued The which saying being once vttered by the Prophet Ioell is also repeated by Peter and Paule and therfore worthy to be noted There is nothing that
sayth if thou walke thorow fyre it shall not burne thée So the children of Israell went out of Egypt into the desert for although there was not corne in the desert yet notwithstanding God brought to passe that they might beare it bicause he sent them Manna and gaue them water out of the rock Hieremy walked in the calling of God when he prophesied of the destruction of Hierusalem for the which he was cast not onely into prison but also into the mire to the ende he might séeme to perishe with hunger But God made him able to beare it and wrought meanes by his friendes to delyuer him and to set him at libertie The Apostles were sent out to preache the Gospell throughout the whole worlde but wythout prouision God therefore brought to passe that they hauing nothing possessed all things These sayings and examples of Scripture are set downe vnto vs to this ende that although we must suffer great perils in the vocation wherevnto God hath called vs yet notwithstanding we must go forward voyde of feare hauing a certaine hope that he will delyuer vs in the same ¶ But vpon the next morow against the spring of the day the Lord ordayned a worme which smote the wylde Vine so that it withered away And when the Sunne was vp God prepared a feruent east wind and the Sunne bet ouer the heade of IONAS that he faynted againe and wished vnto his soule that hee might dye and sayde it is better for me to die than to liue IONAS is refreshed and recreated with the shadowe of the wylde Vine but hys ioye lasteth not long bicause the wylde Vine is by and by striken with a worme that it perisheth and IONAS againe is so greatly afflicted that he wysheth death vnto himselfe This is a liuely Image and spectacle of the variety alteration and chaunge of humane thinges in thys worlde And yet notwithstanding we must consider that this alteration was not rashely brought to passe but by the iuste and wise councell of God. At the first IONAS reioyced for the shadowe of the Vine nowe he sorroweth for the destruction of the same Such is the course and rase of mans life One while he reioyceth bicause of prosperitye another while he lamenteth bicause of aduersity And yet notwithstanding these things come not to passe by hap or by chance but by the ordinaunce of god For in that the wylde Vine perished and IONAS thereby brought into great sorrowe and indignation God had a secret meaning For he ment thereby to teache IONAS that if he sorrowed so much for the destruction of a wylde Vine for the which he neuer labored how much more shoulde God be sory for the destruction of so great a Citie as Niniue was of the which he was the creator and gouernour and how much more should he spare so great a multitude Let vs learne therfore by this place that God doth neuer cast vs into any sorrowe or affliction but that he meaneth to teache vs somewhat as to prooue our faith to stirre vs vp to repentance or else to set forth the glorie of his name Furthermore this is not to be pretermitted that IONAS so often wisheth death vnto himselfe when as he greatly feared death before he was swallowed vp of the Whale Here againe the inconstancie of man is plainely set forth vnto vs Oftentimes I wishe for death sayth the Poet and oftentimes I refuse it agayne So Elias one whyle fléeth death and another whyle wisheth for the same This inconstancie of mans nature is diligently to bée noted euen in the holyest men not that we ought to alowe or excuse the same but bicause it is our dueties to correct and amende the like in our selues We can not put from vs all feare of death neyther can we let or cease to wyshe for death in great aduersitie But we must specially beware least wée dispaire in the feare of death whereas we ought to haue a sure trust in Christ and to suffer death with a valyant minde Also we must beware least in wyshing for death we bring death to oure selues but rather we must persist in our vocation hauing a sure hope that although we be beset with daunger on euerie side God will make away in the midst whereby we shall escape ¶ And God sayde vnto IONAS art thou so angry for the wilde Vine And he sayde yea verie angry am I euen vnto the death And the Lorde sayde thou hast compassion vpon a wylde Vine whereon thou bestowedst no labor nor madest it growe which sprang vp in one night perished in another And shoulde not I then haue compassion vpon Niniue that great Citie wherein there are about an hundred twenty thousande persons that knowe not their right hande frō their left besids much cattell God prepared as we hearde before a wylde Vine for IONAS that vnder the shadowe of it he might be defended from the heate of the sunne This wylde Vine being withered IONAS was full of indignation and wrath The Lorde therfore reprehendeth his wrath and declareth for what cause he brought to passe that the wylde Vine should spring vp in one night and vanish away agayne in another For before when IONAS sawe that God did spare the Niniuets he tooke it grieuouslye that the Lorde shoulde shew such clemencie towardes them and was greatly angry Now therfore the Lord teacheth IONAS howe vniust vncharitable and cruell his anger is by a comparison of the wilde Vine Thou art sorye sayth he for the wilde Vine which thou hast not made to growe and shoulde not I be sorie and spare so great a Citie which first of all by my benediction is come to so great maiestie and by the benifites which I haue bestowed vppon them is at this time the monarchie of the whole worlde In the which Citie also there are so manye thousands of infants and yong children which as yet are not come to the age of discretion besides thousandes of cattell which neuer did harme We haue therefore here an example of that saying which is in S. Paules Epistle to the Romanes where it is sayde the inuisible things of God are knowne by visible creatures But among all creatures the naturall affections of men are spoken of For we speake not of corrupt or vicious affections as of pride of enuie of couetousnesse of crueltie of desiring other mens goods or such like which are sinnes the author wherof is Sathan and not god But we speake of the affections of men which God by nature hath ingraffed in vs Of the which affections one is to be sorie if any thing profitable prosper not but perishe as in this place IONAS is sory that the Vine a thing very profitable for him should so sodenly perishe For although this affection was not in IONAS without sinne yet notwithstanding the affection of it selfe was not sinne So the disciple of Elizeus was sory bicause his Axe being a thing profitable