tried by the fan of persecutions so to go out of the church but they reuolted of their own accord at sundry times vpon diuers occasiōs either because they could not abide to be reproued for their faults offēces or els bicause they wold not submit their neck to the yoke of Iesus Christ range thēselues according to the order of the church as others did or els bicause they could not addict thēselues to the affaires of the world as hath bin said This was the cause why they stūbled at the first stumbling stone whereon they light in the way nay rather they went purposely to séeke the same Othersome haue takē occasiō at the crosse persecutiō And albeit the most part of these men make a shew that they approue our religion yet to the end they may be counted good Catholikes are more superstitious and addicted to ceremonies then others yet so it is that they be very Epicures Atheists which in their harts deride al religion As for this sort of men we may rather desire it than euer hope for it that they wil euer be brought to a true knowledge of their offence that they may turne vnto the Lord For the Prince of darknesse hath stricken thē with such blindnes through the iust iudgement of God that they are in greater darknes of beastly ignorance as touching the knowledge of their fault then they were before they came to the knowledge of the trueth And it fareth with them as with him that in a dark night cōmeth to put out a candle or light wherewith he was inlightened a while for afterward his eies dazel more he is in worse case than before hee had that light Therfore no maruaile if these men be so turned out of the right way that they cannot returne into the same againe For as the Apostle saith If those which haue once bin illuminated and haue tasted of the heauēly gift haue bin made partakers of the holy ghost and haue tasted of the good worde of God and of the powers of the world to come If these I saie fall away it is impossible that they should be renued to repentance seing they crucifie the son of God afresh so much as in them lieth and make a mocke of him Now then forasmuch as these men are hardened in their wickednesse so consequently incurable it were but lost labour to write to them to exhort thē to acknowledge and amēd their fault wherfore my meaning is not to apply my selfe to them in this my writing saue only to denounce against thē the sentence of the holy ghost speaking by the Apostle to the Hebrues that is that séeing they haue sinned willingly after they knew the truth that is to say séeing that being altogether estranged and cut off from the Church of Iesus Christ they take pleasure in iniquitie contrary to the testimony of their owne conscience doe malitiouslie resist the knowen truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinne for them but a fearfull looking for iudgement and a consuming fire which shal deuour the aduersaries And this is that which we both can will saie touching these men at this time But as for you my brethren to whō I now speak God wil not haue me to reckō you amōgst those mē for if it were so then would not I take so much pains as to write to you But as I know that in the more part of you there was more frailty thā malice hatred against the trueth so likewise I haue a good hope that after the lord through his goodnes hath beheld you with the same eie wherwith he beheld S. Peter he will make you come out of the house of that wicked Priest Caiphas where Antichrist his ministers pursue Iesus Christ to death spit in his face with mockes railinges and blasphemies most horrible I hope also that after you haue wept bitterlie for your fault you shal be reconciled to God and receiued to mercie Notwithstāding it is verie necessarie that you be awaked vp thorowly touched least you lye sléeping in your sinne and so flatter your selues whether by excusing or lessening your fault or by féeding your selues with I cannot tel what vaine hope and so fall finallie into the same hardnesse and obstinacie whereinto manie are fallen who when they first began to fal awaie made none account alwaies to continue in the filthie sinke but did hope yea persuade themselues to come out thence in time notwithstāding they haue suffred thēselues to be lulled fast asléep by the world in the bed of their tender delicate flesh they driue off frō daie to daie waiting for some golden world wherein the Gospel of Iesus Christ might be preached without contradiction and the profession of religion should no longer bring with it the crosse afflictions But what They sée that in stéede of hauing an ende these afflictions continue naie are redoubled contrarie to their hope forasmuch as they neuer as yet learned this lesson which Iesus Christ teacheth all those which wil followe him that is Mat. 16 that they forsake thēselues and take vp their crosse that they maye beare it during their whole life and that being thus prepared they follow him Forasmuch thē as these men see thēselues deceiued by their vain hope and that they neuer tooke any time to bethinke themselues and to ponder their fault and to marke and consider the iudgements of God vpon those that are so slacke and disloiall as to flie from their ensigne at suche time as they are to enter the battaile they are resolued to forsake all and to lie tumbling in their filth that they may perish miserably yea eternally rather than they will suffer euen a little with Iesus Christ that they may raigne and be glorified with him eternally And now my brethren to the ende you may make your profite of their follie and that by other mens harmes you may learne to be wise you must beware that you take not the same way which they haue taken but cōtrariwise enter you rather into your selues and examine your conscience throughly without flatterie giuing the same iudgement of your fault and pronouncing the same sentence of condēnation against your own selues which you somtimes gaue vpō these which had vsed the like slacknes disloialty to the end that iudging your selues you may not bée iudged of the Lord as saith the Apostle And that you may the better do this you must rather hearken to the voice of God and to the witnesse of your owne conscience which accuseth you then to the enchaunting voice of that olde Serpent who to the ende he may seduce you as he hath alreadie made too great a beginning ceaseth not to whisper into the eare of your conscience that which he sometimes said to our first parents and hath God said you shall not eate of euerie tree of the Garden c. And if he cannot bring
his matters so about that hee can take from you all feeling of your offence and all perceiuing and vnderstanding of the iudgement and vengeance of God he wil suggest vnto you by the flesh and the world diuers excuses wherewith you may cloake and lessen the same making you beléeue if possibly he can that it is not so horrible as men say it is or els he will giue you his accustomed cuppe of slumbering besméered with some hope to returne to God againe when the tyranny is ouerpast but he will beware that he do not tel you that all that which he doth tendeth to draw you awaie by little little from the obedience of God your father that he maie hale you to eternall destruction but on the contrarie he wil perswade you if he can that hereby you prouide for your good and comfort Notwithstanding you know that he is a lier and disceiuer for when he went about to blind the eies of our first parēts he told them your eies shal be opened and when he sought to make them deuils like to himselfe he said vnto them you shal be Gods and intending to make them subiect to the first and second death he promised them immortalitie and life saying you shall not die Beware then how you giue eare to his deceitfull and wicked counsels to the inticements and inchauntments of this inchaunter who is an enimie to your saluation but rather hearken to the voice of that Soueraigne Phisition who will not onelie make you feele and knowe your griefe the daunger wherein you are and the meanes whereby you maie prouide for your curing but will also heale you him selfe if your selues be not a stop and hinderance to it First of all then my brethren I moste earnestlie beseech and beseech you againe in the name of this great God and father of mercy that you will earnestlie consider how many waies your fault deserueth condemnation before God You know that the most vile vice and that which both most of all deserue to bee punished by all lawes both diuine and humaine is this to wit if a childe do so degenerate that he withdraw himself from submitting himselfe to a good father and mother yea denyeth them to be his parents and doth become a seruaunt and slaue to a straunger that is euen their verie deadly enimie and in whose house he shall be constrayned to heare a thousand speeches tending to their dishonor and reproche or if a subiect bee so vnthankefull vnfaithfull disloyall and trecherous to his natural Prince at whose handes he had receiued manie benefites and great honour as to reuolt from his obedience and to band himselfe with his mortall enimie which maketh open war against him And yet you haue dealt thus For the Lorde had sometimes graunted you such fauour as to drawe you out of Sathans family whose slaues you were by nature that he might adopt you in his sonne Iesus Christ that hée might make you sit at his own table and traine you vp as his owne children and make you inheritours of his kingdome but you are departed out of his house and hauing denyed him to bee your father you haue quite forsaken him that you might become slaues to Sathan in whose Synagoge your eares shall bée polluted with infinite and horrible blasphemies against the Maiestie of God You had a good mother which is the Church of Iesus Christ which had conceiued you in her wombe by the incorruptible séede of the word of God which had brought you forth not without great panges and thrals of afflictions and persecutions had giuen you sucke with her two breasts which are the olde and new testament and which had brought you vp and noursed you with great care bearing your infirmities and couering and wiping awaie your filth and in lieu of all this you haue forsaken her denying her to be your mother and haue euen as it were throwne your selues into the armes of a straunge strumpet or rather of that great whore of Babilon which in stéed of giuing you good and wholesome nourishment giueth you to drinke the poison of her vncleannes and abhominable whoredomes that your soules maie thereby be infected and destroied and she ceaseth not to make deadlie war against your chast mother the spouse of Iesus Christ and to murther all her children Furthermore you had a good king and Soueraigne Lord euen Iesus Christ the eternal sonne of God who loued you so dearelie that he gaue himselfe vp to death for your sakes which were his enimies who had deliuered you from the tirannie and slauerie of the deuill who had redéemed you not with gold or siluer or anie other corruptible thing but by his own pretious bloud which he shedde for you and not onelie so but had ouer and besides graunted you so great honor as to make you his fellowes that hee might make you partakers of his graces of his glorie and of his celestial kingdome and yet for all this as soone as hee summoned you to the combate of the crosse that he might make you go the selfe same way which he had gone before you to the ende that after the victorie hée might giue you the crowne of glorie and immortalitie you turned your backes and forsooke him yea you renounced him if not al at least the greater part of you by the most execrable abiuration which that infernall Dragon did euer spue out of his stinking mouth against the Maiestie of God and that which more is you haue inrolled your selues vnder the captaine of all impietie which is Antichrist of Rome the sworne enimie of the sonne of God and of your saluation Sée what an heape of backslidinges disloyalties and most vile vnthankefulnes here is But now I do wel perceiue that those which will not giue glorie to God nor giue eare to his worde but take counsell of Sathan to confirme themselues in their errour will not bee vnprouided of replies and will not bee ashamed some such there bee to séeke to couer or lessē their fault alleadging that olde saying of time seruers and of certaine backsliders which knowe ful wel yea in their hearts condemne the abuses impieties superstitions and Idolatries of Poperie and are constrained to confesse the truth to wit that that is the verye true religion which we professe through the grace of God Notwithstanding because they are afraid to beare the blows they will not march on vnder the banner of Iesus Christ but to the end they maye applye themselues to the worlde they follow the banner of Antichrist Moreouer if a man come to admonish them and to tell them their duetie they replye that albeit they serue the deuill with their bodies yet they cease not to be Christians and children of God forasmuch as they reserue him the chiefe which is the Spirite wherewith they serue and honour him and though they haue forsaken the church of Iesus Christ and are fallen from their profession of the Gospell and haue renounced religion
in the administratioÌ„ of the sacrameÌ„ts to wit that they separate those thinges which God hath coupled togither that is the preaching of the worde which is as it were the soul of the sacraments and theÌ„ they rent in péeces the holie Supper of the Lord if that which they cal their CommunioÌ„ caÌ„ be the true supper for they excoÌ„municat the simple people froÌ„ one essential part of the supper namelie froÌ„ the cup contrarie to the expresse commandement of Iesus Christ who saith Drinke ye all of this And it is said in another of the EuaÌ„gelists that all of them dranke thereof Mat. 26. Mar. 14. Consider then with what conscience you could assent to such falshoods and iniquities But this is not al come to that which followeth afterwarde consider I praie you how many pernicious errors horrible blasphemies are contained in the sixt and seuenth articles First of al you haue béene taught by the woorde of God that all hope of our saluation resteth in the onlie oblation which Iesus Christ made of his bodie vppon the crosse to appease the wrath of God towarde his elect that this sacrifice of the sonne of God was once so offered Heb. 7. 9. as saith the Apostle that it neither can nor ought to bée reiterated béeing most intire and perfect and therefore most sufficient to reconcile vs to God Notwithstanding you renounce this or at least seeme to make it imperfect and insufficient when you acknowledge that the masse is a propitiatorie sacrifice for the quick and the dead that is to saie that it is of suche power as to purchase Gods fauour to appease his wrath and to make satisfaction for sinnes and in summe to redeem and saue vs so that you put the masse an execrable idol in place of Iesus Christ spoiling him of the honor which to him beloÌ„geth which is to be our sole soueraign priest and onlie propitiatory sacrifice which alone hath this vertue to appease the Father to make him become fauorable to vs. Furthermore you auouch an horrible blasphemie against the manhood of Iesus Christ when you confesse this goodly doctrine of their transubstantiation And surely this errour is of such importance that it bringeth which it an infinit number of other errours and spoyleth vs of al hope of saluation if we receiue it For if Iesus Christ were not verie man he shoulde not haue truelie died for vs and so haue satisfied Gods iudgement for the sinnes of men and so consequently we should as yet remaine in death But now he should not haue bin verie man like to vs in al thinges except sinne Hâ—b 2. 4. as saith the Apostle if his body had béene inuisible as some ghost vnder a morcell of bread at such time as hee ordained his Supper together with his Apostles and if the Bread and Wine were transubstantiated into his bodie and into his blood by whispering certaine woordes which they call Sacramental woordes which is a kinde of charme so that hee was there fleshe and bone as thicke and as great as when hée was vpon the true trée of the crosse as these men most impudently affirme it should folow that the wicked ones vnbeleuing of the world coulde receiue Iesus Christ that he should be in daÌ„ger to be gnawn of vermin not to speak of a thousand other errors daÌ„nable absurdities which should require too long time if I should stande to rip theÌ„ vp Also if Iesus Christ should euery day come down betwéene the Priests hands that which is coÌ„tained in the articles of our faith should not be true that he is asceÌ„ded into heaueÌ„ where he shal be as touching his humanity vntil he come at the last day to iudge both the quick the dead as is coÌ„firmed by S. Peter who saith that the heauens must containe him Act. 3. vntil the restoring of al things c. Furthermore if he wer at one time in an infinite number of places as touching his humanitye his humane nature shuld be coÌ„uerted into the diuine nature which alone is infinite To be short if the doctrine of the papists touching the maÌ„hood of Iesus Christ were true theÌ„ were he not very man so consequently not our mediator And if this were so theÌ„ sholud it folow that we should be as yet vnder the curse of God Marke theÌ„ what you haue done But ouer and besides coÌ„sider that by allowing that doctrine of transubstantiation you make your selfe as guilty of that cursed idolatry which is committed in worshipping a morsell of paste or bread as if it were the sonne of God I omit to speake of another errour which issueth out of their transubstaÌ„tiation wherof they make mention about the end of the seuenth article where they say that vnder both kindes is wholly contayned the body of Iesus Christ They had forgotten to saie the blood that they might thereby continue their concomitaÌ„cy or accompanying of both kinds vnder one which they haue forged in their own brain to the end they might maintain this sacrilege in that they haue robbed the simple people of the vse of the cup. But there is not in al that so much as one sparkle of truth and yet you allow all these iniquities by this cursed abiuration As for Purgatorie which you confesse in the eight article doe you not perceiue what violence you offer to the sonne of God Iohn 1. 1. Ioh. 1. 1. Ioh. 2. Heb. 1. and what iniurie you offer to your selues You know that Iesus Christ is that Lambe of God which taketh awaie the sinnes of the world that his bloud cleanseth vs from all sinne that he is the attonement or propitiaton for our sins that he hmselfe hath purged them c. Lo it is he which is our true Purgatorie And yet you coÌ„fesse another making of none effect so much as in you lieth the vertue of the precious blood of this vnspotted lambe and renouncing the true purgation of your sinnes Furthermore Mat. 4. Ioh. 14. Ioh. 15. 1. tim 2. 1. Ioh. 2. know you not that there is one onelie God whom we must worship and reuerence to whom we must pray vppon whom we must call and that in the name and mediation of Iesus Christ alone who is our onelie mediatour aduocate and intercessour And yet consider what confession you haue made in the ninth Article contrarie to your owne conscience that is that you must worship praie vnto and call vpon Saintes which is manifest idolatry forasmuch as inuocatioÌ„ is a kind of worshipping And furthermore you auouch that the saints are our aduocates intercessors which is to robbe Iesus Christ of that honour which belongeth to him alone But you doe woorse then this comes too when you confesse that you must woorshippe or reuerence the reliques of the saide Saintes vnder which woordes they comprehende not onelie the bones and reliques of dead Saintes but also the stinking and rotten carkaises of manie
yet was not this in heart and with affection but onely in word But all these allegations are so féeble and these replies are so friuelous that they deserue none answere at all And I am verie certaine that the moste part of you my brethren haue sometimes reiected them as not worthie to be receiued and of none importaunce when they would haue paied you with such monie yea I am sure you laugh at them euen at this time in your owne hearts and that for good cause For where can you finde that the Lord hath permitted vs to make such a partition between our soule and bodie as with the one to serue God and the deuill with the other Is not the Lord the creatour and sauiour aswell of the one as of the other Wil not he be glorified in both We knowe that the Apostle will haue vs to offer not onelie our spirites but also our bodies to the Lord in Sacrifice that is that we consecrate and dedicate our selues to the seruice of God both in soule and bodie And that which more is our bodies are called by the Apostle the Temples of God and must be made partakers of his glorie aswel as our selues euen then when we shall be fashioned according to the glorious bodie of the Sonne of God It foloweth then that we must not serue the deuill therwith polluting them with superstitions Idolatries but we must kéepe them in al purenes and holines for the seruice of our god For what husband is he that is so foolish which would take such an answere for paimēt at his wiues hand and that would suffer her to make such a partition If a woman were so impudent and shameles as to speake to her husband on this wise my husband I prostitute my bodie indéed to such such and make it common euerie daie in the brothelhouse but I reserue the better part for you and that 's mine heart wherwith I loue you serue and honor you I praie you should not such a woman deserue to be cast off of her husband as a mocker or rather as a common vile and detestable harlot It is most certain that she should What will the Lord then do who is ielous ouer his glorie and our saluation who hath espoused vs to himselfe that keeping our faith and promise made to him wee maie bee pure and chast in bodie and mind What will he do I say if wee pollute our bodies in Idolatrie which is spirituall whoredome Wherfore we see that this is a vaine excuse for indeede if this partition coulde haue beene made with a good conscience that is to saye to prostrate the bodie before Idols and to keepe the heart for God thinke wee that Daniell and the three Hebrue children would not rather haue vsed this opportunitie then to haue exposed their life to so great dangers séeing there was nothing required at their hands saue onely an outward kinde of worship But what shall we say of so manie martyrs whose memorie is fresh as yet Who would rather shed the last drop of their bloud or bee burnt aliue with soft fire then once to bowe their knée before Baal howe little soeuer it were Why did they it not for safegard of their life to preserue it from so cruell torments and from the fire Because they feared eternall torments and the fire of Gods wrath who abhorreth such Idolatrie what protestation soeuer wee make that wee keepe our heart whole and pure for him for he will haue both the one and the other Now it may appeare by that what account we ought to make of that other replye which manye amongst you haue in their mouth when a man studieth to set before their eies the filthines of their fault If I tel you that you haue abiured and forsworne christian religion and receiued and allowed al the abhominations of the great whore also that you haue denyed the sonne of God and acknowledged this Idole of Antichrist putting him as it were in his place you wil say that you did it not with your heart affection but onely in word to content men and you thinke that you may escape by this goodly distinction But the Lord wil not iudge you after your subtilties sophistrie which shal vanish away like smoake when we shall appeare before the throne of his Maiestie He hath not said Hee which shall confesse me with the heart and affection him wil I confesse before my father in heauen and before his Angels he which shall deny me with the heart him wil I also denie but hee speaketh of confessing and acknowledging those which shal confesse him before men and of reiecting and denying those which shal haue denyed and renounced him before men And what is it to confesse Iesus Christ before men It is to make open profession of his Gospel to make frée cōfession of his truth yea to feele it with our bloud if neede bee after the example of this cloude of martyres which shall stand vp in iudgment against you at the great daie On the other side what is it to denie Iesus Christ before men is it not to do euen as you haue done And to do that which you do as yet dailie But least you thinke that I charge you to sore and without cause I beseech you consider with an equall and quiet mind what this cursed and detestable abiuration which you haue made importeth the which I cannot read without an inward trembling especiallie when I behold the cursed and miserable estate of so manie silie soules which by this meanes are caught in Sathans net wherein they continue intangled vntill such time as they be vnited again with the Church of Iesus Christ But admit there be some few among you which haue exempted themselues from making the foresaid abiuration yet you cease not to denie Iesus Christ to be your sole Sauiour to tread his bloud vnder your féete and to renounce the merit of his death and passion when by your presence assistance you approue that abhomination of the masse which is the seale and detestable sacrament of this abiuration and renouncing of the sonne of God and as it were a poisoned heape of all the impieties of popish doctrine But for the better explaning of al this let vs consider the thinges more distinctlie not that I purpose to rippe vp all the pointes that are comprised in this goodlie fourme of confession and abiuration and to refute them by reasons and plaine testimonies of Scripture for then I should make a great volume touching that matter alone which should be a superfluous thing seeing I should then hādle and do againe that which hath bene alreadie done most excellentlie by manie excellent seruants of God in our time speciallie by him who made not long agoe the answer to the profession of faith published against those of the reformed church by the Archbishop Munkes of Bourdeaux in which answere framed according to the word of god
in great reputation amongst others which were reputed as torches and lanternes to giue light to others I say when the poore simple people which were but weake saw you generally turne your backes so cowardlye surely it was vnto them marueilous offensiue a very great discouragement so that a great many did yéeld when they were tried and fel through your occasiō And surely it is no thankes to you that all of them did not the like for surelye I will speake this to your shame that many amongst you haue bene so miserable and cursed as to be Sathans to others tempting and pricking them forward to do as you did O cursed wretches was it not inough for you to destroy your selues vnlesse you must also become giltie of the destruction and ruine of your poore brethren And now assuredly you are such if you and they die in this estate You oppose your selues yet after another sort against the aduauncement of Gods glorie and of the kingdome of his sonne Iesus Christ yea you hinder it so much as in you lyeth for you haue done what you can to spoyle the the poore church of Iesus Christ of Pastors forasmuch as you do not only gréeue them but also dishonour and disfame them so that they must néeds be ashamed confounded by meanes of you For séeing you do so miserably and cowardly reuolt from Christian religion and renounce the truth of god which they haue preached vnto you do you not secretly or rather openly declare that you count thē as false prophets seducers which haue deceiued you fed you with lyes Now God is witnes your owne conscience doth reproue you of the contrarie But notwithstanding séeing their hope to bee frustrate that they are so simply rewarded at your hāds for their paines yea that they haue euil repaied vnto thē for good shal not this discourage them from imploying thēselues hereafter about the worke of your saluation Assuredly if they had not greater regard to the glory of God then to your vnthankfulnes if they were not more desirous of your saluation then you your selues they would quite giue ouer all it may be there will be some that will do so indéed also many young men which would haue dedicated themselues to the studie of diuinitie that they might serue in the ministrie will begin to loath the same through your fault So that it is to be feared that it will come to passe that there will very few be found which will till and sow in such euill ground wherof they shall reape so small fruites And what can we expect from that but beastly brutish ignorāce such as was sometimes and is as yet in poperie corruption of the pure seruice of God and finally miserable desolation Now the Lord wil not leaue of to finish his worke and to send labourers into his haruest when hee shall sée time Yet so it is that you shall neuerthelesse be alwaies giltie of the foresaide euils in as much as they be fruites and effects of your cowardlines and vnthākfulnes howsoeuer the Lorde do turne them to some other end by his infinite goodnes You sée then howe manye monstrous crimes are coupled with your fault fal but yet this is not al for there be an infinite number of other sins that depende thereupon whereof I touch only the most notorious and that without vsing anye great discourses and amplifications as néed doth require that I may paint out the same vnto you for I content my self with setting thē down only for auoiding prolixitie Notwithstanding it standeth you vpon to thinke vpon them and to weigh thē wel that you may be brought to detest thē otherwise they shal be ordered before your face in the great day of the Lord. Consider then I pray you the ouer and besides that which hath bene touched heretofore you haue committed and do commit such an euill as is no smal one for by your backslyding you condemne not only those which stand as yet at this day through the grace of God in the profession confession of the Gospell as if they were fooles and senseles or els mad men but you doe also condemne all those which are dead in our Lord and principally a great number of the faithfull seruants of God and of holy martyres who haue sealed with their owne bloud that doctrine which you haue abiured and which did choose rather to loose their goods honours and other commodities of this life to be banished and chased frō their owne houses to be depriued of their fathers mothers wiues children kinsfolke frends to be cast in prisō amongst serpents and toades to be bound chained beaten railed vpon racked and tormented by tormentors and to suffer all manner cruelties and torments yea they chose rather to die the most cruel deaths that could be inuented then to pollute them selues in the superstitions idolatries of poperie which you allowe now by your reuolting do miserably defile both your soules also your bodies You condemne all those I saye as if they had bene vndiscréete men or some wicked heretikes on the contrarie you iustify the carnal and tyrānous barbarisme of tyrants persecutors of vniust iudges and cruel tormētors who haue murthered and put them to death And yet your owne conscience telleth you that they suffered for righteousnes sake and gaue their liues for the name of Iesus Christ and that they are therefore blessed as Iesus Christ pronounceth them to be On the other side that those which put them to death are accursed vnhappie and detestable yea very instrumentes of Satan for whom there is prepared an horrible iudgement the vengeance of God which they shal not escape howsoeuer it be long a comming Therefore you are so muche the more without excuse before God séeing that you condemne those whom you know to be iust and innocēt and approue and iustifie those whom you know to bee wicked and vngodly He which condemneth the iust and iustifieth the wicked they are both alike abhominable before the Lorde saith Salomon If you saie that you intende no such thing you saie nothing touching this matter which I doe not willingly beleeue but I aunswere also that the Lorde doth not iudge men according to their intentions if they bée not ruled according to his worde Know you then that that which you haue done and do as yet so long as you continue reuolts maketh you guiltie of al the innocent blood which hath bin shed vntil this day by the executioners and Souldiers of Satan and of Antichrist and of al the iniuries and outrages which the enemies of GOD and of his trueth haue committed and doe as yet committe dailie against the poore members of Iesus Christ who cannot but count you his enemies so long as you are on their side which make warre against him What answere will you make to all these points when you shal appeare before the iudgement seat
incurre feare to indure the discōmodities disturbāces of banishment such like things They could wel finde in their hearts to goe into paradise by that large wide way gate but Iesus christ saith that this is the waie that leadeth to destruction that the narrow waie strait gate leade to eternall life So that these men are the more guilty before God the lesse excuse they haue But furthermore you wil obiect that I am too rigorous and that I haue no regarde to mans infirmitie that there is none so good but he doth offend c. I answere that your fault cannot be sufficientlie exaggerate it is so monstrous and scandalous and it is most necessarie that you be brought to the sight of your maladie and miserie that you maie be cured And as for the infirmitie of our flesh I know I praise God that it is greater than I can expresse the Lord knoweth it better than we and he taketh pitie and compassion thereon but yet for al that he wil not take our excuses which wée alleage for paiment for it ariseth from a corrupt fountaine that is from sinne yea it is sinne in it selfe and principallie hee condemneth it when wee nourish it cherish it and entertaine it in our selues when wee take pleasure and flatter our selues in it when we wil make a buckler of it to couer and defend our faultes we ought rather whē we procéed against our selues to begin here that is first of al to condemne our infirmitie as beeing a fruite of our corruption and afterward our sluggishnes and slacknesse in that we despise the means which God setteth before vs to strengthen our selues with al in the power of his spirite If during the time of your prosperitie at which time the Lorde graunted you grace to take some rest or at least to take some breath you had wel known your infirmity and that this knowledge ingendering in you a distrustfulnesse of your selues had stirred you vp to craue help at Gods handes euen the strength of his spirite you should not haue fallen into this inconuenience If you saie that the loue of your fathers mothers wiues and children their prouocations their cries their teares the desire of their good and commoditie and the feare you had to leaue them opē to all manner perils and dangers or to suffer and indure anie harme if you alleage I saie that al these thinges were of great force to make you stagger and to abate your courage I graunt that these are great trials namely to those that haue a tender heart and that a man must be furnished with singular strength from aboue that he may be able to ouercome al those things I saie moreouer that this humane natural affectiō is laudable approued of God whē it is wel ruled for he that careth not for those that belong vnto him is worse than an Infidel saith the Apostle 1. Tim. 5 but I saie therwithall that this affection hath not onelie béene disordered in you Deut. 6. Mat. 24. but also strāgely disordered vnbrideled For you know what that meaneth which the Lord requireth at our handes that we loue him with all our heart strength thought and vnderstanding that is to say that there be nothing in the world neither without nor within vs that may be able to turne vs aside how little soeuer from the intire and perfect loue which we owe vnto our God and father moreouer that we loue nothing in this world of all that which we can and ought to loue no not our selues but onely in him and for his sake or to speake plainely that there bee nothing which we loue properlie but him alone You know also what Iesus Christ saith that if we preferre the loue of our fathers mothers wiues children brethren sisters and of our owne life before the loue which we owe vnto him yea if we hate not all these thinges for the loue of him we can not bee his disciples and we are not worthie of him This was then a marueilous excessiue and disordered affection that carried you away so farre as to make you forget the loue of your God and father and of your sauiour and redéemer Iesus Christ Furthermore I aske you this question what greater good and commoditie yea what greater honour you could desire and procure for your wiues and children then to shew them an example of true godlines and of the feare of God of patience and Christian constancie To carry thē with you if néed had beene into some place of safetie where God might be called vpon serued and honored And there to learne in good time to beare the crosse of Iesus Christ that they might haue this honor together with you namely to weare the liuerie and coller of his order that you might together be partakers of this blessing of the sonne of God Ma◠5. Blessed are they which suffer persecution for righteousnes sake for theirs is the kingdome of heauen and of that whereof S. Paule speaketh that if wee suffer with him we shall raigne with him and shall be glorified with him furthermore how could you better saue them from danger and prouide for their safetie and your owne then to bring them to this stronge dungeon of the house of God that is into the church which is without rifts and frée from vndermining and which is founded vpon a rocke and garded by the celestial armies which lye incamped round about Mat. 16. Psal 34. Ps 125. being couered and inuironed on euery side with the fauour of the almightie being garded fortified and defended by the inuincible force of the spirit of God To be briefe what better thing could you do for those that are of your bloud and for your own soules then to further and procure the saluation the life and the eternall felicitie of you all But you haue taken a cleane contrarie course for you haue procured their perdition their dishonour and eternall confusion together with your owne and haue drawen them and your selues into farre greater danger then if with your owne handes you had deliuered them vp to the moste cruel bloudie cutthroates of the world or els if you had committed them to the mercie of Lyons Tygers and Beares or of other bruit beastes which are mercilesse For first of al of what benefites fauours blessings of God haue you depriued your selues together seing you haue cut your selues off frō the church of Iesus Christ from the communion of saints wtout which there is no blessednes felicitie saluation neither anie life whatsoeuer but all vnhappines cursednes death ruine and destruction What duetie haue you done to edifie them when you shewed them the example of your cowardlines trecherie and disloialtie What account will they make to come to Christian religion séeing you make so small account thereof What reuerence will thy giue to Iesus Christ and his doctrine seeing you renounce the same so cowardlie
whom the sonne of God did shedde his precious bloud Rom. 14. Set before you the threatninges which are denounced against those that pollute the temple of God 1. Cor. 3. Eph. 4. which make sad the spirite of God the holie Angels and all the whole Churche Remember that which you once learned Luke 12. that the seruant which knoweth his maisters will and doth it not shal be punished double and that it shal be easier for those of Sodom and Gomorrha at the last daie Mat. 12. then for those that haue despised the day of their visitation To be brief iudge you what paine and punishment he deserueth who putteth in place of Iesus Christ the execrable idol of Antichrist abiuring the trueth of the one and approuing the falshood of the other Finallie feare least you be inwrapped in that fearefull iudgement which the sonne of God denouÌ„ceth against that cursed BabyloÌ„ Apoc. 18. into whose bosom you haue thrown your selues and returne into Noahs arke again if you will escape the floud of the wrath of God which threatneth the whole earth Heb. 10. It is a fearful thing saieth the Apostle to fal into the hands of the liuing God The temporal iudgements which the Lord did execute vpon Sodome and Gomorrha vpoÌ„ the Iewes others and which he executeth dailie vpoÌ„ his enemies are in very deed terrible fearfull and make mens haire stand vpright when they heare of them But this is nothing in comparison of the fearefull iudgement which must bee executed against the wicked after this life Es â—4 2. Cor. 2. for as the eie hath not seene the eare hath not hearde and mans heart hath not conceiued nor comprised the good things which the Lord hath prepared for these which loue honour him so likewise on the contrary we may saie that truelie that the paines the anguishes the eternal torments which are prepared for the daÌ„ned in hel cannot be compreheÌ„ded by mans vnderstaÌ„ding For if we could comprehend theÌ„ the onlie thinking therupon should cause in vs an intollerable astonishmeÌ„t feare The holy scripture doth sometimes represent them vnto vs by vtter darknes by the prison by eternal bands by wéeping gnashing of téeth Mat. 12. 1. Pet. 3. Apoc. 20. Mat. 13. Es 66. Mat. 9. mat 19. mar 9. by the worme that gnaweth without ceassing which neuer dyeth and by fire that neuer is quenched not that there is any proportion betwéen the eternall tormentes and the most extreme dolours and distresses that a man can imagine in all these thinges but to the end it may apply it selfe to our dulnes and giue vs some vnderstaÌ„ding of those infinite and vnspeakeable paynes which the damned shal suffer it describeth them vnto vs by similitudes taken from thinges which are terrible and fearful Now this is not to the ende we maie be put in anie vaine feare as litle children are made afraid with scarrebugs but that we maie be throughlie afraid indéede of the iudgements of God that we maie walke before him in feare that we maie hate sinne which inflameth Gods wrath against men and that it may make vs séek peace and reconciliation with God when wee haue offended him This is iâ— also the ende for which my brethren I put you in mind of these things forasmuch as I desire your coÌ„uersion and saluation What must you do theÌ„ you must set before your eies the greatnes the foulenes the filthines and deformitie of your fault that you maie be confouÌ„ded and ashamed in your selues that you haue shewed your selues so cowardlie and so vnthankful towarde so good a father that you maie be beaten downe with terrour and trembling and with feare of the iudgement of God which you haue deserued 1. Cor. 11. that you maie iudge and condemne your selues that you bee not iudged and condemned of the Lorde to make short that you maie come like poore offenders with ropes about your necks to craue pardon at Gods handes casting downe your selues at his féete by true humilitie yea euen plunging your selues as men say in the déep dungeons of hell Marke héere where your conuersion must beginne to witte at true repentaunce if you desire to bee receyued into fauour for an ancient father saith Hell is the waie to come to heauen that is to saie that such casting downe and humbling of poore sinners confessing and detesting their faultes accusing and condemning themselues and which think themselues worthie to bée drowned in the déepe pitte of Hell is the true preparation and disposition to receiue the grace of GOD. For hée which humbleth him selfe shall bee exalted The Lorde is nigh to heartes that are desolate Mat. 23. Luke 14.4 Pet. 5. Psal 34. contrite and humble Hee saueth those that are broken in spirite c. Afterwarde being prepared by suche a compunction and contrition of heart proceeding from a right knowledge and displeasure conceyued of and for your sinne and therewithall from a true knowledge of the iust iudgemeÌ„ts of God you must come out of this depth by the meanes of faith which shall comforte your broken heartes and will assure your fearefull consciences and wil comfort your desolate soules it will teache you that the Lord wils not the death of a sinner Ez. 18. but rather that he bee conuerted and liue also that hee hath promised to poore and miserable sinners which shall turne from their wicked wayes that hee will cast all their sinnes into the bottome of the Sea so that they shall neuer bee anie more remembred Turne you turne you Mich. 7 Ez. 18.33 from your wicked waies why will you die you house of Israell sayth the Lorde Returne then and repent of al your transgressions and your iniquitie shall not be imputed and laid to your charge Turne you vnto mee with all Io. 2. your whole hearte with fasting wéeping and mourning Rent your hearts and not your garmentes turne to the Lorde your God for he is gentle mercifull slowe to wrath and of greate pitie and suche a one as is sorie for your afflictions Es 1. Though your sinnes were as redde as scarlet yet shall they be as white as snowe and though they were as purple yet shal they be made as white as wooll But who is hee that shall make them white Faith shall teache you that it is the bloud of the sonne of GOD which cleanseth you from all sinne that it is he who died for our sinnes and rose againe for our iustification The fault which you haue committed is great and monstrous and deserueth great and grieuous condemnation as you haue alreadie hearde and as the trueth is but yet not so greate but that you maie haue forgiuenesse of the same vnlesse you through your obstinacie and want of repentaÌ„ce do make it irremissible The Lorde is iust yea and a seuere punisher of the offences of all those which doe obstinatelie perseuere therein Psal 103.