for your soules to possesse the kingdome of heauen And if he had onely vsed the affirmatiue exhorting thē to labour for meate they might haue been as grosse in vnderstanding him as his Disciples were who when he spake of the leauen of the Pharesies thought hee had spoken of the leauen of breade as carnal as Nicodemus who when Christe tolde him a man muste bee borne agayne thought a manne should goe into his mothers wombe againe as rude as the woman of Samaria who when Christ spake of the water of life thought he had spoken of the water of Iacobs well Therfore as hee vseth a metaphore beeing plaine so to make it more plaine so to shew whereunto their nature was bent so to declare what they should labour for hee vseth both the affirmatiue the negatiue but hee beginneth with the negatiue labor not c. As if he should haue sayd Wilt thou come vpp into my holy hill put of thy shoes Wilt thou come into my congregation cut of the foreskin of thy flesh or rather of thy heart Wilt thou haue my durable coate made of skinnes O sonne of Adam cast of thy breeches made of figge leaues Wilt thou bee clad with my garment cast of thy ragged cloake with blind Bartimeus Wilt thou haue a salue for thy wound cut of thy rotten fleshe Wilte thou haue a medicine for thy diseases purge thy body Wilt thou build plucke downe thy ruinous walles Wilte thou sow pluck out the weedes of thine heart Wilt thou put on a cleane shirte put of the foule I will not put my newe Wine into olde bottelles I will not put a peece of my new cloth vpon the moth eaten garmentes my coate is without seame from the top to the skirtes I geue all or none Wilt thou entertaine me Zacheus come downe from the wild figge tree Wilt thou doe good decline from euill Wilt thou put on the armour of light cast of the workes of darkenesse You cannot serue God and Mammon Christ and riches you cannot labour for the meate which perisheth and for the meate that endureth vnto euerlasting life Were not a garment of linnen and wollen eate not with sweete bread and sower leauen sow not two sorts of grain in one fielde goe not too plowe with an oxe and an asse in one yoke for they that doe so looke backe from the plough are not fit for the kingdome of God For what felowship hath righteousnesse and vnrighteousnes what communion hath light with darknesse what concord hath Christe with Belial what parte hath the beleeuer with the infidel what agreemēt hath the temple of God with Diuelles GOd and Mammon meate which perisheth and meate which endureth vnto euerlasting life cannot stande together But let vs labour a little I pray you for this meate a little is to be borne with What know you not that leauen and a little leauen doth leauē the whole lump that a breache and a little breache doeth marre the sale of a whole cloth that a scarre and a little scarre doeth disfigure the whole face that poyson and a little poyson doth poyson the whole bodie that Coloquintida and a little Coloquintida doth infect the whole pot of pottage that a hole and a little hole in a vessell will let out al the licour that fire and a litle fire is able to burne a whole Citie Kisse the Sonne saith the Prophet least he be angry and so perish from the right way if his wrath be kinndled yea but a little Blessed are all they that put their trust in him Make no pax of the worlde and haue no pax with the worlde but kisse the sonne make a pax of him and haue peace with him Feare his wrath if it be kindled yea but a litle O blessed are all they that put their trust in him But alas we are so far from labouring for this meate that whereas like good husbandmen we should labour dig in the field and sell al that we haue to buy that field Whereas like wise Merchant men wee shoulde labour and seeke for good pearles and sell all that we haue to buy that pearle of great price We like dogs refuse holy things offered we turn about and teare them that doe offer them we like swine tread pearles vnder our feete and doe accounte this pearle this holie thing the word of life to bee vnto vs as a ring of golde in a swines snoute For doeth the people delight to heare Gods word Behold yet they are like the deafe adder which stoppeth her eares at the voyce of the charmer charme hee neuer so wisely Or if they with delight doe heare it doe they vnderstand it behold yet they are like horse and mule which haue no vnderstāding or if they heare it vnderstand it do they obey it behold yet they are vntamed colts vnweaned heyfers Or if they doe all these three heare vnderstand obey can they abyde to be rebuked to their faces of their sins Beholde yet they are like Herode who performed the 3 first but could not abide the fourth Doe they loue the bringers of this woorde beholde yet there is in England an Adders broode a generation of Vipers Doe they abide and stand fast to their profession Beholde yet they are starting aside like a brokē bowe they are yet like the children of Ephraim who be yng harnessed and carrying bowes did turne themselues back in the day of battel Nay doe the bishops and ministers so goe in and so goe out before the people of God that the people seeyng them goe before doe follow after them whereby our father in heauen is glorified Behold yet many of them are like the eye which seeth all thinges and cannot see it selfe like the whetstone which maketh the yron sharpe but dull it selfe like the yron and flint which make fire in the tynder but are colde themselues I pray GOD they bee not like those foolishe Carpenters in the dayes of Noah who buylded the Arke for Noah but they themselues were drowned Or if the Ministers and people doe seeme to liue as they teach and are taught doe they liue so sincerely purely and truely I pray God we be not found to bee stage players to be painted sepulchers Wels without water and cloudes without rayne For so rype is the hypocrisie of men in these dayes that they which beare the fayrest shew of godlinesse doe most deny the power thereof For euen they these holy men or rather holow trees I would they were holie trees which are alwayes greene are like the faire redd morning which bringeth rayne at noone Like the calme water which is most deepe like the greene grasse where the venemous snake lieth and the filthy curre maketh his vrine For they serue their bellies their flesh the world and in heart doe labor for that meat only which perisheth We care not for our liues our soules our selues we are inferiour to bruite beastes Heare
trespasses leade vs not into temptation deliuer vs from euill are also for the spirit and soule Onely this giue vs this day our dayly breade is for the bodie and not for foode of bodie onely but for meate of the soule Ceres the goddesse of corne and bread is placed in the lowest roome of the heathen Gods and Goddesses and her daughter Proserpina was married to Pluto king of hel Let Ceres bread bellie and bellie cheere be last and least accounted of vs. As for her daughters they are not virgines to be married to the great kinges sonne but harlots to be married to Belzebub king of hell Tertullian saith that although God after the flood did permit the vse of flesh yet to his people hee inhibited the vse of certaine meates consilium exercendae continentiae a counsell practise to exercise their continencie vii sonnes with their mother were by that horselech bludsucker Antiochus most cruelly put to death because they would not eate swines fleshe agaynst the commaundement of the Lord. Moses refused to be called the sonne of Pharaos daughter and chose rather to suffer aduersitie with the people of God then to enioy the pleasures of sinne for a season esteeming the rebuke of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt Daniel woulde not defile him selfe with the portion of the kinges meate nor with the wine that he dranke he would haue nothing but pulse to eate and water too drinke O yee adulterers and adulteresses sayth Iames knowe yee not that the frendship of this worlde is enmitie with God Iohn sayth if any man loue this worlde the loue of the father is not in him Lay not vp your treasures therfore on earth where the moth fretteth the rust kankereth the theefe breaketh thorowe and steale but lay vp your treasures in heaueÌ„ where there is no moth to fret no rust to kanker no theefe too breake thorow and steale For is it not a great folly to lay thy tresure in an Inne doubtfully wheÌ„ thou maist lay it in thine own house safely folly to lay it in an house which together with thy treasure thou shalt leaue behind thee certainly not in that house whither thou shalt go find thy treasure assuredly and abyde therin perpetually the fashion of this worlde passeth away the heauens and the earth waxe olde as doth a garment O let vs then get that which endureth vnto euerlasting life The heauens shal passe away with a noise the elements shal melt with heate the earth and 〈◊〉 works therin shalbe burnt vp o let vs then labour for that which the fire cannot consume which wil saue oursoules froÌ„ euerlasting fire If we would thinke vpon our name that we are christians we would vnles we should prooue our selues to be reprobates not so much labour for this bellie meat First let vs remeÌ„ber that in our baptisme we forsake the world the flesh the â—iuel for baptisme signifieth not only the death and resurrection of Christ bâ—â— that we must dye to sin and liue in newnes of life How shal we saith Paul that are dead to sin liue yet therin Knowye not that al we which haue bin baptized into Iesus Christ haue bin baptized into his death we are buried then with him by baptisme into his death that like as Christ was raised from the dead to the glory of the father so wee should walke in newnes of life SecoÌ„dly as thou art a christian remember the estate of thy lord maister here on erth Doest thou brag of thy blood thy progenitors thy house stock thy maister came as of a pure so of a poore virgine espoused to a poore carpenter who for lack of mony could haue no roome in the Inne who did offer to the Lorde a paire of Pigeons because he was not able to buy a lamb Ierome noteth that only poore sinfull women are named by S. Math. in the genelogie of Christ as Ruth a poore Moabitis pore Mary the carpenters wife to signifie howe Christ did vouchsafe to come of poore womeÌ„ came into the world to redeeÌ„e pore sinful persons doest thou brag of the countrye Adam was made out of Paradice and Euah in Paradice yet the Diuell hadde more power ouer her then ouer him they had both one name Adam reed earth for this name Adam was not giuen by God only to the man but also to the woman Thy maister was not borne in Ierusalem whither the wise men came but in little Bethlehem as it was prophesied Doest thou glory in thy houses buildings courtes pallaces Thy maister was borne in a manger the foxes haue holes and the birdes haue nestes but the sonne of man thy Lorde had no where to rest his heade on Doest thou boast of thy bagges thy coffers thy welth When thy maister woulde haue payed tribute Iudas bagge was emptie Peter must run and fetch a peece of monie in the mouth of a fishe Doest thou desire to be well spoken of to haue the good will of the world There were generally iii. diuerse opinions of Christ one which flesh and blood could not reueale that he was Christ the sonne of God an other of ignorance that he was Elias Ieremie Iohn Baptist or one of the prophets the third was of mallice that hee was a glutton a drunkard a bon companion a friend to Publicans and sinners a coniurer a woorker by Diuels But what sayth he Woe bee vnto you when all men speake well of you Why For so did their fathers to the false Prophets But reioyce when they speake euil of you for so did they to the true Prophets reioyce and great shalbe your rewarde in heauen Finally if you be a christian remember the resurrection of thy mayster Iesus Christ and what of that if you be risen with Christ sayth Peter seeke those thinges that are aboue where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God I would to God we were as prouident and carefull to prouide foode for our soules as brute beastes are vigilant and paynefull to lay vp foode for theyr bodies The Emmot doeth lay vp in sommer foode for winter Istuc est sapere sayth Syrus in Terence non quod ante pedes modo est videre sed etiam illa quae futura sunt This is wisedome not to see those things only which lye before our feete but to fore see thinges that are to come But as the fishe called Vrlica feedeth alwayes on a stone and being taken from the stone dyeth presently so we doe so cleaue vnto to stones vntoo earthly thinges that wee account life lost if they bee taken from vs or wee from them Nay I woulde to GOD wee did not thinke these corruptible thinges to bee meete meate and sufficient food for our soules and say with the rich mans soule thou hast much goodes layde vppe for many yeeres liue at ease eate drinke and take thy pastime
fast in the faith Athistes and Papistes and other heretikes are tripping at your heeles stande fast in the faith it is worth the noting that our Sauiour in the seconde and thirde of the Reuelation doeth seuen times at the least vtter these wordes hee that ouercommeth c. There is life and all blessinges promised onely vnto him that ouercommeth Nowe the heauenly Manna is plentifull in Englande let vs prouide for warre though it bee a time of peace let vs take our cloake though the sunne doeth shine let vs prouide for a deare yeere though the victuall bee plentie I say stande fast and labour for this meate it bringeth therewith well fed thereby fatte and in good liking you may stande fast in the euill day For wee haue deserued that plague wherof the Prophete speaketh I will turne your feastes into mourning and your songes into lamentations I will bring sackcloth on your loynes and baldnes on your heades I will bring a famine in to your land not a famine of bread or thirste for water but a famine of the worde of God For if Paule and Barnabas were heere they might haue iust cause to speake against vs as they spake against the Iewes seeing you put the woorde of GOD from you and iudge your selues vnworthie of euerlasting life Loe we turne to the Gentiles Christ may truly denounce these words against vs if he shoulde deale according to our desertes the kingdome of God shall bee taken from you and shall bee giuen to a nation whiche shall bring foorth the fruites thereof Let vs amende least Christe curse vs as he cursed the figtree when hee came vnto it being hungry and found nothing thereon but leaues onely hee doeth hunger and thirst after our good workes but beholde howe we deceiue him for fruite wee offer him leaues a man came to the dresser of his vineyarde and bid him cut downe his figge tree because he had come three yeeres and founde no fruites thereon cut it downe saith hee why keepeth it also the grounde barren The dresser answered let it a lone this yeere also till I digge rounde about it and doung it The Lorde hath come to his fig tree of England not three but almost xxiii yeeres and beholde yet he findeth litle fruite and hee woulde no doubt cut it downe had not the dresser of this figge tree Iesus Christe entreated him to let it alone that hee by his worde his labourers might digge round about it doung it Behold that hath been doone and yet this figge tree bringeth foorth small fruite wee are like trees that haue their heades in the grounde and sucke all their iuice from the earth wee are like bruite beastes who turne their faces to the grounde wee are not like men who shoulde turne our countenances towardes heauen thence to fet our meate and all good thinges which by promise we may haue for the asking Wee are like the corne growing on the house top which withereth before it bee plucked vp whereof the mower filleth not his hand nor he that bindeth vp the sheues his bosome Our Sauiour Iesus if hee were heere shoulde bee moued to weepe ouer England as hee wept ouer Ierusalem and say O England England if thou hadst euen knowne at the least in this thy day those thinges which belong vnto thy peace but nowe are they hid from thine eyes I speake of many I meane not all O England thou sayest the naturall branches are broken of that I might be graft in through vnbeliefe they were broken of and thou standest by faith bee not high minded but feare For if God did not spare the natural branches take heed least hee will not spare thee O remēber thou man thou doest not beare the roote but the roote doth bare thee By Satā thou didst fall by Christ thou art raised vp ingraffed into the right Oliuetree Qui incitatorem habuit ad malum reparatorem habuit ad bonum sicut hominis peccatum per alium habuit inuitium ita per alium habuit remedium Hee that had a tempter vnto euill had a restorer vnto good as the sinne of man had a beginning by an other so it had also a remedie by an other For very wel saieth Ambrose Non sunt Iudei reprobati a Deo vt gentes entrarent sed seipsos reprobos fecerunt spernētes donum dei vnde occasionem dederunt gentibus ad salutem quam extollentiam reperiri vult vt magis saluti congaudeatur non aegretudini insultetur The Iewes were not reiected of GOD that the Gentiles myght come in but they made themselues reprobates contemning the gift of God wherby they gaue occasion to the Gentiles to saluation the which hautines the apostle wil haue to be beaten down that they mighe the more reioyce at their own saluation and not insulte ouer the Iewes destruction Take heede why were they cast off spernentes donum Dei because they despised the gifte to God For if the word spoken by Angelles was stedfast and euery transgression and disobedience receiued a iust recompence of rewarde how shall we escape if we neglect so great saluation Propterea tantam adiecit quod mortis destructio demonū interitus caelorū imperium cuncta haec exprolatis a deo sermonibus nobis sunt parta Therfore saith Theophilact did the Apostle adde so great saluatiō because the destructiō of death the death of deuilles the kingdome of heauen all these thinges are gotten for vs by the worde which came from GOD Brag not boast not therefore Pride made Herod to haue a fall from his pulpet and to be eaten of wormes Nay beholde a greater fall pride made Nabuchadnezzar to bee a beast nay yet a greater fall pryde did thrust Adam and Eue out of paradise And yet behold I will shew one greater fal pryde did throwe Lucifer and manye Angelles moe out of heauen What shall I say then If GOD did not spare his owne people the Iewes if hee did not spare Adam and Eue in paradise if he did not spare his bright Angelles in heauen will he spare vs if iudgement beginne at the house of GOD what shall the ende of them be that obay not the Gospell If the righteous scarcse be saued where shall the vngodly and sinner appeare did the naturall braunches wither and were cast into fire what shall bee done to the vnnatural Did the green tree suffer what shall be done of the dry Loe I beginne to plague the Citie saieth the Lorde where my name is called vppon and should you escape let vs then be humble and feare Let vs not despise this great gift of GOD. That fire onely was to be vsed in sacrifice which came from heauen Moses must make all things according to the patterne he sawe in the mounte GOD write the lawes with his owne finger that wee should make nothing of our selues our owne braines