the booke of God whether this my vnskilfull draught woulde drawe you I shall thinke my laboure well bestowed and you your selfe shall remayne no longer as that lytle Syster which hath no brestes but you shall be lyke that flocke of Sheepe where not one is barren amongst them and as that florishyng Tree fast planted by the Riuer side whose leafe shall euer shew it selfe most fresh and greene euen to the bringing foorth of fruite in great abundance And moreouer you shall be then as a Pillar in the house of the Lorde your God and also as the Towre of Dauid most strongly buylt for your owne defence and shall continually remayne in the eyes of this Salomon as one that findeth peace The which peace the Lord graunt you may speedely inioy Amen Yours in the Lorde R. C. The reason why all Creatures ought to prayse the LORD and why Man ought so to do aboue the rest WHereas the holy Prophet prouoketh the Heauens and all thinges therein the Earth and Sea also with all thinges therein to prayse the Lorde he yeeldeth a reason why they ought so to doo and that is for that he spake the worde and they were created he commaunded and they were made And therfore because that all creatures haue their breath and beeing by him as the Apostle sayth the Prophet calleth them all to sounde foorth the prayse and glory of their Creator but especially he vrgeth Man to aduance the same aboue the rest because that he most chiefly aboue all others was thereunto appoynted For the Lorde speaking of his chosen Israel sayth This people haue I formed for my selfe and therefore sayth he They shall shew foorth my prayse and glory as also Moses taught them that vnto that ende and purpose they were chosen And lykewyse the Lorde speaking of the callyng of the Heathen from all quarters of the earth to be his Sonnes and Daughters in Christ Them also saith he haue I created for my glory and to none other ende but that they shoulde shew foorth his prayse amongst the rest as in diuers places of scripture may be seene So that for this cause were all the holy Prophetes and Apostles so much moued to call vpon Man to set foorth the prayse and glory of God and not onely because he was thereunto appoynted but also so much the more for that he hath done for him such wonderful and excellent thynges as first to elect him in Christ vnto saluation before the foundation of the worlde was layde Secondly to create him in so glorious an estate euen after his owne image and lykenes and as Lorde and King ouer all his creatures Thirdly to redeeme his soule from the iawes of Satan with the precions blood of Christ his Sonne as of a Lambe without spot and vndefiled Fourthly to exalt his horne on high euen to syt with his Sonne in the heauenly and highest places Fifthly to sanctifie and to endue him with his holy spirite whereby he may be led into all trueth Sixthly to lade him dayly with his manifolde and gratious benefites And seuenthly to sanctifie one day of seauen for his owne glory and to the ende that man shoulde rest from his owne workes and be workefull vnto God in geuing due prayse and thankes vnto him for the former benefites receyued And therefore as the holy Prophet sayth Let all them that seeke the Lord reioyce and be glad in him and let them that loue his saluation alwayes say The Lord be praysed Man ought dayly to consider for what cause the Lord shoulde so bountifully deale with him and beholding the Heauens be driuen thereby to confesse his owne duetie SEeing that the Lorde hath created Man to none other ende but to shew foorth his prayse and glory and seeing that he ladeth him dayly with his gratious benefites to the ende to induce him therunto O that men woulde therefore enter into deepe meditation with the holy Prophet and so consider with them selues yea and consider agayne and agayne that when they beholde the Heauens euen the workes of Gods fingers the Sunne the Moone and Stars which he hath ordeyned what man shoulde be that he shoulde be so mindfull of him yea or what sonne of Adam he shoulde be that he shoulde thus consider of for he hath made some one to haue dominion ouer the workes of his handes and hath put all thinges in subiection vnder his feete Surely therefore I wyll seeke him out to whom this glory doth belong and I wyll also seeke the cause why the Lord hath thus aduaunced me For he hath geuen me the vse of all these his goodly creatures and therefore once agayne say I What is man O Lorde that thou shouldest deale in this sort with him Surely thou hast thus aduaunced him for some great purpose and I can see none other ende but to aduaunce thy prayse and glory and that in the highest degree for when as I behold the Heauens I see that they haue neither toonge nor voyce and yet I see that they declare thy glory and the Firmament doth shew forth the workes of thy handes Day vnto day vttereth the same thing and nyght vnto nyght teacheth such knowledge there is no speach nor language where their sounde is not heard and surely to none other intent but that men shoulde be without excuse Wherefore I for my part wyll dayly say as the holy Prophet did My soule prayse thou the Lord and al that is within me prayse his holy name My soule prayse thou the Lord and forget not all his benefites Yea and I wyll also call and say Let all the nations prayse the Lorde and let all the people shew foorth the glory of God euen their saluation If man be styrred vp by all the workes of God to consider his owne duetie which is to prayse the Lord it must not be according to his owne fantasie but according to the rule of Gods worde NOW we haue considered that all the workes of God do set foorth his prayse and glory and that man is bounde thereunto aboue the rest we must consider one thing farther with the holy Prophet which is this My lippes sayth he shall speake thy prayse when thou hast taught me thy Statutes Therefore when you haue learned them then may you set foorth the prayse and glory of God in such sort as he shall like of but otherwyse it is vnpossible you should for notwithstanding Moses was brought vp in all the learning of the Egyptians yet he confesseth him selfe to be ignorant concerning the worshyp of the Lord vntyll such time as he shoulde be directed by his owne most perfect worde How much more then ought we to confesse great ignorance therein vntil such time as we also shal be directed by the same Moreouer for as much as no prayse or worshyp is accepted in the sight of the Lord but such as
againe so displeased with them notwithstanding all their pretence of zeale and shewe of holynesse that they were but as a polluted an vncleaue people in his sight yea all the workes of their handes and that which they offered was vncleane in the sight of the Lord so that hee caused the heauen ouer them to stay it selfe from dewe and the earth stayed her fruit for when they had sowen much they brought little in yea and when they came to their heapes of twentie measures they found but ten and to their wine presses thinking to draw out fiftie vessels they found but twentie and thus the Lord smote them with blasting with Meldewe and with Hayle in all the labours of their handes and onely to teache them to looke better vnto his holy worde that so they myght obey his wyll And yet for all this would they not try thereby wherein they had done amisse but thinke they shoulde well please the Lorde yf they wept and fasted in the first and seauenth moneth as they had done the seauenty yeeres before which was a thing that the Lord had not neyther would now approue but telleth them they shoulde rather geue care vnto his worde which by the ministerie of his Prophetes he had delyuered vnto them But in steade thereof they harden their hartes and geue stoute wordes agaynst the Lord saying It is in vayne to serue God and what profit is it that we haue kept his commandementes and walked humbly before him Doe we not see that the proude are blessed and that euen they that worke wickednes are set vp ouer vs and how they that tempt God are delyuered As yf they shoulde haue sayd Do we not see that the Babylonians reigned ouer vs for seauentie yeeres and then we were deliuered But what are we the better for that for all the tyme since the Medes and Persians reigne and rule ouer vs. And lykewyse we are cursed in all the labours of our handes But whereas they shoulde haue looked into the booke of God to see the cause of all this they are as men blynde Yea and although the Lorde geue them a speciall commaundement euen in the last elause of the olde Testament to remember the lawe of Moses which shoulde leade them as it were by the hand vnto Christe euen to that Angell of the couenaunt whom they desired to beholde yet most rebelliously do they reiect the same and so growe worse and worse euen tyll at length they become Pharisees Sadduces and such like beastes wherefore the Lord suffereth most vyle beastes lyke vnto them selues to reigne styll ouer them euen vntyll the comming of his sonne our Sauiour into the worlde And then who so blynde as the Prophet speaketh as they for whereas he that Worde which in the beginning commaunded all thinges to haue a beeing was nowe become Fleshe and dwelt amongst them whose glory they might haue behelde as the glory of the only begotten Sonne of the father full of grace and trueth yet woulde they not receyue him no although he were the day spring which was now come from on high to visite them and the true lyght which lighteneth euery man that commeth into the worlde yet loued they darknes more then lyght and to walke in the shadow of death rather then in the way of lyfe yea and although he were that true King of Israel by whom they should haue had delyuerance not onely from their mortall enimies but also from their spirituall euen hell and death and also that hygh Sacrificer whose priesthoode was not made after the lawe of the carnall commaundement but after the power of the endles lyfe euen that most holy and iust one which was seperate from sinners and was now come to enter for them not into the holy places made with handes but into the true Sanctuarie euen the very Heauen it selfe and there to appeare in the sight of God to make intercession for them yet woulde they not acknowledge him so to be but despised him and most shamefully reiected him counting him most base and vile and had no desire at all vnto him but drew away their shoulders and became styfnecked and of vncircumcised hartes and eares yea a generation of very Uypers still stopping their eares like deafe Adders and hardening their hartes agaynst him vntyll at length they vtterly denied him to be their king in the presence of Pylate the Romane gouernour saying We haue no king but Caesar. And so ioyne with the Romans to crucifie the king of Glorie euen the Lord of life whō Pylate as bad as he was could not chuse but confesse him to be their king and also to pronounce him guiltlesse and to say he could finde no cause at all of death in him yea and although the diuels themselues coulde not chuse but confesse him to be that holy one of God yet desired they rather to haue Barrabas a murtherer giuen them then the Lord of life saying Let hym be crucified let him be crucified and let his bloud be vpon vs and vpon our children for euer And so according to their owne wish it befell them for moste woefull curses hath the Lord pronounced agaynst them and his wrath as the Apostle sayth is come on them euen to the very vttermost and hath scattered them as vagabondes detested ouer the whole earth for before that generation passed they fell on the sword of the Romaines who as with a floud wrought a finall consummation of them their citie and sanctuarie euen to vtter desolation according as our Sauiour standing on mount Oliuet had told them and referred them to Daniel the ninth saying When you see the abhomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place Let them that read it consider of it that is when you see Ierusalem besieged by the abhominable campe of the Romaine infidels then knowe that your destruction is neere which before that age passed came to passe euen those dayes of vengeance of wrath and of great distresse to that land and people So that here we may say especially with the Apostle O behold both the louing kindnesse and the seueritie of the Lord his louing kindnesse towards the sonnes of Abraham so long as they continued in the fayth of Abraham his seuere seueritie so soone as they became bastardes reuolting from the fayth of Abraham for as our sauiour colde them if they had bene the sonnes of Abraham they ◅ould haue done the works of Abraham that is they would haue beleeued in him as Abraham did but sayth he you goe about to kill me and so did not Abraham but contrariwise he saw my dayes and greatly reioyced yea and many others desired greatly to haue seene these dayes that you see and would also haue reioyced but you seeing will not see and hearing so manie testimonies giuen of me ye◅ will
well as the former forasmuch as the popes had ten nations or kingdomes to yeeld obedience vnto theyr power as the former had to theyrs And to make the matter more playne that Idolatrous Rome was reuiued agayne by these popes saint Iohn hath another vision shewed hym which is this Hee seeth a beast aryse out of the earth hauing two hornes like vnto the lambe Meaning thereby that these popes would come as pretending great shew of religiō and as if they were the vycars of Christ that lambe of God but hee telleth you that he spake like the Dragon and that hee did all that the first beast could doe that was before hym yea and that hee caused the image of the former beast to be made and gaue hym spirite and life and made all the earth to worship hym whose deadly wound by them was healed And furthermore for their helpe therein saint Iohn sheweth you that this lambe should worke great signes and wonders euen so great as if it were to bring fire from heauen as Elyas did to the end that as hee thereby caused all Israel to turne from the worship of Ieroboams calues vnto the Lord to worship him euen so in a contrary sort woulde this lambe seeke with the signes which were permitted hym to doe to turne all men both small and great rich and poore free and bond from the worship of the Lord to the worship of the beast and to force them thereby to receiue his marke eyther in their right hands or in y t forheads or at leastwise to beare his name or the number of hys name for vnlesse they would so doe they shoulde neyther buy nor sell but be killed So that heere you see how fitly this agreeth with the other vision for the popes to be reuiuors of the former beast and also howe fitly it falleth out according to that whiche our sauiour and saint Paul before had told you that is that there should come false prophets which woulde come in sheepes clothing but inwardly be rauening Wolues and that they woulde come with all lying signes woonders and sleightes of deceice and therefore is it that our sauiour giueth vs so great charge to take heede of them And moreouer therefore is it that it pleaseth hym to paynt them out so playne vnto vs for although they woulde seeme neuer so muche to beare the hornes of a lambe or neuer so much to pretend religion or shew of holynesse yet the Lord hath so plainly noted them by one especiall mark aboue the rest as that euery simple man may know them howsoeuer they would seeme to change their shape that is their voyce the whiche you see saint Iohn sayth is all one with the Dragons And therefore although Sathan come not now as vnto Adam and Euah nor as in the daies of the primitiue Church That is although he come not now in y ◠carkas of a luttle serpent nor yet in the forme of a seuen headed beast but contrariwise euen in the skinne of a poore and simple lambe yet the voyce being the selfe and same you may knowe hym howsoeuer he transformeth himselfe It is good for you here then to consider the voyce both of the one and of the other The voyce of the serpent and of the beast commandeth that whiche God forbiddeth and forbiddeth that which God commandeth euen so doth the voyce of this counterfeit lambe as for example The voyce of God forbiddeth the making of grauen images to bowe downe vnto them but the voyce of this counterfeit lambe commandeth the making of them and the bowing vnto them The voyce of God commandeth prayer to be made vnto him alone and not vnto any other but the voyce of this counterfeit lambe forbiddeth prayer to be made vnto God alone and commaundeth it to bee made vnto Saintes withal The voyce of God sayth that whosoeuer he be that beleeueth in Christ his sonne shall be sure to haue pardon of his sinnes through the shedding of his moste precious bloudbut the voyce of this counterfeit lambe sayth that whosoeuer he be that will beleeue hym hee shall be sure to haue pardon for his sinnes through the bloud of the leaden bulles whiche for his monie hee will send hym The voyce of God sayth that better were it for hys ministers to speake fiue wordes in the church to the vnderstanding of his people that so they might say Amen thereunto then to speake ten thousand in a strange toonge vnto the which the people cannot say Amen but the voyce of this counterfeit lambe sayth better is it for hys ministers to speake ten hundreth thousand in a strange language vnto the whiche the people cannot say Amen then to speake one word to their vnderstanding least so they shoulde spye out their knauerie Agayne the voyce of God commaundeth vs not to abstaine from meates but to abstayne from sinne and celleth vs that it is not the meate which a man eateth that can defile him but the sinne that resteth in his heart and yet dare the voyce of this counterfeit lambe command men to abstaine from meates and to make them beleeue that vnles they doe so vpon such dayes as he appoynteth they shall not onely be defiled therewith but also be damned for euermore therby especially if they eate but a bit vpon good Friday Furthermore the voyce of God commaundeth marriage as a moste lawfull thing vnto all men but the voyce of this counterfeit lamb forbiddeth it as an vnlawfull thing vnto some men The voyce of God forbiddeth his ministers the exalting of themselues aboue their brethren but the voyce of this counterfeite lambe exalteth himselfe not onely aboue hys brethren but also aboue all that are called Gods and moste presumptuously setteth himselfe in the temple of the Lord God as if hee were God commaunding what him liketh and forbidding what hym li◅teth as most like a suttle serpent in one thing which is to be noted aboue all others that is whereas the voyce of the Lord God commaundeth all men to read and meditate in hys holy word that so they might weare hys cognisance and be retayners vnto his kingdome the voyce of this counterfeyte lambe forbiddeth it that so they might weare his marke be retayners vnto his kingdome And therfore is it that hee dealeth most impudently as followeth that is wheras the voyce of the Lord God commandeth vs to worship feare him that made heauen and earth the sea and all fountaines of water and that wee should giue glory to him and to the Lambe that standeth on mount Sion because he onely was worthy forasmuch as hee hath redeemed vs vnto God by hys bloud I say whereas the voyce of the Lord God commandeth vs thus to do and contrariwise forbiddeth vs the worship of the Beast or his image threatning withall that if any man doe worship the beast