able to proue none of those things they lay to his charge The lyke case were the other Apostles in as we haue oftentimes seene So the Euangelistes declare that Pylate and Herode beare witnesse of Christes innocencie Thys maketh for the commendation dignitie of the christian faith doctrine Which who so now a dayes slaundreth openly bewray them selues to be worse than the Gentiles It appereth also by this place what a miserable state the Iewes were in at this time seeing a despiser of all religion had the greatest authoritie among them and they constrayned to pleade their matters of religion before him And this they may thanke the wicked priests their own wicked ingratitude of which denied Christ to be their king and sauiour before Pylate The like state are a great many in nowe a days vnder the tyrannie of the Turkes by whose exaÌ„ple except we repent in time it is to be feared that all they that now a dayes disdayne to heare the worde of God and refuse the iudgement of the holy ghost touching fayth and religion wâ—ll one day suffer the like Finally he declareth why he kept him beeing innocent in prison Namely bicause he had appealed vnto Caesar. But here he craftily dissembleth his own wickednesse which yet he can not otherwise do but by bewraying himself while he confesseth playnly that he draue the innocent to such an exigent that he must needes appeale vnto Caesar. For he had not purposed to gratifie the Iewes to Paules hinderaunce and preiudice â–ª he would neuer haue appealed vnto Caesar. But this is a common trick among great men magistrates craftily to cloke their own faults then to make men beleeue they greatly fauour iustice when they most transgresse the bounds limits of the same Furthermore by this occasion it came to passe that Agrippa was desirous to heare to see Paule which thing was the occasion of a notable sermon which Luke setteth forth in the chapter folowing Thus we may see that through the prouidence of God those things aduaunce his kingdome which we least thought of Why therfore do we trouble vexe our selues about our owne deuises Why do we not rather euery one cast all our care vpon God do our duety For so should it come to passe that we should euery where haue occasion to serue God and in al our dangers and distresses should haue Iesus Christ to be our protectour and defender to whom be prayse honour power and glorie for euer Amen The Clix Homelie ANd on the morrow when Agrippa was come and Bernice with great pompe and were entered into the Councell house with the Captaynes and chiefe men of the Citie at Festus commaundement was Paule brought foorth And Festus sayde king Agrippa and all yee men which are here present with vs ye see this man about whom all the multitude of the Iewes haue intreated me both at Hierusalem and also heere crying that he ought not to lyue any longer Yet founde I nothing worthy of death that he had committed Neuerthelesse seeing that he hath appealed to Caesar I haue determined to sende him Of whome I haue no certayne thing to write vnto my Lorde Wherfore I haue brought him vnto you and specially vnto thee O king Agrippa that after examination hadde I might haue somewhat to wryte For mee thinketh it vnreasonable for to sende a prysoner and not to shewe the causes which are layd agaynst him ALthough God haue giuen vnto man nothing more excellente and commodious than the worde of the Gospell wherein he offereth vs the incomparable treasures of hys grace and the right way vnto saluation yet such is the vntowardnesse of this miserable worlde that it hateth enuieth nothing so muche as the same word Which thing is the cause that the ministers therof are many times so greeuously molested and afflicted and become as it were certayne gasing stockes vnto all the world But bicause we vpon whoÌ„ the endes of the world are come should not be offended at these things forasmuch as it is euident that the world should exercise great crueltie vnder Antichrist their captayne God therfore would haue vs instructed partly by prophesies and partly by examples wherby we might learne that no new or strange thing hapneth vnto vs but that the Ministers of his word haue in al ages bene so vsed in this world And yet that his worde could neuer be extinguished through any attempts of his enimies for it endureth for euer and at al times bringeth foorth condigne fruites as the Scriptures euery where declare Many examples we haue hereof and among them this one is notable that Luke setteth foorth in Paule the Apostle For although he liued in bondes and was constrayned to appeale vnto Caesar both by reason of the iniquitie of his enimies and the vnrighteousnesse of the President yet before king Agrippa before the Captaynes before the chiefe men of Caesarea and the whole nobilitie of that couÌ„trey he so handleth Christes cause that he both proueth his innocencie in the hearing of them al and leaueth in their minds certaine euident pricks stings of the worde of god But it shall be good to consider euery thing in order as it is declared The Euangelist beginneth his narration with Paules hearers among whom are first numbred Agrippa Bernice his sister who sayth he came into the auditorie with all kinde of princely pompe and ostentation After them come the captaines of the souldiours other loâ—ds of the court and as many as were of authoritie in the citie whoÌ„ Festus thoght good to haue there present to this ende that howsoeuer the matter fel out he might the easilier auoyde the enuy of the Iewes Aboue al things we haue to consider Agrippa who as we sayd before was desirous to heare Paul. For this desire proceeded more of a certayne vayne curiositie of minde than of any loue vnto the truthe or saluation In so muche that he resembleth Herodes Antipas brother to his graundfather which also was desirous to see Chryst but for none other cause saue for that he heard his miracles praysed of so many a profe wherof he giueth vs in that he coÌ„meth to Paules sermoÌ„ not like a disciple or lerner nor laieth aside none of his princely pompe but bringeth all his courtlinesse with him for a shew into y preching place By this exaÌ„ple we learne what affection this world beareth to the word of god Surely either it hateth it or at least contemneth it euen of nature as which would not haue his workes reproued by the light therof and vseth to preferre earthly things before heauenly Yet in the meane season it coÌ„meth to passe many times that some come to heare it thoughe not led with the desire of saluation yet with the affections of the fleshe that is to say with curiositie or with hope of some gaine or of hatred to Popishe doctrine or bicause they would not be thought to be vngodly or
and accused being at that time taken for the most abiect and despised men of all others hauing neyther nobilitie of birth renoume of succession neyther any other worldly dignitie or honor to commende them of and at whome many men were offended bicause of that slaunderous punishment of the crosse which Christ their maister and teacher suffered Yet the ende of this Tragedie sheweth howe they had the ouerhande of all these persons And let no man thinke it straunge to see such a sort and such maner of men come togither against the Preachers of the truth bicause the Euangelistes manye times shewe vs the reason thereof For where they were ledde with the desire of ambition and priuate lucre and had corrupted the doctrine of truth with the traditions of men and had turned godlynesse into lucre and gaine they were not able to abide the light of the truth the hatred whereof had armed them before against Christ and euen now pricketh them forward to ioyne agaynst the Apostles speedilye to make awaye with them like men that would vtterly quench some great fire begūne in a Citie The consideration hereof in the meane while serueth for our instruction For first we learne that no man ought to be offended at the power and authoritie of Christes enimies so that he eyther dishonestly be afrayde of them or else through any preposterous reuerence submit himselfe and Gods religion to their iudgement For as God can easilye defende those that be his against all the power of the worlde so is there no dignitie of man able to preiudice or countermaunde his worde The Byshops of Rome in these dayes challenge such an authoritie vnto them and imperiouslye inough require men to obey the decrees of their Counsels Their chiefe argumentes are that they sit in Peters chaire that they succeede in the roume of the Apostles that their power is confirmed by the authoritie of Kinges Princes And to graunt them these thinges which yet they falsely chalenge to themselues all these things we maye see here in the Iewes as erewhile we declared Yet for all that the Apostles doe not yeelde to them bicause they had long before swarued and gone out of kinde in that they had both corrupted the true doctrine made outwarde religion their priuate lucre and had openly persecuted Goddes veritie and truth Therefore where our case in these dayes is like why may not we doe as the Apostles did Neyther are they to be regarded which promise themselues I wote not what great commoditie of these mennes counsayles An euill tree cannot bring foorth good fruite And what goodnesse can they establishe which persecute the worde of God and studie both daye and night to establishe their tyrannie And who in their iudgementes haue longe agone condemned vs and haue none whome they stande in awe of They woulde haue the truth oppressed the light whereof they cannot abide Therefore whosoeuer woulde haue the truth betrayed let him commit the iudgement of doctrine and religion to these men But great is the blindenesse of our dayes whereby it commeth to passe that a great many both wittingly and willingly submit not onely religion but also all their goodes and the libertie of their Countrie to the insatiable lust of a sort of ambicious Prelates But it shall be good for vs to consider the question which the Iewishe Priestes vse against the Apostles being brought before them The same is comprehended in fewe wordes for that they woulde seeme to speake with authoritie and to fraye them with a vaine shewe of dignitie For they say By what power or in what name haue you done this These wordes seeme to haue some shewe of godly zeale For they will seeme by vertue of their office to demaund this thing as to whom it belonged to see that the people shoulde not be seduced eyther with false doctrine or false myracles Nowbeit in deede they demaunde it to trie if they coulde take any holde of their wordes whereby to accuse them which craft they many times also practised agaynst christ For what neede had they to demaund that thing againe wherof the Apostles before in the temple had rendred so euident a reason or had they forgotten that Iesus Christ through his owne power wrought myracles and the Apostles long before that in his name Therfore their desire was not to learne the truth but subtillye by craft to circumuent the vnwarie They are like the demaundes of them which now a dayes aske our men where they learned their newe doctrine by what authoritie they sowe new opinions and reforme their Churches Nowbeit we haue long sithence rendred a reason hereof whereof they are not ignorant Therefore it is a farre other thing than the desire of truth that these men be ledde with nay their whole drift and fetch is to catch some occasion or holde of some worde which might vnawares escape vs to accuse vs of Therefore we ought to suspect all such Counsels and deuises and as Christ taught vs to vse the wisedome of the serpent in auoyding them And we must not be afrayde of their craft seeing Christ hath promised vs his spirite wherewith Peter being prompted aunswered with great boldenesse of minde Peters aunswere consisteth of two partes whereof the one answereth the Iudges question and the other preacheth christ The first part he handleth with marueylous prudencie For before he sheweth that Christ is the author of the myracle he grauely reprehendeth their vnrighteousnesse and preposterous iudgement Yet not defrauding them of the honour due vnto magistrates by Gods commaundement least he might seeme to speake of corrupt affection or of ticklenesse of tongue Thus he sayth Ye rulers of the people and Elders of Israell if we this daye be examined of the good deede that wee haue done to the sicke man by what meanes hee is made whole bee it knowne vnto you all c. He seemeth thus to saye we marueyled trulye wherefore we were yesterdaye caried to the prison and what fault we had made that you so earnestly searched for For where it is the Magistrates dutie to enquire after malefactors and euill doers and we by our selues knewe none euill that we had committed we coulde not choose but marueyle much at your doing But as farre as we nowe can perceyue we are called before you for a benefite and good deede that we haue bestowed vpon a poore and pitifull man This seemeth me to be the sense of Peters woordes And in these thinges we haue painted out a plaine portraiture of the enimies of the truth by whose iudgement they only are in fault that only seeke to serue christ For howe many thinke we were then in Hierusalem which by craft lying slaundering vsurie extortion open force and manslaughter had hurt and hindered a many of men how many which through false doctrine superstition blasphemie and infinite other wickednesses had prouoked the wrath of God yet none of them were called Coram Neither could these notable
in the meane season had a good opinion of them and published theyr prayses abroad bicause they sawe a certayne kinde of heauenly and Aungelike lyfe shine in them Diuers lyke examples of them maye we reade in hystories And vnder Traian the Emperour the Christians lyfe was so vnblameable that where he intended to persecute them at the intreatie of Plinius Secundus who was one of the iudges they were let alone and not medled with Thys place teacheth vs two things most worthy to be obserued First that the Church consisteth onely of faythfull persons and such as are true christians and that lying hypocrites can haue no place therein For where Christ is the king of truth as he testifyed before Pylate he can not abyde nor suffer lyers and hypocrites And in the Gospell he sayth they shall be put out from the maryage which come in without the wedding garment In an other place he adiudgeth them to eternall damnation with the fearefull and vnbeleeuing and the abhominable and murtherers and whoremongers and Sorcerers and Idolators Secondly we learne what getteth christians authoritie and fauour with men verilye when they aunswere to their vocation and lyue a lyfe aunswerable to the name of Christ whereby God our heauenly father may be glorifyed For that that God sayde vnto Heli the priest by his Prophete shall alwayes stand firme and ratified Them that worship me will I worship and they that despise me shall come to shame Which things if we would diligently consyder it should easily appeare howe it commeth to passe that the name of the Gospell in these dayes is euerywhere enuyed and the professours thereof for the most part are hated and slaundered Our vnbrideled and dissolute lyfe deserueth it whereby vnder a pretence of the gospell we burst into all vngodlynesse and we which would seeme holyer than all others doe passe all other almost in lycentious lyuing Let vs amende these things and we shall quickly prooue the Church shall be reuerenced agayne as she was woont Fourthly he sayth that there was daylie added to the Church newe christians as well men as women which were indued with true fayth and were moued thervnto by the holy ghost Thys teacheth vs how vaine the attemptes of Christes enimyes are seeing they that had the supremacy in the Citie of Ierusalem were not able to hynder the growth of the Church nowe springing For as Christ sayth The winde bloweth where it will and is subiect to no mans pleasure or appointment And dyuers examples teach vs that the Church in tyme of persecutions alwaye increased rather than diminished For this is the propertie of Christ to beare rule in the middest of his enimies Let no man therefore be feared with the manaces of wicked enimies as though it were in their power to ouerthrowe the Church For it is buylt vpon Christ against whome the gates of Hell cannot preuayle Besides this the kingdome of Christ beginneth to be spreade abroad in the Cities nigh adioyning For the fame of these myracles being caried to and fro caused a great manye to bring their sicke and demoniake people to Ierusalem and by that occasion they came to the knowledge of christ The chiefe vse of this place is to make vs in these dayes vnderstande by what meanes Christes kingdome may be enlarged Wherein they which vnder the cloke of the Gospell follow carnall wisedome and haue not yet subdued the same to the obedyence of faith take dyuers consultations For there be some that thinke it best for the faythfull to serue the time to graunt many things and to winke at other vntill the worlde maye looke with an other countenaunce and their mindes waxe calmer which now hate the truth Other agayne turning to carnall defences thinke good by confederacie and fight to bring the matter to passe But the successe of things prooueth both these sortes to be farre wyde and deceyued For this is Gods businesse and can be brought to passe with none other power and strength than his Neyther thorow an hoste of men neyther thorow strength but thorowe my spirite as the Lorde sayth by his Prophet And agayne I will saue them in the Lord their God and I will not saue them by bow nor sword nor by battayle nor by horse nor by horsemen c. We know in deede sometime that he vseth the ministerie of Princes and men and warre as the examples of the Machabees of Constantine and Theodosius doe testifie but euen then he so moderateth the matter that the power of his spirite sheweth it selfe in the middle of these thinges and hath onely the preheminencie Therefore let as many as consult how to haue the Church mainteyned and the kingdome of Christ aduaunced regarde him onely For when they go about to bring the matter to passe by mans counsell and defence there will not God worke any longer Therefore let vs continue in the exercises of the primitiue Church such as Luke hitherto hath rehearsed Let the teachers constantly preach the doctrine of truth not suffer themselues to be plucked from the same considering it hath bene confirmed by so many myracles let them that will be taken for christians earnestly harken to the same and let them ioyne contynuall prayers to the studye of the worde for as much as without Gods secrete working nothing can be brought to passe Let the authoritie of Ecclesiasticall discipline be in force that neyther hypocrites nor open naughtie packes may haue any place in the Church Let the studie of loue and liberalitie towarde the poore raigne amongst vs that the household of fayth through our couetousnesse be not gased on like publike stages of beggerie Bycause these thinges nowe a dayes are not onely neglected but also peruerted it is no marueyle that we see so little fruite of the doctrine of the gospell Let vs therefore settle our selues herevnto with all our hartes and our Lorde and sauiour Iesus Christ wyll helpe our studies and endeuoures to whome be praise honor glory and power for euer Amen The .xxxv. Homelie THEN the chiefe priest rose vp and all they that were with him which is the sect of the Sadduceyes and were full of indignation and layde handes on the Apostles and put them in the common prison But the Aungell of the Lorde by night opened the prison doores and brought them forth and saide Goe and stande and speake in the temple to the people all the wordes of this life When they heard that they entred into the Temple early in the morning and taught THat Oracle of Dauid the King and Prophet saying that Christ should reigne in the middest of hys enimies is verye wonderfull Hereof we gather that Christ shall rule in thys worlde yet so as he shall neuer want those that shall go aboute to subuert and ouerthrowe his kingdome Examples hereof we may euerye where see in the Scriptures and Ecclesiasticall Hystoryes But most manifestlye of all others
soweth the seede of dissention among them by whose concorde and labour the peace and tranquilitie of the Church ought to be mainteyned Examples wherof we haue set forth in Core Moses enimie and in the often contentions of the Apostles the which Christ so many times and so earnestly repressed But the euill of discention might seeme but a tryfle although for the most part it be pernitious in the congregation if there were not a greater plague ensued that is to saye a wicked robbery and mart which ouerturneth all religion and vseth to plucke mennes myndes wholy from religion This thing is more euident in Simon than that it needeth long demonstration For assoone as he had taken ambition and couetousnesse to counsayle in matters of religion by and by he discendeth to spirituall merchandise and robberie But would God one Simon were herewith slaundered and that we eueriwhere sawe not others which offende more wickedly than he For after that a certayne earnest zeale and desire of religion had endowed the Church wyth great abundaunce of riches and that Byshops beganne to be had in reuerence and honor then beganne Simons not very syncere ledde with the spirite of ambition and couetousnesse by vnlawfull meanes to aspire to Byshopricks and cathedre dignities These afterwarde when they had gotten the supremacie deuised wayes how they might recouer againe that which they had spent in purchasing of voyces and hereof was hatched that slaunderous buying and selling of religious matters These beginninges may we thanke of selling of Sacramentes of buying of pardons of hyring of prayers merites of supererrogation gaynefull dispensations buying of buriall places and whatsoeuer like kinde of inuentions That a man may marueyle howe the chiefe Byshops of the Church are become so impudent to glory in the succession of Simon Peter and so manifestly bewraye themselues to be rather the successors of Simon Magus These men haue reygned many yeares in the Church vntill the Lorde with the whippe of hys worde began to driue them out And yet they repent not but being taken in their owne mischieuousnesse rather crye out still that they are the true and lawfull gouernours of the Church And yet we accuse not them onely but also lament that among the professors of the Gospell many times such plagues are to be founde For we see many come to the Gospell of none other minde but for that they woulde be fensed vnder this plausible colour and so most greedily inuade the Church goodes and most dishonestly abuse them And many times they meete with Ministers lyke vnto themselues who hauing gotten by vnlawfull meanes to haue the rule ouer Churches can neyther reprooue nor keepe vnder these raueners Therefore the spirit of Simon nowe a dayes stretcheth the boundes of his kingdome farre and neere which seemeth to me to be the greatest plague of the Church wherby it commeth to passe that they which are as faultie as are the Antichristians doe little preuayle by preaching of the Gospell But let vs see what Peter sayth who expostulateth with Simon This is both a most graue and sharpe expostulation and consisteth of two poynts First he accuseth his fault and denounceth what punishment it deserueth and figureth or fashioneth his saying with an imprecation or kynd of curse beginning on this wise Thy money sayth he perishe wyth thee that is to saye thou and thy cursed money perishe togither The Apostle beginneth on this sort not of moodynesse of minde or of any vnbrydeled affection of anger but mooued by the holye Ghost which woulde after this phrase and maner of speache vtter the heynousnesse of his wickednesse and punishement Therefore such imprecations as these must be referred vnto a certaine kynde of prophecying as we see diuers in the Psalmes and wrytings of the Prophetes But the grieuousnesse of his punishment is more amplified by the sentence next adioyned where he sayth Thou hast no part nor fellowship in this businesse By which wordes he declareth that he is vtterly excluded from all participation of spirituall giftes and excommunicated out of the Church of the Lorde And least Peter might seeme causelesse to vse any kynde of rage he addeth the cause of so cruell threates bycause thou hast thought that the gift of God maye be obtayned with money Which one thing abundantly declareth that thy hart is not right with God forasmuch as thou thinkest he is lyke vnto couetous merchaunts and vsurers Hereof is gathered a generall sentence whereby we are taught that no such are allowed before God as make vauntage and gaine of religion and vnder the colour of religion seeke their owne lucre We are taught also by Peters example with what zeale and feruencie of spirite â–ª Ministers ought to reprooue those which for filthie lucres sake distayne the glory of god They must so be handled that they maye vnderstande howe they haue horriblye sinned and deserued the grieuous punishment of eternall damnation For there is no place for modestie and meekenesse to be vsed where the glory of God is openly assaulted and where the gifts of Gods grace are made subiect to the gainefull pleasure of most couetous persons We reade therfore that Elizaeus vsed the lyke zeale towarde Giezi his naughtie seruant whom he sodeinly strake with the plague of leprosie bicause he required of Naaman the Assirian a rewarde for that health that was freelye giuen him of god And Iesus Christ a most perfite paterne of meekenesse was so mooued with that impious sale of holynesse that he layde hands on the authors of such wickednesse and draue them out of the Church with a whippe lyke impudent Dogges We may therefore iustly complayne of their iniustice in these dayes that say we offende agaynst the rules of Christian modestie and charitie when we accuse the Antichrist at Rome and his Creatures the Cardinals Bishops Monkes and Priestes which by reason of their wicked and prophane Fayer or Mart these many yeres haue caused Christes religion to be mocked and scorned of the Iewes and Turkes and yet to this daye haue no serious or earnest thought of any reformation or amendement notwithstanding they be euery where spoken against But it is the perpetuall and euerlasting decree of God appoynted by his Prophete that in his house there shoulde be no dwelling for Chanaanites that is to saye for such kinde of merchaunts Moreouer it is woorthy to be noted how Peter by a graue sentence condemneth not onely Simon but also Simons money Therfore what thing so euer serueth the wicked against the glory of GOD is accursed as well as they So that money wherwith kyng Balaac would haue hyred Balaam to haue hindred Gods appointment towarde his people is called the rewarde of iniquitie And the money for the which Iudas solde Christ appeareth to haue beene accursed bicause Iudas could neyther long enioy it neyther serued it the priestes for any other vse than to purchase them a perpetuall blot and memorie of their
man had giuen them leaue For who can doubt but they woulde then haue vsed the libertie giuen them of the spirite But forasmuch as they might vse the same and not breake the custome of the Church they must needes haue bene reprehended if they woulde without cause haue broken that custome Furthermore this was verye well done of the Antiochians to giue leaue vnto men vnknowne and straungers to saye their minde For they woulde not quench the spirite nor despise prophecying wherof Paule elsewhere giueth warning 1. Thess. 5. Here is chiefly to be obserued that they require a sermon of exhortation For thus they expresse the ende wherevnto all doctrine and preaching in the Church is to be referred namely that the Church be not onely taught what it ought to doe but may also be prouoked with godly exhortation to doe their dutie and so may be builded vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophetes and may truly close and ioyne togither vnder Christ their heade And hereto belongeth that commendation of holye scripture which Paule sayth is profitable to teach to improoue to amende and to instruct in righteousnesse that the man of God may be perfect and prepared vnto all good workes These thinges are to be obserued of them which make their sermons in the Church for ostentation sake and are more carefull for their owne glory than for Christes Let euery man rather learne so to order all exercises of the Church that by godly exhortations they may be builded in true faith vnto the glory of Iesus Christ to whom be praise honor power and glory for euer Amen The .lxxxix. Homelie THEN Paule stoode vp and beckened with the hande for silence and sayde Men of Israel and ye that feare God giue audience The God of this people chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as straungers in the lande of Egypt and with an high arme brought he them out of it and about the time of fourtie yeares suffered he their maners in the wildernesse And he destroyed seauen Nations in the lande of Canaan and deuided their land to them by lot And afterward he gaue vnto them Iudges about the space of foure hundred and fyfty yeares vntill the time of Samuell the Proâ—phete And afterwarde they desired a king and God gaue vnto them Saule the sonne of Cis a man of the tribe of Beniamin by the space of fourty yeres â–ª NOwe followeth it how Luke the Euangelist describeth the Sermon which Paule the Apostle that most chosen vessell made to the Congregation at Antioche and this is the fyrst of Paules sermons that the holy ghost would should be put in writing not that he iudged the rest vnworthy to be knowne but that by this we might iudge of the other which could not be but like vnto this bicause the spirite of God is at all times and places like vnto it selfe Howbeit it is not without a cause that Luke chose this sermon chiefly of all other so diligently to rehearse For as this one comprehendeth in it moste fully all the mysteries of Iesus Christ and of our saluation so when those of Antioch contemned it the Apostles did that which wee reade they very seldome did before For shaking the dust of from their feete vpon the Iewes they caried the doctrine of saluation vnto others Furthermore the argument of the Sermon is the same that Christ commaunded the Apostles to obserue For he laboureth altogither to bring the Iewes from the vaine affiance of the lawe and ceremonies therof vnto the fayth in christ For the better obteyning whereof he proceedeth in most commodious order For fyrst where he knewe they gloryed much in certaine prerogatiues so that they thought it superfluous to search or take any other waye of saluation he teacheth that they haue nothing of themselues wherin to glory but that they haue receyued what so euer good qualitie is in them of the meere mercie of God who for the Messias sake which he had promised did vouchsafe both to saue them and also to giue them those prerogatiues And thereof he gathereth that it is necessarye for them to embrace that Messias least they fall from the grace of God and be depriued of all goodnesse This done he sheweth that this Iesus is the sonne of God and of Mary the virgin and that sauiour and Messias that was promised and here he so reasoneth of his office that he briefely comprehendeth all the businesse of our saluation and confyrmeth the same with euident Oracles of the olde Testament At length he sheweth the threats of the Prophets that as many as despised the sonne of God and the saluation in him offered might knowe that the horrible iudgement of God hanged ouer their heades And this is the summe of all his sermon which it suffyceth in fewe wordes to haue touched bicause we entende to speake more at large of euery thing in his place Nowe let vs come to the treatie of the same The beginning is short after the maner of the Apostles not to be suspected of any curious artifyciousnesse or conueyaunce He fyrst holdeth out or lifteth vp his hande which was a kinde of gesture vsed in the olde time to cause men to keepe silence when others were about to speake as wee shall see in places following not so fewe as one Then to make them the more attent he calleth them by such names as he both knewe woulde get their good will and also admonishe them of their dutie For fyrst he calleth them Israelites in which name they greatlye reioyced not onely bicause of Iacob the Patriarch which was fyrst so called but bicause therein also were conteyned manifest promises of Gods helpe and protection as we may see Gen. 32. And he addeth And yee that feare God giue audience so plainely thereby admonishing them of their dutie that they might perceyue they were then true Israelites when they feared God and obeyed his worde The breuitie of the Apostles beginning admonisheth vs of two things very worthy to be knowne and considered The fyrst is wherefore those tytles serue that wee vse in the beginning when we reuerently and honourably speake vnto the hearers wherein much is to be attributed to honor euen by the testimony of Paule who commaundeth vs in giuing honour to go one before another Yet must we take diligent heede that we nourish not the ambicion of arrogant men with a flattring tongue and meaning which are euen drunke with the pride of glorious names But this rather wee must obserue that with meete and condigne names we admonishe them with whome we haue to doe of their dutie Therefore the simplicitie of our auncesters and elders is very worthy to be commended who being content with the names of their office and dutie only neuer knew what these painted and flattering tytles ment For what wilt thou adde vnto the name of a king that shall be more honourable or noble than it seeing the very name
poynt whereof is to acknowledge and worshippe him onely as our god And bicause they knewe he was a gelous God and a seuere reuenger of his honor they also must needes be zelously incensed when they see Gods glorye openly taken from him and giuen vnto other The lyke example we sawe before in Iohn and Peter the Apostles cap. 3. and .10 And it appeareth the Aungels are of the same minde iudgement as the faithfull messengers of god See the Apoc. 19 â–ª and .22 We learne by this place what we ought to thinke of them that dare arrogate and chalenge to themselues any godly honor such as we reade sometime Herodes Agrippa did Caligula Domitian Dioclesian â–ª and such like filthy men monsters of nature And now adayes we see the Bishops of Rome chalenge vnto them the title of holinesse the forgiuenesse of sinnes and absolute power to doe all things without checke insomuch that no man must reprehende them though they carie headlong with them into hell infynite heapes of mennes soules These kinde of men caâ— by no argument reprooue â–ª themselues more euidentlye to be destitute of Châ—â—stes spirite seeing the Apostles of Christ so abhorred such glory with the desire whereof these men are so rauished that for this glories sake they feare not onely to seduce the whole worlde with false doctrine but also to fâ—ll all places full with fyghting and warres Moreouer it appeareth by this example that they worshippe not the Saintes which vse to inuocate them and outwardly to worshippe them which thing God challengeth to himselfe alone â–ª For what else doe these men as much as in them lyeth but make them the vessels of Gods wrath ignominie which while they liued on earth bent all their endeuour and studie to haue God glorifyed For it is not to be thought that now they are in heauen they haue chaunged their opinion or that God hath chaunged his minde and will which in times past sayde by his Prophete I am the Lorde this is my name and my glory will I giue to none other Yet a more euident demonstration of all these things shall appeare in the Apostles Oration immediatly following euerye part whereof we shall pervse in order The proposition and summe of their oration is that neyther the Apostles nor anye other Creatures ought to be inuocated or worshipped but onely the true and liuing god Which thing where they might plainely haue pronounced it without any circumstance of wordes yet they thought good to expresse and set out their meaninges by an interrogation saying Sirs why doe you thus These thinges agree very well with the gestures which euen nowe were declared For in fewe wordes they plainly testifye that that worship wherein a number now a dayes thinketh the chiefe praise of godlynesse and religion consisteth is impious valawfull and abhominable And let no man obiect vnto me that the Apostles were offended with that Gentillike worship and names of counterfeyt Gods but woulde haue taken it in good part perhaps if they had honoured them in such sort as now a dayes they are honoured in the Popes kingdome For they simplye abhorre all kinde of worship saying that such honor belongeth to God onelye and alone This appeareth most euidently in the second part of the Oration which conteyneth the confyrmation of the Proposition fortifyed with two strong arguments The fyrst is taken of their owne person or nature where they say we are mortall men like vnto you as though they shoulde saye It is an absurde and foolishe part to honor and worship them as Goddes which are of the same nature that we our selues be and subiect to such infyrmities as we be For both we be sinners and by reason of sinne are subiect vnto all such troubles and miseries as fall out in this life The selfe same argument we hearde that Peter vsed before to Cornelius falling prostrate before hys feete which sayde vnto him Arise for I my selfe also am a man. And if this argument be well weyghed it shall appeare that all worshipping of Creatures is hereby ouerthrowne For if men be therefore vnworthy of diuine honor bicause they be men what shall we say of other creatures which are all inferior vnto man as which were created for mannes sake and vse to doe him seruice From which order the Aungels also must not be excluded forsomuch as they are spirites of administration sent out for the ministery of them which shall be heyres of saluation And we will not here admitte their cauillation which say that by this argument worshipping of Saints is not refelled bicause they are deliuered from all kinde of miseries and infyrmities and are made partakers of the heauenly glorye For to graunt them that by this argument nothing can be gathered against them yet are there infynite other places of Scripture that teach vs they ought no more to be inuocated nowe than when they liued here on earth For the holye men in the Prophete testifye that euen nowe they are ignorant in what state and condicion we be And this agreeth verye well with beatitude or blisse which they enioy not if they be faine eyther to behold or reuenge our miseries Furthermore there is a grounded and inuiolable principle of religion where we are taught that we must worship and honor one God onlye And if men neyther while they are liuing neyther when they are dead must haue any godly honor who can sufficiently laugh at their folly or rather bewayle it which turne and transforme these Saintes into the works of their owne handes that is to say into dumbe Images The other argument the Apostles fet from their office saying they came vnto them and preached the gospell to thintent that they should turne from these vanities begin to worship the liuing God which was the creator of heauen and earth the sea and all things contained in them And thus they plainely protest that they may not suffer any godly honour to be done vnto themselues without manifest impietie and offence vnto god For who will not take him for a trayterous ambassadour and worthy of all punishment which vnder the name and pretence of his king would aduaunce his owne cause and studie to establishe his owne tyrannie among them whome he ought to bring to his Princes obedience who would not thinke him a wicked caytife which woulde vnder the pretence of olde acquaintaunce and friendship bring another mans wife home to his owne house But it is euident that the Apostles and other Ministers of the worde are Christes Legates and Ambassadors and the Bridegroomes friendes and that it is their dutie to bring men to the obedience of faith and to marrye them to Christ whome he hath redeemed with the price of his bloude and made his vnspotted spouse Thus Iohn the Baptist reasoneth of his office with his Disciples and Paule in other places And therfore in this place he refuseth these honors offred him
For that that fel out so luckely with the Romanes we reade hath ben an help to many others wherby to aspire climb vp vnto power and glory Agayne we know how most florishing kingdomes haue sodenly had a fall when iustice and censure of publike lawes hath begun to be neglected It behoueth vs chiefly to consider the case and state of the godly for Paule is ioyned with other prisoners who without all doubt were for the moste part greeuous and haynous misdoers So the scripture teacheth vs that Chryste was numbred with the wicked which also many times chaunced vnto the martyres With whose examples it behoueth vs in these days to be encoraged that we be not offended at the moste vniuste iudgements of the world Moreouer there appeareth in Paules miserable case a singular documēt of Gods goodnesse wherby it cōmeth to passe that the pitiful cōpany of the prisoners hath such a cōforter coūseler through whose meanes we shal heare at length how they were al saued And there is no doubt ▪ but Paul vsed al maner of occasions to instruct teach them the misteries of christian faith religion bicause we haue seene hitherto howe ernestly he desired the saluation of al men Thus God giueth vs singular occasiō euen then to do wel when he semeth vtterly to haue no care of vs Herevnto also belōg the things folowing where we are taught y god had a speciall regarde of Paul in al these dangers For first he ioyneth vnto him most faithful cōpanions to help succour him with their presence ministerie Amōg these was Luke the writer of this history as appereth by the order of the whole story Thē next Aristarchus the Macedonian a mā without peraduenture very rich which was able to susteine so great charges For he wēt out of Grece with Paul to Ierusalē althogh he saw him apprehēded by y Iewes yet did he not forsake him but for .ij. whol yeres togither more he did faithfully help him now he accōpanieth him vnto Rome Thus god vseth to ayde succour his people that they be not tēpted aboue their strēgth when they are vtterly forsakē of men he is their defender This exāple of Aristarchus is very notable reprouing flaterers parasits which vse to measure frendship by profite meaning to suffer nothing for the truthes sake ▪ insomuch that they are ashamed of the martirs of Christ. But we must haue a respect vnto God the rewarder which recompenseth the fayth of Aristarchus with immortall glory and inheritance of the kingdome of heauen An other argument of Gods prouidence and goodnesse we heare it is that the Centurion is so friendly vnto Paule For bothe he curteously intreateth him and when he came to Sidon he giueth him leaue to go visite his friends to recreat and refresh him selfe among them The like we saw before in Lysias the Tribune Felix the Presidēt So Abdias in times paste was a patrone protectour of the Prophets and Ieremie had friends while he was in prison that succoured him bothe with helpe and counsayle Reade the first of the Kings the .18 chapter Ieremie 38. Of these things it behoueth vs also to take comfort that we yelde not to the enterprises of tyrannes but commende our selues and all our doings to God onely Howbeit in this place we haue to consider Paule who beeing in a citie very full of people and standing on the sea coaste where he might easily eyther haue hid him selfe or haue slipped away yet woulde vse no suche oportunitie and aduauntage of escape The causes were both for that he shoulde haue done vniustly to haue brought the Captayne in danger which had wel deserued of him and also for that he had learned by the Oracle that he must go to Rome We are taught by this example that we must not seeke our owne safetie by any vnlawfull meanes For if in our distresses there appeare no way of escape but suche as is repugnant vnto charitie fayth and iustice then is it certayne that God hath determined of vs otherwise whose will and pleasure it is meete we obey least while we make prouision for our body and goodes we lose our soule Now foloweth a diligent and long description of their nauigation or sailing the course wherof let them that are desirous to know euery thing searche for in the Geographers tables We haue to consider howe it was a paynefull and daungerous voyage seeing it is expressely declared that the windes were agaynst them Howbeit God could easily haue remedied these incomberaunces who by many examples hath declared himselfe to be the Lord ruler of the sea But thus it pleased him to haue his chosen vessel tried that the glory both of his truth power might seme the more euident In the meane season it appeareth what state our life is in verily a troublesome state and like to a pilgrimage wherin we see newe trauels and daungers euery day appeare But chiefly this is to be seene in the life of those that are godly which is continually assaulted with freshe cares and troubles An example hereof we haue in Chryst our head who assone as he was borne found enimies whose awaytes and trecheries made the whole course of his life vnpleasaunt perillous Paule also found euen the same which wrastling a long time with the craftes and awaytes of the Iewes is at length cōmitted to the sea an element of all others most cruel the perils wherof he had also before proued as appereth by the eleuēth chapter of the second Epistle to the Corinthians Infinite other examples of this kinde might be repeated if neede so were Let vs rather marke the vse of these things which is to arme our selues with constant fayth and to ouercome al aduersitie seeing it is euident that there is prepared for vs rewardes of eternall rest in heauen which we shall enioy hereafter with Iesus Chryst to whom bee prayse honour power and glory for euer Amen The Clxvij Homelie WHen much time was spent and when sayling was now ieopardous bycause also that they had ouerlong fasted Paule put them in remembraunce and sayd vnto them Sirs I perceiue that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage not of the lading and ship only but also of our lyues Neuerthelesse the vnder Captayne beleeued the gouernour and Master of the ship more than those things which were spoken of Paule And bicause the hauen was not commodious to winter in many toke counsel to depart thence if by any meanes they might attayne to Phenices and there to winter Which is an hauen of Candy and lyeth towarde the South and Northwest winde When the Southwinde blew they supposing to obteine their purpose loosed vnto Asson and sayled paste all Candy but not long after there arose agaynst their purpose a flawe of winde out of the Northeast and when the shippe was caught and could not resist the winde we let