doth exhort vs to an excelent comforte The x. Chapter OVr conditions qualities estates in this world is common and according to the same which Iesus Christ him self had when he was therin For that the same causes that he did suffer for euen the lyke doe wée suffer for also The cruell intreatie that was vsed and done vnto him in the world was bicause that he was the sonne of God faythfull to his father that sent hym did séeke in all things his glory and teach vnto men suche holines rightuousnes as God his father dyd alow For the same cause doe we suffer also for that by hym made the sonnes of God we doe allow none other holines and rightuousnes then that which he doth incite vs vnto So that according to the cōmunion that we haue with him we doe séeke in all things hys glorie doe hate them that abhorre it and doe condempne by his word all the which he holdeth condempned This is the onely cause that he commaunded his discyples in them vs to reioyce saying and assuring thē with vs that theirs and ours is the kingdom of heauē We ought to ponder this in our myndes and to think of it in our afflictiōs that although they bée neuer so great our afflictors can not let vs from the kingdome promised vnto vs for the God is disposed hath purposed that we shal inherite it by them Christ Iesus is the chiefest and the greatest amongest the childrē of God which are his bretheren Euen so he is the first principallest and greatest in all things The afflictions passions and persecutions that he did suffer were in the supreme superlatyue degrée greatest of all his dishonour greatest his pouertie most déepest all kynd of hatred was had against him in most brauest maner his persecutions most violent and cruell the wrath of God wherewith he was charged dyd lye most heauily vppon him and so heauy a burthen in déede as euen the verie toyle and trouble in bearing therof did make him to sweate by extremitie water and bloud He was not only held and accompted for wicked with the wicked but amongest them hée was thought to be most chiefe principall chiefteine of sinne wickednes and vnrightuousnes Though he wer the onely wisdome of the deitie yet they intreated him as one most ignorant and diuilishe Yea and although it was he onely that was chiefe and principall pacifier and accomplisher of the lawe and maker of peace and amitie with God hys father for all mankynde yet he was condempned for the chiefest breaker of the lawe and greatest rebell to god And also though he were the first begottē sonne of God his best beloued and the Lord of all yet he was accompted for such a straunger and so vnknowne to the people that he sayde of him self I am a shadow and no man but am rather a mocking stocke to men and cast out of my people And S. Paule sayeth of him he did adnichilate him selfe taking vppon hym the forme of a seruaunt and made hym selfe a man amongest men and humbled him self to be obedyent vnto death yea the death of the crosse He was brought so lowe that he discended to the déepest of all euils and did abide the extremitie of all paine and punishment that was due for our sinnes offences We did sée him sayeth Esay and he was disfigured we did desire hym and he was the last and the most simple amongest men full of griefes and infirmities there was nothing in him wherby he might be knowne So that we did not knowe what he was hée was loaden with all our sinnes offences hée was whypped wounded for vs as though he had bene the onely offender that none had offended the maiestie of God but he Here wée may sée that he was the greatest passioned persecuted that could bée wherby as by degrées he did ascend to god to be also the greatest in glorie the fulnesse whereof he doeth participate to all beleuers And therfore for that he hath bene so passioned for our causes sinnes and offences it is iust reason necessarie that we doe not will nor desire to be of better estate then he was him self in the world and sith he was iniured and mocked it were not reason that wée should be honored and praysed sith he was so poore that he had not where on to laye his heade but was forced to weare a crowne of thorne it were not conuenient that we should abound in riches that doe perish nor yet that wée should goe apparelled in delicate royall gorgious rayment Hée was reproued of meny in séeking the glorie of his father we ought not therefore to thincke to be allowed praysed of men in séeking of the same let vs be contented that God doth allow vs accompt it good to fauour the rightuousnes of our cause And also let vs not peruert the ordinance of God sith he doth giue vs a cōforter in our passiōs for that we should be imitators folowers of his sonne bicause in allowing that which the world doth allow wée should forsake the imitatiō of him the effecte of our doings therin were none other but to leaue our being his seruāts and séeke to be his superiors or being but disciples to shew our selues to be more fauored greater thē our master We cānot haue more honor nor more firm and certeine securitie thē to tread the steps to passe the same way that he himself wēt Although to our fleshly iudgemēt to the iudgemēt of the world that in the way which we haue to passe after our Lord and sauiour Iesus Christ there be many stones blocks and bryers to stumble at and more readie to tosse and teare vs in péeces that are to passe by them then to let and suffer vs to atteine to the ende of our iourney yet in truth there is none more certeine sure and substanciall passage then the same is to bring vs to that blessedest ende and moste glorious inheritance And sith our swéet sauiour hath gone and made the same so playne before vs there is no cause at all that shuld make vs to doubt of any daunger therin Let vs consider that the crosse and bitternesse thereof is ended quickly and in bearing passing and comming foorth of the same with loue and charitie we doe presently enter into an inestimable glorie as our most louyng swéete sauiour hath promised doeth vndoubtedly accomplyshe and fulfill the same dayly from day to day in all those that doe suffer persecution and are slayne for the profession of his holy and blessed name It is greatly necessarie that all the ordinaunces of god be fulfilled in and by vs as was by Iesu Christ all that god had determined in his diuine coūcell from the beginning and before any thinge hapned vnto him It was saide by the Prophetes that God dyd ordeigne
¶ An excelent comfort to all Christians against all kinde of calamities No lesse comfortable then pleasant pithy and profitable Compendiously compiled by Iohn Perez a faithfull seruant of god a Spaniard in Spanish and now translated into English by Iohn Daniel of Clements Inne with diuers addicions by him collected and therevnto annexed ⧠MARKE XIII ¶ All men shall abhorre you for my names sake sayth Christ but he that endureth to the ende shal be saued Perused and alowed AT LONDON Printed by Thomas East for William Norton The .ix day of August An. Do. 1576. SCENTIA EIVS MVNDVS TRANSIT ET CONCVPI 157◠O thanckes be geuen to God our Lord that of his grace hath geuen A key for vs to ope the lock and let vs into Heauen TO THE RIGHT reuerend Edmonde by the diuine grace of the deitie Archbishop of Canterburie Primate of Englande and Metrapolitane of the same Grace and peace from God the father and from our Lord Iesus c. REmēbring my selfe right Reuerend of the cōiunction or knitting togither of the members in one perfect body and finding that by the health some health that is had in euerie of them they haue the greater ioy togither vvith their head and so plūged in mule of the same I called to mind the maimed bruised bodie of Iesus Christ vvhereof vve all are members And vvhen I had vvel considered the goodnes of almightie God our purest and principallest Phisition seene that he had ministred such medicine therevnto as made suche true health so flantingly to florish in so many and such a number of the members thereof I vvas moued to an exceeding delight And as one delight oftentimes bringeth in an other so did it happē vnto me bicause of the perfect health and soundnesse vvhich I assured my self of by faith that I vvith all the rest shuld see in the end to come and be vppon euerie perfect limme of the sayde spirituall bodie from the head to the foote But vvhen I had perused and perfectly beheld hovv our most mercifull father vvas glorified in that Sodomitticall countrey so sinfull a sincke of sin the countrey of Spayne by so faithfull a fellovv as vvas and is the Aucthor of this my trauaile in vvhom so valiantly the fountain of faith dyd flovve I vvas vvholy rauyshed vvith ioyes But as the foote helpeth the left hand the left hande the right hande and so all togither do help their head Euen so I an inferior member thought it good to perticipate parcell of these my ioyes vnto your grace vvhom I knovv to be a principal mēber in Christes churche for a certaintie I could declare vvherein if Ars Adulandi had not abhorred me vvhom also I haue ben alvvayes at defiance vvith But he needeth not heere for that it hath pleased the almightie Iehouah that self sayd Phisitiō so to encrease your spirituall health that suche like fruite hath so corespōdently proceeded as by fame hath bene manifested to many and especially in that it hath pleased hym the fountayne of all goodnesse so to blase your faithfulnesse to the Queenes most excelent maiesty that hir highnes setting you in that self same seate which your grace vnder God and hir excelencie now sitteth possesseth most worthily your perfectnes is made manifest to all I am sure that some amongst such a multitude as shall wil scan my doings herein will accompt me fond rude and prodigally presumptuous bicause that I so simple haue taken vppon me to present my selfe vnto your grace with this so vvorthie a vvorke so rudely translated and penned and so esteeme the lesse thereof bicause it is done by me vvho of late vvhilest mine exhibition lasted did studie the commō lavves of England say by me as I haue heard a number of them say by others the professors of true religion Lo behold I pray you heere is to bee seene a sedicious sovver of errors in the church he vvas of late a student at the lavv a lustie youth and novv for lacke of lyuing hee is become a clavvebacke amongest the heritikes a prating protestant as though it vvere not possible for a youth or a student at the lavv to be a true professor of christian religion although that a great number of Lavvyers be obstinate Papistes the more is the pittie yet thankes be to God a many of them to small are verie zealous of the true Religion In Clements Inne the most parte are But for an ansvvere to all suche as shall thus impudētly defame me I say as follovveth Am I fonde doe they say bycause I haue dedicated it to your grace no surely for vvhie I am vvell aduised and doe knovv that you vvill accept it in good parte for that I haue seene and marked very vvell euer sithēs your G. comming to the Bishoprick of London hovve that all the enimies to idlenesse and vice or as many as you knevv vvere aduanced and for the contrary the louers therof and abhorrors of vertuous exercise vvere supressed Your setting forth of vertue and punishing of vice hath much moued mee to looke vppon my self and made me to forget that braine sicke and that lewde rule of lyfe vvhich I haue ledde in the company of some of those that vvil so play the gnatoes against me behinde my backe and hath altogither moued me to this enterprise I though rude haue not done it vppon any point of prodygall presumption but most humblie haue I done it bending my selfe with all humilitie to a bide the gentle correction of your grace if in any thing I haue offēded therby vvhich my hope is I haue not And although I bee poore doe lacke the vvorldes goodes to lyue vvith all and therefore doe novv and then abide the bitternesse of the crosse of pouertie yet what then it hath not made me a clavvbacke of heritickes A clavvbacke I abhorre and so I doe an heriticke also the vvant of liuing I thanke God for if it vvere his pleasure I shuld haue it he hath inough for me I seeke not for it by flatterie neyther am I a flatterer And agayne I knovv that by so honest a qualitie so godly an exercise as this is there is verie little to be gottē of the vvorld or of any of the ministers therof as of late I proued by dedicating of a small translation out of Spanishe as this was to the Lorde Maior and maiestrates of the Citie of London it is intituled a generall pardon for sin it vvas vvell vvorthie to be receiued and so it vvas of a certaine of the chiefest of them and I cōtented thervvith but yet there vvere some that vvhen I vvas so readie to deliuer it they vvere as slovv to receiue it and had as little leysor as those vvhich are spoken of by Christ in the xiiij Chapter of S. Luke they vvere so busied vvith buying and assuring of lande of farmes of yokes of Oxen vvith marying of vviues vvith vsurie that they had no leysure to loke
shewe the cause of so supreme a benifit Sayinge I giue thée thankes O Father Lorde of heauen and earthe bicause thou haste hidden these thinges from the wyse prudēt of the world and openid it vnto babes euen so father for so it pleased thée The cause of this benefit and of all ioyned with it commeth to vs by the great good will of God and the delight which he hath in his sonne As before it is sayde forasmuch as we doo knowe it is so let vs desire that we may be of that numbre of the lyttle ones that our Sauiour Christe dyd giue thankes vnto his Father for and not leane to any false variable doctrine whose ende is to bringe them that doo beleue in the same from the vnitie of the true faith which the prophets Apostles and Iesus Christ himselfe hath taught vs. Wherefore being partakers of the fruite of redempcion that our sauiour and Lorde Iesu Christ hath redemed vs with and by fayth that we haue in the Gospel let vs concider wel what we haue to doo that to our best power we may perseuer and increase in that rightuousnesse and holinesse that he hath communicated vnto vs Before we were called and when we had not receiued pardon for our sinnes we were such and euen the lyke as the children of perdicion were But now being reconciled to GOD by his sonne Iesus Christe we are taken foorthe of the Empire rule and dominion of the diuell and receiued of GOD by the holy Ghost and by the vertue of the same ioyned with Iesu Christ made one body with him From whome as from our head there is deryued into vs membres with lyfe and spirit by the which we ought to doo the works of lyfe for that thereby is a plaine testimony that Iesu Christe who dyd pardone vs of our sinnes and paye his moste precious bloud for a raunsome for the same dooth liue in vs and that he onely is the foundacion of our hope and affiaunce and also that of him and by him we are beloued of god the father as his childrē As teacheth sainct Peter saying that Iesus Christe is the liuinge Stone refused of men but elected chosen and precious with god and sayth further you also as liuing stones are built in one spirituall buildinge and one holy presthoode for to offer a spirituall sacrifice acceptable to god by Christ Iesu and a little after that you that beléeue and trust in Iesus Christ which in tymes passed were no people are nowe the people of God but before now you had not obteined mercy yet now you haue and are a chosen lynnage a royall presthoode a holy nacion a peculiar people for that you preach and shew the vertues of him that called you from the darcknesse in which you were to an admirable most merueilous light In this he dooth giue vs to vnderstand how we ought to spend our whole lyfe tyme and that is in perpetuall sacrifise of prayse vnto the Lord for that he hath béene so mercifull and pittifull towards vs so that all our woorks ought to be with a chearfull voyce singinge and makinge proclamacions of his glory of his vertuous prayse For to dooe this saythe Sainct Paule we ought to renounce and deny the vngodly worldly desires of the flesh and in this transitory lyfe to liue temperatly in rightuousnesse and godlinesse tarying and looking for that blessed hope glorious apearing of the mightie God our Sauiour Iesus Christ So that we ought to put away all kinde of supersticion false religion all desires and concupisences of the flesh and the worlde and to liue a godly lyfe according to the wil of God the which is declared vnto vs by his worde But sith that we are bought with the inestimable pryce of the most precious bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ his sonne so made his seruants we ought not to serue him in anye other maner nor with any other thinges then those which hée hath commaunded by his worde and lawe The Lorde dyd call and electe vs for that we should be holy and without reprehencion but we be prophane before him and no such saints if we serue him with any other thinge then that which his lawe dooth commaund or by the rule of his cōmaundements For that we be called in Iesu Christ as Sainct Paule sayth in the same Chapter bicause we should dooe the good workes that God dyd ordeyne for hs and that we should walke in them for those onely are good that he hath commaunded by his worde we ought also to imploy our whole studies in those workes For the apostle dooth teache vs that Iesus Christ dyd giue him selfe for vs to redéeme vs from all kinde of wickednesse and to purify vs that we might be a peculier people vnto him and that we might be onely dedicated to his seruice feruently giuen to good works All true beleuers sayth the Prophet Esay are tréese of rightuousnes and planted by the heauenly Father that he might be glorifyed in them Wherefore we ought to adresse our whole myndes all our affections and all our desires and thoughtes to glorifie him with all those things which we are sure and certeine he dooth and will allowe But sith he euen our God hath opened our eyes for to sée the lighte it were not iuste nor reason that we should walke any more in darcknesse that is to say thincking falsly that those thinges will content his goodnesse which dooth content vs or those thinges which are allowed of men without the holy Ghost Of the cause of Christes comming and of the fruites of christians The .viii. Chapter GOd hath giuen vs Iesus Christe to be our onely maister and teacher and doothe commaunde vs to heare him bicause he is the onely expositer declarer of his wyll and most mightie power and to direct vs for the accomplishment of the same So that they that doo heare the woorde of god and kéepe it for a rule in their doings and workes doo shewe themselues to be tréese of rightuousnesse planted beloued of him and that his spirit is resident and remayning in them But of them that teache and doo to the cōtrary he sayth by Sainct Mathewe they are plants that his heauenly Father hath not planted and althoughe they florishe for a tyme and be séene yet in th end they wil be withered dry and rotten Thus Iesu Christ doothe testifie that those which are gouerned and séeke to serue him by the commaūdemēts of men are none of his plāts We ought to abhorre and houlde for abhominable all such maner of seruices for that we are instructed by the word of trueth that al they which doo delight in them are subiect to the condempnacion wherein they were firste borne The hatred of them with all the rest that god hath forbidden and the obedience of his commaundemēts diuine are those fruites
which we ought alwayes to accōpt for his plāts with a dayly study to be of that numbre which the Prophet Dauid speaketh of that haue all their affection delight in the lawe and ordinance of the Lorde and doo meditate and walke in the same bothe day and night bicause we might fructifie and bringe foorthe good fruite in dewe season God dyd plant vs in his sonne giuing him vnto vs to be our redéemer the footesteppes of whome we should followe and with whose rightuousnesse our faults were couered And therfore we ought to haue a constant faythe and beléefe that he is such a one as wée confesse him to be in our Créede or twelue Articles of our Faythe and reioyce that we haue him to be our eternall highe Preste Kinge and Sauiour that liueth eternally to be an intercessour for vs and to fulfill for vs all that God dooth commaunde or aske for that in him is hidden all science treasure and wysedome This is the faythe that muste be in our hartes by the which we are ioyned to Christ Iesus and dooe knowe the sufficiency that we haue in his ritches by him to whose goodnesse we must be appendant but not as in the tyme of our blindenesse when we confessed him with our mouthes and denyed him in our workes We confessed that wée dyd loue and beleue him but it was a lye false and nothinge so We sayde that we dyd beleue he was our sauiour but it was not true for why wée sought healpe and healthe in vaine thinges that he dyd neither commaunde nor yet alowe and also dyd liue in the beléefe and follow those vaine vanities vntill now of late We confessed him to be Christ King of all Kings and principall highe Preste and yet we gaue no place vnto the fruite of his Gospell in our hartes where it should haue béene and he also haue liued We sayde hée was a highe Preste but yet we accounted better of Antechrist and made him our high Prest Of him onely dyd we séeke pardon for our sinnes and sinfull delightes we set a syde Iesus Christe our true remitter whome by his moste precious deathe and passion dyd make and fulfiill suche satisfaction to our GOD his Father for our offences as none but hée coulde doo the like Yea although the wrath and heauie displeasure of GOD were neuer so fully satysfied yet wée dyd thincks our selues to make satisfaction by our owne deuised merittes and nothing estemed the merites of Iesus Christ which were of a most infinite and vnspeakeable vallour for the healthe of his elected beleuers Yet now déerely beloued let vs account for vaine all our owne deseruinges and all mens merites so full of vnrightuousnesse trust onely to his mercy in his diuine iudgement in which none may perfectly percist but onely his owne He was giuen vnto vs for our onely euerlasting Aduocate to God the Father commaūding vs that we should aske any thinge that we haue néede of at the handes of god the Father in his name But making little price hereof lesse regarding him we sought other mediatours as to this sainct and by the diuillish helpe of that relique c. What was this but to denie the fayth by ours workes which we confessed with our lippes bicause therein we would be accompted christians yet in our hartes we were condempned for vngodly For why with our mouthes we made confession to serue and honour Christ when as in déede with all our workes and studies we serued curssed Antichrist and walked in errors euery man after his owne way and accordyng to our owne inuentions as sayeth the Prophet Esay But now sith it is so apparant that by the great goodnes and singular benifit of the almightie God we doe beleue truely in Iesu Christ his onlye sonne our sauiour Let vs accordingly liue in that godlinesse and trueth that he hath taught and shewed vnto vs by his word and spirite hée hath marked vs for his owne with the same signe seale the which he hath marked his chosen They which doe persecute vs doe not knowe vs but doe both holde accompt vs for aliaunts and straungers vnto themselues they maye nor can not suffer vs in the world no more then they might suffer our Lord Iesus Christ who hath done such a benifite for all mankinde and of whom assuredly we are So that we ought to vnderstand and accompt for most certeine and sure that all the causes of our troubles wherewith we are so hated afflicted persecuted in this world is as S. Paule saith bicause we trust beleue in the lyuing God who is the sauiour of all the faithfull Notwithstāding the false coulers which they vse in their quarelsome war that they make with vs they couer thēselues with a cloak say that we are heritikes that they are holy it is so in déede but yet it is but a fayned holynesse the which God by his worde hath cōdempned for abhominable Wherfore let vs arme our selues with a firme sure hope the God yea our God will bée our sure helper defender against thē in all our troubles for that we be the worke of his handes he hath made vs redéemed vs and we be his owne the cause is his and will suffer no harme nor euil to touch vs Let vs not fal from nor yet be weake in this truth which God hath reuealed vnto vs but let vs be fully assured that it is his might power will the deliuereth vs saueth all beleuers We are set sure therby from all perils dangers and taken out of all afflictions S. Simon in the gospel of S. Luke doth prophesie that Iesus Christ was sent for the rysing falling of many people in Israel that by him are reuealed the thoughtes of meny hartes that wée should be saued from all that hate vs Euen now in these dayes is this prophesie fulfilled Assoone as the worde of the Gospel was preached amōgst vs and that it did reueale vnto vs thē our lord Iesus both they we might haue séene the effect of this prophesie euen so it may be still some of them he did please to condempne for that they did resist furiously did persecute condempne him Others which were thē that did beleue were reysed edifyed and saued by him for whose sake they are hated held accoūted for abhominable in the world And the thoughtes of some that were holy hallowers sanctifiers of mē were are discouered and shewed to be of such cōditiō qualitie that they cānot suffer the holines of our Lord sauiour Iesus Christ but do so rebell against him that they vse their vttermoste force wyth crueltye to throw him out of the world Of a great cause of comfort by reason of the crosses of Christ c. Cap. ix BVt sith it hath pleased God that our lotte hath bene so luckye our happe so
no none but with charitie for that is our callinge and therein are we taught bothe by the wordes and workes of Iesus Christe our swéete sauiour redemer pastour and shéepeherde Let not vs take any regarde at all of the euill and harme that our persecutours vse towardes vs but let vs chiefely regarde and looke diligently to that which Iesus Christ did amongst vs and commaund vs vnto The imitacion of him let vs not abhorre condempne nor speake euill of but rather let vs doo the contrary Let vs loue to imitate him and let vs doo the workes of loue The cause why that our enimies and afflictours dooe persecute vs is declared by our Sauiour Lorde Iesus Christ who sayth they shall cast you out of their Sinnagogs excomunicate you persecute you vnto deathe for my name sake shall thincke they doo therin to God very great seruice they shal do these thinges bycause they haue neyther knowen me nor yet my Father There is not nor can not be a greater mischiefe then to be ignorant of or not to know at all our God and Father almightie nor yet his sonne Iesus Christ The want of knowledge hereof maketh all them which lacke the same to be possessed of the diuell seruaunts of sinne and heires and inheritours of hell And also dooth make them to beare carry and mainteine continually a curssed cruel capital war against god heauen and all that is his The which dooth bring vnto them their vtter distruction perdicion for euer Their hell they doo alwayse carry with them their owne consciences doo condempne them bicause the worme thereof euer dying and neuer deade doothe and will for euer accuse them The iudgement of GOD doothe lye very heauy vppon them the Lawe hathe curssed them and the woorckes and déedes which they dooe in persecutinge the faythefull are euident tokens testimony of their vtter condempnation Bycause that those whom they persecute with persecutions slaunders condempnations curses cloathed with saint Benits crosses shut vp in close prysons and afterward burned are little or nothing touched thereby but Iesus Christ in them It is he it is he that beareth the spitefulnesse of their passions and Persecutions as hée hymselfe did declare to Saint Paule before his conuersion for when that he had cruelly persecuted the Christians our sauiour Christ sayde with a terrible voyce Saule Saule why persecutest thou mée What greater euill may be thought then to persecute our swéete sauiour and redéemer how can the wrath of God be more euident vnto to them then when they may sée that he careth not for them but suffereth them to fall and runne headlong into that loathsome lake of perdition and yet in vsing the same they think themselues in suche securitie of saluation that they solemnise their tiranycall dispositions as if they did solemly halow some festiuall feast And doe think they doe God good seruice Oh lamentable case that they know not the truth in those their wicked doings Sin hath so captiuated and blynded them that they estéeme light for darkenesse the truth of God for deceyueable errours and the rightuousnesse of heauen for iniquitie And therefore with the bowels of pitifull compassion we ought to pray to God for them beséechyng him of his mercy that hée will take them out of that so mortal deadly and dampnable estate Now then sith it is God that is the aucthor of our afflictious calamities and griefs if we take them at his hands they wil be healthfull for vs and make vs to be true imitators and folowers of Christ hys sonne so that we shall not at all dysdaine our enimies nor shal in no wise vse them euilly for euil but rather desire that they may be brought into the bowels of his loue and so reduced into the way of health With faintnes are we filled with edible wrath indignatiō against thē bicause we thinke that with their irefull hatred their caluminate strifes flaūderous reportes their false testimonies and burning desires to shead our blud they doo or can do as much grief or harme But if we doe vnderstande Gods diuine counsell a right doo not looke a wrye from his worde we shall and may know perfectly wel how impossible it is for thē to doo vs any kynd of dammage with all that euer they can doe or imagine whatsoeuer it bée If we doe but heare the words that the holy Ghost speaketh by the Prophet Dauid we may wel vnderstand sée that they can not preiudice vs in any thing at all An excelent comfort to the afflicted Cap. xiij HE that dwelleth sayeth he vnder the defence of the highest shall be sure vnder the shadow of the almightie The defence wherin doeth consist our sureste securitye is the fyrme truste and affyaunce that the Lords hath giuen vs to haue in him By the which we are made partakers of hys omnipotencie and as his omnipotencie is in securitie from all kynde of euill euen so are we thereby bycause he is onely our hope our foretresse our strength and God in whom wée chiefly trust And the chiefe ground of his promise is that he will deliuer vs from all euilles and that hys trueth shall be vnto vs a buckler and shield And also the Prophet sayth in the same Psalme Bycause thou haste put thy selfe vnder the guarde and custodie of the most highest there shall no euill happen vnto thée neyther shall any plague come néere thy dwellynge Whereby it appeareth playnly what vayne traueyles our enimyes take in hand when they séeke rather to afflict vs or fight so furiously as they doe against the truth For that as they can not preuayle against the truth so shall they not preuayle against them that folow it bycause the auctthor thereof is their mightie defendor Héere the Lord doeth promyse and certifie that no euill shall happen vnto vs nor plague come to our dwelling or Tabernacle if we know and feare hym So that it followeth the euilles and mischiefes that our aduersaries doe séeke towardes vs cannot hurte vs if we be faithfull Bycause the elected whose tutor and gouernour is God are not neither riches honor dignity high estate bodily or corporal health lyfe nor any thing els whereof there is any vertue or power giuen to the wicked But are the liuing members of Iesus Christ vnited and knit vnto him most surely and therefore inuisible to the children of this world as is the same lord And bycause the wicked should not sée howe to doe them harme in that true being which they bee God did so fauour them that by hym they were incorporated in Iesu Christ for that as hée is firme sure substanciall strong and may not bée throwen out of the throne of his maiestie So be those his members of such strength and force in him that they may in no wyse be separated frō him That which by tirannie of Tirants is to be taken
from vs is but lent vs in this worlde But that which God hath giuen vs for our owne I meane the celestial riches which we are heires vnto to inherite for euer they can not be taken away although they doe the worst they can That which is ours is giuen vs for our owne with a pryuiledge irreuocable that we be his children inheritors of his kingdom and partakers of his glory That we also be his inheritance a dwellyng place for him to dwell in for euer with our selues also in him S. Peter doeth reioyce that we doe liue in him eternally and doe holde and account him for our God father and doeth giue thanks saying Blessed be God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ the which according to hys aboundant grace and mercy hath regenerated vs agayne to a lyuely hope by the resurrection from death of our Lord Iesus to enioy an inheritaunce immortall not contamynate but incorruptyble and vndefiled reserued in the heauens for those which are kept by the power of God thorough faith to obteine saluacion So that being kepte by the power of God which passeth strength of castles or any thing els what euill or harme can come or happen vnto vs. Thou dootst hyde them in the secret of thyne owne presence priuilie from prouoking the pride of men sayth the Prophet Dauid also further thou doost hide them as in a tabernacle frō the stowte caluminate strifes of euil tongues So that the greate brauery and boysteous bragges that the wicked doe braue with all it cannot hurt vs For that their pride theyr peuishnesse their caluminates their strifes theyr subtilties nor yet theyr generall and wicked coūsells cannot gréeue vs No more cannot the gréedye gréeuous rauuen nor hawtie hate of the diuel pearce nor penitrate the place where GOD dooth hide vs. That which did happen or fall out to Iesus Christ the same shall happen vnto vs For as he was whipped spoiled spitted on bloud drawen from nayled vppon the crosse otherwise iniured and blasphéemed did remaine the sonne of God and could not bée taken away nor let from callyng and acknowledging of hys God father and continued the redéemer of the world So lykewyse the faithfull the more they bée dishonoured dispoyled condempned cursed and iniurioustie handled the more they remayne alwayes the children of God and hys spirit doeth lyue the rather alwayes in them by the which they inuocate call and acknowledge hym for theyr father So that it foloweth that the worlde and all the greatnesse thereof I meane the tiranous tirany of the persecuting wicked worldlings with all the tirany and cursed crueltie they can doe can not hurt vs. To confirme make vs more strong in our faith the holy ghost by the prophet Dauid doeth declare vnto vs that all which our aduersaries dooe commit thonder out and threatten against vs and the Gospell is in vaine For he saith the gentiles fret rage and fume furiously and the people inuent vaine thinges The kings of the earth doo conspire and the princes and rulers of the Earth doo gather them selues together against the Lord and Christ his annointed It is vayne and shall take none effect at any tyme in vs nor yet nothinge at all that they can afflict vs with be it interior or exterior Bicause the Lord our god hath ouercome all our enimies aswell those which are visible and séene as those which are inuisible not séene And hath ouerthowne them in suche sort that they shal neuer more lift vp their heads against vs And thereof it accreweth and groweth that all is in vaine that they doo or can doo against him that hath ouercome them And moreouer all is in vaine that any fury can doo against the faithfull so that their iudgements and condempnacions are all in vaine For that if the iudgement of God can not preuayle agaynst them bycause they as the Apostle sayeth are knitte in Iesus Christ Howe can any of the iudgementes of theyr enimyes in any point preuayle agaynst them Vaine are their sentences and excommunications agaynst them for that God hath communicated them in Christ and made them partakers of his ryches It is a common practise among them to confiscate spoyle robbe the faythfull of their perishing ryches But yet in vayne bycause that Iesus Christ who is their true ryches will not bée robbed from them Their bodies are imprysoned yet hée reigneth in theyr liberties to ioy reioyce comfort and recreate theyr hartes Moreouer they are burned and receyue other kyndes of death to the imaginations of the persecutors bycause they should not lyue but they shall neuer dye For Sainct Paule sayth your liues are hydden with Christ in God. Fynally theyr instrumentes and other weapons the which they take vp to vse theyr cruelties with it is but in vayne agaynst them I meane agaynst the faythfull for that he that sitteth and is resident in the heauens sayeth the Prophet shall deryde and make a mock at their folly the Lord will laughe them to scorne for theyr great foolishnes They doe think them selues to be of the number of his chosen and yet the more they doe impryson and kill the very chosen in déed so muche the more soouer they thinke to recouer his heauēly kingdom a great mockery no doubt and is no more but as it were an Emmet should fighte with an Elephante or a foolishe flea with a foule Cammell Were it not also foolishe phoprie for a man to fight with a shadowe thinkyng it to bée a man of might Surely they doe none other which persecute fight against the faithfull Of whome the Prophete speaketh saying God hath put his faithfull in safetie so that no harme can touch them and where in no wise they may perish by the peuishnesse of any pelting persecuter There is none that séeketh to hurt or harme them but playeth the part of him that pusheth and fighteth with his owne shaddowe Against the Gospel the kinges princes the wise learned and holy in the world haue discouered and shewed openly some of them their knowledge suttelties threats othersome their valiency might and all of them doo affirme say that they doo nothinge but vpon a zeale of christianitie But that is such a zeale as he the gouerneth the Gloabe and in the heauens dwellith doth deride laugh and make a mocke at And doth threaten that in place and lue of the same he will speake to them in his ire and vex them in his heauy displeasure And also chastise them with an horrible and terrible chastisemēt as he hath done from the beginning and that hath béen séene in our daies But sith it is so and that all is vaine that they doo or can inuent against vs that dooe knowe and beleue in Iesus Christ that he dooth deride mocke them in their doings Let vs not feare their foolishnesse and folly
holy body of Christ in general he dooth testify say the same to euery one of them in particuler And therefore euery one perticulerly ought to apply and assure himselfe to him in none other maner nor forme then of him onely it was sayde and spoken by Sainct Paule who saythe we haue not receiued the spirit of this world but the spirit which commeth of god bicause we might knowe the thinges which are of him that he doothe geue vs and not be ignorant therein nor yet doubt thereof Of Purgatorie and the causes of calamitie c. Cap. xv BIcause we that are of the nūbre of the faythfull are suche a perticuler worke of GOD that of his goodnesse he wyll not that there be any thinge in vs which he loueth not but that we be wholly cleane also that with our holinesse and cleannesse of lyfe and doctrine we dooe declare our selues to be his children and therefore wyll destroy in vs all the workes of the diuell which are so repugnant vnto him as are the wicked inclinacions of the fleshe and all whatsoeuer els that doothe let our true obedience to his holy heauenly will. To ende and consume it altogether he dooth laye his crosses vpon vs to be as it were a Purgatory in this world to purifie vs and he will there with that we take it as a testimony of his loue and that we be his verye familiars and fréendes I sayth the Lorde dooe reprehend and chastise those whome I loue And hereof it groweth that the more he loueth vs so much the more he hateth abhorreth the sinne that is in vs and also so much the more he will correct and chastise vs And as there is none that he dooth more loue then those which he hathe called and incorporated in Iesus christ so is ther none that is more afflicted in this world Euen as a carefull Father that hath many children and one among thē more beloued then the rest whom he will make his heire and the more he loueth him so much the more vigilant he is to kéepe all vice daunger from him that might depriue him of his inheritance yet the sonne with dolefull dollour griefe that he dooth féele dooth bewayle and thincke in féelinge his fatherly correction that it doothe procéede of ire and doothe not consider his fathers pure pretence but rather taketh it for a signe of hatred which for a most sure certeintie is a true testimony of loue good will. Euen so it dooth fall out betwene god the celestiall father and vs for that we doo not vnderstande the intent of him in his fatherly reprehensions and chastisements the which of truth deare fellow membres are bicause he doth loue vs most singulerly as childrē to dispose vnto vs his most inestimable and blessed inheritāce and to destroye in vs all the vices that should let or hinder vs frō the same We do sorrow gréeue at his friendly fatherly correctiō we doo not estéeme it as we ought to doo nor as instruments the tend to so ioyful an ende And therefore let vs heare follow the counsel of the holy ghost spokē by out of the mouth of the apostle S. Paul. My sonne despise not the chastinīg of the lorde neither faint when thou art rebuked of him for whome he loueth him he chasteneth and scourgeth euery sonne that he receueth If we can endure his correctiō he offereth himselfe vnto vs as vnto his sonnes for what sonne is that whom his father chastiseth not is beloued He that is not vnder correctiō wherof we all be partakers is a bastard not a sonne Wherby it appeareth we may plainly sée that it is he the scourgeth vs bicause he loueth vs dooth certeinly assure vs that we are his children for that by his crosses and calamities with the which he scourgeth vs he will distinguish vs frō those which are none of his but are reprobats So that if we should be frée frō his paternal or fatherly correction we should also be set voyd frée from the inheritance of his blessed kingdom And moreouer it were then made manifest vnto vs that we were bastterds illegittimate and not sonnes lawfully begottē of our louing father But sith that by his singuler infinit mercy he hath made vs legittimate Let vs like lawfull loouing children put aside all pusilanimitie weakenesse and cowardise and withall earnestie and firme zeale submitte our selues to the ordinaunce will of the eternall God our heauenly father and let vs vnderstande further the saying of S. Paule We haue not receiued the spirit of bondage to feare any more but we haue receiued the spirite of adoption by the which we crye call Abba father the same spirit certifieth vs that we are the sonnes of god and therby heires with Christ therefore let vs suffer with him that we may bée also glorifyed together And forasmuch as we dooe knowe the effect of the benefit of his amorous and louely correction let vs suffer as sonnes and heires to the Imitacion of his eldest sonne our head eldest brother Iesus Christe which being best beloued dyd suffer most excessiue paines passions And as the greatnesse of the same was a true testimony of the loue with the which he loued was beloued of the father Euen so how much the greater our afflictions troubles calamities are so much the more testimony haue we of his excéeding loue good wil towards vs. For it is written by Iesus the son of Sirache that the crosse is mercy So that the more greater that our crosses calamities are so much more the clearer demonstracion haue we the god doth loue vs the more profoundly hath the more pittie of vs maketh vs liue in disdaine with the diuel all his workes From whence it springeth that how much more we be oppressed with persecucion or any kinde of calamitie so much the nigher are we at an ende of the consumption destroy of all the euil mischiefe that is in towards vs against the which the Lord our God dooth make batteile warre fight for vs And for this cause in the most extremitie of al our troubles and calamities whatsoeuer We ought to haue greatest content comfort ioye bicause then our most franke frée ful libertie for the knowledge of God draweth neare whereby we shall sée him face to face shal know him as he doth know vs Let vs not thē as yonge babes blush feare stoppe or staye from the feeling of those troubles calamities which are present in the world But let vs passe to the consideracion that god doothe pretend by them which is to make vs wholly rightuous and that there remain not one spot of vnrightuousnes nor corruption in vs but that we should be the irreprehensible sonnes of god without spotte or wrinckle So that we might come to
enioy the most blessed fruite thereof which is as a thing of inestimable vallew appendant and regardant or belonging to the excercisours of the same A great comfort to the Christian with a terrible threate to the vngodly and wicked c. Cap. xvi ALso God would haue vs to vnderstand thereby how great how vile a villanous euil sinne is And how great without measure the rewarde thereof is to those vnfaithfull ones that will not know him for that thereby of a suerty they are set a farre distance from god and brought in hatred with him For if god haue loued vs so much that he hath all ready pardoned and reconsiled vs to him by the death of his sonne then for the rest of the sinne that remayneth in vs he dooth with the greater iustice treate and deale with vs so seuerely as to make vs liue and dye in crosses and calamitie And therefore what a wonderfull correction or punishment may we thinck that he wil vse to them that are so fully fraught with mischiefe that they be euen the seruants of sinne and of the diuell enimies to all kinde of rightuousnes But yet for all this god dooth not punish vs for sinne bicause that Christe hath bene punished therefore already But he dooth punish the sinne that dooth alwayes reigne in vs not for the hatred he hath vnto vs but for the mallice that he hath vnto sinne And if we beinge sonnes children be put in such a streight by our father that for the sinne that is in vs we be iudged of men to be stranges and forriners to him what shall be come of those or them that beléeue not the gospell but are rather enimies thereof He will not onely punish the sinne that is in them but also will of necessitie consume them and their sinnes together to euerlasting destructiō for that they cānot abide so rigorrous a iudgement of God who most horribly hateth sinne as is due for the same The tyme is already come sayth S. Peter that iudgement must begin at the house of god If it begin first with vs what ende will then come of thē which haue not nor doo not beléeue his gospel nor yet wil be none of his houshould If the rightuous can scarsely be saued what will then become of sinners or where shall they appeare If amongst vs I say which are his temple and holy habitacion he doo beginne to punishe with suche rigour what wyll he then dooe when as his wrath and ire shal be inflamed against all both one and the other That is to say as well the househould of god as the houshould of the diuell When he beginneth to take vengeance of that house where the diuell dwelleth is obeyed and all his will fulfilled he will take in his hand the cuppe of his wrath against sinne all shal drincke thereof for all are sinners But the children of God shall drincke tast of the first best purest thereof bicause they may vnderstande what enmytie they ought to haue to sinne Sith god doth abhorre it so much that he will punishe it first in vs it is a great significacion that the rest I meane the reprobate shall be also punished tast of his wrath and shall not escape although they thincke themselues at libertie and loose there from And if we the sonnes of God be subiect to suppe the first and best thereof it cannot be but that the other must néedes drinck and swallow vp the dregges last and worst But for the childrē and sonnes of God I meane the faithful to drinck of that cuppe in such maner of wyse and to that ende that God hath determined me thincketh it is more saludable and healthfull to them for that the lorde will vse suche moderacion so much alay the extréeme bitter taste thereof bicause he giueth it them to none other ende but to bring them to humilitie that being humbled brought low in mynde they might with more greater earnestie in christian affectes imbrace the benefites of him already receaued open their eyes with such clearenesse that they might the more soner sée and behoulde how dearely louingly he loueth fauoureth them So that thereby he hathe made them more capable of his riches as Dauid sayth although the Lorde doo cast them downe neuer so déepe yet he leaueth them not therein but lifteth and exalteth them thereby into his great glory bicause it is his condicion and qualite to exalt the humble and méeke to reise the poore from the dounghill Sith the determinacion of the almightie Iehouah is so fatherly frēdly for vs let vs drinke with a good wil of the cup that he dooth giue vs be they crosses or griefes whatsoeuer for that thereby he dooth call vs to his knowledge which for our ingratitude other vices were seperated frō him for a season with deseruing of most rigorous pain punishmēt for the same And therefore I saye we ought that rather too take in good part the bitter tast of being tost in the floud of any affliction We haue deserued to be chorlishly cheined in perpetual prison world without ende yet god is so mercifull louing vnto vs that without respect of any thinge he hath allotted vs but a lyght penance with suffering a few of short sorrowes calamities But we moste stobbernly refuse thē with al our strōgist forces that we haue Yet for all that sith Iesus Christ hath called vs to the crosse we ought not to grudge at the bearing therof but accept it paciētly bicause of the cōdiciō with it alredy performed If we wold looke and sée about vs we should sée finde know that it is not we our selues that bear these crosses alone but he himselfe in vs for the prophet Esay saith that it is he it is he himself that dooth carry his kingdom vpon his shoulders Whom shal we vnderstand for his kingedom but the persecuted the imprisoned the abhorred and condempned that are kylled for his name sake It is he him selfe that they persecute and punishe in vs his membres for the hate they haue to his inheritance which he beareth on his shoulders So the althoughe he doo giue vs to drinck of his wrath yet he dooth mynister with it such moderacion and gentlenesse as is possible for in the ende all commeth to rest vpon his owne shoulders and so we by him are vnleaden and discharged And therefore let vs loue him and giue him thankes sith we haue deserued to drincke of the extreme bitternesse of his wrath and yet he giueth vs the purest with the moste lenitie and gentlenesse that may be But the dregges which is all the rigour of his wrath of his indignaciō his fury his condempnacion his cursse eternall sentēce irreuocable are kept for thē to drincke which haue not beléeued the Gospell but in stéede of the worship and due obedience to be done therby they did afflict
are we his faithfull by the way and mean is onely that we might bear bring forth more copious plentious aboundance of true fruite So that Christ is he by whom we gaine Antichrist is he by whom those that folow him doe loose And Christ is hée that gayneth and Antichrist he that looseth Bicause that where he thought thinketh that by his tirānicall meanes he had and hath gotten a number for his owne of those persecuted lambes out of the handes of God he was and is deceiued for that Iesus Christ doeth possesse them most mightifully who will in no wise loose them He doeth vnyte and knit them with him selfe most streightly in and with the cheine or bonde of most vnfayned loue for that he will not vary from the truth of hys promyse with the which hée sayeth that neyther the force of hell the diuil death sinne Antichrist and all that they can doo with the helpe of all their mynisters is not so muche to preuayle agaynst them that bée elected as is his strength to preuayle in defence to kéepe them for the inherytance of lyfe euerlastyng which hée hath alreadie gyuen them from the fyrst day of theyr calling The wysedome of God is suche that hée knoweth perfectly that of or amonge all those which hée hath called there is none without sinne but are most subiecte and apte therevnto and to all kynde of wickednesse And yet notwithstandyng hée doeth accept them for hys own and knowing of theyr great féeble weakenesse will not the losse of one of them Iesus Christ dyd know right well that all his disciples would feare faynte forsake and deny hym yet although he knewe it at hys laste supper with most firme loue and fauourable affection he made them promises of performance of the whole summe of hys goodnesse tyll the end and in the end lyfe euerlastyng And did also declare vnto them that his death and passyon should bée to distroy sinne in them and their discendentes or successors and that they with them therby shuld receyue eternall lyfe How be it for all that afterwardes they did all fall feare faint did haue a doubt in him But yet for that he had taken charge ouer them with promyse of forgyuenes he did not deny forsake thē but had regard vnto them with such a loue that he would not suffer them to perish Although that wilfully with a wauering mind they had gyuen them selues into the perdurable estate of perdition yet hee with a francke frée and euerlastyng pardon dyd restore them to strength from thencefoorth against all kynde of weakenesse and infirmytie Vppon vvhat condition God receiueth vs vvith an excelent comfort to the Christian c. The xxiij Chapter SO that nowe although the ouercome with weaknesse we haue fallē vnderneath the crosse of froward furyous affliction and persecution yet God will not forsake vs bicause he hath elected accepted and taken vs for hys owne with promise of lyfe euerlasting Those which he at any tyme of his mercy doth take charge of he will not at no time suffer to perish but wil helpe them in all their necessities and cure theyr woundes to the glorification of hym selfe therein also giue them life euerlasting Bycause that when he doeth receyue vs he doeth it not with any such cōdition that we should doe any good of our selues be faithfull or perseuer in any goodnesse for it for that he knoweth our natures to be to to much corrupted whereby of force it doth and will doo to to much to the contrary But he dooth receiue vs with condicion that we should onely truste in him that he wil be our lyfe remittour pardoner and forgeuer of our sinnes our strēgth and perseuerance our Phisicion and medicine our maister our teacher our saluacion and perpetuall redéemer It is a most greuous offence to deny the truth of God and to giue our selues vnto lyes and errours It is most execrable before God to bereaue him of all worship due vnto him and giue the same vnto a beast it is a true testimony of our ingratitude and that we haue forsaken the lorde by whose liberalitie we haue receiued so great and mightie a multitude of benifits Go my people sayth the Lord by Ieremy the Prophet into the Ilelandes a farre of sée and consider attentiuely and behoulde If the people there dooe like vnto you if any of them doo change their owne proper gods for others which in déede are no gods yet you haue changed the glory of your god for an Idoll God dyd call vs bicause we should accompt him for our father that we should loue and worshippe him as our father he dyd take vs out of the most darcke and drowsie cloudes of deceit and errours and dyd discouer vnto vs that onely Iesus Christe is our moste gracious saluacion When that we went lyke children of perdicion worshippinge of stockes and stones he dyd reduce vs into the right waye when we were possessid of the diuell and of sinne he did deliuer vs from theyr mischeuous tiranny being a lost people he made vs his people treated and vsed vs as his owne people geuinge vs his worde for our spirituall sustenaunce He beinge our onely Lorde GOD and Father we dyd denye him in an Idoll the glory which he had geuen vs beinge his people we chaunged for vainest vanitie takinge in and allowinge of false doctrine and forsakinge of the trueth We haue left and forsaken our true and lawefull spouse Iesus Christ with whome we dyd contract matrimony by fayth in him as saythe the Prophet Oseah and haue commytted fornicacion in seperatinge oure selues from and denyinge the faythe that wée dyd vowe to haue in him when we receiued our Baptisme The Turckes nor the Mores doo dot refuse theyr religion no more dooe the Indians nor the slauishe subiectes of Antechrist denye theirs and yet is it false abhominable and full of lyes But we hauinge a religion so diuine and pure as is possible and also suche a benefite thereby as is wholly holy and trwe euen come downe from heauen the authour whereof is the LORD GOD almyghtie maker of all thinges doo deny it most shamefully for a vain feare of loosing our liues and yet our liues without gods true religion what are they better then liues of brute beastes surely nothinge at all what doo we differ from all other nacions vnder heauen but onely in that we doo know Iesus Christ the sonne by the reuelacion of the father and that we haue by him lyfe euerlasting And where as they walke in the darcknes of theyr misticall errours we if we be ruled by this true doctrine which he hath giuen vs doo walke in the light of lyfe by the worde of truth By vertue whereof and to be conserued and kept thereby God created all things If God had béene our enimie
farre better in the worlde to come both in being and suffering It is not lawfull nor requisite to depryue our selues of our liues nor yet to desire death for any euill that happeneth whatsoeuer for whye it perteyneth onely vnto God to take and giue life accordyng to hys good will and pleasure Hée dyd make vs and can vnmake vs when it pleaseth him hée willeth and desireth nothing but onely that wée be readie and doe gyue our selues wholy to his honour and glorie in suche sorte as he hath prescribed vnto vs by hys worde Whyther it be with losse of life if néede requyre or worldly possessions It maketh no matter bycause that so is executed the offyce indéede of true and perfect disciples What reason haue we thē to feare death for a thing so holy and of such rightuousnesse if it were not for that wée thynke that hée with his vglye and lothsome lookes would haue seignorie ouer vs and take vs into hys rule or Lordship when they so cruelly kill vs If we will giue credit to the word of the Lord we shal clear and plainly sée that then we die not we can not die These same are the words verily verily I say vnto you he that heareth my word beléeueth in him the sēt me shal haue life euerlasting and shal not come in cōdempnation But hath alreadie escaped from death to life He saith also I am the resurrection the life he that beleueth in me although hée were dead yet shall he liue And also all that liue beléeue in me shall neuer tast of sée death nor yet dye These are the true wordes of Gods owne mouth by the which we be fully assured that there is no death at all to them that beléeue in Christ Iesus and that in béeing his he hath alreadye dyed for vs and wée shall dye no more For that by him death is alreadie distroyed and hath no more but as it were the name thereof onely to the faithfull S. Iohn in his reuelation calleth death to the faithful a rest from traueils And in deed to die or departe this lyfe is onely to vs a rest most comfortable with God our lord The lyfe which we liue in this world diserneth not the name of life bicause it is so full of perils daungers but by death as our enimyes terme it we are vppon a sodaine taken foorth of them and deliuered from all and so brought into rest and ioye eternally And therfore S. Paul right wel did desire to be desolued or loosed from his bodie and to be with Christ to ioye of that full libertie alreadye spoken of Iesus Christ dyd distroye death and as death had no power ouer hym no more hath he in none of his members He him selfe sayeth by the Prophet Osée death I will be thy death S. Paule writeth that death hath lost the victorie and is swallowed vp therein And death where is thy sting hell where is thy victorie the sting of death is sinne and the power of sinne is the lawe But thankes be to God that hath giuen vs the victory by our Lorde Iesus Christ So that death hath no power nor naught els wherewith to hurte the faithfull for sinne is the weapon wherewith hée woundeth the which is distroyed by Christ so is death ouercome thus the lyfe that is in vs is eternall and we shall neuer dye And that which our aduersaries offer vnto vs is but a representation of death the which alreadie wee haue ouercome by our conseruator and heade Christ Iesus by whom we possesse the victorie Of the cause that Christ did feare death and hovve constant diuers martirs haue bene sithens in their martirdome c. The xxx Chapter THe cause why that our sauiour séemed to fear death was onely to shewe him self in his manhoode and that he had taken vppon him the sinnes of all mankinde bycause he would winne the victorie of all his enimyes so dryue away the doubt that was in the amased myndes of the faythfull And also to shewe that bicause de dyed death was kylled thereby and could haue no more power ouer vs The true credite and beliefe héereof dearely beloued is verie requisite and necessarie for vs. It hath béene séene that many seruants of God animated by beliefe or faith in the truth of the same haue taken their crosses with great courage ioye and contentment of mynde as if they had gone to feastes of greate honour or as if they ledde a tryumphant Bryde by the hande to sette hyr in some beautyfull throne with the Brydegroome That vertuous Virgyne Agatha when shée was caryed to death out of pryson where long shée had bene with no great worldly delyghtes I warrant you for professing the truth in the Gospell which faithfully shée beléeued sayde that euen then shée went to feastes or a feaste of greate ioye Saincte Vincent or that good holye confessor being laide vppon hoat burnyng coales a broyling for the same trueth made a mocke at his masking persecutors and sayde that the like crosse and death to any Christian was great cause of ioye to hym and all his companion members The godly man Ignacius Bishoppe of Antyoche in the persecution that the terrible Tyrant Traiano committed and vsed against the christians beyng by him an Infidell and his fidell confederates condempned to bée throwen vnto wylde beastes to the ende that most terriblie hée should bée torne in péeces by their terrible téethe Hee hearyng the roaryng of the Lyons prepared amongest other their panyons to execute the sentence gyuen so against him said with great ioy I am the wheat of Iesu Christ which shal be ground by the téene sharp téeth of those execrable beastes to bée made pure and cleane vnto the Lorde And by report of an english mā my friend this translator there was in Essex where as he was borne in England diuers faithfull witnesses as Wats Hawkes Pigot Cawson Ardely Sympson with many others there and as well in other countreis with in the sayd Realme did most ioyfully receiue valiently stande to their tryall by the fire and in the myddest thereof with great gladnesse of their forewardnesse in getting the victorie dyd imbrace the golden flames of the same eche of them saying with great courage O Lord receyue my soule and Lord into thy hands I commend my spirit for thou hast redéemed mée O Lord God of truth Moreouer many of them in going therevnto gladly and in a most triumphant maner like men goyng to moste gladsome ioyes would with great and mightie good will bid their friendes farewell and so in token therof and of the sure hope which they had in the méeting of God and his heauenly company as well those gone before as they that were to come after would drinke a cup of burned wine vnto them as wel therfore as also to moist a little their sences whereby they might be the
more ayte to set forth wholy togither the glory of him for whom they suffered But herein a number of Papists and diuill Antichristes companions found great occasion to vse many false reportes saying of such a one as did so surely it is easie to be iudged the faith of such Heritikes sée I pray you doth or did he not drink wyne to be drūken and so to dye desperately such blasphemy my translator telleth me he cā finde out an number to many But truely truly suche Trées suche fruites by the diuill planted and by him they beare bring forth What mary abhominable lyes wherof he that filthie feend and diabolicall beast is the author and father Lykewyse and the verie like hath bene in most partes of the worlde as well héere with vs in Spaine as in Italie Germany Portugall Fraūce Flaūders Brabant Zellond Hollond other countreys many mo Thys vertue and strength commeth vnto them by Iesu Christ and by the faith they haue in him his Gospell which will alwayes continue amongest them that bée his What a number more haue we séene with our owne eyes consumed with the fyre what admyrable workes of God haue they shewed in the middest of their greatest passions and how haue they gone to theyr martyrdome Surely many as well men and woemen in olde age as younglings and tender impes both young men and maydes chast bachellers and damosell vyrgines The men as if they had gone to great Tryumphes the maydens as if they had bene ledde to be maried vnto the greatest Lords and Prynces in the world Yea euen in the middest of the fyre and torments dyd they eleuate theyr handes to the heauens with great ioye singyng Psalmes of thanks gyuyng vnto the Lorde for that he had made them worthie for to suffer for hys names sake What is this but fruites of beliefe in the trueth of the Gospell and also that both the one and the other of them were fully assured by the holy Ghost that they went to bée glorified and to ioye of the whole fulfilling of the dyuine promises of God. Those had effectually perfectly and fully prynted and grauen in theyr heartes that Iesus Christ is the resurrection and the lyfe and for that they haue beléeued in him they shall neuer die Whereby wée maye sée that the effycacye and force of Gods worde is of no lesse effecte nor doeth worke no lesse in them that receyue it at this daye then it was to those which receyued it in olde tyme for that it is the same nowe that it was then So that there is no cause to fear death at all and therefore Christ saith vnto his disciples that they should not feare them which kill the bodie and haue no power to touch the soule The power of the Tirants our aduersaries is so weake that it can not reach nor touch but our bodies onely which are mortall and must néedes dye by one meane or other And yet not neither tyll the tyme which God hath appointed and the dayes which hée hath numbred be fully determyned and ended Iesus Christ hath promised and assured vs that they shall not kill our soules Then what doeth it auaile or profite them though they kill our bodies or what regard néede we to haue thervnto considering that in so little a tyme being seperate from the soule it ioyneth therewith again to immortalitie to be no more subiect to the trauayles and troubles of life in this miserable world When we haue a Iewell of golde or siluer if it be olde or broken of a verie good will we deliuer it to the workeman that made it for him to put in his furnace and so to trie it and forge it agayne a new So likewise our bodies whither they be olde or young yet so crooked and subiect to sinne and to fall on euerie side as is possible wherfore should we doubt to giue them vnto God that made them that they may be forged and framed a new for the soule to receiue againe to immortalitie to bée incorruptible voyde of all corruption shyning as cleare as can be The celestiall and heauenly truth teacheth vs that our soules are in safetie so that they can in no wise perish and dye nor yet be hurte with all the tyrannie that our tyranicall persecutors the Pope and hys darlings doe or can doe Bicause as God can not dye nor bée killed no more can they kill our soules the members of hys sonne our heade for that the lyfe that we haue is by and of him Rightuous Abell was killed in his bodie by the crueltie of hys curssed brother Caine yet hys soule dyd lyue by the faith and hope which he had in god So at this present day the séede and posteritie of Abell are killed and slaine by the crueltie and tirannie of Caines successors but for all that their soules doe liue by the faith and hope which they haue alwayes had in God abiding the glorification of their bodies And therefore sith our soules can not dye nor be killed why should we feare them which can but kill the bodie for a tyme There is none but God onely that did giue vs thys lyfe why should not he then haue it when and howe it pleaseth him Bycause that hée onely is both lyfe and death for all without his license and good will our enimyes can not harme nor gréeue vs if they doe the best and worst they can for hée hath so restrayned them in suche a brydle that vnlesse hée loose and let flippe the reines therof they can doe nothing For the Lord hath sayde I will kill and I will giue lyfe So that as we haue our lyues from him euen so commeth our death Wherfore let vs onely feare him and not thē for that if they doe their worst yet they can not doe that they would The diuill that mischieuous malicious olde Dragon doeth alwayes desire wholie to distroy and ouerthrow quyte the church or congregation of Christ but God by his mightie potencie doeth so restrayne the reignes of the brydle wherwith hée hath brideled him that hée maketh hym euermore to recoyle and stande back and in no wyse will suffer hym to haue anye parte of his will nor yet passe nothyng that God hath appointed Of the goodnesse of God in our defence agaynst our persecutors c. The xxxj Chapter HOw often would the aduersaryes of Iesus Christ haue killed hym into how many coūsayls cōsultatiōs haue they entred to the same effect but they could not bring any part of their purposes to passe vntil his houre was fully come and that God the father had let loose the power of darkenesse How many times or how oftē saith he him selfe haue I bene with you in the Temple teachyng and talkyng with you and ye haue not taken mée I am sure they had such hatred to him and his Gospel that there wanted no good will in them
and little the more to increase our tormeÌ„ts for theyr reuenge onely bycause we confesse the trueth of Christe our maister whome they can not abyde Howe can it be sayth our blynd fleshsences but that suche crueltie must néedes ouercome our patience What other thyng may this bée called but a blasphemie wherewith we denie the myghtie potenciall power of God that which he is to vse to all the trust in him a mean to seperate vs from his crosse to which he dooth call vs so amorously and louingly bicause we might be gloryfied with Christ And therefore let vs not heare nor yet giue credit to any suche leasinges and errours Worldly men doo easily suffer those thinges wherin they féele some grief for their gain By these firy tormeÌ„ts wherof we haue such horrour there can be no kynde of harme nor griefe that is euill but rather a great and mightie blessednesse much more to our gayne wherefore wée ought not to beleue nor thincke that our pacience which God giueth wil be ouercome thereby From syx trybulacions the Lord will deliuer thée and in the seueÌ„th no maner of euill shall touch thée sayth the holy ghost by iust Iob the seauenth is the very last instant howre or tyme of death So that when it séemeth to sight that al our euills are heaped vppon vs and that our enimies doo vse theyr greatest tiranny and make account to haue gotten the victory and that wée remayne ouercome swallowed vp with all maner of mischief Euen then the same holy Ghost doth assure vs that no maner of euil doth touch vs. What occasioÌ„ is ther theÌ„ for vs to flie froÌ„ that which hurteth nor toucheth vs not or to make accompt that humain persecution will or can ouercome our pacience or thâ—â— our patience is not able to abide 〈◊〉 All things are possible to them that beléeue saith the Lord So that vnto such it is also certainly possible to haue patience to abide the extremitie and furie of the fyre and to suffer the same with great constancie It was patiently passed ouer by the Prophets in the olde time Euen so it is now to them that be holy faithfull and beléeue Bycause that which the Apostle sayth concerning the same must néedes bée true therein God is faithfull sayeth hée and will suffer no man to bée tempted more then he will make him able to beare but rather with our temptatioÌ„s he sendeth good successe bicause we may suffer Wherby it is most manifest plain that christian patience doeth not onely ouercome death executed by extremitie of fyre but also all the moste cruell kynds of deaths and torments that any Triant and all the Tirants in the world can vse deuise Bycause that with all the tyrannie they can execute God will not alter his purpose from accordyng to his worde nor leaue to admynister some one secret vertue or other to them that be his whereby they shall ouercome death tirannie hell sinne the diuill and all other kynde of mischiefes So full of compassion pittie is our high priest Iesus Christ that as hée ouerpassed temptations which happened to him selfe so will he also by hys power and might ayde strengthen all those which are tempted As the Apostle sayth if Iesus Christ in whom wée beléeue and for whom wée suffer doe knowe by experience our griefes and troubles and is not onely moste myghtie louyng and good to vs in our helpe but also doth suffer with vs as the heade with the members shall he be so weak in vs that he can not abyde the fyre or being strong as hée is will not he help vs in the middest therof béeyng principall in persecution and suffering the same with vs. Is it possible that God will forsake and leaue vs or that we should fear or doubt the same when that for professyng of hys name wée are by our enymies throwen into the myddest of the fyre or that wée should thinke God to bée forgetfull of hys louing chyldren and that hée loueth vs in wordes and not in déedes and truth Surely in so dooyng wée should much iniure hym and gyue hym greate cause to bée gréeuouslie offended with vs for it For vs to thynke that hys almightinesse will forsake vs in any necessitye it were an abhomynable actyon of vs if he haue not as in déed hée hath not forsaken but remembred vs in the greatest matters of a suertie hée will not forsake but remeÌ„ber helpe and deliuer vs in and from such trifles it were abhominable to think the contrarie much more worsser to beleeue it Well my dearely beloued bretheren and sweet fellow members I trust there is none of vs that doeth eyther beléeue or thynke any such thing but rather my hope is that we thinke and surely beléeue to féele his goodnesse according to the saying of the holy Ghost by Esay the Prophet who sayeth the Lorde God thy creator sayeth feare thou not for I haue redéemed thée and called thée by thy name thou arte myne and when thou passest by the water I will bée with thée the ryuers shall not ouerwhelme thée when thou passest by the fyre thou shalt not be burned nor the flames thereof shall not bende them selues against thée for I am the Lord thy holy God of Israell which kéepeth thée God hath alwayes in remembrance the benifite which he vsed in calling and makyng vs partakers of his redemption and in adopting vs hys children neuer to leaue vs. So that when it shall séeme to the iudgement of the world that hée hath left vs that is when he suffereth vs to passe into the middest of the fyre or any other torment euen then is he most nighest vnto vs and so nyghe in déede that he is closely ioyned with vs and temperating the furie of the fyre bicause it should doe vs no harm and for that it might appeare that he is both God and father to all his and will kéepe and defende vs from all euill in all tymes of torment and tribulation If the gates of hell may not preuayle agaynst vs how can the fire which is visible and corporall preuail against vs if eternal and euerlasting death haue no parte in vs how can any thing that is temporal and momeÌ„tarie harme vs will God deliuer vs from the greatest euilles and suffer vs to perish in the little ones no for a certeintie his euerlasting promise is to the contrarie A meruailous comfort to those that are afflicted eyther by fyre or othervvise The xxxij Chapter THe fyre and all things terestriall are creatures of God and serue for the health and wealth of his chosen and also for the distruction of his enimyes As it is written in the booke of wisdom Bycause the iust should bée sustayned and vpholden the fyre doeth loose his force furie for that it béeing a creature in seruing him that is his creator and maker doeth vse hys furies and inflame hym selfe to
the distruction torment of the vnrightuous wicked onely And doth mittigate his mood onely bicause they trust in the Lorde Whereby it appeareth that the poore afflicted chyldren of God are not burned with the fyre nor hurt with any kinde of torment no not scarce touched therewith and therfore nothing gréeued As sayth our Lord God his creatures euerie one of them are in such a consorte and so agréed togither amongest them selues that all of them with one common accord cōsent wil be and are ministers for vs of greate health and comfort and also wil and doe vse them selues vnto vs with a gentlenes most louyng bicause being faithful we are so wel beloued of god that he bindeth all his creatures so that of force they can not be but for our benifit in all things accordyng to his will. Gold burneth not in the fire but is fined and purified thereby from all things that are of lesse value and so it selfe made more precious and of greater value and substance then before Euen so the good christian brought to the fyre by persecution burneth not but is the rather purifyed from all that fowleth blotteth or burneth his christianitie and so remayneth more precious and beautifull in his substance thē before Wherby it séemeth that the childrē of God whē they suffer the force heat of the fire they féele it not or els it hurteth them not but rather harmeth the executioners thereof The fyre to the faithfull is as it was in the bushe which Moyses sawe it flamed and yet it burned not bycause that the Lord God was in it The fyre hath a force and vertue that burneth and consumeth vtterly but whom mary euen the impious vniust vngodly And although they séeme liuing these which are the afflictors of the faithfull and without harme yet for a certaintie with the same fire which they prouide make for others they are before God burned and consumed them selues Although they beléeue it not yet it is so The Prophet Daniell when he was throwen into the denne amonge the Lyons which were made extreemely hungrie vppon purpose to haue deuoured him bicause he was founde faithful before God he perisheth not they touched hym not nor did hym harme but rather in their kynde reioysed and made great feastes and ioy with him for that God vppon whom he did inuocate call and in whome he trusted did deliuer him as in the vj. Chapter of the same Prophet and the xvj and xxiiij verse is well declared but those which had bene the executioners of all his trouble and torment being throwen into the same place euen among the very same Lyons they could scarce fall among thē so soone as they were torne and plucked in péeces and deuoured vtterly The thrée young men of Babilō Sidrach Misach Abdenago seruantes of God did not perish whē they were put into a hot burning furnace made seuen tymes hotter then euer it was bicause they would not worship wicked King Nabuchadonaser his Idoll which he had caused to be set vp they surely trusting in the liuing God feared not hys furyous furie in all hys threatninges nothyng at all but answered him saying we are not carefull to answeare thée O King in any thing concerning this Idoll for let thy highnesse vnderstande that our God whom we serue can deliuer vs from thy whot burning furnace and from thy handes but if hée will not the whiche wée doe not doubte off yet O King hold thou for a certaintie that we will not worship thy Gods nor yet the Image of gold which thou hast caused to bée set vp béeyng for this cause put into the sayde furnace so hot they were not onely frée from all kynde of harme by fyrie flame or smoke but also they were refreshed from heauen by the hands of the sonne of the lyuing God who was him self amonge them in the lykenesse of an Angell Euen in the middest of the most whottest flames wherefore it hurt them nothing at all but yet it burnt and consumed quyte the myschieuous ministers the makers therof So that thereby was approued that the fyre could not harme them in no poynte no more can it not nor nothing els that God hath created doo any thyng hurtfull agaynst the childrē of God for whie all that cā be done agaynst them bée it with fyre or any other kynde of torture is for their cōfort Thē wherfore should we faint feare or flée at or from the crosse of the Lord for that he will examine and purge vs therwith from all kynde of causes of corruption So that it may be consumed quite by the means therof that we might be enryched and remaine glorified with God for euer All that is written is writen for our learnyng bycause that by patience and comforte in the scriptures we might haue hope And therefore let vs vnderstand that as in tymes paste it passed and happened to Danyell and the reste the seruantes of God and also to hys enimyes Euen the lyke commeth to passe at thys day both w the one and other for that nothyng can hurt them that put their trust in the Lord but all serueth them for the best And as for the wycked all thinges are to the contrarie they prouyde nothing to punysh the rightuous with but they peryshe therein themselues Wherfore let vs bée imitators of the saincts as of Daniel of the thrée yong men of Babilon and others more a great many which nothyng estéemed torments tyronous threats killings nor commaundements of any vngodly Tyrant but constantly continued in confessing of Gods true religion for euer without any looking backe And as they did honour him in being faithfull so did he honour them in being by thē in all their distressed daungers to their ayde strength consolation continuall comfort and deliuery most merueilous in such sort that no parte of their hope was frustrate in any thing Euen so will hée doe and deale for vs if we bee faithfull Let vs not feare therefore the tirannie that so potencially appeareth of princes nor the crueltie of Kings the tyrannie of any kynde of Tyrant of inquisitors of correctors of Iudges nor yet the torment of the executioner the infamy of mē nor any other kynd of crueltie that in our eyes is euill least that so we forsake and renounce our faith and the true knowledge of our sauiour Iesu Christ the sonne of god Let vs onely feare God who can and will deliuer vs from all kind of torments and from the handes of all Tyrants And although that wée doe not sée thys libertie of deliuerie with our corporall eyes yet for the loue of our sauiour Iesu Christ let vs not consent vnto them nor follow their impietie and vngodlinesse let no braue nor gallant shew of or from them allure vs vnto them let vs not worship the creatures nor yet truste in any other then the creator Let vs not accept
our mariners to stand by our tackling Biiause our aduersarie the diuil goeth rampāt about lyke a roaryng Lyon séeking whom he may deuour whom we oughte to resist by force of faith in christ Iesus Let vs remember our selues of the dayes of Noah and of Lottes wife And let vs be afrayd that when they say vnto vs peace and securitie that euen then death and distruction is at hande will runne vppon vs hastily and kyll vs without repentance lyke as a womon with chylde whome hyr trauaile taketh vppon the sodayne and turneth hyr to sorow or as carelesse byrdes that fall in the Net vnwares Least that when we think nothing of it wée bée taken with some horryble tempest that maye trouble and distroy all Let vs bée as Souldyors wyse prudent well exercysed and trayned vp in warre that wée runne not out of arraye but that we alwayes be prest in order lookyng to our chiefetain listen to the alarme if it be striken vp by our enimies that we be not taken vpon the sodaine as no doubt they will if they can when we thinke our selues most surest And also let vs alwayes laye vppon our shoulders our beardes lookyng backe to sée when our Lord commeth And moreouer in tyme of aduersitie when any thing happeneth vnto vs whyther it be oppression by pouertie miserie infamy imprisonment sicknes or any other exyle or any other kinde of calamitie let vs vnderstande that first we haue deserued farre greater griefes and troubles then any whatsoeuer or we are able to beare Secondly to consider that wée ought to vse for our remedie a sure truste in God with repentance confessyon to him and contrition Fynally let vs accept them as gentle scourges a fatherly chastysement gyuyng hartie thankes for them that they tende to our ioyfull and comfortable end and also let vs be so firme and constant that whatsoeuer terror or trouble do shewe him selfe vnto vs that we doo not faynt in our true fayth What a number of enimies hath the Gospell had from the beginning that God hath punished caused them to be lost to bée consumed and perish with great myserie and little or none the memorie that is had of them But those which were in fayth and did perseuer constantly in the trueth and did not seperate them selues from the Lord doo remaine in eternall memorie before him in hys heauenly habitation In olde tyme what became of Caine Membroth Saule Senacherib and also of many others that were the Emperours of Roome What was the end of Herode Achaz Antiochus Achab Zedechias and many others of their tiranicall fellowship that persecuted the faithfull Prophets and children of the Lord what was the end of all these furious fellowes Surely by the true scriptures it is made most manifest that they were all vtterly distroyed by the same worde of God for whose trueth they persecuted hys people Wherfore let vs not dismay our selues be faint harted nor weaks in mynde how mightie magnificall so euer they show them selues that so persecute vs bycause that God who doth and will defend vs muche more mightie thē they are And those mightie monsters wil he make the vesseils of his wrath and distroy most mightifully Let vs with all bening humilitie follow the exāple of Iesus Christ so that if we be persecuted euen vnto the death with most vylest persecutions let vs not be troubled at all but be assured that the laste day we shall resuscitate ryse agayne in immortalitie incorruptiō with the prince of pastors Iesu Christ our Lorde bycause that he him selfe is the resurrection he shall quycken our mortall bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in vs. Although that sometimes we be so euil intreated by our enimies with many kinds of calamities yet let vs not thinke that God is a sléepe or hath in any poynt forgetten vs but be we all fully assured that he will not close an eie nor winck on whit but wil watch alwaies to kéepe saue and deliuer vs to the Israelites Although their halles or house of audience and iudgement grounded vppon vnrightuousnes where they most gréeuouslye heare condempne and iudge the faithfull for confessinge and professinge the truthe come downe from Heauen be neuer so fully fraughte with curssed cruelties yet what then they are to no purpose at all for that our father which is in heauen hath such an auditory as also farre passeth theirs in all poyntes as is possible where as we may fully assure our selues that he will sit in iudgment and confound their deuises who wil ese our griefs and cōdempne our condempnors alloting them their porcions among the scribes and pharasies and hipocrites And wheras he our mighty god hath chosen his church his faithful people appoynted thē to iudge cōdempne the impious and vngodly which now are their condempnors as it is writby S. Mat. Wherfore with pacience let vs beare and suffer our present condemnations because in time to come we may iudge our condempnors for by that truthe which now they condempne in vs they remaine for euer condempned Let not vs meruell at the persecutors whiche at these dayes doe trouble vs nor yet at the innumerable number that rise against vs neyther let vs faint nor feare to sée that we are in number nothing to be compared against them Let vs content our selues onely and thereby be encouraged that we are acceptable to God and that he hath loked vppō vs in Christ for whose sake we ar alwaies in fauour with him By the same way that we do passe many saynts haue passed before vs All the faithfull sayth holy Iudith haue bin acceptable to God and passed by many tribulations Righteous Abel was persecuted and killed by his brother Caine Noah was mocked of his sonne Cham Sem how was he afflicted What a number of troubles did Abraham suffer who was faithful and the father of all beléeuers How was Loth tormented and afflicted in Sodome what sorowes suffered Isack when his father went about to sacrafise him what persecution did Iacob suffer by his brother Esau what an innumerable number of noysom troubles did Moyses suffer bycause hée was faythfull to God Dyd not the foolish Philistians afflicte Samson so sore that they put out both his eyes That holy and iust man Iob was not he terriblie tormented and troubled both of friendes and foes was not the Prophet Elias wonderfully vexed and persecuted by curssed Quéene Iesabell and wicked King Achab hyr vngodly husband what troubles was there that King Dauid so beloued of God was not subiect vnto how the Prophets were murdered the Apostles persecuted and killed all the scriptures doe declare Howe brauely dyd the diuill the world and the flesh bestirre their stumps stobernly to strike and beate downe Iesus Christ tyll they had taken away his lyfe yet for all that they remained vnpossessed of his
death for that he him self triumphed alwayes ouer that lo passed to hys kingdom where he reigneth in glorie with all those hys members which haue followed him sithens the beginning in crosses of passion and persecution And therfore though we be but a little flock let vs be firme cōstant till the end with patience for that Iesus Christ is our onely victorie and victor So that although our aduersaries be neuer so many in number of neuer so great a degrée in the world yet of necessitie they must perish passe after theyr forefathers which persecuted the Prophetes Apostles and the rest the faythfull seruants of god They doe not presently sée any thing of all this they doe neither sée our glorification nor their own perdition yet the scripture doeth discouer the same both to vs them Whereby we may bée as sure both of the one and the other as we be of their cruell persecutions which we suffer Thereby doe they pluck the iust iudgement of God with vengeance and ire vppon their owne heads So that they shal féele his heauie displeasure and in the end shal sée our blessednes now couered with mourning their owne perdition dampnation now couered with pagain and popishe pleasure For proofe whereof let vs pervse that which is written in the booke of wisedome as foloweth in the next Chapter An end vvith a true declaration vvhat the being shal be in the end as vvell of the faythfull as the reprobate The xxxv Chapter THen sayeth the wyse man shall the rightuous appeare with great constancie before those which did persecute thē and those wicked ones séeing the rightuous shall be tormented with great feare and horror and shal be astonied to sée them saued them selues without any hope thereof Sore sighing for sorow and their mynds full fraught with bitternesse saying beholde these are they which sometimes past wée mocked and scorned against whom we made songes and sonnets of great dishonor as we thought and we insenssed with errors accompted theyr lyues and doctrine for fond foolishnes and procured their spoiles with spyte most spitefull Yet we may see them héere accompted among the children of God and haue their parte with his Sainctes But we haue gone a stray farre from the way of truth the light of rightuousnes hath not lighted vs nor the sonne of vnderstanding hath not shyned vppon vs we were weried in the way of wickednes and walked in by pathes and did not know the way of the Lord what hath pryde profited vs or what wealth hath our worldly riches arrogancie wrought vs All these things haue passed away as a shadow as a correo that runneth post or as a shippe that sayleth on the Seas full before the wynde and no print or pathe are séene when shée is once passed So that wée as soone as we were born wexed weak and now we can shewe no signe of vertue the whiche is accordyng as a speiciall friend of this translator did write in his absence as an olde prouerbe vppon the first page of the coppie hereof As foloweth Who so beleueth as he is borne in hande Forovveth in the Sea sovveth in the sand It may bée iudged hée ment this text for that it is so with the wicked but to the purpose if doeth not greatly degresse from the meaning of the wyse man who sayeth further the wicked are consumed in their wickednesse and their hope is as the dust or chaffe which the winde scattereth abroade or as the remembrance that a well guested host hath of euery guest that commeth to his house which can not be possibly But the rightuous shall liue for euer their rewarde shall bée in the world the highest shall haue charge ouer them Wherefore they shall receiue a kingdom of honor and a beautifull diadeame at the handes of the lord For he will couer them with his right hand wil defēd them with his holy arme as with a shield Héere we may sée that those which now persecute vs for the truth shal be forced and dryuen to confesse them selues incenssed with errors loste allowing the cause for which so cruelly they persecute vs And therefore sith they shal allow our rightuousnes and truth in such maner cōdempne them selues and their doinges for wicked and vniuste And sithe it is so manifest a testimony that our cause is such now as they shall confesse to be true and iust then And that nowe we be such by Christ as they shall sée vs then And also for that we shall be equall parteners in cōmune with the Sainctes alreadie gone before vs Let vs dearely beloued perseuer alwayes in Iesus Christ and his truth without fayntyng or fearyng till we haue obteyned hys eternall kingdom bicause the Sainctes our bretherē are gone before vs and doe tarrie tyll the tyme that wee and the rest doe come and fill vp the number that God hath appoynted and that then wée might togyther enioy and reioyce of the riches and possession of the same with Iesus Christ who is there alreadie abydyng to crowne vs with celestiall glorie for our victory Very short are the pleasures and prosperities of our aduersaryes as they shall their gyue testymonie accordyng to the saying of the booke of Sapience but much more shorter are our troubles and aduersities as the holy Ghost gyueth testimonie by the Prophet Esay hée sayeth they are but momentarie And also he sayeth further to hys people I will leaue thée a little sayeth the Lorde thy God. But with great mercyfulnesse I wil receyue thée agayne a little as it were a moment or the tyme of twincklyng of an eye in indignation I wil hyde my face from thée Yet I haue pittied thée with mercie sempiternall sayeth the Lorde thy Redéemer for although the mountaynes shoulde remoue the valleys should tremble and fall downe yet shall not my louing kyndnesse be remoued nor the bond of my peace shal not fall from thée Here God doth confirme vnto vs that all our tribulations indure but a moment and that his mercy and peace with vs is sempeternall And although that all thyngs in the world doe perish yet his blessed promyses vnto vs shall neuer haue end Therefore let vs not change the mercie and peace of God which is eternall for the prosperities of the wicked world which are shorte and so sodainly passe away Let vs content our selues though they florishe neuer so al la flanta and gallantly that are of of the world Let them reigne lustily for that the more high they arise and clyme against God so much the greater will be their fall at length The holy Ghost sayeth by the mouth of the Prophet Dauid the wicked shall florish as the gréene grasse and so shall all the works of iniquitie but sodeinly after shall they perish togither for euer The prosperitie which they passe in is but a slumber in awakyng out of the same