here and there in euene place Saint Paul against whoredome thus writeth Meates are ordained for the belly 1 Cor 6.13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20. the belly for the meates but God shall destroye both it and them now the bodie is not for fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the bodie and God hath also raised vp the Lord shall raise vs vp by his power Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid Doo ye not know that he which coupleth himselfe with an harlot is one bodie for two saith he shal be one flesh but he that is ioyned to the Lord is one spirite Flee fornication euerie sinne that a man doth as without the bodie but hee that committeth fornication sinneth against his owne bodie Know you not that your bodie is the temple of the holy ghost which is in you Whom ye haue of God and ye are not your owne for ye are bought for a price therefore glorifie God in your owne body and in your spirit for they are Gods Here are 7 arguments against whoredome 7. arguments against whoredome the first is of the punishment in the 13. vers where he saith that meates are for the belly the belly for meates but God will destroy both it and them for gluttonie and drunkennes are maintainers of venerie the second argument is drawen from the condition of our bodies in the same verse the bodie is not for fornication but for the Lord for as God is worshipped in heauen of angels which are spirites so will he be worshipped in earth of men which haue bodies and therefore our bodies shall be raised vp to glorie the third argument is drawen from an absurditie It is against reason saith the apostle that our bodies being the members of Christ should be made the members of an harlot so to bring them from high dignitie to most vile indignitie the 4. argument is drawen from the comparison of God and an harlot for he that ioyneth himselfe with an harlot is one with an harlot in affection and shal be one with an harlot in affliction but he that coupleth himselfe to the chast God shall be one with God in glorie for euer the fifth argument is drawen from the effects of fornication for the fornicator defileth his bodie with the pockes leprosie and many other loathsome diseases and therefore vnnaturally sinneth against his owne bodie shortning his life by wasting the vigor of his bodie The sixt argument is drawen from the purposes whereunto the body is destinated your body is the temple of the holy Ghost and you are not your owne therefore in it God must be worshipped not the diuell The seuenth and last argument is taken frō the lawe in the last verse you are bought with a price that is not with gold nor siluer but with the most precious blood of Christ therefore not onely our soule must magnifie the Lorde and our spirit reioyce in God our Sauiour but also our flesh must reioyce in our God and in the life and death of our bodies God must be glorified bowing our knees to GOD the father of our Lord Iesus Christ which leadeth vs to life and not to whores and harlottes Pro. 7.27 Whose waies goe downe to hell Jeremies prophecie is fulfilled in them will be fulfilled in vs Ier. 5.7.8.9 Though I fedde them to the full yet they committed adulterie assēbled themselues by companies in the harlots houses they rose vp in the morning like fedde horses for euerie man neighed after his neighbours wife Shall J not visite these things saith the Lorde shall not my soule be auenged on such a nation as this climbe vpon their walles and destroy them take awaie their battlements for they are not the Lordes The harlot calleth her pleasure solace and so do our delicate dames of England but Jeremie saith this sweete sinne wil haue soure sauce For it will cause the walles of our Cities to be rased the battlements of our house to be beaten downe God bee mercifull vnto this pleasant Iland blesse it for if euerie house of our lande shall bee destroyed where this loathsome sinne of leacherie hath bene shamefully committed as the monkes houses were our fairest Cities no doubt will come to ruinous heapes GOD brought the Sodomites into captiuitie to shewe them that he did hate their sinne yet would they not repent GOD brought thē out of slauerie by Abraham to teach them that he was mercifull to the contrite yet would they not repent We haue bene vnder the tyrant of Spaine in the late dayes of Queene Marie yet we forsake not our former fornications we haue bene deliuered by her Maiestie yet we runne on desperately into all manner of abhominations forgetting the greefe of our calamitie and the comfort of our deliuerance the quietnesse of our priuate estate the peace of our kingdome or the felicitie which we haue by the word of God Oppression of the poore is another sinne that prouoketh GOD to plague vs. Oppression of the poore crieth for vengeance Exo. 3.7 J haue surely seene the affliction of my people which are in Egypt haue heard their crie because of their taskmasters for J know their sorrowes Iam. 16. Do not the rich oppresse you by tyrannie and draw you before iudgement seates who oppresseth Pharaoh the tyrant Nimrod the mightie and Nabal the rich Those that should giue do take awaie those that should feede do fleese those that should be mercifull be vnmercifull Whome do they oppresse their brother their owne flesh the Lords brother and the Lords apple of his eye And what brother his poore needie destitute and afflicted brother and to whome he should giue from him he doth take by violence whom he shuld cōfort him he doth spoile How doth he oppresse by his mony his might God hath giuen them riches and authoritie to defend the poore fatherlesse to see such as be in neede and necessitie to haue right and with their wealth and might they oppresse deceiue they grind the face of the poore and braye them as it were in a morter Ier. 5. their houses are full of riches gotten by deceipt When do they oppresse in the time of the Gospel Elisha said vnto his man when he had taken gold and garments of Naaman is this a time to take mony to receiue garments and oliues 2. King 5.26 and vineyardes and sheepe and Oxen and men seruants and mayd servants So say I to the Nimrodical oppressors of England is this a day of peace and of ioy is this a time to smite downe the people of the Lord to murther his heritage and to deuour widowes houses to eate vp the people like bred Gal. 6.10 While we haue time we should do good to all 2. Cor. 6.2 especially
called Circus or the lamentable spectale of beasts yea although the solemnity of our birth happen vpon this day let it be deferred if anie man on this day shall haue anie accesse to spectacles or vnder the pretence of priuate or publike affaires shall be an Apparitor or Sergeant to anie Iudge violating or breaking these Statutes let him loose the commoditie of warfare and runne into the prescription of attainder The holie Prophetes and Apostles commend vnto vs the hallowing of the Sabaoth the Fathers exhort vs to the same the lawes of godly Princes commaund it yet we continue in England wilfull contemners of this precept The sanctification of the Sabaoth consisteth in foure things The sanctification of the Sabaoth consisteth in 4. things First of all holy men ought to enter into the Church where the Gospell must be expounded and declared by the which the Auditorie may learn what to thinke of God what is the true seruice of God and how the name of GOD may be glorified Secondly there must be praiers petitions made vnto God for the necessitie of all men Thirdly we must extoll the goodnes of God giuing thankes for his daily and inestimable benefites which giuing of thankes excludeth foure things first contempt of God secondly forgetfulnes of God thirdly malice fourthly the abuse of Gods creatures And the sacraments must religiously be celebrated if the time occasion and custome of the Church doo so require for it is chiefly required in the fourth precept that we should diligently obserue and deuoutly exercise the holy sacraments and holy rytes of the Church being lawfull profitable and necessarie Fourthly humanitie and beneficencie must take place in the Church all men must learne daily to be beneficiall in giuing of almes priuately but to be most liberall publiquely whensoeuer necessitie of the time and opportunitie shal so require Whereas we should spend our sabboth in hearing and reading of the word of God we spend it in reading of vaine wicked pamphlets wheras we shuld then make petition to God for our necessities we wander vp downe after deceiptfull vanities wher we shuld be thankful to god especially on that day for his benefits we misspend our time in idle pastimes lastly wher we shuld be liberal to the poor we are prodigal to minstrels bearkeepers plaiers to al masters of vanities for asmuch then as al diuines godly princes haue approued the sanctification of this day now all sorts of people prophane the same the old aswel as the yoÌ„g the father aswel as the son the master aswell as the seruant the minister aswel as the auditory the magistrate with the priuate maÌ„ neither the commaÌ„dement of God is feared nor the example of our maker imitated nor the admonitions of the prophets regarded nor the counsels of the apostles followed nor the repreheÌ„sions of the fathers esteemed it caÌ„not be but this prophanatioÌ„ of the Sabaoth so generall so frequent so continuall crieth to the Lord for a perpetuall desolation for the vengeance of eternal fire Murther also is another sinne that crieth for vengeance Gen. 4.10 The voice of thy brothers blood saith God crieth vnto me from the earth Murther a manifest sin that crieth for vengeance To loose our wealth it is greeuous but to loose our good name more greeuous but to loose our life that is most greeuous of all First it is an heinous offence that one man should kill another secondly it is more hainous when a superior killeth an inferior thirdly it is a most hainous offence when one brother killeth another as Cain killed Abel fourthly it is more detestable when a wicked man killeth a righteous fifthly that for the sincere worship of God sixtly if he doo it of a pretended hatred and seuenthly if he doo it after admonition In England man killeth man the lord the tennant the brother his brother the wicked the good that for the true worship of God and of hatred and after godly admonition Therefore as the blood of Abel cried from the earth vnto the Lord so doth the blood of the Saints shed in the late daies of Queene Marie crie for vengeance against the wicked Gen. 9.6 Who so sheddeth mans blood by man let his blood be shed for after his owne image God made man First heere wee learne that man was made to praise God whosoeuer then killeth man hindreth the glorie of God Secondly how was man created in righteousnes holines mercie truth these vertues being essentiall in God are accidentall in vs whosoeuer therefore murthereth a man destroyeth those vertues wherein man dooth participate with the nature of God Thirdly sith God made man after his owne likenesse here we learne that God loueth man aboue all the creatures of the world we ought not to hate him whom God loueth Fourthly sith man is the image of God and doth excell all creatures whosoeuer murthereth him destroyeth the most excellent workmanship of God But how little we regard these things it is manifest by the wilfull murthers often coÌ„mitted in and about London whose blood no doubt crieth to God as Abels did out of the earth For first God is the Iudge of the quicke and the dead Secondly he is the auenger of all euill for albeit men will wink at murther yet God will not And therfore the Prophet Dauid crieth out Psal 94 1â—â— O God to whoÌ„ vengeance belongeth thou God to whom vengeance belongeth shew thy selfe arise thou Judge of the world and reward the proud after their deseruing Thirdly the iust as Abel was do peculiarly belong to God Psal 10.16 The poore committeth himselfe to thee for thou art the helper of the fatherlesse Zach. 2.8 He that toucheth you saith the Lord toucheth the apple of mine eye Precious therefore is the blood of the Saints in Gods sight and shall be of God himselfe in time auenged Sodometrie whoâ—dome crie for vengeance Sodometrie also and vnnatural lust crieth to God for vengeance punishment King Henry the eighth of famous memorie when he visited the Abbies of England by Thomas Lee Richard Layton and Thomas Bedel Archdeacon of Cornwall being Doctors of the Law by Thomas Barthlet publique Notarie in the yere of our Lord God 1538. In the Abbey of Battell were found 16 Sodomites in Christ-church at Canterbutie 9. and in euery Abbey were found some to be Sodomites others to be adultrers some hauing foure some fiue some ten some twentie harlots as in a Book called a Breuiarie of those things that were found in Abbeyes Conuents c. it doth at large appeare And because that Sodometrie and whoredome had made them verie infamous one of their owne friends thus wrote of them Non male sunt monachis grata indita nomina patrum Cum numereÌ„t natos hic vbique suos The acceptable names of fathers were aptly giuen to Monkes for they were able to tell their children both
the brethren they did eat haye old leather pluckt off their targets oxe dung and pigeons dung and a noble woman dwelling in a street called Batezor killed her owne infant to eat it but before she killed him she vttered these wordes with teares and kissed him saying o wretched childe for whom shal I keepe thee in warre famin and sedition if thou goest to the Romans there is bondage and before bondage goeth famine and the seditious wil afflict vs worse theÌ„ both woe be vnto me most wretched mother I did hope that thou shouldst burye me but now alas pinching famine which pierceth my bowels and marow forceth me that I must bury thee againe in my belly whom before I haue carried in my womb and when she had wept and kissed him often she put her child behind her and killed it with a dagger said be thou to me meat to the seditious Erinnis and to the world a fable Fiftly it was greeuous because two thousand killed themselues Sixtlye because the Senatours were put to most vile workes Seuenthly because this was all done of the enemies of religion Eghtly because it was in the time of haruest And lastly because of the great nuÌ„ber slain which were 110000. and of the captains which were 97000. what maketh vs I say to forget this heauie downfall of the Iewes which perished with famin pestilence the sword and captiuity but fulnesse of bread Dauid though he repented for his whoredome and murther yet his punishment was so great Psal 38.3 that hee saide There is nothing sound in my fleshe because of thy anger neither is there rest in my bones because of my sinne Psal 6.6 I cause my bed euery night to swimme and water my couch with teares Psal 38.10 My strength faileth and the light of my eyes euer is not my own Yea his own Son Absalom first draue him out of his house secondly defloured his own wiues thirdly Absalom was haÌ„ged fourthly for one Vrias were slaine three of Dauids sonnes Ammon Absalom and Adonias Therefore well saith Dauid My flesh trembleth for feare of thee Psal 119.120 and I am afraide of thy iudgements Dauid was afraide of Gods iudgementes because the sworde neuer departed from his house but we that liue in fulnesse of bread we feare not the iudgementes of God in the slaughter of the idolaters the destruction of the murmurers the murther of the fornicators the pittifull desolation of Ierusalem the drowning of all the worlde the burning of Sodome and Gomorrha in the vengeance of eternall fire Wherfore it is beter to eate the bread of affliction and drinke the water of teares then to haue fulnesse of bread to fulfil the lusts of the flesh and the measure of iniquitye And better it is to goe to the house of mourning Eccl. 7.4 then to the house of ioy And to this purpose our Sauiour Christ saith Woe be vnto them that are full Luke 6.25 for they shall hunger woe be vnto you that now laugh for ye shall weepe and howle For they that haue liued here in pleasure and laughter shal goe the blacke way with sighes and teares from God and his Angels from saintes from ioy and felicitie to the fiends of hell to suppe in the pallace of darkenesse with the Princes of horror at the table of vengeance in the Chaire of calamitye with the Crowne of death vpon their head and the diuel shal punish them vntill they crye out with Cain Gen. 4.13 My punishment is greater then J am able to beare Idlenesse is an other sinne which crieth for vengeance against which Paul thus writeth Idlenesse the sinne of Sodome and of England 2. Thes 6. c. Wee commaund you in the name of Christ Iesus that ye withdraw your selues from euery Brother which walketh inordinately and not after the institution he hath receiued of vs for ye your selues know how yee ought to follow vs for we behaued not our selues inordinately amongst you neither tooke wee bread of any man for nought for wee wrought with labour and trauaile night and daye because wee would not bee chaâ—geable to any of you not but that wee had authoritie but that wee might make our selues an ensample vnto you to followe vs. For euen vvhen vvee vvere vvith you this vvee warned you of that if there vvere anye that vvould not worke hee should not eate For vve heard that there were some amongst you vvhich walke inordinately and worke not at all but are busie bodies therefore them that are such vve commaunde and exhort by our Lord Iesus Christ that they vvorke with quietnesse and eate their owne bread First Paul commaundeth them not in his owne name but by the authoritie of Christ that they should labour Secondly hee saith that idlenesse is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a perturbation of the order of God who hath appointed euery man his personall vocation wherein he must stand and labour Thirdly idlenesse is contrarye to the institution and doctrine of the Apostle Fourthlye hee teacheth them to labour by his owne example for albeit he had authoritie to reape their temporall thinges because he taught them spirituall yet he would not be burdenous vnto theÌ„ but got his liuing with his own hands Fifthly he saith That he that wil not labour must not eate Psal 128.2 For every man must eate the labour of his owne hands Sixtlye idle persons are busie bodies being most pestilent people to the Church of God For a great parte of their life they spend in doing ill a greater part in doing nothing but the greatest part of all in medling with that they haue nothing to do withall Of the idlenesse of Ministers how they seeke their owne Phil. 2.21 Phil. 3.19 and not these things which are Jesus Christs whose end is damnation whose God is their bellye vvhose glorye is their shame vvhich minde earthly things Saint Paul with teares complaineth Of the idlenesse of Magistrates how they lye vpon beds of iuorye Amos. 6.4 c. and stretch themselues forth on their couches and eate the lambes out of the flocke and the Calues out of the stall and drinke wine in boules and annoint themselues with sweet ointments Bar. 3.17 and take their pastimes with the foules of the aire and gather vp siluer as the dust and care not for the affliction of Joseph The prophets cry out in euery place Three great and horrible sinnes come of idlenesse Three great sinnes come of idlenesse murther whordome and theft The first is murther for when Cain was idle he killed his brother And idlenesse is the cause of so many fraies and bloodsheds that are in about London For as the scripture saith they lye in wait which cannot be perfourmed without idlenesse I would wish that yong Gentlemen and seruing men were kept from idlenesse and then no doubt they would keep themselues from homicide The second sinne that commeth from idlenesse is whoredome for