sollemnized their vowes they are dedicated to god Againe they will say We are of his Clergie we are as the floure of his Church wee must be separated from the common filthes and pollutions of the world So then among the Papistes one shal be thought to come neere the state of the Angels in heauen when he is not married Nowe in the meane time we see how God is mocked with so wicked and diuelish a presumption for consider wee what beastlie abhominations haue followed of this that marriage hath bene so contemned and despised See these Priestes these Monkes these Nonnes which despitefullie reiecte this benefit which God presenteth vnto them namelie that if there be anie infirmitie in them they may matrie but they despise and disdaine it as a thing filthie defiled And this is euen to warre against nature And therefore was it not necessarie that God should reuenge him selfe of so presumptuous a pride when men so despitefully trample vnder foote a remedie which he giueth them Shall we not think that diseased person out of his wittes which in stead of receiuing the potion which is giuen him for his helth tumbleth it to the ground in despite of his Physician so enraged are al these angels of hell of the Papasie all this pestilent vermine of Priestes of Monkes and of Nonnes which haue reiected holie marriage in which deede of theirs they bidde battell openlie to god And not contenting them selues with this they ouerflowe their bankes in such sorte that they dare vtter with full mouth those blasphemies which ought to make the haires of all men which heare them to stande on ende Were there no more but this yet hereby might we see that the diuell hath gotten there all the rule into his hand and that this is the vse of Antichrist and of this Apostolical seate of Rome to spue out such blasphemies as when it hath bene there pronounced That they which are in the flesh can not please God that we must be separated from all vncleannesse and therefore that Priests must be forbidden to marie Loe the verie words of a Pope which notwithstanding haue bin registred to posteritie as if it had bene an oracle comming from heauen Nowe if the diuell should haue all the swinge hee might wish yea should be vnchained and let loose in the world could hee speake after a more detestable maner to despite God for instituting of marriage than to say That they which are in the fleshe can not please God This is as if he did condemne all mankinde for in this hee condemneth not onelie them which liue at this day but all the holie fathers which haue liued vnder the lawe all the holie Patriarches all the Apostles and the holie Martyrs so behold a diuell of Rome which will banish out of the kingdome of heauen both the Apostles the Martyrs all the holie Fathers Thus he which wil be in the Paradise of the Pope must be a companion of the diuell of hell for albeit this be an enormous and outragious thing that this miscreant Syrice hath pronounced such a blasphemie as therby to exclude the greter part of the holiest personages which euer haue liued from the kingdome of heauen yet would GOD neuer haue suffered that such an horrible blasphemie should haue bene pronounced but that thereby he would make manifest this abhominable seate of Rome when he would permit these diuels so farre as vnder a colour of holinesse to reiect marriage and suffer them for a iust vengeance to loose the bridle to all wicked and infectious lustes and to insect the world with their detestable Sodomitries in so much that they exceede in that wickednesse which the Painims men without God haue had in horrour and execration Now by this we are warned as I haue alreadie said not to set light by the giftes and benefites of God but to vse them with al sobrietie so that they which cannot conteine them selues bend their neckes and receiue with all gentlenesse the yoke of marriage subiecting them selues therevnto knowing that when the husbandes shall beare with the wiues and the wiues shall seeke to liue in peace and good quietnesse with their husbands this shal be a sacrifice acceptable vnto god If they haue a great charge of children let them take heede to nourish and bring them vp be they poore or rich knowing that God accepteth receiueth in good part this seruice Let women also when they shall haue much trouble griefe in caring for their houshold knowe that these are so manie sacrifices acceptable vnto god And albeit marriage be contemned by these diuels which for to despite God imagine it an Angelicall perfection to absteine from it let them notwithstanding which are in this holie estate knowe that God accepteth of them that hee receiueth them that hee gardeth and protecteth their house and familie For seeing he saith That he is the authour of marriage he will blesse it when we shall proceede therein according to his will and pleasure Let them which are not married take diligent heede notwithstanding to walke in the feare of God and to esteeme and honour marriage as it behoueth Let both the one and the other endeuour to keepe them selues in all puritie both of bodie and of minde as S. Paule hereof speaketh in the seuenth of the first to the Corinthians where he condemneth not the widowes and the rest which absteine from marriage but hee exhorteth them to doe their dueties For the virgins and widowes and such as are not married ought so much the more to cleaue vnto God and to walke in his feare as being lesse hindered to dedicate them selues wholie vnto him And why For they are not distracted with so many cares of the worlde They which are married haue more incomberances howbeit they must also take heede that they permit not themselues to much libertie but that they walke in feare and in all carefulnesse of their duetie Loe then howe in all estates we must haue sobrietie and honestie in our persons in such sort that we may present offer vp as liuelie sacrifices vnto God both our bodies and our soules seeing hee hath redeemed them so dearelie with the bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ and that he would haue them dedicated vnto him selfe to dwell in them as in his temples Nowe let vs cast our selues downe before the face of our good God with acknowledging of our faultes praying him that he will make vs feele them better than we haue done yea in such sorte that vnfeignedlie displeasing our selnes in them wee learne to haue recourse vnto him acknowledging the faultes and offences whereof we are culpable that we desire nothing else but to giue our selues ouer vnto his seruice and to please him in all and through all vntill we haue accomplished this course of ours ended this earthlie pilgrimage to come to that saluation which he hath prepared for vs and reserueth vnto vs in the kingdome
you haue not bene worthie to enter into the lande which I did promise you See then how God woulde chastise his people when he suffereth them to dwell nigh vnto the temple of Peor And at this day when we are mingled among idolaters and perceiue what vncleanesse they commit and howe they peruertall religion let vs know that God by this meanes doth punish vs or at least humbleth vs because of our sinnes And in deede considering this we ought not onely to lament for the sinnes which are committed by these incredulous and vnbeleeuing persons but also because we knowe that we are not worthie to haue the worlde wholy reformed and to behold an agreement harmonie in religion that God might be in all places purely worshipped that when we are so neere to the superstitions of other that we be constrained to see some of the markes and signes and to heare something thereof we must impute this to our owne sinnes But how so euer it be God ceaseth not to geue a good remedie to the people of Israel for when the lawe was in this sort taught by Moses it was all one as if God shoulde separate his from those miserable blinde ones which wandered and went astraie in their superstitions Now herevpon we haue to note that although all the worlde be peruerted and that in it wee see great confusions and that all is full of errours and corruptions yet notwithstanding it behoueth that we haue recourse to the worde of God to be guided thereby which must strengthen vs in such sort that we may defie all the superstitions of idolaters And if we be so full fraughted with vanitie that we geue ouer our selues to decline and to turne aside hither and thither after that God shall haue geuen vs his worde there remaineth then no excuse For as I haue alreadie said this shoulde be a bridle good enough for vs that God declareth to vs his will. Although all the worlde drawe backward and some haue one fantasie and others make a faire shewe of some religion yet all this must be esteemed as vaine friuolous after that we haue heard the voice of our God and by that shall haue intelligence of his will. And therefore let vs put to our vse this certeine and infallible doctrine the worde of God to withdrawe vs from all wicked opinions from all euill errours from all that the diuell hath forged and counterfeited and from all that men shall haue inuented deuised in the world Thus ye see what we haue to beare in minde when Moses maketh mention here of the temple of Peor Nowe he also addeth that this was after the two kinges Og the king of Bashan Sehon the king of the Amorites or of Heshbon were discomfited This circumstance serueth to reproue the people if they shoulde not yeald them selues in all obedience vnto god We knowe that according to the benefite GOD bestoweth on vs we ought so much the more to be stirred vp and prouoked to loue and to feare him God hath shewed himselfe bountifull and liberall towards vs ought it not to drawe vs so much the more vnto him For when a mortall man is indebted and bounde vnto vs for some benefite and good turne shall he not be accounted dissolute and verie vnthankfull if he reknowledge not the good we did him Howe then shall there be lesse excuse towards the liuing God Let vs then remember that Moses in this place maketh expresse mention of these two Kinges which were banquished and subdued to the end the people should reknowledge this benefite in this manner Go to we haue had here two excellent victories When heretofore we attempted warre against the commaundement of God our enimies with great courage gaue vs the foile there was in vs no strength our enimies were as waspes which come to put out our eyes as the similitude hereof hath bene before giuen there are now two Kings strong and mightie ouerthrowen and subdued without any cost of ours God hath deliuered them into our handes Who hath bene the cause of both these victories Hath it not bene God which hath ruled gouerned all herein Sithence then it is so that he hath pitie on vs hath begonne to accomplish the promise whiche he made to our fathers that we haue alredie so good a warrant gage thereof ought not wee to endeuour to yeald our selues wholie to our God Ought we not in all thinges to be subiecte vnto him Ought we not to geue our selues ouer into his hand which he hath shewed so strong by reason of the loue he beateth vs See I say how Moses hath vnderstod this which he reciteth touching the ouerthrow of Sehon Og euen to reproue the vnthankfulnesse of the people if they submite not them selues willinglie to the seruice of their God to whome they were so much bound But now we ought also to applie this doctrine to our owne vse that is that as often as we perceiue in our selues any slouth or lithernesse in the busines of the Lord any remisse negligence any coldnes any rebelliō of the flesh which striueth stubbornly resisteth in such sort that wee come not to God with so cheerefull earnest affection as were requisitie that then we enter into a count of the benefites wee haue receiued of him to say Wretched creature howe art thou so negligent that thou cleauest not to thy God when he hath declared his will vnto vs Consider what thou holdest of him consider the benefits he hath bestowed on thee euen vnto this houre So then let euerie one examine consider how farre he is indebted to God that we may be the more prouoked to serue him And in generall let vs know that he not only created vs when we were not but also that after that he had redeemed vs by the bloud of our Lorde Iesus Christ as he redeemed his people out of the land of Egypt he hath by his grace drawen vs to him so as we had the doctrine of the Gospell deliuered vs which is all one as if he had receiued vs vnder his gard and protection and daily he sheweth the same vnto vs by effectes for what greater aides and succours haue wee from him in our infirmities Should we not a thousand times bee ouercome of Satan if our God had not his hand stretched out to succour vs Yes uerelie we should be then all ouercome and not onely oppressed but also swalowed vp in our temptations without such a stay and refuge as I haue said Sith then it is so that our Lorde ceaseth not to confirme daily his goodnesse towards vs let vs on our part aduise our selues and consider to take this occasion to serue him with a more ardent desire and greater zeale as we see it is heere spoken In this sense it foloweth that Moses speaketh to the people of Israel saying Heare O Israel the lawe which the Lord hath caused to be proposed vnto you that ye may
threate here made as we see So it is not sufficient not to haue pronounced expresselie by God but when one sweareth by his faith or taketh any coÌ„firmation from that which hath any signe of the maiestie of God his name is vnhallowed in this thing What shall wee say then of them whiche vse false othes to disguise their purposes which sweare rashlie euen to sport them selues with othes yea to despite God by their execrable blasphemies in so much that he hath neither flesh nor bloud nor nothing else which they spare Are these onely holden faultie for abusing the name of God No but because they vse him to the greatest and most execrable reproch that they may doe Beholde our Lorde Iesus Christ which made himselfe of no reputation for a time as Saint Paule speaketh who beeing the founteine of all life became mortall man hauing superioritie dominion ouer the Angels of Heauen tooke the forme of a seruant euen to shedde his bloud for our redemption and in the end to suffer the curse that was due vnto vs And nowe for a recompense of all this hee must at this day bee rent and torne in peeces of the carion and stinking mouthes of them whiche name them selues Christians For when they sweare by his bloud and by his death and by his woundes and by this and by that is not this as much as in them lieth to crucifie the sonne of GOD and to teare him as it were in pieces And are not these altogether worthie to bee cut off from God yea from the worlde and not to bee numbered in the band and companie of creatures Must Iesus Christ for abasing and humbling himselfe for vs haue such a reward at our handes God vpbraideth the people of Israel in this sorte O my people what haue I done vnto thee I haue brought thee out of Egypt I haue conducted thee by the desert I haue nourished thee in all gentlenesse and sweetenesse I haue planted thee as in my heritage that thou shouldest haue beene as a vine whiche should haue borne mee good fruite I bestowed all labour in keeping and fencing thee and must thou now bee turned into bitternesse vnto mee and bring foorth sowre fruite to strangle and to choke me Nowe the same apperteineth also at this day vnto vs For when the sonne of GOD whiche is appointed Iudge of the world shall come in the last day he may say vnto vs What meaneth this You haue borne my name to bee called Christians you haue bene baptised in witnesse and testimonie that I was your redeemer I haue drawen you foorth of the deepe dongeon wherein you were plunged I haue deliuered you from euerlasting death by the cruell death whiche I suffered and for this cause I beecame man I sbmitted my selfe to the malediction of GOD my Father to the end you might bee blessed by my grace and by my meane And beholde the rewarde you haue rendered mee I haue bene rent in pieces of you I haue beene as a â—easting stocke the death whiche I haue snffered hath beene had in derision and mockerie my bloude whiche is the washing of your soules was as it were trampled vnder your feete briefly you haue taken all occasion to blaspheme and to raile on mee as if I had bene a wretched and miserable creature When When this shal be rebukefullie told vs of our souereigne Iudge will not this be to thunder on vs and to throw vs downe to the bottomles pit of hell And yet notwithstanding there are verie fewe of vs which deeplie consider of this For if superfluous othes were at this day had in such greate horrour and detestation as they should bee men would not yeald vnto them selues any time hereafter such an outragious boldnesse and libertie of swearing and forswearing As for blasphemies see wee not how common and rife they are And in the meane time wee wil be verie zealous for our owne honour and reputation when the name of God is so troden vnder feete amongest vs If one speake any thing reprochfullie of ones father he will make a greate quarell of it or enter some action of slaunder yea many will reuenge them selues by their owne handes and by all meanes they may on euerie side and it seemeth to them that they haue an honest excuse to take vppon them the defence of their fathers Beholde our souereigne father shall susteine wrong and iniurie beholde in like manner our Lorde Iesus Christ who not without cause is named The Lord of glorie before whom euerie knee ought to bow as Saint Paule speaketh to the Philippians loe he I say shal be mocked than whiche despite none could bee wrought him greater except a man would spitte in his face and yet notwithstanding they whiche name them selues Christians whiche make a countenaunce of procuring and mainteining his honour will not bee moued any whitte therewith nay they them selues will bee the men whiche will blaspheme him in most execrable manner But for all this as I haue said our Lorde will not cease to mainteine his owne honour as he himselfe speaketh when he seeth that men are so wicked and profane so to violate his maiestie as much as lieth in them For he maketh a solemne othe that he will wreake his vengeaunce vppon them for this wickednesse I am the Lorde saith hee this is my name and my glorie I will not geue to an other neither my praise to grauen images Now as he will not that his honour bee transferred to idols so is it certeine it extendeth it selfe further namelie that if men shall falsly abuse his holy name they shall perceiue in what price it was vnto him And therefore let vs not waite vntill this bee accomplished vppon vs but let vs learne to beare such reuerence vnto our God and to him that hath all souereigne maiestie that is to our Lord Iesus Christ that we be throughlie instructed to sweare in such sorte that this be alwayes to confirme that it is he by whome we are that he is our Father our Creatour our Iudge Thus ye se in effect what we haue to gather of this place Now here is withall anuexed a threatening whereby we are to vnderstand the blockishnes of men how Sathan hath as it were bewitched them in such sorte that they conceiue not the wrath and anger of God when it is set before them I will not hold him guiltlesse which shall take my name in vaine Loe God who speaketh I pray you ought not all the haires of the heades of them stand on end which blaspheme God so wickedly and villainously as I haue saide When one sweareth lightelie by his faith behold God who is armed and saith For as much as thou hast not honored mee thou shalt geue an account for such trecherie God can not beare with vs for a simple lie if one periure him selfe this is much worse if an other blaspheme herein is the extremitie and furthest
confesse that our chief desire is willingly vnfeignedly to honor God that we cānot suffer any reprochfullie to abuse his maiestie Thus ye see what we haue to beare in minde vpon this place which we ought at this day with all diligence to obserue albeit it be preciselie geuen in commādement to the Iewes for in substance truth it belongeth vnto vs For as in old time our lord brought this people out of Egypt so at this day hath he drawen vs out of the gulfe of hell hath deliuered vs from eternal death from those deepe and darke dongeons wherein we were plunged to bring vs into his heauenlie kingdome hauing redeemed and purchased vs to himselfe by the bloud of his welbeloued sonne our Lord Iesus Christ Now let vs cast our selues downe before the face of our good God with acknowledging our faults praiing him to make vs feele them better than we haue done that labouring to reforme our selues more and more to his iustice we fight daily against the lustes and desires of our flesh and continue so long in this combate vntill he hath fullie freed vs from it and reformed vs vnto his image in the which we were first created That hee will graunt this grace not only to vs but to al people and nations of the earth c. The. 7. Sermon wherein it is entreated of the second Table Deut. Chap. 5. 16 Honour thy father and thy mother as the Lorde thy God hath commaunded thee that thy dayes may bee prolonged and that it may be well with thee in the land which the Lorde thy God geueth thee WE are now come vnto the second Table of the lawe wherein God sheweth vs how we ought all to liue here together For as it hath bene aboue touched there are two principall thinges required in our life The one that wee serue God purelie and sincerelie The other that we liue with men in all integritie and vprightnesse rendring vnto euerie one that which apperteineth and belongeth vnto him Now as the honour of God is more excellent than all that which concerneth men so it behoued that in the first and principall place the rule of honouring God as we ought should be geuen And this is handled dispatched in the first Table Here then God beginneth to declare vnto vs in what sort our life ought to be ordered if we wil applie our selues vnto the dutie we owe vnto men Now we haue also declared that God requireth no honour of vs for any neede he hath of it or for any profite it bringeth vnto him but it is for our welfare and saluation that he requireth it So then he will proue our obedience and the loue we beare him when he commaundeth vs to walke in all equitie and vprightnesse with our neighbours and that we liue together in such concord and fellowship that any one bee not geuen vnto himselfe but that we communicate together and that euerie one according to his abilitie and power to do well employ and force himselfe therevnto This say I is the proofe which God maketh to knowe whether we worship him vnfeignedly and from our heart For we might make many faire countenances and vse great ceremonies but God shall not content himselfe with it And this is the cause why our Lord Iesus Christ saith that the principall point of the law is iustice iudgement vprightnesse faith which worde importeth here fidelitie or faithfulnesse Therefore when we liue with men without hypocrisie and dissimulation when we are not geuen to our subtile sleightes nor malicious practises wee studie to minister vnto and to serue euerie one in his commoditie we mainteine right resist wrong as much as lieth in vs loe the chiefe and principal part of the lawe Not that the seruice of God ought in the meane while to be forgotten or that it is of lesse importance but because it is vnpossible that men acquite themselues in their duetie toward their neighbours except they be led herevnto by the feare of god Now let vs handle this commaundement last recited which concerneth the honouring of father and mother And here although expresselie mention be made of the father and the mother there is no doubt but GOD meant to deliuer a generall doctrine of hauing all superioritie in honour For graunt we which must needes be confessed that the lawe conteineth a perfect rule of doctrine wherein nothing is wanting and this which we haue said must needes be so For if it hath not touched any thing of the duetie we owe to other superiours as princes and magistrates and those which haue the sworde of iustice if it hath deliuered nothing concerning maisters it should haue some default in it Therefore we must conclude that God hath commaunded that all they which are in any degree of honour and authoritie be honoured and obeyed Moreouer seing all preeminence and superioritie commeth from God and that this order is established and appointed by him without the which the world could not stande what might be thought if God made no account of this when he gaue forth a certeine forme of liuing well and in all holinesse Neither ought we to account it straunge that vnder one speciall kind of obedience to bee yelded to all superiours the whole is comprised For we haue alreadie touched how this ought to be obserued in the law and we shall see it more plainlie hereafter And this was not done because God could speake in no other manner but for our better profite and instruction For we know that albeit men desire to seeme subtile and sharpe witted yet cease they not alwayes to couer themselues with the buckler of ignorance If we might espie that the law of God presseth vs ouer sore we would feigne haue some excuse to exempt our selues from the subiection of it And if the lawe of God were not apt and conuenient to instruct the rude and ignoraunt many would alledge that they are no great Clerkes that they neuer went to schoole It should seeme then that the law of God might not bind them But when we see that God abaseth himselfe to our rudenesse and that he speaketh grosselie according to our capacitie this taketh from vs all excuse this remoueth all pretences whatsoeuer and euerie one is bound to order him selfe aright and we all must confesse that there is nothing which hindereth vs from doing our dueties but that we be rebellious against God and will not beare his yoke Lo why vnder one kind God comprehendeth the whole that he might instruct traine vs vp like yong children whiche are not capable nor apt to be taught after some absolute and perfect maner This therfore is the true and naturall sense of the place as we shall see hereafter For as God deliuered the ten commaundementes or wordes as he calleth them so he annexed also the exposition of them to the end nothing might be obscure and that men might not doubt or dispute of that which
as it were requisite Wee shall then bee accursed and condemned when God shall iudge vs in any rigor and seueritie So then men must not here vaunt them selues of obteining any reward which they haue merited nor boast of their workes but rather let them knowe that all the promises which God hath giuen in his lawe import with them a condition and therefore shoulde bee vnprofitable vnto vs by reason that none discharge them selues of their dutie except God would accept of vs and beare with vs for his meere bountie and goodnesse And hereby wee see what rage and madnesse this is in the Papistes when they boast themselues of their merites that it seemeth them they haue to contracte and couenaunt with God and they so venturoustie vpon a diuelish ouerweening and boldnesse make their account that they thinke God is verie much bound and beholding vnto them But what proofes haue they of their satisfactions their woorkes their meâ—â—â—es And where shall a man finde those merites O we haue done say they this and that no remedie but wee must make vp our accountes with god And behold on the contrarie side God who requireth that wee serue him in all and through all which wee are neuer able to doe as wee haue seene heretofore and as it is sufficientlie handled and declared in many other places Nowe let all the worlde examine them selues to see whether there may herein be found one which hath accomplished the lawe But so farre we shal be from finding any such that there is not one which may protest that he hath done the hundred part of that which is in the lawe required Therefore all must confesse that they are accursed Yea in this so small portion and so little as may be wherein men acquite them selues shall bee alwayes founde some wickednesse and some blottes or other So then GOD shall iustly reiect and haue in detestation all that we bring and are able to doe Let men therefore bee ouerwhelmed and confounded with shame and let them confesse that they are all culpable guiltie before god Wherefore let vs note that this promise cannot be accomplished but that God beareth with vs and respecteth not so manie vices and infirmities as are in vs but by his mercie hideth and burieth them Therefore our workes are then receiued and approued by God when he respecteth not what they are but accepteth them through the vertue of the death and passion of our Lorde Iesus Christ as good and holie And albeit there be alwayes many blots and staines in vs yea much stinking corruption except it should be washed away by the bloud of Iesus Christ yet hee alwayes accepteth vs by the meanes thereof and no otherwise So let vs learne to boast our selues and glorifie in the meere and only mercie of God and not vaunt vs of anie merites And in the meane time let vs not cease to be incited and stirred vp with so much greater zeale to serue him when we see that hee will allure and winne vs vnto him selfe by such mildnesse and gentlenesse Yea Moses sheweth that whatsoeuer God promiseth vnto his people when they shall obserue his law procedeth from this fountaine rather than from anie obligation And this is that which he saith As God hath promised to thy fathers as if he said Beloued serue God and he shall be a good maister vnto you And thinke not that you haue lost your time labour when you shall haue obserued his law for you shall haue a large reward which is made readie for you But withall consider ye whence it proceedeth Behold the fountaine saith hee that is that before ye were borne and brought into this worlde God hath promised your fathers to bring them into a land which floweth with milke and honie Moses thus leading the people vnto this promise which had beene made vnto the Patriarches sheweth sufficiently that God maketh no new promise but that he ratifieth and confirmeth that which hee had said And why Is it that he was bound to them which were not yet born No but because he had loued their fathers as he hath aboue said It is true that Moses now sheweth that the people was partaker of such a promise if so be they should obserue the lawe of God. But what We must yet alwayes come to this point that men are vtterly confounded if they will oppose themselues against GOD alledging anie dignitie or worthinesse of their owne and that they shall alwayes remaine in their condemnation they shall finde that they are all accursed It behoueth therefore that they haue their onely refuge vnto the mercie of GOD and that they knowe that when they shall haue forced them selues to walke according vnto his lawe that God shall owe them nothing albeit he will not leaue to accomplish that which he hath promised them euen by his meere goodnesse and free mercie Loe then howe this place ought to bee vnderstoode Nowe seeing he in this place speaketh of the land promised vnto the Iewes let vs note that at this day we ought to be by manie degrees more incited and prouoked to serue GOD seeing hee hath dedicated the whole earth vnto himselfe and will that his name be called on throughout all the worlde For the bloud which our Lorde Iesus Christ hath shedde hath sanctified all the world which was then as it were in all filth and pollution For we knowe there was no lande but this which GOD had reserued vnto himselfe and wherein hee woulde beare rule vntill the comming of his Sonne But when our Lorde Iesus Christ appeared he then obteined possession of the whole worlde and his kingdome was extended from one end vnto an other and especially nowe when the Gospell hath beene published Sithence then it is so let vs diligently note that we are at this day much more streightly bounde vnto the seruice and worship of GOD for as much as by the precious bloud of his Sonne he hath consecrated and made holie the whole earth to the end wee may dwell and be lodged therein and that we may liue vnder his kingdome And therefore as we will that he haue vs vnder his safegard and protection so let vs beware that wee yeeld vp our selues wholie vnto him But because men are alwayes so fickle and wauering that as I haue alreadie saide no bridles are sufficient to raine them to obedience Moses confirmeth all the doctrine hee hath in this place pronounced by saying Heare therefore O Israel the Lorde thy GOD is one god He had saide before Hearken he had said Take yee heede he had said That they must obserue the lawe But here he confirmeth his whole matter much more better when hee saith so expressely That the GOD of Israel is one GOD For by this his meaning is to exclude all the gods which the worlde forgeth and he will shewe that it is not lawfull for them to conceiue anie thing after their owne fansie but that only which we holde by
thing whatsoeuer and what benefite can you bestowe on me But all which I haue done and doe is onely for your profite and for your welfare I am then here readie to couenaunt by articles with you and to bind my selfe vnto you on my part Seeing I say that the liuing God doth abase himselfe so farre I pray you shall not we be to vnthankfull if we be not herewith beaten downe to humble our selues vnder him laying aside all our pride and hautinesse It is not therefore without cause that Moses speaketh here of the couenaunt which God hath made with his people to the end that especially his fauour and goodnesse shoulde be knowen Nowe if this was to be done in the time of the lawe there is at this day much greater reason thereof for the Lorde hath not onelie made a couenaunt for one time as with the Iewes but when he sent this onely some then declared he him selfe to be our father and sauiour much more fullie than before he had done and that after so sweete so gratious and so amiable a manner as nothing more in such sort that he hath here as it were laid forth his bowelles of loue and compassion towards vs Seeing therefore God hath presented vnto vs his heart in the person of our Lorde Iesus Christ and wee heare besides the protestation which Iesus Christ maketh that he will call vs no more his seruaunts but his friendes because he hath so familiarly communicated vnto vs all the secrets of his will must it not I beseeche you needes be that the diuell hath bewitched vs if wee bee not hereby moued to frame ourselues wholy vnto him renouncing euen our selues and all our affections So then when we perceiue in our selues any wickednesse wherby we are hindred to serue God when we feele our selues idely disposed in the worke of the Lord are euen brought into an heauie sleepe by the cares of this world to stirre our selues vp to praise our God let vs haue in minde this couenaunt which the Lord hath made with vs Nowe herevpon Moses further addeth The Lord made not this couenaunt with our fathers but with vs euen with vs which are aliue at this day This place may bee vnderstood after two sortes for it may bee taken for a comparison which Moses maketh the better to declare that the people which then liued ought to bee so much the more diligent in the seruice of God because they had receiued greater benefites than their fathers In which sense he speaketh in Exodus I haue not communicated this name to your fathers where God speaking vnto Moses saith that he declared not him self so plainly to bee God to Abraham Isaac and Iacob as he did vnto Moses And by this he signifieth that the people should be now more attentiue because God had reuealed himselfe vnto them after an vnaccustomed manner Euen so in this place one may vnderstand this God hath not made such a couenaunt with your fathers It is true that God spake vnto his seruaunts Abraham Isaac Iacob and did sufficiently instruct them And it is expresly said in the. 18. of Gen. Shall I hide from my seruant Abraham that which I will now execute vpon Sodome and Gomorra For I knowe that he will instruct his housholde in my decrees and ordinannces in my statutes and iudgements See then howe Abraham instructed his familie not after some bare and naked manner but in the iudgements and statutes and ordinaunces of the Lord Briefly wee must needes say that Abraham had the lawe of God imprinted in his heart yet loe besides a benefite not to be contemned when God hath sent this lawe in the two tables to the end the instruction thereof might remaine and abide for euer to his people and that the thinges therein conteined might be ratified for euer and testified to all posteritie as well as to them We see then what we may gather vpon this sentence euen as much as if Moses should haue said vnto the people Beloued acknowlege we the benefite the Lord bestoweth on vs this day euen such an one as our fathers haue receiued none the like for he deliuered not vnto them the lawe by writing as vnto vs he hath not declared to them these thinges in such plaine order True it is that he did sufficiently instruct them as much as was necessarie requisite for their saluation but here is yet an higher degree further steppe to which we are come at this day and therefore wee ought to drawe so much the neerer to him seeing we see that he hath so stooped vnto vs And this is the meaning of Moses if we vnderstand the place in this sense As if a man shoulde say at this day that God hath not done so to our fathers as he hath done vnto vs And this is that which Christ said to his disciples That many Kings and Prophets haue desired to see those thinges which you see heare those thinges preached which you heare and yet haue not had their desire Seeing then it is so that God of his infinite mercie goodnesse vouchsafeth to preferre vs before the Patriarches and Prophetes as it is also said that the Prophets serued not so much their owne time as ours we ought with greater diligence to suffer our selues to be taught vnder him to applie our selues wholy to his doctrine Notwithstanding when all is well considered although this we haue alledged be profitable and the exhortation is often brought in holy Scripture yet when we shall haue weighed all the wordes wee shall finde that Moses when he saith that God did not make his couenaunt with them which heard the lawe the first day it was published meaneth to say that not onely with them he made his couenaunt but also with those which ouer liued them and succeded in the place of those which were dead So that in fewe woordes Moses woulde here declare that the lawe was not transitorie to endure onely for the life of them which first heard it but that it was a doctrine which shoulde reteine his strength authoritie foreuer The Lord our God saith he hath not made a couenant with our fathers that is to say he woulde not onely haue our fathers for his people he was not tied to them so that his lawe should serue but for fortie or fiftie yeares but he hath made a couenaunt with vs as well and with them which were not borne when the lawe was published You then which were not at the mount of Horeb which haue not seene the fire on the montaine nor heard the thunderinges know you not withstanding that your God did then adopt you also to himselfe and that he made a couenaunt in the which you also were comprised You must therefore obserue his lawe because it hath bene established to bee perpetuall to endure from age to age and to bee preached euen to the end of the worlde And this is
to declare himselfe our father and sauiour for our Lorde Iesus Christes sake that he will not onely graunt this grace to vs but to all people and nations of the earth c. Deut. Chap. 5 ▪ 1 Then Moses called all Israel and said vnto them Heare O Israel the ordinaunces and the lawes whiche I set before you this day that ye may learne them and take heede to obserue them 2 The Lord our God made a couenaunt with vs in Horeb. 3 The Lorde made not this couenaunt with our fathers but with vs which are all aliue at this day 4 The Lorde talked with you face to face on the mount out of the middest of the fire WE haue seene heretofore howe greatly Moses hath laboured to make the people perceiue the Maiestie which is in the worde of God to the end they should receiue it with all reuerence and feare For although men protest that they will obey God for so nature constraineth them yet can they not order them selues and their doinges according to his word and that is the verie true touchstone to knowe whether wee bee obedient to God or no. But herein is the rebellion of the worlde seene that although all will confesse that the worde of God is to bee receiued without any gainsaying yet shall one finde scarse one among an hundred which willingly humbleth him selfe to yeald vnto it that authoritie it deserueth And why is this Surely because we consider not of the Maiestie of God which declareth it selfe therein See then howe Moses not without cause so often heretofore hath wained the people that the worde of God shoulde be of such Maiestie towardes vs that all creatures shoulde tremble at it And nowe againe he addeth a confirmatiō of the same matter when he saith That the Lord talke◠face to face on the mount out of the middest of the fire as if bee shoulde saie You haue no cause now to doubt whether the doctrine which I propose vnto you be of God or of men for it is sufficiently proued God hath declared himselfe vnto you by plaine and visible signes in such sorte that you may well perceiue it is he which speaketh Nowe then wee see the intent and meaning of Moses But before wee passe any further one may here make a question How it is said that God spake face to face seeing that men cannot comprehend his infinite glorie For with what eye can wee contemplate his substance being We are so fraile weak that if God should but shew one beame of his brightnesse behold we should be all dazeled confounded therewith On the other side we know how it is said That we cannot se God face to face vntill we be renewed which shall not bee vntill the latter day For now saith S. Paule We see as in a glasse in part euen obscurely vnperfectly Which more is he saith in an other place That the Gospell at this day doth present vnto vs the Maiestie of God in such sort that wee may see it but the lawe was darke and obscure and had availe which hindered our fathers to knowe God in so plaine and familiar a manner as wee doe at this day But all this agreeth verie well For when wee make a comparison of the lawe with the Gospell it is certeine wee shall finde this which Saint Paule speaketh to be most true For then God declared not himselfe in so familiar a fashion as he doth vnto vs by the meanes of our Lorde Iesus Christ who is the liuelie image of him Nowe a dayes therefore there are laide open vnto vs the great treasures of wisdome in that God calleth vs to the kingdome of heauen sheweth that he holdeth vs for his children heirs Now this was not in the time of the lawe And yet although at this day we haue such a knowledge and so plaine manifest yet remaineth that alwayes true which we haue alledged that wee see but in part And why For we are not yet partakers of the glorie of God neither can we come neere it but it behoueth that he shew it according to our rudenesse and infirmitie Yet notwithstanding from the beginning of the world God hath appeared vnto mortall men Howbeit this was not to shewe him selfe as he is but as the weaknesse and infirmitie of men might beare it We must then note that God was not knowen to the fathers neither appeareth at this day in his owne beeing but he applieth him selfe to vs in asmuch as he sheweth him selfe for our measure and abilitie to make vs perceiue that he is present And yet for all that it is not without cause that Moses saith here that God spake face to face for he vnderstādeth hereby that the people had not some coniecturall signe that they might dout of him or conceiue onely some small opinion of God but that they had a certeine and infallible warrant whereby they might in this sort conclude Behold God hath so shewed himselfe to vs that our faith need not wauer and be doubtfull and the doctrine which is proposed vnto vs in his name ought no longer to be disputed of whether it be to be receiued or refused And why For God hath deliuered vnto vs a sure and certeine marke which can not beguile nor leaue vs in doubt but that this doctrine proceedeth from him Now we vnderstand the mening of Moses from whence we haue to gather a good lesson that is that if God declare not himselfe vnto vs after so high glorious a manner as our lust desireth let vs know that he doeth it for our profite and saluation For let vs haue an eye to our infirmitie and it will be sufficient to abate that ouer boldnesse to the which our nature alwayes stirreth vs For we would inquire and seeke after the secrets of God without end or measure And why is that Verely because we consider not our owne power and abilitie Wherefore let vs praise the great goodnes of our God for that he in fauour so considereth of vs regardeth our weaknesse that he is content to hide his glorie ▪ least we should be swallowed vp thereof For as I haue alreadie said we can not beare it being so fraile weake as we are And here withall let vs knowe that when God geueth vs some euident signe and token of his presence there resteth then no excuse if we yeald not to him the honour and doe him the homage he is worthie of Let vs not then desire that God come in his inestimable glorie that the heauens cleaue in sunder that all the Angels of heauen appeare but when the Lorde any way declareth that it is he which speaketh let it suffice vs and let vs humble our selues incontinently For if then we will foreslowe to yeld him our dutie we shal be sharply reproued for turning our backe to him when he sheweth his face to vs It is true that it is said in an other place That
not approch nigh to the hill for the great feare they had conceiued And although at this day we refuse not but that God shoulde speake vnto vs yet when all is well considered it should not bee profitable for vs And therefore let vs knowe that this ought not to lessen the certeintie and assurance of our faith when God thus vseth the meanes ministerie of men It is said consequently That God hath taught his people saying I am the eternall or euerliuing thy God which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt thou shalt haue no other GOD before my face In this place GOD to hold his people as with a bridle in obedience telleth them that the knowledge they haue ought to keepe them farre from all superstitions For it is no straunge thing to see the Heathen haue their idols and to runne astray after their errours and fantasies if wee remember what man is in him selfe Wee are also so geuen to vanitie that it is lamentable to behold neither neede wee to goe to schole to learne to bee deceiued for euerie man heerein is a great Doctour in that case briefly wee all runne to euill though vnder the cloke and colour of that whiche is good so that for the true seruice of GOD there is nothing in vs but superstition and idolatrie and so the Gentiles haue had their diuerse kindes of superstition for euerie one hath forged somewhat at his pleasure and all this while the liuing GOD hath beene left and forsaken of all And why Because GOD vouchsafed not to bee so gratious to all the worlde to declare him selfe vnto them Wee see then how men were become as beastes in their opinions and that was for default of teaching although for all this they are not helde excused for they are alwayes guiltie before GOD for asmuch as the founteine of idolatrie proceedeth from their owne malice and vnthankfulnesse when as men by their owne motion haue forsaken the euerliuing god But when the worlde was growne out of kinde the poore Gentiles wandered like blinde men in darknesse for they wanted the light to shew them the way of saluation Howe here the Lorde accuseth the Israelites of rebellion if they obserue not the Lawe which he hath giuen Why so I am the euerliuing thy god When he saith The euerliuing it is to exclude other Gods which are inuented of men As if he should say There is but one Godhead and that is found in me it must needes then be concluded that they whiche hauing knowen me turne themselues after their idols haue no excuse to alledge that they haue not willinglie and wittinglie renounced the liuing god Nowe when he adioyneth That he is the GOD of his people this is to shew that he hath sufficiently declared himselfe to bee knowen vnto them as if he did say I haue separated you from among the rest of men you see howe others wander and that because they lacke wherewith to guide and direct them but I haue chosen you for my people and I haue giuen my selfe to you Seeing then I am your GOD hold your selues to me otherwise you shall haue much lesse excuse than the Painims My bengeance must needes bee double vpon you yea an hundred times more grieuous than vppon other because you haue falsified the promise and broken the couenaunt which I made with you He alledgeth yet further the fauour he did shew to this people when he saith That he brought them out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage whereby he signifieth that he hath so bound the people vnto him that they can not reuolt but that they shall deserue to be more grieuously punished For when they shall haue forgotten the redemption by the whiche they were deliuered out of bondage should not their vnthankfulnesse be double when being deliuered by so mightie an hand they yeald not them selues wholie to the seruice of their redeemer And of purpose doth he call Egypt The house of bondage to the end the people shoulde well consider in what estate they had bene there For we see howe they whiche had sighed and cried when they were oppressed with such great violence and tyrannie as we reade of in Exodus assoone as God had deliuered them desired to returne thicher againe And whence proceedeth this but that they remembred not their wrong and oppression but while they endured it and that the diuell did shutte vp their eyes that they should not esteeme the fauour of GOD according to the price and worthinesse thereof That is the cause why Moses in this place nameth Egypt The house of bondage In the end there is set downe the commaundement that the people shoulde haue no other GOD before the face of him whom they ought to hold for their god Now let vs applie this whole doctrine to our vse First therefore when it is said I am the eternall or euerliuing let vs learne so to weigh the sense and meaning of this woord that when as the maiestie of GOD appeareth vnto vs we imagine no other deitie For GOD can not suffer any companion If the brightnesse of the Sunne darken the light of the Starres is it not great reason that when GOD sheweth him selfe euerie one should worshippe him and that all glorie whiche shall haue bene before be as it were brought to nothing And this is the cause why it is saide to the Prophetes That when the Lorde shall reigne there shall then appeare no other brightnesse but his that the Sunne it selfe shal be dimmed and that the Moone shal be turned into darknesse This is to shewe that if we mingle with GOD the fantasies of our owne braine we take away so much from the right whiche apperteineth to him for he can not suffer any companion It behoueth then that this woorde Euerliuing bridle all our fantasies and fond imaginations in such sort that wee presume not on the libertie to conceiue this and that but that we content our selues with this simplicitie to haue one GOD and that this suffice vs And for this cause it is also said That when our Lorde Iesus shall prepare and establish his seate in the worlde that all the idols of Egypt shall fall to the ground Now this place apperteineth vnto vs For as Moses saide to the people of auncient time You haue the euerliuing and therefore it behoueth that all idols bee chaced from among you euen so nowe sithence GOD is declared and made manifest vnto vs in the person of his onely sonne all our idols must fall downe Moreouer we knowe that Egypt aboue all countries of the worlde besides was full fraughted with idols Therefore though wee haue bene in former times euen plunged in lies and errours and darknesse though wee haue had an infinite number of idols yet as soone as GOD declareth that he is the euerliuing all must vanish and fall away as water Nowe when further he nameth himselfe Our GOD this is to entise vs
after so gentle a manner that his maiestie might be knowen vnto vs in most louing and amiable wise For if GOD should speake only of his eternitie and souereigne being we should be all confounded Of a trueth this might suffice to condemne all our dotages yet we in the meane time can not bee fitlie hereby instructed to our vse and profite It behoueth then that after it hath bene declared that it is he alone whom wee ought to reuerence and to whome we must doe homage that he come vnto vs all after a gentle and familiar manner that wee may perceiue him to be our father and maister that we may knowe that he will alie himselfe and make a couenaunt with vs to the end we should cleaue vnto him This is meant by the title which he giueth himselfe in this place saying I am not onely thy euerliuing whiche come here to fright thee but I am withall thy god I haue chosen thee to my selfe I will that thou bee my heritage So then wee nowe see howe GOD authorizeth his Lawe to the end we should receiue it in all feare and humilitie and howe withall he sweeteneth it with his loue to the end we should take a tast of it and with a delighte pleasure submit our selues vnto it not refusing to be gouerned by the doctrine therein conteined And let vs knowe that wee can haue no excuse if at this day we honour not our GOD in trueth renouncing all our superstitions and what soeuer is contrarie to his seruice And why Because he shoulde winne vs to himselfe by these titles whiche are giuen to holde vs in his feare When he speaketh of the rule and power he hath ouer vs all and when he calleth him selfe Our GOD this ought to make vs tast his fatherlie goodnesse These two thinges are here comprised Wee see then that there remaineth nothing but that we geue diligent eare to that which is declared vnto vs in the lawe of God theron wholie rest and stay our selues And for this cause he vpbraided the people of Israel that they neither feared nor loued him If I be thy God and maister where is then my feare If I bee thy father where is my loue saith he by his Prophete Malachie There is no doubt but the Prophet in this place had respect vnto this whiche Moses here breefly toucheth For when GOD nameth himselfe The euerliuing he doeth it to the end that we shoulde beare him due reuerence When he nameth himselfe The GOD of his people it is to winne them by loue and gentlenesse and to shewe that after he hath elected them they shoulde geue them selues ouer wholie into his hand Now if this were vnder the lawe by greater right it agreeth vnto vs For although God in the person of his onely some would as it were be much abased yet for all this remaineth he always in his glorie neither is any thing diminished from the highnesse of that maiestie whereof he here maketh mention The abasement of our Lord Iesus Christ is an infallible testimonie of the mercie and loue of our God yet howsoeuer it be this ought not to occasion vs to cōtemne or to lesse esteeme his maiestie for God in this sort hath stopped to vs that he might allure vs to behold with lesse feare his maiestie and learne to reuerence him in such sorte as wee ought to doe So then of good right shall he reproue vs at this day as beeing altogether inexcusable if wee doe not feare and loue him For he sheweth himselfe our GOD and our maister But where is our feare when we regard not that he commaundeth vs when we haue hardened our heartes against his threatenings as if wee would despitefully resist him when wee continue in our wickednesse And although he hath said He will bee our iudge and that he will one day take an account of our doinges how is it that wee make but a scorne and mockerie of it Where is I say the feare which we owe to our GOD For it seemeth that wee will feare a mortall creature more than the liuing GOD which hath all preeminence and superioritie and maistershippe ouer vs Moreouer it is not enough that wee feare GOD after some seruile manner as being forced therevnto but wee must haue a loue alwayes ioyned with our feare For therefore nameth he him selfe Our father And let vs also note that when he declareth him selfe the God of Israel he meaneth by this word that he is our Sauiour also Thou art our God saith the Prophet Abacue and wee cannot perish So then let vs keepe in minde these titles forasmuch as they apperteine to vs and ought to serue this day for our instruction knowing that the Maiestie of God hath appeared in our Lord Iesus Christ Nowe let vs marke this which he further addeth for the greater proofe of his loue and fauour I haue brought you saith he out of the land of Egypte It is true that God here especially bindeth vnto himselfe the people of Israel aboue all other nations to which end he expressely setteth downe the redemption he had wrought them But when God speaketh wee must consider of all the benefites for the which wee are indebted to him which albeit they are in number infinite and inestimable yet wee ought at least wise call them to minde so farre as our small abilitie may doe applying all our wittes senses thereto perceiuing that wee faile and are behinde in this point let vs straine our selues better to minde them at least so farre as to be therby instructed in the loue and feare of our god Doth then God speake We must first consider that this is he which created vs wee are therefore his This one benefite were sufficient to prouoke euerie one with all his might to serue honour god For what sufficient recompense can we make him if there were but this that he hath placed vs in this worlde and of his mercie nourisheth vs here But yet when wee shall haue cast our eyes vp on high or downe belowe and take a diligent view of all the tokens he sheweth vs of his loue seeing that he hath created the worlde for our sake that he hath appointed all thinges to our vse considering that he hath engrauen his owne image in vs that wee shoulde be immortall vnderstanding that he hath prepared a better heritage for vs than this brittle and transitorie life when we perceiue all these things must it not needes bee that wee are more blockish and brutish than beastes if wee bee not rauished with a feruent desire to worshippe our God to vowe and to dedicate our selues wholy vnto him But yet further than this wee must make enquirie and enter into accompte as well of the benefites which are bestowed on vs all in generall as which euerie one also particularly receiueth and then behoueth it euerie one to make his confession with Dauid Lord when I thinke on thy benefites
loe my spirite is plunged as it were in some great deapth they surmount in number the haires of mine head as he speaketh in the 40. Psalme Againe when wee shall haue knowen howe farre we are all bound to God in generall let euerie one in the priuie chamber of his owne heart consider the benefits which he hath receiued of the handes of god And in steade of that which was said in old time to the people of Israel I haue redeemed you out of the land of Egypt let vs remember from whence our Lord hath deliuered vs when it pleased him to receiue vs into his fannlie into his church For we are the children of Adam by nature cursed and inheritors of death we haue nothing in vs but sinne so consequently we must needes be accursed before god Let men please magnifie themselues as they list yet behold their birth behold their nobilitie they are but bondslaues of Sathan they haue a sinke bottomlesse gulfe of corruption in them they are worthie that the wrath malediction of God fal on their heads briefly being banished from the kingdome of heauen they are geuen ouer to all miserie wretchednesse Now our Lord and God by the hand of his sonne hath hence deliuered vs He hath not sent a Moses as to the people of auncient time but not sparing his onelie sonne he hath deliuered him to death for vs Being then raunsomed with so deare and inestimable a price as is the holie and sacred bloud of the sonne of God ought wee not wholie to yeelde our selues vnto him And withall let vs note that if it be said That Egypt was a house of bondage what thraldome and seruitude is this when Sathan holdeth vs in his bondes and vnder his tyrannie in such sort that wee haue no meane to escape death that we bee excluded from all hope of saluation that God is our enimie and aduersarie Nowe being deliuered from all this is not our redemption farre more greater and excellent than this whereof Moses here speaketh So in steede that it was saâ—ed to the auncient people Thy God hath deliuered thee out of the land of Egypt it is nowe said That wee be redeemed from the bondage of Sathan to liue vnto the Lord as Saint Paule speaketh in the. 14. Chapter of his Epistle to the Romanes and the sixte of the first to the Corinthians that wee are not our owne It behaueth therefore the faithfull that they presume not on the libertie to doe what seemeth them and to liue euerie one after his owne lust And why so The Lord Iesus therefore died rose againe reuiued that he might be Lord both of the quicke dead It is then good reason that Iesus Christ should be Lord both of the liuing of the dead seeing he hath not spared himself for our redemption saluation And besides this that the sonne of God hath offered himselfe vpon the crosse to redeeme vs let vs knowe that at this day by the meane of the Gospell he maketh vs partakers of this benefite for he hath gathered vs to himselfe to the end wee should bee of his flocke and inheritance It is true that he is that vndefiled Lamb and without spot which taketh away the sinnes of the worlde and that he hath offered himselfe so reconcile man vnto god Howbeit so it is that wee see many people for saken to whom the gate is shut and to whom God hath not shewed this fauour to inlighten them in the faith as we are And withall let vs note that forasmuch as the Gospell is preached vnto vs we haue herein a sure testimonie that the sonne of God will make the redemption which he hath once accomplished auailable vnto vs and that he will haue vs to reioyce in such a benefite Let vs learne then that our vnthankfulnesse shal be so much the more vilainous if wee employ not all our paines to serue that God which hath by such benefites bounde vs vnto himselfe If such as are not of the houshold of faith behaue themselues as vntamed horses broken loose if they passe all measure in their superstitions if they be loose and lawlesse in their liuing this may well be because they haue no bridle to restraine them because the Lorde raineth them not backe as he doeth his housholde seruantes Wee see the horrible confusion which is now in the Papasie But all this while they haue no doctrine to reduce men vnto God but rather to estraunge them from him And wee see how the diuell hath gained an empire and kingdome among them in such sort that all is full of deceites illusions that the liuing God is forsaken See then here an horrible confusion But as for vs seeing God hath drawen vs to himselfe is not this a most streight obligation to make vs knit our selues wholie vnto him to make vs hold the obedience of the doctrine proposed vnto vs in his name Let vs therefore learne so to cleaue vnto our God that we renounce all that we might forge of our owne braine that we stagger no more hither or thither or bee moued and tossed in any sorte whatsoeuer Knowe wee that there is one God which will possesse vs for his people so wholie possesse vs that his honour be not taken from him to be bestowed on creatures knowe we that he watcheth ouer vs to the end wee shoulde acknowledge that it is he onely whom wee must call vpon and of whom we must looke for all helpe and succour And for that he will receiue vs and keepe vs in house let vs walke as in his presence so that wee worshippe him as our onely God not onely by way of ceremonies and outward protestation but sincerely and in heart as wee knowe that his seruice is spirituall Briefly let vs yeald vp our selues our soules and bodies to be gouerned by him that he may bee in all thinges honoured and glorified Now let vs cast our selues downe before the face of our good God with acknowledging of our faults beseeching him that he will make vs feele them better than we haue done that we may be led to a true and earnest repentaunce that he will mortifie vs more and more cutting off our euill and disordered affections to the end wee may bee wholy geuen to feare and honour him And because we cannot serue him so purely as he deserueth whiles wee bee helde bound vnder the infirmittes of our flesh pray we him that he will beare with vs vntill he hath clothed vs with his righteousnesse And so let vs say humbly from our heart Almightie God and heauenlie father The. 3. Sermon Deut. Chap. 5. 8 Thou shalt make thee no grauen image or any likenes of that that is in heauen aboue or whiche is in the earth beneath or that is in the waters vnder the earth 9 Thou shalt neither bow thy selfe vnto them nor serue them for I thy Lord thy God am a
they grind their teeth at it Now when the world is come into such a possession of contemning God and men haue hardened them selues herein is not this a signe that his maiestie is not knowen nor regarded And albeit men yeald vnto them selues such an outragious libertie vnder this shadowe that the thing is accustomably vsed and that of custome is made a lawe yet will God in the end shewe that his name is more deare vnto him than men haue had it and though we sell it good cheape it shall cost vs deare and with an ouer vantage and it shal be in the end that the lande wherein we haue bene conuersant which hath bene defiled and made vncleane by vs bee raised vp in iudgment against vs In like manner all the benefites which wee haue receiued and which God with a liberall hand hath bestowed on vs shall come into account for our condemnation for asmuch as we haue not knowen him which hath bene the author of them to honor him as he deserueth Yee see then what we haue first to obserue and note in this place namelie that God beareth gratiously with vs and vseth so great gentlenesse towards vs as that he is willing and content wee vse his name in thinges lawefull and right by whiche leaue of his we may sufficientlie knowe that he is more than a father vnto vs But withall he warneth vs to take so much the more diligent heede we absteine from all wicked othes For as for periuries as we haue saide this is a villamous outrage which we doe to god For in asmuch as his truth is conuerted into a lie we are falsifiers thereof as much as in vs lieth Yee see then a mortall and deadlie offence But this is not enough to keepe our selues from forswearing but our othes also must be sober and the name of God must not be tossed vp downe among vs as a Tennise ball but it behoueth that there be some great necessitie which may hold vs excused when we make mention of it Now forasmuch as we protest in our othes that God hath all superioritie ouer vs by this we may vnderstand that all the othes which are made by creatures are wicked and intollerable as proceeding from superstition as among the Papistes one will sweare by Saint Anthonie an other by Saint Iohn which is asmuch as if one would make idols of them And why For wee must always returne backe to that sentence which I haue before alledged of the Apostle that we declare God to bee our superiour yea our souereigne when wee sweare by his name And this is the cause why when God sweareth to confirme vs in his promises or happily to awaken vs when hee seeth vs hardened in our sinnes and that we stand not in awe of his iudgmentes he sweareth by himselfe he reserueth to him selfe this honour whereof it shal be further handled in the ninth Chapter of this booke And so they which sweare by creatures are idolaters And for this purpose also when there is mention made of superstitions the oths of men are put in as witnesses to conuince them that they haue turned them selues from the puritie of the lawe The Pastours saith Ieremie which haue charge to conduct and leade the people must teach them to sweare by the name of God that is that all other othes be laid aside and that creatures bee not mingled and brought in when any thing by othe is to bee confirmed Moreouer when it is here spoken of the name of God let vs note that we are not onely forbidden to pronounce this woord but that the substaunce thereof is here considered for God regardeth the deede As there are some whiche sweare not expresselie by the name of God and yet notwithstanding they cease not to offend transgresse against this commaundement For we must alwayes haue regard to come to this which our Lord Iesus Christ handleth in the fift Chapter of S. Mathew When you sweare by heauen is not this the throne of the liuing God If you sweare by his temple is not this the place where his maiestie abideth If then we thinke we shall not be accused and condemned when wee expresse not the name of God in our othes wee greatlie abuse our selues Let vs not therefore thinke to deceiue him in this for the excuse is altogether foolishe and childish And why The heauen beareth it not a marke and token of the maiestie of God Se then how his glorie is diminished As much is to be said of the earth for it is his footestoole as Christ toucheth in that place whiche I haue alledged Therefore so let vs briefly learne that wee ought to beare such a reuerence to the name of God that all othes be laid aside and banished from among vs but as necessitie requireth when God suffereth vs to borrowe his name Otherwise let vs folowe this forme of speach as handling our matters in all simplicitie to say Yea it is so And let vs knowe that all whiche is besides this is euill rondenmed by the lawe namelie if we take the name of God in vaine And withall let vs note that all superfluous othes and those in which the name of God is not honoured as it deserueth haue in them a double euill For first when men let them flie so at all aduentures it is a signe they scarse make any account what they say secondlie consider wee from whence this common swearing proceedeth and wee shall finde that from none other thing but that men be such liers so full of falshood and deceite that when they speake the one to the other none can beleue that it is true which is said So then it must needes bee that there is in vs great wickednesse considering that when God hath giuen vs a tongue it is in part to communicate one with an other For our tongue is the messenger of our heart whereby we expresse vnto others what wee haue in our mindes conceiued Wee may then conclude that superfluous othes proceede from the disloyaltie and rebellion of men neither neede wee to make much enquirie or vse any long processe in this matter for euerie one hath his owne witnesse How euer it be let vs learne to vse in this thing such sobrietie as God commaundeth and let vs not sweare without great necessitie and being herevnto required But to goe on somwhat further in this matter that all may bee easily vnderstoode there are some who thinke that when they sweare by their faith it is as if they swore not at all It is true indeed that the most part sweare nothing for they haue no more faith than dogges they haue no conscience nor religion But yet this name of faith ceaseth not therefore to be in price before god For he holdeth it deare and it is as an hallowed thing vnto him whiche neither can neither ought to bee vnhallowed except wee will bee in greate fault and incurre the daunger of the
opinions reasoning why this and why that And when we come to the high mysteries of God if they mislike vs we could wish that all were put out and abolished And this is all one as if we would plucke God out of heauen So then let vs learne that aboue all God commendeth vnto vs the honour and authoritie of his word as if he did say I will that you receiue all that which is conteined in the holy scripture that is in my word with all humilitie reuerence I will that you yeld your selues tractable although that which is there said agree not with your sense and reason and that you could wish I had spoken after your maner and fashion I will you do me this honour as to imprison all your senses and submit your vnderstanding to my word and to say Lord we are thy disciples we receiue without gainsaying whatsoeuer it hath pleased thee to teach vs knowing that it is for our profite and saluation Without exception therfore let all that which is comprised in the holy scripture be receiued with reuerence and when any question is of the holy mysteries of God let vs not geue iudgement according to our owne wit and vnderstanding And albeit the thinges be not conuenient and agreeable with our reason let vs notwithstanding be held backe in a short bridle that God may alwaies haue his whole entire authoritie ouer vs and his worde a full course and libertie And when we read the holy scriptures when we come to the Sermons let vs alwayes beare in minde to say Behold our God declareth himselfe vnto vs he sitteth as our Iudge we are not to make toyes and gambaldes of those things he shall speake As we see many will come to the Sermon But what They haue their hearts empoisoned against God and his word so that they can carie nothing thence which they peruert not with their wickednesse yea they will be further enuenomed to spue forth their blasphemies at table or els where when men shall speake any thing to their lust and appetite Loe how these men honour sanctifie the name of god Let vs learne then that whether we read the holy scripture or heare it handled in a Sermon to haue alwayes the name of God in reuerence and to yeld vnto him such maiestie that we tremble when one speaketh vnto vs hereof And aboue all when his word is preached as God speaketh by his Prophet Esaie For let vs know that so we shall declare our selues not onely by wordes but also by our deedes that we are his true faithfull ones and he shall take and auowe vs for his people and shall gather vs in the end into the inheritance of the kingdome of heauen Now let vs cast our selues downe before the face of our good God with at knowledging of our faultes praying him that it will please him not to impute those we haue alreadie committed vnto vs but that it will please him to reforme vs in such sort vnto himselfe that we desire no other thing than to honour him and to dedicate our selues vnto his seruice to the end he may dwel among vs and that our Lord Iesus Christ may reigne in vs both by his holy spirit by his word and so let vs say Almightie God and heauenlie father c. The. 5. Sermon Deut. Chap. 5. 12 Keepe the Sabbaoth day to sanctifie it as the Lord thy God hath commaunded thee 13 Sixe dayes thou shalt labour and shalt do all thy worke 14 But the seuenth day is the Sabbaoth of the Lorde thy God thou shalt not do any worke therein thou nor thy sonne nor thy daughter nor thy manseruant nor thy maide nor thine oxe nor thine asse neither any of thy cattell nor the straunger that is within thy gates that thy manseruaunt and thy maide may rest as well as thou AFter that it hath bene spoken of the pure and sincere worship of God of seruing him and glorifying his name without vaine taking of it either in othes or other thinges but reuerently and to the honour of God now here is mention made of the seruice of GOD according to that he hath required in his law touching the order he appointed for the exercise of the faithfull As the Sabbaoth day or day of rest was in part a figure to declare that men could not rightly serue God but by mortifying all that which is of their owne nature and afterward by dedicating themselues in such sorte vnto him as if they were wholy separated from the world Secondly the day of rest had this ceremonious vse to cause the people to assemble together to heare the lawe to call on the name of God to offer their sacrifices and to do all that which should concerne spirituall order and policie We see then now in what sort mention is made of the Sabbaoth day But this cannot be well sufficiently vnderstoode without some plainer and more distinct handling namely except both these parties should particularly be intreated We haue therfore first to note that the Sabbaoth day was a shadowe vnder the law vntill the comming of Christ to signifie that God will that men rest themselues from their owne workes And this is that which I haue said in a worde that we must mortifie our whole nature if we will be conformable to our god And that this is so S. Paule hath also declared Yea besides we haue sufficient testimonie hereof in the new testament But it shall suffice to haue alledged him at this time which speaketh more fully hereof namely to the Colossians when he saith That we haue the substaunce and the body of those thinges which were shadowed vnder the lawe We haue it saith he in Christ And therfore it was expedient that the auncient fathers should be exercised in this hope as well by the Sabbaoth day as by other ceremonies But â—ithence the thing is now giuen vs we ought not to stay our selues on these shadowes True it is that the law is so abolished that yet we ought to keepe the substaunce and truth thereof As for the shadowes and figures they are done away by the comming of Christ If one demaund how the auncient fathers knew of this sense and meaning Moses hath made declaration hereof as it is sufficiently shewed in the booke of Exodus For God after he had published his law in the 20. Chap. he reuealeth it to Moses and declareth to what ende this serueth and saith That he hath ordeined the Sabbaoth day as a signe that the people of Israel should be sanctified vnto him This is saith he the marke of my sanctification which I haue iustified among you Now when the scripture speaketh of our being sanctified vnto God it is to separate vs from all that which is contrarie to his worship and seruice But where shall one finde such puritie We are in the world we know that in the world there is nothing but peruersenes and wickednes
as saith S. Iohn in his Canonicall epistle Yea men neede not goe forth of themselues to haue battell with God and his iustice For all our senses and reason and all our affections as saith S. Paul to the Romanes are enimies against God. When men loose the bridle to their thoughts and imaginations to their desires and lustes then make they open battell with god And we are not ignorant of that which is declared in the sixt of Genesis That all that which man can thinke and imagine is nothing but euill continually and all that which man forgeth in himselfe frameth in his owne shop is vntoward and corrupt before god So then we see well that we cannot be sanctified before our God that is to say we cannot serue him in holines and purenes being not yet separated from that vncleannes and those defilings which are contrarie therevnto not hauing first abolished al that which is of our own nature It behoued then that this should be represented in a figure to the ancient fathers for that Christ was not yet fullie reuealed vnto them But at this day we haue in Iesus Christ the accomplishment the performance of all thinges In this wise s Paul speaketh of the old man vnderstāding by this word al that which we haue of Adam that it ought to die be eleane abolished namely not the nature of our body or of our soule but the malice which is within vs the blindnes which maketh vs erre the lustes euil desires which are altogether rebellious to the iustice of god It behoueth that all this in as much as it is drawn frō Adam be beaten down cleane taken away And how is this done This is not by our own industrie labor but Iesus Christ dying for vs and to wipe out our sinnes that they might be no more imputed vnto vs hath gotten vnto vs also this prerogatiue that by the vertue power of his holy spirit we might renounce the world our selues in such sort that our carnal affectiōs to more reigne in vs And albeit they be ful of rebellion yet notwithstanding shall the Spirite of God beare rule euer them to represse them and to hold them backe as it were with a bridle Therfore it is said That we are raised with him And S. Paule declareth the same also in the Chap. which I haue alreadie recited to the Colossians Now this was not yet manifested vnder the lawe It behoued therfore that the fathers which liued in that time should haue some aide herein as they had the sacrifices which nourished them in the hope of the death of Christ to the end they should know that their sinnes were purged by the bloud of this Mediator So had they also the Sabbaoth day for a testimonie witnes that the grace was obteined vs to mortifie our thoughts affections to the end that God might liue in vs by the vertue of his holy spirit Now we haue some entrance to the vnderstanding of this which hath bene shortly touched namely that the Sabbaoth day was as a figure to represent this which in very deed hath bene accomplished at the cōming of our Lord Iesus Christ And so let vs note that the Sabbaoth day extendeth it selfe to the whole seruice of God to declare that men could not purelie sincerely honour him but by renouncing of themselues and by being separated from the defilements of the world of their owne flesh And for this cause the prophet Ezech. reproueth the Iewes that they kept not the Sabbaoth For this is said vnto them as if they had in general brokē the whole law not without cause For he which setteth at naught the Sabbaoth day hath cast vnder foote all the seruice of God as much as in him is And if the Sabbaoth day be not obserued all the rest shal be worth nothing as is spoken to the prophet Esay That men must bereaue themselues of their own proper vertues that they must humble themselues otherwise that this is not the rest of the Lord which is agreable to him or allowed of him By this we perceiue that it auaileth nothing to kepe the ceremonie only For albeit the Iewes had well obserued the ceremonie albeit they should haue assembled themselues together on the Sabbaoth day without putting a finger to their houshold affaires yet in the meane time should nourish in themselues their wicked thoughts affections after put them in practise this would haue bene but a mere mocking of God an abusing of his name a defacing peruerting of the whole order he had instituted as he also reprocheth thē For the principal point was to haue respect to the truth of the figure namely to the spiritual seruice of god And yet notwithstanding it behoued also that the Iewes should kepe the ceremonie which was cōmanded them For God held them in this bridle as not content that they should haue only the substance of things but also the shadowes figures of them vntil the cōming of Iesus Christ Now hereby vnderstand that which S. Paule saith That now we are not tied vnto this bondage of the auncient fathers to obserue in this sort the Sabbaoth day For we must do this honor to our lord Iesus Christ that we cōtent our selues with that which he hath brought to vs in his owne person without reteining any longer that which was exterior ceremonious vnder the law Now thē it is easie to gather how this obseruation perteineth vnto vs at this day Touching the ceremonie as I haue said it is past done away We must then come to the substance that is that to the end we may serue God well sincerelie we learne to withdraw our selues frō all our owne wils all our euil thoughtes affections And why For otherwise whē we will serue God we marre all It behoueth therfore that all our own wisdom be laid aside that we heare God speake not folowing our own wisdom fantasies Thus ye see the beginning first step to the right obseruing of the Sabbaoth day as we ought namely not to trust to that which we think imagine to be good For we must rest And how rest For sooth we must abide stil quiet Our thoughts must not stir to wāder deuise this that We must I say remain quiet in the obedience of our god And when we shal be pricked stirred vp by our lustes let vs call to minde that these are enimies against God that all our affections are wicked rebellious We must then quietly rest in that behalfe and yelde our selues ouer vnto God to the end that he onely may worke in vs that he may conduct and gouerne vs by his holy spirite By this we see that GOD hath omitted nothing when he appointed the Sabbaoth day For if it extend so farre as vnto his whole seruice what is wanting vnto
vs for a perfect doctrine of sanctimonie and holinesse Seeing then we haue the holy ghost which preseuteth vnto vs all that which is requisite there is no further questiō but of walking holily in the obedience of our god And how is this done Verily when with all reuerence and humilitie we receiue his holy worde seeking to conforme our selues vnto his iustice But because all that which is of our owne is contrarie herevnto we must begin at this end namely to renounce our selues When this shal be done haue we not all that which is requisite for the seruice of God But this is very hardly done and therfore let vs take the more diligent heed to awaken and stirre vp our selues when we heare that God commaundeth vs to obserue the Sabbaoth day knowing that this is not in sporting our selues but that we ought herein to vse force with our selues considering that for all our life we shall haue well profited if we come to obserue this day of rest that is to wit by renouncing all that which is of our owne and by dedicating our selues wholy vnto our god And by so much the more ought we to be inflamed to obserue spiritually this rest of the Lord seing we are franchised from this seruile subiection of the lawe and that God hath geuen vnto vs a greater priuiledge than vnto the auncient fathers in as much as he is contented that we bee mortified in our olde man to be renewed by his holy spirite so that we are no more bound to the obseruing of that ceremonie which was so streightly kept vnder the lawe Therfore when God handleth vs so louingly this bindeth vs so much the more to haue respect vnto the principall to the ende we may duely obserue it And we may not alledge that the auncient fathers haue had the ceremonie to stirre them vp and that this serued as a spurre to pricke them forward for we haue much more than the outward and exteriour signe for our Lord Iesus Christ is appeared that in him all this which hath bene figured vnder a shadow might be fulfilled Wherfore we are not to desire these smaller thinges which haue bene vnder the lawe Ye see then how this which hath bene ordeined concerning the Sabbaoth day is accomplished at this day touching the truth of the figure wherof the fathers had a sight vnder a shadowe And in deed wee must note that this which was commaunded of the Sabbaoth day is common belonging vnto ve as well as vnto them For let vs take the lawe of God as it is in it selfe and we shall haue a perpetuall rule of iustice seeing it is most certeine that vnder the ten commandements God would geue a rule which should endure for euer So let vs not thinke that this which Moses reciteth touching the Sabbaoth day is superfluous and not apperteining to vs Not that the figure yet abideth but we haue the truth thereof See to this purpose why the Apostle applieth to the instruction of Christians and of the new Church this which is said of the Sabbaoth day For he declareth that we ought to conforme our selues vnto our God and that this is our full and perfect felicitie So for asmuch as the chiefe happinesse of man consisteth in this that he was created to the image of God what ought we now sithence this image is defaced blotted out by sume but to studie to renew and repaire it See then how me ought to march on forward to our perfection namely that in conforming our selues to our God and to his will we enquire and seeke after his workes to the ende to endeuour to do the like Let vs know therfore that at this day to the end we may the better serue God our duetie is to bestowe all the paines we are able to tread vnder our owne thoughts and affections that God may reigne and beare rule in vs that he may guide gouerne vs by his holy spirite And so all hypocrites may well maske and disguise themselues they may well paint their doings and shew faire countenances yet neuerthelesse as long as their wicked lusts shall be closed vp and hid in their hearts as long as they shall be full of enuie of rancors of ambition of crueltie or of deceit it is certeine they shall doe nothing els but violate the Sabbaoth day or day of rest And therefore we may conclude that they peruert all the seruice of God according to that we haue alreadie alledged out of Ezechiel and as it is also spoken hereof in Ieremie And marke we why the ceremonie was so streight vnder the lawe Thinke we that God euer tooke pleasure in the idlenesse of men Certeine it is he hath not And yet he punished as greuously him which brake the day of rest to labour therein as if he had murdered a man And why so It seemeth that it is extreme crueltie that for gathering of stickes on the Sabbaoth day a man must die as if he did commit murder Yet the Lord condemneth him to death which gathered stickes in the Sabbaoth day And why Because that vnder this figure was comprehended the whole seruice of God. And see why in Ieremie it is said that they haue carried burthens on the Sabbaoth day And why It seemeth that God stayeth himselfe to much on a trifling and childish thing but he hath respect vnto this which was signified by the Sabbaoth day And therefore when it was so neglected of the Iewes this was as open sacriledge whereby they did declare that the whole lawe was of small account amongest them So then to come to our selues forasmuch as at this day we haue not this figure so precise and so streight but that God hath geuen vs a greater libertie obteined vnto vs by the death and passion of our Lorde Iesus Christ let vs learne with all diligence to bequest our selues vnto him and to knowe as I haue alreadie touched that how fairelie so euer we shall haue trauelled in all the rest it shall bee to small purpose except our affections bee helde brideled and that wee bestowe all our paines to renounce and take leaue of our lustes and desires in such sorte that GOD alone may rule and gouerne vs and that we may protest that we desire nothing els but to rest and repose our selues on him And see how God proposeth himselfe for an example For he is not onelie content to commaund men to rest but hee hath also shewed them the way hereto For after hee had created the worlde and all therein conteined be rested not that hee was wearie or needed any rest but this was to leade vs to beholde his workes and that staying our selues thereon we might be fashioned vnto him Will wee then obserue the spirituall rest Euen as it is said that hee ceased from all his workes So must wee also bee quiet and still leauing to doe that shall seeme good vnto vs and which our owne
cease from our earthlie affaires and all worldlie businesse to attend the better on the meditation of the works of God that wee may bee exercised to knowe the benefites he bestoweth on vs and aboue all that wee may bestow all our paines in acknowledging his gratious fauour whiche he offereth dailie in his Gospell to bee confirmed and established more and more therein when we shall haue emploied the Sunday to praise and magnifie the name of God and to meditate on his workes let vs shewe all the rest of the weeke how we haue profited herein Now let vs cast our selues downe before the face of our good God with acknowledging of our faults praying that it will please him to make vs feele them better than wee haue done And because wee can not in any respect serue him vntill this wickednesse and peruersnesse which is in vs be abolished and because he hath shewen that we shall not cease to make warre against his iustice as long as we shall lose the bridle to our wicked thoughtes and concupiscences pray we that it will please this good God by the power of his holy spirite to geue vs this grace to bee fullie conformed vnto him which is dead and risen for vs to the end he might mortifie and quicken vs that wee may beare the markes of our Lord Iesus euen in renouncing our selues and ordering our whole life so to his will that wee desire nothing but to bee conformed to his iustice to the end his lawe may bee accomplished in vs as it is spirituall and that wee bee reformed both in flesh and in spirite to liue vnder his obedience And forasmuch as wee so ofte returne vnto our selues pray wee that it will please this good God to beare with vs in our infirmities till his rest bee truelie accomplished in vs and that he hath gathered vs into his heauenlie kingdome That it will please him to graunt this grace not onelie vnto vs but to all people and nations of the earth c. The. 6. Sermon Deut. Chap. 5. 13 Sixe dayes thou shalt labour and shalt doe all thy woorke 14 But the seuenth day is the Sabbaoth of the Lord thy God thou shalt not doe any woorke therein thou nor thy sonne not thy daughter nor thy man seruant nor thy maide nor thine oxe nor thine asse neither any of thy cattell nor the straunger that is within thy gates that thy man seruant and thy maide may rest as well as thou 15 Remember that thou wast a seruant in the land of Aegypt and that the Lorde thy God brought thee out thence with a mightie hand and a stretched out arme therefore the Lorde thy God commaunded thee to obserue the Sabbaoth day WE handled yesterday in what sorte and to what end the commaundement of obseruing the Sabboth day was giuen to the Iewes It was said in generall that this was a figure of the spirituall rest which the faithfull ought to keepe the better to serue and woorshippe god And seeing our Lord hath brought vs the full accomplishment of this it hath bene said that we must no longer rest and stay our selues on this shadowe of the Lawe but be content that our old man be crucified by the vertue of the death and passion of our Lord Iesus Christ to the end wee may bee renewed in our mindes wholie to serue our god Withall wee noted that wee stand in neede of some order and policie amongest vs and therefore it behoued that some certeine day should bee appointed to assemble vs together to bee confirmed in the doctrine of God and to make our profite therein euerie day euen all the time of our life that wee bee also exercised to call vppon his name to make confession of our faith and that the rest of this day bee spent in considering the benefites wee receiue at all times at the hand of God to the end he bee the more glorified in them And now haue we to note this whiche followeth in the text of Moses Sixe dayes thou shalt labour saith the lord This ought not to bee vnderstood as if God commaunded vs hereby preciselie to labour Howbeit it is true that we are borne to this and wee knowe that God meaneth not wee should bee idle as long as wee liue in this world For he hath giuen men hands and feete force and strength to this purpose Yea before sinne entered it is saide that Adam was placed in the garden of Eden to dresse it and keepe it Albeit the labour and trauell which men are now enioyned is a chastisement for sinne For it is thus denounced them In the sweate of thy face thou shalt eate thy breade This is a curse and malediction laide on mankind For we are not worthie to enioy the condition whiche was giuen to our father Adam that he might liue at pleasure without troubling or tormenting him selfe But yet before that sinne entred into the world and that wee were in this sort condemned of God to this painfull weariesome trauell it was requisite that men should exercise themselues with some labour And why Because this is contrarie to our nature that we shoulde be as logges and blockes vnprofitable So then it is verie certeine that wee ought to applie our selues to some labour all the time of our life But yet here in this place it is not simplie commaunded that we trauell sixe dayes For indeede there were other solemnities vnder the Lawe besides the rest of the Sabboth There were feastes which might happen in the middest of the weeke but because the number of them was small beeing onely foure dayes in the yeare there is no mention made of them but onely of the Sabbaoth Therefore when it is said Thou shalt labour sixe dayes our Lord woulde hereby signifie vnto vs that we ought not to complaine of yelding vnto him one certeine day when he leaueth vnto vs sixe for one As if he did say Shall the cost and charge be great vnto you to choose one day which may be wholy geuen to my seruice that you doe no other thing in it but reade and exercise your selues in my lawe or heare my doctrine whiche shal be preached vnto you a day to come to the Temple to the end you may be there confirmed by the sacrifices which are there made a day to call vppon my name to declare and protest that you are of the number and companie of my people Ought this to bee grieuous and burthensome vnto you seing you haue sixe dayes free to traffike and to doe your businesse in When I vse such gentlenesse towardes you that I demand but one day of seuen is not this an ouer great vnthankfulnesse on your part if you complaine of this time as beeing euill employed and if you bee such couetous niggardlie wretches as not to spare mee one seuenth part of the time I haue giuen you your whole life Whensoeuer the Sunne shineth vpon you you ought to acknowledge my goodnesse
and ouerworke them selues continuallie For there must be some rest for your men seruants and your maides and your cattell you shall haue then this as of superaboundance Nowe therefore we see why here is expresse mention made that the Iewes were seruantes in Egypt that it behoueth they haue some regard of them which are held as captiues and bondmen vnder their hands For Moses speaking of men seruantes and maides vnderstandeth it not after the common order and fashion among vs For with them the seruantes were slaues and bondmen they burthened them and held them vnder as the oxen and the asses they had so vile and barbarous a condition as was pitie to behold God then sheweth that the people of the Iewes obseruing the rest shall receiue profite commoditie by their familie You ought to be so farre saith he from complaining of the time which I haue reserued vnto my selfe that of seuen dayes there should be one dedicated to my seruice that if you be not ouer cruell vumercifull if you vse not tyrannie toward them which are vnder your authoritie such a day would seeme conuenient vnto you to be chosen For if you should haue no other regard but this policie namelie that in this day your seruantes shall haue some rest this ought to leave you herevnto but vnderstande you alwayes that I haue not ordeined it onely for your familie but for this end you might aduise your selues considering of this which I haue shewed that beeing separated from the vnfaithfull you be vnto me a royall priesthood that you desire nothing else but to serue mee in all vprightnesse and in a pure and sincere conscience When you shall haue this consideration then shall you knowe that this day shall further serue you for some earthlie profite and commoditie albeit in the meane time this is not that you ought to seeke after To speake in a woord our Lord in this place declareth vnto vs that which in like manner hath bene pronounced â—â— Iesus Christ that when wee shall seeke the kingdome of God all other thinges shal be cast vppon vs For we are of that minde that if we endeuour to mount on high to the heauenlie life and bestowe our studies herein we shall die for hunger and this shal be to turne vs from all profits and commodities Briefly the diuell coÌ„meth alwayes to persuade vs vnder this shadowe and wilinesse that if wee employ our selues to the seruice of God wee must needes die of famine and that wee shall liue to bee pitied of others for our miserie that we must needes quit our selues of the whole worlde But of a trueth we can not serue God except wee bee ridde of all our affections and cast from vs these worldlie cares which presse vs downe ouermuch Yet neuerthelesse wee must rest vppon this blessing which is promised vs namelie that if wee seeke after the kingdome of heauen wee shal be blessed in these temporall and transitorie thinges that our Lord will haue pitie vpon vs and will giue vs all that which he knoweth to be needefull and conuenient for this present life onelie let vs but waite for from him those thinges whiche wee by our industrie and labour can not obteine That then is the thing whiche is declared vnto vs in this place Now this sentence ought to serue vs as a pricke to stir vs vp to follow that which God hath commaunded vs For the cheefe thing which staieth vs from ruling and ordering our life to the obedience of God is this that being to much wedded to our selues wee thinke this shal be against our profite and we will alwayes prouide howsoeuer the case stands for our coÌ„modities in those thinges which apperteine vnto the world Behold how men can not followe God but rather forsake him and drawe cleane backward from his lawe for that they thinke if they serue God they shall neuer thriue Now this is so wicked an vnthankfulnesse that it serueth to aggranate an hundred times more our rebellion What must we then doe Let vs note well that we shall not be able to serue God with a frank and free courage except wee bee resolued that he prouideth for our whole life and that he will not forgette vs as it is spoken in the person of Iosue For the Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews applieth this doctrine to all the faithfull Yea to drawe them from ouermuch care and carcking he saith Thy God will not faile thee he will not forget thee So if once we can be persuaded that God watcheth ouer vs that he will liberally prouide for our necessities it is certeine we shall not bee so â—usied in our earthlie affections wee shall not bee so easilie turned from seruing of GOD we shall not be hindered to meditate and thinke on the heauenlie life we shall so passe through this world as to vse the creatures thereof as if we vsed them not because wee know alwayes that we ought to make our race further Loe in summe what we haue to beare in mind of this doctrine wherein our Lord sheweth that albeit this which he commaundeth of obseruing the Sabbaoth day bee spirituall yet notwithstanding that men shall perceiue herein their gaine and profite 〈◊〉 that God will blesse them when they shall haue a respect vnto him and shall not ouer busilie gredilie seeke after that which belongeth to their temporall and earthlie commodities Now withall we are warned that if any beare rule ouer others they ought not to despise their neighbours although they be inferiour to them And this extendeth it selfe verie farre For we ought not onely to expound it of men seruantes and of maides but of the poore of them which are neither in authoritie credite nor estimation of all subiectes of them whiche in the eye of the world are not worthie to be compared with vs For wee see what the pride of men is although wee haue no occasion to aduaunce our selues aboue others yet euerie one will desire and seeke after some preeminence and superioritie Seeing then there is such an hautines in vs that euerie one wisheth to be lifted aboue his neighbours yea though he haue nothing in him why he should bee aduanced to what outrage will we growe when we be exalted Behold them which are in the seate of iustice they would beare them selues in hand that the worlde were created onely for them if God held them not backe by his spirit and shewed them that they ought not to oppresse them whiche are vnder their charge but rather that it belongeth vnto them to execute the office of fathers to hold their neighbours as their children and that forasmuch as GOD hath so highlie honoured them they ought to walke in so much the greater humilitie They which preach the woord of GOD and haue charge to guide and conduct others if they thinke they ought to bee exempted out of the common ranke and despise others woe come to them For it
were better they brake their necke going vp into the pulpit if they take not paines them selues first to walke after God and to liue peaceably with their neighbours and to shewe that they are sheepe of the flocke of our Lorde Iesus Christ Nowe for all this it is true that the rich may well bee serued of the poorer sort and when a man hireth men seruantes and maides for his monie he will not set his seruant aboue him selfe at the table he will not haue him lie in the same bedde with him Yet notwithstanding though he haue some superioritie ouer him yet ought we alwayes to beare in minde this point that we are vnited together as it were in one flesh and that we are all formed to the image of god If we consider that they which are descended from the race of Adam bee our flesh and our bone this ought to frame vs to all gentlenesse although wee are as brute and sauage beastes one set against an other When the Prophete Esaie would put men in minde of their base estate to induce them to relieue their poore brethren he saith Thou shalt not despise thine owne flesh See where I ought to viewe and beholde my selfe as in a looking glasse namelie in as many creatures as are in the world Marke wee this for one point But yet there remaineth more that is that the image of God is imprinted in all men Then I despise not onely mine owne fleshe when I shall oppresse any one but I violate the image of God asmuch as lieth in me So then let vs diligentlie note that God would in this place declare vnto them which are in authoritie and credit to them which are rich and to such as bee in some degree of honour aboue others that they ought not to abuse those whiche are vnder their handes that they ought not to trouble and torment them aboue measure that they ought alwayes to thinke on this that wee are all descended from the line of Adam that wee haue one common nature that the image of GOD is imprinted in vs all Loe what wee haue to note and aboue all other thinges to beare in minde seeing Iesus Christ is descended hither belowe to bee made of no reputation to condemne our pride and loftenesse and to shewe vs that there is no way to serue GOD but in humilitie and that he hath made vs all members of his bodie as well seruantes as those whiche are maisters and superiours shewing that there is no difference when the question is of comming vnto GOD and hauing respecte vnto him and his seruice Wee must therefore bee folowers of him And because wee are all both small and great members of his bodie and that he is our head there is greate reason that euerie one applie him selfe to his neighbours And sithence GOD hath declared him selfe our father in more familiar wise than he did vnto them whiche liued vnder the Lawe let vs bee so much the more persuaded to mainteine a fraternitie and brotherhood among vs And this haue wee further to beare in minde vppon this place There resteth yet one point to be obserued touching this that GOD hath ordeined a memoriall and remembraunce to the Iewes that they were sometimes in Egypt as poore slaues and bondmen Nowe wee knowe that in that place they were euill and cruellie handled But for that they then sighed and cried vnto God and he heard them for that they then desired to bee borne withall and to bee released from some of their miserie GOD sheweth that they ought also to doe the like And this conteineth a good and profitable doctrine namelie that when we looke vnto our selues we may the better bee induced to acquite our selues of our dutie and contrarie wise when wee become cruell towardes our neighbours this is because wee are beecome dronken with our owne ease and consider not the pouertie and miserie wee haue bene in or happilie may come vnto He whiche hath bene hungrie and thirstie in such sorte that he hath desired that some one woulde succour him in his necessitie when he seeth a poore man and thinketh Well I haue bene in the like necessitie when I could haue bene willing to bee aided and relieued yea me thought some should haue had pitie on mee to succour me he I say which thinketh of these thinges when hee seeth a poore man in neede shall he not haue his hearte mollified and softened But what When wee are at our ease there is no talke of remembring our â—eede and pouertie but rather we imagine and suppose that we are herein exempted and not to bee numbered in the common 〈◊〉 of men And that is the cause why wee forgette our selues and take no pitie and compassion vppon our neighbours in any miserie they suffer With so much greater heede then wee ought to beare in minde this place wherein the Lord seeing vs so blinde so giuen to the loue of our selues so well contented to be plunged in our owne delights pleasures so carelesse of them which endure penurie and are in necessitie expostulateth with vs in this wise And what are you Haue you neuer bene in any necessitie And when you ouerflowe your bankes in your wicked dealinges against them haue you no care to thinke Behold these creatures are formed to the image of God if we committe any outrage against them shall God take pitie of vs Let vs then practise this doctrine in our whole life and as often as we shall see any oppressed with miserie let vs remember to say Goe to haue not I bene in necessitie aswell as they And if nowe I were in the same estate would I not desire to bee succoured Seeing then it is so ought wee to exempt our selues out of such a condition At least let vs doe to an other as wee would that one should doe vnto vs for nature hath taught vs this and wee neede not to goe to schole to learne it There shall neede then no other euidence to condemne vs than this whiche our Lorde hath alreadie shewen vs by experience When wee shall beare in minde to commen thus with our owne heartes without all doubt wee shal be touched with some pitie to helpe them whiche stand in neede and necessitie and that we shal be moued to compassion seeing them endure miserie so that if wee haue the power and abilitie to succour and relieue them euerie one of vs will employ him selfe herein Yee see then what wee haue to note vppon this place when it is said Thou wast a straunger in the land of Egypt It behoueth therefore that nowe thou also ease them whiche are vnder thy hande for when thou wast a seruant thou couldest haue bene verie willing that one should haue borne with thee and released thee of some part of thy miserie But nowe let vs come vnto them which were not of the people of God but did onely traffike and had entercourse of merchandize among them GOD willeth
as to geue them the scepter of iustice to place them in his seate take good heede they rule exercise their authoritie in the name of God procure that he be serued honoured of all let them bee as mirrours spectacles to shew good example let them hold their subiectes in such good awe rule them in such order that the name of God be blessed the mouth of all euill speakers closed vp stopped Loe one point for them Let fathers mothers haue the care of well instructing their children let them studie to make them to knowe God for their onelie father and touching their men seruantes and maides let them so serue themselues with them that God haue alwayes the principall place Let them not doe as accustomablie men are woont who so they be serued to their owne profite and contentation care not if God be forgotten But let maisters knowe that God must beare rule ouer them as also ouer those which are vnder their subiection And this is spoken and noted touching them which are in authoritie Now on our part let vs consider that when we haue Magistrates set ouer vs if we be rebellious if we presume to arme our selues against the rule of gouernment if we seeke to subuert the order which God hath set that wee commit not this outrage against men onelie but that we assaile bidde battell vnto god And what can we winne by warring with him Can we he the stronger in this conflict No but he will reuenge himselfe without striking any blowe so that we shal be astonnished to beholde how he shall mainteine that which by his owne mouth he hath ordeined euen by a power admirable and wonderfull Thus much touching the first point And againe let children also consider and take heede they be not ouer arrogant and presumptuous they be not headstrong geuen to their lustes and appetites but that they order themselues quetly to the obedience of their fathers knowing that they are in combate against God when they cānot subiect themselues vnder the yoke which God putteth vpon them Let men seruants and maides knowe that if they refuse to be subiect vnto men whom they serue that God is thereby offended and that they in the end shall be found guiltie of so great a fault as this that they would not be gouerned by his hand Now in the meane time let vs note that God must be obeyed first of all that the people so obey their princes and magistrates that this derogate take away nothing from the right which God reserueth vnto himself as he is also worthie thereof If Princes will induce vs to do euill if they will ouerthrow the pure doctrine of God as we see ouermuch in the world that this furie and madnes is in many which would haue religion bended at their lust making it but an image of waxe which would haue the seruice and worship of God ordered according to their fantasies it pleaseth not God that we be obedient vnto them in that behalfe For who are they They haue lost all authoritie when they reuolt from the obedience of him who hath the chiefe and souereigne empire Must the diuels be forced to bend the knee before God our Lord Iesus Christ and shal there be men found which would vsurpe such maistership that in the meane time the honour of God shall bee ouerthrowen and all religion cast downe to the ground So then let vs learne so to obey both Princes fathers and mothers that God reteine his entier right fullie wholie and that we be not hindered to yeld him the honour which apperteineth vnto him but as farre as we may without wounding our cōscience we must obey them in all quietnesse And though they which haue authoritie ouer vs acquite not themselues of their dutie yet we owe them obedience so that the children ought not despitefully to behaue themselues when their fathers shal be ouer sharpe bitter vnto them shal exercise too great rigor against them True it is that fathers are forbidden to vse crueltie against their children yea forbidden to discourage them But yet although the fathers consider not to gouerne their children by gentlenesse yet ought the children to beare with it patientlie Briefly we ought to beare the iniuries quietlie and patientlie of all those which haue authoritie ouer vs And thus yee see what God would giue vs to vnderstand in this commandement Now he addeth also the promise That thy dayes saith he may bee prolonged that thou maist prosper vpon the land which the Lorde thy God giueth thee But there resteth yet a clause in the commaundement which for that we are hardlie ordered to humilitie God placeth for a spurre to quicken vs forward saying Thy God commandeth thee this And it serueth to the confirmation of the doctrine we haue aboue touched namelie that these shal be vaine friuolous shiftes to call into question whether they which are in degree of honour aboue vs deserue so or no whether they discharge their dutie in ttah office authoritie wherevnto they are called all this shifting to excuse our disobedience must be laid aside And why For we must content our selues with this which God hath appointed we must rest altogether vpon his good pleasure Loe for what cause Moses here addeth in expresse termes The eternall or euerliuing thy GOD hath so commaunded thee As if he did say True it is that men wil kicke and fling when they shal be rained with any bridle of obedience one shall neuer haue their good will and leaue to haue them in subiection Againe their pride and arrogancie alwayes stirreth them vp to a desire of lifting them selues ouer high So then there shall bee no voluntarie subiection before God beginne to worke and to put therevnto his hand But will you be rebellious vnto God saith he when you enter into these disputes Must he beare rule ouer me And must I obey him when he is no better than I If you so enuie at men see God opposeth him selfe and he will know whether he shal be obeied serued of you or no. And when he sendeth you his lieftenants you wil not receiue them it is a sure certein signe that you refuse also his yoke in such wise that his iustice is violated he perceiueth that he is despitefullie entreated of you Sithence it is so know ye saith Moses that the children which are rebellious to fathers mothers shall haue happily to alledge this or that and the people which are occasions of seditions and troubles shal wel haue some faire tale for their defence but this shal serue them to no purpose And why Because that God which hath established rules superiorities in the world will also that we mainteine them He hath pronounced the sentence herein which cannot be called back retracted When God hath geuen forth his ordinance decree we must make no questiō of our
retracted when he declareth That all murders are mutinies and seditions and all mutinies murders So then let vs learne to laie aside our owne fantasies when we will be iudges of our owne faults let vs quietlie and peaceably receiue the sentence which God hath giuen and knowe we that all those which violentlie attempt any thing against their neighbours are alreadie guiltie of murder before god Loe what we haue briefly to beare in minde But now to make a triall whether wee absteine from all harme doing from committing any outrage against the persons of our neighbours wee must come to the examining of our heartes and secrete thoughtes For God hath not giuen some ciuil lawe onely to cause vs to liue honestlie but he hath giuen a lawe conuenient agreeable to his owne nature We know that he is a spirit will be worshipped in spirit and truth Seeing it is so it behoueth vs to knowe that he hath prescribed a rule not only for our hands feete but for our thoughtes also affections It is true that men as they are carnall when first the lawe of God is pronounced to them they thinke they haue well acquited them selues when they are faultlesse before the world On the other side they are verie readie by enlarging their conscience to dispense with them selues to take all libertie of doing euill And this is the cause why euen the Iewes which ought to haue bene nourished from their infancie in the lawe of GOD they tooke this commaundement Thou shalt not kill ouer grosselie vnderstanding that they offended not GOD in this pointe if so be they had not openlie set on their neighbour to wound and to hurte him Therefore except the fault were euident and apparant to the eyes of men it seemed vnto them that it ought not to bee imputed vnto them before the face of god But our Lord Iesus reproueth them of this shewing them that the lawe is spirituall and expounded of them verie sottishlie When it is saide Thou shalt not kill you thinke saith he that you shal be absolued as guiltlesse before GOD when men can not bring you to the barre for it But I tell you that whosoeuer shall call his neighbour Foole that is to say doth but declare any token of indignation against him is worthie to bee punished with hell fire Whosoeuer iniurieth an other is culpable of a Councell and constitution from heauen so that GOD and all his Angels shall arme them selues against him Whosoeuer murmureth against his neighbour who so muttereth and grummeleth I knowe not what betweene his teeth although he doe not open iniurie is in daunger of iudgement Wee see to what point our Lorde Iesus leadeth vs namelie to shew that albeit wee shal be able to protest that wee haue committed no outrage that wee haue not lifted vp our fist to giue one blowe much lesse drawen our sworde against our neighbour and that wee haue not wounded him that yet this is not enough But know yee saith he that GOD will beare rule ouer your tongues ouer your thoughtes and ouer all your affections as by good reason he ought Seeing it is so who so euer shall haue spoken euill of his neighbour the same is alreadie a murderer for the tongue is as a sharpe swoorde Therefore albeit you shoulde haue neither sworde nor dagger to strike withall when the tongue is so armed to speake euill against your neighbours when you abuse their persons it is a kinde of murder in the sight and iudgement of GOD and although you haue done no open and manifest iniurie yet thinke yee not to bee quited for all this for when you shall haue but muttered and mumbled something betweene your lippes against them it sufficeth to make you culpable and guiltie before GOD you shal be condemned from the highe throne of the heauens albeit you bee absolued before men and that earthlie iudgement proceede not against you When we heare this let vs knowe that it is he whom GOD the father hath giuen to iudge the world who speaketh vnto vs We ought not therefore here to dispense more largelie with our selues for wee shall gaine nothing by all our cauilling shiftes but let vs learne to haue respect alwayes vnto GOD to haue a right and true exposition of the lawe For what is he whiche speaketh He whiche beareth rule ouer our heartes and thoughtes he which will not bee serued of vs with eye seruice he which is not contented that before men we absteine from doing of euill but will bee worshipped in spirit and trueth who will haue that our consciences bee chaste and pure that we bee purged from all wickednesse Thus when wee shall haue respect vnto the nature of GOD wee must no longer extend the lawe of GOD to the outwarde woorkes but wee ought to conclude that when God speaketh of murders he vnderstandeth all enimitie he speaketh of all anger indignation of all rancour malice against our neighbours And in deede that is the verie cause why expreslie S. Iohn saith that he whiche hateth his brother in his hearte is a manstear As if he did say You may make many faire countenaunces but albeit the hatreds you conceiue bee verie hidden and secret and that you dissemble so deepelie that you shewe no token of malice against your neighbours thinke yee not for all this that GOD hath his eyes shut and closed vp Well it may bee hidden and priuie from men whiche you haue not made open and manifest but when you hated your neighbours in your heartes that is to say most secretelie in such sorte that none bee able to perceiue it yet loe notwithstanding a murder committed before god And in verie deede the reason of this is most euident and manifest It is true that when the Princes and Magistrates of this worlde make lawes it is not after the manner and fashion of GOD but to this end onely that euerie one rule and gouerne him selfe according to outwarde order and policie that none bee openlie iniuried but that euerie one haue his right and that peace and concord bee mainteined among men That is the intent and meaning of Magistrates when they make their lawes And why They are mortall men they can not refourme the inwarde and hidden affections this apperteineth vnto GOD they sound not the hearte for this is the proper office of GOD as the holie scripture attributeth it vnto him But yet this notwithstanding when a ciuil lawe is made although one shedde not one droppe of bloud yet is he adiudged worthie to bee led to the gallowes if it shall bee knowen and proued that he endeuored with all his might to haue murdered one If a man hath drawen his sword vppon one who wardeth off the blowes in such sort that he touched not his skinne yet notwithstanding the lawes euen of the Painims condemne such a man to the gibbet as well worthie thereof And why For the lawe
hath placed vs one so neare another wee must obserue and keepe this communion wherein God hath ioyned vs and not forget that it is against nature for vs to hate our owne flesh But now betweene the faithfull there is another greater regard and consideration to be had than this wee haue spoken of For they ought to knowe that they are not onelie formed to the image of God but they must also consider that they are all members of our Lorde Iesus Christ and that there is a more streight and surer band wherwith they are coupled than this of nature which is common and apperteineth alike to all mankinde And by so much the more ought wee to detest those which so forget all the vnion and coniunction which God hath set among his people and all those which desire nothing els but to bring to vtter ruine and destruction that which God hath vnited and coupled and to teare asunder the bodie of the Church As we see the ministers of Sathan doe which are wholie set on euill and mischiefe that it semeth they would despite God how they separate themselues from them by whom they thinke they can receiue no profit and who serue not for their lust and fansie When so brutish and enormious an affection shall be in vs is it not a signe that the diuell possesseth vs and that the spirit of God dwelleth not within vs yea that wee haue not one droppe thereof Now therefore let vs learne so to rule our selues to this commaundement that being purged from all rancour all malice and euill will we haue diligent consideration of employing our selues to serue and minister to our neighbours and to acquite our selues of our duetie towardes them according to the meane and abilitie which God hath geuen vs And if euill thoughts and affections although they be very secret and hidden are accounted for murders before GOD what shall bee said of the violent dealinges of the oppressions and excessiue demeanours of them which ouerflow their bankes so farre as that they are redie to beate and to kill their neighbours as much as lieth in them Must wee not account them worse than all the Painims in the worlde But how euer it bee let vs on our part consider that wee shall haue euill proâ—ited in the schoole of GOD if we keepe our handes onely from doing of euill and our hearts in the meane time be not corrected and reformed And further they which will shewe what is the true perfection of Christians must not onely abstaine from nourishing any secrete malice and euill will in their heartes but they must declare themselues to bee brethren truelie and in deede by employing themselues for the behalf and commoditie of their neighboures as much as shall be possible for them Now if it bee not lawfull to nourish any secrete euill will much lesse is it permitted to behaue our selues so inordinatelie as to strike and to kill and to exercise any violence And who so order themselues so are as wilde and sauage beastes And if this affection and desire of euill doing hath bene condemned by mans lawes what shall this be when the lawe of GOD condemneth vs Let vs therefore learne to haue an eye vnto him and not consider of our faultes but according to his nature And because he is a spirite and will bee serued of vs in all integritie and vprightnesse let vs remember that when wee shall haue withhelde our handes and feete from doing of euill we must also haue our hearts pliable vnto him yea and that in such subiection and obedience that we desire nothing but by our deeds to shew and proue that we are truely and in deede his children liuing in true fraternitie and brotherlie loue with all them which are called with vs into the same coniunction and fellowship Now let vs cast our selues downe before the face of our good God with acknowledging of our faultes praying that it will please him to make vs feele them better than we haue done and that knowing how hee hath bounde vs to our neighboures and will haue vs make proofe of the feare wee beare him in withdrawing our selues from all euill from all iniurie and violence let vs pray him to graunt vs the grace to walke in such brotherlie loue and charitie one with an other that wee all shoote at this especiall and principall marke namelie to honour him as our father and to leaue our selues to bee gouerned by him and his holie spirite according vnto his worde and pray wee that we bee more and more confirmed in this knowing that hee hath reached forth his hande euen to conduct and holde vs vnder his protection That it will please him to graunt this grace not onely vnto vs but to all people and nations of the earth c. The. 9. Sermon Deut. Chap. 5. 18. Thou shalt not committe adulterie SAint Paule speaking of the life of Christians hauing exhorted them to the feare of God addeth that they must walke righteously and soberly Now there is no doubt but that this apperteineth to the second table of the lawe Will wee then obserue that which God commaundeth vs in the seconde table It sufficeth not that wee doe not any wrong or iniurie vnto any either in his person or in his goodes but besides this doctrine it is further required that wee liue in all temperance and honestie And to this purpose mention is made hereof in this former place which I haue alledged to Titus where it is said That wee haue beene redeemed by the grace of our Lorde Iesus Christ to the end we should liue in this world in the feare of God and soberlie and righteouslie In another place to Timothie he saith That if there be a good policie and rule of gouernment obserued wee shall walke iustlie and honestly in all godlinesse Now touching the feare of God this is that spirituall seruice whereof wee haue spoken heretofore that God bee purely and sincerelie worshipped of vs that wee put our whole trust and confidence in him that wee call vppon him that we beare him the reuerence which he deserueth But come wee to our neighbours Will wee learne how wee ought to bee conuersant with men Loe two articles or pointes to bee obserued which he placeth to this purpose The first is integritie and vprightnesse that is iust dealing that wee vse no violence no extortion no deceite in the goodes of our neighbours The second followeth that wee bee not dissolute in life and conuersation that wee shewe no villainous and vnchast behauiour that our liuing bee not inordinate And this is that which he vnderstandeth by honestie or sobrietie Wee haue seene when God did forbid murder how in expounding this worde we said that God meant thereby to deterre vs from doing any outrage or iniurie and not onely this but he would warne vs thereof that wee should seeke to liue in peace with our neighbours and not suffer any to bee troubled
onelie the exteriour acte and permitteth vs in the meane while to bee geuen vnto our wicked lustes and affections For GOD will not bee serued with eye seruice and forbiddeth not onelie the acte it selfe when marriage shall be broken and violated but he interdicteth all wicked desires and affections And this is the cause why Iesus Christ saith That he which loketh but awrie on the wife of another that euen he is an adulterer before God and albeit he be not culpable by the lawes of men and that he may bee accounted chast as not hauing committed any whoredome yet notwithstanding before God he is alreadie condemned as if he had committed fornication Therefore when wee heare this worde of adulterie which is so condemned let vs learne to absteine from all fornication not onelie touching the act thereof but to keepe and reteine all our senses chast that chastitie continencie be both in our eyes and in our heart For behold how S. Paule hath defined true chastitie when he saith That all which are vnmaried ought to studie how they may obey God by keeping their bodies their minds pure cleane He saith not That they who haue not defiled their bodies with fornications remaine chaste but they which tooke paines to keepe both their bodies and soules vndefiled And when we shall haue considered how God abhorreth and detesteth all adulteries we must yet go further applying and extending the same to all fornication vncleannesse True it is that he which breake◠the faith and truth of marriage committeth a double offence and much more enormious as I haue alreadie said but we must alwaies remember this that God will not haue men only not to attempt any thing against mariage but he commandeth also that men lead not a brutish life that they suffer not fornications to haue their ful flote Hee forbids them which are not maried to wander hither and thither in their concupiscences and to abandon themselues to all lustfull meetinges willing them to be pure and cleane both in bodies and minds For he saith That not onely their soules but also their bodies are the temples of the holy ghost as it hath bene alreadie recited And these are the wordes of S. Paul when he warneth the Corinthians that this were a wicked and infamous thing for them to suffer as they had alreadie suffred fornications among them Knowe ye not saith hee that your bodies are the temples of the holy ghost Loe then seing God doth vs this honor to choose our vile bodies which are not only britle vessels but carions euen earth and rottennes yet notwithstanding God honoreth them so far as to make them temples of his holy spirit to dwell therin shal we venter so to moil them in al filth infectiō Shal we make them as stables and sties for hogs What a trecherie is that What an abhominable wickednesse Neither is this all For let vs consider whither S. Paule leadeth vs. Our bodies saith he are the members of Iesus Christ This is then all one as if a man shoulde rent in peeces the bodie of Iesus Christ when he abandoneth his bodie vnto fornication and vncleannesse For it is certeine that we cannot intermingle the sonne of God with our filthes abhominations he being the fountaine of all puritie So then when a man yeldeth himselfe vnto fornication he doth as it were teare in sunder the bodie of our Lord Iesus Christ as much as lieth in him not that we may do it for the sonne of God is not subiect vnto vs to be so dishonoured but we notwithstanding shal be culpable of such a blasphemie as this we shall be guiltie of such an iniurie done vnto him Therefore let vs lerne that God will that not only euerie one for his part obserue the loyaltie and faithfulnes required in mariage but in generall that we be sober and chast to walke in all puritie of life not to giue the bridle to all filthinesse and vncleannesse The reasons which I haue alreadie alledged ought well to moue vs herevnto and this also which I haue alreadie touched of adulteries beeing applied of vs to this purpose may lead vs to all sober and chast liuing Let vs therefore haue all our senses tied vnder such temperance and sobrietie that when the diuell shall sollicite vs to anie vncleannesse wee may alwayes giue him the repulse that hee finde no accesse vnto vs beeing excluded from all enteraunce A certeine Painime knewe well to say That it is not ynough for a man to haue his handes abstinent that is that he be not giuen to rapine and spoile to wrong and iniurie any one but hee must also haue his eyes continent that is to say he must not be giuen to vnchaste and wanton lookes If this hath beene taught by those poore ignoraunt and blinde wretches what shall become of vs if wee remember it not when we are warned as I haue alreadie saide that God hath shewed vs this honour not onely to refourme our soules vnto him but our bodies also although they bee mortall and that we see they haue nothing in them but rottennesse and corruption Seeing then it is so that God accounteth our bodies as his and that he will dwell in them let vs learne to walke warily that wee committe no vncleannesse and bee giuen to no kinde of filthinesse to driue God from out of vs who would possesse vs for his dwelling place and for his holie Temple And withall wee must remember that which Saint Paule saith That other sinnes which a man doth are cōmitted without the bodie but fornication is committed in the bodie For it is certeine that by thefts and oppressions we defile our bodies and our handes as the holie Scripture in this sense speaketh that when we violently oppresse anie we haue our handes full of bloud as the Prophet Esaie speaketh But Saint Paule considering well that fornication is more shamefull and ignominious and that men ought specially to keepe themselues from it declareth that fornication leaueth a marke behinde which remaineth imprinted in the bodie whereby it is open to all infamie and reproch We are verie desirous to conserue our honor and estimation vnspotted it would grieue vs much that any one should staine vs with some euill infamous note why then will we runne hedlong into such vncleannesse as to draw on vs a marke impression of infamie and reproch in the sight of God before his Angels and in the face of al men So then let vs diligently note this and we shall the better be withheld from such corruption filthinesse For albeit our frailtie be such that the diuell tempteth allureth vs herevnto yet shall this serue vs for a bridle to restraine vs to this puritie which I haue mentioned not onely of bodie but also of minde And moreouer let vs heedfully note that which Saint Paule annexeth to the threat he remembreth of wicked persons
of heauen That it will please him to graunt this grace not onelie vnto vs but to all people and nations of the earth c. The. 10. Sermon Deut. Chap. 5. 19. Thou shalt not steale IF we well vnderstood but in one word the will of God which hee plainlie inough declareth vnto vs we should not neede to studie much for the right knowledge of ordering our selues and of leading an holie and righteous life But no such ignorant person as hee who wil not vnderstand none so deafe as he which will not heare as we say in common prouerbe And this is the cause why we are so blinde albeit our Lorde Iesus Christ hath shined before vs with his brightnesse and hath made vs priuie of his will and meaning as well in this precept of the lawe as in all the rest we haue aboue handled for if euerie one would enter into his owne conscience to make a iust and true examination of his faultes should he not finde that it is easie to iudge that when we do our neighbour anie wrong when we deceiue him in his goods what couerture soeuer and cloake we haue for it that we be culpable of theft before God But what If so be we may hide our shame before the world it sufficeth vs and the iudgement of God in the meane time is troden vnder foote and we care not for it but yet all these fig leaues with the which we couer our selues shall serue vs to no purpose wee must in the end come to our account before the heauenlie Iudge and then shall we finde that it is not spoken in vaine which he hath pronounced by Zacharie That his malediction and curse shall come vpon him which sweareth and vpon him which stealeth that is that in what matter soeuer of the lawe and in what point soeuer we shall haue offended he shall not faile to take vengeance thereon Men therefore may well iustifie them selues or flatter them selues yet God in the ende shall displaie and shewe foorth his indignation both against swearers and against theeues But the better to vnderstande the will of the Lorde let vs knowe that hee hath vsed this word of theft or stealing to make vs haue in greater hatred all deceite and all rapine in all kinde of wrong which we are able to deuise against our neighbours as we haue alreadie aboue declared of murder and adulterie If one call a man theefe he wil be grieuouslie offended for this is a woorde of infamie and reproche and therefore he will not suffer him selfe to be so dishonoured in the face of the whole world God then to the end he might induce vs to hate all deceitfulnesse all harme doing all extortion that we might vse in the goods of our neighbours vseth this word in steade of all other He might well haue spoken after some other manner hee might haue said Take heede how you do pull vnto your selues the goods of an other take heede you make not your gaine by the losse and damage of your neighbour take heede of vsing anie such violence but in a word he saieth Steale not And why Euen to this end that deceits rapines and pillages and all harme doing be had of vs in greater detestation that we be ashamed to do wrong vnto anie that we stand I say in greate feare hereof when wee see that wee are guiltie of theft before god Moreouer let vs note that there are manie kindes of theeueries for some vse priuie and secret sleights when they draw to them selues by subtile meanes and practises the substance of another others vse open force or violence and this is properlie called rapine pillage extortion others vse yet more slie feates and closer conueyance yea a man shall thinke they moue not a finger to touche anie thing of their neighbours a man shal not be able to accuse them before the world and yet because they walke not in all simplicitie vprightnesse they are theeues before god Ye see then how we must consider of the kindes of the euerie when we will vnderstand what is forbidden in this place But in the meane time we haue to note that God iudgeth not of theftes after the manner of men for they which liue in great credit and reputation before men shall not cease to bee condemned before God yea albeit none accuse them but that the poore whom they haue eaten and deuoured shall crie for vengeance and although none of them speake one word yet the afflictions which they endure crie alowde in the eares of God and sue processe against their oppressours without sounding one woorde So then we must not bring our owne fansies to iudge of theftes thinking to escape the hand of God when we shall not be cōdemned of men nor punished by earthly iudgment for God proceedeth in this much further higher Let vs therfore briefly beare in mind that touching God all kind of harme doing when wee desire to plucke vnto vs that which is not ours is named theft throughout the holie scripture And in deede when God manaceth a woe by the prophet Esaie that he which hath pilled and spoyled others shall be rewarded with the like he speaketh not of pettie theeues which we lead to the gallowes but he speaketh of great Princes and Monarchs which bare then the sway through out the whole worlde And againe in the first Chapter when he addresseth his talke against the holie people which was the Church of God Thy princes and gouernours are companions and Princes of theeues saieth he Now certeine it is that none charged these of theft nay these sat as Iudges condemners of other pettie theeues and yet failed they not to be condemned before god And thus the theeues which are honourable here belowe on earth are notwithstanding accursed by the lawe of God and he hath pronounced on them his determinate sentence in this text Wee must therefore humble our selues vnder the iudgment of God and know that we shall gaine litle albeit our theueries be excusable before men although we couer them and colour them For in the meane time the lawe of God shall haue his full course and the execution thereof shall be readie at hande for our condemnation God hath forbidden nothing which he will not call into account Ye see then what we haue to beare in minde concerning this place Now it resteth that that which wee haue briefly touched we handle more amply and as we may say by peecemeales specifying it by examples to the end it may be better vnderstood as I haue alreadie said if we were diligent and attentiue to hearken vnto that which God declareth vnto vs we need not make here any long exposition But what We seeke nothing else but to cloke and hide our selues with some dissimulation and albeit the thing be cleare ynough to be knowne alwayes to make some doubt And this is the cause why we must be so precisely charged and more neerely pressed in all
enormious and outragious offences that it is not possible to beare with them except a man wil be a traitor to god And well one shall crie out against these things and yee shall haue this replie made What Doeth not the Gospell teach you to winne all the world by mildnesse Hath not Iesus Christ called sinners vnto him in all leue and gentlenesse pardoning them their trespasses Must they then which preach the Gospell vse such rigour Lo what shal be said as if Christ would that his grace should be abused that vices should haue their flote full saile that men should dissemble cloke them that they should not be reproued condemned Nay contrariwise it is said that by the Gospel he exerciseth an authoritie iurisdiction to condemne the whole world behold to what purpose this is namelie that we should be confounded with shame as it were ouerwhelmed with confusion when our sin shal be opened declared to vs that we haue no other refuge but to his meere grace onlie mercie Let vs therefore diligentlie note that wee are forbidden to defame our neighbours of harred for ill will. But for all this on the contrarie side we are commaunded to blame the euill we see in them and to reproue them with sharpnesse when they shall ouer grosselie offende endeuouring with all our might if wee may be able to winne them to doe well and withall not ceasing to aduertise others not to bee corrupted by wicked examples This shal be better vnderstoode if wee shall take on the one side the sentence of Iesus Christ where he saith Who soeuer shall haue called his neighbour Foole shal be culpable of hell fire who soeuer shall haue onelie groined against him is alreadie damnable and on the other side that sentence where it is said That we must reproue the vnfruitfull workes of darkenesse that we must detest and abhorre euill as Saint Paule speaketh hereof also when he saith vnto the Corinthians That if the Gospell be preached as it ought they which shall heare it hauing the secretes of their hearts made manifest shal be constreined to giue glorie vnto God casting them selues to the earth that is to say being ashamed of their sinnes And why Because they are brought to light whereas before they were hidden when their sinnes were not knowen they see that they are defamed before God and there is no talke of hiding them selues anie longer Therefore when I shall haue groined of euill will against my neighbour yea albeit so closelie that one can not say that I haue called him knaue or foole but shall onelie haue wagged my head or bit my lippes at him Loe a false witnesse bearing before god And why For I despise my neighbour I desire also to put him to reproch and infamie And what hath stirred me vp herevnto Some grudge I beare him some euill will I haue conceiued against him Now contrariwise when I will aduertise my neighbour so that I shall seeke to do him good that I shal be led by no euill affection but that I would procure his saluation as farre as lieth in me I may say Vnhappie man that thou art take heede to thy selfe it seemeth thou wouldest sell thy selfe vnto Satan it seemeth thou wouldest captiue thy selfe vnder his cursed seruitude and bondage thou shewest well that thou art past all sense and enraged when thou wilt receive no admonition regard no warning wilt thou needes perish mischieuouslie and miserablie Go caytâ—e thou art worthie to be hated and spat at of all men I may vse to say all these words with a man and yet do him no iniurie And why For I can not otherwise bring him to him selfe to amend him Therfore when I see that Sathan hath so hardened him that I must hammer him with great blowes to awaken him I may here proceede with such vehemencie of words and behold also how I shall seeke hereby to couer his faultes For what other end and purpose haue I What other thing shoote I at but that they should be pardoned him of God and that before the world he should no longer be defamed and made a reproch It grieueth me that men point at him with their fingers that he is become a reproch and byword to all that he is as it were on a scaffold or stage exposed to all ignominie and shame This grieueth me I say and therfore I seeke to bring him into the right way so that I vse no iniurie towards him in this manner of proceeding which I obserue Nowe in the meane time we must take heede that we loose not the bridle to anie excessiue bitternesse of reprehending For albeit we haue a good zeale are not moued with anie ill will yet notwithstanding we shal verie much offend when we shal be ouer bitter in reprouing Loe why Saint Paule expreslie warneth vs of this that we reproue with all gentlenesse those which haue offended Consider saith he that thou maiest also fall and offend Let vs therefore vse such mildnesse and gentlenesse towardes our neighours as we would be vsed towards vs in the like case But howe euer it be let vs speake of vices so that we disguise them not to make them seeme nothing let vs seke roughlie to reforme them which haue offended reprouing them in such sort as they are able to beare and as we see them disposed regarding alwayes that we be moued hereto by charitie and brotherlie loue And so when we shall pray God to conduct vs in this thing and to gouerne vs by his holie spirit a man shall not be able to count it an iniurie done to him when we shal haue told him of his faultes roundly and yet charitably Ye see then what we haue to obserue touching this commaundement namely that we must not open our mouth to speake one worde slaunderously and maliciously against our neighbour and yet in the meane time that we reproue simply and plainly such as shall haue offended as we woulde men should haue a care to correct and amend vs in the like case When we shall vse such equitie and discreete dealing behold we shall not bee false witnesses Moreouer let vs note that when mention is made here of falshoode we are not only forbidden to forge and inuent a lie in such sort that that we shal say be falsly contriued and deuised without anie colour at all but if we maliciously depraue that which in it self is not euill we beare herein false witnesse As it is said that they which deposed against our Lorde Iesus Christ that he had said Destroy this Temple and in three daies I will build it vp again were false witnesses and yet it is certein that Iesus Christ had so spoken that is to say had pronounced these verie wordes with his mouth They then which recite them why are they called false witnesses The reason is because they turned the wordes of the sonne of God
the kingdome of heauen numbreth also among them railers euill speakers banishing them in like maner from all hope of euerlasting life and saluation when we heare this is there any talke to be had of couering vs with leaues to make our selues beleue there is no ill done when we shall haue slaundered our neighbours Thinke we that the threat which God hath pronounced by the mouth of Saint Paule is onely to feare little children and that it shall not bee executed vpon them which would exempt themselues from it in despite of him So then let vs labour with all our diligence to obserue this commandement And aboue all that wee may conclude herewith let vs make this comparison that if God will that the good name of our neighbours be kept and esteemed deare of vs and if he so streightly forbid vs all ill reproches and slaunders which might disgrace and discredite him how ought we to behaue our selues towards him Are wee not an hundred times more bound to mainteine the honour of God And because we cannot profite him any way are we not much more bound herevnto than to conserue in his entire estate the honour of men So then let vs beware of being false witnesses against God as S. Paule saieth That they which corrupt the puritie of the Gospell are false witnesses against God and not against men What must be done then The truth of God must be mainteined by vs we must proceede therein roundly and vprightly when wee shall see a good doctrine we must defend and susteine it knowing that God appointeth vs as his Proctors and Atturnies Shall I then see a truth borne downe and oppressed I must not suffer this as much as in me lieth And why For God calleth me to procure in his name that an vntruth be repressed and borne to the ground And this ought to be obserued especially when the question is concerning the doctrine of saluation So that when we shall see that this doctrine shal be falsified and that men would herein mingle their leuen to corrupt others with their falshoode and lying we must here shewe our selues trulie zealous not to suffer false witnesses against God to haue their sway except we will be consenting with them and partakers of their wickednesse as I haue alreadie declared And so let vs learne that when we shall haue liued with men in such simplicitie that a man shall not be able to charge vs that by backbitings lies or slaunders we haue discredited any one we must also haue this zeale towards GOD that his truth remaine in his entire and perfect estate and that it be mainteined so that it may reigne and beare rule among vs Ye see in effect what we haue to consider vpon this commandement Now let vs cast our selues downe before the face of our good God with acknowledging of our sinnes praying him to make vs feele them better than we haue done that we may be led further and further vnto such a repentance as we may learne to consider of our vices to be sorie for them and to be displeased with our selues to the end that hauing obteined forgiuenesse of them we may learne to order our life after his commandementes that he may be honoured of vs in all true obedience and not onelie by confession of mouth That it will please him to graunt his grace not onelie vnto vs but to all people and nations of the earth c. The. 12. Sermon Deut. Chap. 5. 21. Thou shalt not couet thy neighbours wife neither shalt thou desire thy neighbours house nor his fielde nor his man seruaunt nor his maide nor his oxe nor his asse nor any thing that is his IT might seeme at the first sight that this commaundement is superfluous because that God hauing condemned theft and adulterie would there also represse all wicked concupiscences and desires For wee haue said that these commaundementes must be expounded of vs according to the nature of god And we knowe that the proper office of God is to sound our heartes that he onelie knoweth the thoughtes which are secret and hid and therefore it foloweth that when God forbiddeth men to bee theeues and adulterers he would bridle their affecâ—â—ons and desires And in verie deede if this were not God should haue no more power in making and prescribing of lawes than mortal men For an earthlie man if he condemne adulterie he will also condemne the act and deede thereof yea if an euill intent and meaning appeare it shall be punished If the law of God were such it should import no great thing For it should be but a policie that is a rule of order to gouerne vs honestlie before men But there is in it much more As we see that S. Paule saith That the law cannot bee kept and obserued without a pure conscience and a faith vnfeigned If it be then required that we haue such a soundnesse for to obserue rightlie and as we ought the lawe of God it followeth that vnder the name of adulterie all wicked lustes and desires are forbidden and so likewise vnder the name of theft We might also alledge to this purpose the authoritie of our Lord Iesus Christ who is a faithfull interpreter of the lawe For it is by his spirite that Moses and all the Prophets haue spoken Why then is it now added that we must not couet or desire If mention hath bene alreadie made of all wicked desires was there any neede that this should be againe repeated Wee must therfore note for answere herevnto that God in this place would not represse such wicked affections and desires as are alreadie resolute and concluded vpon of vs but those affections which do first pricke and stirre vs vp albeit we cleaue not nor consent vnto them This requireth a more ample and familiar exposition Sometimes to couet importeth the will which is in a man as when I shall cast mine eye on the goodes of my neighbour if I shall be tempted to couetousnesse and that I nourish such a temptation in me and giue my selfe the bridle loe sinne hath wonne so much that I haue a resolute will in me that I could wish well that this should be mine Loe then one kind of desire which importeth withall a will when a man shall consent vnto sinne and if hee had the meane he would put in practise his wicked wil and purpose which he hath conceiued Now such wicked desires haue bene alredie forbidden when it hath bene said Thou shalt not steale Thou shalt not commit adulterie For God hath not only forbidden the act of fornication stealing but to desire and lust after either the wife of an other or his goods substaunce But there are other desires and lusts to the which we cleaue not at all to consent vnto them which oftentimes tickle and stirre vs vp and we perceiue some motion in vs which is against God and is rebellious to the integritie and vprightnes which is
conteined in the law and such desires are forbidden in this place So we see that God not without cause hauing condemned all euill desires and affections annexeth that this is not yet such a perfection as he requireth but wee must know that euerie affection which stirreth vs vp vnto euill albeit we conclude not any thing within our selues neither rest our selues on it that if onlie a concupiscence forceablie breake forth in vs and we striue therwith that this is a sinne committed we are culpable before god And thus we see what integritie is required in this place when our Lord hauing forbidden wicked desires adioineth that both our senses and mindes must be locked vp in such sort vnder his feare and inflamed with such a loue and desire to walke in all holinesse that we be not moued or driuen either on one side or other by any wicked passion to desire either the good or the wife of an other Now seing we haue the intent and meaning of God let vs diligently consider whervnto he bindeth vs For the law ought to serue vs for a looking glasse to behold the pouertie and miserie which is in vs and after that we shall haue vnderstood what our dutie is let vs know that we are to be condemned if we come not neere that perfection to the which God hath called vs Ye see wherevpon we must slaie to make our profite of this last commaundement of the lawe And to the ende that we may be so much the more attentiue and that we may knowe that this is a doctrine which requireth that we applie our whole studies therein let vs beare in minde that which S. Paule saith That being reputed a great and exceding wise Doctor hauing bene nourished in the law of God from his infancie yet was he so blind that he vnderstoode not what the lawe of God ment vntill he was conuerted and that our Lorde Iesus Christ had enlightened him by his Gospell to the end he might knowe whither the lawe of God ought to lead vs. Beholde then Saint Paule who was instructed in such sorte that hee was in great reputation among men not among the Painims to say that he was some great Philosopher but he was taught and brought vp in the lawe of god And touching his life hee protesteth that he liued irreprehensible as without all faulte beefore men Loe I say Sainte Paule an holy and learned personage after the common estimation of men but yet a poore beast touching the law of god And why He saith he esteemed himselfe liuing that he thought himselfe iust before God and knew not that he had neede of the mercie which GOD offereth vnto all sinners For he absteined from theft from fornication such like thinges he had no wicked desires in him which one might perceiue and which might be knowen vnto men so that he iustified him selfe in his owne fantasie Now in the end when God had taken pitie on him he opened his eyes made him to vnderstand that which is conteined in this last commaundement Thou shalt not couet Behold how S. Paul began now first to vnderstand the lawe in which before he was a doctor making profession thereof wherein hee had bene taught and instructed from his first age Vntill he had wel considered and medicated of this he tript ouer the quicke coles he learned his lesson as we say by rot he neuer tasted nor vnderstoode the force and power of the lawe he neuer knewe that this was sinne to condemne himselfe before God and to haue his refuge to his mercie in the which the hope of our saluation lieth and wherevpon it ought to be grounded Seeing then S. Paul knew not the law and had no right vnderstanding thereof but by this worde let vs labour herein with so much the more diligence and seeing that all the time of his life vntill his conuersion he was so blind that he vnderstood not this worde by so much the more ought we to bee attentiue in this place for we are of no greater abilitie than he but God by his holy spirit must reueale to vs what this concupiscence is which hee hath in this place condemned Now beyond all this we must haue an other admonition which is very needfull and necessarie for vs For the diuell hath sought in such sort to couer and hide this precept that a man should not knowe the intent and meaning of God but that one should lightlie content himselfe to condemne onelie those euill concupiscences for sinne which appeared manifestly and whereof a man were plainly conuicted So that many haue restrained this word of concupiscence to those euill affections and desires which importe a resolute will and full consent Now this is against the natural sense and meaning of Moses and yet is this a doctrine fullie concluded on in papistrie Although the Papists cannot denie that to be pricked and prouoked with an euil and wicked desire is a damnable vice and which procedeth from originall sinne and from this corruption which we drawe from our father Adam yet they imagine that after baptisme this is no more a sinne As if such a fantasie come into the minde of man to doubt of the promises of God to murmur against him to be angrie with him when a man shal be afflicted if it come into his fantasie to accuse God of iniustice and crueltie this is not a sinne say the Papists Neither are these of the rudest ignoraniest sort among them which speake thus but this is a generall resolution doctrine vniuersally concluded on in all their diuelish Synagogs There is not a Synagog among them where this hath not bene receiued as an article of faith namelie that a man being prouoked and stirred vp with some wicked desire sinneth not that if he be tempted in himselfe to commit murther to empoyson any to commit fornication and briefly to be guiltie of all the crimes and enormities in the world if so that he consent and assent not thereto for loe the wordes which they vse that is to say if hee resolue not himselfe herein to say I will put in practise my wicked conceite and that hee stay not himselfe hereon to please himselfe in this wicked affection all this is no sinne This is say they but to exercise vs in combate and fight against sinne and we then declare that we are valiant champions and that sinne beareth not rule ouer vs or reigneth in vs Now I graunt it is true that the faithfull shew well that the spirit of God reigneth in them when they repell and beate backe such temptations when they bridle and captiue themselues so when they resist and withstand such thinges knowing that they are contrarie vnto God and that he condemneth them It is certeine that hereby it is shewed that God hath geuen vs victorie ouer sinne and that the vertue and power of his spirit abideth in vs and that we are stoute and valiaunt champions to bid battell
against Sathan But this is not to say that we are exempted and freed from all fault and that we may so plucke out of vs all sinne and ransome our selues so fullie as if it might not staine and spot vs no longer Alas we are farre wide from this For on the one side it is true that we haue great cause to praise God that he bestoweth this grace on vs by his holy spirit to surmount ouercome all wicked affections But in the meane time we ought to bewaile our selues knowing that we are on our part ouerweake and that if he take not pitie on vs forasmuch as we haue within vs an euill and wicked conscience which is to prouoke his vengeaunce against vs we should well deserue to be throwen downe of him into the bottomlesse pit of hell But let vs note how God would here open and discouer the shame and reproche of the Papists and how he would shew that the greatest Clerkes among them are more rude and ignorant than the poore vnbeleeuers which neuer heard one word of the holy scripture And why For let vs consider of that which is conteined in the lawe It is said that the summe of the lawe is That wee loue God with all our heart with all our minde with all our vnderstanding with all the faculties and powers we haue If it were said Thou shalt loue God with all thine heart a man might with some colour conclude that there is no sinne but when the will is certeine and resolute For the heart in the Scripture although it signifie sometime the vnderstanding yet is it taken for the will. Now then one might vse this cauill It is said That we must loue God with all our heart if so be then our will be not contrarie well it is inough we haue quited our selues before god For one might happilie restraine the will from consenting to this wicked affection and so it should seeme that the wicked desires which first incite and stirre vs vp and yet hold vs not captiues be not comprised vnder sinne But God addeth With all thy heart with all thy vnderstanding and thoughtes and with all thy powers Let vs now consider if I conceiue any thing against God if I conceiue any euill lust or desire of fornication or stealing albeit I cleaue not at all vnto it whether one part of my soule vnderstanding bee not alreadie corrupted and whether I loue God with all my heart when one parte of my vnderstanding is bent against him There is no question of the heart but of this apprehension and conceiuing of the minde which is in the soule of man Nowe I shewe well that there is vanitie in this that the feare of God withholdeth me not as it ought It followeth then that I am culpable and condemned because I discharge not my selfe in louing GOD as he hath commaunded me And againe is there not some vertue and power of my soule which applieth not it selfe to thinke on this or that which is contrarie vnto GOD and his iustice So then wee see that euill and wicked thoughtes are condemned and that wee cannot so excuse them but that GOD shall worthilie punish vs for them And let vs knowe that albeit men neuer consent vnto euil to haue their will resolutely bent therevnto yet cease they not to bee accursed before GOD if hee would vse his seueritie against them Now therefore wee haue the true sense and meaning and wee see withall that wee must take diligent heede to this place that we bee not seduced and abused herein And the example of Saint Paule ought to pricke vs forwarde so much the more seeing that he confesseth that hee was ignoraunt of the lawe of GOD vntill our Lord Iesus Christ had enlightened him by his holy spirite to the ende hee might knowe what this worde of concupiscence imported It remaineth that we now applie this which hath bene touched to our vse and profite In the first place therefore let vs learne that to serue God well and as we ought we must not onelie desire to doe well neither is it sufficient that we profit herein and proceede effectually but we must purge our selues of all euill and wicked affections and of all corrupt thoughts in such sort that all our senses vnderstanding tend to this end to giue ouer our selues fullie and wholie vnto God that we may shew wee haue not bene so distracted as to bend on one side or other but that wee bee held vp so streight as to runne without beeing hindered or staied yea to runne in that way whiche God sheweth vs so that there bee in vs nothing but all puritie and when wee shall haue well and throughlie vnderstood this wee shal be aduertised to bee watchfull and to stand on our garde For wee see howe men wander and lead them selues astray And what is the cause hereof Because they reckon as wee say without their host For they expounde the lawe of GOD after their owne fansie and they thinke it sufficient if their will bee not wicked and that they rest not them selues on their euill thoughtes Well God will not impute this vnto vs say they and herevppon they walke on in their wicked concupiscences and they haue an headband whiche they put before their eyes that they might not knowe howe closelie they deceiue them selues Now when men speake thus yet this will not serue them to escape the hande of the heauenlie Iudge Let vs therefore take diligent heede we restraine our selues in our concupiscences For God hath not onelie condemned wicked intentes and purposes but all desires also which prouoke vs to euil and driue vs therevnto Let vs therefore walke in so much the greater feare let euerie one hold him self as it were vnder lock forasmuch as there is no part in vs which is not infected with sinne For let vs examine all the faults of our soule and wee shall finde sinne dispersed ouer all as when a poison hath entred the bodie of a man so that euerie part thereof is infected There is in vs such an vniuersall leprosie as possesseth both the bones and the marrowe the thoughts and the affections and all which is in vs Seeing then it is so that our nature is thus corrupted ought wee not to be so much the more vigilant and watchfull to hold our selues in bridle seing God by the law hath condemned all wicked thoughts which tend to incite vs vnto euill seeing hee hath condemned the smallest motion which flattereth tickleth vs and when we onelie feele our will a little pricked and stirred albeit it be not at all held captiue When we see this I saie haue we not great occasion to awaken vs to walke vnder the hand of God in so much the greater heedefulnesse So then behold how this precept ought to awaken vs when wee are so sleepie and southfull and would so easilie acquite our selues of our duetie towardes god But let vs knowe that no
wiped out and baptisme is hereof a sure testimonie and witnesse vnto vs For by it haue we bene washed from all the filthes and pollutions which are in vs that we might appeare pure and cleane in the sight of God yea which more is those mortall and deadlie sinnes which are acuiallis committed shall not bee imputed vnto vs because as I haue said that God hath buried our sinne and will not regard it but we must notwithstanding haue respect vnto it and beware diligentlie howe we offende But if anie abuse and deceiue them selues to be persuaded they conceiue no wicked ked desires this shall occasion GOD to call them to their account And why For when men flatter them selues they must needes be condemned And loe why the diuell hath so much ende-uoured to blind the eyes of men in making them beleeue that none of all these thinges are sinne yea we see how the Papists thinke that the grossest faultes that may be are soone wiped out with one signe of the crosse or with one Asperges of holie water They thinke these thinges are nothing and they sport them selues with GOD as with some litle childe But let vs contrariwise remember that when wee shall not onelie slugge in sinne but shal be greatlie inclined to flatter our selues in our vices let vs I say remember to take vnto vs this glasse of the lawe and to behold our selues in that we abuse not nor deceiue our selues A man may haue his face foule and dirtie euerie one shall mockee him and yet hee shall see nothing thereon but when het looketh in a glasse and seeth all his face soyled then hee withdraweth him selfe and goeth and washeth it so haue we need here to do It is true that the whole lawe of GOD is as a glasse to shewe vs our filthinesse that wee might bee confounded and ashamed of our wickednesse but wee must haue to consider of our condition a most cleare and bright glasse If wee reade this onelie Thou shalt not steale Thou shalt not bee a murderer nor adulterer euerie one will make him selfe beleeue that hee is guiltie in nothing but when wee come to this commaundement Thou shalt not couet loe GOD soundeth not onelie the depth of our heart but all our thoughtes and imaginations there is nothing which hee trieth not and examineth and those thinges which we shall account for no faultes shal be condenmed before GOD and he shall be Iudge of them if wee on our part will not iudge them Nowe in the meane time we are to magnifie the mercie of our God that when we are so manie wayes culpable hee yet receiueth vs as iust and righteous Let vs compare together the iustice wee obteine by the meanes of faith and the malediction which is on vs wherein wee are plunged Are wee culpable before GOD of one offence of three of anie number Nay rather are wee not plunged into such bottomlesse gulfes that when wee shall beginne to make our account we shal be ouerwhelmed and confounded with the multitude of our offences An hundred millians of faultes are the hundreth part of them which wee haue committed in the sight of GOD wee are guiltie in so manie that there is neither end nor measure in our sinnes Yet for all this GOD receiueth vs so to mercie that we are accounted iust before him as if there were in vs all integritie and perfection and that wee wanted nothing of fulfilling the whole lawe Therefore when God bestoweth on vs this gift of faith whereby wee apprehend and take holde of the grace and mercie which hath bene purchased vs by the death and passion of our Lorde Iesus Christ that wee will nowe doe him this honour to say Lorde it is in thy meere goodnesse and free mercie that our saluation consisteth when GOD I say pardoneth vs such an infinite number of sinnes and offences and clotheth vs with his owne iustice see we not howe farre wee are bounde vnto him for this inestimable goodnesse So then when the lawe of God shall haue vtterlie confounded vs seeing not onelie our concupiscences exceede all number but that we are buried in them as vnder great and huge mountaines if GOD would seuerelie deale with vs for them let vs knowe that God will not leaue vs in despaire but as soone as we are beaten to the ground he helpeth vs vp againe when he seeth our weakenesse hee reacheth vs out his hande and calleth vs vnto him and willeth vs to bee of good comfort when he for his mercies sake will impute none of our sinnes vnto vs Loe in what sort the faithfull continue in glorifying of God although they be in them selues condemned And at this end wee must alwayes beginne to bee veterlie confounded in our selues that our Lorde may deliuer vs from the deepest dongeon of death seeing that our onelie saluation lieth and consisteth in his meere mercie and grace Nowe withall let vs walke in all heedefulnesse let vs diligentlie looke vnto our selues knowing that when wee shall haue employed great paines to serue GOD when wee shall haue shunned all occasions which might leade vs vnto euill when wee shall haue subdued our lustes and affections when wee shall haue further endeuoured to represse wicked thoughtes wee are yet to condemne our selues and to stand in greate feare of the anger and displeasure of god For although through the vertue and power of his grace sinne reigneth not in vs yet doeth it alwayes dwell in vs and staineth vs still with some blot of filthinesse and vncleannesse Let vs therefore bewayle our selues hereof and lament in suche sorte that wee bee hereby incited and pricked forwarde to doe our duetie We see in what sort Saint Paule speaketh after that he had profited so farre and was come euen to an angelicall holinesse O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this bodie of death And why is it so that he desireth death in him selfe For no other reason but because he sawe sinne abiding in his bodie Now moreouer wee must knowe that wee ought not although euerie day wee see a millian of faultes in vs to bee discouraged Loe why Saint Paule exhorting the faithfull to flee from vices saieth not Let not sin dwell in you but he saith Let not sinne reigne in you I grant it were to be desired that sinne dwelt not at all in vs but although we be not altogether rid thereof yet must wee not bee to much dismaide But when he saith that sinne dwelleth in vs let vs knowe that this â—s first to warne vs of our miserable condition and againe to admonish vs that wee must bee exercised continuallie in combat and fight with sinne to the end wee should more feruenthe desire the aide and help of our God praying him to fortifie and strengthen vs by his power and by the grace of his holy spirite whiche he hath giuen vs in the name of our Lorde Iesus Christ Now let vs cast our selues downe
and euen withdrawen them selues from beeing taught by the holy scripture For they thought this belonged only to the Monkes and Priestes And in the end such a foolish and beastlie opinion was conceiued that men thought all diuinitie ought to be cloistered in their dennes and cabins Now for all this this testimonie hath alwayes remained and must endure to the end of the world that God hath spoken with a lowde voice that he hath not hid or drawen him selfe backe into some little angle and corner of the earth So this hath bene a most wicked vnthankfulnesse in men that they haue left the word of God as clene cast off forsaken of all And so much the more heedfullie ought we to note this place wherein it is said that God directed not his speech only to some great Doctors but hath communicated his voice to the whele people euen to the most simple least among them And withall let vs to whom God hath restored his world praise magnifie him for so inestimable a benefite whereof the greatest part of the worlde haue depriued them selues by their owne malice and retchlesse negligence Let vs I say praise and extoll his goodnesse that his woorde at this daye soundeth in our eares that wee may reade it that all both priuatelie and publikelie may bee partakers thereof that this heauenlie treasure is laid open vnto vs to vse and to enioy it Beholde an inestimable benefite aboue all he bestoweth on vs for which wee ought to magnifie our God as priceing this benefite aboue all the rest Moreouer let vs bee attentiue to heare our GOD speake Let none alledge here any excuse to exempt him self from this dutie For seeing that GOD speaketh to the whole companie of the faithfull to all them which are baptised in the name of our Lorde Iesus Christ let euerie one in his degree and calling applie his studie to profite in the woord of GOD and let vs all in generall take God for our Maister and let vs be readie to heare him alwayes and as often as it shall please him to speake vnto vs as he ceaseth not dailie to doe And thus much bee noted touching the first point wherein it is said that GOD hath spoken to the whole multitude and assemblie Nowe let vs come vnto the second point wee noted namelie that he added nothing And this is said that wee might with better courage heare that which is conteined in the lawe It is true that all that which Moses hath written apperteineth to the lawe all that likewise which the Prophetes haue left in writting finallie whatsoeuer hath bene adioyned in the Gospell all this I say conteineth one substaunce of doctrine and the Bible is bigge enough but yet because wee should not neede to wander farre or make any greate inquirie after that wherevnto wee ought to tend GOD hath proposed vs one certeine scope and marke at which in ordering our whole life wee might ayme and shoote at For all is referred to these ten sentences as I haue said Let vs then but count ouer our fingers and wee shall haue the tenne commaundementes of GOD all is concluded in a short summe which we ought to beare in minde to bee good scholers vnder god Therefore when God vseth such breuitie are not men to to wicked and vntoward if they refuse such a doctrine if they will not for all this bee at so much leasure as to profite in the woord of GOD Howe therefore let vs lay aside all such vaine and friuolous replies to say O the holy scripture is a deepe sea it is a bottomlesse pit if a man enter into it which way shall hee bee able to get forth Let vs alledge no such thinges It is true that God sheweth in the holie scripture that which the Angels desire to behold It is true that wee can haue but some small tast thereof while wee dwell in the world It is sufficient that wee knowe in part as Saint Paule speaketh and in darkenesse beholding as it were in a glasse that which wee can not see as yet face to face All this is verie true yet so is it notwithstanding that God hath so conformed and abased him selfe vnto our rudenesse and sâ—endernesse that these things are easie vnto vs or at the least wee shal be able to vnderstand so much as is profitable for our saluation If with all there be thinges doubtfull and obscure let this sobrietie bee in vs that wee aduaunce not our owne iudgements but that wee first aske counsell at the mouth of GOD knowing that wee are yet farre from our perfection And yet according to the measure which he hath giuen vs wee may alwayes glorie in this that our Lorde Iesus Christ will not leaue vs in doubtfulnesse and ignoraunce but that he will giue vs so sure and certeine a way as wherein wee shal be able to walke with great assuraunce knowing that he hath not called vs in vaine vnto him selfe when wee shall not haue any vncerteine and wandering course to runne but so certeine a marke proposed as wherevnto if wee shall directe our race wee shall not neede to feare any erring as destitute of some good guiding and direction Let vs therefore beare in minde that our Lorde hath not spoken according vnto his owne nature For if he would speake in his owne language should he bee vnderstood of mortall creatures Alas no. But how speaketh he vnto vs in the holy scripture Verilie he lispeth and stutteth for our better vnderstanding Saint Paule saith that he became as a nource of little children when he preached the Gospell Nowe when he spake it of himselfe there is no doubt but that he would shewe thereby the goodnesse of God which so gouerned him by his holy spirite And this which is in S. Paule we shall finde likewise in Moses in all the Prophets Let vs then diligentlie note that God is made as it were a nource whiche will not speake vnto her infant as she would vnto a man but will haue respect vnto the capacitie of it So God abaseth him selfe forasmuch as wee could not vnderstand what he said except he submitted him selfe to our vnderstanding Loe for what cause he is like a nource in the holy scripture that men might not perceiue his great and infinite maiestie to the whiche wee can not come nor approche any thing neere vnto it Seeing GOD hath bene so gentle vnto vs as to open himselfe vnto vs in most familiar manner so much more grieuous a condemnation shall fall vpon our heades if we bestowe not paine to profite in that doctrine which hee hath as I may so say shewed vnto vs that there resteth nothing for vs to doe but to swallowe it and digest it Let vs therefore note that when Moses saith That God added nothing to these tenne sentences it is to this end that wee should shew our selues more easie to bee taught and bee the more encouraged knowing that God
will not make vs to wander and take endlesse labour as in a thing which hath neither banke nor bottome but he proposeth vnto vs onelie ten sentences True it is that hee hath expounded these tenne commaundementes by Moses And againe consequentlie by the Prophetes Lastlie we haue had the finall declaration of them by our Lorde Iesus Christ as it is at this day deliuered vs in the Gospell But what Wee haue yet this marke wherevnto we must alwayes order our selues Wee haue but tenne wordes for our lesson and seeing it is so ought wee not to iudge our selues verie frowarde and peruerse if wee despise so great grace of God and if we come not vnto him when hee handleth vs after so gentle a manner This wee haue then briefly to beare in mind of this easinesse and plainenesse which Moses sheweth vs to bee in the worde of god And withall let vs also note that he would hereby warne vs that we learne to content our selues with the simplicitie of the lawe that wee aduise our selues how wee come to controll GOD to cloute our patches and pieces to his worde For when he spake hee spake once for all and will that men hold themselues to that he hath said As we shall see hereafter how he hath streightlie forbidden vs to bende either to the right hande or to the left or to adde any thing to his doctrine And in verie deed seeing GOD hath adioyned nothing thereto who are wee to enterprise and take in hande any thing aboue him Thinke wee that when GOD deliuered his lawe hee had lost his memorie and knew not what was profitable for vs Can a man bethinke himselfe of that which hath bene vnknowen vnto GOD And againe beside all this when our Lorde hath so applied himselfe vnto vs thinke wee hee would instruct vs by halfes and leaue vs in the middest of the way Let vs therefore beare in minde that seeing GOD hauing pronounced these tenne sentences added nothing vnto them wee must so wholie applie and rest our selues simplie on that dâ—ctrine which is conteined in his lawe that wee ventur not to enterlace any thing of our owne whatsoeuer but let vs knowe that this is our perfect wisedome to bee obedient vnto our god It this had bene in all times well obserued we should not haue bene at this daie so incumbered to amend the corruptions whiche reigne throughout the worlde For from whence commeth it that men haue corrupted all religion and the seruice of GOD as wee see it is come to passe in Poperie The Papistes will vaunt and boaste themselues of seruing GOD when they shall haue their solemnities their ceremonies and other like trash And whence is this Euen from this that they haue presumed to adde some thing to the worde of GOD when they thought it not sufficient that GOD should be serued after his owne manner and fashion but men must reare vp some new deuises in their braines and fansie whatsoeuer they should thinke good So then all this which they call the seruice of God in Poperie is nothing els but a fardell of trumperies which men haue made vp together and not onelie this but that which hath bene spoken by the Prophet hath bene accomplished in them namelie That they haue despised and set at naught the commaundements of GOD while they haue bene geuen to their own inuentions And men see the wickednesse and mischiefe which is happened by this diuelish boldnesse and presumption when men haue gone about to disguise the worde of GOD by their lies and dreames and dotages So much the more diligentlie therefore ought wee to note this place when it is said That GOD hauing once spoken added nothing to that which he had said And in verie deede as I haue alredie said this is an horrible blasphemie when men will attempt to finde out I knowe not what some thing better than that which is conteined in the lawe of god This were to reproue him of a lie or to thinke that hee was not well aduised or happillie that hee forgat to geue in commaundement that which he ought And shall men finde out some thing better than hee Nay verilie Then let vs learne to order our selues in such forte vnto God that we haue this alwayes imprinted in memorie that God hauing spoken he made a full end and conclusion to say These are my limits borders whosoeuer wil presume to goe beyond shall but ventur further to breake his necke And in deede it can not otherwise be but a ruine and destruction shall followe vpon vs when wee will not keepe vs in that high way which God hath made and hedged in for vs Now albeit GOD speake not at this time in so visible manner as he did then to the people of Israel yet ought wee often to call to minde this lesson which is conteined in the lawe True it is that God hath not spoken twice but he hath spoken once for all as wee say but wee on our part must againe and againe call it to minde as it is also said in the Psalme The Lord hath spoken once I haue heard him twice For hereby wee are admonished that it shall not suffice to haue vnderstood for one day that which our Lord will haue pronounced and published in his name but wee must often and sundrie times meditate therevpon Let euerie one therefore exercise himselfe herein all the time of his life and let vs not cease euening morning to call this to minde and to consider well that which our Lord sheweth vs For when wee haue employed all the time of our life herein we shall hardly come so farre as the midde way True it is as wee haue alreadie said that euen at the first entrie God teacheth vs so much as is expedient to be knowen for our saluation But yet for all this we shall alwayes finde wherein to make our further profite in the worde of god Let vs therefore be diligent and let vs not thinke it is labour lost which we bestowe herein no not when we applie our studie day by day herein and shall not geue ouer to searche and inquire after that which God teacheth vs Behold in what sort wee must applie this to our vse and practise it wherein it is said that our Lorde hath added nothing Now let vs come to the third point which is that God spake out of the middest of the fire of the cloud and of the whirlewind It is true that this hath bene before expounded alreadie but seeing it is repeated againe vnto vs by Moses let vs note that it is not any thing superfluous And in verie deede wee cannot be to often put in minde hereof that the worde of God ought to beare a great maiestie with vs to humble vs vnder it that wee may yeelde all subiection and obedience therevnto And why First we see what pride and arrogancie is in men that they can hardlie stoope and bend their neckes to
we might know how we ought to gouerne our selues towards him and then how we are to liue to be conuersant with our neighbours Will a man order his life in all perfection It behoueth first that he giue him selfe to the seruice of God that he knowe what God requireth and approueth and after this we must liue in such vprightnesse and equitie with our neighbours that we sheire hereby that we are the true children of god First therefore we must know how God wil be honoured and worshipped of vs Secondlie we must render to our neighbours that which apperteineth to them obseruing this indifferencie of nature not to do to another which we would not haue done to vs So God hath declared in two tables in what sorte hee will bee serued of vs as wee haue aboue declared that hee proposeth him selfe onelie to be worshipped that men should forge no newe Gods. Againe hee hath declared that he wil not be represented by images normoppets that he is a spirit and will be spirituallie worshipped of vs and not as men shall fansie to reare vp this or that kinde of worship but hee will be serued in spirit Againe he will haue his name sanctified hee will that men exercise them selues in his woorde and aboue all that euerie one withdrawe him selfe from his owne thoughtes and affections that wee rest vs to bee ruled and gouerned onelie by god And this is conteined in the first table of the lawe Touching the second we haue seene howe hee commaundeth vs to obey father and mother howe hee forbiddeth vs murders adulteries theftes euill speakings all wicked lustes and concupiscences Yee see then why GOD hath diuided his lawe into two tables Will we therefore order our life well and as wee ought Let vs first learne to honour GOD and after that to liue with our neighbours in all integritie and vprightnesse For there are some which will absteine from iniuring of others but in the meane while they haue litle regard of GOD and they thinke they are quited absolued if so be none indite them nor complaine of them in this worlde But I pray you what shall this be not to be theeues if wee commit sacrilege Is it not a greater and more enormious crime to rob GOD of his honour than to spoile a man of his goods to cutte his purse or to picke his chest So let vs not thinke wee haue fullie discharged our duetie when men shall sue no processe nor make anie complaint against vs for God must also haue that hee requireth and is due vnto him for wee are bounde to doe him homage all our life time We must therefore bestowe so much the more studie to obserue the first table of the lawe that wee leade not a Philosophicall life as did some of the Painims to liue honestlie and vprightlie with men but let vs haue in greatest price and estimation the honour of GOD and let vs beginne first of all at this point Nowe againe there are some which would seeme verie deuoute towardes GOD as hauing some great zeale to serue and honour him but when they bee conuersant with men they fall to pilling and spoiling and beating of them they are full of crueltie of enuie malice But let vs note that GOD hath not separated the two tables of the lawe hee hath made a distinction of them but hee hath not giuen to some the first table of the lawe and to others the seconde table He hath said Behold my lawe and that which I haue ioyned together must not bee seuered but must remaine vnseparable It is true that you ought to bee warned to followe that charitie which you owe to your neighbours but yet when you haue discharged your dutie in one point you must conforme your selues vnto the other and you must not retchlesly neglect to walke in all equitie and vprightnesse when you shall haue shewed some great deuotion of honouring and seruing of me There are also manie which will serue God but how As there owne blinde deuotion shall teach them as doe the Papists But God meant to bridle vs herein when he gaue vnto vs the first table of his lawe that we might learne to serue him as he commandeth and that we accept of nothing as good which he approueth and liketh not See then wherevnto this apperteineth which is said That God wrote his law in two tables of stone to the end it might remaine and continue For it hath not bene giuen to remaine for a certeine time it is not transitorie I graunt that the ceremonies haue an end as this is a reason why the law is called temporall for as much as this order which had bene established among the auncient people to endure vntill the comming of our Lorde Iesus Christ was then taken away and abolished and the things were perfect so that we are no longer vnder these figures and shadowes of the law which serued for that time But the truth and substance of the law was not to remain for one age but it is a thing which endureth and shall neuer ceasse or haue end Let vs therefore learne that God in such sort published his will when the people came out of the lande of Egypt that he so spake in the mount of Sinai that withall he deliuered vnto vs there an order which we should obserue and so prouidedst that his doctrine should alwayes haue his full force and vigor And for this cause he hath written his lawe in two tables of stone He hath not written it in barke as at that time the maner was or as we might now say in paper or in parchment but he would that it should be engrauen in stone that there might be a memoriall thereof to endure to the end we should be confirmed in this which he hath spoken For he was not contented to haue spoken for one time but hauing engrauen his lawe in stone he would we should haue attentiue eares to receiue it all the time of our life Now withall let vs note that it is true that it serued to no great purpose that the law of God should be ingrauen in stones If this were all what is then further required We must know that the doctrine of God proposed vnto vs is indeed necessarie and profitable for vs but yet that it should serue vs to small purpose except God should adde therevnto a second grace namely that this which hee hath pronounced should be imprinted in our hearts and inwarde partes Therefore as God with his finger that is by his diuine power hath written his law in two stones so must he now by his holie spirite write it in our heartes which are of stone full of hardnesse as the Prophet declareth when hee saith That God shall giue vs heartes of flesh which shall bee loft pliable and apt to be taught and to receiue whatsoeuer he shall commaund vs So then seeing God hath visiblie declared that it is he which must write
the lawe to haue it well knowne and vnderstoode let vs make our request that it will please him by the vertue and power of his holie spirite to write it at this day in vs that wee may holde it within vs and that howe soeuer the diuell labour herein hee may neuer wipe it out of our remembraunce Nowe withall Moses concludeth that the lawe was deliuered vnto him to conserue and to keepe it and to bee also the minister and dispenser of it to the people that he might bee acknowledged of them for a Prophet for otherwise he could not haue executed his office he could not haue edified the Church of GOD except men had knowne that this charge was committed vnto him As at this time if wee were not persuaded that GOD would that his Gospell should be preached by the mouth of men that there should be pastours in the Church to carrie abrode his word which of vs would daine or vouchsafe to heare a minister I am not nor ante creature beside of such dignitie as that I might persuade the worlde to receiue what I say But when I speake here in the name of God that men hearken to his doctrine to rule and order them selues thereto and to doe him homage beholde this is of more force than all the lawes than all the statutes than all the edictes of Kings and Emperours Hath a mortall man done this No. But when we knowe that God would that this policie and rule of order should be in his Church and that men should inuiolablie obserue it that is that there be Pastours which may beare his word abrode which may be expounders of it which may be as his messengers to announce and declare the remission of sinnes in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ which may reprehend which may reproue which may comfort and exhort when I say we vnderstand that God would such a regiment should be in his Church then are we ashamed to resist and withstand him which hath formed and created vs Loe why Moses in this place saith that God deliuered him the lawe It is true that God deliuered it to all the people in generall as we haue said Why then is Moses now the onelie possessor of it It seemeth that God would depriue the whole world of it and that Moses onely were priuileged therein as if the lawe were written for him and all other as it were excluded and shut out from it But this is nothing so And yet albeit the lawe was giuen for the whole people Moses is appointed the garder and protectour of it And this which God hath pronounced of him we must extend further as we see the Prophetes were appointed in the selfe same charge namely that they were as stewardes and dispensers of the treasure of saluation of this couenaunt of God and that this office was giuen vnto them alwayes to declare the will of GOD and to preach it vnto vs in his name And this is the generall rule which Saint Paule hath deliuered That men ought to esteeme vs as the ministers of God and dispensers of the secretes which hee hath sent the world Now when Saint Paule saith That we are disposers of the secretes of GOD he sheweth hereby that it is not ynough that we haue the holie Scripture that euerie one reade it in his house but it is further required that it be preached vnto vs that we reteine among vs this order to be taught by the mouth of men that there be pastours and teachers whose ministerie God vseth to the end that when we shall heare them we may profite more and more in the doctrine of saluation And this is the cause why Saint Paule in an other place saith That the Church is the piller of truth and as it were the safegard and towre thereof The Papists alledge this verie foolishly to yeeld vnto themselues a licentious libertie of making new articles of faith and of establishing lawes after their owne fansie for Saint Paule hath vnderstood the cleane contrarie He saith therfore That the Church is the piller and sure prop of the truth of God because that when GOD published his trueth vnto men by the lawe by the Prophetes and the Apostles hee would that this ministerie shoulde indure and bee perpetuall that is that there shoulde bee some deputed and appointed to this office and charge to expounde his worde to edifie the Churche in this sort Let vs therefore knowe that it is by meanes of the Churche that the trueth remaineth in his perfect and entire estate For when GOD raiseth vp men which are indued with his spirite to confirme vs in the faith to enlighten vs and to shewe vs the right way Loe how the truth of God remaineth vnto the worlde how it is not extinguished howe it perisheth not Let vs then note that Moses meant not here to make himselfe the onelie possessour of the lawe to exclude the people from it and to shut them out of doores but hee speaketh as thus vnto them Welbeloued it is verie true that the lawe is common vnto vs all wee are all the children of God I challenge nothing vnto my selfe aboue you yet for all this if I will discharge my dutie in the office wherein God hath appointed mee I must be a faithfull expositor of the lawe to you I must be the keeper of it that you tread it not vnder foote I must put you in mind of it euerie day that you neuer forget it Seeing then it is so let all them which are here appointed ministers of the worde of God take heede they be prest and readie to serue and minister vnto the ignorant and let all consider that it is not ynough to read the holie Scripture but we must be diligent to profite therein and to come with all humilitie to heare them which are ordeined ministers of the worde to deliuer vnto vs the meaning and vnderstanding thereof Thus ye see whereto this text is to be referred Nowe let vs cast our selues downe before the maiestie of our good God with acknowledgement of our faultes praying him to make vs feele them better than we haue done and to lead vs to such a repentance that we desire onely to serue and please him without seeking after anie thing of our owne And because we are so giuen to the things of this world pray we him the sooner to drawe vs hence and in the meane while to giue vs his grace to order our life to his will and to conforme it to his iustice And for the doing hereof pray we him that his word may beare such rule ouer vs that we be gouerned by it and conforme our whole life thereto vntill that being despoiled of all our carnall affections wee be clothed with his heauenlie glorie when we shall haue neede neither of scripture nor of preaching That it will please him to graunt this grace not onelie to vs but vnto all people and nations of the earth
them downe to the bottomlesse pitte of hell If I pronounce this sentence there is not one may bee able to replie against mee for all are vtterly lost and condemned Beholde the language and speache of the lawe beholde the style which God vseth and now must not all needes tremble hereat It is not then without great cause said That the law fraieth vs and if withall it should please God seuerelie to require of vs that which wee owe him we must all needes perish and be confounded Now in the Gospell there is no such thing for there GOD beareth with vs and not onelie pardoneth vs our faultes but he writeth also his will in our heartes Moreouer albeit wee serue him but by halfes yet hee pardoneth vs our default and as I may saie winketh and closeth his eyes when wee are halting in our duetie And as a father dealeth not ouer streightlie and preciselie with his childe to oppresse him so God in his Gospell vleth a fatherlie gentlenesse towards vs that we should not feare to come vnto him And this is the cause why the Apostle in the epistle to the Hebrewes saith That we are not come to this mount which smoketh that wee are not come to Sinai to see the bruning fire which might astonnish vs to see the lightenings and all those other thinges which were to amaze and confound the people but that we heare a sweete and pleasaunt melodie by the which we are accompanied of the angels of heauen with the soules of the holy Patriarches and of the fathers which liued in the hope of eternall life although they had yet nothing but obscure shadowes that God now coupleth ioyneth vs with them which in olde time haue waited for the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ Seeing it is so we must not drawe backe but euerie one must set himselfe forwarde to come with a bolde courage to heare our GOD forasmuch as hee speaketh so gentlie and louinglie vnto vs and vseth so fatherlie a speache as which serueth not to feare and amaze his children but sweetelie to entise them and to winne their heartes vnto him This difference therefore is worthie to bee noted that in comparison of the lawe the Gospell may seeme sweete and amiable vnto vs But for all this wee must returne to this generall principle namelie that it is much better that the worde of GOD bee preached vnto vs by the mouth of men than if GOD him selfe should thunder from heauen And why For heare wee onely this naturall thunder and behold wee are taken with a great astonishment and yet here is nothing expressed God only maketh a noise with a confused and vnperfect sounde What should bee then when he should speake vnto vs and when he should shewe vs his glorie Wee can not looke on the Sunne which his a corruptible creature and how then shall wee bee able to behold the maiestie of GOD if it were fullie shewed vs and in his perfection And therefore it is said that a mortall creature can not see GOD and liue can not behold his glorie and not bee vtterlie confounded I graunt that GOD appeared vnto Moses and that not in such sort only as to other of the Prophetes as it is said in the booke of Numbers That he gaue him this speciall priuiledge to be seene of him face to face euen plainelie as of his friend that he appeared not vnto him either by dreame or by vision onelie but after such an especiall manner that Moses seemed to bee exempted from the companie of men to bee made more familiar vnto god But what euer bee said hereof yet God manifested him selfe vnto him in portion and measure For if he had shewed him his infinite being Moses must haue needes what grace soeuer he had receiued of the holie spirite bene ouerwhelmed therewith and vtterlie confounded Yea when at one time beeing yet among the liuing GOD shewed him his glorie in more ample and plaine manner than euer hee had done yet sawe he him not but as it were by the backe and hinder partes In this similitude it is declared vnto vs that as in beholding a man in the backe wee haue not the plainest sight of him for the plainest sight of a man and the principall view is in the face so albeit Moses had an especiall familiaritie with GOD yet this notwithstanding in this souereigne and principall vision which was giuen him in the mount then when he was separated from the condition of this mortall and transitorie life when he was as an angel of heauen yet he sawe GOD but in part as when wee see a man by the backe So let vs learne to content our selues when GOD vseth this order towardes vs namelie that his woord bee preached vnto vs by men and let vs so receiue it at their mouth as if wee sawe his maiestie face to face For it is profitable for vs to haue pastours which be appointed for ministers of the word forasmuch as we could but perish and be brought to nothing by the appearaunce of the glorie of God if it should bee manifested vnto vs And to the end that none might take any occasion to complaine as if the woorde of GOD were not sufficientlie approued and that men might not doubt whether they ought to hold them selues vnto it or no in publishing his lawe he shewed himselfe And we haue here the testimonie of the people which say It is the Lorde he hath made vs this day to feele his glorie and greatnesse wee haue seene that it is he which speaketh he hath interposed none to be his spokesman vnto vs but wee haue hearde his voice with our eares This then hath bene done for once Withall let vs take this which is here recited for a testimonie and witnesse that Moses spake not of him selfe that he hath not forged and deuised of his owne braine the doctrine wee hold of him but that he hath bene a faithfull steward of GOD who aduowed and approued him and not onely ratified and confirmed by miracles this whiche Moses taught but in his owne person declared that it was he who was the authour of all this doctrine Nowe forasmuch as by great reason the Gospell should bee as authentike and aswell authorized as the lawe wee haue had also a witnesse from heauen that this is no humane doctrine but that it proceedeth from god And this is that which S. Peter toucheth in his second canonicall Epistle saying That he and his companions heard the voice from heauen by the which the father declared his sonne to be the souereigne maister and doctour of his whole Church Behold my welbeloued sonne heare him Therefore when this voice thundered from heauen GOD declared that wee ought not to take the Gospell for a doctrine bredde and borne here beeneath but that wee should alwayes haue this maiestie before our eyes As at this time if wee will bee true disciples of GOD when wee come vnto the sermon
wee must call to minde this whiche Moses reciteth That the Lawe was published in such sort that it was God himselfe which spake and pronounced it And againe we must adioyne in the seconde place the witnesse wee haue alledged that this sentence of God resound and ring again in our eares when he hath pronounced That our Lord Iesus Christ is he whom he will haue men to heare Loe an authentike and sure seale wee haue that the woorde of God albeit it bee brought vnto vs by mortall men should be of full and perfect authoritie with vs as it deserueth And to the end that men should not thinke that Iesus Christ onely ought to bee hearde in his owne person he saith He that heareth you heareth me and he which refuseth or despiseth you he refuseth both me and him which hath sent mee Indeede the Pope and his sacrilegious adherentes vsurpe this sentence for to establishe their tyrannie but it appereteineth asmuch to them as to the diuell of hell And why For they should first of all bring vs the pure doctrine of our Lord Iesus Christ seeing the sonne of GOD hath not so resigned his office vnto men as to despoile himselfe thereof he will not haue vs gouerned after the appetite and lust of men but he will alwayes haue that preeminence ouer vs and that rule and empire which hath bene committed into his handes So then when it is said That in hearing of them whom he hath sent wee heare him it is meant that if wee obey the doctrine of his Gospell not despising it when it is published vnto vs by men it is asmuch as if he spake vnto vs admonishing vs hereby that wee stay not our selues on the outward appearaunce wee behold with our eyes And this is that which Saint Paule saith That albeit wee bee brittle bessels yea broken pottes of no value yet this inestimable treasure which is committed vnto vs is not therefore of lesse price and estimation neither ought the dignitie worthinesse of it for this cause bee diminished True it is that we are not able to procure vnto the word of God such a reuerence as gladlie wee would and desire And why For there is in vs nothing nothing I say of our owne whiche may make for the aduancing of the glorie of GOD and yet for all this wee must make proofe of our obedience in this behalfe that is that wee beare abroade the worde of GOD with such great confidence and boldnesse as knowing that he hath made vs his Embassadours to declare his will and withall let vs beware wee correct all hautinesse and presumption herein As for those vnto whom wee come let them receiue in all simplicitie the doctrine of the Gospell and let them not dispute why and wherefore they are bound to subiect them selues vnto mortall men For seeing that men shoulde despise and set at naught the sonne of GOD yea the heauenlie father which hath ordeined him souereigne doctor except they heare him whom he hath sent for his messengers it behoueth vs with all diligence to bee ruled and ordered herevnto So then let vs learne to stoope our necke to beare the yoke of the sonne of GOD receuing the doctrine of the Gospell in all humilitie although it bee preached vnto vs by men And as I haue alreadie said let vs diligentlie consider the ratification it hath which ought to suffice vs to knowe that the Gospell hath bene brought from GOD himselfe seeing it hath bene warranted and ratified from heauen when GOD with his owne mouth pronounced that he would that men should heare his sonne Yee see in effect what we haue to beare in minde vppon this place And therefore let vs followe them of whom mention is here made namelie that wee desire not that GOD for our pleasure descend from heauen but when it shall please him otherwise to communicate his woord vnto vs let vs be therewith sufficientlie contented Now it might seeme at the first sight that there were in this place some contrarietie For the people say Wee haue seene this day how God speaketh vnto men and yet they liue And afterward Wee shall die if God speake vnto vs For it seemeth that if wee haue once had experience that God confoundeth vs not when he speaketh that this ought to make vs more bold and hardie And why For seeing wee are remaining aliue albeit wee haue heard the voice of God when hee hath done this for once why shall he not doe it twice or thrice And here the people say Wee haue hearde the voice of God but if he speake againe vnto vs behold wee die wee are vndone wee perishe It seemeth that they trusted not to the bountie and goodnesse of GOD and that they were also verie vnthankefull for not acknowledging and remembring the benefite which GOD bestowed on them when he left vnto them their full vigor and strength But wee must note that the people hereby declareth that they will not tempte GOD any further that it sufficeth them once to haue knowen that the lawe was not a thing forged and feigned by men but that GOD was the onely authour thereof This sentence therefore ought thus to bee taken as if they had said Wee haue this day seene that GOD speaketh vnto men and they yet continue aliue this is sufficient for vs wee must take heede wee abuse not the patience of god He hath spared vs this day but wee must not herevpon conclude that he will alwayes doe so he hath tried vs in this sorte for one time euen because of our malice our stubbornnesse and hardnesse of heart For were wee worthie vnto whom he should in this wise appeare in his glorie But he knewe that wee would not bee sufficientlie daunted and tamed to bee ordered to his obedience except he should come vnto vs in his visible glorie and should amaze vs with such feare as to confound vs So then if he should not haue wonne vs by such force he knewe well wee would haue still continued as wilde and sauage beastes But seeing it hath pleased him of his goodnesse to pardon vs the fault and offence wee haue committed and that at this day he beareth mercifully with vs let vs not returne to tempt his patience any more For this should bee too great an outrage this should bee to mocke his gentlenesse and to make a scorne of his patience So then this testimonie sufficeth vs both for our life and for the life of our children for euer vnto all posterities euen to the end of the world Wherefore let them which shall come after vs knowe that they must not enter into this fond and foolish desire to wish to drawe God vnto them out of the heauens as if it were conuenient he should bee our fellowe mate and companion Ye see then how the â— two places agree verie well together Now here wee haue to note that albeit the worde of God bee of that force and power
as to destroy and bring vs to nothing that he yet vseth such mercie towardes vs that it is vnto vs to life in steede of consuming and destroying vs And when I say that the worde of God is of such force as to consume vs to nothing I vnderstand not onelie the worde as it is here described by Moses but if the Lord would make vs feele the vertue and power of his worde albeit it should be preached vnto vs by men yet shoulde it serue vtterly to confound vs But now wee see that the Lorde quickeneth vs when he speaketh vnto vs and especially at this day when the Gospell is preached vnto vs for this which is spoken by Saint Iohn is euerie day accomplished namelie That all those which heare the worde of the sonne of man are restored to life For by nature wee are aliantes from GOD wee are exiled and banished his kingdome wee are dead and as it were enâ—umbed in some graue or sepulchre and loe our Lorde Iesus Christ profeteth vnto vs the remission and forgiuenesse of our sinnes God his father adopteth vs for his children Beholde then the manifestation of saluation which is opened vnto vs and wee are thereby quickened and restored vnto life by the meanes of the Gospell And for this wee haue wonderfull great cause to praise and glorifie our GOD for that he maketh his worde to serue for to restore vs vnto life and to deliuer vs from death whereas his worde is of such force and vertue as vtterlie to consume vs if he of his mercie did not turne it to worke a cleane contrarie effect in vs. Now withall let vs diligentlie note that if our Lord hath once bestowed on vs more than we any way deserue wee must not therefore take leaue and licence hereby to tempt him and to desire alwayes to rule him after our owne lustes and appetites As wee see at this day the Papists will excuse themselues for not receiuing the Gospell because they see no miracles done in our time Yea but let them answere me wherevnto the miracles which our Lorde Iesus Christ hath done and which hee committed to his Apostles serued Ought these to serue nothing to our profite and commoditie Behold then what admirable vertue and power GOD hath declared at the beginning of the Gospell The heauen and the earth were then moued there was no parte in the worlde wherein GOD imprinted not some worke or signe of his maiestie that the Gospell might be authorized Beholde the Angels which descended at the birth of our Lorde Iesus Christ to beare witnesse vnto him beholde the Sunne which was darkened at his death behold the vaile of the temple which was rent in two pieces to shew that the holy Sanctuarie was opened and that freer and bolder accesse was graunted vnto GOD than euer before The raging and tempestuous Sea is appeased the diuels themselues do homage to the glorie of GOD being present Brieflie both by signes and wonders aboue and beneath God hath declared that the Gospell proceeded from him as wee haue alreadie shewed So many maladies sicknesses healed so great warres appeased so many other signes and wonders which were shewed were not to serue for one time onelie but at this daie the memorie of them ought to remaine and wee must receiue this witnesse for a seale of our faith that wee doubt not but that the dignitie of the Gospell ought to bee as great at this day and that the authoritie thereof is as well nowe ratified and confirmed as it was then when Christ wrought his miracles And yet for all this we see manie of the vncredulous and vnbeleeuing sorte which alledge that if they did see any miracles they should be conuerted But it is certeine if they were now presently shewed they would still remaine in their obstinacie and stubbornesse take thereby an occasion of further enuenoming and impoisoning themselues against god What remaineth then for vs to doe We must learne as I haue said to content our selues with that which GOD hath once done If GOD hath giuen vs more than hee owed vs let vs receiue it and with geuing of thankes let vs learne not to prouoke his wrath and anger against vs by an ouer presumptuous tempting of his patience Beholde then what wee haue to beare in minde in this place when the people saith Let the Lorde speake vnto vs no more for it sufficeth vs that were haue hearde his voice and yet haue bene permitted of him to liue And that this wee haue aboue declared may bee more certeinlie confirmed vnto vs let vs beare in minde that which is here said What fleshe hath hearde the voice of the liuing GOD and liueth For by these wordes in this place it is plainelie shewed that the people of Israel spake not in their owne name but euen in the behalfe of all mankinde They saie not onelie What are all we to heare GOD speake but What is all flesh And in verie deede as I haue touched in the beginning it cannot bee but men are either staring madde or starke dronken when they cannot humble themselues for there needed no other thing for them to doe but to respect their owne estate and condition to saie What are wee There is nothing neither in our bodies nor in our soules but frailtie We are not now remaining in our nature wherein wee were first created but beeing fallen therefrom into that estate wee nowe are in what are wee but as a water which glideth away as a smoke which passeth and vanisheth on a soudeine And which worse is wee are enimies of GOD and hee must needes bee our aduersarie partie forasmuch as there is nothing in vs to be found but sinne and wickednesse Therefore when we be entised and tickled with such foolish and vaine lustes and desires as to wishe that GOD would do miracles that we might heare the angels of heauen let vs returne to thinke on this which is here said and what is all flesh Let vs I say enter into this consideration to bethinke our selues what wee are and our owne small abilitie shall sufficiently aduise and aduertise vs to geue praise and thankes vnto God that he maketh vs not feele his presence to consume vtterlie to confound vs but with an amiable mildenesse and gentlenesse allureth vs to himselfe when we heare men like our selues and our brethren which speake vnto vs in his person And let vs further note that when the people of Israel say What people hath heard the voice of the liuing God and remained aliue as wee It is to shewe vnto vs that God would not that this should bee drawen into consequence for vs to conclude any thing thereon And therefore let vs not alledge this to say And why speaketh not God at this day vnto vs after a visible manner as he hath done to his people in the mount It pleased him then so to doe but wee must not impose him a lawe or thinke to binde
him to continue to doe that which he hath done for one time onelie So as I haue saide let vs not abuse the graces of God as despitefully to question against him in this sorte And seeing God hath done this at other times why will he not doe the like at this day When men lift themselues vp in this manner against God beholde what a diuelish presumption and ouerweening is in them Let vs then honour our God so farre as to graunt him this libertie to manifest and declare himselfe vnto vs in such sorte as it shall please him and as he shal know it expedient necessarie for vs Let vs not binde him by constraint to any necessitie for that it shall haue pleased him for one time to vse some especiall grace let vs not desire him to doe the same againe but content we our selues simplie with his wil whervnto we must alwayes be subiect In the end it is said Go thou neere vnto God and heare all which he shall say vnto thee and declare thou it vnto vs and we will heare it and do it We see here in the first place how the people desire that Moses should bee the messenger to bring them whatsoeuer he shall haue receiued from god And this is written for our instruction that euerie one submit himselfe to the policie and rule of order which God hath established in his church For as I haue alreadie said hee will speake vnto vs by the mouth of men that is the onelie purpose why hee would there should bee ministers This order is not inuented by men but our Lord Iesus Christ hath declared that hee would haue such a regiment in his church Ye see then an inuiolable order and which proceedeth from GOD who will haue Pastours in his church to announce and declare his doctrine which wee must receiue to our saluation Seeing it is so let none oppose himselfe against it but let vs patiently beare it that God raise vp them amongst vs by whom he will be serued to bring vnto vs the embassage of saluation And let vs not murmur at this that euerie one of vs hath not such a priuiledge for hee will that his bodie that is his church bee so gouerned Ye see then what wee haue to gather vppon this place namelie that sithence GOD hath appointed ministers of his worde wee heare them quietlie and contentiuelie that there bee no enuying or malicing for this if all be not Doctors and teachers and that GOD appoint not euerie one vnto this office For wee must bee ordered according to his good pleasure as we haue alreadie said Behold one note to bee obserued But withall let vs also note vnder what condition wee must haue and receiue Pastours For this place is to discerne betweene sâ—ductors and deceiuers which falslie abuse the name of GOD and attribute vnto themselues the title of Prelates without time or reason and betwene the true Prophets and good seruitours of God and ministers of the Gospell The Pope and all his pestilent vermine will say that men must heare them and receiue their doctrine without any contradiction And why For God would there should bee Prelates in the church and will that men heare and obey them All this is true But in the meane while is this title geuen indifferentlie vnto all and without discretion No. But God hath withall adioined that he will be chiefe that we be subiect vnto him and not in the seruitude of men Seeing then it is so wee must knowe what Prelates and what Doctors God sendeth vs as we are directed by this place namelie such as heare what God shall say vnto them and then deliuer it faithfullie to the people So they which would be heard in the name of GOD and that men receiue their doctrine in all reuerence let them bee tâ—e first to heare God let them not attempt to adde any thing vnto the word of God but let then be tractable and easie to be taught of God and when they shall haue bene instructed by God let them dispense vnto others that which they haue receiued from god For none are to be accounted good ministers of the woord of God but such as haue first beene his scholers and which vsurpe not a maistershippe ouer others to bring vnto them whatsoeuer shall seeme good to them selues And wee must not here be to wise for God reserueth vnto himselfe this office to declare that vnto vs which he will haue vs to knowe It is not here simplie said Heare that which God shall say vnto thee and then come and tell it vs but it is said All that which God shall say to thee so that there is no point nor article which may be omitted in such sort that Moses is here put beside all libertie of presuming to declare any thing but that which God appointeth and commaundeth him to declare And now what are these filthes of the world whiche will dare aduaunce themselues aboue Moses Wee shall in the ende see that there neuer was any Prophet raised with so singular a grace as was Moses And in verie deede albeit wee see an admirable spirite in Esaie and in all the rest of the Prophetes yet is Moses notwithstanding preferred before them all when it is said Remember the lawe of Moses my seruant which was giuen him in Horeb. And behold Malachie which speaketh after all the rest of the Prophetes and referreth all vnto Moses as if hee were the principall Doctor and Teacher as if the lawe were the fountaine wherehence all must drawe Now sithence it is so that Moses who hath in this sort bene preferred to whom God gaue so excellent a dignitie if he all this notwithstanding must not enterprise to declare any thing of his owne but what he hath heard of God that must he faithfullie dispense vnto the people is it not now a diuelish arrogancie of lewde villaines to presume to say that it is in them to impose and make lawes for the consciences of men and to binde them vnder the paine of mortall and deadlie sinne Is not this too barbarous a tyrannie So then let vs hold this meane that we fal not into two vicious wicked extremes namelie that seing God would gouerne his church by the exteriour preaching of his worde let euerie one rule and order himselfe thereto let vs be diligent to heare sermons and let this policie and rule of order be inuiolablie kept as a thing sacred and hallowed namelie to be taught by the mouth of mortal men And in the meane time notwithstanding let not men haue this authoritie to bring vnto vs what them listeth but let them be faithfull stewards and dispensers of the worde of god And that we may alwayes protest that our faith is grounded on the will of God let vs not depende on the wisedome of men but let our Lord so hold vs vnder his obedience that wee may say It is he whom we heare from heauen albeit he vse the
euerie one desireth to bee at his ease and in prosperitie wee neede not to bee taught to wishe this vnto our selues for our nature leadeth vs herevnto but for all this it seemeth that wee haue conspired our owne miserie and wretchednes For the meane to prosper is this that we be obedient vnto God and then he shall blesse vs in such for that we shall feele the fruites thereof in all things But what We will not yeeld him the obedience which is due vnto him and therefore we must needes bee depriued of his blessing hee must needes reiect and refuse vs as if we were not worthie to bee in the number of his creatures And so let vs note that God would in this place reproue men and shew them that they are themselues the cause of all the miserie and wretchednesse they suffer in this worlde and that they must attribute it to their sinne and wickednesse But hee would moreouer withall allure his vnto himselfe when he setteth before them a reward as if he said Go to there is great cause why I should be serued of you I deserue it full well at your hands though you haue small regard of me for seeing that you are my creatures is it not good reason that you be my subiectes and render all obedience vnto me Ought you not for the whole time of your life to bee giuen ouer vnto me But yet I will not request you to serue me for gramercie I will for beare mine owne right in this behalfe so that whereas ye are bound to doe all that I commande you without looking or hoping for anie thing loe I yet tell you that I am at hand to blesse you to make you prosper when you shall serue me When our Lord speaketh thus he sheweth that he will in most louing and amiable wise winne his vnto himselfe that he will as it were break their heart that they might be the better affectionated more willingly disposed to serue and please him seeing that hee commeth not vnto them with such rigour and seueritie as he might but yeelding of the right which apperteineth vnto him chooseth rather to execute the office of a Father saying That if we will be his children hee will be a liberall and bountifull Father towardes vs and albeit he oweth vs nothing of duetie yet will he bestowe a rewarde on vs for the seruice which wee shall haue done him Nowe hereby we are admonished that it pleaseth GOD by so great gentlenesse and liberalitie to allure and winne vs vnto himselfe But we must not herevpon inferre that men may merite and deserue any thing by seruing of god As the Papists when they heare such places they runne to their merites and it seemeth vnto them that GOD is further bounde and beholding vnto them than hee hath promised But God contrariwise meaneth to shewe vs that he is readie to applie himselfe to vs and to the fashion of men that he desireth nothing else but to winne vs by all gentlenesse vnto his obedience And this is not for anie profite that he receiueth thereby as in verie deede what profite shall he receiue when wee shall haue accomplished his whole lawe Is this anie way to his gaine and aduantage No. But it maketh for our saluation Ye see then what the intent and purpose of God is what we haue to note vpon this sentence So let vs learne that when we shall haue obeyed our God if he make vs to prosper that this is not for that he oweth vs anie thing and that wee haue deserued it and that wee may vaunt that he giueth vs no more than we deserue but it pleaseth him to display and lay open his bountifull goodnesse towardes vs euen to call that a rewarde and recompense which he of his mere and free liberalitie giueth vs without being therefore bounde and indebted vnto vs Moreouer when hee chastiseth vs and that we are subiect to so manie miseries let vs knowe that wee doe but gather in the fruites of our owne seede Because wee haue ledde an euill life our Lorde must needes shew some signe and taken of his anger that it may bee knowne hee is Iudge of the worlde But hee hath also as well a regarde vnto our profite that is that we might be sorie for our faultes and bee in displeasure with our selues for them and that we should haue our recourse vnto him in true and vnfeigned repentaunce Loe howe GOD when hee sheweth his anger towardes vs ceaseth not to declare his loue for hee seeketh to winne vs vnto himselfe Hee seeth that we are brought asleepe in our sinnes and hee awaketh vs knowing that it is expedient and necessarie that he shoulde so doe Thus we see what we haue to note vpon this place Now in the end Moses speaketh of the lande they were to possesse and saieth That thou maiest prosper in the lande whiche I shall giue thee And againe for the second time he placeth this sentence That it may be well with you in the land which you shall possesse Nowe it seemeth at the first sight that God promiseth no other reward than in this earthlie and transitorie life If it were so the hope of the people of Israel had bene cleane beaten downe But let vs note that our Lorde hath vsed towards this people an other meane than with vs albeit it tendeth to the same end for the sacrifices which were ordeined in the lawe were not to withdrawe the people from the saluation which wee haue in Iesus Christ but they serued rather that GOD might signifie that men are condemned that they haue no other meane to be reconciled vnto him than this which they haue by our Lorde Iesus Christ Nowe for all this men ceassed not to kill brute beastes for their offerings and GOD said Your sinnes shall be pardoned when you shall haue killed for mee a calfe a lambe or a sheepe It seemed them that God would appoint the remission of sinnes by these sacrifices of brute beastes but he did not This was to conduct the people after such a grosse manner to the redemption which in the end was obteined vs in the person of our Lorde Iesus Christ As much was signified by the land of Chanaan God therein would from the beginning propose the eternall inheritance of saluation vnto the children of Abraham in saying to Abraham I am thy exceeding great reward He promiseth not the land to Abraham therein to rest himselfe but he will that Abraham putte his whole trust and affiaunce in him that hee raise and lift vp his hope aboue all the world that he waite for euerlasting life for himselfe and for his whole race But it was expedient because our Lorde Iesus Christ was not yet appeared because the vaile of the Temple was not yet broken it was I say expedient and needefull that this lande of Chanaan shoulde bee as it were a pledge thereof because this was fullie promised him for
and title of the seruice of god But shall one finde that God euer sounded one woord or syllable hereof No all this hath bene deuised by men Let vs now consider by this place whether God accepteth such a seruice as good and lawfull nay contrariwise he saith That thou feare the Lord thy God that thou obserue all his commaundements But when men turne themselues aside from such a way and followe their owne fantasies and whatsoeuer shall haue bene forged by men they sufficientlie declare that there is no feare of GOD in them for otherwise they would offer vnto him the sacrifice which he aboue all other preferreth namelie obedience as hereof it is entreated in the first booke of Samuel the fifteenth Chapter That if men hearken not vnto the voyce of God to subiect them selues thereto but contrariwise followe that which shall haue bene inuented in their owne braine or forged and deuised by men it is as idolatrie yea as the sinne of witchcraft which is detestable in the sight of god Behold how theholie Ghost speaketh hereof although mortall men are of a cleane contrarie iudgement Now therefore we see how Moses hath here declared that when we shall vnfeignedlie and in deede feare God we will doe him this honour to be gouerned according vnto his will wee will not graunt men this leaue to leade and conduct vs whither it seemeth them good but when GOD shall speake we will knowe that euerie mouth must be stopped that our eares must be opened to heare and to receiue whatsoeuer he shall say vnto vs But yet it sufficeth not that euerie one for his owne part onelie employ him selfe to serue and honour God but we must procure and endeuour as much as in vs lieth that he be adored and worshipped of the whole world yea we must labour that his seruice may endure and continue after our death that the name of GOD liue not and die with vs when wee shall be taken out of the world but that it remaine and abide vnto all posteritie And loe what is the cause why Moses saith Their children and those which shall issue from their race shall continue to serue God and too bserue his lawe Let vs therefore diligentlie note that Moses in this place not onelie exhorteth euerie one for his owne time to serue and obey GOD by conforming his life vnto the lawe whiche hee hath deliuered but he will that fathers bestowe all their paines to instruct their children that we may leaue such a seede after vs if it be possible as that God be worshipped of our posteritie that his name be alwayes purelie and sincerelie called vpon that by this meane they which shal be descended from our loynes may be blessed and that the couenant of God wherein our saluation is conteined endure for euer and neuer perish albeit we are mertall and of small continuance But we are so farre from discharging our dutie in this doctrine that we may see fathers giue such examples vnto their children that it seemeth they haue conspired to abolish and to take cleane away the feare of God and the whole obseruation of his lawe We ought not therefore to maruell if GOD also withdrawe him selfe from vs and that it seemeth that hee will cut off quite all the benefites and blessinges which hee had bestowed on vs For are we worthie vnto whom he should continue them seeing we are so retchlesse and negligent to procure that his seruice and worship may continue in his entire and perfect estate And yet this should serue vs to so good a purpose as I haue said that it be not spoken in vaine Let vs therefore labour with all our might to teach those which shall come after vs in such sorte that the worship of GOD and his seruice may continue for euer and that men alwayes knowe and acknowledge him for the Father and Sauiour of all the worlde and giue themselues ouer fullie and wholie vnto him Withall Moses hath adioyned that whereof he had before spoken that this is To the end that their dayes may bee prolonged and that GOD may make the people to prosper according to the promise which hee made vnto their fathers that he would geue them a land flowing with milke honie We haue alreadie expounded what Moses hath vnderstood by this worde namelie that God albeit by one word he may constraine vs to serue him notwithstanding vseth towardes vs a most milde and amiable manner to winne vs to himselfe when he promiseth vs a reward when wee shall haue serued him not that our woorkes deserue any thing or that he is any thing at all bound vnto vs But when he gratifieth vs so and is in such wise beneficiall towards vs it is to this end that wee may bee so much the more liuelie touched that we may serue him with a more ardent zeale desire For shall wee not bee ouer wicked and vnthankfull when wee heare that God of his owne good will bindeth him selfe vnto vs and that he will propose vnto vs a reward and recompense shall wee not I say bee ouer wicked and vnthankfull if wee applie not our selues wholie vnto his seruice We are his and whatsoeuer we are able to doe we owe vnto him as our Lord Iesus Christ speaketh plainlie hereof Who are you saith he I demande of you when a man shall haue a seruant yea a slaue whom he shall burden and presse as an oxe or an horse whether if this slaue haue done him any seruice he will rise from the table to serue him when he returneth from his worke No for all that which the bondslaue doth he oweth of dutie to his maister and superiour So you owe all vnto God saith Iesus Christ he oweth you nothing But yet God of his owne free good will bindeth him selfe to promise vs if we serue him we shal be well recompensed and perceiue our labour paine shall not bee lost And for what end and purpose doth he this This is euen by gentlenesse to breake our heart For as I haue alreadie said wee are to to wicked if wee bee not altogether inflamed to serue GOD when wee see that it pleaseth him of his meere goodnesse to propose vnto vs a reward and to promise vs a recompense when wee are in no respect worthie thereof And withall let vs also note that when God shall haue passed a thousand contractes with vs to reward and recompense our woorkes it wanteth so much that wee may say he oweth vs any thing that he might rather accurse and detest vs For who is he among vs which obserueth the lawe as were requisite If wee obserue one article thereof wee faile in an hundred and when we thinke to fulfill that which God hath cōmanded vs in his lawe we falter therein wee traile our legges after vs there is alwayes such great imperfection and weakenesse in vs that wee can neuer runne in such wise as wee ought and
the worde of god Therfore when the God of Israel is called One God it is as much as if Moses did make comparison betweene the God which published his lawe as before he was manifested vnto his seruant Abraham and to the other Patriarchs would oppose him against all the gods which the world imagined As God in all times hath bene called vpon this name hath bene common among the Painims But what The Painims haue so wandered that albeit euery one hath saide I adore and worship God yet what was this but their owne dreames and fantasies For when men take vpon them to worshippe God when they haue no knowledge of him there is no doubt but they worshippe idols The Turkes at this day will say that they worship God Creator of the heauens and of the earth but this is but an idol which they worshippe And how so They name him Creator of the heauens and of the earth they haue no images It is true But yet haue they but an idol in stead of God because they will not receiue our Lorde Iesus Christ who is the liuelie image of God his Father And we knowe what Saint Iohn saieth that he which denieth the Sonne he denieth the Father Therefore they haue not God but an idol As much is to be saide of the Iewes The Iewes will brag much that they haue the law and that they worship the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Iacob but what They are Apostataes they haue renounced the lawe of God when they haue reiceted and refused Iesus Christ who is the soule of the lawe It is he by whom God the father will manifest and open himselfe vnto vs it is he in whom hee will be worshipped And againe he saieth Risse the Sonne whom I haue sent you And againe Who so honoureth not the Sonne the same honoureth not the Father which hath sent him Let vs therefore diligently note that Moses would in this place make comparison betweene the GOD which hath declared himselfe in his worde and all the gods which are renowned throughout the whole worlde shewing that all that is beside him is nothing but apishnesse and meere vanitie and lying And why For we cannot worship God aright except we haue first knowne him And wee must alwayes to this purpose remember that which Iesus Christ said vnto the woman of Samaria ye knowe not what ye worship When Iesus Christ vseth this word he doth as it were spit at all those seruices and worshippings which were then established There was no nation which vaunted not of seruing God and Iesus Christ reiecteth all that which men thought to be good and holie Ye knowe not saith he what ye worship Hee sheweth hereby that it is reqâ—isite and needefull there be made some manifest declaration of God we must not walke here at all aduentures but we must be assured what the God is whom wee serue and worship Now seeing God must be knowne of vs to be rightly serued and worshipped let vs consider whence this knowledge shall come and arise Shall it grow in our owne garden as we say Shall we obteine it by our owne labour and industrie Shall it bee lawfull for euerie one to thinke what shall seeme good vnto him to say I haue knowne God No no but GOD must declare and shew himselfe hee must approche and come neere vnto vs And so the onely meane to knowe GOD aright is this that wee bee taught and instructed in his woorde And loe why he saith The Lord thy god For this people had receiued the lawe and againe the couenaunt had bene made with their fathers GOD had separated this flocke from the rest of the whole worlde It is not then without cause that Moses here leadeth the people to the knowledge of God to the end they estraunge and keepe themselues from all the superstitions of the Painims that they haue nothing common with the vnfaithfull ones but that they know that wheras God hath manifested himselfe so familiarly vnto them they haue a most certeine and infallible truth Now if this hath bene saide of the time of the lawe it agreeth much better vnto vs For albeit God hath giuen a sufficient admonition vnto the Iewes that they bee not mingled among the pollusions of the Painims in their idolatries yet haue wee at this day a much more brighter clearenesse since the appearing of our Lorde Iesus Christ who is the liuelie image of GOD his Father as wee haue saide And wee may well agree vnto that which is written in the first of Saint Iohn None hath seene GOD at anie time but the Sonne which hath alwayes bene in the bosome of the Father hath reuealed him vnto vs The auncient Fathers haue had a knowledge as we haue said but this knowledge is accounted as none in respect of that which we haue at this day by the Gospel Since the Sunne of righteousnes shineth on vs behold God sheweth him selfe most familiar vnto vs And loe why the Prophet Esaie when he entreateth of the redemption which was to be made in the person of the sonne of God Behold him beholde him this is our GOD this is our Lord saieth he The Prophete crieth out This is this is our god He is not contented to say in one worde Beholde our GOD but hee speaketh as if the thing had bene present and that GOD should then appeare And howe is this said Was not God in the middest of his people For hee saide I will dwell in the middest of you And againe Beholde my rest Sion is the place of my habitation And againe he protesteth that hee will neuer depart thence that the people is his temple that they are his royall priesthoode Why then is it that the Prophet Esaie saieth Behold him behold him saith our God This is he this is he when our Lorde Iesus should come into the world This is because God reuealeth him selfe vnto vs in greater perfection There remaineth therefore lesse excuse for vs if wee at this day wander and holde not our selues to the pure trueth but that enerie one turne after his dreames to say It seemeth me so beholde what I finde to bee good Knowe we that all this is nothing that wee must returne to that certeintie of trueth which hath bene brought vnto vs by our Lorde Iesus Christ But the worlde is so farre from knowing of this that it seemeth all haue desired to despite and anger GOD that they haue deuised howe to turne their backe vnto him that they haue laboured to reiect and lay aside all subiection that they might haue leaue to remaine in their enormities and vurulie demeanours and that their wickednesse in the meane time might not bee perceiued The Iewes are vnexcusable as wee see howe the Prophetes reproche them that they haue wittinglie abandoned and put away GOD and that they can not excuse them selues as the wretched Painims saying That they haue heard nothing
for GOD protesteth that he hath not spoken in vaine But nowe at this day when GOD speaketh vnto vs with full mouth and that we haue so perfect a reuelation in his Gospell is not this an ouer great wickednesse that men yet wander and goe so astraie Were there euer more foolish and fond superstitions or more outragious and enormous than those which are at this day to bee seene in Poperie I graunt the Iewes mingled them selues among the superstitions of the Painims that they defiled them selues ouer much with their silthes and pollutions but when all shal be well sifted and examined wee shall finde that the Papistes haue surmounted and exceeded them herein by manie degrees for the word of God at this day is as it were buried among them When mention shal be made of faith the articles shal be drawen from out of the forge of men the holie Scripture shal be of no more force than as if it were dead and vtterlie brought to ruine Loe howe they behaue them selues herein and when question is of the seruice of GOD they wander as we haue alreadie said after their owne inuentions and loe My meaning is good will they say and they thinke God will suffer him selfe to bee ruled as a litle childe and that he will neuer come to examine all the doctrine of Poperie Againe if men speake of faith is there anie talke of the free promises of GOD No but they attribute all to them selues When they will speake of the office of Iesus Christ they ouerthrowe the vertue of his death and passion as much as in them lieth When anie question is to be handled of their saluation then will they come in with their free will their merites and satisfactions But we ought contrariwise to returne to the meere and onelie grace of the holie Ghost confessing that we are in bondage and seruitude of sinne but that we are thence deliuered by the mercie and goodnesse of god And here hence cōmeth it that the holy scripture calleth the remission and forgiuenesse of sinnes our righteousnesse We must therefore come vnto this point and also knowe that if we haue failed in our duetie we can not bring anie other payment or satisfaction than that which we borrowe of the death and passion of our Lord Iesus Christ Of all this there is nothing to be found in Poperie If question be of calling vpon GOD they will make their vagaries vnto their he Saintes and shee Saintes and Iesus Christ in the meane time shall not be knowen such a one as he is nor clothed with the office which hath bene giuen him of God his Father But the Papistes degrade him as sacrilegious and false traiterous villaines which seeke nothing els but to burie altogether and toset forth to open prey all the glorie and dignitie which God his Father hath giuen him As much may be said of all their seruice and religion We see howe the Sacramentes are polluted and defiled among them In place of the holie supper of our Lord Iesus Christ there is substituted this infernall and diuelish abhomination of the Masse wherin they say That Iesus Christ is sacrificed as if he him selfe had done nothing as if he were not established the onlie perpetuall priest by God his father So then we see howe the Papistes make a mockerie of the word of God wherein hee hath reuealed him self that it seemeth that of set deliberate purpose they would deface put out the knowledge of him which is in the Gospell And therfore we must more hee fullie note this word That the Lord is God yea one God onlie And so alwayes as often as this worde of God shall come in place let vs knowe that it is to cut off all that shall come into our braine all that which men shall haue forged deuised and which we are not taught by the holy scripture for God wil be in such sort considered of vs that we be not wrapped entangled in the fantasies errours of idolaters And in verie deed wee can not haue the true God except we haue him alone that is that we ioyne with him no companion for assoone as we come in with our litle halfe gods we renounce the liuing god And why For he will be alone as he pronounceth by the Prophet Esaie in another place I am the euerliuing saith the Lord I will not giue my glorie vnto another And again we haue seene before that he nameth him selfe A gealous god And for what other cause than for this to withdrawe vs from all corruptions As S. Paul speaketh in the 2. to the Corinth For assoone as we are turned from the simplicitie of the word of God it is as if a woman should hearken vnto a Bawd which shall come to whisper in her eare Lowe are forthwith corrupted so we play the wicked fornicators against God when we falsifie the faith which we haue promised him in baptisme we reiect cast aside his law we violate and profane all religion when we decline the least that may be from his pure sincere doctrine Let vs therfore beare in mind alwayes as oftē as mention is made of this word God that we know that God must be alone therfore when we shall haue accompanied him with creatures he casteth vs off as Apostataes as people which are not worthie to haue to doe with him because wee would not yeelde vnto him the honour which hee deserueth namelie that he should be the Lorde but shall haue profaned his name by making it common vnto creatures or communicating of it with our dreames But withall let vs note that it is not inough that we reserue vnto the liuing GOD the title of one woorde but we must take heede that whatsoeuer apperteineth vnto him remaine and abide vnto him in his entire and perfecte estate As howe He meaneth not only to be called God but to be acknowledged Almightie to be acknowledged our Father and Sauiour to be knowen for him which hath authoritie to gouerne vs for him in whom we ought to repose our whole trust and confidence for him whom we ought to inuocate and call vpon Loe the chiefe and principall things we ought to thinke and meditate vpon when question is of honouring one onelie god I graunt the Papistes will still say That S. Michael and S. William and such others are not their goddes but yet for all this they worship them yea their images and pictures although they thinke to escape by this shifte that the images are not the Saintes they pray vnto but onelie their remembrances to represent them and yet is this against the expresse commandement of god And againe they knowe not howe GOD will be worshipped when they so mingle him among their idols of wood and of stone by the which they thinke to represent their Saintes It is true they vse words them selues vnderstand not of Dulia and Latria when they say
they serue their moppets that they beare reuerence vnto god For loe what they vnderstand by these wordes But truelie God is much beholding vnto them when they declare they honour him onelie and that withall they serue their idols Againe to call vppon God is it not an holie and sacred thing For this is the true seruice which he requireth as it is said in the fiftie Psalme So we see that the worlde ouer impudentlie mocketh God when men so wickedlie corrupt and depraue his whole seruice and worship And knowe we that this is a thing most detestable when men so wander and leade them selues astray after they haue had so cleare and so plaine a reuelation of God and his will as is conteined in the Gospell And with so much the greater heedfulnesse must we rest and staie our selues on this doctrine knowing that our Lorde will that we hang and depend wholie on him and that there he an inuiolable vnion betweene him and vs And this shall then be when we shal be withhelde simplie within the borders and limites of his word when we shall yeelde no accesse vnto the inuentions of men when we shall not leaue our minde to wander but that after we shall haue heard what is conteined in the holie Scripture we shal be prest and readie to say Amen thereto not onelie with our mouth but that our faith shal be slayed and fastened on that which proceedeth from the mouth of God. with acknowledgement of our faults praying him to make vs feele them better than wee haue done and that more and more wee may knowe how farre and wherein wee are bound vnto him and that wee thinke not rashlie to acquite our selues towardes him but that wee tend altogether to him and to his seruice that wee haue no other studie nor desire but to obserue his holie lawe And seeing we are yet so farre from it as any thing may bee seeing we falter so much and linger in the midde way hauing the onely refuge to the remission of our sinnes pray wee that it will please him to receiue vs vnto mercie and to beare with vs so farre as to continue to conduct and to gouerne vs by his hole spirite albeit we deserue to be wholie reiected of him And withall also pray wee that it will please him so to open our eyes that beholding the brightnesse of our Lord Iesus Christ we may be altogether rauished thereby and constrained to renounce the thinges of this worlde with the iustes and affections of the fleshe which carrie vs headlong to all wickednesse in such sort that wee haue none other desire but to humble our selues vnder him to the end that beeing beaten downe in our selues he may raise vs vp againe to himselfe by his woord attending vntill it please him to change and transfigure vs into his owne image and likenesse in the latter day That it will please him to graunt this grace not onely to vs but vnto all people and nations of the earth c. the Lawe Matth. 22. 35 One of them a Doctor of the Lawe asked him a question tempting him and saying 36 Maister which is the great commaundement of the Lawe 37 Iesus said to him Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soule and with all thy minde 38 This is the first and the great commaundement 39 And the second is like vnto this Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe 40 On these two commaundementes hangeth the whole Lawe and the Prophetes God bee praised FINIS Col. 1. 28. Iohn â–ª 15. 15. Exod. 6. 3. Gen. 18 17 19. Mat. 13. 17 Luke â–ª 10. 24. 1. Pet. 1. 12. Isaie â–ª 40. 6. 7. 1. Pet. 1. 24. 1. Cor 13. 12 2. Cor. 13. 14 and 18. Heb. 1. â— Exod. 33. 20. Iud. 13. 22. Exod. 33. 1â— Esaie 6. 2. Esaie 66. 2. Psal. 29. Exod. 1. Esaie 60. 9. Malach 1. 6. Abac. 1. 12. Psal. 40. 5. Rom. 14. 9. 1. Cor. 6. 19. Rom. 14. 9. Psal. 69. 9. Nahum 1. â— Iam. 1 17. Heb. 10. 31. Rom. 6. 23. Ezech. 18. 2. 1. Iohn 3. 20. Deut. 10. 1â— Psal. 103. 8. Psal. 30. 5. 1. Cor. 15. 11. Esaie 6. 5. Heb. 6. 16. Deut. 6. 13. Iere. 12. 16. Mat. 5. 34. Mat. 5. 37. Phil. 2. 7. Esaie 5. 2. Ierem 2. 21. 1. Cor. 2. 8. Phil. 2. 10. Esaie 42. 8. Zach. 12. 1â— 1. Cor. 5. 6. Gal. 5. 9. Acts. 17. 28. Rom. 1. 20. Esay 66. 2. Col. 2. 17. Exod. 20. 13. 17. 1. Iohn 5. 19. Rom. 8. 7. Gen. 6. 5. Rom. 6. 6. 1. Cor. 15. 3. Rom. 6. 4. 5. Col. 2. 12. Ezech. 20. 13. 16. Esay 56. 3. 2. 6. Rom. 8. 7. Col. 2. 17. Heb. 4. 10. Num. 15. 32. Iere. 17. 21. Gen. 2. 2. Gal. 6. 14. Rom. 7. 19. Rom. 7. 4. Rom. 8. 7. Exod. 20. 13. 17. Matt. 6. 33. Iosuâ— 1. 9. Heb. 13. 5. Esaie 58. 7. Math. 23. 23. 1. Tim. 3. 4. Math. 23. 9. Ephes 3. 15. Dan â— 38 â–ª Rom. 13. 7. Rom. 12. 16. Rom. 13. 1. 2. 3. 4. Ephes 6. 1. Phil. 2. 10. Ephes 6. 4. Marc. 7. 11 â–ª Gen. 1. 27. Num. 35. 33 1. Chro. 22. 8 Iohn 4. 2â— Mat. 5. 2â— 1. Pet â–ª 4. 5. 1 â–ª Iohn 3. 15. Act. â— 24. Heb. 4. 12. Iere. 4. 4 â–ª Ephes 5. 3â— 1. Pet. 2. 17. Ioh. 4. 24. Tit. 2. 12. 1. Tim. 2. 2. Pro. 2. 17. Math. 5. 28 1. Cor. 7. 34. 1. Cor. 6. 15. 1. Cor. 6. 15. Cicero off 1. Cor. 6. 18. Esaie 1. 15. and 59. 3. Ephe. 5. 7. 1 â–ª Cor â–ª 10. 8. 1. Cor. 15. 33. Menander Tit. 1. 1â— Heb. 13. 4. Syricius 1. Cor. 7. 34. Zacha. 5. 3. Esaie 33. 1. Esaie 1. 23. Rom. 13. 8. 9. 10. Phil. 4. â—â— Iob. 1. 21. Prou. 30. 9. 1. Cor. 6. 9. Ephe. 5. 5. Zacha. 5. 3. Mich. 6. 12. 13. 14. Psal. 50. 18. Leui. 1â— 16. Deut. 17. 7. Prâ— 10. 12. Iam. 5. 2â— Mat. 3. 22. Ephe. 5. 11. 1. Cor. 14. 25 Gal 6. 1. Mat. 26. 6. 1. Tim. 3. 16. 1. Cor. 13. 5. Iohn 13. 6. 1. Cor. 6. 10. 1. Cor. 15. 15 1. Tim. 1. 5. Phil. 3. â— Deut 6. 5. Mat. 22. 37. Rom. 8. 7. Iam. 1. 13. Gal. 3. 10. Rom. 7. 24. Rom. 6. 12. 1. Cor. 2. 14. 1. Pet. 1. 12. 1. Cor. 13. 12. 1. thess. 2. â— Esaie 29. 18. Psal. 62. 10. Esaie 66. 5. Eze. 11. 19. 1. Cor. 4. 1. 1. Tim. 3 1â— Deut. 27. 26 Heb. 12. 18. Numb 12. 7. 8. Exod. 33. 2â— â— Pet. 1. 18. Luc. 10. 16. 1. Cor. 4 7. Iohn 5. â—â— Num. 11. 33. Deut. 30. 6. Iere. 32. 39. Eze. 11. 19. and 36. 27. Pro. 8. 31. Mat. 15. 3. Deut. 28. 9. Rom. 9. 17. Heb. 9. 8. 13. 14. 22. Leuit. 16. 1â— 16. Gen. 15. 1. 1. Tim. 4. 8. Prou. 1. 7. 1. Sa. 1â— 23. Luc. 17. 7. Heb. 1. 3. 1 Iohn 2. 23. Psal. 2. 12. Iohn 5. 23. Iohn 4. 22. Iohn 1. 18. Esaie 25. 9. Exod. 29. 4â— Psal. 132. 14. 〈…〉 24. Esaie 42. 8. Psal. 50. 14. 15. 23. Imprinted at London at the three Cranes of the Vine-tree by Thomas Dawson for Iohn Harison Anno. 1579.