vnto Christ wheÌ„ as hauing nothing that by any sight or feeling inward or outward might minister vnto theÌ„ any coÌ„fort and therefore in such cases they are greatly discouraged and cast downe in themselues yet they holde out constantly in them to the end then the more like they are vnto Christ in his sufferings the more like shall they be vnto him in his glory For then is their faith the greatest when in this forlone estate of theirs as it may seeme they can pray vnto God as Christ did and seeke for all helpe and comfort from him and neuer leaue praying till God heare them as Christ continued in his prayer till an Angel was sent vnto him And in the meane time whatsoeuer becomes of them they with a quiet and meeke spirit resigne vp themselues wholly to his blessed will being contented whatsoeuer they desire that not their owne but Gods will may take place as Christ did when he said Father not mine but thy will be done And if they doe so that that affliction present of what nature and kind soeuer shall make an end of theÌ„ they can quietly and peaceably commend their soules and bodies euen themselues wholly liuing and dying into his blessed hands as Christ did also vpon the crosse when he was readie to giue vp the ghost beeing perswaded that nothing euer perished that was commited vnto his custodie according as he saith himselfe Those that thou gauest me â—oh 17.12 haue I kept and none of them is lost but the child of perdition that the Scripture might be fulfilled If we can thus doe though all this while we haue no feeling of any present comfort yet it may be truly said vnto vs as it was to the woman of Canaan who with many discouragements and without all sight or feeling of any fauour froÌ„ him pursued our Sauiour Christ with her prayers and would not giue ouer or take any repulse O woman great is thy faith and O man Math. 15 2â— great is thy faith that doest thus whosoeuer thou art And we haue a worthy example of the truth of this in one of the Martyrs of our owne country and in the memory of maÌ„ as it is largely set out by M. Foxe in his laborious worke of the Acts and Monuments of the Church The effect of which storie shortly is this M. Robert Glouer of Couentry gentl. and Master of Artes in Cambridge was in the raigne of Q. Mary with many the seruants of God by the malicious practises of the Papists apprehended brought before the Bishop of the Diocesse for his faith and religion and after examination he was sent to prison where he receiued great comfort from the Lord from time to time as his afflictions did increase so did the comforts of the Lord abound till at the last by the permission of God for his further triall and comfort the Deuill did greatly assault him in prison by the consideration of his vnworthines to be counted in the number of those that should suffer for Christs sake which temptation of the enemie though he did constantly resist at the first yet after that he was condemned to death by the Bishop and was at the point to be deliuered out of this world it so happened that two or three daies before the time of his burning his heart being lumpish and destitute of all spirituall consolation and feeling of gods fauour he felt in himselfe no aptnes or willingnes but rather an heauines and dulnes of spirit full of much discomfort to beare that bitter crosse of Martyrdome readie now to be laid vpon him Whereupon he fearing himselfe least the Lord had vtterly withdrawn his woonted fauour from him made his moane to one M. Austen Bernher a minister a familiar friend of his signifying vnto him how earnestly he had praied day and night vnto the Lord and yet could receiue no motion nor sense of any comfort from him Vnto whome the said Austen answering againe willed and desired him patiently to wait the Lords pleasure and howsoeuer his present feeling was yet seeing his cause was iust and true he exhorted him constantly to sticke to the same and play the man nothing misdoubting but the Lord in time would visit him and satisfie his desire with plentie of consolation Whereof he saide he was right certen and sure and therefore desired him whensoeuer any such feeling of Gods heauenly mercies should begin to touch his heart that then he would shew some signification thereof whereby he might witnesse with him the same and so departed from him The next day when the time came of his martyrdome as he was going to the place and was now come to the sight of the stake although all the night before praying earnestly to God for strength and courage hee could finde none neither had any sight or taste of the fauour of God in himselfe sodenly he was so mightily replenished with Gods holy comfort heauenly ioyes that he could not smother it in himselfe but cried out clapping his hands to Austen and saying on this wise Austen he is come he is come c. and that with such ioy and alacritie as one seeming rather to be risen from some deadly daunger to libertie of life then one passing out of this world by any pains of death Here we see that great was his faith when he was willing to giue his bodie to be burnt for the testimonie of Christ and was now going to the stake to that ende though he had no feeling of Gods fauour then by any ioyes that he felt in himselfe He could neuer haue suffered thus for the truth if he had no faith if then he had died in this case without the sense of any speciall comfort he must needs haue died in the faith of Christ for which he did suffer and so hee should haue had faith yea very great faith not onely liuing but dying without any sense or feeling But I will come vnto an other example which though it be far more ancient in time yet is better knowne vnto vs as being recorded in the holy Scripture The patience of Iob as it is set downe as a patterne and coÌ„mended to all men to follow so none can doubt of his faith also but that it was very great When he is thus nuÌ„bred among the faithfullest men that haue liued vpon the face of the earth WheÌ„ the land sinneth against me by committing a trespase Ezec. 14.13 then will I strech out mine hand vpon it and though these three men Noah Daniel and Iob were among them they should deliuer but their owne soules by their righteousnesse saith the Lord God When all that misery came vpoÌ„ him that we read of in the Scripture as that in one day he lost seauen thousand sheepe Iob 1.3 three thousand camels fiue hundred yoake of oxen fiue hundred shee asses and all his sonnes and daughters died a violent death after a strange manner and in his owne
out of the same in time that they might be saued And why doth he say thus rather then any thing else Except I may see and feele c. Are these two senses such sure iudges of the truth that they cannot be deceiued May not a man thinke that he seeth and feeleth that which he doth not and may he not againe doubt whether he seeeth and feeleth that which indeede he doth How came it to passe that when Elisha had caused water to come miraculously into a vally of the wildernes for the Kings of Israel of Iudah and of Edom that the Moabites when as earely in the morning the sunne rose vpon the water and they saw the water as redde as blood ouer against them they said This is blood the kings are surely slaine and one hath smitten an other but when they came to the host of Israel they found it otherwise And as the sight of these men deceiued them so did the feeling of Isaac deceiue him in his old age For his sonne Iaakob comming vnto him in the person and habite of his elder brother Esau to receiue the blessing when he felt the roughnes of his necke and hands which Rebekah had couered wiâ—h skinnes he iudged by his feeling that it was Esau For he said Come neere my sonne that I may feele thee whether thou be my sonne Esau or no when he had felt him he said The hands are the hands of Esau Thus wee see that sight and feeling may easily be deceiued and yet this is the nature of vnbeleefe to giue credit more vnto these deceiueable senses then to many other things that are most sure and certaine And many men in matters of faith will almost beleeue nothing vntill such time as they see and feele them and therefore when they are taught what in heauen is prepared for them that serue God what in hell for them that disobey him they are readie to say who hath seen them giuing vs to vnderstand that they will not beleeue them vntill they either see them or feele them themselues Was not this vnbeleefe vniuersally spread ouer the face of the whole world before the flood when Noah the prâ—â—cher of righteosnes declared vnto thâ— the iudgment of God that should come vpon them for their sinnes namly that God would bring a flood of waters vpoÌ„ the earth to destroy all flesh wherin was the breath of life vnder the heauen because all flesh had corrupted his way and the earth was filled with cruelty and thus he continued preaching an huÌ„dred twentie yeares But none of them beleeued it though they saw him also all this while preparing the Arke for the sauing of himselfe and his family And therefore they continued still in their impenitencie and in their sinnes till the flood came and tooke them all away And so they said to Noah some in their thoghts some in their words as Thomas did here in an other case to the Apostles You say that the world shal be drowned but except we see the raine come in such measure and feele it we will not beleeue it And was not the like infidelity afterwards in all the men of Sodom where iust Lot liued and was vexed with their vncleanely conuersation for which he denounced Gods iudgemeÌ„t against them and at the last by speciall reuelation of the Angels that were sent vnto them he saide vnto his sonnes in law which had maried his daughters Arise go out of this place for the Lord wil destroy this citie but he seemed to his sonnes in law as though he had mocked Thus they would not beleeue it because they saw it not nor any likelihood of it till fire and brimstone came downe from heauen and fell vpon them and consumed them And so they being condemned and the citie ouerthrowne they were made an example vnto them that after should liue vngodly and which would not beleeue the truth of Gods iudgements against sinne in the mouthes of his seruants any further then they shall see and feele themselues Thus we see how common this is among all vnbeleeuers so farre as infidelitie preuaileth with them that they will beleeue nothing that is threatned against sinne any further then they see and feele it themselues When in the famin of Samaria there was exceeding great plentie against the next day promised by Elisha the Prophet did not one of the Princes say when I see it I will beleeue it and not before Whereupon this answere was giuen vnto him Beholde thou shalt see it with thine eies but thou shalt not eate thereof And so vnbeleefe discredits not only the threatnings but the promises except they can see them with their eies and feele them with their hands of which we shall speake more afterwards Doth not S. Peter say that there shal come mockers in these last daies which will walke after their lust and say where is the promise of his comming for since the fathers died all things continue alike froÌ„ the beginning of the creation Wherein he sheweth how men through vnbeleef will make a mocke of Christs second comming of the end of the world and of the day of iudgement because with their eyes they doe not see any such thing likely to come to passe when they shall see some great alteration in heauen in earth bending that way they will beleeue it and no sooner nor any further And we finde by experience the truth of this daily in many that they will beleeue nothing of this matter any further then they can see themselues And our Sauiour Christ in the Gospel hath foretold and forewarned vs of this when as he saith As it was in the dayes of Noah â—â—k 17.26 so shall it be in the dayes of the sonne of man they eate they dranke they bought they solde they married wiues and gaue in marriage vnto the day that Noah went into the Arke and the flood came and destroyed them all Likewise also as it was in the daies of Lot they eate they dranke they planted they built but in the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heauen and destroyed them all after these insamples shall it be when the sonne of man shall be reuealed that is not onely it shall come suddenly and all things shall continue in their ordinarie course but men shall then giue themselues to all pleasure and worldlines and shall neither beleeue it nor thinke of it till it come as the men of the old world did not of whome the Euangelist S. Matthew saith that they knew nothing till the flood came and tooke them all away so shal also the comming of the sonne of man be They knew nothing not that they had not heard of it for Noah did preach vnto them an 120. yeares before but they did not beleeue it nor regard it because they saw it not euen so shall it be towards the end of the world though they haue heard of these things
of God alone who onely is there to be serued and not of any Saint as in time past they haue beene And so ought the daies also As vnder the law all the Sabbaths were consecrated vnto the honour of God the creator of heauen and earth and vnder the Gospel vnto the honour of Christ the Redeemer of his Church and all other daies that are now put a part among vs from the common affaires of the world they are sanctified to that ende that God might be honoured in them and by them And therefore we put a great difference betweene these holy daies and the Sabbath or Lords day First of all in that we know this later to stand vpon a better foundation then they as hauing his institution from Christ and his Apostles and so doth binde all nations and is perpetuall neuer to be changed Whereas the former haue their warrant only from men and so doe not binde all Churches alike and may be changed yea taken cleane away and serue onely for Christian policie and good order in the Church that men vpon these daies might come together and serue God And therefore it is to be prouided that there should not be too many of them least thereby men should be hindred from the necessarie workes of their callings which hath mooued the reformed Churches as in this Realme so els-where to cut off many that were vsed in the time of Poperie and so to keepe theÌ„selues in a mediocritie neither hauing too many nor putting downe all Secondly there is a difference betweene them in the manner of keeping the one and the other for on the Christian Sabbath the lawes of our kingdome and Church doe restraine all men from many things as from markets and faires and keeping of Assises and Sessions for the execution of iustice which they doe tolerate and permit vpon other holydaies Whereas in the time of blindnesse they sometimes preferred these daies before the Sabbath and had more solemne seruice and feasts vpon them and counted it a more deadly sinne then to worke then vpon the Sabbath day Besides this they appointing these daies to the honor of men did thereby greatly dishonour the Saints theÌ„selues For what greater dishonour can there be vnto any man then to make him a traytor and to giue vnto him that honour that is due onely to the Prince And if any should in simplicitie and good will ascribe so much to the greatest noble man in the Realme that at the last he should giue him the titles that belong vnto the King and so bring him into the suspicion of treason against his will it were no honour but dishonour vnto him So the Papists in extolling the Saints so highly that they consecrate daies vnto them and thereby seeke to honour them and hope that therefore they will become Patrons vnto them all which are proper vnto Christ in so doing they dishonour them for they make them as much as lieth in them to be traytors vnto Christ in robbing him of that honor that is proper vnto him And these Saints if they were now aliue vpon earth would not onely not take this honor vnto themselues and thanke them for it but altogether refuse it and rebuke them for it as Paul and Barnabas did vnto the people at Lystra when they brought buls with garlands and would haue sacrificed vnto them They rent their cloathes and ranne in among them Act. 14 14 saying O men why doe you these things we are men subiect vnto the like passions that you be and preach vnto you that you should turne from these vaine things vnto the liuing God IN this text there are these foure things principally to be obserued first of all the great infidelitie of S. Thomas the Apostle who did not beleeue the resurrection of Christ reported vnto him by all his fellow Apostles who had seene him v. 24 25. Secondly the great mercie of Christ who did not cast him off and leaue him to perish in this vnbeleefe of his but most louingly in time conuenient sought to pull him out of it by all good meanes euen the very same which himselfe desired vers 26 27. Thirdly the increase of faith in Thomas by these meanes appearing by the confession that he made after that he was thus confirmed namely that he did beleeue not onely that he was risen againe but for him and therefore calleth him his Lord and his God v. 28. Lastly here Christ vpon this occasion deliuereth a generall doctrine and so applieth this fact of Thomas vnto the whole church euen that they should be blessed who should beleeue in him though they did not see him as he had done I doe not purpose to intreat of all these but onely of so much as doth concerne the vnbeleefe of S. Thomas But before I come to it it may seeme somewhat strange that S. Iohn in his Gospel doth write this of his fellow Apostle seeing it tendeth so wholly to his discredit The other Euangelists all of them haue left it out it may seeme in fauour of him and it might be thought that it had beene better if he had passed it ouer with silence also But this Apostle liuing longer then all the rest about an hundred yeares after Christ and so seeing all their writings doth adde this as a matter of speciall moment as indeede in it there is offered to the Church great instruction and consolation And this plaine dealing of his is a note of that integritie that is to be found in all the Scriptures as beeing penned by the spirit of God For they came not in old time as S. Peter saith 2. Pet. 1.2 by the will of man but holy men of God did speake and write as they were mooued by the holy Ghost And therefore they greatly differ froÌ„ the writings of men which sauour of the spirit of men and so are in many things partiall as this is a common fault in many Historiographers that they flatter great men and speak onely of their vertues which they set out to the full but their vices either they wholly conceale or lightly passe theÌ„ ouer especially when they are their friends and of the same ranke and order with them as S. Thomas was vnto the Apostle S. Iohn But it is not so in the Scriptures which proceeding froÌ„ the spirit of truth are no more partiall then God himselfe with whome there is no respect of persons â—om 2.11 in so much that the penners of them doe lay open the greatest sinnes of the greatest men in their time euen of the Kings and of the Priests Sam. 2.8 As of Heli how he honoured his children aboue God and caused the sacrifices of the Lord to be despised and troaden vnder foote and of Manasseh king of Iudah how he caused his sonnes to passe through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom Chr. 33.6 and gaue himselfe to witchcraft and to charming and to sorcerie and vsed them that had familiar
our nature to prepare a place for vs and he hath praied vnto God for vs that where he is we may be to behold his glorie Thus true faith for the certentie of our saluation bids vs rely vpon that that Christ hath don for vs and vpon that which this way is set downe in the Gospel and so our consciences shall be quieted and no man neede to aske these questions who can ascend vp into heauen or bring vs from hell seeing that the Gospel teacheth that both these are done by Christ for all those that imbrace their calling by a true faith But vnbeleefe neglecting this desireth that that is vnreasonable and saith Oh but I see none that hath ascended vp to heauen come downe againe to tell me what is there done for me Who shall ascend who is he that hath or will doe so much then I could beleeue it And I see none that hath descended into hell and returned to tell me that I am deliuered from thence Who shall descend into the deepe where is he that hath or will doe this for me then I could beleeue it And so not onely the vnbeleeuers are wholly possessed and ouercoÌ„ with these doubtfull thoughts but all men so farre as vnbeleefe preuaileth in them are ready to say thus at least in their hearts Oh if any might come from heauen to assure me that I shall come thither and be saued then I could beleeue it or if any might come from hell to assure me that I am deliuered from thence then I should be quiet in my minde and deliuered from these feares that I am incombred with But what saith faith say not thus in thine heart c. that is haue thou no such doubts in thy mind but consider what Christ hath done for thee to bring thee to heauen and to deliuer thee from hell and what the gospel doth this way offer vnto thee and what thou hast heard preached out of it to this ende and rest in theÌ„ For if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus Rom. 10â— and shalt beleeue in thine heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saued that is if thou professe plainely and sincerely and openly that thou takest Iesus onely to be thy Lord and Sauiour and that it was the very counsell and purpose of God in the resurrection of his sonne to redeeme vs from death and hell as it is preached vnto vs in the Gospel thou shalt be saued So faith leadeth vs froÌ„ these vain speculations vnto that that is reuealed vnto vs in the word And whereas the best beleeuers are subiect vnto these temptations at one time or other by reason of the reÌ„nants of vnbeleefe abiding in theÌ„ yet the Apostle giueth vs to vnderstand that they come froÌ„ vnbeleefe and not froÌ„ faith but that it is the nature of saith to striue against them to suppresse them in measure so farre forth as faith preuaileth and getteth the victory in them So that when they begin to haue these doubts in their minds and to thinke with theÌ„selues how shal I ascend into heaueÌ„ how shall I escape hell I cannot tell what shall become of me then faith is as a voice speaking behind them to admonish them of their duty and as it were pulling them by the elbow bids them hold their peace Oh say not in thine heart who shall ascend into heauen c. Oh haue no such thoughts in thy mind this were to deny what Christ hath done for thee concerning thy redemption from hell and thy ascention into heauen therefore say not so in any case no not in thine heart giue ouer reasoning with vnbeleefe and rest in the word of God Thus we see how vnbeleefe bindeth God to vnreasonable courses desireth of him for the strengthening of faith things not to be desired therefore as we see froÌ„ whence such do arise so we must striue against vnbeleefe that we might ouercome such foolish conceits And thus the vnbeleuing Iewes did reason against our Sauiour Christ when he was vpon the crosse and thereby did shew what wicked and absurd thoughts their infidelitie did driue them vnto If thou be the sonne of God Matth. 27. â—0 come downe from the crosse he saued others but he cannot saue himselfe if he be the king of Israel 42. let him now come downe from the crosse and we will beleeue in him 43. he trusted in God let him deliuer him now if he will haue him for he saide I am the sonne of God Behold what vnreasonable things they doe as it were binde Christ vnto that they might beleeue in him or els they will not for they say let him now come down from the crosse and now saue himselfe or els neuer They did not consider how all the prophesies of the Messiah set downe in Scripture were verified in him euen from his first conception vnto this very houre how he was conceiued by the holy Ghost and borne of a virgin and of the house of Dauid and in Bethleem how the wise men came from the East vnto Ierusalem and told them that the King of the Iewes was borne and that they had seene his starre neither what old father Simeon and Anna the propheâ—esse said of him in the temple when he was circumcised They regarded not his doctrine ful of authoritie and â—ower themselues beeing driuen to confesse that neuer man before spake â—ike vnto him they were not mooâ—ed with his miracles when they â—aw how by his owne power he heaâ—ed them of incurable diseases made â—he blind to see the lame to goe the â—eafe to heare cast out the deuills by â—he power of his word raised vp theÌ„â—hat were dead and did many more â—â—ings els which were sufficient to â—onuince them that he was the true â—essiah and Sauiour to whome all â—â—e Prophets gaue witnesse neither did they giue any credit vnto the voice of God himselfe which they heard from heauen when he was baptized Matth. 3.17 This is my beloued sonne in whome I am well pleased at what time also the heauens were opened and the Spirit of God descended like a doue and lighted vpon him Much lesse did they giue credit vnto the testimonie of Iohn who saide of him Behold the lambe of God Ioh. 1.36 that taketh away the sinnes of the world None of all these they regarded they were not sufficient to cause thâ— to beleeue in him they despised theâ— all as though they had been nothinâ— worth but such a foolish thing 〈◊〉 this they desire and that should satisfie them if he would come downâ— from the crosse and that euen veâ— now at their appointment and tarâ—â— no longer then they could beleeueâ— him indeede but if he would not dâ—â— that at all or not now presently wiâ—â— out any delay they will not beleeue in him Which if he had done he had forsaken his office of redemption for he came to suffer and die for vs that he