spared his people and his tabernacle but they mocked his seruants and woulde not retourne vnto the Lorde their God to walke in his wayes Yea Iuda it selfe kept not the precepts of the Lord God but walked in the maners ordinances of Israell that is of suche as then had declyned to Idolatry frō the dayes of Ieroboam And therfore the Lorde God abhorred the whole seede of Israell that is the whole body of the people he promised them and gaue them into the hands of those that spoyled them and so he cast them out frō his presence Hereof it is euident that their stubborne disobedience vnto God and vnto the voyces of hys Prophetes was the cause of their destruction Nowe haue we to take heede how we should vse the good lawes of God that is his mercifull will reuealed vnto vs in his worde and that order of iustice that by him for the comforte of man is established among men It is no doubt but that obedience is the moste acceptable sacrifice vnto God and that which aboue all things he requireth that when he manifesteth himselfe by hys worde that men follow according to their vocation and commaundement Now so it is that God by that great pastor out Lorde Lesus nowe manifestly in his worde calleth vs from all impietie aswell of body as of minde to holynesse of life and to his spirituall seruice And for this purpose he hath erected the throne of his mercy among vs the true preaching of his word together with the right administration of his sacramet but what is our obedience Let euery man examine his owne conscience and consider what statuts and lawes we woulde haue to be giuen vnto vs. Wouldst thou O Scotland haue a King to raigne ouer thee in iustice equitie and mercy Subiect thou thy selfe to the Lorde thy God obey his commaundements and magnifie thou that word that calleth vnto thee This is the way walke into it and if thou wilt not flatter not thy self the same iustice remaineth this day in God to punishe thee Scotlande and thee Edenborough in especiall that before punished the lande of Iuda and the citie of Ierusalem Euerie realme or nation sayth the Prophet Ieremy that likewise offendeth shall be likewise punished But if thou shalt see impietie placed in the seate of iustice aboue thee so that in the throne of God as Salomon doth cōplayne raigneth nothing but fraude and violēce accuse thy owne ingratitude and rebellion against God For that is the onely cause why God taketh away as the same Prophet in another place doth speake the strong man and the man of warre the Iudge and the Prophete the prudent the aged the captaine and the honorable the counceller and the cunning artificer And I wil appoint sayth the Lorde children to be their princes and babes shal rule ouer them Children are extorcyoners of my people and women haue rule ouer them If these calamities I saye apprehend vs so that we see nothing but the oppression of good men and of all godlynesse and wicked men without God to raigne aboue vs Let vs accuse and condempne our selues as the onely cause of oure owne miseries For if we had heard the voyce of the Lord our God giuen vpright obedience vnto the same God should haue blessed vs he shoulde haue multiplyed oure peace and shoulde haue rewarded our obedience before the eyes of the worlde But nowe let vs heare what the Prophet sayth further The dead shall not liue sayth be neyther shall the tiraunts or the dead arise bicause thou hast visited and scattered them and destroyed all their memorie Frō this .14 verse vnto the end of the .19 it apeareh that the Prophet obserueth no order yea that he speaketh thinges directly repugning one to another For first he sayth the dead shal not liue After he affirmeth thy dead men shall lyue Secondly he sayth thou hast visited and scattered them destroyed all their memorie Imediately thereafter he sayth thou hast increased the natiō O Lord thou haste increased the nation They haue visited thee and haue poured forth a prayer before thee Who I say woulde not thinke that these are thinges not onely spoken forth of good order and purpose but also manifestly repugning one to another For to liue and not to liue to be so destroyed that no memoriall remaineth And to be so increased that the coastes of the earth shal be replenished seme to importe playne contradiction For remouing of this doubt and for better vnderstanding of the Prophetes minde we must vnderstand that the Prophet had to doe with diuers forts of mē He had to do with the coniured manifest enimies of Gods people the Caldes or Babilonians euen suche as professe Christ Iesus haue to doe with the Turke and Sarazens He had to doe with the sede of Abraham wherof there were three sorts The tenne tribes all degenerate from the true worshipping and corrupted with Idolatry as this daye are our pestilent papistes in al realmes and nations There rested onely the tribe of Iuda and Ierusalē where the forme of true religion was obserued the lawe taught and ordinaunces of god outwardly kept but yet there were in that body I meane in the bosome of the visible Church a great number that were hipocrits as this day yet are among vs that doe professe the Lorde Iesus and haue refused papistrie not a fewe that were lycentious lyuers some that had tourned their backe to God that is had forsaken al true religion and some that liued a most abhominable life as Ezechiell sayeth in his vision And yet there were some godlye as a fewe wheat cornes oppressed and hid amōg the multitude of such chaffe Nowe according to this diuersitie the Prophete kepeth diuers purposes and yet in moste perfecte order And first after the first part of the complaint of the afflicted as we haue heard in vehemencie of spirite he bursteth forth against all the proude enimies of Gods people all such as trouble them and against all such as mocke and forsake God and sayth the dead shal not liue The proud Giants shall not arise Thou hast scattered thē and destroyed their memoriall In which wordes he fighteth against the present temptation and dolorous estate of Gods people and against the insolent pride of suche as oppressed them as the Prophet should say O ye troublers of Gods people howsoeuer it appeareth to you in this your bloudy rage that God regardeth not your crueltie not considereth not what violence ye doe to his pore afflicted yet shal ye be visited yea your carcases shal fal and lye as stinking carions vpon the face of the earth ye shal fal without hope of life or of a blessed resurrection Yea howsoeuer ye gather your substance augment families ye shal be so scattered that ye shal leaue no memoriall of you to the posterities to come but that which shal be execrable and odious Hereof haue the
Adding that the knowledge thereof came not from the starres but only frō the God of Abraham who onely was and is the true God ▪ which thing vnderstanded the king burst forth in his confession saying of a truth your God is the moste excellent of al Gods And he is Lord of kinges and onely he that reuealeth the secretes seeing that thou couldest open this secret And when the king after puffed vp in pride by the counsell of his wicked nobilitie would make an Image before the which he would that al tongues and nations subiect to him should make adoration that Sydrack Misacke and Abednago woulde not obey his vniust commaundement so were cast in the flaming furnace of fyre and yet by Godes Angels were so preserued that no smell of fier remayned in their persons nor garments this same king giueth a more notable confession saying the Lord God of Sydrack Misack Abednago is to be praysed who hath sent his Angels and deliuered his worshippers that put their trust in him who haue done against the kings cōmaundement who haue rather giuen their owne bodyes to torment than that they woulde worship another God except their owne God By me therfore is there made a decree that whosoeuer shal blaspheme the God of Sydrack Misack Abednago that he shall be cut in pieces and his house shal be made detestable Thus we se how God began euen almoste in the beginning of their captiuitye to notifie his name to multiply his knowledge set forth aswel his power as his wisedome true worshipping by those that were taken prisoners yea that were dispised and of all men contempned so that the name feare of the God of Abrahā was neuer before notified to so many realmes nations This wōderous worke of God proceeded from one Empire to another For Daniel being promoted to great honor by Darius king of Perses and Medes falleth into a desperat daūger For he was cōmitted to prisō among Lyons bicause that he was deprehended breaking the kings iniunctiō not that the king desired the destruction of Gods seruants but bicause the corrupt Idolaters that in hatred of Daniell had procured that lawe to be made vrged the king against his nature But God by his Angell did stop the Lyons mouthes and so preserued his seruant Which considered with the soddaine destruction of Daniels enimies by the same Lyons king Daryus besides his owne confession wrote to all people tongues and nations after this forme It is decreed by me that in all the dominions of my kingdom men shal feare and reuerence the God of Danyell bicause he is the liuing God abiding for euer whose kingdome shall not be destroyed and his dominion remayneth who saueth and deliuereth and sheweth signes and wonders in heauen and in earth who hath deliuered Daniell from the Lyons This knowledge was yet further increased in the dayes of Cyrus who giuing freedome to the captiues to returne to their owne natyue cuntry giueth this confessiō Thus sayth Cyrus the king of Persians all the kingdomes of the earth hath the Lorde God of heauen giuen vnto me and hath commaunded me that a house be built to him in Ierusalem which is in Iuda Whosoeuer therefore of you that are of his people let the Lord his God be with him and let him passe vp to Ierusalem and let him builde the house of the Lord God of Israell for he only is God that is in Ierusalem Time will not suffer to intreate the poyntes of this confession neyther yet did I for that purpose adduce the historie But onely to let vs see howe constantlye God kept his promise in increasing of his people and in augmēting of his true knowledge when that both they that were the seede of Abraham and that religion which they professed appeared vtterly to haue bene extinguished aboue mens expectation I say he brought fredome out of bondage light out of darkenesse and lyfe out of death I am not ignoraunt that the building of the temple reparation of the walles of Ierusalem were long stayed so that the worke had many enimies But so did the hande of God preuayle in the ende that a decree was giuen by Daryus by him I suppose that succeded to Cambises not onely that all things necessarie for the building of the temple and for the sacrifices that were to be there brent shoulde be ministred vpon the kings charges but also that whosoeuer shuld hinder that work or change that decree that a balke should be taken out of his house and that he should be hanged thervpon Yea that his house should be made a donghil and therto he addeth a prayer saying the God of heauen who hath placed his name there roote out euerye king and people O that kings and nations should vnderstande that shall put his hande eyther to change or to hurte this house of God that is in Ierusalem and so in dispite of Sathan was the temple builded the walles repayred and the city inhabited and in the moste desperat daungers it was preserued til that the Messias promised the glory of the seconde temple came manyfested himselfe to the worlde suffred and rose againe according to the scriptures And so by sending forth his gospell from Ierusalem did replenish the whole earth with the true knowledge of God and so did God in perfectiō increase the nation aud the spirituall seede of Abraham Wherefore deare brethren we haue no small consolation if the estate of all thinges be this daye rightly considered we see in what furie and rage the worlde for the moste parte is nowe raised against the pore Church of Iesus Christ vnto the which he hath proclaymed liberty after this feareful bōdage of that spirituall Babylon in the which we haue beene holden captiues of longer space than Israell was prisoner in Babylon it selfe For if we shall consider vpon the one parte the multitude of those that liue without God and vpon the other parte the blinde rage of the pestilent papistes what shal we think of the small number of them that do professe Christ Iesus but that they are as a poore sheepe already seazed in the clawes of the Lyon yea that they the true religion which they professe shall in a moment vtterly be consumed But against this fearefull temptation let vs be armed with the promise of our god to wit that he wil be the protector of his church yea that he will multiply it euen when to mans iudgement it appeareth vtterly to be exterminate This promise hath our God performed in the multiplication of Abrahams seede in preseruation of it when Sathan labored vtterly to haue destroied it in deliuerance of the same as we haue heard from Babilon He hath sent his sonne Christ Iesus clad in our flesh who hath tasted of all our infirmities sinne except who hath promised to be with vs to the ende of the worlde He hath further kept promise in publication yea in
take trial of this poynt it is not hard for Moses in the election of Iudges and of a King describeth not onelye what persones shall be chosen to that honour but doth also giue to him that is elected and chosē the rule by the which he shal trie himselfe whether God raygne in him or not saying when he shal sit vpō the throne of his kingdō he shal write to himself an examplar of this lawe in a boke by the priests the Leuits it shal be with him and he shall reade therin all the dayes of his life that he may learne to feare the Lord his god and to kepe all the words of this law these statuts ▪ that he may do them that his hart be not lifted vp aboue his brethrē that he turne not from the cōmaundement to the right hand or to the left Thesame is repeated to Iosua in his inanguration to the regiment of the people by God himselfe saying let not the boke of this lawe depart fro thy mouth but meditate in it day night that thou mayst kepe and do according to al that which is written in it For then shall thy way be prosperous and thou shalt do prudently The first thing thē that god craueth of him that is called to the honor of a king is the knowlege of his wil reuealed in his word The second is an vpright and willing minde to put in execution suche things as God commaundeth in his lawe without declyning eyther to the right or left hande Kings then haue not an absolute power to do in their regimēt what pleaseth them but their power is limitted by gods word So that if they strike where god commaundeth not they are but murderers if they spare wher GOD commaundeth to strike they and their throne are criminal and giltie of the wickednesse that aboundeth vpon the face of the earth for lacke of punishment O if Kings and Princes shuld consider what accompt shall be craued of them as well of their ignoraunce and misknoweledge of Gods will as for the neglecting of their office But nowe to returne to the words of the Prophet In the person of the whole people he doth complayne vnto God that the Babilonians whō he calleth other Lordes besydes God both bycause of their ignoraunce of God and by reason of their crueltie and inhumanitie hadde long ruled ouer them in all rigor without pitie or cōcompassion had vpon the aunciente men and famous matrones For they being mortall enimies of the people of God sought by all meanes to aggrauate their yoke yea vtterlye to haue exterminate the memorie of thē and of their religion from the face of the earth After the first part of this dolorous complaynt the Prophete declareth the protestation of the people saying neuerthelesse onely in thee shall we remember thy name others reade it Put wee wyll remember thee onelye and thy name But in the Hebrew there is no Coniunction copulatiue in that sentence The minde of the Prophete is playne to wit that not withstanding the long sustayned affliction the people of God declyned not to a false and vayne religion but remembred God that sometime appeared to them in his mercifull presence which albeit then they saw not yet would they still remēber his name that is they would cal to minde the doctrine and promise which sōetimes they hard albeit in their prosperity they did not sufficiently glorifie God who so mercifully ruled in the midst of them The temptation no doubt of the whole Isralites was gret in those dayes They were caryed captiues from the land of Canaan which was to thē the gage pledge of Gods fauour towardes thē For it was the inheritaunce that God promised to Abrahā to his seede for euer The league couenant of Gods protection appeared to haue beene broken They lamentably cōplayne that they sawe not their accustomed signes of Gods merciful presēce The true prophets were fewe the abhominatiōs vsed in Babylon were exceding many And so it might haue apered to thē that in vayne it was that they were called the posteritie of Abrahā or that euer they had receyued law or form of right religion frō god That we may the better fele it in our selues the temptatiō I say was euē such as if God shuld vtterly destroy al order policy that this day is withī his church that the true preaching of the worde should be suppressed The right vse of sacramēts abolished Idolatry papistical abhomination erected vp again And therwith that our bodies should be takē prisoners by Turks or other manifest enimies of God of al Godlynesse ▪ Such I say was their temptatiō How notable then is this their cōfessiō that in bōdage they make to wit that they wil remember God onely albeit he hath appeared to turne his face from them they will remember hys name and will cal to minde the deliuerance promised Hereof haue we to consider what is our duetie if God bring vs as for oure offences and vnthankfulnesse iustely he may to the like extremitie This confession is not the fayre flattering wordes of hypocrites lying and bathing in their pleasures but it is the mightye operation of the spirite of God who leaueth not his owne destitute of some comfort in their most desperate calamities This is then oure duety not onely to confesse our god in the time of peace and quietnes but he chiefely craueth that we auowe him in the middeste of his and our enimies And this is to doe but it behoueth that the spirite of God worke in vs aboue all power of nature And thus we ought earnestlye to meditate before the battayle rise more vehement which appeareth not to be farre of but now must we enter in somewhat more deepely to consider these iudgements of God This people entreated as we haue heard was the onely people vpon the face of the earth to whō God was rightly knowen among them onely were his lawes statuts ordinaunces and sacrifices vsed and put in practise They onely inuocated his name and to them alone had he promised his protection and assistance What then shoulde be the cause that he shoulde giue them ouer into this great reproche and bring them into suche extremitie as his owne name in them shoulde be blasphemed The Prophet Ezekiell that saw this horrible destruction forespoke by Isaiah put in iust execution giueth an aunswere in these wordes I gaue vnto them lawes that were good in the which whosoeuer shoulde walke should liue in them But they woulde not walke in my wayes but rebelled against me and therefore I haue giuen vnto them lawes that are not good and iudgements in the which they shal not liue The writer of the bookes of kings and cronicles declare this in more playne words saying the Lorde sent vnto them his prophets rising early desiring of them to retourne vnto the Lorde and to amende their wicked wayes for he would haue
in the tyme of quietnesse prosperitie can generally confesse that God is true in his promises but bring them to the extremitie and there ceasseth the hipocrite further to trust in God than he seeth naturall meanes whereby God vseth to worke But the true faithfull when all hope of naturall meanes fayleth then flye they to God himselfe and to the truth of his promise who is aboue nature yea whose workes are not so subiect to the ordinarie course of nature that when nature fayloth his power and promise fayle also therwith Let vs further observe that the Prophete here speaketh not of all deade in generall but sayth thy dead O Lorde shall liue In which wordes he maketh difference betwixt those that dye in the Lorde and those that dye in their naturall corruption and in olde Adam Die in the Lord can none except those that liue in him I meane of those that attaine to the yeares of discretion and none liue in him except those that with the Apostle can say I liue not I but Christ Iesus liueth in me The lyfe that now I liue I haue by the faith of the sonne of God Not that I meane that the faithfull haue at all houres suche sense of the lyfe euerlasting that they feare not the deathe and the troubles of this lyfe no not so for the faith of all Goddes children is weake yea and in manye thinges imperfect But I meane that such as in death and after death shall liue muste communicate in this lyfe with Iesus Christ and must be regenerate by the sede of lyfe That is by the worde of the liuing and euerlasting God which whosoeuer dispiseth refuseth lyfe and ioye euerlasting The Prophet transferreth all the promises of God to him selfe saying Euen my dead body shal arise and imediately after giueth commaundemeÌ„t charge to the dwellers in the dust that is to the dead carcasses of those that were departed for the spirit and soule of man dwelleth not in the dust that they should awake they should sing and reioyce For they should arise and spring vp from the earth euen as the herbes doe after they haue receyued the dew from aboue Tyme will not suffer that these particulars be so largely intreated as they merit as I gladly would And therefore let vs first consider that the Prophet in traÌ„sferring the power and promise of God to him self doth not vendicate to himself any perticular prerogatiue aboue the people of God as that he alone should liue and arise and not they also But he doth it to let them vnderstande that he taught a doctrine whereof he was certayne yea and whereof they shoulde haue experience after his death As he should say my words appeare to you now to be incredible but the daye shall come that I shal be taken froÌ„ you my carcas shall be inclosed in the bosome of the earth and therfore shall ye be ledde away captiues to Babylon where ye shall remayne many dayes and yeares as it were buryed in your sepulchres But then cal to minde that I sayd vnto you before hand that my body shall arise Euen so shall ye rise from your graues out of Babylon and be restored to your owne cuntry and citie of Ierusalem This I doubt not is the true meaning of the Prophet The charge that he giueth to the dwellers in the dust is to expresse the power of Goddes worde Whereby he not onely giueth life where death appaâ—antly had preuayled but also by it he calleth things that are not euen as if they were Ture it is that the Prophete Isaiah sawe not the destruction of Ierusalem much lesse could he se the restitutioÌ„ of it with his corporall eyes but he leaueth this as it were in testament with them that when they were in the extremitie of all bondage they should call to minde what the Prophet of God had before spoken And lest that his doctrine and this promise of God made vnto them by his mouth shoulde haue bene forgotteÌ„ as we are euer prone and ready to forget Gods promises when we are pressed with anye sorrow God raysed vp vnto theÌ„ in the midst of calamitie his Prophet Ezechiell vnto whome among manye other visions he gaue this The hande of the Lorde first ledde him in a place which was ful of dry and dispersed bones The question was demaunded of the Prophet if these bones being wonderous dry shuld lyue The Prophet answeredâ— the knowledge thereof appertained vnto God Charge was giuen vnto him that he shoulde speake vnto the dry bones and saye thus sayth the Lorde God to these bones beholde I shall giue you breath and ye shall liue I shall giue vnto you sinewes fleshe and skinne and ye shall liue And while the Prophete spake as he was commaunded he heard a voyce and he sawe euery bone ioyne in his marowe He saw them couered with flesh and skin albeit there was no spirit of lyfe in them he was commaunded againe to speake and to say thus sayth the Lorde God come O spirite from the foure quarters blow in these that are slayne that they may lyue And as he prophecied the spirit of lyfe came They liued and stoode vpon their feete Nowe doth the Lorde interprete what this vision ment saying Sonne of man these bones are the whole house of Israell Behold they say our bones are dryed our hope is perished we are playnely cut of but beholde sayth the Lord I will open your graues I will bring you forth of them ye shall liue and come vnto the lande of Israell and ye shall knowe that I am the Lorde This vision I say giuen to the Prophete and by the Prophete preached to the people when they thought that God had vtterly forgoten them compelled them more diligently to aduert what the former Prophetes had spoken It is no doubt but they caryed with them both the prophecie of Isaiah and Ieremie so that the Prophete Ezechiel is a commentarie to these wordes of Isaiah where he sayth thy dead O Lorde shall liue with my body they shall arise The Prophet bringeth in this similitude of the deawe to aunswere vnto that part of their fidelitie who can beleue no further of Gods promises than they are able to apprehende by naturall iudgemeÌ„t As he wold say think ye this impossible that God shall giue lyfe vnto you and bring you to an estate of a commoÌ„ wealth agayne after that ye be dead and as it were rased from the face of the earth But why doe ye not consider what God worketh from yeare to yeare in the order of nature sometimes ye see the face of the earth decked and beautified with herbes floures grasse and fruites Againe ye see the same vtterlye taken awaye by stormes and vehemencie of the winter What doth God to replenishe the earth againe and to restore the beauty thereof He sendeth downe his small and soft dewe the droppes whereof in their descending are neyther great nor visible
can sodaynely attayne to that comfort therfore most expedieÌ„t it is that we be frequentlye exercised in meditatioÌ„ of thesame Easie it is I grauÌ„t in time of prosperitie to saye and to thinke that God is our God and that we are his people But when he hath giueÌ„ vs ouer in the handes of oure enimies and tourned as it were his back vnto vs then I say stil to reclayme him to be our God and to haue this assurance that we are his people procedeth wholly froÌ„ the holy spirite of God as is the greatest victorie of faith which ouercommeth the worlde for increase whereof we ought continuallye to pray This doctrine we shall not think straunge if we shal coÌ„sider how sodainely our spirites are caryed away from our God and from beleuing his promise so sone as anye great temptation doth apprehend vs then begin we to doubt if euer we beleued Gods promises if God will fullfill them to vs if we abide in his fauour if he regardeth and loketh vpon the violence and iniurie that is done vnto vs and a multitude of suche cogitations which before lurked quietlye in our corrupted heartes burst violently forth when we are oppressed with any desperate calamitie Against the which this is the remedie once to apprehend and still to retayne God to be our God and firmelye to beleue that we are his people whome he loueth and will defende not onely in affliction but euen in the middest of death it selfe Secondly let vs obserue that the iudgemeÌ„ts of our God neuer were nor yet shall be so vehement vpon the face of the earth but that there hath bene and shall be some secrete habitation prepared in the sanctuary of God for some of his chosen where they shall be preserued vntill the indignation passe by and that God prepareth a tyme that they maye glorifie him againe before the face of the worlde that sometimes despised them and this ought to be vnto vs no small comfort in these appearing daungers to wit that we be surely persuaded that howe vehement that euer the teÌ„pest shal be that it yet shall passe ouer and some of vs shall be preserued to glorifie the name of oure God as is aforesaide Two vices lurke in this our nature the one is that we can not tremble at Gods threatninges before that the plagues apprehende vs albeit that we see cause moste iust why that his fierce wrath shuld burne as a deuouring fire The other is that when calamities before pronounced fal vpon vs then begin we to sincke downe in desperation so that we neuer loke for any comfortable end of the same To correct this our mortall infirmitie in time of quietnesse we ought to consider what is the iustice of our God and howe odious sinne is And aboue all other how odyous Idolatry is in his presence who hath forbidden it and who hath so seuerelye punished it in all ages from the beginning And in the tyme of our afflictioÌ„ we ought to consider what haue beene the wonderous workes of our God in preseruation of his churche when it hath bene in vttermost extremitie For neuer shall we finde the church humbled vnder the hands of tirantes and cruellye tormented by them but therewith we shall finde Goddes iuste vengeance to fall vpon the cruâ—ell persecuters and his merciful deliuerance to be shewed to the afflicted â–ª And in taking of this tryall we shoulde not onely cal to minde the histories of auncient times but also we should diligentlye marke what notable workes God hath wrought euen in this our age aswell vpon the one as vpon the other We ought not to thinke that oure God beareth lesse loue to his church this daye than that he hath done from the beginning For as our God in his owne nature is immutable so remayneth his loue towardes his elect alwaies vnchangeable For as in Christ Iesus he hath chosen his Church before the beginning of al ages so by him will he mayntayne preserue the same vnto the end Yea he will quiet the stormes and cause the earth to open her mouth and receyue those raging flouds of violent waters caste out by the Dragon to drowne and cary away the woman which is the spouse of Iesus Christ vnto whom God for his owne names sake will be the perpetuall protector This sawe that notable seruaunt of Iesus Christ Athanasius who being exiled from Alexandria by that blasphemous Apostata Iulian the Emperor sayd vnto his flock who bitterly wept for his enuious banishment Weepe not but be of good comforte saide he for this little cloude wil sodainely vanish A little cloude he called both the Emperor himselfe and his cruell tirannie And albeit that small appearance there was of any deliuerance to the church of God or yet of any punishment to haue apprehended the proude tirants when the man of god pronounced these wordes yet shortely after God did giue witnesse that those words did not procede from flesh nor bloud but from Gods verie spirite For not long after being in warfarre he receyued a deadly wound whether by his owne hande or by one of his owne souldiers the writers clearely conclude not but casting his owne bloud against the heaueÌ„ he sayde Vicisti tandem Galilee That is at last thou hast ouercome thou Galilean so in despite he termed the Lorde Iesus and so perished that tiraunt in his owne iniquitie the storme ceassed and the church of God rceyued now comfort Such shall be the ende of all cruell persecuters their raigne shal be short their ende miserable their name shall be left in execratoni to Goddes people And yet shall the Church of God remayne to Gods glory after all stormes But nowe shortely let vs come to the laste point For behold saith the Prophet the Lord wil come out of his place to visite the iniquitie of the inhabitants of the earth vpoÌ„ them And the earth shall disclose her bloude and shall no more hide her stayne bicause that the finall ende of the troubles of Goddes chosen shall not be before that the Lorde Iesus shall retourne to restore al things to their ful perfection The Prophet bringeth forth the eternall God as it were from his owne place and habitation and therewith sheweth the cause of his comming to be that he may take accoÌ„pt of al such as haue wrought wickedlye for that he meaneth where that he sayth He will visite the iniquitie of the inhabitants of the earth vpon them And lest that any shoulde think that the wrong doers are so manye that they can not be called vnto accompt he giueth vnto the earth as it were an office and charge to beare witnesse against al those that haue wrought wickedly and chiefly against those that haue shed innocent bloud froÌ„ the beginning And saith that the earth shall disclose her bloude and shall no more hide her slayne men Yf the tirants of the earth such as delight in shedding of bloude should be persuaded
is to purge the land from bloud and as it were to sanctifie it The earth I say shal purge her selfe of it and shew it before the face of god yea the beasts foules and other creatures whatsoeuer shall be compelled to render that which iniustly they haue receyued be it flesh bloude or bones that appartained to thy children O Lorde which altogether thou shalt glorifie according to thy promise made to vs in Iesus Christ thy sonne to whom with thee and the holy Ghost be honor praise and glory for euer and euer Amen Let vs now humble our selues in the presence of our God and from the bottome of oure heartes let vs desire him to assist vs with the power of his holy spirite that albeit for our former negligences God giue vs ouer in the handes of other than suche as rule in his feare that yet he let vs not forget his mercy and that glorious name that hath bene proclaymed amongst vs but that we may loke throughout the dolorous storme of his present displeasure and see aswell what punishment he hath appointed for the cruell tirants as what rewarde he hath layde in store for such as continue in his feare to the ende that it would further please him to assist that albeit we see his Church so diminished that it shal appeare to be brought as it were to vtter extermination that yet we maye be assured that in our God there is power and will to increase the number of his chosen euen while they be inlarged to the vttermost coastes of the earth Giue vs O Lorde hearts to visite thee in time of our affliction And that albeit we see none ende of our dolors that yet our faith and hope maye conduct vs to the assured hope of that ioyfull resurrection In the which we shal possesse the fruite of that for the which nowe we trauaile And in the meane season graunt vnto vs O Lorde to repose our selues in the sanctuary of thy promise that in thee we may finde comforte till that this thy great indignation begonne amongst vs may passe ouer and thou thy selfe appeare to the comfort of thy afflicted and to the terrour of thine enimies Let vs pray with heart mouth Almighty God and merciful father c. Lord in thy hands I commend my spirit For the terrible roring of Gunnes and the noyce of armour doe so pierce my heart that my soule thirstith to depart The last of August 1565. at .4 at after noone written indigestly but yet truely so far as memory would serue of those things that in publike preaching I spake vpon Sondaye the .19 of August For the whych I was discharged to preach Be mercifull to thy flocke O Lorde and at thy good pleasure put ende to my miserie Iohn Knoxe The Superintendents Ministers and commissioners of the Churches reformed within this realme of Scotlande assembled in Edenbrough the .xxv. daye of December .1565 to all faithfull within the same realme desire grace and peace from God the Father and from our Lorde Iesus Christ with the perpetual cōfort of the holye Ghost THE SOROWfull complayntes of all Ministers in generall and of some nowe more to be lamented in others in particuler being considered in this oure last assembly beloued in the Lord Iesus diuers men were of diuers iudgementes howe the griefe and pouertie of such as faithfully trauayle in their vocation within the Church of God might somewhat be relieued After long reasoning it was concluded that a supplication shuld be direct to the Quenes Maiestie requiring that respecte might be had to the extreme necessity of our Ministers But bicause that the necessity of our brethren is great and their pouertie present and that the remedie can not be sodaine nor yet certaine it was thought expedient that a generall admonition should be made to all the faithful to haue respect to the necessitie of the Ministers vniuersally But especially that the faithfull in euery parish haue consideration to the necessitie of suche as trauaile amongst them in true doctrine holsome exhortatiō which admonition whosoeuer dispiseth dispiseth no doubt the chiefe dutie of a christian For alas with what conscience can we eate oure owne bread and know the bowels of such as offers to vs the breade of lyfe and minister to vs spirituall things to craue of God and vs but a reasonable sustentation and yet can not finde suche fauour at oure handes as Turkes finde amongest Turkes and Iewes amongest that blinded nation Alas where are the bowels of mercy that sometyme were founde amongst the faithfull How farre is this our filthye auariounesse distant from that liberalitie which appeared in the primitiue Church when that the faithfull cast their substance at the feete of the Apostles Where is that charitie which moued the Churches of Macedonia and Achaia and other cuntries to make most liberall collectours and to send the same to relieue the indigence of the pore at Ierusalem and in Iudea Where is the zeale that was in the Galathians Philippians of whome the one would haue giuē their eyes to the Apostle Paule if that might haue supported him the other spared not to sende to their preacher being prisoner in Rome their supporte and comfort most liberally If we thinke to be partakers with suche men in glorye why studye we not to followe their vertues If this be the same Euangel of saluation as no doubt it is that the Apostles preached that now of Gods great mercy is preached to vs alas why brings it not forth some part of the former fruites if we thinke they are but men and not Apostles that nowe preach vnto vs let vs consider that the Apostles were men and receyued of men support and comforte and also that others than the Apostles were grounded for by the liberalitie of the faithfull as in the Actes of the Apostles maye be seene We haue not Paule to write vnto vs newe Epistles neyther yet Mathewe Marke Lucas or Iohn to dite vnto vs a newe Euangell bicause things written are sufficient if we vnderstande and followe the same but of Gods great mercy we haue men that open and explane vnto vs not onely writings of the new but also of the old testament We haue the seruaunts of God indued with rare and notable graces whom if we contempne it is to be feared that God shall so punish our ingratitude that he shal take from vs the light of his worde and the true messengers of the same and suffer darkenesse agayne to apprehende vs and the slaues of Sathan tirannously to impire aboue vs then woe to vs and our posteritie For better it had beene that the word of lyfe had neuer bene shewē vnto vs thā that we in our default shoulde suffer our selues to be defrauded of so great a benefite Let vs therfore begin to reuerence the blessed Euangell of our saluation Reuerence nor magnifie it wee can not when that