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
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
chambers and shut thy dores after thee hide thy selfe for a verie little while vntill the indignation passe ouer For loe the Lorde commeth out of his place to visite the iniquitie of the inhabitants of the earth vpō them and the earth shall disclose her bloude and shall no more hide her slayne A SERMON PREACHED by Iohn knoxe AS THE CONninge Maryner beinge Maister hauing his ship tossed with vehemēt tempest and windes cōtrarious is compelled oft to trauerse leaste that eyther by too much resisting to the violence of the waues his vessell might be ouerwhelmed or by to much libertie graunted to be carried whither the furie of the tempest would his ship should be driuen vpon the shore so make shipwrack Euē so doth our prophet I saiah in thys texte which presentely ye haue heard read For he foreseing the gret desolation that was decreed in the counsell of the eternal against Ierusalem and Iudah to weete that the whole people that bare the nāe of GOD should be dispersed that the holy city should be destroyed the temple wherein was the Ark of couenant and where GOD had promised to giue his owne presence should be brent with her the King taken his sōnes in his owne presence murdered his owne eyes immediately after to be put out the nobility some cruelly murdered some shamefully lead away captiues and finally the whole sede of Abraham rased as it were frō the face of the earth the Prophet I say fearing these horrible calamities doth as it were some times suffer himselfe and the people committed to his charge to be carried awaye with the violence of the tēpest with out further resistance than by pouring forth his and their dolorous cōplayntes before the maiestie of GOD as in the 13 .17 and .18 verse of this presēt text we may reade At other times he valiantly resisteth the desperat tempest and pronounceth the fearfull destruction of all suche as trouble the Churche of GOD which he pronoūceth that God wil multiply euen in such time as when it appeareth vtterly to be exterminate But bycause ther is no final rest to the whole body till that the head returne to iudgement he calleth the afflicted to pacience and promyseth such a visitation as wherby the wickednesse of the wicked shal be disclosed and finally recompenced in their owne bosomes These are the chiefest poyntes which by the grace of God we intende more largely at thy◠present to entreate First the Prophet sayth O Lord our God other Lordes besydes thee haue ruled vs. This no doubte is the beginning of the dolorous complaint in the which he first cōplayneth of the vniuste tirannye that the poore afflicted Israelites sustayned during the time of their captiuitie True it is that the Prophet was gathered to his Fathers in peace before that this extremitie apprechēded the people For a hundreth yeare after his deceasse was not the people lead away captiue yet he foreseing the assurance of the calamitie did before hande endite vnto them the complaynt that after they shoulde make But at the firste sight it appeareth that the cōplaint hath small waight For what newe thing was it that other Lordes than GOD in hys owne person ruled them seeing that suche had bene their regiment from the beginning For who knoweth not that Moyses Aaron Iosua the Iudges Samuell Dauid and other godly rulers were men and not God And so other Lordes than God ruled them in their gretest prosperitie For the better vnderstanding of this complaynte and of the minde of the Prophete we must first obserue from whence al authoritie and dominion floweth ▪ And secondly to what ende powers are appointed of God The which two poynts being discussed we shall the better vnderstande what Lordes and what authority rules beside God and who are they in whom God and his mercifull presence rules The firste is resolued to vs by the words of the apostle saying There is no power but of God Dauid bringeth in the eternall God speaking to Iudges and rulers saying I haue sayde ye are Gods the sonnes of the most highest And Salomon in the person of GOD affirmeth the same saying By me Kings raygne and Princes discerne the thinges that are iuste Of which places it is euidēt that it is neither birth influence of Starres election of people force of armes not finally what soeuer can be comprehēded vnder the power of nature that maketh the distinction betwixt the superior power and the inferior or that doth establish the royall throne of Kings but it is the onely and perfect ordinance of God who willeth his power terror Maiestie in a parte to shine in the thrones of Kings and in the faces of his Iudges and that for the profite and comfort of man so that who soeuer would study to deface that order of regimēt that God hath established and by his holy worde allowed and bring in such a confusion as no difference shuld be betwyxt the vpper powers and the subiects doth nothing but euert turne vpside downe the very throne of God which he wil to be fixed here vpon earth as in the ende and cause of this ordināce more playnly shall appeare which is the seconde poynte we haue to obserue for the better vnderstāding of the Prophets words and minde The end and cause then why God prynteth in the weake and feble flesh of man this Image of his own power maiesty is not to puffe vp flesh in opinion of it selfe neyther yet that the heart of him that is exalted aboue others shall be lifted vp by presumption and pryde and so despise others but that he shal cōsider that he is appoynted Lieutenaunt to one whose eyes cōtinually watch vpon him to see and examine howe he behaueth himself in his office Saint Paul in fewe words declareth the end wherefore the sword is committed to the powers saying it is to the punishmēt of the wycked doers and vnto the prayse of such as do well Of which words it is euident that the sword of God is not cōmitted to the hande of man to vse as it pleaseth him but only to punishe vice and maintayne vertue that mē may liue in such societie as before God is acceptable And this is the very and onely cause why God hath appoynted powers in this earth For such is the furious rage of mans corrupt nature that vnles seuere punishment were appointed and put in execution vpon malefactours better it were that man shoulde liue among brute and wilde beastes than among men But at this presente I dare not enter into the descriptiō of this common place for so shuld I not satisfie the text which by gods grace I purpose to absolue This onely by the way I would that such as are placed in authoritie shoulde consider whether they raygne and rule by God so that God ruleth them or if they rule without besides and against God of whom our Prophet here doth complayne If any lust to
tirauntes their admonition the aflicted church inestimable comfort The tiraunts that now doe oppresse shal receiue the same end that they which haue passed before that is they shal dye and fal with shame without hope of resurrection as is aforesayd not that they shall not arise to their owne confusion iust condempnation but that they shal not recouer power to trouble the seruants of God neyther yet shal the wicked arise as Dauid sayth in the councell of the iust Now haue the wicked their coūcels their thrones finally handeling for the most part of al things that are vpon the face of the earth but the pore seruāts of God are reputed vnworthy of mens presence yea they are more vile before these proude tyraunts than is very dirt and mire that is troden vnder fote But in that glorious resurrection this estate shal be changed For thē shal such as now by their abhominable liuing and crueltie destroy the earth molest gods children see him whome they haue pearced They shal see the glory of such as now they persecute to their terror and euerlasting confusion The remembrance hereof ought to make vs patient in the dayes of affliction and so to comfort vs that whē we see tiraunts in their blind rage tread vnder fote the saints of god that vtterlye we dispaire not as that there were neyther wisedom iustice nor power aboue in the heauens to represse such tirannie and to redresse the dolors of the vniustly afflicted No brethrē let vs be assured that the right hand of the Lorde will change the state of thinges that be most desperate In our God there is wisedome and power in a moment to change the ioy and mirth of our enimies into euerlasting mourning and our sorrowes into ioye and gladnesse that shall haue no ende Let vs therefore in these apparant calamities and maruell not that I say calamities apparant for he that seeth not a fier begonne that shal burne more than we loke for vnlesse God of his mercye quench it is moore than blinde Yet I say let vs not be discouraged but with vnfained repētance let vs retourne to the Lorde our God let vs accuse and condemne our former negligence and stedfastly depende vpon his promised deliuerance and so shal our temporal sorrowes be conuerted into ioye euerlasting the doubt that might be moued concerning the destruction of those whome God exalteth shall be discussed if time wil suffer after that we haue passed throughout the text Now procedeth the Prophet and sayth Thou hast increased the nations O Lorde thou hast increased the nation thou art made glorious thou hast inlarged all the coastes of the earth Lorde in trouble c. In these wordes the Prophet giueth consolation to the afflicted assuring them that howe horrible soeuer that desolation shoulde be yet shoulde the seede of Abraham be so multiplyed that it should replenish the coasts of the earth Yea that God should be more glorified in their dispersion than he was during the time of their prosperity This promise no doubt was incredible when it was made For who coulde haue bene persuaded that the destruction of Ierusalem should haue bene the meanes wherby the nation of the Iewes shoulde haue bene increased seing that muche rather it appeared that the ouerthrow of Ierusalem shoulde haue beene the verie abolishing of the seede of Ahraham But we muste consider to what ende it was that God reuealed himselfe to Abrahā and what is contayned in the promise of the multiplication of his seede and of the benediction promised therto First God reuealed himselfe to Abraham and that by the meanes of his word to let al flesh after vnderstande that without God first cal man and reueale himselfe vnto him that flesh can doe nothing but rebell against God For Abraham no doubt was an Idolater before that God called him from Vr of the Caldeis The promise was made that the seede of Abraham should be multiplyed as the starres of heauen and as the sande of the sea which is not simply to be vnderstanded of his natural seede althoughe it was sometymes greatly increased but rather of suche as shoulde become the spiritual seede of Abraham as the Apostle speaketh Now if we be able to proue that the right knowledge of God his wisedome iustice mercye and power was more amply declared in their captiuitie than euer it was at any tyme before then can we not deny but that God euen when to mans iudgement he had vtterly rased them from the face of the earth did increase the nation of the Iewes so that he was glorified in them and did extend the coastes of the earth for their habitation And for the better vnderstanding hereof let vs shortly try the histories from their captiuitie to their deliuerance and after the same to the comming of the Messias It is no doubt but that Sathan intended by the dispersion of the Iewes so to haue prophaned the whole seede of Abraham that among thē should neyther haue remayned the true knowledge of God nor yet the spirit of sanctificatiō But that all shoulde haue come to a like ignoraunce and contempt of God For I pray you for what purpose was it that Daniel and his fellowes were taken into the Kings court were commaunded to be fed at the Kings table and were put to the scholes of their diuines South sayers and Astrologians it maye be thought that it proceeded of the Kinges humanitie and of a zeale that he had that they shoulde be brought vp in vertue good learning And I doubt not but it was so vnderstanded of a great number of the Iewes But the secret practise of the Diuell was vnderstanded of Danyell when he refused to defyle himselfe with the kings meat which was forbidden to the seede of Abraham in the lawe of their God Well God beginneth shortly thereafter to shew himselfe myndefull of his promise made by his Prophete And he beginneth to trouble Nabuchodonezar himselfe by shewing to him a vision in his dreame which did the more trouble him bicause he could not forget the terrour of it Neyther yet coulde he remember what the vision and the parcels therof were Wherupon were called al diuines Interpretors of dreames Southsayers of whom the King demaūded if thei could let him vnderstād what he had dreamed But while that they answere that such a question vsed not to be demaunded of any Southsayer or Magitian For the resolution thereof onely appertained to the Gods whose habitation was not with men the charge was giuen that they all should be slayne And amongst the rest Daniell was sought whose innocencie the diuel most enuied to haue suffered the same iudgement He reclaymeth and asketh tyme to disclose that secret I onely touch the historie to let you see by what meanes God increaseth his knowledge which being graūted the visiō is reueled vnto him He sheweth the same vnto the king with the true interpretation of it
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
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
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
theues we haue tacks by them we haue interest and title to tithes and for loue of the spoile we mainetaine their murthers in oppression of the pore Let vs not be deceyued deare brethren There is no lawe made by man that can make these lawful neyther yet the substance of one to be the iust possession of an other without a iust title The tenthes were once appointed by God to the Leuites to the pore to the widow fatherlesse and straungers and the lawes of Emperours Kings and Princes did after Christ appoint the same to the like vse to wit to the sustentation of such as trauaile in the Church for the reliefe of the pore and for maintenaunce of learning Nowe say we to transfer the tythes from these vses the persons before named not being prouided for is both to commit theft sacriledge yea the spoile of the pore is in the houses of so manye as vniustlye possesse them and who they are ye haue before heard neyther shall they in the ende escape that sentence of the Prophete The malediction of the Lorde is vpon the house of the thefe But yet brethreÌ„ let vs suppose that in no sorte we did consent with those oppressioÌ„s but that we opponed our selues vnto them to the vttermoste of our powers and yet we were oppressed in our iust cause by the tirannie of vniust lawes should we yet be excused before God if we communicate not with the necessitie of the ministers of Iesus Christ Let vs be moste assured that we can not for that sentence of our Lorde and iudge standes euer in force Worthy is the laborer of his wages And againe you shall not mussell the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth forth the corne The execution of these precepts he wil alway require of you howsoeuer we flatter oure selues in our owne imaginations neyther doth extremitie of lawes nor corruption of tymes excuse vs before God of the duetie he requires of vs. Which thing did Abdias seruaunt to Achab and Iesabell rightly consider for when by them but Iesabell chieflye the Prophets of the Lord were destroied he hid in caues an hundreth Prophets of the Lorde and fed theÌ„ with bread and water that is liberallye and sufficientlye for then was water more scant in Israel than ale or wyne is as yet amongest vs. Did a man feede an hundered seruauntes of the Lorde and in that tyme when things were most scant and yet both the King and the Queene sought the subuersion of true religion and the destruction of all Gods true seruants and shal not a thousand of vs and moe that haue professed the Lord Iesus with in this realme vpon our charges sustaine two or three hundereth of such as haue trauailed and yet trauaile to aduance the kingdome of Iesus Christ amongst vs if we doe not fearefull shall the sentence be that shall be pronounced against vs by him whose voyce we shall not then be able to gainstand wheÌ„ from his throne he shall saye Depart from me ye workers of iniquitie for I was hungry and ye fed me not thirstie ye gaue me no drinke naked ye clothed me not I lacked harbrowe and ye receyued me not into your house Playne it is that Christ Iesus in his owne person neyther suffers hunger nor thrist he needes neyther clothes nor house but as him selfe in the same place saith whatsoeuer ye did not to the lest one of these that ye did not to me Let vs deare brethren ponder these wordes and let vs nowe beginne to shew the fruites of repentance and vnfaynedly to magnifie the worde of our saluation Let the bowels of our mercye be opened to oure brethren Let neuer the pestilente Papists haue cause to reioyce ouer vs that they shall hereafter saye that our own ingardenes banished Iesus Christ from vs. Which thing if without hipocrisie and of good courage we begin to doe then no doubt but God shall blesse the labors of our hande he shall restore to vs our former courage strike the hartes of our enimies with the same feare that they haue felt before It is we deare brethren it is we that hath exponed the glorious Euangell of Iesus Christ to this dauÌ„ger within this realme for while that the moste parte of vs studied for the building of our own house the house of the Lord was neglected and dispised And in the meane time hath the enimie so preuayled that we and it stand in equall dauÌ„ger saue that the spirituall house of God can neuer vtterly be suppressed But we may fal both temporally and eternally if we dispise the sermon of exhortation which calles vs agayne to our first profession If we heare obey his voice there is mercy power and good will in our God Mercy to pardon our former negligence power to represse the pride of our enimies and good will to maintaine the cause of his truth that once of his mercy he hath made to prosper in our handes O Lorde for thine owne name sake moue our heartes to consider our dueties Preserue the flock to whome thou of thy mercy hast reueled thy selfe Purge this realme of damnable Idolatry and continewe to our posteritie the light of thy worde in the same puritie that thou haste offered it vnto vs. Take our rude exhortatioÌ„ in good part deare brethren and be bolde vpon vs in all thinges not repugning to god The grace of our Lord Iesus rest with you and vs now euer At Edingbrough in our generall assembly the laste cessions thereof the .28 of December 1565. Iohn Knoxe at the commaundement of the brethren before mencioned ⧠The dispotion Ver. 13. Psal. 82. Rom. 13. Deut. 17. Iosua 1. What is required of a King or Prince The authoritie power of kings is Limmitted The dutie of Gods people â—che 20. 2. Reg. 17. Isai. Iere. 9. Eccle. 3. Isa. 3. Verse 14. Verse 15. Ezech. 8. Apoca. Verse 15. Verse 16. â—osu 24. Rom. 9. Daniell 1. Daniell 2. Daniell 3. Daniell 6. 1. Esd. 1. 1. Esd. 6. A prayer Verse 16. Psal. 119. 1. Iohn 2. 1. Reg. 22. 2. Reg. 9. Verse 17. Verse 18. Iohn 16. Verse 19 20. Verse 19. Gala. 2. 1. Pet. 1. Ezech. 37. 1. Corin. 16. Ephe. 5. Psal. 14 1. Iohn 5. Ephe. 1. Apocal. 1â— â—â—ele histo â—â—omoni 〈◊〉 5. ca. 5. Verse 2â— â—â—al Psal. A terrible but moste true senteÌ„ce The castle â—f Edenâ—rough was â—â—ooting aâ—ainst the â—xiled for â—hrist Iesus â—ake The anâ—were is the Quene can â—pare noâ—hing This is the commaundement of the spirit oâ— God Hebr. 13. Act. 2. Rom 15. 2 Corint 9. Galat. 4. Phil. 4. Let euerie maÌ„ descend within him selfe Act. 6. â—t ScotlaÌ„d â—duert â—ho are â—â—ey that â—â—uerence â—â—t the euaÌ„â—â—list of Ieâ—â—s Christ. â—â—â—od 22. Leuit. 27. Nu. 28. Deut. 12. Hebr. 4. Rom. 8. As Christ was crucified amongest the Galathians Gala. 3. Rom. 12. Deut. 17. Math. 2. Cor. 12. â—ph 4. â—et yet Scotâ—and adâ—ert Rom. 10. Gala. 6. Pro. 3. Or Leases Howsoeuer â–ª the worlde mocke this God shall aproue it Zacha. 5. â— Corin. 9. 1. Reg. 25. Math. 25. 〈◊〉 grauÌ„t â—hat this â—ay yet â—e vnderâ—â—ande for â—ft before it was heard and mocked of manye