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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nation_n	earth_n	lord_n	praise_v	1,666	5	9.1227	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19076	Tvvoo bookes of Saint Ambrose Bysshoppe of Mylleyne, entytuled: Of the vocation and callying of all nations. Newly translated out of Latin into Englyshe, for the edifiying and comfort of the single mynded and godly vnlearned in Christes Church, against the late sprong secte of the Pelagians ... By Henry Becher minister in the Church of God ...; De vocatione ominum gentium. English.	Ambrose, Saint, Bishop of Milan, d. 397.; Prosper, of Aquitaine, Saint, ca. 390-ca. 463.; Leo I, Pope, d. 461.; Becher, Henry, fl. 1561.	1561 (1561)	STC 549; ESTC S100123	79,647	298

sayinges and ouercome when he is iudged Neyther may the complaynt of him that is damned be iust nor yet the arrogancie of hym that is iustified bee true If eyther the one saye he hath not deserued to be punished or y e other say that he hath deserued grace And lyke as those sayinges the whiche I haue declared out of the holye scryptures for the settynge forth of grace cannot be confuted nor stayned by any reason or craft of disputacion so that so great a nomber of sentences playnely agreynge together in them selues myghte bee drawen or wrested into any vncertaintie of a false exposicion Euen so also that that is founde in the same body of the scriptures touchynge the saluation of all menne cannot be reproued by any contrarye argumentation So that the harder the same is to be vnderstanden and apprehended with so muche the more laudabler fayth it ought to bee beleued Great is the force of consent to whom thaucthoritie is sufficient to folow the truth yea although the reason of it be vnknowen Therefore let vs diligently consider what the Lorde commaundeth the preachers of the Gospell For in Saint Mathewes Gospell he sayeth thus All power is geuen to me both in heauen and in earth Go your wayes therefore and teache all nations baptizinge them in the name of the father and of the sonne and of the holy ghost teachyng them to obserue all thynges that I haue commaunded you And beholde I am with you alwayes vnto the ende of the worlde And in Saint Marke it is sayde to the same Apostles on this wyse Go ye into all the worlde preache ye the Gospell to euery creature and whosoeuer shall beleue and bee baptized the same shall be saued but whoso wyll not beleue shalbe dampned Is there anye difference made here of anye nation or of anye menne in thys commaundement He hath excepted no man for merite he hath seperated no man for hys stocke or linage he hath made no difference of the state of men The Gospell of the Crosse of Chryste was sent euen to all men And leste the ministerie of the preachers shoulde seeme to bee done by the onely woorke of manne beholde sayeth he I am with you alwayes euen vnto the worldes ende That is to saye when ye shall enter in as shepe amonge wolues be not afraide of youre owne infyrmitie but put youre truste in my power whiche vnto the ende of the worlde wyll not forsake you in all this worke or businesse Not to the ende that ye shoulde suffer nothynge but that that muche more is I wyll brynge it so to passe that ye shall not be ouercome with the ragyng crueltie of any tyrauntes For in my power shall ye preache and by me it shal come to passe that euen amonges the denyers and those that speake agaynst you yea euen amonges those y e rage against you Abrahams childrē shalbe raised vp of stones I wil put into theyr mindes whatsoeuer I haue taught and I wyl perfourme that whiche I haue promised They shal betray you in theyr counsayles and shall scourge you in their sinagoges and for my names sake shall ye stande before Kynges and Rulers in a witnesse to them and to the gentiles But when they shall delyuer you vppe take no thought howe or what ye shall speake for it is not ye that shall speake but the spirite of your father that speaketh in you For the brother shall betray the brother vnto death and the father the sonne and the Chyldren shall arise against their fathers and mothers and shall put them to death and ye shall be hated of al men for my name sake But whosoeuer shall endure vnto the ende he shall bee saued The grace of GOD oure Sauyoure hath therefore appeared sayeth the Apostle vnto all menne and yet were the gyftes of grace hated of all men And whyle there were some that hated other some that were oppressed with the hatred of them that persecuted yet was there neyther of the parties depriued of the name of all men the portion of the rebelles hauynge the losse of theyr saluacion but the dignitie of the faithfull obteynyng the nombre of al fulnesse For the Apostle Saincte Iohn saith But yf any man sinne we haue an aduocate with the father euen Iesus Christe the righteous and he is the propiciation for our sinnes and no● for our sinnes only but also frr the sinnes of the whole world And it is a misterie of a great vnspekable Sacramēt that vnto those preachers to whom it was said Go ye into al y e world preach the Gospell to al creatures vnto the same was it sayde afore ye shall not go into the waye of the Gentyles and into the Cities of the Samaritanes shall ye not enter but rather go ye to the loste sheepe of the house of Israel For though the Gospell shoulde be directed vnto the vocation and callyng of all men and the Lord would al men to be saued and to come to the knowledge of the trueth yet notwithstanding he hadde not taken away from himselfe the power and aucthoritie of his dispensation so that the order of his councell shoulde run otherwyse then he had appointed in his secrete and iust iudgement wherefore the murmuringes of obstinate mens complaintes take no place For it is sure that whatsoeuer GOD would haue done ought not to be done otherwise the he wold And in tyme paste what tyme the Lord Iesus sate in the glorye of God the father and the preachers of the worde dyd labour in the businesse that they had taken vpon them the Apostles wyllynge to preache the worde in Asia were forbidden of the holye ghoste And when they purposed to goe into Bithynia they were forbydden of the spirite of Iesus Doubtlesse not that the grace of God was denyed to that people but as it shoulde appeere it was protracted delayed for a time For afterwardes the Christian fayth was of power among thē also But what the cause was of the deferring of their calling it is not knowen And yet are we taught by the example of the thyng that done it was because that amonge generalles whether they bee promises or workes or els preceptes God knoweth by a secrete reason how to ordeyne and dispose certayne thynges beyng excepted from the common causes I beleue for that intent that those thyngs which shine more dymlye hauing shadowes ouer them myght apeere the more marueylous to vs when we see them least our sight should become the more dull and negligent through the facilitie and easynes of the sight therof and shoulde after a certayne maner slumber in accustomed thinges yf it were not styrred vp by vnaccustomed thynges And we haue knowen these incognoscible delayes of illuminations to haue happened in manye houses and families amonge whō doubtlesse many peryshe in vnbeliefe not onelye amonge the wicked whiche are farre from the trueth but also euen in the Cities of the

sacrifice to GOD when the Apostles and they which were of one mynde with them being full of the holy ghost spake in the tongues of all nacions A greate multitude of men of dyuers Nacions beynge moued with the miracle came together that in thē that were present al the whole world might heare the Gospell of Christe For there came together as it is wrytten the Parthians and Medyans the Elamytes and they that dwell in Mesopotamia men of Iurye of Cappadocia Pontus and Asia Phrigia and Pamphilia of Egipte and the parties of Libia which is about Ciren and straungers of Rome Iewes also and Procelites Creteans and Arabians hearyng the great workes of god to be preached of in their owne tongues Whose testimonie also myght ren foorth both in length breadth vnto those nacions whiche were farther beyonde them To theffect and woorkyng whereof we beleue that the Romaine kyngedome was enlarged through goddes prouidence that the Nacions whiche shoulde be called to the vnitie of the bodye of Chryste myght firste be associated together vnder one vngodly power Howebeit the grace of Chryste hath not bene contented to haue those same limittes that the Romaine kingdome hadde For it hath subdued at this tyme with the scepter of the Crosse of Christe manye nacions of people whom the other ouercame not with feates of armes Who also is made more amplye by the gouernaunce of the Apostolicall priestehood in the tower of Religion then by the seate of power For peraduenture lyke as we knowe certeyne Nacions to be nowe adopted into the felowshyp of the chyldren of GOD whiche thynge they once desired not Euen so now there are certeine Nacions in the vttermost partes of the worlde on whom the grace of our Sauiour hath not yet shone And we doubte not also concernynge them but that in the secrete iudgemente of GOD the tyme of theyr vocation and callynge is appoynted wherein they maye may heare and receiue the Gospell the whiche they haue not yet seene To whom yet that measure of the generall helpe which from aboue is alway geuen to all men is not denyed Though mans nature be woūded with so greuous a wound that voluntary contemplacion and beholding is not able fully to enstructe anye man in the knowledge of God excepte the true lyght do first driue awaye the darkenesse of the harte the which knowledge the iuste and good God of his vnsearcheable iudgement hath not so plenteouslye spread abrode in tymes paste lyke as he hath done in these last dayes Wherof the Apostle Paule wrytynge to the Collossians calleth it the misterye whiche was hydde from worldes and generations but nowe is declared vnto his saintes to whom God would make knowen the richesse of this glorious secrete among the gentyles which is Christ in vs. ¶ The .vii. Chapter WAs this misterie also vnknowen vnto the Prophetes And did not thei by whō the holye ghoste did speake know those thinges wherof they spake I thynke playnely it maye not so be vnderstand but that that mistery was hydde from the Gentyles which the Lord reuealed when he wold and to whom he wold For of the callyng of the Gentyles the whiche were not the people of God and on whom aforetyme he had not mercy it is thus sayde in the Deuteronomie And the Lorde sawe it and he waxed zelous and he was wroth ouer his sonnes doughters and he sayd I wyl tourne away my face from thē and I wyll shewe them what theyr ende shalbe For it is a frowarde generation chyldren in whō there is no fayth They haue angred me with that whiche is no God and prouoked me with theyr vanities And I also wyll prouoke them with those which are no people with a foolyshe nacion wyll I anger them And Dauid foretelleth these thinges that all nacions shall worship God saying All the Nacions whom thou haste made shall come and worshippe before thee oh Lorde and shall glorifie thy name And agayne he saith All the kynges of the earth shall worshippe hym and all nacions shal serue him And agayne In hym shall all the linredes of the earth be blessed and all nacions shall magnifie him Esayas also sheweth the lyke thynges saying And it shall come to passe in the laste dayes that the hyll of the Lord shalbe manifest and the house of God vppon the toppe of the mountaynes and it shalbe exalted aboue al lytle hylles and all nacions shall come vnto it And agayne he sayth And the Lorde of Sabaoth shall bryng to passe saith he that all Nacions shall dryncke wyne vppon this hyll with gladdenesse reioysing In this hyll shall they be annoynted with oyntment he shall geue al these thinges to the gentyls for this is his deuise vppon all the gentyles And againe he saith And the Lorde shall shewe his holye arme in the syght of al the gentyles and al the Nacions of the earth shall see the saluacion which is of the Lorde And agayne Beholde strangers shal by me come vnto thee and shall flie vnto thee And afterward The nacions whiche haue not knowen thee shall call vpon the and the people which were ignoraunt of thee shall flie vnto thee Oseas also prophecieth the lyke thynges saying And it shal come to passe that in the place wherin it was sayd vnto them Ye are not my people there shal they be called the chil dren of the lyuynge God And the chyldren of Iudah and the chyldren of Israell shall be gathered togéther into one And agayne I wyll haue mercy on her that was not beloued and I wyl say to them that are not my people Thou arte my people and they shall saye Thou art my God And in the Apopostles times when they which were of the circumcision beleued in Christ dyd thinke that they which were Gentyles and were called Preputians or fore skynned coulde not be parttakers of the iustyfyíng of grace The blessed Apostle Peter teacheth howe inseperable bothe those people are with God yf both of thē come together into the vnitie of fayth Assone as I began to speake saith he the holy ghost fel vpon them as he dyd vpon vs in the beginnyng And I remembred the worde of the Lorde howe he sayde Iohn verelye baptized you with water but ye shalbe baptized with the holy ghost Therfore if God haue geuen them lyke grace as he hath done vnto vs whiche haue beleued in the Lorde Iesus Christ who was I that I shoulde haue withstande God When they heard these thinges they helde theyr peace and glorified God saying Then hath God geuen vnto the Gentyles also repentaunce vnto lyfe Iames the Apostle also of this callyng of the Gentyles saith Ye men brethren harken vnto me Simon hath she wed you how God at the begynning did visite the Gentyles receiued of thē a people vnto his name And vnto this agreeth the wordes of the Prophetes as it is wrytten After these thynges wyll I retourne

also mens wittes although they do not filthilye serue the lustes of theyr bodies but frame their desires accordyng to the lawes of Iustice honestie yet obteyne they nothing aboue the reward of a tēporall praise And though they decently garnyshe this presente lyfe yet haue they not the reward of eternall blisse for they referre not their good deedes good studies to the prayse honour of him of whom they receiued that they were able in y t reasonable discretion to come to more profounde vnderstanding and to appeare more excellenter then other men For although some mē haue bent the entent of their vnderstādinges not onelye to the learnyng of most profitable artes and doctrines of liberall sciences but also to the knowlege of y e moste hygh God and haue beholden the inuisible thinges of god by the knowledge of those thinges which he hath made yet forasmuch as thei gaue not thankes to God nor confessed him to be the aucthour of that knowlege and facultie but sayd that they them selues were wyse that is they gloried not in GOD but in them selues as though they had attayned to the knowledge of the truth by their owne connynge and reason they haue come to nought in their cogitations And that whiche they had founde out by the grace of God whiche gaue them lyght they lost through pride whiche made them blynde fallyng againe from the heauenly light vnto their owne darknesse that is to wete from the immutable and eternal God vnto mutable and corruptible nature Wherfore when such fal backe again into the loue of them selues in suche wyse do please them selues that all thyng that they iudge commendable in them selues they referre it not to the gyftes of god but do chalenge it vnto themselues and ascribe it to the studies of theyr owne wylles they are banished farre from the spirituall wyl haue nothyng in them selues whereby they maye be promoted to euerlastyng lyfe begynnyng in them selues to corrupte also those temporall gyftes of god to translate themselues from theyr good vse into the custome of innumerable vices For though it be wrytten that when the hygheste deuided the Nacions lyke as he dispearsed the childrē of Adam he appointed the nacions their limittes accordyng to the numbre of the Angels of God and his people of Iacob became the portion of the Lorde and Israell the lotte of his inheritaūce And though it be written that the Lord said vnto Israell ye shalbe holy vnto me for I the Lord your god am holy which haue chosē you for my selfe out of all Nacions And though it be writtē in the boke of Hester by Mardocheus saying O Lorde we geue thee thākes for thou hast done new signes wonders such as haue not ben done among y e Heathen deuiding al the world into two partes hast chosen thy selfe one part of thy people leauing the part to y e gentiles And though Paule and Barnabas saye we are mortall men like vnto you admonishyng you to conuert to the liuing God who made heauen and earth and the sea and all thynges that are in them which in times past suffred all nacions to walke in theyr own wayes Although therfore that the Scripture of veritie doeth pronounce these and many like sayinges yet we beleue most humbly confesse accordynge to the same Scriptures that the care of Gods prouidence neuer fayled the vniuersal nombre of men who though he directed vnto Godlinesse by speciall institucions and lawes a certeine people excepted to him selfe yet hath he not withdrawen the giftes of his goodnes from any naciō of men That thei might be conuinced that thei haue receiued the voyces of the Prophetes and the preceptes of the lawe in the obsequies and testimonies of the Elementes Wherfore also thei became with out excuse because they made the gyftes of God their Gods and they did reuerence and worshippe those thynges that were created for theyr vse Into the which vngodlynesse also euen the same nacion that the Lorde had segregated to hym selfe out of all nacions had wholly turned thē selues had not the purpose of his mercye pretended to staye the backslydynges of his elected For the bookes of the olde Testament are full of relacions of the fallynge awaye of the people of Israell that it maye playnly appeare that the grace of GOD was euer the cause whye all that people departed not wholly frō the lord On this wyse the nature of mā being defyled in the transgression of the first man is euer redy and bent to the worse wyll yea euen in the middes of the benfites of the preceptes and aydinges of god Vnto the which wyll to be committed is nothing els then to be geuen ouer or let runne astraye This wyll therefore is waueryng vncertaine vnstable vnexperte weake to brynge anye thyng to passe readye to darre take any thyng in hande blind in desires hye mynded in honour doubtefull in cares vnquiete in suspicions more desirous of prayse then of vertue more diligēt to get a fame then a good conscience and by all experience of it selfe more miserable in hauynge the thynges that it desyreth or lusteth for then in beyng without them It hath nothynge in it owne power but onlye a redynesse to runne in daunger For the mutable will that is not ruled and gouerned by the immutable wyll doeth so much the sooner approche to iniquitie as it is more earnestly bent to anye action Wherfore so long as those thinges do please a man whiche do displease God his wyll is carnall For though he vse good maners yet liueth he euyl if he liue not to the glory of god For this is a thing that is proper the chiefe thynge of them that are godly that they glorye reioyce in the Lorde do not loue thē selues but in God For they loue them selues wel y t loue the workes of God in them selues For God also loueth the thyng in vs that he hath made and hateth that which he hath not made Therfore yf we loue the work of God in our selues then loue we rightly a good wyll in vs the which if it were not the worke of Godde doubtlesse it ought not to be loued And what man is it except he be of an euyll wyll that loueth not a good wyll in him selfe which is the first planting of the heauenly husbandman For the veritie hym selfe saith Euerye plant that my heauenly father hath not planted shalbe plucked vppe by the rootes What thyng soeuer is not to be plucked vp by the roote it is manifest that the same is planted of the father And a good wyll is the fyrste budde of all vertues who leaninge vppon her originall beginninge restith in the eternall and immutable wil to the ende it maye be made verye spirituall For he that cleaueth to god is one spirite with hym whyle through the Communion of the geuer of lyght and him that is lightened the iustifier and hym that is iustified

beleuers whyle thei which are to become Christians are agaynst the Christian faith For many shall loue that they haue hated and shall preache that that they do not nowe alowe And among these thynges who shall make it knowē vnto these murmuters or curious searchers whye the Sunne of ryghteousnes shyneth not yet to some Nacions and why also the veritie which is to bee reuealed hereafter withholdeth at this tyme her bright beames from the hartes that are so ful of darknes why thei which are to be refourmed afterwardes are suffred so long to go astray and why that that is geuen to olde men in the end of theyr lyfe is not geuen them by so long a time before Whye the chyldren beleue nowe in Christ and the parentes do not yet beleue And agayne why an euyll childe differeth vtterly from his godlye and religious parentes And yet notwithstanding prayers are dayly made to god which is both the geuer of the begynnyng of faith also of then crease therof according to his cōmaundement so that both yf he mercifully do heare the grace of his mercy maye be knowen and also yf he do not fauourably heare the trueth of his iudgement maye be vnderstanden And also in times past euen the same grace whiche after the resurrectiō of our Lorde Iesus Christ was spred abrode euery where and of the which it is wrytten Thy illuminacions hath shone abrode to all the worlde was not lacking in the worlde For though it can not be denyed but that the people of Israell were elected by a speciall regarde and mercye of God and all other Nacions were suffred to walke in theyr owne wayes that is to saye were suffred to liue after theyr owne wyll yet notwithstanding the euerlastyng goodnesse of the Creatoure dydde not so tourne away it selfe from those menne that he dyd not admonysshe them by some significasignifications both to knowe hym and also to feare hym For heauen and earth the sea and euery creature which may be seene knowen was chiefly ordeyned for this profyte and vtilitie of mankynde to the entent that the reasonable nature through the beholdyng of so manye kyndes of thynges throughe the experience of so many good thynges throughe the receipte of so many gyftes might be instructed to the worship and loue of his maker the spirite of God replenyshyng all thynges in whom we lyue moue and haue our beynge And though that health be farr from sinners yet is there nothing voyde of the presence and power of his saluacion Therfore as the Prophete saith The earth is full of the mercy of the Lorde that neuer fayled anye tyme or any generacion And he dyd euer bestowe that same prouidence by the whiche he doth geue and preserue al thinges to the gouernaunce succouryng of nature hauyng ordinarilie prepared and appointed by the immutabilitie of his eternall councell vnto whom and what he hym selfe woulde distribute in theyr seasons and also the vnsercheable and inuestigable measures of his manyfolde grace wherby he wold diuersly geue distribute his giftes and diuine misteries For like as the liberalitie and large nesse of this grace which last of all had her influence vppon all Nacions doeth not euacuate that which fell vpon one Israell vnder the lawe nor the rychesse presente do not abolysshe the faith of the former penurye and scarsenesse Euen so lykewyse we muste not imagine of that care and regarde of God whiche properly gouerned the chyldren of the Patriarches that the mercifull gouernaunces of God were withdrawen from the residue of men who surely in comparison of the electe seeme to be but abiectes but they neuer were repelled from both manifest and secrete benefites For we reade in the Actes of the Apostles that Paule and Barnabas the Apostles sayde to the Lycaonians Ye men why do ye these thynges We also are mortall men lyke vnto you preachyng vnto you that ye shulde be conuerted frō these vaine things vnto the liuing god who made both heauen earth the sea al things in thē conteined who in times past suffred al nacions to wander theyr owne wayes And yet lefte he not hym selfe without witnes in that he sēt vs his benefites in geuyng vs rayne frō heauen fruitfull seasons fylling our hartes with foode and gladnesse And what witnes is this which euer serued y e Lord neuer kept silēce of his goodnes power but that same vnspekable bewtie of the whole world the rych orderly liberalitie of his vnspekable benefites by y e which certein tables of y e eternall law were written in the heartes of men that the cōmon and publike doctrine of gods institucion myght be read in the bookes of the elementes The heauens therefore and all the heauenlye bodyes the sea the lande and all that euer is in them dyd preache the glorye of GOD with the consonant hermony of theyr kinde and ordinacion and by that perpetuall preachyng they vttered the maiestie of theyr maker And yet notwithstandyng the greatest nombre of men which were suffred to walke the wayes of theyr owne wyll dyd neyther vnderstande nor folowe that lawe And the sauoure of lyfe whiche smelled vnto lyfe became vnto them the sauour of death vnto death so that also euen in those visible testimonies it myght be learned that the letter kylleth but the spirite geueth lyfe The .ii. Chapter THat thyng therfore whiche was done in Israell throughe the ordinaunce of the law and the doctrine of the Prophetes that same the testimonies of all creatures the marueylous workes of God dyd continuallye among all nacions But forasmuche as among that people Nacion to whom bothe those kyndes of erudicion was geuē no manne was iustified but by grace throughe the spirite of fayth who doubteth but that they which were able to please God of what Nacion so euer they were or in what tyme soeuer they were were discouered by the spirite of gods grace The which grace though afore tyme it was both more scarse and more priuie and secrete yet did it neuer denie it selfe at any tyme in one power in dyuers quantitie in immutable counsell in manyfolde operation For euen in these dayes wherein the ryuers of vnspeakable giftes do water y e whole world one maner is not geuen to all men nor yet one measure For thoughe all one and the same veritie be preached to all men by the ministers of the woorde and of the grace of God and al one and the same exhortacion geuen yet is it the husbandry of God and the buyldynge of God whose vertue woorketh inuisiblye that that whiche is buylt may go forwarde and that that which is tylled maye growe and encrease as the Apostle Paul witnesseth saying What is Apollo and what is Paule his ministers are they whom ye haue beleued euen as the Lord hath geuen to euerye man I haue planted Apollo hath watered but GOD gaue the encrease So then neither is he that

planteth any thing neither he that watreth but God that geueth the encrease He that planteth and he that watreth are one neither of them better then other yet shall euery man receiue his rewarde according to his labour We are gods labourers ye are gods husbandry ye are goddes buyldynge Therefore euerye man is so farre forth an helper a workeman and a minister of this husbandry and buyldyng as the Lord shal geue vnto euery man And those whiche are tylled through the laboure of the ministers do encrease vnto that measure whereunto the aucthour of the encrease shall aduaunce them For in the field of the Lorde there is not al like and one maner of plantynge And though the buyldyng of al an whole temple do agree into one beautie yet haue not al the stones therof one place nor one vse Lyke wyse also in a bodye euery membre hath not one office as the Apostle saith But nowe hath God disposed and ordered the membres and euery one of them at this owne pleasure And wherof these sayde membres become apte wence they become profitable and whence they become so beautiful the same doctour declareth saying Therefore I do you to vnderstande that no man speakinge in the spirite of God defieth Iesus and no man canne call Iesus the Lord but by the holy ghost And there be diuersities of graces and yet but one spirite and there are differences of administrations and yet but one Lorde and there be diuers maner of operations and yet but one God which worketh al in all The gyft of the spirite is geuen to eueri man to edifie with al For to one is geuen through the spirite the vtteraunce of wisdome To another is geuen the vtteraunce of knowledge by the same spirite to another is geuen fayth by the same spirite to another power to do miracles To another prophecie To another iudgement or trial of spirites To another diuers tongues To another the interpretacion of languages And al these thinges worketh one and the same spirit deuiding them to euery man euen as he wyll Seynge that the teacher of the Gentyles hath shewed these thynges with so great a lyght and suche a playnesse by what reason or for what cause should we doubte of it Doth not the budde and beginning of al vertue springe to vs from GOD Also who except he be to mad wil complayne of the difference of Gods giftes Or thinke that it is to be ascrybed vnto vnlyke merites that it is not equallye geuen of the heauenly liberalitie For yf thys distribution shoulde come from hym according to the merites of any workes that went before the Apostle woulde neuer haue knitte vp the cataloge and rehearsall of those giftes with such a conclusion as to say Al these thinges worketh one and the same spirite deuidinge vnto euerye man as he wil where no doubt yf he woulde haue the causes to be vnderstande of merites he would haue said deuiding vnto euery one as they deserue Like as he promised a rewarde of deuotion to the planters waterers saying Euery mā shall receiue hys owne rewarde according to his worke therfore it is geuen to eueri mā w tout merite wherby he mai come to merite And it is geuen afore anye labour whereby euery man may receyue rewarde accordynge to his laboure The which thinge to be euen so is also knowen bi the testimonye of the euangelicall trueth whereas by a certayne comparison it is sayde that a certayne man goinge into a farre countrey called hys seruauntes and deliuered vnto them his substaunce and vnto one he gaue fiue Talentes and to another two and to another one to euery man according to hys abilitie that is to say according to theyr proper and naturall possibilitie and not according to theyr proper merite For it is one thynge to be able to worke and another thynge to worke and it is one thing to bee able to haue charitie and another thing to haue charitie and it is one thynge to be capacious of Charitie of iustice of wisedome But it is another thing to be chast iust and wise Wherfore euery thinge that is repayrable is not repayred nor euery thinge that is curable made hole For it commeth of nature to be repayrable and curable but to be repayred and cured is of grace And to conclude those to whō an vnlyke number of Talentes was geuen vnto accordynge to the measure of the capacitie that the distributour of the substaūce foresaw in them they did not receiue the reward of merite but the matter or substaunce of the woorke in the whiche the vigilant diligence of the two seruauntes is not only honorable rewarded with gloryous prayses but also is commaunded to enter into the euerlastyng ioy of theyr Lorde But the dul ydelnes and slouth full wickednes of the thyrde is no suche wyse punyshed that both is he dyshonored with an opprobrious checke and also is dispatched of the porcion or talent that he hadde receyued for worthye was he to lose his vnprofitable fayth that had not exercised charitie Wherfore in the wordes folowing wherin moste euidently is declared the maner of the iudgement to come when the sonne of man shall sytte in the seate of hys maiestie all nations beinge fyrst gathered together some are led to the ryghte hande and other some shall bee set on the lefte hande When he hath praysed those on his right hand for the workes of charite nothing is els obiected to them on the left hande but the neglectinge of mercy and louynge kindnes These therefore hadde also receyued fayth but they had not folowed loue Neyther shall they bee dampned because they haue not kept the gift but because they haue not encreased it For although that all good giftes are of god yet some of them are geuen of God vnasked to the intente y t by those whiche are receiued those may be sought which are not yet geuen The sede y t is sowen in the ground is not sowen to y t intēt it should remaine only y e same but y t in bringing forth fruit it shuld become manifold great nomber the prosperitie wherof commeth from hym that geueth the encrease But nowe a ground beyng lyuely and fruitfull through the raine of grace hath that that is looked for of it accordyng to that that it receiued to be increased ¶ The .iii. Chapiter THese thynges as I suppose and as far as the Lorde hath geuē me knowlege beyng rightly handled let vs retourne vnto that from whence oure disputacion made digression that is to say to the consideration of the differences wherby the workes and gyftes of gods grace are variated and made diuerse The high nesse of the rychesse of Goddes knowledge and wisdom whose iudgementes are vnsearchable and his wayes paste fyndynge out hath alwayes in such wise moderated his merci and iudgement that in the moste secrete wyll of hys eternall counsayle he wold not that the measures of his giftes should be

declared the holy Scripture doth tell plainly Forasmuch as by that ark which was of so wonderfull wydenesse y t it receiued al kindes of beastes so much as belōged to the store of encrease the Church was figured which was to bee gathered together out of all nacions of men vnto it selfe when by a tree and by water the redemption on the Crosse and the wasshyng of regeneration is opened when in them that were saued frō that destruction of the worlde the fulnesse of all the Gentilles is blessed when the blessynge of the encrease of mankynde is renewed and libertie encreased to eate what men list strangled and bloud only forbodden And the securitie and sauftie of our saluacion was consecrated in the testimonie of the bowe of manye colours that is in the sygnes of manyfolde grace The whiche Sacramentes and misteryes verely dyd not onely enstruct those fewe men of one housholde that were then but also in them all theyr pasterities and ofspring to the entent that the thyng that was geuen to the reformation of the parentes might profite towardes the instruction of the Children And nowe when in processe of tyme the posterities and generatiōs of men were increased the great number of mortal mē were waxē proude of theyr multipliynges and according to the height of theyr pryde went about to builde them a tower of an vnmeasurable buyldynge that it shuld reach vp vnto heauen How meruailous was the censure of gods iustice in repressing of that theyr arrogant presumption which did confound that one onely speache of those people that was so consonante and agreeable with significations that were knowen to euery man amonge themselues in to the diuersitie of .lx. and .xii. tougnes that the agreement of the workmen perishing in disagreable voyces the purpose of theyr mad enterpryse myght be brokē and that he myght cause them to inhabite vppon all the whole face of the earth thorow the necessarye scatterynge abrode of an euill gathering together And the myracles of the Christian grace were foreordayned in that woorke of Goddes prouydence whiche should afterward call together all them that were so dyspersed into the couplement of that buyldyng wherein euery knee boweth to GOD and euery tongue confesseth that Iesus Christ is in the glory of the father This same largenesse of grace dyd the promyse of Godde that was made to Abraham declare to be opened nowe in the fulnesse of the times appointed by more euident tokens what tyme as his double succession that is to wete the children of the flesshe and the chyldren of promesse was compared to the multitude of grauell stones of starres And the olde man beyng farre from the hope of hauyng anye issue throughe the aged barreynnesse of his wyfe beleued in a cōmendable faith through the issue of one sonne that he should be y e father of the whole worlde foreseeyng or rather beholding him in his sede that sayde Abraham sawe my day and reioysed By the which fayth whē Abraham was iustified he had not yet receyued the commaundement of circumcision but his faith was counted to hym for righteousnes when he was yet in his naturall prepution or vncircumcision And that same fayth receyued the seale of circumcisiō in that same member wherby the seede of procreation might come vnto that fleshe wherein without all carnall seede God the sonne of GOD the worde might become fleshe and bee borne of Abrahams daughter euen the Virgin Mary takinge all men into the felowshippe of this his natiuitie and byrth which beynge borne agayne in Christ by the holie ghost shoulde beleue the thynge that Abraham beleued ¶ The .v. Chapiter ANd this faith was holdē within one stocke of people before that seede came of whom it was said to Abraham In thy seede shal all nations of the earth bee blessed the hope of our redemption beyng alyue amonge the true Israelites For although there were some of the straunge nations whom it vouchsafed the veritie to lyghten in the tyme of the lawe yet were they so feawe that it coulde scarce be knowen whether there were any or no. Neyther for all thys were the nations to bee holden excused which beyng enstraunged from the conuersation of Israell hauynge no hope and beynge without GOD in this world peryshed in the darkenesse of ignoraunce For thys aboundaunce of grace that now wattereth all the worlde dyd not flowe aforetime with like plenteousnesse for there was euermore a certayne measure of the heauenly doctryne geuen vnto all men whiche notwithstandynge it was of a more scarce and secrete grace yet was it sufficient as the Lorde iudged it vnto some menne for a remedye and vnto all menne for a testimonie that it myghte appeare not doubtfullye but euydently that except where sinne was aboundaunte there grace had beene more aboundaunt the lyke wickednesse hadde also blynded all mankynde nowe in these daies Whether peraduenture are there better wyttes in these oure dayes as some men bable then were of olde time haue the latter tymes brought forth myndes y t were more apt to receyue Goddes gyftes The whiche thinge if it were so yet ought it to bee ascribed to the goodnes of the authour which made suche myndes as were not afore that the people might be called vnto eternall life But there is nothinge innouated or new chaunged in the carnal generation neither is y e ofspringe of the successours growen more genteller then theyr auncestours But rather in the men of that tyme wherein the redemer of the worlde came Looke howe muche more duller that progeny and ofspringe was become so much the stronger was iniquitie founde in them The vngodly fury of the Iewes proued thys right well And howe apte that generation was to the Gospell of Chryst not onely the hartes of the common people but also the heartes of the Scribes Princes and Priestes haue declared To whō it was but a trifle to waxe woode in crueltie and tirannye agaynst the lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the worlde by sedicion contumelies and reproches spittinges buffettes and blowes stoninges scourginges and at the last by crucifiyng him on the Crosse contrary to the testimonie of the law contrarye to the oracles of the Prophetes contrary to y e practising of godly vertues But also thei persecuted the witnesses of hys resurrectiō with the like fury madnes The whiche the Apostles when thei were scourged of y e high Priestes shewing the same out of Dauids psalm sayde Lorde thou art he that haste made heauen earth the sea al that are in them which in the holy ghost by the mouth of thy seruaunt Dauid our father hast sayd Why do the heathen rage the people imagine vayne thynges The kynges of the earth doe stande vp and the rulers haue assembled together agaynst the Lorde and hys annoynted for of a suretie both Herode and Ponce Pilate with the gentiles and people of Israell haue assembled together in