thou wilt be our deliuerer howsoeuer it be whether we do liue or die that yet we remayning in stedfast fayth and confession of thy name may be blessed whiles we be gathered in the end into thy heauenly kingdome which thou hast purchased with the bloud of thine onely begotten Sonne Amen We haue séene before how the enemyes of Daniel which had wickedly cruelly accused hym through enuy as soone as they were cast into the denne of Lyons were torne in péeces with their wiues and children whereby the miracle did more manifestly appeare as we haue sayd Now therefore let vs learne agayne that the Lyons are so gouerned by the power of God that they do not exercise their cruelty euery where nor against all men but when God armeth thē For as it is sayd in the Psalme thou shalt walke vpon the Lyon and Scorpion and tread vpon the Lyon and Dragon So also of the contrary part God doth pronounce vpon the wicked by the Prophet that the Lyons wyll come to méete them if they go out of their house We sée then how God doth swage the cruelty of the Lyons when it séemeth good vnto him but he stirreth them vp to rage when he wyll punish men And whereas the wiues and their children were cast into the denne we must not curiously dispute whether this was a iust punishmēt or no. For it séemeth that this is a certaine rule of equity that the punishment should not extend to the giltles especially when it standeth vpon the losse of life For although at all tymes this was receaued in well ordered Cities that many punishmentes were layd vpon the children together with the parentes like as in murther and in treason where all the goods were publikely sold also in criminall iudgementes the infamy of the parentes did redounde vnto their children yet this is more strait and seuere to kill the children together with their parents seyng they can not be gilty of the same crimes But although this be not very vsuall yet is it not lawfull for vs simply to condemne it We sée how God cōmaundeth whole families to be vtterly destroyed to shew how much sinne is to be detested and abhorred and God as he is a iust iudge doth alway kéepe a measure in his seuerity Therefore this example can not be precisely condemned but it is better to leaue this at liberty For we know that the kinges of the East part did exercise cruell and barbarous dominion or rather tyranny towards their subiectes Therefore there is no cause why any man should contend much about this question It greued king Darius that he was so deceaued Therefore he doth not execute punishment vpon the wicked accusers onely because Daniel was wickedly oppressed of them but because they did hym iniury He would therefore rather reuenge himself then Daniel and he was not content to recompence them with equall punishment but he punished euen their children also 25 Afterward king Darius wrote vnto all people nations and languages that dwelt in all the world peace be multiplied vnto you 26 I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdome men tremble and feare before the God of Daniell for he is the liuing God and remayneth for euer and his kingdome shall not perish and his dominion shal be euerlasting 27 He rescueth and deliuereth and he worketh signes and wonders in heauen and in earth who hath deliuered Daniel from the power of the Lyons Here Daniel addeth the decrée of the king which he caused to be published and by this decrée and proclamation he testifieth that he was so moued with the deliueraunce of Daniel that he gaue the most high glory to the God of Israel Yet do I not thinke that the king is sufficiently proued hereby to be of sound religion as many interpreters do here commend king Darius aboue measure as though he had bene wholy conuerted and had receaued the true worship prescribed in the law of Moses No such thing can be gathered of the wordes of the decrée and the matter it selfe doth declare that hys dominion and kingdome was neuer purged from superstitions For king Darius suffered hys subiectes to serue Idoles and he himselfe ceased not to be polluted with such filthines but he would place the God of Israel in the hiest degrée as though he could couple together fire and water of the which thing we haue spokē before For the prophane men thinke that they do their duty to the true God if they do not altogether contemne hym but appoynt him some place but especially when they preferre hym aboue all the Idols they thinke that they haue satisfied god But this is foolish For except all superstitions be abolished God hath not his right for he suffereth no cōpanions Therfore this place doth not shew that there was any true or sincere Religion in kyng Darius but we may onely gather hereby that hee was moued with this miracle to this ende that hee should celebrate throughout all nations that were subiect vnto him the glory and name of the God of Israel To conclude as it was but a particulare motion of kyng Darius so he went not beyond this particulare affectiō neither did he thoroughly acknowledge the power goodnes of God but tooke hold of that onely which was before his eyes Therfore he could not generally know the God of Israel that he might giue him self to true sincere pietie but as I haue sayd he would haue him to remaine amōg the other Gods and to be ouer them but so that he should not be alone But God doth refuse this halfe worship Therefore there is no cause why Darius should so much be praysed Yet shall he condemne all those by his example which at this day do professe them selues either Catholicke kynges or Christians or defenders of the faith and in the meane season do not onely oppresse true Religion but also as much as in them lyeth do ouerthrow the whole worship of God would willyngly abolish his name out of the world exercisyng tyranny agaynst all the godly and establishyng wicked superstitions thorough their crueltie Darius shal be a worthy iudge vnto them and this decrée which Daniel rehearseth shal suffice to condemne all such Now hee sayth That this decree was written to all people nations and languages that dwelled in all the earth We sée that Darius would not onely haue the power of GOD knowne to the people which were nere him but he did study to declare it farre and wyde Therfore hee did not onely publish it in writyng thoroughout all Asia and Chaldea but euen amongest the Medes and Persians Albeit he neuer reigned in Persia but because his sonne in law had taken him into the societie of the Empire his authoritie dyd also extend so farre And thus ought it to be vnderstand whē he sayth thorow the whole earth For it is not spoken of the whole world but of that Monarchy which was spread
disobedience We sée therfore that this was spoken to amplify the crime that the king had set them ouer the prouince of Babylon they did not worship the golden Image neither honor his Gods. We sée that the Chaldees in all this accusatiō haue onely this respect to condemne Shadrah Meshach and Abednego of this crime onely that they did not obey the kinges commaundemement For they doo not dispute of theyr religion because that was not profitable for them to call into question whether the Gods that they worshipped were worthy such worship or no. Therefore they passe with silence that thing which they thinke not to be expedient and they lay fast holde of this darte that the kinges maiesty is contemned because these thrée do not worship the Image which the king by his decrée had commaunded Here agayne doo we sée that supersticious persons doo not apply theyr minde nor care to search out the true or right worship of God but casting of this care they follow onely theyr foolishe boldenes and theyr owne lust Wherefore seing such foolishe temeritie is set foorth vnto vs by the holy ghost as it were in a glasse let vs learne that our religion and worshipping of God can not be allowed by God vnlesse it be grounded of the worde of God and that in this poynt therefore the authoritie of men is nothing to be regarded For except we be assured that the religion which we follow doth please God what so euer by mans authoritie can be brought to the confirmation thereof it is weake and nothing woorthe Forthermore seing we sée these holy men charged with the crime of vnthankefulnes and also of rebellion there is no cause why we shoulde thinke much to suffer the same at thys day Those that falsely accuse vs do lay rebellion to our charge because forsooth that we despise the decrées of princes which would binde vs to their errors and blindnes But as we shall sée afterwarde we haue an easy and ready defence yet must we suffer this reproch for a while before the worlde as though we were stubburne and rebellious And though the wicked do charge vs with ingratitude and a thousand reproches moe yet must we beare theyr sclaunders paciently for a season whiles the Lord come with hys brightnes and glory to mayntayne our innocency 13 Then Nebuchadnyzer in his anger wrath commaunded that they should bring Shadrach Meshach and Abednego So these men were brought before the King. 14 And Nebuchadnezer spake and sayd vnto them what disorder Will not you Shadrach Meshach and Abednegoserue my god nor worship the golden image that I haue set vp 15 Now therefore are ye ready when ye heare the sound of the Cornet Trumpet Harpe Sackbut Psalterie and Dulcimer and all instrumēts of musicke to fall downe and worship the image which I haue made for if ye worship it not ye shal be cast immediatly into the midest of an hote fiery fornace for who is that God that can deliuer you out of my handes This hystory doth euidently declare vnto vs that Princes in dissembling some Religion haue onely regard to their owne authoritie that they may the better thrust in them selues into the place of the Gods. For this is a monstrous matter that kyng Nebuchadnezer doth here bragge agaynst all the Gods as though there were no power in heauen but that which he alloweth What God sayth he can deliuer you out of my hand And why then dyd be worshyp any other God For this cause verely to hold the people in with some bridle and so to establish his tyranny not that he had any care of holynes in his hart Daniel doth declare that the kyng was angry at the begynnyng For nothyng is more greuous to kynges then to sée their authoritie despised They wil be obeyed in all thinges though their commaundementes be most wicked Yet the kyng semeth afterward to temper hym selfe whē he asketh Sadrach Mesach and Abednego if they be not ready to worshyp his God and that Image of gold When therfore he speaketh vnto them doubtfully and doth yet propound vnto them frée choyce there is some moderation in these wordes For it semeth that he will not charge them with any crime so that they will suffer them selues to bée turned afterward But in the meane season the rage breaketh out vnder this deceaueable shew of moderation for he addeth straight wayes Vnles ye obey behold ye shal be cast into the fornace of burnyng fire And at the length he breaketh forth into that cursed sacriledge and horrible blasphemy that there is no God which can deliuer those holy men out of his handes We sée therfore in the person of Nebuchadnezer with what pride Princes do swell and are puffed vp euen where they pretend some zele of Religiō because they are not touched with any true reuerēce of the true God but will haue what soeuer they commaunde to be receiued of all men and so as I haue sayd they do rather thrust them selues into Gods place then study to worship God a right or to maintayne his glory To the same end tende the wordes which he vseth saying that he hath set vp the Image that he made As though he should say it is not now lawfull for you to consult whether the Image ought to be worshypped or no for my commaundement ought to be sufficient vnto you I haue set vp this Image not without consultatiō and reason therfore it were your duety simply to obey vnto me We sée therfore how he chalengeth most high authoritie euen in the makyng of a god For he doth not here treate of politike matters but he will haue this Image worshypped as God because he hath decréed so because he hath published his law And we must alway remember as I haue touched that this example of pride is set forth before vs that we may know how we ought to attempt nothyng rashly in Religion but that we must heare God speake so that we depend of his word and authoritie for if we sticke vnto men there wil be no end of errours Although therfore that Princes be proude and ragyng yet must we kéepe this rule that nothyng pleaseth God but that which he hath commaunded in his word and that the begynnyng of true Religion is the obediēce which we geue to God alone As concernyng the blasphemy it doth declare that which I haue spoken more playnely that is to say how soeuer they pretend Religion yet they despise all the power of God and they haue none other thyng in their harts but to set forth their authoritie and therfore they borow the name of God that they may be the more honored Howbeit in the meane tyme if it were profitable to chaunge theyr Gods a hundreth tymes euery day they would not care to do it Therfore is Religion for the most part but a pretence to earthly Princes and no true reuerence of God is in their hartes as in this prophane kyng is
euident For who is that God sayth he He excepteth no god If a man aunswere that he speaketh by comparison because he would defend the glory of his God that he worshypped yet when hée belcheth forth this blasphemy agaynst all Gods surely his arrogancy is intolerable yea it was a deuilish fury which droue him so farre Now let vs come to the chief point where Daniel declareth with how great constancy Sadrach Mesach and Abednego were endued 16 Sadrach Mesach and Abednego aunswered and sayd to the kyng O Nebuchadnezer we are not carefull to aunswere thee in this matter 17 Behold our God whom we serue is able to deliuer vs from the hoate fiery fornace and hee will deliuer vs out of thy hand O kyng 18 But if not be it knowne to thee O king that we will not serue thy Gods nor worshyp the golden Image which thou hast set vp This is the chief thyng to be considered in this hystory that these three holy men dyd remaine constant in the feare of God though they dyd know most present daunger of death to hang ouer their heades Wherefore when death was set before their eyes they turned not backe from their right course but they set more by the glory of God then by their owne life yea then by an hundreth lyues if it had bene nedefull to haue bestowed so many and that had bene graunted vnto them Daniel doth not rehearse all their wordes but gathereth a brief summe onely in the which yet that inuincible power of the holy ghost wherewith they were indued doth playnely appeare Surely this was an horrible threatnyng when the kyng sayd If ye be not ready to fall downe before the Image at the blast of the trumpet ye shall the same houre bee cast into the firy fornace When the kyng thundered after this maner they might be shaken as mē For we know how deare life is vnto vs how the feare of death smiteth all our senses But Daniel rehearseth all these circumstances that we may know that there is more strength in the seruauntes of God when they are led with his spirite thē that they should geue place to any threatninges or fall downe for any terror They aunswere the kyng that there nedeth no long consultation For in that they say that they are not carefull they signifie by this word that the matter is determined as that worthy saying of Cyprian is reported by Augustine Whē the Courtiours did counsell him that he should regard hys lyfe for the Emperour dyd agaynst his will iudge hym to torment whē flatterers dyd thus vrge him of euery side to saue his life by deniall of Religion he aūswered In a matter that is holy or of Religiō there nedeth no deliberation So do these holy men say We care not that is we neuer enter into consultation or deliberation what is expedient what is profitable No this is already concluded that we by no meanes will bee drawne from the pure worshyp of god If thou read it we ought not to aunswere thee it will be almost the same sense For they declare that the feare of death is in vayne set before them for they are vtterly determined and their hartes settled not to swarue one straw bread from the true and lawfull worship of God. And here they do vse two reasons to reiect that which the kyng propounded They say that God hath power and strength enough to deliuer thē Agayne though they should dye yet that they do not so much esteme lyfe that they will deny God to prolong it Therfore they declare them selues to be ready to dye if the kyng will so rigorously vrge them to worshyp the Image This place is worthy to be noted For first this aūswere is to be learned that when men are about to bryng vs to deny God we must shut our eares and take no farther aduisement For euen then begyn we to do great iniury vnto God when we dispute whether we may decline from hys pure worship or no what so euer cause may therunto moue vs And would to God this were well knowne to all men that the glory of God doth excell and surmount all thinges that all must be brought law when the diminishyng or obscuryng therof is intended But this craft beguileth many now a dayes that they thinke it lawful to way as it were in balance whether it be better for a tyme to turne from the true worshyp of God when any profite doth offer it selfe of the other side as we do sée at this day such dissemblers of whom the world is full to haue their colours to cloke their wickednes when either they worshyp the Idoles with the wicked or els they deny either priuely or openly the true Religion O what is to be done the man that is in any office will say I sée how much good I can do if I dissemble a little and do not shew my selfe what I am for this playnes would not onely hurte me priuately but all others If the kyng haue none that may sometymes pacifie his anger the wicked thereby shal be vnbridled and haue their will and libertie to driue hym vnto all cruelty It is better therfore that some kéepe a meane and so hearken and lye in wayte what the wicked do and so though they can not do it openly yet by some secret practises they may turne away the daunger from the heades of the godly When they obiect these Argumentes they thinke that God is aūswered As though Sadrach Mesach and Abednego could not haue pretēded the same or as though it had not come into their mindes thus to say behold we are now armed with some authoritie to helpe our brethrē and what a barbarous crueltie will be executed amongest them if the open enemyes of Religion come into our place for as much as lyeth in them they will dostroy and roote out of the earth our nation and all memory of true Religion Is it not better then that we for a tyme gyue place vnto tyranny and to this cruell commaundement of the kyng then to leaue our place destitute which straight wayes shall be occupyed with outrageous enemyes who will vtterly ouercome our miserable nation which is to much oppressed already I say they might haue gathered all these clokes and colours to excuse their infidelitie if for the auoydyng of daunger they had knéeled before that golden Image but they do not so Therfore as I haue already sayd thē hath God his due and true honor when his worship is determined with out all doubtyng and that we are fully persuaded in this that nothyng ought to be so deare vnto vs that we may thinke it lawfull to swarue though neuer so litle from that profession which hée commaundeth and requireth in hys word To be short here is that securitie which ought to confirme the true worshyppers of GOD set agaynst all the craftes and croked counsailes which they inuēt that do lose the cause of lyfe for the
clothed vpon this mortalitie Paul affirmeth that men naturally can not be brought willyngly to go out of the world except as is sayd before that fayth get the victory But whē we vnderstand that our inheritaunce is in the heauens that we are straungers in the earth thē do we put of the desire of this earthly lyfe whereunto we are to much addicted These two are the thynges then which do prepare the childrē of God vnto Martyrdome that they doubt nothyng to offer thē selues and theyr lyues into the handes of God for a sacrifice that is to say if they be persuaded that theyr lyfe is preserued of God and that he wil be an assured deliuerer if he sée it to be expedient Agayne when they clime vp aboue this world and aspire vnto the hope of that eternall and euerlastyng lyfe so be ready to forsake the world And in their wordes a great magnanimitie may bée noted when they say Be it knowen to thee O king that we worshyp not thy Gods neither the Image that thou hast erected for here they accuse the kyng after a sorte that he wil be so arrogant to appoint Religion at his pleasure Thou hast set vp an Image but thine authoritie is to vs of no valure for we know that it is a fayned God whom thou wilt haue to bée worshipped vnder this Image But the God whom we worshyp hath opened hym selfe vnto vs and declared that he will not be worshypped vnder any Image We know that he is the maker of heauen and earth and that he hath redemed our fathers forth of Aegypt that he would chasten vs whē he cast vs forth into this banishment Because therfore a sure stabilitie of our faith is manifest vnto vs we vtterly despise thy God thy commaundemēt in this point 19 Then was Nebuchadnezer full of rage and the forme of his visage was chaunged agaynst Sadrach Mesach and Abednego therfore hee charged and commaūded that they should heate the fornace at once seuen tymes more then it was wont to be heat 20 And hee charged the most valiant men of warre that were in his army to binde Sadrach Mesach and Abednego and to cast thē into the hote fiery fornace At the first sight God séemeth here to forsake hys seruantes because he doth not openly helpe them The kyng commaundeth them to be cast into a fiery fornace no helpe appeareth from the heauens Wherfore this was a full and perfect triall of their fayth They were now armed as we did sée before to suffer all things For they do not aunswere so constantly onely because they trusted in the present helpe of God but because they were determined to dye and a better life dyd so comfort their mindes that they were content to lose this present lyfe This was the cause that they were not afrayde for the terrible cōmaundement of the king but they followed theyr course euen to suffer death without all feare for the honor of god For there remayned no thyrd thing but eyther to chuse to dye or els to deny the worship of the true god By the which example we are taught to premeditate this immortall life in our quiet state that if it so please God we do not doubt to lay downe our liues for the testimony of the truth for this is one cause why we are so fearefull Agayne when we doo come into present daunger then doo we tremble and quake because whiles we are forth of danger we vaynely imagine to our selues a continuall securitiy So long therefore as God geueth vs quietnes we must apply our myndes to meditate the life to come that the worlde may waxe vile vnto vs and that we may be ready so oft as néede shal be to geue our bloude for the testimony of the truth For this history is not set forth vnto vs that we should onely commend and magnify the vertue and constancy of these thrée holy men but it is set forth for vs to imitate theyr constancy And concerning the king Nebuchadnezer here Daniel agayne as it were in a glasse doth shew vnto vs the pride and arrogancy of kinges when theyr commaundementes are not obeyed Surely a hart of yron should haue bene mollified with this answere that Shadrach Meshach and Abednego did commit theyr liues vnto God and therfore could not for feare of death be drawn from theyr fayth But he is filled with anger Cōcerning this rage we ought to consider what power Sathan hath ouer mē whē he hath them in his clawes They haue no moderation nor rule of themselues although at other times they make a fayre shew of vertue As this king had many tokens of vertue as we haue sene before but because the deuill doth now styr hym there appeareth nothing in hym but crueltie and rage Forthermore let vs remember that our constancy doth please God although it doo not shew forth the fruite therof before the world For many vnder this colour spare themselues to liue in their pleasures because they thinke it a rashnes to offer themselues to death when there appeareth no profit And many excuse themselues vnder this pretence that they striue no more for the glory of God because they should lose their labour and theyr death should be fruitles But we doo heare Christ pronoūce this to be a pleasant sacrifice vnto God when we offer our liues for the testimony of the heauenly doctrine although the generation before whom we testify the name of God be crooked adultrous yea though it waxe the more stubbern at our constācy And such an example is here set forth vnto vs in these thrée holy persons For how so euer Nebuchadnezer waxed more more outragious with their bolde confession yet did that playne confession please God and they did not repent it although they did sée no such fruit of theyr constancy as they desired And the prophet doth expresse the circumstance to declare the kinges rage that he commaundid the fornace to be made seuenfolde hoater then it was wont and chused of his strongest men to cast these into the fornace But as it appeareth by the successe all this was done by the secret prouidence of god For the deuill might els haue obscured the miracle if all doubtes had not bene remoued But when the king commaundeth the fornace to be made seuenfolde hoater and did chuse out his strongest men to doo the execution God by deliuering his seruauntes tooke away all doubtfulnes that the more light should shine forth of that darkenes which Sathan thought to haue blinded men withall the kinges policy and his power Thus God vseth to disapoynt the wicked and the more witty that they be to obscure Gods glory the more doth God cause both his glory and his doctrine to shyne forth Like as here as it were in an image Daniel doth paynt vnto vs that the king Nebuchadnezer left nothing vndone whiles that he would thus smite a terror vnto all the Iewes with this
of Daniel appertayneth that the stone wherby all the kyngdomes which fought agaynst God were broken was not formed nor fashioned by mans hand and though it were rude and vnpolished yet dyd it grow into a great mountaine Of the which thyng I thought good to admonish you that amongest the thondryng threatnyngs you should quietly wayte that these empty cloudes may be driuen away by the heauenly power and so vanish Yet am I not ignoraunt to passe ouer the fires of thirty yeares what vnworthy troubles ye haue suffer these last sixe monethes how ofte in sundry places the tumultuous people haue broken into your assemblyes how oft you haue bene assaulted with stones and with swordes how your enemyes haue layne in wayte for you that they might oppresse your peaceable congregations with suddayn force at vnwares how some haue bene slayne in their owne houses some in the hye wayes how the bodyes of the dead haue bene trailed in derision the womē rauished many men wounded one woman great with child and her child also thrust through the houses broken and pulled downe But although more cruell thynges were yet at hand that you may declare your selues the Disciples of Christ rightly instructed in his schole you must indeuour your selues that no rage of the wicked which deale so outragiously do driue you from that moderation whereby hetherto onely they haue bene ouercome and disapoynted And if so be that the length of tyme do make you weary remember oftentymes that famous Prophecy in the which the condition of the Church was liuely expressed God declared then vnto his Prophet what battayles what troubles what griefes and perils the Iewes should suffer from the end of their captiuity and ioyfull returning into their countrey vntill the commyng of Christ Now the likenes of times causeth the same thyngs to be agreable vnto vs and therfore may be applyed to our vse Daniel reioyced for the miserable Church which had ben long drowned with a depe floude of miseries when he collected by the count of the yeares that the day of deliueraunce spoken of by Ieremy the Prophet was at hand Howbeit he had an aunswere that the state of the people should be more greuous after that liberty were restored so that they should scantly haue any breathyng tyme from their continuall miseries Daniel continued hys hope seuenty yeares not without great and bitter sorow and many griefes but now God increasing the tyme seuenfold doth strike hym to the heart as it were with a deadly wound Neither doth he yet onely pronounce that the people should be subiect to new troubles when after long tyme they beyng restored had gathered strength had built their Citie and Temple but in the first begynnyng of their mirth when they had scarce tasted the swetenes of the comfort he doth appointe them vnto misery Now concernyng the calamities which folowed soone after wherof there is a long rehearsall seyng we tremble at the hearyng onely of them how dolefull and bitter do we thinke they were to the rude people how horrible and fearefull a spectacle was it to see the temple prophaned by the bold malice of a cursed tyrant the sacrifices mixed with filthy pollutiōs in despite and all the bookes of the law to be burned to destroy all Religiō and all those to be drawen to the same fire who soeuer dyd confesse playnly and constātly that they would perseuere and continue in the worshyp of God How could the tender and weake behold this without great feare of heart And this was the purpose of the tyraunt that cruelty should driue the weakelynges to fall from their Religion Vnder the Machabees there semed some release to be offered the which yet was straight after deformed with most cruel slaughters and neuer wanted sorrow and grief For where as their enemy did farre excell them both in multitude and warlike munition they all thought nothyng better which had taken weapons for the defence of the Church then to hide them selues in the dennes of wild beastes or to wāder in wildernes with great pouerty and scarcity of all thynges There was also an other kynde of temptation that wicked hipocrites vnder a false pretēce of zeale as Daniel sayth did ioyne them selues to Iudas and his brethren By the which subtilty Sathā spotted the garisons that Iudas had collected with great infamy as though they had ben a bande of theues and robbers But nothyng was more lamentable vnto good men then to see the Priestes them selues as euery man was caried with hys ambition to betray the Church and the Religion of God with wicked packyngs and practises Neither was that holy office onely sold and made a marchandise but it was bought with mutuall slaughter and parricides Hereof came it that all states of men all though Circumcision and sacrifices were in vse were polluted in the ende through the manifold corruptions which spred euery where without punishment that it was a straunge wonder to wayte for the kyngdome of God when Christ came into the world and very few are therfore named with this commendation If now in that miserable deformity of the Church in the manifold desolations amongst those great terrours the spoylyng of their countreys the robbyng of houses and amongest the daūgers of death the Prophecy of Daniel hath susteined godly mindes when as Religion was yet wrapped in darke shadowes and the doctrine almost extinguished and the Priests themselues beyng degenerate dyd tread all holy thynges vnder foote how shamefull shall our tender weakenes be vnles this cleare light of the Gospell in the which God hath shewed his fatherly face towardes vs lift vs vp aboue all impediments and stablish vs with a constancy that can not bee wearied For as there is no doubt but that the seruauntes of God then dyd apply vnto their age to mitigate the sorowes of their present miseryes all such things as were spoken by the Prophetes of the Babilonicall captiuity so is it our part to haue our eyes bent vpon the miseries of our fathers that we refuse not to be gathered vnto that Church vnto whom it is spoken O thou poore one affiicted and tossed with tempestes that hast no comfort behold I will receaue thee and the which in an other place after she hath cōplained that the plowers haue plowed theyr backe and the wicked haue made long forrowes as it were in a field yet doth she glory straightwayes that their cordes were cut by the iust God that they could not preuaile And the Prophet hath not onely encouraged vs by the examples of those tymes to hope and to patience but he hath ioyned an exhortation taught by the holy spirite which is extended to the whole kyngdome of Christ and is peculiar vnto vs. Wherfore let it not be greuous vnto vs to be comprehended amongest the number of them who as Daniel sayth Must be tryed by fyre that they may be made white seyng that the inestimable felicity and glory which springeth therof
this thy Sonne whom already thou hast geuen vnto vs and hast established hys authoritie and hys diuine and eternall power by so many miracles and hast sealed the same as well by the publishing of thy Gospell as by the seale of thy holy spirit in our hartes and doest confirme the same by dayly experience that wee may remayne firme and stable in hym and that wee neuer turne from hym neither that our fayth fayle at ane tyme whatsoeuer Sathan attempt agaynst vs but that we may perseuer in the course of thy holy vocation whiles that at length we may be gathered into that eternal beatitude and blessed state of rest which is purchased vnto vs by the bloud of thine only begotten Sonne So be it 46 Then the kyng Nebuchadnezer fell vpon hys face and bowed hymselfe vnto Daniel c. 47 Also the king sayd to Daniel of a truth your God is a God of Gods a kyng of kinges c. That Nebuchadnezer worshiped God and Daniel though in some part it may be commended yet in some respect it is blame worthy for though he acknowledged the God of Israell to be the true God yet doth he geue part of Gods honor vnto a mortal man as many tymes men without knowledge do mixe heauen and earth together because that they alwayes fall to their superstitions though they haue sometymes some good motions And it is playne that this confession of the kyng was but particular for he dyd not wholly returne vnto God from hys Idolatry and errours but was astonished for the present and returned afterward to greater madnes as foloweth in the next chap. And thus many tymes God compelleth the wicked to geue testimonies to hys glory when yet they reteyne their vices and fall forthwith to their accustomed wickednes as it is playne afterward Wherby we may learne that it is not enough though a man with open mouth prayse the power and wisedome of God vnles he cast all superstitions forth of his hart and so hold of one God that he defie all others For there can not be required a playner confession then this and yet we sée that Nebuchadnezer was still reteined in the snares of Sathan because he holdeth still hys false Gods and thinketh it enough to make God of Israel the chief The which folie appeareth euidently amongest the Papistes which graunt the name of God and Christ but they rob away all the power and giue it vnto other creatures after their fond imaginations and they are not so good as this prophane kyng for they will not geue him the whole gouernement but fayne man to haue frée will and all thynges to runne by chaunce or that the heauen and earth accordyng to mās merites or demerites do their endeuours and office Thus make they mans frée will the cause of all and so robbe God of his honor This is their madnes ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seyng mans hart is so full of hypocrisie that there is nothyng more hard then to purge it from all lyes errors feynyng dissimulation that we may learne to examine our selues fully and substancially and also that thou wilt so shyne vnto vs with the light of thy spirite that we may verely know our hyd vices and that thou wilt driue them farre away from vs that thou onely mayest be our God and that true holynes may preuayle amongest vs and that we may geue thee pure and vnspotted worshyp and honor and that we may lyue with vpright consciēces in this world and so be content euery one with our own state that we study alwayes for the commoditie of our brethren whiles that at the length we bee partakers of that true glory which thou hast prepared for vs in the heauens by Iesus Christ our lord Amen Chap. 3. The Texte KYng Nebuchadnezer made an Image of gold The height therof was lx cubites and the breadth therof vj. cubites and he set it vp in the playne of Dura in the prouince of Babel NEbuchadnezer after that hee had professed the God of Israel to be the true God doth fall agayne to this foule Idolatry wherein after the custome of the Idolaters hee vttereth his owne pryde and ambition Wherein God would haue his wicked hart to be made manifest Who might haue bene thought by hys former confession to haue bene wholly chaūged but by this it appeareth that in his fayrest shew of wordes he remained wicked And as this is the maner of all superstitious persons when they pretend their Religiō and thinke that they serue their God yet will they be seene and praysed of the world so many tymes they will mixe policie with their Religion to bryng men into an vniformitie And these two thinges are heare manifest His Idole is so costly and great that his fame must nedes spred and he straitly chargeth all nations both Iewes and Gentiles vppon payne of death to ioyne in this Idolatry Thus for policie he will stablish one Religion in all the nations that were vnder hym lest by the mixture of the Iewes that were stiffe in theyr religion or by any other people any tumult might arise and by such tumult any shakyng or diminishyng of his dominion Thus do many Princes when they publish lawes for Religion rather regarde their owne quietnes and commoditie then what God requireth by his word And this bold temeritie hath bene amongest them from the begynnyng that sometymes they would make new Gods sometyme they would appoynt GOD a law how he should be worshypped but they would rarely or neuer subiect them selues onely wholly to the word of god Whereby their madnes is manifest that whiles they pretend to worshyp God they set them selues aboue God and worshyp their owne fantasie and folie They thinke it is not for their Princely dignitie to be in obedience vnder God or to set forth his word simply but they wil haue their procedynges to bée of more authoritie and puttyng in the name of the Kyng or the Quéene they thinke the matter is preiudicate and sufficient that GOD may be worshipped none other wayes then it pleaseth them and as they haue decréed by their authoritie And in such commaundementes we may sée that al those which depend onely of their fathers and antiquitie are easily ouercome to chaunge their Religion and they onely are able to stād fast agaynst such thunderyng threatnynges of Princes which haue their consciences grounded vpon Gods holy word And this is to be noted that the king doth not cōmaunde any to professe with their mouthes that this is a GOD or that it hath any diuinitie but hee onely requireth the outward gesture Whereby we may sée that they are worthely condemned of Idolatry that do the outward gesture be it for feare or fauour either that they do dissemble such a matter as many do amōgest the Papistes and in other places We must worshyp God in spirite and truth and also with outward profession not onely to exercise our selues in the
any decrée published of religion and of the worship of God except the true knowledge of God confirme it and be sene in it Nebuchadnezer verely in thys decrée had a good ground but as I haue sayd it was onely a particular motion in hym But they that wyll now bée counted Christian Princes do onely rage vnder the pretence of a zeale and so lyke cruell beastes do shee l innocent bloud Wherefore Because they do not discerne betwixt the true God and the Idols But this shal be touched afterward Nebuchadnezer doth extol the God of Israel But how doth he know that he is the high God Verely by one token of hys power onely But he despised that which was the principall to vnderstand by the law and the Prophetes who that God was and what was hys wyll So do we sée the glory of God to be maintayned but in one part only and in the meane season that which was the chife in hys worship and in true holynes to be despised and left out The punishment is great that he should be cut in péeces and hys his house made a Iakes which speaketh blasphemy against the God of Israell Where we note that seuerity is not to be condemned where the true worship of God is maintayned euen wyth sleit punishmētes But we must be assured of a true iudgement in the cause But of this also I wyll speake afterward As for that which followeth that there is none other God which can deliuer after this maner it doth confirme that which I touched before that this king did not regard in hys decrée eyther the law of God or any other part of religion but onely that he was moued by this miracle so that he neither could nor would suffer any thing to be spoken in reproch agaynst the God of Israell Wherfore thys onely thyng is worthy blame in this decrée that he doth not enquire nor search who is that God that he may be drawen by a sure perswasion to publish the decrée 30 Then the king promoted Sadrach Mesach and Abednego in the prouince of Babell Thys séemeth to be of small importance yet is it not written in vayne but for thys purpose that we may know that thys miracle was ratified through the whole prouince and countrey when all the Chaldees did know that these thrée men were cast into the fiery fornace which afterward had agayne the kynges power and were restored to theyr former dignitie Seyng thys was done the power of God could not be vnknowen For it was like as if God had sent forth thrée preachers throughout the countrey which should proclaime in euery place how meruelously God had deliuered thē frō death by hys singular benefite Whereby also it myght be vnderstand that all the Gods which were thē worshipped in Chaldea were of no value seyng that great God whose Image the kyng had set vp was despised and yet that thys cōstancy was allowed of the true God which had deliuered hys seruauntes from death ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seyng thou art knowen vnto vs by the doctrine both of the law and the Gospell and doest vouchsafe dayly to open thy wyll familiarly vnto vs that we may remayne stable and stedfast in the true obedience of that doctrine wherein perfect iustice is manifested vnto vs and that we neuer be moued frō thy worship nor turned away from thy seruice and whatsoeuer commeth vnto vs that we may be ready rather to die a hundreth deathes then to turne from the true profession of thy religion in the which we know that our saluation consisteth that so we may glorifie thy name that we may be partakers of that glory which is purchased vnto vs by the bloud of thyne only begotten Sonne Amen ¶ Chapt. 4. by true diuision for here beginneth the preface to the proclamation 31 Nebuchadnezer king vnto all people nations and languages that dwell in all the world peace be multiplied vnto you 32 I thought it good to declare the signes and wonders that the hye God hath wrought toward me 33 How great are his signes and how mighty are his wonders his kingdome is an euerlasting kingdome and his dominion is from generation to generation Daniel doth first speake here in the kinges person afterward he declareth what came to the king But it may seme strange that Daniel sometimes bringeth in the king of Babylon speaking then speaketh he in his owne person and afterward bringeth in the king speaking him selfe Howbeit seing this varietie doth neither obscure the sense nor make it doubtfull we ought not to be troubled therewith The summe of this chapter is Because that Nebuchadnezer was playnly taught that the only God of Israell was to be worshipped and he was compelled to confesse this for a space yet because he departed not from hys supersticions yea and what so euer he had conceiued of the true God it rested not in his hart but vanished away by and by therefore is he worthely punished like a beast for so great ingratitude God would haue him to be more and more blinded as he vseth to doo with the reprobate and sometimes with the elect also When they will runne from sinne to sinne God lowseth them the reyne till they cast them selues down headlong Afterward eyther he reacheth them his hand or he draweth them backe with hys secret power or bringeth them into order by hys rods and corrections and so humbleth them Thus dyd he with the king of Babylon We will consider the dreame afterward but here we briefely note that the king was admonished that he might perceiue in the end that he had no excuse of his stubbernes and contempt God might worthely in déede haue stricken hym as soone as hee dyd sée that he was not truely conuerted but before God would punish hym so seuerely as we shall sée afterward he would monish hym to proue if there were any hope of repentance And although he dyd séeme to receiue that thing with great modesty that God declared by the dreame and Daniel dyd interpretate vnto hym yet dyd he professe with hys toung that which he had not in his hart And thys thing is manifest because that where he ought to haue trembled to haue bene carefull and to take héede vnto him selfe yet ceased he not from hys pride but boasted him selfe to be a king of kinges Babylon to be the quéene of all the world Because therefore he dyd speake so proudly after he was admonished by the prophet we perceiue that the dreame dyd nothing profit hym But God by this meanes would make hym more inexcusable Agayne although no fruite therof did straight wayes appeare yet by long processe of time when God touched his hart he did know more playnely that this punishment was sent vnto him of god Therefore was this dreame an entrey and as it were a preparatiue to repentance And lyke as the séede semeth to putrify in the earth before it bring forth his fruite so also