¶ The true and perfect copie of a godly Sermon preached in the Minster at Lincolne by the reuerend Father in God Thomas L. Bishop of Lincolne the. 28. of August ANNO. 1575. ¶ Imprinted at London by Henrie Middleton for Rafe Newberie dwelling in Fleetestrete alitle aboue the Condite To the Reader WHeÌ„ I perceiued the earnest good will of some vvich tooke paines very busilie to get this sermon so exquisitely penned as it vvas pithilie spokeÌ„ had therwithal had the view of the halfe as it vvere the maimed copie of the same more zealously then skilfully collected I into vvhose handes by the meanes of a friende this true and perfecte copie came thought my selfe to be blame vvorthie if I should denie to further the honest desire of welmeaning christians The excellencie of the thing made manie men to request it and the desire of many made me to print it hoping that among manie some vvil take profite by it â–ª fare vvell ¶ A Sermon no lesse godly then necessarie preached in the Minster at Lincolne by the reuerende Father Thomas Cooper Byshoppe of Lincolne on the xxviii day of August 1575. Treating on the xvi Chapter of Matthewe verse 26. 27. as followeth QVid prodest homini si totum Mundum lucratus fuerit animae suae iacturam c. The last day dearely beloued you hearde how swéetly gently and louingly our sauiour Christ spake vnto vs with most tender and â—inde heart called vs to follow him and assured vs to haue care of our saluation If you love me sayde he keepe my commandements assuring vs withall of his singular graces and benefites of his holy spirit that he woulde not onely teache vs and be our guide but that he and his Father woulde come and dwell in vs and so make our fraile bodyes as it were the Temple of the blessed Trynitie And not only that he would make his dwelling place in vs but also abyde with vs for euer that we might by him enioye eternal life These swéete allurements should not onely moue the hart of Christians to pietie and godlinesse but also cause vs to haue an earnest carefull consideration of our soules health and not to neglect this time of grace whereinthe long suffring of God doth mercifully call vs to repentance But lamentable it is and it woulde make any true Christian heart bléede to consider that the most part of vs are not onely so carelesse and negligent but so dul of hearing and so heard harted as we take no héed of gentle speche we be not mooued with swéete allurements yea we be so a slepe in securitie as no sounde or noyse of Gods mercie will wake vs out of our deadly flomber Wherefore séeing mercie and mildenesse will not preuaile with our carelesse mindes séeing swéete and gentle speeche wil not waken our sléepie and sluggish hearts we must be contented this daye to heare him make terrible proclamation of his iustice and to put vs in minde of that dreadfull danger that we shal fal into vnlesse we spéedely haue regard vnto our souls VVhat doth it auaile a man saith he if he win the vvhole vvorlde and loose his owne soule for it shal come to passe that the sonne of man c. The somme of Christes spéeche is this The sonne of man assuredlie shall come vvith mightye povver to iudge the vvorlde and giue to euerie man according to his deserts therfore it behoueth you to haue care of your soules This short argument comprehendeth great and ample matter of some part whereof I meane at this time by Gods sufferance to speak and first of the Antecedent and then of the conclusion First therefore I will let you vnderstande that the daye of iudgement shall be and that spéedely Secondly how and after what sort it shal be And then wil I adde the conclusion how we shoulde haue care of our soules and prepare our selues for the comming of that day That there shal be a iudgement If there were no more places in the whole scripture this one might be sufficient especially if we consider who it is that speaketh it that is Christ our Sauiour the Sonne of God and trueth it selfe It shal come to passe saith he that the sonne of man shal come in the glorie of the Father with his Angels and then shal he giue to euerie man according to his doings But beside this testimonie the holy Ghost in sundry places of the Scripture beareth witnesse to the same Novv saith S. Paul God denounceth to al men in al places that they should repent because he hath set a day vvherein he vvil by that maÌ„ vvhome he hath appointed iudge the vvorlde in righteousnesse And againe vve al shall appeare before the iudgement seate of Christ that euerie man may yelde to God an accompt for him selfe And to the Corinthians vve must al appeare before the iudgement seate of Christ that euerie man maye receiue the vvorkes of his bodie according to that he hath done be it good or badde But what should I stand in rekoning vp of manie testimonies seing the holy Scriptures are ful of them And therefore the Apostles of Christ after theÌ„ the holy Fathers of the first Church haue layd it downe as a necessarie article of Christian faith the denying or doubting wherof must nedes subuert al Christian religion and make vs the most miserable of al men Wherefore Christians that haue féeble and wauering faith in these miserable and daungerous dayes must séeke by all godly meanes to strengthen their consciences herein Wherevnto this reason following must be of great waight and importance with al them that haue any sense of God. The Prophetes of God many hundred yeres before Christ came in flesh denounced vnto the worlde that the true Sauiour Christe Jesus should be sent to worke the redemption of mankynde and descriueth his Conception his Natiuitie the place and maner of his birth his state and condition in the world finally his death his resurrection and ascention All which things we sée haue vnfallibly come to passe many yeres since Therefore those things that they haue prophesied of the last day and of his comming to iudgemeÌ„t must also proue as true and as certeinly in due time come to passe But happily many be so farre gon in heathenishe infidelitie that they beléeue not the Scriptures yea they will scoffe and scorne at this talke and thinke it is no better thaÌ„ a bug to feare babes withall Yea and these happyly shall be in no small place and countenance in the world For the world is so great with them that they forget God altogether Of these speaketh S. Peter There shall come sayth he in the latter dayes scorners vvalking after their ovvn lust and saying vvhere is the promise of his comming For since the fathers slept all things continue a like from the beginning of the creatioÌ„ Who heareth not such voyces spread coÌ„moÌ„ly among the
whom when it pleased God in a vision to declare that state of the worlde that should be euen to the end thereof by the figure of the foure beastes he described y foure Empires that should follow one the other before the ende The Babylonians by a lyon whiche should be destroyed and eaten vp by the Beare of the Persians and that consumed and wasted by the foure Leopards of the Gretians and that rent and torne and trampled vnder foot by the terrible monster of the Romanes after which there is no mention made of any other Empire but onely that litle horne that grewe out of the Romanes Empire to great might and power by which is ment the king dome of Antichrist that shall fight against the Saints of God in the latter ende of the worlde Which kingdome of Antichrist now this many yeares hath shewen it selfe in the power of the Turke and of the Pops Now derely beloued waigh these things The Empire of the Babylonians continued not long after this vision but was subdued by the Persians The Empire of Persia continued 231. yeares and was conquered by Alexander and the Gretians The Gretian empire in Alexander and his successours deuided into foure kingdomes prospered about 300. yeres and after great and longe warres was consumed by the Romanes which in growing declyning hath now continued aboue a thousand yeres and an halfe and is come euen to the last pinche euen to the féete and toes mixed with brasse and claye as the same Daniel descriueth it Chap. 9. to note the weakenesse and small strength thereof in the ende For who séeth not nowe y the empire is almost nothinge and consisteth onely of a fewe free Cityes in Germanye For all the residue it hath left vnto the worlde as all men may sée the power of the Turke and of the Pope which both haue rysen and continued very neare about one time For Mahomet in Arabia and the Pope in Rome beganne their vsurpation within twelue yeres together Nowe immediately in the ende of the Romane Empire and power of Antichrist Daniell describeth the comming of Christ to iudgment And I beheld sayth Daniell vntill the thrones vvere set vp and the ancient of dayes did sit and so forth in suche sort as you shall after heare in the description of the laste iudgement Seing therefore experience of times hathe taught vs the trueth in the former part of this prophesie touching the rysing succession and decaye of other kingdomes we must néedes beléeue if we haue any Christian fayth in vs y the same spirit of God will performe the like trueth in the residue and that the ende of the worlde and the last iudgement shall folowe vpon the decaye of the Romane Empire and by the comming of our Sauiour Christ vtterly destroy and pull downe the power of Antichriste The seconde testimonie of the holy Scriptures for the aproching of the last daye in S. Paule to the Thessal Let no man deceiue you sayth he by any meanes For the Lorde shall not come except there come a falling avvay first and that the man of sinne be reuealed first the sonne of perdition what doth S. Paul meane thinke you by falling avvay vndoubtedly a great and wonderfull reuolting and falling from the fayth of Christ Nowe call to your remembrance that within a meane number of yeres after Christes ascention all the thrée partes of the worlde submitted them selues to the fayth of Christ as the hystories do euidently declare All Asia euen to the vttermost partes of the Indians All Affrike euen to the extreame borders of the Aethiopes All Europe without exception of any part Adde also the Iles about the mayne land among which we of this Realme of England are Conceiue wel in your mynde this general profession of Christian fayth that then was ouer all the earth and then viewe and consider in your myndes the state of Christianitie at this day and vndoubtedly you shal perceiue a maruellous reuolting and falling from the fayth of Christe to haue bene nowe a good many yeres The furthermost partes of Asia eastward fallen againe eyther to heathenishe Idolatrie or to such superstition as doth not much differ from it All the residue of Asia together with a great part of Affrike adde also no small portion of Europe vnder the Turke reuolted to the wicked blasphemie of Mahomet so that the countries of the world that nowe professe Christe are not the tenth part of them that before time haue bene christian Yea and among them that professe the christian religion in Europe for the more part a number of yeres haue bene caried away with the superstition and idolatrie of the Antichrist of Rome In so much that if Christe doe nowe come in comparison of the multitude of miscreants he shal find true that he spake in the Gospel vvhen the sonne of man shall come doest thou thinke he shall finde any fayth in the earth Seing therfore we sée now y general apostacy and reuolting from the fayth nowe in our time fallen out the want whereof principally S. Paul accounteth in his time to be the staye of Christes comming we must néedes be persuaded that it can not be farre off As touching the latter part of S. Paules wordes to the Thessal Of the reuealing of the man of sinne the sonne of perdition vvhich is an aduersarie and is exalted aboue all that is called God so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God shevving him selfe that he is a God because the full discourse for the profe of the comming of this Antichriste woulde require a long processe and more then this time woulde beare for the tryall thereof call to your remembrance this briefe note That since the declination and decay of the Romane Empire for the space of certeine hundred yeres you haue séene euen in the church of God euen in Italy euen in the seate royall of the Empire of Rome a certeine power which vnder the pretence of holynesse hath aduanced it selfe aboue al kings and princes of the earth that hath claymed the full power of both swordes and to that purpose hath shewed it selfe in open procession the one day in his pontificall ornaments and the next in armour like a prince that hath also auaunted that he hath al power immediately from God and all kings of the earth by mediation from him that hath put the same in practise by deposing princes altring of titles at his pleasure in Arragon in Naples in Sicilie in Englād in Fraunce in the Empire it selfe and welnere in al places of Christendome that hath had Emperours Kings and Princes to holde his bridle to goe at his stirrop to kysse his féete to stande at the gates of his citie whole dayes together bare-footed and coulde not haue grace to come to his presence that hath driuen the noblest Prince in the earth to put his head vnder his féete and he in the meane time with outrageous blasphemie caused
this verse of the Psalter to be song Super aspidem Basiliscum ambulabis conculcabis Leonem Draconem As if he should haue sayd behold here is that proude Antichrist that the Scriptures witnesseth shoulde treade vnder his féete the most noble state of Emperours in the fare of the world apply vnto him selfe that verse which the Prophet ment of the sonne of God and sauiour of the worlde Christ Jesu Call I say further to your remembrance that you haue séene this power shewe him selfe as proudly towarde God as he hath done to princes of the earth that he hath called hym selfe the heade of the vniuersall church Christes Uicar in earth that he hath taken vpon him for money and bryberie to sell remission of sinnes to dispence with most horrible vices against the lawe of God to deliuer from hell to dismisse out of purgatorie to commaunde the Angels of heauen to alter the ordinances and institutions of Christ That hath suffred his parasites to proclaime that he hath a diuine power in him aboue the nature of man that he can not erre that he is another God in earth that he is neyther God nor man but a monster betwéen both These properties I say cal to your cōsideration and compare them with the discriptions of Antichrist made by the Prophets and Apostles and then dout if you can whether the man of sinne the sonne of perdition be come into the world or no and consequently whether the end of the world and the comming of the last dreadfull iudgement be euen at hand or no. The thirde testimonie is taken out of the words of Christ Luke 17. where he sayth As it vvas in the dayes of Noe so shall it be also in the daye of the sonne of man they did eate and drinke they married vviues and vvere married euen vnto the day that Noe vvent into the Arke c. Likevvise also as it vvas in the dayes of Loth they did eate they did drinke they bought they solde they planted they builded vntill the same day that Loth vvent out of Sodome and sodeinly it rayned fire and brimstone from heauen and destroyed them Euen thus shall it be in the day that the sonne of man shal be reuealed c. Why you will say vnto me it is no offence to eate to drinke to marry to plante to buy to sell to builde and those things haue bene vsed in al ages True it is that you say neyther doth Christe this to reproue those things in them selues but in those words he noteth the great securitie that was among men at those dayes and the excessiue delight that they had in these pleasures ornamentes of the world reposing suche confidence in them as though the world should for euer haue continued and as if there had béene none other heauen to haue rested in but this And in the trust hereof dyd they neglect the preaching warning calling to repentance vsed by Noe and Loth euen vntill Gods wrath came vpon them and euen in like maner doth Christ signifie that it should be in the ende of the worlde And when I praye you was there since the worlde was first made so great securitie in sinne such contempt of godlinesse such confidence in worldlye prosperite suche feasting banquetting and daintie feeding such gorgeousnesse in apparell such sumptuousnesse in building suche vnseasonable marrying such planting such building such buying and purchasing suche raking and scraping together of worldly pelfe as if men did determine to abyde still vpon the face of the earth or as if euerie man did striue to passe other in riot sensualitie whē they haue consumed them selues with monstrous excesse in all pleasure then not contented with that they haue by hooke or by crooke they pull from other euen from the ministers of Christe euen from the church of God euen from the prechers of the Gospell and poore seruantes of God which euen among the heathens haue alwayes had their honourable portion left vnto thē Wherfore howe they doe estéeme the true worship of God in these days men do shew when they declare suche impietie towardes his ministers And when they are reproued for these enormyties it is so farre off that they doe repent and amende that they scoffe and ieste they rayle and slander they taunte and reproue as if they were at defiance with God and his messangers or as if they had made a couenant with death and with hell to be out of their danger But when they say peace peace all is sure then sodainly as Paule sayth shall destruction come vpon them as the Deluge did vpon the sonnes of mē in the dayes of Noe and fire from heauen vpon Sodom in the time of Loth. For euer before the horrible plagues of God obstinate securitie and contempt of Gods calling hath gone before as a messanger and shewed it self in the lyfe of men The fourth testimonie of the spéedy comming of the last daye is the wordes of Sainte Paule 2. Tim. 3. Knovve you this sayth he that in the latter dayes shall be perillous times for men shall be louers of them selues couetous boasters proude blasphemers disobedient to parents vnthankfull vngodly vvithout naturall affection truce breakers false accusers ryotous fierce despisers of them that are good traitors headie high minded louers of pleasures more then louers of God hauing a fourme of godlines but denying the povver thereof Who would not thinke that Saint Paule did in spirite foresée the maners of this time and these dayes into which we are falne and those wicked vices wherwith the world is now ouerwhelmed What state of men is there in which most of these vices doe not shew them selues and that in such maner as neuer in any age the like what slacke and corrupt gouernment in Magistrates what stubbournesse and disobedience in subiectes what pryde and selfe liking in the riche and wealthy what spite and enuie in the poore and beggerly what loosenesse and wantonnesse in youth what couetousnesse and waywardnesse in age what cockering and euill ensample of life in parentes what dnnaturalnesse and vnkyndnesse in children what headynesse and fiercenesse in maisters what negligence and vntruth in seruantes what craft subtiltie and deceyte what counterfayting and dissymuling what false and vniust dealing almost in all men Trueth and sinceritie is banyshed cousoning and falshoode is estéemed wisedome and christian simplicitie is counted péeuishe follie A man would in these dayes maruell to heare of that playne dealing that in old time hath bene I haue hearde that the gyuing of a mans hande should haue assured his heart and tyed his fayth and trothe but nowe all the bondes that mans wit can deuise will scantly hold that whiche one couenanteth with another If there were no other argument but the ripenesse that sinne and wickednesse is nowe growen vnto it should sufficiently proue that the glory of this world must shortly fall decay There is an olde saying of much credite among the ewes
and is called dictum domus Eliae the saying of the schole of Elias and is attributed to the sonne of the widowe which Elias raysed from death to lyfe The summe of it is that the worlde should remayne sixe thousande yeres that is two thousand before the law two thousand vnder the lawe and two thousand vnder Messiah The first foure thousande we sée by iust computation fulfilled before Christe of the last two one and more then an halfe is passed nowe if we call to our remembrance that Christe him selfe hath promised that for his electe sake because of the excéeding trouble miserie and wickednesse the latter dayes should be shortned we shall easily gather that the world hath not many yeres to continue and howe fewe we knowe not for howe much or how litle he will abridge them we are vncerteine Nowe séeing the proofes be so euident that the last day can not be farre of for séeing the figge trée leaues be spreade Sommer must néedes be at hande the nexte is the more to moue our dull hearts diligently to consider howe and in what maner it shall be The story thereof Christ briefly comprehendeth Mat. 25. VVhen the sonne of man sayth he shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels vvith him then shall he sitte on the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered al nations and he shal separate them one from another as the shephearde deuideth his sheepe from the goates and he shall set the sheepe on the right hande but the goates on the left so forth as there foloweth Christes first comming was with al méekenesse lowlines simplicitie according to the saying of the Prophet Behold thy king commeth to thee meeke and sitteth vpon an Asse He came then to saue sinners and therefore he shewed him selfe altogether in mercy and gentlenesse but his latter comming shall be with great power maiestie and glory for then he commeth as a dreadfull Judge to reward in iustice the vnrepentant sinners that contemned his great mercies offered at his firste comming But let vs examine the maner of his comming somewhat more particularly After those signes and tokens that goe before his comming whereof I haue already spoken there be other also ioyned with the verie time of his latter appearing The sun shall be darkened the moone shall lose her light the starres shall fall from heauen and the povvers of heauen shall be moued the earth shall burne the firmament shall melt away and the last trumpe shall blowe and the voyce of the Archangell shal be heard summoning as it were all people aud sounding in their eares Surgite mortui venite ad iudicium arise you dead and come to iudgement whiche voyce S. Hierome thought he hearde euer ringing in his eares Then shall the sonne of mā appeare in the cloudes with great Maiestie as is sayde and the dead shall rise and they that be lyuing in the twinckling of an eye shall be changed and caryed into the ayre to appeare before the Lorde who commeth to iudge the worlde in ryghteousnesse This maner of Christ his comming beside his owne wordes in sundrie places of the Euangelistes is witnessed by S. Paule 2. Thes 1. VVhen the Lord Iesus Christe shall be reuealed from heauen vvith the Angels of his povver in flaming fire rendring vengeance vnto them that knovve not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ The very place whence he shall be reuealed giueth a great authoritie and maiestie vnto his comming to iudgement from heauen saith S Paule that is from the seate and habitation of the eternall and euerliuing God where is al power wisdome and iustice From thence saith he in another place doe we looke for our sauiour the Lorde Jesu And the Angell to the Disciples at the ascention of Christ VVhy stand you saith he gasing vp into heauen this same Iesus vvhich is taken from you into heauen shal so come euen as you haue sene him goe into heauen And therefore all christians in their beliefe confesse that Christ is ascended vp into heauē from whence say they he shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead In the witnesse of the Apostle aboue rehearsed the power and ende of his comming is noted vvith the Angels of his povver saith S. Paule and to this end That he may be reuenged on them that knovve not God nor haue not beleeued his Gospel Which thing muste néedes be most terrible to the wicked as it is in the same place more precisely noted But of all other the Prophet Daniel most gloriously discribeth the maner of his comming I beheld saith he til the thrones vvere set vp and the Auncient of dayes did sit vvhose garment vvas vvhite as snow and the haires of his heade like pure vvool his throne vvas like firie flame and his vvheles as burning fire There issued forth before him a firie streame a thousand thousande ministred vnto him and ten thousand stoode before him the iudgment was set and the bokes were opened c. First the Prophet sayth the Thrones vvere set vp whereby it may appeare there be moe Thrones then one that this Judge shal haue a great number of assistances to be as witnesses of his iustice against the wicked and these shal be the number of his saintes as it is witnessed in sundrie places of the Scriptures Verely verely I saye vnto you saith Christ That vvhen the sonne of man shal sit in the throne of his maiestie you that haue follovved me in regeneration shal sit also vpon twelue seats iudgig the twelue tribes of Israel This iudge is noted by Daniel to be An olde man vvith his haire as white as vvool Therby to signifie the reuerence wisdome and experience y is in him that he cā not let passe any thinge by ignorance errour or follye his garmentes as white as snowe declare vnto vs his securitie vprightnes and integritie in iudgement not respecting any person nor being corrupted with fauour hatred or money The firie stream e y issueth forth before him the flaming throne that he sitteth in signifie the dreadfull force and pearsing strength of his iudgement which no creature is able to resist As fire consumeth all things is consumed of nothing so doth the straight iudgement of God consume all the wicked of the earth For God as the Scriptures saye is a consuming fire And the Prophet Esay saith The Lorde shall comme in fire and his chariot shall be like a vvhirle vvinde that he may recompence his vēgeance in his vvrath and his indignation in a flame of fire For the Lord shal iudge all fleshe with the fire and vvith his svvorde The assistance of an infinite number of saints and Angels set forth vnto vs the wonderfull maiestie and power of the sonne of God in iudgement for if one Angell in one night were hable to destroye 185000 ▪ of the host of Senacherib of