he doth plainlie amplie depaint point out all the abuses impieties superstitiōs idolatries of poperie which are gathered into their formes of abiuration so that they are made knowne to al euen to litle childrē vnlesse they be such as be blinded by the prince of darkenes Furthermore I haue not interprised here to dispute against those which admit no reasō nor no word of God but only custome the traditions of the fathers their opiniōs their dreams toyes the lawes ordinances statutes and tyrānous decrées of their Antichrist for this were but lost labour And surely I do not write properly to those men but vnto you my brethren do I speak to you I say which know these abuses by the word of God which haue condemned and detested thē which are conuict in your own conscience that al the pointes of doctrine contained in this abiuration are as manye horrible blasphemies against Iesus Christ and the doctrine of his Gospell except the Nicene créed the which these coseners haue set in the very beginning of this goodlye confession which they haue made to bleare the eies of the simple fooles as if their doctrine were conformable to this creede and as if we did reiect and reproue the same whereas contrariwise it is we that receiue it confesse and approue it in all points and throughout as being grounded vpon the word of God and on the other side they so pronounce it with their mouth in their execrable masse that they reiect the most part of those pointes that are contained in it and in the Apostles créede as wee coulde depaint out before their eies and make them touch with their finger if they had eies to see eares to heare and an heart to vnderstand that which shoulde bee set before them out of the word of God Forasmuch then as you are not ignoraunt of these thinges which you haue learned out of the word of God it shall bee inough for mee to touch them superficially to put you in minde thereof and by this meanes to represent vnto you in some sort the filthines fowlenes and deformitie of your fal to the end you may be ashamed therof and confounded in your selues yea so grieued that God maye bee glorified in your conuersion Firste of all consider I praye you howe manye impyeties and horrible blasphemies are comprised in the second article which foloweth immediatly after the recitall of the Nicene Créed You haue thereby protested to receiue and allow al the abuses errours superstitions idolatries and abhominations of the Church of Rome and to renounce the truth of God which hath beene taught you out of his word for you receiue the holie Scripture vpon such condition that it shall not be interpreted according to the Analogie of faith as S. Paule cōmandeth that is that it shal not be interpreted according to the Scripture it self Rom. 12. conferring one place with an other that there maie such sense be gathered thence as shal be agréeable to the groundes and articles of the christian faith but according to the sense interpretation which it shal please them to giue it which falsely taking to themselues the right and authoritie to interprete do ordinarilie and most manifestlie corrupt and peruerte the same for maintenance of their dreames inuentions So that by this one onlie article you haue promised to condemne as being false al the true and pure doctrine of your saluatiō which you haue learned out of the word of God interpreted by the word of God himselfe on the other side to approue all the corruptions lies and falshoode of the leauen of the Pharisies which is in the doctrine of Antichrist And what shal we call this but to turne light to darknesse to reiect Iesus Christ as a lier and to embrace Antichrist as being true Surely by agréeing to this one onelie article you haue so much as in you laie giuen as great aduantage to the enimies of the Gospell as if a man should deliuer vp into the handes of his aduersarie all his papers rightes and instrumentes giuing him leaue to turne them all to his most aduantage yea to interprete the lawes as he list and to pronounce such sentence as he shal think good as if he were both iudge plaintiffe And surely there is no errour so absurd no abuse so grosse no impietie so abhominable which Antichrist and his ministers doe not maintaine by this meanes against the trueth of God for when a man shall alleadge plaine places of scripture in defence of the trueth and to refute falshood and that the matter shall be made so plain and so euident of it self that they cannot tell what to answeare on the contrarie this shal be their last refuge to wit that our holie mother the church vnderstandeth these places otherwise and that the Scripture admitteth none other sense and interpretation no yet any other authority saue that which it pleaseth our holie father the Pope to bestow vpon it Thus wil they argue so that by making you allow and approue this article there resteth no more now but that they may fréely triūph ouer Iesus Christ and his doctrine in so much that it was not néedful to specifie the rest which follow the proofe whereof dependeth vpon the graunting of this alone Notwithstanding séeing that to the ende they might more strictly binde you vnto them they make a recital of the principal heads of their false doctrine examine thē al one after another and you shal ful wel know what reprehension your back sliding deserueth The third is no lesse pernicious thā the second For it foloweth vpō it as a general consequence drawing after it al the special consequences cōclusions which they make touching their inuentions humane traditiōs wherby they haue corrupted peruerted the pure seruice of God aswel in regard of the doctrine as of the ceremonies which they coulde neuer maintain defend were it not that their false gloses interpretations which they giue vpon the scriptures did help them Wherefore seing you haue graunted thē this that it belongeth to them to giue the Scripture such sense and interpretation as shal séeme best to them it followeth therevpon that you do likewise graunt to them that al the abuses al the dreames and toies al the ceremonies obseruations which Satā hath brought in into the church wherof some are altogether foolish friuolous ridiculous and other superstitious coupled together with impiety idolatry without hauing any ground in the scripture yea being directly contrary to the same for the most part and by the which also the puritie and simplicity of Christiā religion hath bin turned into a kind of Iudaism Paganism you graunt to them I say that al these bables al this filth abhominations are good and holie as being parcels of the seruice of God being established in the church by our Lord Iesus Christ his Apostles as also these lyers haue bin so shamelesse as to
miserable life which they lead as it were in despight of God and of nature is nothing els but a very beginning of hel and an hydious image of that cursed and more then miserable condition wherein the dāned are and shal be for euer Thus fared it with Iudas with Iulian the Apostata and with others I would faine set before your eies that which in our time befell a certaine Apostata called Spira where you might sée that verified which hath bene said for in him we haue an example of the terrible and fearefull iudgement of God against those which do so dally and trifle with his maiestie renouncing the profession of his Gospell for the auoyding of persecutions and which run after the world for a time hoping shortly after to returne to the right way againe But for the auoiding of prolixitie I send you to the historie which is common beseeching you to read it and to meditate vpon it diligently not that you may do as this miserable wretch did but that you may learne what punishment your fault deserueth which is al one with his for he had the same knowlege which you haue he at the beginning of his reuolting did alleadge the same excuses and made the very same protestations that in time he would returne But to the ende the Lord might auenge himselfe of so great backsliding he would not giue him grace so to do for after that Sathan had once taken possession of him hee set before his eies the greatnes and monstrousnes of his sinne together with such an hidious and fearefull representation of the iudgment of god that he despaired and ended his life so miserably and with such an euident testimonie of the iust furye and indignation of God agaynst Apostacye that it is a thinge vnpossible to see such a spectakle without great terrour and feare Now the Lord doth not shew like iudgments in this world against al reuolts that is true yet so it is that the iust punishment which he executeth vpō some one in this world sheweth how detestable a thing the renouncing of the gospel is to him And if he deferre his iust vengeance and doth not execute the same vpon some certain yet they shal not escape scotfrée and their punishment shall bee no whit the lighter therefore but on the contrarie their condemnation shall bee so much the more gréeuous because they haue abused the patience of God Rom. 2. Now true it is my brethren that I count you not amongst these as I haue alreadie protested but so it is that you are entred into the self same way which these are entred and are in like danger if God do not graunt you grace to retire thence by ready true repentance It remaineth then that you awake that throughly at the sounde of this trumpet which the Lorde causeth to sound in your eares who graunteth vnto you such grace as to aduertise and exhor you to turne to him He graunteth you sometime to bethinke your selues doth now set before you the meanes of reconciliation because he will not loose you take héed you despise them not Ps 95. and seing you heare his voice this day hardē not your hearts he calleth you with armes displaied and offereth you his grace beware you despise it not vnthankfully for feare least it be afterward denied you for a iust punishment of your vnthankfulnes the meanes to attaine to this grace is that you haue true repentance and true faith repentance to humble you and to throw you downe euen to hell by a liuely féeling and knowledge of your offence and by a true apprehending of the iust iudgment of God faith to lifte you vp to set you on foot again in hope by a right apprehension and acceptation of the clemencie and mercy of God This is then the course which you must obserue first of al examine poys the fault which you haue cōmitted together with all the circumstances thereof not flattering your selues any maner of way and you shall be constrained to confesse that it is as yet greater and more monstrous more foule and vile before God then I am able to expresse and set forth knowe and acknowledge therein your backsliding cowardlines trecherie disloyalty and vnthankfulnes most detestable consider what dishonor what iniurie what outrage you haue done to God your father to Iesus Christe your Sauiour to your selues your wiues your children and to all the whole Church Those which said they were Gods deare children haue forsaken and denyed him his couenant is broken Iesus Christ is renounced before mē euen by those whom he had redéemed with the price of his bloud and by those which had sworne faith and allegiance to him the doctrine of his Gospel is cast of and condēned as false and the impieties and abhominations of Antichrist are receiued and approued as true and holy and that by a detestable confession and abiuration the Lord is dishonored and blasphemed his holy name is polluted and profaned by the sacrilegious mouth of profane persons infidels religion is contenmed and there is none account made of it the kingdome of Iesus Christ is hindered kept back your poore neighbours are offended the simple sort is discouraged by your euill example they are fallē and run headlong into the same destruction whereinto you are fallen your poore Pastours are confounded and ashamed and consequently discouraged by you from returning to till the Lordes field lo the poore church is forsaken of those which saide they were her children and a cruel and murdering harlot is receiued and acknowledged for the true mother Lo your true mother is forsaken grieued abashed and ashamed to see the shamefull backslyding of her children she wéepes and wailes by reasō of their destruction the Temple of God it is polluted the holy Ghost is made sad therewith and the holy Angels mourne and lament for it briefely lo here a most detestable and abhominable Apostacie which comprehendeth so great a number of so grieuous and horrible crimes as that the only rehearsall thereof is sufficient to make the hayres of a Christian mans head that feareth God to stande vpright Thus then must you poys your fault that it maye seeme to you so blacke so foule and so ougly as that it may make you ashamed in the presence of God and of his Church Consider on the other side huw much wood and matter you haue ministred to set on fire the wrath of God against you 〈◊〉 5. You know that the scripture saith of the wrath and indignation of the Lord that it is a consuming fire which spoileth destroyeth and deuoureth all that wherewith it méeteth You know that he is an enimie to sinne and that his iustice requireth that all that be punished which is contrarie to his law Marke how many crimes and monstrous sinnes are cōprised in your offence is not the smallest of them sufficient to prouoke him to wrath Know you not that one onely sin
your affaires of your goods of your commodities or whether it be in regard of your own persons and of your kinsmen or be it in regard of your other circumstances be you ful wel assured that is Sathans doing whose drift it is to plunge you déeper in the dunge and filth and more and more to inwrap and intangle you in his nets that you may not escape him But giue no place to the subtilties and false perswasions of this enimie resist him and hee will flye from you saith the Apostle He will set before you a thousand difficulties and impossibilities therby to astonish you and to keepe you backe if possiblie he can that you maye not be resolued to enter into the waye of true conuersion and if you enter the same he will lay a thousand disturbances and stumbling blockes in your waye to stop and stay you and to make you retire he will set before your eies the might the meanes and the multitude of your enimies and the small meanes you haue so that you cannot in long time escape out of this babilonish captiuitie hée will set before you the crosse the afflictions the sufferings the persecutions the pouertie the contempt the perils and daungers whereunto those which follow Iesus Christ are dayly subiect On the other side he will promise you all rest all assurance all good thinges the honors pleasures delightes and commodities of this life if you will worship him and continue in his seruice But you must make him the very same answere and giue him the repulse after the selfe same sort as Iesus Christ did that is by the word of God Mat. 4. come behinde me Sathan for it is written c. You must then here take the Spirituall armoure of a Christian knight which the Spirite of God setteth downe vnto you by Sainct Paule Eph. 6. that is amongst the rest feruent and continuall prayers to the Lorde the buckler of faith and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God to beate backe the firie darts of this wicked one you must oppose against all that which hee shall purpose vnto you through the inticements of the flesh and the worlde that which you sometimes learned in the Schoole of Christ If then he laye stumbling blockes crosse your way to kéepe you from returning to God beware you stumble not at them but strengthē your selues in the power of the Spirit of God and leape ouer them remembring that graue sentence of Iesus Christ whereunto but a fewe haue regarde Blessed is he saith he that is not offended at me that is which shall not be letted or hindered by any occasion whatsoeuer to come vnto me You know full wel what we must conclude on the contrarie that is that he is vnhappye and more then vnhappy the which shall bee offended through him for in very deede it were better for vs neuer to haue bene borne in this world then to be separated from Iesus Christ As for that which Sathan can set before you touching the might meanes and multitude of your enimies thereby to make you astonished and touching the féeblenes and infirmitie of the poore Church and the small meanes it hath according to the world to helpe it selfe that hereby he may discourage you remember that which is spoken so often in the Scripture 2. Tim. ◠that the Lorde hée is a God of power and of hostes remember that which Eliseus saith to his seruaunt Those that are with vs are mo then those that are with them Rom. 8. Strengthen your selues with that which Saincte Paule saith If God bee with vs who can be against vs. His meaning is not that if god be on our side there shal not any lōger be any enimies to make war against vs but his meaning is that if we haue God on our side we may despise al the strength not only of mē but also of Satā of hell And indéed what cā al the powers forces of al the kings potentates of the earth do if they be coupled together and what are they able to do against the power of the most mighty Surely they are nothing but a vapour of smoake that vanisheth away and as waxe that melteth at the fire Ps 58. as saith the prophet How is it then wil some say that the lord deferreth the deliuerance of his church so long Because the time is not yet come wtout all doubt he will deliuer it howsoeuer it be long first and he will breake the head of his aduersaries in péeces euē as an earthen vessell Psal ◠yea euen by his yron rodde For seeing hée beginneth his iudgement at his own house it is a most euident token that hee wil ende it with those that are rebellious against his Gospel and that their end shal be most miserable 1. Pet. 4. For they shal drinke the dregs of the Lords cuppe when he shall visit thē 1. Pet. 4. not in his gentlenes benignity as he dealeth with those that are his owne but in his anger and in his wrath notwithstanding this shal come to passe at the time which hée hath appointed ordayned Wherfore it behoueth vs to watch and in our patiēce to possesse our soules and the Lorde shall shewe vs wonderful things Luke 21. But and if you bee terrified through the horrour of the crosse of afflictions persecutions which are proposed vnto all those which wil be true disciples of the son of God and desire to be made partakers of his celestial kingdome call to minde that which you haue learned out of the worde of God to wit that the afflictions of the faithful are blessed with God forasmuch as he hath sanctified them in the person of his sonne also that they are honorable forasmuch as by thē they are made partakers of the sufferings of Iesus Christ and are made like to his image 2. Pet. 4. Rom. 8. bearing wearing his liuerie as knightes of his order also that they are tokens testimonies of the fauour fatherly will of God who chasteneth those whom he loueth scourgeth euerie childe whō he receiueth to himself Pro. 3. Heb. 12. Apoc. 3. also that they be but light and of small continuance being compared with that weight of most excellēt glory which they worke in vs For if we suffer with Iesus Christ we shal raigne and be glorified with him 2. Cor. 4. saith the Apostle And blessed are they which suffer persecution for righteousnes sake for theirs is the kingdome of God saith Christ Iesus 2. Tim. 1. Mat. 5. Also the afflictions are not onlie profitable for the faithfull but also necessarie forasmuche as by them the Lorde correcteth that naturall corruption peruersenesse which doth incessantly driue vs to rebel against his holy commādements they tame our flesh and bridle it for feare least it waxe wanton goe astray it teacheth vs how to know our selues to forsake the world