qui misit me Patris He that looueth me not keepeth not my words and the word which ye heare is not mine but the fathers which sēt me If we wyll be contented with the scriptures onely and goe no farther we shall receyue great benefite thereby The blinde shall see the deafe shall heare the dumbe shall speake the lame shall walke fooles shall be wise the sicke shall be whole the dead shall reuine The embracing of the worde of GOD hath made many Papistes The inestimable benefite that proceedeth by the word of God good Christians many persecutours holy Martyrs many proude men humble many couetous mysers lyberall many cruell tyrantes mercifull fauourers many faithlesse faithfull many filthy fornicatours chaste many furious and wrathfull méeke and milde many slaunderers speakers of the trueth many backbiters penitent many slouthfull and drousie vigilant watchfull many fearefull bolde yea and contempners of Phalaris Bull many Saules many Paules many chyldren of darknesse the chyldren of lyght God by his worde offereth to vs his mercifull hande by faith we giue to God our hand and the Sacramentes are as a thirde hand which confirme and establish the ioyning of the other two together If you feare the iudgement of sinne this most precious word offereth you righteousnesse in Christe if you feare death it offereth lyfe if you feare the fire of hell it offereth the ioyes of heauen And bréeflie you haue in this word whence you may take bothe in lyfe recreation and in death preseruation bothe of body and soule euerlastinglie The word of God is water to refreshe vs and wine to chéere vs The vvorde of God is the vvhole direction of a mans life it is bread to strengthen vs and Manna to nourishe vs it is a treasure to enritch vs and a pearle to adorne vs it is a leauen to heate vs and salte to powder vs it is a sword to defend vs and a fire to purge vs it is a salue to heale vs and a lantorne to guide vs it it is a Trumpet to call vs and wisedome to instruct vs a way to dyrect vs and lyfe to reuiue vs. But alas we are so farre from labouring for this worde of God that wheras lyke good husband men we should labour and digge in the féeld and sell all that we haue to buie that féelde whereas lyke wise merchant men we should labour and séeke for good pearles and sell all that we haue to buie that pearle of great prise We sayth Saint Mathew 7. lyke dogs refuse holy things offered we turne about and teare them that doo offer them We lyke swine treade pearles vnder our feete and doo account this pearle this holy thing the worde of lyfe to be vnto vs a ring of golde in a swines snowte For doo the Papistes delight to heare Gods worde beholde yet they are lyke the deafe Adder which stoppeth her eares at the voice of the Charmer charme he neuer so wisclie Doo they looue the bringers of this word beholde yet there is in England an Adders broode a generation of Vipers If we haue more regard in the sayinges of the Papistes and put more confidence in theyr wordes then in the Scriptures howe can we without spéedie repentance but looke for the terrible stroke of vengeaunce God sayth Valerius Maximus hath feete of wooll hee commeth slowlie to punish but he hath handes of yron when he commeth he striketh sore Phillip king of Macedonia hearing of one in his kingdome which refused most vnthankfully to receaue a straunger of whome before he had béene succoured in shyp-wracke in extréeme néede For a woorthy punishment caused to be printed in his forehead with an whotte yron these wordes Ingratus Hospes An vnthankfull Guest So we by refusing his worde may we not thinke our selues woorthy of many whot yrons to print our vnthankfulnes to our shame Thus much for this part ¶ Of auricular Confession THus much you haue heard déerely belooued touching the sufficiencie of the worde of God I haue prooued the sufficiencie thereof bothe by the testimonies of the Scriptures as also with the aucthority of the Doctors Nowe I meane God wylling to confute auricular Confession bothe by Scriptures Doctors and Reasons The Papistes are not ashamed to say and write that it is needefull for all men and women and that it is necessarie for all that are come to the yéeres of discretion to confesse to theyr ghostlie Father maister popishe Préest whatsoeuer sinnes they haue committed If they refuse so to doo our holie Father the Pope wyll hang them in a Rope or send them to hell in ringing Papa Ioannas Bell. If they could prooue by the Scriptures auricular Confession to be lawfull and necessarie to obtaine forgiuenesse of sinnes then is it tollerable yea and commendable in respect of obedience to the worde of God to vse auricular Confession But if Scriptures thereof make no mention at all but rather disprooue such whispering of sinnes in the eares of doltishe Préestes I take such auricular Confession to be fonde foolishe and daungerous Doost thou reade O Christian man that euer the Patriarches were woont to confesse their perticular sinnes to Préestes as the Papistes doo at this tyme dyd the Prophetes vse such auricular Confession or did the Apostles or dyd the Disciples or dyd any of the Saintes of the primatiue Church reueale in secreate wise theyr particular faultes to any Confessour or to any Préest I reade of none If then the Patriarches the Prophetes In the Primatiue Church no confession euer heard of the Apostles the Disciples of Christe the holy Saintes of the Primatiue Church neuer vsed any auricular Confession why then should wée what example haue we to followe what commaundement is there giuen vnto vs to confesse our sinnes before the Préest what lawe dooth charge vs to recken vp all our sinnes Is not sinne forgiuen but vpon condition that there be an intent conceyued to confesse it where they bable that there remayneth no entrie into Paradise if occasion of confession be neglected Must all sinnes be reckened vp but Dauid as it is written Psalm 19.13 who as I thinke had well studied vpon the confession of his sinnes yet cryed out Who shall vnderstand my errors Lord cleanse mee from my secrete sinnes And in an other place Psalm 28.15 My iniquities haue passed abooue my head and lyke a weightie burden haue waxed heauy abooue my strength Truely he vnderstoode howe great was the bottomlesse depth of our sinnes howe many were the sortes of our mischéeuous dooinges howe many heads this monster Hydra dyd beare and howe long a tayle shée drewe after her Therefore he went not about to recken vp a register of them but out of the depth of euyls he cryed vnto the Lord I am ouerwhelmed I am buried and choaked the gates of hell haue compassed me let thy hand drawe me out which am drowned in the great pitte and am faynting and ready to die Who now may thinke vpon the
blinde peruersenes of the Papists In the. 10. of Iohn Christe sayth I am the doore dooth it followe that hée is a doore in déede no forsooth I thinke but that a doore is to harde for any man to eate they would haue takē that place of scripture to make God Though Christ sayd I am the doore it followeth not Note heere that he was a materiall doore no more dooth it followe that this word Hoc est corpus meum This is my body to be the same body that Marie the Virgin bare it is plaine errour and they are fowly deceyued For when Christe sayd This is my body that shall be giuen for you the worde that he spake was him selfe him selfe was the worde or else must the bread haue béene crucified as is afore which I will prooue by the manifest scriptures Christ sayth in the 6. of Iohn I am the liuing bread that came from heauen your fathers did eate Manna in the desert and are dead but I am the bread of lyfe So it demonstrateth that Christe was the bread Note heere which was giuen for vs but these Gentlemen say that the bread is he Nowe héere is all the cōtrouersie betwéene the Christiās and the Papists Christ fayth that he is the bread that was giuen for vs or broken for vs the Papists say that the bread is Christ now how can we agree for we say as Christ saith that he is the bread these Gētlemen say that the bread is he marke well the scriptures Paul sayth That which I receyued of God I gaue vnto you Let them answer me to this dyd Paul receiue any thing of the Lord but his word for Paul was not with the Lord at the supper to receiue any other thing Oblinde creatures they wot not what they doo will they haue the blood of wytnesse of Iesus Christe required at their hāds still O good christian brethrē for the tender mercy of our Lord sauiour Iesus Christ beléeue not this erronious doctrine of the Papistes worship not a wheaten God In the. 6. Chap. of Iohn Christ sayth The bread which I will giue you is my fleshe which I will giue for the life of the world Héere you may perceyue that the bread that Christ gaue vs was his fleshe Ergo his fleshe was the bread that he brake which was him selfe him selfe was the word and his word was his body which was giuē for the life of the world Then stroue the Iewes among them selues sayd How can this fellow giue vs his flesh to eate for they tooke it carnally as our cleane fingred Gētlemen doo now a daies thinking the they should haue eaten him vp flesh blood bones Iesus sayd vnto thē Iohn 6. Except ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man ye haue no life in you for whosoeuer eateth my flesh drinketh my blood hath euerlasting lyfe And I shall raise him vp at the last day for my flesh is very meat and my blood hath euerlasting life and I shall raise him vp at the last day for my flesh is very meat and my blood is very drinke and whosoeuer eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abydeth in me and I in him Nowe I tolde you afore that Christe was the bread that was giuen for vs and euen as the materiall bread féedeth the body so this liuely bread féedeth the soule And Christe speaketh heere of his fleshe and blood which was offered in sacrifice for our saluation and our redemption as Iohn sayth Chap. 1.8 The worde became fleshe and we see the glorie of it as the onely begotten sonne of the Father and who so dooth beleeue this dooth eate Christes fleshe and drinketh his blood But not as these Papists do for they say that they crash him with their teeth carnally Oh abhominable blasphemy the same body that Mary bare but they which receiue him in a Christian Cōmunion receiue him by faith For Christe sayd Hoc facite in meam cōmemorationem Doo this in remembraunce of me And whosoeuer beléeueth that this body was done vpon the Crosse for his saluation and that the shedding of his blood is for the remissiō of his sinnes taken in the remembrance of Christes death eateth Christes body and drinketh his blood spiritually God graūt we may doo so for our own soules health Amen Thus much bréefly touching the supper of the Lord. Against mennes Merites and righteousnesse GReate controuersie and disputation there is betweene the Papists and vs Christians touching mennes merites righteousnesse The Papists say that they are iustified by good woorkes and not by faith We say that Sola fides iustificat omnes Faith alone iustifieth all men It is marueilous dearely beloued to see with what rashnes and boldnesse iustification of woorkes is commonly debated yea and it is to be seene how none doe more boldly or with fuller mouthes as the saying is prate of the righteousnesse of workes then they that are monstrously sicke of open outward diseases or be redy to burst with inward vices That commeth to passe because they thinke not vpon the righteousnes of God wherof if they had neuer so little feeling they would neuer make so great a mockerie of it And truely it is out of measure lightly regarded whē it is not acknowledged to be such and so perfect that nothing be imputed vnto it but euery way whole absolute and defiled with no vncleannesse such as neuer was and neuer shal be able to be found in man It is in deede easie and readie for euery man in schooles to talke vainlie vpon the worthinesse of woorkes to iustifie men but when they come into the sight of God such dalliances must auoyd because there is earnest doing vsed and no trifling strife aboute wordes To this to this I say we must applie our minde if we will profitably enquire of true righteousnesse how we may answere the heauenly Iudge when he calleth vs to account Let vs thinke him to be a Iudge not such a one as our own vnderstandinges do of themselues imagine but such a one as he is paynted out in the Scripture with whose brightnes the stars shal be darckned by whose strength the hils doe melt away by whose wrath the earth is shaken by whose wisdome the wise are takē in their suttletie by whose purenesse all thinges are prooued vnpure whose righteousnes the angels are not able to beare which maketh the innocent not innocent whose vengeance when it is once kindled pearceth to the bottome of hell If he I say sit to examine mens doinges who 〈…〉 peare assured before his throane Who shal dwell with a deuouring fire saith the prophet Esaie 3.34 Who shall abide with continuall burninges he that walketh in righteousnes and speaketh trueth c. But let such a one come foorth whatsoeuer he be but that aunswere maketh that none commeth foorth for this terrible saying soūdeth to the contrary Lord if thou marke our iniquities Lord who shall abide
as good towardnesse as Tom Collier thy fathers man And where as more impudentlie then an Asse thou writest That the most parte of my reportes touching your treacheries and malicious practises against the Queenes Maiestie and her honourable Councell is vntrue If I wrote any thing otherwise then the trueth was why dydst thou not make mention thereof that I might haue purged my selfe of infamie and vntrueth But I wrote no more then trueth gaue place but in the booke of Pilgrimage I wyll discouer God wylling more at large your treasonable attemptes against the Crowne and dignitie against her honourable Councell and against her common weale I haue spoken and doo speake and wyll speake nothing else but trueth of you But it is as harde a thing to heare trueth of you as it is for the Pope to giue his Miter away to poore beggers And finally where as thou concludest thy Lybell with these wordes That there shall neuer want vacabounds and runnagates for gaine If thou wylt haue these wordes to haue relation to thy selfe and to thy brothers who in déede are Vacabounds and runnagates from Tauerne to Tauerne from Towne to Towne from Shiere to Shiere Thou sayst well and truely and I goe not about to disprooue thy wordes but if thou meanest of me I am no runnagate I stay in one place and am not affrayde to shewe my face in the presence of you all if I could tell where to finde you But you are not farre vnlyke to the théeues who in the day tyme sléepe or lurke in Caues and in the night tyme raunge abroade I thinke you meete bothe together on the plaines of Salisburie the theefe he séeketh but the purse but you are not contented with the purse but seeke to bereaue a man of his body and soule We had more néede by a great deale if we haue respect to the safetie of our bodies and soules to take héede that we be not deceyued by the craftie iugling of these wandering Popish Préests Thus haue I aunswered to euerie particular Article contayned in the infamous Lybell against me written and I thought it good to containe the same in this Epistle written vnto you worshipfull Company for this cause onely For that they say That I attempted many most malicious thinges betweene the Prince of Orainge and the King of Spaine If you heare and vnderstand it of credible persons that I was such a fellowe as they report me to be I desire you as not compelled to make mention thereof in your Letters and conuay it to London I am sure and certaine that there is no man can auouch that I was such a fellowe as they make me to be I confesse my life hath béene wicked and lewde but neuer so wickedlie and lewdlic bent as the Papists doo report They say I am irreligious I am altogether giuen to vngodlinesse God hath forsaken me there is no hope of my saluation This is but theyr rashe iudgement God forgiue them I wishe them well to doo God graunt them a penitent heart and a tongue to speake trueth I am not the first that hath béene wrongfullie slaundered nor shall be the last There is a Popishe Préest héere in England that reported that he knewe him selfe bothe noble men worshipfull and Preachers héere in this Land to be of the householde of Atheisme But as I told so tell I againe that Papists can doo nothing else but lye and falselie report I leaue héere to trouble you any farther beeing otherwise occupied with waightier affayres then to obtaine fitte opportunitie and leasure to peruse this rude Letter of mine Pray that I may stand fast to the glorie of his name and the good example of others whose lyke conuersation I doo heartily wishe in the Lord. And so desiring your good prayers to Iesus Christe worshipfull Company to assist me with his grace that I may persenere in this his gratious calling to the end and in the end The Lord Iesus gouerne and guide you in true obedience of his glorious Gospell to the glorie of his name Amen Your fellow seruant in the Lord. Iohn Nichols ⧠The Oration made at Roome before the fowre Cardinalles of the Inquisition and the Dominican Inquisitour presented also before the Pope the .xxvii. day of May. 1578. YOu commaunded me most illustrious and most reuerend Cardinalles to write what I could against our holie Father the Pope and against the Catholique faith What your meaning is herein I knowe not if you seeke to knowe what learning I haue I confesse I haue none the time of my studies in the flourishing Vniuersities of England hath beene but short my maintenance in other common Schooles dured but for a small space of time wherfore neither in the Vniuersities neither yet abroade in the countrie could I reape any sound and vnconfused knowledge in good Letters therefore you may easilie be persuaded that if you require of me that which you would of a learned Scholer demaund my want of learning and rudenesse of inuention is such that I can not sufficiently whereas I gladly would accomplishe your request according to your minde If your desire be to vnderstand howe in times past liuing in blindnesse and errour Marke heere I counted the bright shining beames of Christ his Gospell blindnesse and the preaching thereof the preaching of errour I subuerted corrupted and prophaned as much as I could the doctrine of our holie mother the Church Scilicet If you are desirous to knowe wherein I haue offended our holie Father the Pope and wherin I haue more tashly thē wisely spoken against the catholique Religion to obey your cōmaundement I did what I could to put in writing such words as I vsed against him and his Religion and trusting to your woonted clemencie in forgiuing my trespasse I write as boldlie as if I were in England if I did not so your commaundement should not be accomplished Wherefore how so euer I speake be not greeued and turne not therefore your fatherly fauour from me the fault is not in me to write the thing commaunded I write what I spake whiles that I lyued in England and I spake as I was taught nowe I write that which I hate but spake then that which I lyked This is a newe metamorphesis of a Collier to become a Scholler of a plow-man a Preacher and of an heretique to become a catholique there are colliers that haue gon to schoole haue read there is but one God one Baptisme one faith in Iesus christ why are they not schollers There are plow-men that can teache theyr household to looue God aboue all things to loue one another as god loued vs and gaue his only begotten sonne to reconcile vs vnto him beeing his enimies transgressours of his holie law and commaundement and are they not Preachers Heretiques will become catholiques if they consider and examine the corrupt lyuing of babling Preachers their vsurping of Ecclesiasticall liuinges their ambition to higher degrees of
promotion their vnsatiable and inordinate couetousnesse their proude and statelie going in ruffian-like apparell their too much pampering of hungrie gorges their excessiue lauishnesse in riotous expences their vnstablenesse of promise their swearing and forswearing them-selues for the value of a strawe their wanton and lasciuious songs vpon ale-benches and finally pōdering of their dissolute behauior in words gesture If they teach the people one thing and doo an other what hope can the people haue to be saued what comfort doo they receiue what confidence are they boūd to giue to his preaching or to his glorious wordes howe can he abolishe sinne ouerthrowe God his enimies treade downe Sathan roote out idolatrie confound hell and establishe trueth howe can the Gospell encrease righteousnesse shine God haue the glorie if Ministers should be the example of all euill to whome as they saye the worde of God is cōmitted to instruct the people how to please the Lord and maker of heauen and earth in all holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of their liues Is it maruaile that the people doo amisse and swerue from the trueth truelie I am thorowlie persuaded that as they are farre from God in life and conuersation so farre they are from him in faith and good Religion if their Religion sauoured not of heresie would God punishe them as he dooth What contrarietie in Religion is there amongst them one professeth this doctrine and another professeth that one crieth Ecce hic est Christus Ecce ibi est Behold heere is Christe sayth one and we haue the best Religion though the Pope say naie But the other sayth no they haue not the trueth on their side this faith wherevpon we build this Religion wherevnto we trust euerie man of what degree so euer high or lowe poore or ritch noble or ignoble ioyfully ought to embrace and gladlie receyue By this Religion we shall be blessed and inherite an euerlasting crowne of heauenlie glorie One saith he is a Zwinglian and an other sayth he is an Annabaptist one sayth he is a Lybertine and an other sayth he is a Puritane one sayth he is a Caluinist and an other sayth he is a Lutherane Good God howe many Religions be there if there were many Gods I would not woonder at their varietie in Religion But seeing there is but one God who made all thinges hath ordayned all thinges in a dewe order the Sunne to rule by daye the Moone by night the earth to bring foorth her encrease and the waters not to passe their dewe boundes who ruleth all thinges and at whose becke all thinges doo appeare in whome we haue our life our beeing and essence VVhy should there be such diuersitie in Religion such varietie in opinions such contrarietie in matters touching our saluation There is but one GOD there ought to be but one Religion There is but one trueth what needeth so many dissentions so many controuersies and so many alterations from the trueth But their life is so wicked and prophane so rechlesse and lewde that they wyll haue their Religion correspondent and agreeable to their conuersation He that is rocked in the cradle of sinne and securitie he that is nusled in wantonnes and brought vp in delightes he that is choaked with worldlie cares of this life he whose bellie is his god he whose money is his onelie ioye and he whose land is his onely trust regardeth more these corruptible fleeting vanities then the incorruptible and immutable trea sures of heauēlie Paradise He whose whole trust and confidence is in sensible pleasures must be depriued of insensible delightes He whose care is greater to become ritch and stately in the sight of the world then to become poore in spirite and meeke in conuersation passeth not much what Religion to professe so that his state be not impaired but rather to higher dignitie promoted Howe esteemeth he Religion which obstinatelie persisteth in sinne walloweth in sensualitie and liueth in wickednesse is he religious which carefully obserueth not the lawes of the most righteous and almighty God but liueth securelie without all feare of his maiestie In verie deede the life deedes and conuersation of heretiques doo plainlie shewe that they more abhorre and feare the odious name of an Epicure or Saduceie then they doo the nature For what think they the soule to be immortall who liue not farre better then the brutish beasts which follow nature but they degenerate from nature and are by reason of their corrupt life inferiour to the beasts of the feeld Be they persuaded that God rewardeth the godly in heauen or punisheth sinners in hell with endlesse torments In euery trifling thing they dread not to violat the cōmaundements of God and run headlong into sinne euen as though they did either thinke that God were but a vaine fay ned thing or beleue that when the body dieth the soule likewise perisheth and commeth vnto to nothing They liue so idle carelesse and secure in their callinges that GOD must surelie plague them at length and bring them to confusion They respect the safetie and prosperitie of their bodies heere on earth rather then the saluation of theyr soules in the kingdome of Christ They rather obey the wordes of Cambyses for temporall gaine then the warning of Christ for eternall happinesse Whereby it comes to passe that they haue commonlie fayre bodies but deformed soules much goodes but little goodnesse and glorious they seeme in the sight of men outwardlie but odious inwardlie in the eyes of God For it is harde to finde a man sayth Aristotle Lib. 2. Rhet. 1. ad The odetem Cap. 10. vvhich in prosperitie is not proude disdainfull and arrogant of which sort are they whome clients whome aucthoritie whome fauour of men hath exalted and so enioying theyr heartes desire they are of minde that no aduersitie can hurte them And what is that as Dauid sayde The vngodlie hath sayde in his heart tushe I shall neuer be cast downe there shall no euill happen vnto me But the fayrest Oke is soonest cast downe the fattest Oxe is readiest for slaugher And the felicitie of fooles is their owne destruction sayth Salomon Prouer. Chap. 1. Psalm 73. For howe suddenlie doo they consume vanishe and come to fearefull ende yea euen as a dreame are they when one awaketh Lorde when thou raysest the dead thou wylt despise their Image Thou wylt punishe them and reward them according to their deserts if they wyll not amend and timelie bee conuerted to the trueth and hartelie embrace the Decrees and constitutions of our holye Mother the Churche God will surelie one daie be reuenged on them not onely in hell with euerlasting paine but also in this life with infinit miseries and a laborinth of intricate euyls VVhat doo I say one day yea God already for their wickednesse and sliding from our holie Mother the Church hath greeuouslie afflicted them and brought them to extreeme calamities wretchednesse and desolation With how many troubles with how
many vexations of minde and with how many sorrowes hath God punished the heretiques in Flaunders for their hautie stomackes and disloyaltie to their natural King for their stubbornes in not receiuing clemencie offered vnto them and for their wilfulnes in reiecting the same for their contemning of the Catholique faith and for their following I cannot tell nor they them selues vvhat Religion so vnstable and vnconstant their opinion is in matters of faith God hath stirred vp the Catholiques against them their strength is feebled their fayre buildinges made euen with the ground their coffers are opened and their gold and siluer fyll the purses of their aduersaries their costlie household stuffe their hangings their trim attyre their cloath of Tissue and whatsoeuer thing else they haue is taken away Their cattell is driuen from them their corne is burnt and in summe they them selues are eyther iustlie made bonde-men and slaues or else wretchedlie and rufullie slaine So that now after Gods iust reuengement they are become the outcast and the verie scum of the earth they are banished out of their owne countrey and can finde no abiding place to rest they are a fable vnto all the world for their newe inuented heresies their state and condition is not far better then the Iewes and their punishmēt doth not much differ the one from the other the heretiques and the Iewes are hated a lyke are persecuted a lyke and are punished heere in this worlde a lyke But heerein the Iewes and the Heretiques doo differre in sinne the Iewe sinneth ignorauntlie and obstinatelie but Heretiques sinne not ignorauntlie but obstinatelie and wilfullie The Iewes neuer knewe Christe neuer beleeued in him nor neuer tooke him to be the sauiour of the worlde The Heretiques acknowledged Christe to be the onelie begotten sonne of GOD beleeued in him and tooke him to be theyr Messias or Iesuah But in sweruing from the Catholique fayth they haue lost the knowledge of Christe their faith is frustrate and in vaine Their taking of Christe to be their sauiour can nothing auayle them can stande them in no steede And why they haue denied the Pope to be Supreame head they haue renounced the Traditions of the Apostles the Councelles they despise the aucthorities of the graue and learned Fathers they disallowe and to be breefe the Lawes of our holie Mother the churche they haue contempned and contrary sayd them VVherefore their sinne is not excusable and more greeuouslie to be punished in hell then the obstinate ignoraunce of the Iewes for not receyuing Christe to be theyr redeemer If this fayth whereby we hope to be saued which is the Catholique faith were not the true and substantiall faith whereof mention is made in our Creede where as it is sayde I beleeue in the holie Catholique Churche And what church is this is it not that for the which so many Martirs ended their vitall breath before the due course of nature So many in wyldernesse lead a most austeare life lyued in penurie and scarsitie glad they were to sustaine their lyues with rootes and water they forsooke the world with all the pompe and glistering shewes therof they bridled their carnall affections and sensuall lustes the deuill with all his subtill temptations they ouercame with fasting and praier What doo they beleeue that these holie Hermites are all condempned for that they haue beleeued the church of Roome to be the holie catholique Church and the Pope to be the head and cheefe Sheepheard thereof Haue so many Monkes so many Friers erred who wrought so many charitable deedes so often fasted so often prayed so often called vnto God for grace and helpe so brotherlie exhorted the wicked to amendement of lyfe so freendlie harboured the harborlesse cloathed the naked fed the hungrie visited the sicke helped the poore prisoners and redeemed the captiues forsooke their lyuinges and gaue them selues onelie to contemplation VVere all these reprobate doo they all suffer tormentes in hell for euer neuer to enioy the glorious contemplation of Gods heauenlie countenaunce is this the rewarde which they haue for all their holinesse for their vpright dealinges for their timerous conscience to offend their neighbour and beeing by some mischaunce offended to aske him forgiuenesse and to render a satisfaction Shall good workes reape no better reward then among the dampned should this their reward be euerlastinglie to rue in hell If as the heretiques say their faith was Antichristian-like and contrarie to Gods word Beleeue this who that will and let him be an heretique therefore I beleeue they were holie men and for their holinesse and catholique Religion were crowned with an incorruptible crowne of perpetuall blisse in heauenlie ioye If the Religion of our holie Mother the Church were nought then in vaine haue so many Saintes serued the Lord honoured him and kept his commaundementes in vaine haue so many Virgins intruded them-selues to Monasteries sequestring and estraunging them-selues from the societie of seculer women in vaine haue they reserued their virginitie forsaking wealthy and ritch mariages in vaine haue they chastised their bodies subduing and bringing them to subiection in vaine haue they liued and in vaine haue they beleeued if for the confession of the Catholique Church of Roome damnation bothe of body and soule should be then their reward So many Preests so many Leuits so many Kinges so many Princes so many Potentates so many Magistrates haue liued in vaine and in vaine was their faith who were no happier then the Gentiles in Cicero his time to be condemned with the heathen Gentiles since the beginning of the faith of Christe Onely perishing in soule and bodie for that their faith depended of the Catholique faith of our holie Mother the Churche Empires Kingdomes Prouinces Islands Citties and Townes beleeued in the Church of Roome which is the holy Catholique Church and are they all condemned therefore and haue they all liued in blindnesse and errour and hath Christe beene so vniust of his promise neuer to fayle his Church and haue his woordes beene so vntrue that the holie Ghost should direct the Catholique Church in all her dooinges howe was the Church directed if all the people erred How should Christ beeing the way the trueth and life neuer fayle his Spowse if he suffered her to decline from him who is the trueth Christ his wordes are true Coelum et terra peribunt sed verba eius remanebunt vera in aeternum Heauen and earth shall perishe but his wordes shall remaine true for euer Though the heretiques prate or speake neuer so much against the trueth Christe hath euermore instructed the churche of Roome Though Martin Luther and Iohn Caluin write to the contrarie who make them-selues more familliar with Christe and more priuie to his secretes then euer the Apostles were who were conuersant with Christe liuing on earth But Luther and Caluin not so they make men beleeue that their Forefathers liued in blindnesse and errour euen from the time of the Apostles
vntyll their dayes O happie mothers to be conceyued and to be deliuered of such fortunate children and to bring them vp in such good lytterature that they should become the lampes of the world the Teachers of the ignorant I haue written I can not tell what naie I say O vnhappie mothers to haue such vnluckie children good it had beene for them and for their children if they plaide vppon one string that they neuer had beene borne Their chyldren were the instrumentes of Sathan to seduce the foolish and worldlie people they were the cause why that many lost their liues vntimelie heere in this world As in Fraunce thousands were slaine in Germanie foure score thousand at once in Flaunders I knowe not howe many besides other Countreyes infinite was the number of them that were slaine drowned and burnt I knowe not for what Religion nor I thinke they them-selues knewe but why they were thus cut of their pride abated their mallice asswaged and their deuises confounded I partlie knowe it was for that they denied the supremacie of our holie Father the Pope God woulde needes giue the ouerthrowe to his enimies and graunt victorie to his generall Vicar heere on earth If his title had not beene good he had not preuailed thus against his enimies he had not so often gotten the feelde and brought his enimies to shame and confusion VVhat shall I saye of Englande my natiue Soyle it contemneth despiseth and little embraceth the trueth lyttle regardeth the Catholique faith blinde ignoraunce and a Chaos or a heape of all kinde of heresies greatlie there preuayleth Howe many be there that wot not whome to beleeue whome to call vpon or what trade of lyfe they ought to leade VVickednesse iniquitie cogging and couzening and the corruption of this monstrous Realme are horrible great the blessed doctrine of God the onely true foode nourture direction and rule of mans lyfe is little knowne little set by and little followed God is long before he punisheth but when he commeth he punisheth with an iron rodde and sharplie scourgeth them for their sinnes vnlesse they repent whyle it is tyme. They may looke for the lyke punishment troubles and myseries as were laide vpon the Iewes and which they suffered deseruedlie for the hardenesse of theyr heartes and for theyr vnbeleefe Least that I wearie your chaste cares most woorthy Cardinalles with tediousnesse I make an ende crauing pardon for my greeuous trespasse and heynous offence against our holy father the Pope and against our holy mother the Church God preserue your Graces to the holding vp of his Church to the vanquishing of your enimies who at the first as bubbles of the water ryse vp and florish for a whyle then by and by fall downe and appeare no more Who at the first rule the roast in many places as Arrian the heretique did but I am affraide their ende shall be as Arrians was if not in this life yet in the life to come for Arrian auoided his guttes as he went to auoide the excrementes of his bodie If our heretiques die not thus yet they may die after a wursse sort If God in this life plagueth them not let them tremble and quake for feare least bothe bodies and soules abide the greater tormentes in hell They haue but a tyme to raygne and rule and beleeue what they lyst The Pellagians had a time and prospered for a whyle against the Church of Roome but by little and little their heresie decaied The Marcionistes fought for a while against the Church of Roome but in continuance of tyme it got the vpper hand and the heresie of the Marcionistes was quite forgotten abolisht and blotted out Thus tyme will deface the heresies of Iohn Caluin and Martin Luther with all the whole rabble and route of Arch-heretiques God graunt your Graces what heart can wishe heere in this worlde and in the life to come perpetuallie to raigne in blisse ioye and quietnesse Thus I haue ended ¶ By me Iohn Nichols submitting him-self vnder the Popes correction meaning hencefoorth to be a true Catholique member of the Church of Roome Amen quoth the Cardinalles with all the company And so the Oratiō ended at Roome in the yeere of our Lord. 1578. In the moneth of Maye the .xxv. daie and presented the .xxvii. daie of the same moneth before the Pope and all his Cardinalles in his Consistorie ⧠A Sermon made at Roome against the Pope in the yeere of our Lord. 1578. the .xxvi. daie of May and presented before the Pope in his Consistorie the .xxvii. day of that Moneth MAny there be well belooued who more rashly then wisely confesse the Pope of Roome to be Christe his generall Vicar heere on earth to be supreame head ouer all Churches the world throughout and to be the chéefest Shéepheard of Christe his flocke They take the Church of Roome to be our holie Mother the Church that her we must serue vpon her we must waite in her we must beléeue in her resteth our saluation and the slyding away from her is our condempnation Shee is the Church say they that cannot erre for shée is the spowse of Christe I wyll prooue bothe by the testimonies of the Scriptures and by the aucthorites of the graue and auncient Doctours that the Pope is not supreame head and that the Church of Christ is neyther in Roome nor in the Capitoll of Roome no more then it is in Egipt or the high pinacled Churches in Egipt But in euerie Nation and in euerie Countrey the men that feare God and worke righteousnes they are the house of God they are the Church Euerie chaste body is his holy Tabernacle and spirite and trueth is his heauenly worship They are the Church of God if they doo holde and shall holde the reioysing of theyr hope constantly and faithfully vnto the ende That such are the house of God Saint Paule sheweth in 1. Cor. 3.16 Nescitis quia templum Dei estis et spiritus Dei habitat in vobis Doo you not knowe that you are the temple of God and that the spirite of God dwelleth in you And againe 1. Cor. 6.19 An nescitis quoniam membra vestra templum sunt spiritus sancti qui in vobis est quem habetis à Deo Doo you not knowe that your body is the temple of the holie Ghost which is in you and which you haue of God And againe 2. Cor. 6.16 Vos estis templū Dei vini sicut dicit Deus Quoniam inhabitabo in illis et inambulabo inter eos et ero illorum Deus et ipsi erunt mihi populus You are the temple of the liuing God as God hath saide I wyll dwell in them and I wyll walke in them and they shall be my people and I wyll be their God And againe Ephe. 2.19 Iam non estis hospites et aduenae sed estis Ciues sanctorum et domestici Dei We be no more straungers and forreiners but fellowe Cittizens with the Saintes and of
thing truelie of the goinges of the beloued or of the dooinges of the beloued Beléeue me truely O world it is daunger to aske her it is next to deaths doore to heare her it is dampnable death and hell to beléeue her Better it is to dye in body for him that may then to beléeue her to be the holy Catholique Church and therefore to perishe in body and soule Happy were they and are and shall be who patiently suffered doo suffer and shall suffer the tyranny and persecution of Antichriste Hope of Roome for the deniall of his whoorishe and Babilonicall Church By theyr patience it appeared that they had the cognisance or badge of the true Church August De tempore Ser. 130. Crux regni insigne est The Crosse sayth Saint Augustine is the cognisance or badge of the Church Athanasius Ad solitariam vitam agentes sayth Caedi Christianorum proprium est Caedere aus tem Christianos Pilati et Caiphae officia sunt To be persecuted belongeth to Christians but to persecute the Christians belongeth to the office of Pilate and Caiphas But the Papistes say that they punishe the Protestants onely for a desire to haue them reconciled to their Sinagogue and for entyre looue A gentle kinde of looue lyke the looue of one Philippides of whome Aristophanes in Vespis writeth who tooke a cudgell A prettie example alluded to the Papists and dyd beate his Father and all for looue But we may say with Tertullian Crudelitas vestra nostra gloria est Your crueltie is our glorie For Gods Religion the more it is pressed the more it encreaseth This persecution of the Papistes against the Christians is an euident token that the Church of Roome is the Sinagogue of Sathan Caine persecuted Abell the Giants Noah the Sodomites Loth Ismaell Isaack Esau Iacob the Egiptians the Israelites Pharaoh Moses Saule Dauid and yet Dauid would not hurt againe of whome we learned that Gods Church dooth suffer rather then hurt pardon rather then persecute The false Church of the Prophetes persecuted the true propheticall Church the Sinagogue of the Iewes persecuted Christe and his Apostles The Churche of Roome persecuteth Christes lyttle flocke and congregation So Hillarius and Nicephorus in many places discourse Lactantius sayth excellently to this matter Diuin Institut Lib. 5. Cap. 19. Defendenda religio est non occidendo sed monendo non saeuitia sed patientia non scelere sed fide Nam si sanguine et tormentis si malo religionem defendere velis iam non defendetur illa sed polluetur atque violabitur Religion is to be defended not with murthering but with monishing not with crueltie but with patience not with furie but with faithfulnesse For if ye defend Religion with bloodshedde and tormenting or with working of mischeefe it is not defended but defiled and deceyued The Church of Roome persecuteth all Christians The Ornamentes and deckings of the Antichristian Church of Roome her sentence is burne burne burne her hadge let vs laye wayte for blood her head blasphemie her shéelde tyrannie her breast iniurie her eyes fyre her gyrdle fornication her breath poyson her tongue the stinge of death her féete ready to shedde innocent blood her sworde violence her Crosse persecution her pardons iniquitie her tryple crowne presumption her Keies ambition and all her dooinges abhomination Héere doo follow great swarmes of Cainites Giantes Sodomites Egiptians Scribes Pharasies Herodians Monks The Champions and vpholders of this Babilonicall Sea Friers Cardinalles Adulterers Idolaters Parasites Poysoners Pardoners Bawdes Flatterers Traytours Rebels Murderers Theeues with all the Romishe rabble These are the right Canniballes lyke to the barbarous people of Armenica that eate one an other My countrey men wyll you builde your faith vppon this Church which receyueth such Varlettes which hath such gracelesse personnes such persecutours and such bloodie butchers The Church of Christe hath none such there were neuer in the Church of Christe nor are not nor neuer shall be persecutors The Church of Christe is styll persecuted and neuer persecuteth Did the Matriarches persecute did Christe persecute did the Apostles persecute When the Samaritanes would not receyue Christe Iames and Iohn béeing as yet Nouices in Christes schoole called for fyre from heauen and would haue burned and consumed the Samaritanes but Christe rebuked them saying You wot not of what manner of spirite you are for the sonne of man is not come to destroye mens liues but to saue them If the Church of Roome were the holie Catholique Church it would then féede the soule of man béeing a spirite with spirituall foode moone her by spirituall instrumentes drawe her by the worde leade her by the spirite and persuade her by the Scriptures which are the onely meanes which God appoynteth If an Heretique holde an opinion he holdeth it eyther of ignoraunce or of wylfulnesse If of ignoraunce he is to be conuerted by doctrine to be conuinced by Scripture reformed by exhortation reduced by reason persuaded by the trueth If of wylfulnesse he is to be menaced by the Lawe and corrected by excommunication The Church of Rome vseth no such meanes wherefore the Church of Roome is of the deuill and not of Christe And as the Lord hath done to Ierusalem in Titus Vespasianus tyme as Iosephus in his hystorie of the Iewes maketh mention and to the ruines thereof that the place should not boast of the Oracles of God So God hath done to Roome A notable forewarning to the Church of Roome to the Idolles thereof that theyr boasting should be in vaine of the Church of God For what was Roome euen from her byrth but a Citie built in Parricide then strengthened with robberies and made a Sanctuarie for murderers of all Nations The pettigree of Roome as you may read in theyr owne Romaine Hystories And what was it afterwardes in the time of the Emperour Iulianus Apostata Dioclesian Nero and diuers others but a slaughter house of the Martyrs of God and what is it in ours and our fathers dayes but the Queene of pride the nurse of Idolatries the mother of whordomes the sincke of iniquities out of which sorceries withcrafts poisoninges adulteries rebellions and bloodie warres haue ouerflowed the whole earth Who wyll beléeue in this Church are we commaunded to beléeue léeue in this Church when as it is sayd in our Créede Credo sanctam Catholicam Ecclesiam I beleeue that there hath béene is and shall be a holie Catholique Church My sence can not shew it and therefore I beléeue it for if I sée it beléefe is in vaine for where sence faileth and can goe no farther there beléefe beginneth For is it necessarie that we should frō time to time beleeue that Roome is the holie Catholique Church but we should from tyme to tyme beleeue there is a holy Catholique church But in déede the Papists and such like open persecutours haue of so long tyme kept vnder the Church that we are driuen
and receyued Sola fide by onely fayth Hierome vpon the tenth Chapter to the Romaines They not knowing that God iustifieth Sola fide by Faith onely and suppose them selues to be iust by the workes of the lawe which they neuer obserued they would not submit them selues vnto the remission of sinnes least they should seeme to haue beene sinners Hillarie in the ninth Canon vpon the. 8. of Mathewe It mooueth the Scribes that sinne was forgiuen by man for they dyd onely beholde man in Christe Iesu and that to be forgiuen of him which the lawe could not release Fides enim sola iustificat For faith only iustifieth Basill in his Homilie of Humility That at length is a perfect and sound reioycing in God when a man dooth not bragge and boast of his owne righteousnesse he is iustified Sola fide By faith onely in Christe Thus haue I recited bothe Scriptures and Doctours for proofe that a man is iustified onely by Faith more places out of the Scriptures and Doctours might be gathered But these may suffise for this matter ¶ Of Free wyll I Wyll prooue bothe by Scriptures and Doctours that frée wyll was giuen vnto man euen before his fall after his fall That man had frée wyll before his fall these testimonies of the Scriptures alleadged doo testifie the same In Genesis the first Chapter and 26. verse there it is written Et ait Deus faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram et praesit piscibus maris et volatilibus caeli et bestijs vniuersaeque terrae omnique reptili quòd mouetur in terra God sayd let vs make man in our owne Image according to our likenesse and let him rule ouer the Fishes of the sea and ouer the Fowles of the heauen and ouer the Beastes and ouer all the earth and ouer euerie thing that creepeth and mooueth on the earth If hee had rule ouer the Beastes of the féelde of the Fowles of the ayre and of the Fishes of the Sea he had then frée wyll And whereas it is written That God made man to his own image It is not meant of the body nor yet of the soule but of principallitie dominion In the. 2. Chap. of Gen it is written Tulit ergo Domnus Deus hominem et posuit eum in Paradisum voluptatis vt operaretur et custodiret illum praecepitque ei dicens ex omni ligno Paradisicomedes Then the Lord God tooke the man and put him into the garden of Eden that he might dresse it and keepe it and the Lord God commaunded the man saying thou shalt eat freely of euerie Tree of the garden By these words I gather that séeing it was graunted by God to man to eate of euerie Trée of the garden then had he frée wyll to doo as he would to eate or not to eate Againe Ecclesi 15.14 Deus ab initio cōstituit hominem et reliquit illum in manu consilij sui adiecit mandata et praecepta sua si volueris mandata seruare conseruabunt te c. He made man from the beginning and left him in the hand of his counsell and gaue him his commaundementes and preceptes if thou wilt thou shalt obserue the commaundementes and testifie thy good wyll You sée that frée wyll was graunted vnto man before his fall God created him and left him in the hand of his counsell to doo what he would he had his owne choise eyther to the eating of euerie Trée of the garden and so to lyue eternallie in pleasures delightes ioye rest and quietnesse or to eate of the Trée of knowledge of good and bad and so to become mortall to léese his former state to become myserable wretched a caitife subiect to death hell and dampnation Againe in the same Chap. of Eccle. 15.17 Apposuit tibi aquam et ignem ad quod volueris porrige manum tuam And in the 18. verse Ante hominem vita et mors bonum et malum quod placuerit ci dabitur illi He hath set water and fire before thee stretch out thy hand vnto which thou wilt Before man is life and death good and euyll what it lyketh him it shall be giuen him Héere we sée moste manifestly that man had frée wyll before his fall For if the first man Adam could haue chosen eyther lyfe or death good or euyll who can with reason denie but that he had frée wyll For frée wyll is nothing else but a frée and loose lybertie of the minde to doo as he lyst Our Parentes An euident signe of free wyll Adam and Eue might haue lyued but they would not Adam and Eue had theyr choyse eyther to lyue or to dye to lyue and to doo good obseruing his commaundement and to dye if they would doo euyll neglecting his precept They followed the counsell of the Serpent in eating the fruite forbidden and so offended Gods Maiestie Wherefore it appeareth by these wordes that they had frée wyll to doo as they were commaunded and so to lyue in Paradise or to breake the commaūdement of God and so to dye bannished out of Paradise Eccle. 17.1 Deus creauit de terra hominem et iterum conuertit illum in ipsam The Lord hath created man of the earth and turned him to it againe Numerum dierum et tempus dedit illi c. He gaue him the number of dayes and certaine tymes and gaue him power of the thinges that are vpon earth He cloathed him with strength as he had néede and made him according to his Image He made all fleshe to feare him so that he had dominion ouer the Beastes and Fowles He created vnto him a helper lyke vnto him selfe and gaue him discretion and tongue and eyes cares and an heart to vnderstand and sixtlie he gaue him a spirite and seuenthly he gaue him spéeche to declare his workes and he filled him with knowledge of good and euyll And he sayde vnto him Beware of all vnrighteous thinges Wisd 23. Deus creauit hominem inexterminabilem et adimaginem similitudinis sue fecitillum God created man without corruption and made him after the Image of his owne lykenesse Coloss 3.9 Lye not one to an other seeing that yee haue put off the olde man with his workes and haue put on the newe which is renewed in knowledge after the Image of him that created him Ephesi 4.23 Be yee renewed in the spirite of your minde 24. And put on the newe man which after GOD is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse Omnes homines Sayth Ambrose in his first Booke and third Chapter of the calling of the Gentiles in primo homine creati sunt sine vicio et culpa et tota natura nostra integra et valida erat et peccato istius hominis totius nostrae naturae integritatem et salutem amisimus All men in the first man were created without vice or faulte and all our nature was sounde and in health and by the sinne of the
not by any corporall but by a spirituall manner passing into vs c. Christe sayde to his Disciples Take yee and eate yee this is my body which is giuen for you doo this as often as yee shall doo it in remembraunce of me What can be more euident then the interpretation of this Supper if the cyrcumstances of the wordes be scanned accordingly For who is so blinde that can not discerne the fruites of the Lordes death and Passion to be plainlie signified héere For as much as in the verie eating him selfe sayth This is my body that is giuen to be slaine for you Otherwise why should he haue added with all Giuen to be slaine But that hée woulde set downe a plaine testimonie of the death of his body rather then of any substaunce thereof to the viewe of the Disciples As if he should say The tyme is nowe at hand A comfortable consolation woorthy to be had in remēbrance of all men wherein my body must be giuen to be slaine for you not for any of mine offence at all but for your sakes which death of mine shall procure euerlasting lyfe for you After lyke sort and manner as this bread which I giue thus broken vnto you to eate dooth passe into your bodies and giue nourishment thereto Take ye therefore this bread this bread which I giue to euerie of you and eate and withall consider heerein not the naturall bread which feedeth your bodies outwardly But my body which beeing giuen to be slaine and crucified for you shall inwardly and much more effectually refresh you to eternall lyfe For my fleshe which I will giue to be slaine for the lyfe of the worlde is meate in deede and my blood is drinke in deede Iohn 6. For your bodies doo not so much lyue by the nourishment of meate and drink as your soules be fedde within with the crucifying of my flesh and the shedding of my blood without which you can haue no remission of sinnes no ioyfull resurrection of your fleshe no parte or portion of eternall lyfe Therefore let this which is giuen you in this Supper remaine for a perpetuall Sacrament and remembraunce vnto you of the body which I will heereafter giue for you For I shall giue my body for you into the handes of enimies the Sacrament wherof I doo heere giue into your handes Whereby you may perceyue déerely belooued that héere be two things giuen by Christe one vnto vs the other for vs the first to be eaten the last to be crucified that one in the Supper this other vpon the Crosse Now if you desire to know the substance of that which was giuen in the Supper it was bread and the Sacrament of his body That which was giuen vpon the Crosse was his body and not a Sacrament What then wyll you say was not his body giuen at Supper yes in déede Christes body was giuen there to the Disciples neither after a bodily and corporall maner for that corporall body was giuen to the Iewes not in the Supper but on the Crosse wherevpon he gaue his body corporally not to the Disciples but for the Disciples Therefore that which he gaue for his Disciples was his body that which he gaue to his disciples was the mistery of his body yet was it one the selfe same body bothe that of the supper giuen to the Disciples and that of the crosse giuē for his Disciples but yet not after the same sort nor yet at the same tyme. For vpon the Crosse it was giuen to be slaine corporally in the supper it was giuē not to be slaine but to be eaten not corporally to be grawne which theyr téeth but to féede vpō it in the bowels of their soules namely after a sacramētal kinde of receyuing not corporall Therefore it is not denied that the Lordes body was bothe giuen eaten in the Supper but not the body only but together with the body the sacramēt annexed also withal wherof the one apperteyneth to the féeding of the bodies the other to the séeding of the soules That which is receyued within in the soule is the very body not the Sacrament of his body For as much therfore as these two doo necessarily concurre together in the holy supper that the one can not be seuered from the other let vs so ioyne the one with the other that we neyther seperate the body of Christe from the Sacrament as the Papists doo which be so throughly wedded to the only substance of the body as that they leaue therin no substāce at all of a Sacrament but superficial and immateriall shadowes I know not what hanging in the ayre which serue to no purpose Neyther let vs so segregate the Sacrament againe from the body as that wée leaue nothing in the holy Supper but bare signes Cyrill Anathe 11. Doost thou pronouce sayth he this our sacrament to be mans foode and vrgest the mindes of the faithfull irreligiouslie to grosse and carnall thoughts and doost thou practise to discusse by mans sensuall reason the thinges which are conceiued by onely and most exquisite faith Heare what Christe sayth in the interpretation of his owne spéeche Caro sayth he non prodest quicquam verba mea spiritus et vita sunt Fleshe dooth not profit at all my wordes be spirit and life And doost thou cruell Canniball conceiue eate nought else but the flesh of Christe nor wylt thou permitte one crumme so much of breade to remaine because it is called the body of Christe But how many things doo we heare dayly called by this or that name when as in very deede they be not made the things wherof they beare the names When the Disciple whome Jesus looued was by Christes owne mouth called the sonne of Marie yet wyll no man be so wytlesse as to confesse him to be the naturall sonne of the Virgin Marie So also the Prophet dooth call fleshe a flowre of the feelde In the Gospel Iohn Baptist is called Elias Peter is named a Rocke so is he also called Sathan To conclude throughout all the discourse of the Scriptures what is more frequented then this vsuall phrase of spéec he and that things be called by this or that name wherein notwithstanding is no alteration of nature but the properties of things onely noted Theoderet Christ did signifie the signes which be seene by calling them his body and blood not chaunging the nature but adding therevnto grace Gelasius Contra Eutichetem Substantia panis et vini non mutatur et sine dubio imago et similitudo corporis et san◠guinis celibratur in actionem mysteriorum The substaunce of the bread and wine dooth not cease and without doubt the image and similitude of the body and blood is celebrated to the action of the mysteries Ambrosius De mysterijs Christus est in Sacramento quia est corpus Christi ideo nonest corporalis sed spirituas lis cibus c. Christe is in that Sacrament because it is
that not of your selues it is the gifte of God not workes least any mā should boast him selfe 2. Tim. 1.9 Qui saluos fecit nos vocauit vocatione sancta non secundum opera nostra sed secundum suum propositum gratiam quae dat a quidem est per Christum Iesum ante tempora aeterna Who hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our workes but according to his own purpose and grace which was geuen to vs through Iesus Christ before the world was Titus 3.5 Non ex operibus quae sunt in iustitia quae faciebamus nos sed secundum suam misericordiam saluos nos fecit per lauacrum regenerationis ac renouationis Spiritus sancti That is Not by the workes of righteousnes which wee had done but according to his mercie he saued vs by the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the holy Ghost that we being iustified by his grace should be made heires according to the hope of eternal life 1. Iohn 4.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Herein is loue not that we loued God but that he loued vs and sent his Sonne to bee a recōciliation for our sins In the 9. ver We loue him because he loued vs first To the Reue. 21.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will geeue to him that is a thirst of the wel of the water of life freely Many other places of Scripture could I alleadge against mennes merites righteousnesse but these already alleadged may suffise any Christian man Now briefly will I see what the Doctors speake against this matter of Iustification by good works Origene in his 4. booke and 4. Chap. I doe scarcely beleeue that there can be any woorke that may of duetie require a reward Basill vpon the Psalme 32. Hee that trusteth not in his owne good deedes nor hopeth to be iustified by his woorkes hath the onely hope of his saluation in the mercies of God Hilarie vpon the 118. Psalme If wee faste once we thinke we haue satisfied If out of the barnes of our houshold stoare we geue somewhat to the poore we beleeue that wee haue fulfilled the measure of righteousnesse But the Prophet hopeth all of God and trusteth all of his mercie Hierome vpon the 64. Chapter of Esay If we beholde our owne merites we must be driuen to desperation Vpon the. 3. Cha. to the Ephesians In Christe Iesu our Lord in whome we haue boldnesse and lyberty to come and trust and affiance by the faith of him not through our righteousnes but through him in whose name our sinnes be forgiuen In his first booke against the Pellagians Our ryghteousnesse dooth not confist of our merites but of the grace and mercy of God Augustin in his 50. Booke of Homyles 14 Hom. Dyd not he giue that thou mightest fight a good fight if he him selfe dyd not giue what was it that thou sayst In an other place I laboured more then all they yet not I but the grace of God within me behold thou sayst I haue ended my course dyd he not also giue vnto thee that thou shouldest finish thy course If he gaue not vnto thee that thou shouldest finish thy course what is it that thou sayst In an other place It lyeth not in the willer nor in the runner but in God that sheweth mercy I haue kept the faith I acknowledge and allowe it I confesse and grant that thou hast kept the faith but except the Lord dooth keepe the Citty he watcheth in vaine that dooth keepe it Pardon me O Apostle I know nothing of thine owne but euyll Pardon vs O Apostle we say so because thou hast taught vs. Therefore when he crowneth thy merites he crowneth nothing but his owne gyfts Thus you haue heard déerely beloued what both scriptures and Doctors write against mens merites and righteousnesse Wherefore I pray you in the name of Christe to embrace the trueth THus was the Sermon ended at Roome in the yéere of our Lord. 1578. in the moneth of May which Sermō is registred only for this cause the if I should reuolt frō Papistry mine own writing which is registred should cōdemne me to the fire for pardō there were none Otherwise if they had not registred this Sermon I might haue forsaken Papistrie without any feare of burning I might haue repayred vnto them be reconciled to the Romishe Church againe But nowe if I were so wicked lewde by meanes of my Sermō registred at Roome the Pope him selfe could graunt me no pardon according to theyr owne lawes But without any faile I should be burnt as an Heretique for thus tearme they Christians But God defend me from theyr clawes strengthē me in his faith graunt me patience vnto the ende and in the ende God graunt me an heart to looue him and obey my Soueraigne Quéene Elizabeth During her life I hope the Papists shall not burne me God graunt her Grace many yéeres to raigne with much felicitie encrease of honour and ioy of health bothe of body and soule Pray well O England for her Maiestie for truely thou hast much néed thou knowest the cause as well as I wherfore the same I doo omit to write This booke is ended Momus holde thy peace for there was neuer Momus that euer thriued vnlesse he became a mome for his labor Men wyll say as they haue done before this tyme that this Booke was the labour of other men as they say the other was It is well knowne of twēty and not so few that I had the helpe of none in this book neyther in the first booke which was called my Recantation All the helpe I had was of God and my bookes as for other helpe had I none not so much as one sentence or clawse had I by other mens industrie to be written in my booke This haue I spoken not to win prayse or that I should séeme to be coumpted learned before I be But I thought it good so much to write to certifie the Readers howe falsely I am accused and slaundered and what vntruethes the Papists report of me I crane no more of them then they would of me in the lyke case to speake no more then trueth is And let them not spare to report that which is trueth so shall they as I thinke neyther displease God nor molest their owne conscience And before the any man ought to beléeue them in misreporting ought of me let them first trie examine theyr wordes whether they be true or false and as they haue prooued theyr wordes so let them beléeue Thus I haue ended to write any farther to God be prayse vnto me to accomplishe what to a Christian belongeth If you like this simple worke of mine expect for a better which I hope to God ere it be long shal be brought to lyght to the misliking of the Papists and to the discredite of theyr hypocriticall Religion and to the profite of the Christians and aduancement of