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A20304 XXVII. lectures, or readings, vpon part of the Epistle written to the Hebrues. Made by Maister Edward Deering, Bachelour of Diuinitie Dering, Edward, 1540?-1576.; T. N., fl. 1577. 1577 (1577) STC 6727; ESTC S114746 295,005 510

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vs If it were thus yet what is become of building religious houses of pilgrimage of numbering many prayers of their holie orders their garments their fasting c All these they let sink in their own shame with out defēce for these applied not the death of Christ vnto vs but in the merite of the worke they were commended But as these haue no colour of good defence so the excuse of the other is very vaine for how say they that the pope or priests applie the me rites of Christ seeing this application cannot stand by their owne confession without a real sacrificing of Christ For saith not y Apostle here that Christ did it by him selfe not onely making Christe the woorke but also the woorkman the price and the chapman the sacrifice sacrificer not al the world can giue any other recompence for sinne but him nor all the world can giue him but him self as both more plainly we shall heare afterwarde And here is expressely saide that he did it by him selfe with as great warrant giuing vnto him y doing as the thing done As wel and with as litle sinne we may choose another sacrifice as another sacrificer For by the same worde of God bothe are giuen to him a like And as there is not mentioned any other thing that euer could be offered so there is not named any other person that euer could offer this But as he is alone our king and alone spoiled principalities and powers vpon his crosse so he is alone our priest and alone he sacrificed vp his bodie once for all Now where it followeth in the Apostles words That he sitteth at the right hand of high maiestie we must first marke the change of wordes where it is vsually saide he sitteth on the right hand of god Here he saith on the right hand of the highest maiestie whiche is as it were an interpretation of the right hand of God signifying nothing else but the power and glorie of God giuen vnto the person of the mediatour according to that saying of Paule God hath highly exalted him and giuen him a name aboue all names Beside this seeing the right hand of God doth signifie his power wee must learne to be wise hearted not make vnto God a right hand or a left like vnto ours Wee know the commandement Thou shalt make vnto thy selfe no grauen image nor the likenes of any thing that is in heauen aboue or in earth beneath or in the water vnder the earth Let vs giue our obedience and confesse that God is incomprehensible not like to any thing which possibly our bodilie eyes can see And let vs not seeke vaine pretences that we might committe sinne and see it not to say I will make it for a remembraunce or the more to stirre vp our mindes make it howe thou wilt the precept is broken which saith thou shalt not make it And be thou well assured as long as S. Paules wordes shall betruer then thine so long it shall stand that if thou do make any similitude in the worlde to represent God Thou hast now turned the trueth of God into a lie changed the glorie of the incorruptible God to the likenes of the image of a corruptible creature and if accordingly God giue thee vp to a reprobate sense for this pride in thine owne wisedome he doth with thee but as he did with thy forefathers therfore take heede The cause why the Scripture attributeth vnto God eares and eyes and hands and feete it is because we are not able yet to comprehende any thing of Gods maiestie therfore the holie Ghost applieth speach to our infirmitie that we might by these woordes the Lord seeth heareth kepeth and ruleth al things that in him we might boldly trust Let not vs carrie away this great goodnesse of God into rebellion to leaue his glorie whiche we see onely by faith and make him handes and feete and gray haire like vnto a wretched bodie that is consumed with yeares But the time is past Let vs pray that it would please God our heauenly father to humble our hearts vnder the mightie power of his sonne Christ that wee may feare loue and obey him reioycing in the excellencie of glory that he hath giuen vnto vs who is the sonne of God and the Lord increase in vs our faith and hope that in the assurance of Gods loue our consciences may be at peace and in the reuelation of Gods glorie our hearts may be filled with ioy in the Lord which we be seech God to graunt vnto vs euen for his sonnes sake our only mediatour and aduocate Amen ¶ The third Lecture vpon the 4. 5. 6. and 7. verses 4 And is made so much more excellent then the Angels in as much as he hath obteyned a more excellent name then they 5 For vnto which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my sonne this day begat I thee And againe I wil be his father and he shall be my sonne 6 And againe when he bringeth in his first begotten sonne into the worlde he saith And let all the Angels of GOD worship him 7 And of the Angels he saith He maketh his spirits his messingers and his ministers a flame of fire IN these wordes as I tolde you the Apostle beginneth to set out the person of our sauiour Christ by comparison with Angels and this comparison he maketh in many pointes as wee shall heare that the more cleare wee see it tho more effectually we might confesse his high Godhead and therefore aboue all thinges to set him alone called in the new testament the high Prieste and Prophet and King of his people And the first comparison here made is of the first title before giuen him that he is the naturall sonne of God begotten of the substance of his father whereby he must needs be one and equall with his father which name as no Angel hath it so no Angel is to be compared to him That thus the Apostle taketh the name of Sonne according to the dignitie of nature it is plaine in his owne wordes saying And is made so much more excellent c. verse 4. making his excellencie according to his name his name according to his excellēcie For otherwise the name of the sonne of God may be giuen to euery one of vs as God calleth Israel his first borne and all the elect the sonnes of God So the magistrates are sonnes of God and the Angels also the sonnes of God but we by adoption grace the magistrate because he executeth the iudgement of the Lord the Angels by creation none of vs according to the worthinesse of our owne nature But by nature substance eternitie as the Apostle here meaneth there is none the sonne of God but Christ alone And that thus Christ is the sonne of God he proueth it first out of the second psalme where it is said Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten
not themselues but God spake within them Whē soeuer were the time whatsoeuer were the meanes whosoeuer were the man wheresoeuer were the place whatsoeuer were the people yet the wordes were the Lordes And whosoeuer he be in the church of God from the beginning to the ending to whome this ministerie shal be committed if he will be numbered with Patriarches and Prophets Apostles and Pastours and with our Sauiour Christe himselfe whatsoeuer he speake Let him speake as the word of God. For this couenant God hath made with al his seruants euen as the Prophet Esaie saith My spirite which is vpon thee my words which I haue put in thy mouth shal not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seede nor out of the mouth of thy seedes seede from henceforth ▪ euen for euer And in deede whose words else should diuide betweene the marrowe the bones but his onely who alone searcheth the hearts and the reynes Or whose wordes should kil our earthly affections but his alone who giues the sworde of the spirite And we whose messingers are we Or of whome are we sent Is not God our Maister and shall we not make our account to him according to that which we haue receiued of him We must looke vnto our owne charge and for all other men though they seeme to be pillers what they are it skilleth nothing to vs we are not accountable by their giftes Augustine Ambrose Ierome Gregorie or any else they had their owne charge of God and we haue ours by warrant from God they did speake and so must we If I speake out of the fathers of the Church and know it to be the word of God why do I attribute it to man rather then to God whose trueth it is Or if I speak of the Fathers and knowe it not to be the word of God be it neuer so true in the doctours mouth in mine it is sinne because I speak not as I am taught of god This I speake not so much for the papists whose heartes and soules the decrees and decretalles haue stolne away and left them without vnderstanding But I speake it because of brethren who knowe not their calling but fill the pulpites with doctours and counsels and many vanities where they should onely speake the word of God that our agreement may be with the Apostles and Prophets and with our sauiour Christ. Nowe let vs see the differences here spoken of betwene our Sauiour Christ and all other prophets what we may learne of them The firste is the doctrine taught by them was at diuerse times reuealed but that which Christe teacheth is reuealed but once And this is twise after expresly noted by the Apostle himselfe as in the ninth chapter Now at the latter end Christ hath beene once reuealed And in the xii chapter Yet once will I strike not onely the earth but the heauens also And this it is whiche sainct Iude saith of the christiā faith that once it was giuen to the saints which once doth mean the time of Christ in earth for so he saith it was by his sonne For though the Apostle yet vnderstoode not all and the spirit was after giuen them yet the same Spirite did but more lighten them in such things as Christ had also taught them By this we learn boldly to refuse it accoūt it as bastard doctrine whatsoeuer is sprong vp since cōmeth vnder the warrant of a mortall man as namely the idolatries of that mightie king and priest Prete Giam of the Abizannes in Africa and the idolatrie of the great Cam king and priest of the Tartarians in Asia and the idolatries of Ismael king and priest of the Persians and the idolatries of Mahomet king and priest of the Sarasins and the idolatries of the Pope and Papall men this day kings and priestes as proude as the other And of these what sects soeuer haue sprong of Homares or Halys Cuselbasoe or Casaboe of decrees decretalls Thomists or Scotists white friers or black that eternall Gospell as they called it more then 300. yeares since deuised at Paris the reuelations of S. Brigitt all other doctrines and expositions we must cast them away so many as came not in the warrant of our Sauiour Christ once preaching vpō earth which because it was once it cōfuteth all after it and abrogateth all before it which had diuersitie of time as the Apostle himselfe gathereth ca. 12. 27. The second difference that the doctrine of Christ is taught after one sort For though first were miracles and nowe none firste Apostles nowe none these were but meanes to confirme the preaching the word onely was the power of saluation which is the same it was then Whiche because it is but one therefore it is perfect For if any way before had bene absolute in itself there should none other haue come after it but it pleased not God to giue the glorie vnto all those maner of reuelations but reserued it to the preaching of the gospel which he hath made his owne power to saue all that do beleeue giuen it so great grace that it worketh more mightily then all miracles and pearceth deeper into the hart of man then any maner persuasiō yea though one should arise frō the dead to speake vnto vs And therefore we may condemne that whiche before vs was done in building monasteries vowing of pilgrimages praying for the dead their masses diriges honouring of saincts setting vp of Crosses and such like For howe were these thinges taught vnto men Not by preaching the Gospel but for the most part men were driuen vnto it by feare terrour of the night as we may see in their owne books legendes But as it was so it is come vnto it and the darkenesse hath couered it out of whiche it sprang The third difference here is that that was old therefore abolished for it cannot be but that which waxeth elder and elder must at last vanish but the testamēt of Christ it is still new yea though it were frō the beginning yet it is still the same and the day passeth not in whiche it was giuen but it endureth with the age of mā And therfore it is no sacrifice of the new testament to haue a masse which waxeth olde and when it is done is not but you must haue a newe so fill your number Neither yet is it possible that works should iustifie which also wax old are forgottē so that the righteous man of an hundred yeare olde if he leaue then his righteousnes it hath none accoūt The saluatiō of y world it is not thus but alwayes new if once I be in this couenāt it is an euerlasting couenant I was not taken vnder cōdition of time nor no time shal preuail against me The saluatiō it self it is not changeable as Ad●…s was in Paradise but it is made sure in the bodie of
priest of the olde lawe must necessarily be a naturall man then that he must do the worke of the people in thinges apperteining to God thirdly that he must doe it with some sacrifice fourthly with compassion for the peoples errours in all which Christ onely is excellent aboue all other Now the Apostle goeth forward and yet sheweth a fifte propertie of the high priest afore and that is that he was called of God and thrust not himselfe into that roome function To this purpose now it followeth And no man taketh vnto him selfe this honour but he that is called of God as was Aarō then in the two verses following sheweth howe in this also Christe excelled Aaron and had a more glorious calling then he first because an high decree of God was pronounced by the Prophete in which vnder the name of a soone God ordeyned him priest saying Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thee Againe he called him not vnto a priesthood of signes and shadowes which endured but for a while but he called him to the true priesthood it selfe which chaunged not but made him a priest for euer after the order of Melchisedech So as the sonne is higher then a seruant the trueth better then the figure of it and that which abydeth euer better then that which in time is abolished so much this calling of Christ exceedeth Aarons calling and all the priestes of the lawe Heere let vs first learne sith the Apostle speaketh plainely No man taketh honour to him selfe but he that is called of God as Aaron was that bothe it is vnlawfull for any man without a calling to take vppon him the ministerie neither yet any calling ought to be which is not according to the will of God for seeing the ministerie is honourable and hee is iustly honoured that executeth it faithfully how can I exalt my selfe but of right I ought againe to be brought lowe and in steede of glorie haue shame for what doe I in this but rob Christe of his glorie who is head of his Churche and appointeth ministers whom hee will who ruleth in the house of Iacob and ordeyneth officers at his owne pleasure If in an earthlie kingdome subiectes would presume to take offices at their owne choice were it not extreme confusion vtter reproche and shame vnto the prince howe muche more to bring this confusion into the Churche of Christ Therfore both our Sauiour Christ himselfe did openly ordeine his own apostles neuer any of them executed that office but with protestation that they had this calling of God therfore their Epistles beginne as you reade Paule an Apostle of Iesus Christ. Peter the seruant of Iesus Christ. And y same frō the beginning hath beene a perpetuall lawe in the church of god Moses Dauid Esay Ieremie and all the residue they tooke not this honour to them selues but were called of God in the name of God they declared vnto the people his visions and his wordes from which if they declyned to the righte hand or to the leste they made them selues sinners and not onely thus it is in the ministerie but for as much as the Apostle giueth it a generall terme No man taketh honour vnto him selfe euen in the common wealth in matters of this vaine life not onely the God of peace wil not haue his people to liue in confusion euery man to exalte himselfe but also limitteth to euery one the bounds of his calling in which God hath giuen him honour and without which bothe hee sinneth against God and offendeth his Prince that hath appointed him The Iustice muste deale with those thinges whiche apperteine vnto a Iustice a iudge with the things of a iudge and as it is rebellion for the priuate man to resist the magistrate so is it presumptiō in a magistrate to take vpō him aboue his calling We haue gotten amōg vs I know not what prouerb which cōmonly we call A cast off our office if this bee to cast off the lawe of our calling and take more honour then is giuen of the higher power we deserue it right wel if for such prety castes our selues should be cast quite out of our places for in matters aboue vs we be all priuate men and must goe vnto them to whom God hath giuen the iudgemente where we our selu●…s haue the place of honour there let vs be faithful as before the Lord. The second thing to be learned in these wordes is that we haue all such a calling as we may be sure it is of God for we must be called of God as Aaron was Heere dearely beloued I woulde wee had no cause to complaine or seeing thinges are so ill as they are I would we had the spirite of the prophete Ieremie to wishe that our handes were full of water or in our eyes were a founteine of teares that we might weepe day and night for the sinnes of our nation then the Lorde in due time would hearken vnto vs and the highest from his holy seate woulde regarde vs that our eyes might see all our ruines restored But nowe touching this calling in magistrates and officers of our common wealth I will say no more but in one worde as the scripture speaketh God calleth him vnto his dignitie who is orderly appointed and is a man of courage fearinge God dealing truely hauing no respecte of persons and hating couetousnesse otherwise if by bribing by ambition or by any vnlawfull meanes he come to his preferment the more he knoweth himselfe the more he wil feare least his calling be not of God but this they will regarde to whome it belongeth our speciall doctrine here is in the callinge of the ministers wherof by the grace of god I wil tel you the trueth but because this and other thinges are nowe in bitter controuersie betweene our selues so that the vncharitable wordes of our mouthes are witnesses against vs of the euill affections of our hearts and our hurtfull doings one toward another do shew abundantly that euil will hath taken deepe root within vs I protest y I haue neither part nor fe lowship in this diuisiō but in loue vnitie I beare him witnesse who speaketh trueth and beare with his errour who is deceiued acknowledging my self more vnworthie then either both And that you dearly beloued may hold fast the bonde of peace and not be broken off with euerie temptation I befeeche you consider but this with me hath not God giuen his gifts diuersly to one more to one lesse to one ten pounds as it is in the parable to another but one and can we thē all know a like must we not of necessity one know more another lesse one be more wise another lesse one vnderstand this truth another that euen as God reuealeth it and euerie one of vs haue our wantes in which wee may bee better taught and shall it not be euer so as long as our knowledge is in part we see not the
owne Pontificall as you may plainly see it Now iudge your selues and I appeale to the conscience of euerie man y hath an vnderstanding heart whether suche creatures haue their calling of God or no I might likewise alledge that fourme and manner of ordeining as contrarie to Christes institution as these former are for where Christes ordinaunce is that his ministers should be made with prayer and fasting and with laying on of handes they as men thinking basely of suche simple dealing and a great deale more to making of their priestes they must haue oyle candels basens towels amices albes stoales gyrdles maniples myters bookes crosses linnen bandes chalices pattens singing cakes wine and water flowre and such other things trifled and toyed with all with so many foolishe gestures as I am persuaded that any wise man this day reading it in their owne bookes woulde abhorre it either as intollerable pride or vnspeakeable foolishenesse but wisedome is the Lords and he giueth it to whome he will and let vs praise him for his goodnesse to whome he hath giuen eyes to see If any will here obiecte notwithstanding all these abuses yet the priest had that whiche was principall libertie to preache and minister sacramentes therefore their ministerie not to be reiected I answer In this on one side was the greate goodnesse of God that in time to come his children might assuredly knowe he reserued to him selfe a church euen in the middes of all desolation and that he called them by his woorde and confirmed by his sacramentes euen as at this day for seeing there can be no sinne so greate but faith in Iesu Christ scattereth it all away it was impossible that the man of sinne shoulde so muche adulterate either the word of God but that it should be to the faithfull a gospel of saluation or else the sacramentes of God but that they should be pledges of eternall life to those that did beleeue Againe on the other side in that they kept this authoritie to their priestes to preache to baptise it was the pestilent sleight and subtiltie of the diuell the more easily by suche a colour to deceiue them for if he had vtterly dented preaching of the Gospel and vse of sacramentes who woulde then haue beene seduced these be his wayes to destroy Pagans and Infidels but to corrupt the churche of God he putteth on an Angels cloathing that vnder pretence of holinesse he might deceiue And in deede he did deceiue for he hath so farre prophaned the preaching of the Gospell and the sacramentes of Christe that we ought according to the word of God to separate our selues and to say accurssed to all their doings although God of his infinite goodnesse who calleth things that are not as though they were euen in that ministerie gaue grace vnto his Saincts I say therefore againe as I sayde before that in the Popish church from the crowne of the head to the soule of the foote not one order is of God nor any peece of their priesthood is honour giuen of God wherein I appeale vnto their owne consciences whose wisedome is without affection in them and thus farre of this 4. verse Touching the two nexte verses I haue before shewed the meaning of them that by testimonie of the Prophet the Apostle proueth that Christ also had his calling of God euen as Christ him self often witnesseth that he was sent of his father touching this text Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thee it meaneth that openly and plainely God made it manifest that Christ was his only sonne by many signes and miracles in which as Paule sayth God was made manifest in flesh but of this I spake more vnto you in the exposition of the fifte verse of the first chapter The other text heere alledged is out of y 110. Psalme Thou art a priest for euer after the order of Melchisc lcch of which text we shal also haue occasiō to speake more largely hereafter this now we haue to learne y this Psalme is ment of Christ and this sentence is his caling to y priesthod of this y apostle is a plaine witnesse our sauiour Christ in the 22. of Math. teacheth that this psalme could not be meant of Dauid because it is said in it The Lord saide vnto my Lord sit thou on my right hand vntil I make thine enimies thy footestoole and reason teacheth it plainely for seeing as is heere alledged it is to the praise of an high priest how could it be of King Dauid to whome the priesthood in no case belonged or how could it be of any Priest of the lawe who had their proper calling of God where this was an other after the order of Melchisedech who was bothe a King and a priest and therfore it is plaine to bee ment of Christe who was figured in Melchisdech The conclusion then of the Apostle in all this is that Christe had his calling of God as Aaron had and a more glorious excellent calling therfore a greater high priest then any before him but the time is past Let vs pray c. ¶ The xxiiij Lecture vpon the 7. 8. and 9. verses 7 Who in the dayes of his fleshe did offer vp prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares vnto him that was able to saue him frō death was also heard in that which he feared 8 And though he were the Sonne yet learned he obedience by the thinges which he suffered 9 And beeing consecrate was made the authour of eternal saluation vnto all them that obey him THE Apostle in this Chapiter beginneth to proue our Sauiour Christ to be the only high Prieste of the newe Testament and because the people of Israel had so great affiance in the priesthood of Aaron that they could hardly be drawen away from the deteyning of it thinking assuredly that vnto that Priesthood the lawe and testimonies of God had beene tyed for euer and not knowing that all ceremonies of y the law were ordeyned vntill the time of reformation in whiche Christ should appeare chaunge that Priesthood to become him selfe vnto vs a Priest of a better testament therefore the Apostle firste setteth foorth the properties of the Priesthood according vnto the lawe and after by comparison applieth them vnto Christe in whome they all shine in a muche more excellent sorte then before in Aaron and therfore it can not be neither breach nor dishonour vndishonour vnto the law of God nor the priesthood of it if the shadowe and the figure which was Aaron should now be taken away and the bodie and the trueth which is Iesu Christe should be established for euer The properties whiche the Apostle speaketh of necessarilie apperteining vnto euery priest as vnto one that must be a Mediatour are these that first he should be man as we are as Aaron and his posteritie were For neither Angell nor Archangell nor principalities nor powers can doe this woorke to present fleshe and bloud vnto
the Maiestie of GOD when them selues are but spirites and therefore Christ that he might be highe Priest tooke not an Angels nature but was made of the seede of Abraham like vs that as there is but one God so there might bee but one Mediatour betweene God and man euen the man Christe Iesus in this respect as able to bee high Priest as Aaron him selfe beeing as naturally and as truely cloathed with our flesh as Aaron was The second propertie of the Prieste is that hee should be ordeyned not onlie for him selfe to make his owne atonement but also for other men to accomplish whatsoeuer was betwene God and them that where they were before enimies and straungers they might by him be reconciled and haue free accesse vnto the throne of grace to finde mercie and succour in due time and for this cause Christe alone is a perfect Priest more excellent then Aaron who was incumbred with his owne sinnes to make first reconciliation for them and therefore could not profit other And as this was the Priests office to be a mediatour for other so the meanes he must vse and the mediation to bee wrought in this woorke was to offer vp gifts and sacrifices of sinnes that is to present vnto God the sacrifice of righteousnesse pure and holy in his sight in whiche hee might be pleased the sinnes of the people might be taken awaye the whiche sacrifice because it must be so pure that in it they for whom it was made must be sanctified and so precious that it must be a sufficient purchase to redeeme man from all transgression therefore it coulde not bee made with the bloud of Calues or Goates whiche can not take away sinne nor with golde nor siluer whiche can not redeeme our soules nor with meates and drinkes which profited not thē that were exercised therein nor in any suche carnall rites for whiche the priesthood of Aaron was ordeined and therefore as an other priest must make this sacrifice whiche can not be any other then Iesus Christe who beeing made high Priest of the good things to come by a greater tabernacle and a more precious sacrifice euen by his owne bloude hath obteined for vs an euerlasting redemption and therefore is nowe to be acknowledged our onely Priest the first Priesthood and the first lawe beeing altogether abrogated One other propertie of the priesthood is y none thrust in himselfe beeing not appointed nor take vnto himselfe this honour being not called vnto it And God euer shewed himselfe a readie reuenger against all such as should defile his Priesthood to take to themselues the dignitie to which they were not appointed But this calling also was giuen vnto Christ from God his father as before vnto Aaron both by word and by othe that no flesh shoulde resist it euen as it is written The Lord hath sworne and will not repente thou art a priest for euer after the order of Melchisedech so that in this behalfe our faith must be euer strong that the callinge of Christ is of the Lord euen as the calling of Aaron was and with so much the greater iudgment it shal be reiected because it was confirmed with an othe The last propertie in this comparison is that the highe priest of the law should haue an inwar compassion to ward them that were ignorant and were deceiued in which perfect knot of vnfeigned loue his ministerie was accepted of God and his sacrifices receiued accounted holy and lest he should cast from him this brotherly aflection God printed deepe in his owne bodie the infirmities of his brethren that according to the measure of grace which he had receiued he might in deede be moued with his brothers harmes as with his owne so that he did not withdrawe him selfe from the seruice of the Sanctuarie but put on the holy garmentes was annoynted with the holie oyle bare the names of his brethren before the Lorde presented their sacrisices absteined from wine and strong drinke mourned not for his friendes that were departed taught diligently the people prayed for their transgressions and bare the burthen of his people as God had laid it vpon him But yet this propertie exceeded more in Christe then in all the tribe of Leuie and the bowels of all compassion were more large within him then the vtmoste braunches of it in any other creature And this the Apostle noteth in this place which now we haue in hand in which we may see as in a moste liuelie glasse the perfect beautie of all excellent loue The thinges they were not light nor the sorrowes small nor the sighings few in number nor the prayers faint nor the anguish of spirite little nor the death easie by which hee hath sealed it vnto vs that he had compassion on his people but as the Apostle saith in the dayes of his flesh while hee was heere clothed in mortalitie like vnto one of vs to the end he might be faithfull for our sakes hee did offer vp prayers and supplications with strong cryings and teares vnto him that was able to saue him from death and was also heard in things which he feared and beeing him selfe the Sonne yet hee learned obedience by the thinges which he susuffered and being consecrate was made the authour of eternall saluation to them that obey him These wordes my deare brethren we haue now in hande to search and examine what the spirite teacheth vs so much y more carefully to be harkened vnto of vs how much the more plainly it setteth foorth vnto vs the greate loue and compassion that Christ beareth towardes vs Two things especiallie here the Apostle testifyeth First the sufferings of our Sauiour Christe and then the benefite that wee enioy by the same according as his sufleringes were onely for our sake His sufferinges what they were and howe great sorrow oppressed him hee sheweth by those effectes whiche his sorrowes brought forth that is prayers supplications cryings teares feare and anguish of spirite whiche things waited euer vppon him euen to the accomplishing of all his passions which was the death of his crosse The fruite that we doe reape of these afflictions which hee suffered is the saluation of our soules and eternall life if we will obey him In this description of his sufferinges though the things are set forth which were common and vsuall vnto him all his life yet it appeareth especiallie the Apostle meaneth that greatest conflicte of sorrowe which hee had a little before his passion described by the Euangelistes in all s●…ilitude like vnto this which the Apostle heere declareth For as it is here said He made prayers noting by the worde that they were many in number so it appeareth in the Gospell that beside other prayers three times he tepeated this one Father if it be possible let this cup passe from mee and as it is said hee made supplications humbling him selfe lowe vnder the hand of his Father so it is said in the Gospel that then