23 By this inbred corruption our vnderstanding is so darkened that naturally we cannot perceiue the things which are of God no we count them foolishnesse our will is in such thraldome and slauerie vnto sinne that it cannot like of any thing spirituall and heauenly but is wholly caried vnto fleshly desires 24 If therefore we perceiue the things that are of God and doe like of them if our hearts be enclined to doe his will because this cannot come of our selues our nature bending a cleane contrarie way we acknowledge most willingly and vnfeinedly The good we doe is his it is not ours our beginning to doe and our continuance in dooing well proceedeth onely and wholly from him If any man receiue the grace of God offered it is because God hath framed his heart thereto If any man come when God calleth it is because his grace which calleth draweth If being brought vnto Christ we continue in him we haue no other reason to yeeld of our dooing but onely this he hath linked vs and fastened vs vnto himselfe We neither rise when we are fallen nor stand when we are risen by our owne strength When we are in distresse we are of our selues so far from abilitie to helpe our selues that we are not able to craue helpe of him vnlesse his spirite wrest out Abba Father from vs. We cannot mone our owne case vnlesse he doe grone and sigh for vs we are not able to name Iesus vnlesse by the speciall grace of his spirite our mouthes be opened no we cannot of our selues so much as think of naming him if to thinke of naming him be a good thought 25 When against our naturall inclination to euill his spirite which worketh all in all hath so preuailed that wee now beginne to hate the workes of the flesh hauing an earnest desire to abounde in loue ioie peace long suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meekenesse temperaunce and all other fruites of the spirite yet by reason of the strength of that bodie of sinne which euer fighteth against the spirite our inward man is so weakened that we cannot do the things which we would and the things which we do euen the best of them are so farre beneath that perfection which the Lawe of God requireth that if he should rigorously examine them in iustice no fleshe could euer be accounted righteous in his sight The loathsomest things that can be imagined the cloathes that be most vncleane are not so foule as our very righteousnes is vnrighteous Wherupon we conclude that whatsoeuer wee receiue by way of reward at Gods hand either in this life or in the life to come wee receiue it as a thing freely giuen by him without any merite or desert of ours we doe not say in our hearts The Lord hath giuen vs these good things to possesse for our righteousnesse For seeing it is he which giueth both to will and to doe he crowneth in deede his owne worke when he rewardeth ours and he neuer rewardeth any worke of his owne wherein there is not somwhat of ours which he pardoneth 26 Thus being naked and vtterly destitute in our selues we seeke all things in Christ Iesus Him onely we acknowledge to be our wisedome our iustification our sanctification our redemption our priest our sacrifice our king our head our mediator our phisition our waie our trueth our life In our selues we finde nothing but pouertie and weakenesse praise and honour and glorie wee giue to him The onely marke we ayme at is to set vp his throne to aduaunce his kingdome to make it knowne that in him the Father hath layde vp all the treasures of heauen to the ende that vnto him the thirstie may repaire for water the hungrie for bread the naked for cloathes and wee all for all things needeful to the safetie of our soules and bodies 27 This is not the scope which the Church of Rome proposeth They direct all things to an other end How can ye beleeue saith Christ to the Iewes which receiue honour one of an other and seeke not that honour which commeth of God alone And howe can the faith of the Church of Rome be sound sith they hold such doctrines as tend wholly to their owne glorie their owne gaine and not to the praise and honour of God 28 That they seeke not his glorie but their owne it may appeare vnto any man which throughly considereth of their doctrine First they will not acknowledge that pouertie and nakednesse those filthie garments of corruption and sinne wherein Adam hath wrapped his posteritie But in the pride of their hearts they dissemble it diminish it and make light of it For although they denie not but that mans nature is corrupted yet marke how they paire and lessen this corruption The Prophet Dauid doeth terme it wickednesse and sinne but they make it onely an inclination vnto sinning The Lorde himselfe doeth witnesse that by it all the imaginations of the thoughts of mans heart are only euill they restraine it to the inferior part of the soule and make it onely a mother of some grosser desires The blessed Apostle prayed groned and wept against it as a thing which made him altogeher wearie of his life But after Baptisme they make no more account of those inward rebellious motions against the spirite than they doe of the beating of a mans pulse 29 And as they hide that weakenesse which indeede they haue so they boast of that strength which is not in them For being subiect vnto miserable bondage vnder sinne by reason of that corruption which hath spred it selfe ouer all flesh they bragge notwithstanding of the freedome of their wil as if sinne had not vtterly bereaued vs thereof but stil it were in vs to frame and fashion our owne hearts vnto good things For proofe whereof their maner is to make long discourses teaching that Gods foreknowledge doth not take away free will that men are not violently drawen to good or euill Which things we easily and willingly graunt neither doe we teache or euer did that the freedome of our wil is taken away by the eternall decree of his vnsearchable purpose but this we say and all that haue the trueth doe say the same that the will of man being free vnto naturall and ciuill actions hath of it selfe no freedome to desire things heauenly and spirituall not because the eternall purpose of God but because the corruption of our nature hath addicted vs only vnto euill We doe not teache or euer did that any man is the seruaunt either of sinne or of righteousnesie by constraint For whether we obey the one vnto death and condemnation or vnto life and saluation the other our obedience is alwayes voluntarie it is not wrested from vs against our wils But the question being how we are made willing vnto that which is good this is the difference betweene our aunswere and theirs We say onely by the grace of God
they say partly by grace but principally by the power and strength of their owne nature For being ashamed to affirme with Pelagius that a man may doe the workes of righteousnesse by nature without the grace of God they hold his grace to be a thing indeede necessarie But howe As a birde that is tyed or a man that is in fetters needeth onely to haue those incumberances remooued hauing then a naturall abilitie to flie and walke without any further helpe so man as they say hath in himselfe abilitie to doe good if the grace of God doe but remooue lets Is not this to make nature the principal cause of our well dooing whereas in trueth without the speciall motion of Gods spirite and that in euerie particular action wee are no more able to walke in the waies which GOD hath commaunded than a drunken man to goe without leading who staggereth euen in the plainest ground though all stumbling blockes be remooued though his waie lie neuer so smooth before him such is our weakenesse In consideration whereof the blessed Apostle sayth plainely It is not in him that willeth or in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercie We dragge and are not able of our selues to set one foote before an other Drawe me saith the spouse in the Canticles and then we will runne after thee But these men litle considering of what fraile metall they are made perceiuing not how sinne hath weakened the faculties of the soule vaunt of freedome of strength of inward power and make their owne will the chiefest cause of their wel dooing 30 And when they haue doone any thing which to their seeming is wel doone they prise it so high and esteeme so much of it that God as they thinke should doe them iniurie if in iudgement he did not pronounce them iust and righteous for their workes sake If it were possible that God entering into iudgement should finde any so vpright and perfect that by their workes they might be iustified in his sight doubtlesse he should finde his owne seruaunts to be such or else none if any of his seruaunts surely his Prophets if any Prophet rather Dauid than any other But Dauid crieth out Enter not into iudgement no not with thy Seruaunt O Lord. For in thy sight shall none that liueth be iustified For whether we consider workes forbidden or commaunded by the Lawe what man is there liuing which can say in the one My heart is pure in the other I haue doone all that is enioyned me For if it were so that we knewe nothing wherein we had transgressed the lawes and statutes of the almightie yet herein could we in no wise be iustified because of secret sinnes hidden euen from our owne selues For which if God shal call vs to our reckoning and marke straitely what is doone amisse O Lord saith the Prophet who shall stand Againe if we had doone whatsoeuer wee could yet because we cannot doe so much as we should we ought to acknowledge our selues vnprofitable whereas we euen the best of vs are farre from dooing that which if we would we might doe 31 Nowe if God notwithstanding for his sonnes sake doe so allowe and accept the worke of our hands that he bountifully rewardeth our weake seruice with an excellent and an eternall waight of glorie how much are wee bound both to praise his mercie and to hate the insolencie of those men who besides al this swelling in the proude conceit of their workes will haue eternall life which is his gift to be their merite nor onely that but the worthinesse of their deserts to be so great that many of them dooing God more seruice than can bee sufficiently rewarded in their owne persons deserue heauen not onely for themselues but for others too These shipwracks of faith they haue made by reason of their inward pride 32 The excessiue desire of outward pompe hath furthermore caused them to disdaine the basenesse of Christ Iesus and of his Apostles to bee ashamed of the meane and lowe estate wherein they liued to make of their Deacons and Priests Cardinals exceeding the kings of the earth in glorie of their Bishop a Monarke vnder whose foote the Emperour himselfe hath beene a footestoole whose stirrop the greatest Soueraignes haue scarse beene deemed worthie to holde at whose bridle kings haue attended as seruaunts that the wordes of the Preacher might bee iustified Follie is set in great excellencie and the riche set in the lowe place I haue seene seruaunts on horses and Princes walking as seruants on the ground 33 This pompe cannot bee maintained with nothing it must haue strong sinnewes And therefore whatsoeuer mans wit might possibly deuise for gaine they haue both founde it out and put it in vre setting Offices Masses Prayers Pardons Sacramentes Heauen and Earth all the treasures of the house of GOD to sale if wee may terme it the house of God which they haue made a shoppe of so vile merchaundise It were infinite to recite what huge summes of money they haue heretofore by religious pretenses euerie yeere gathered within the compasse of this one Ilande What heapes then haue they raked out of other partes of Christendome Which offals and profites if once men beginne as here so in other kingdomes also to withholde from them if men leaue off buying their wares any more if things which are fatte and excellent depart doubtlesse that citie which nowe is cloathed in fine linnen and purple and skarlet which nowe is guilded with golde and decked with pretious stones and pearles shall in one houre be made desolate This they know and it maketh them carefull to maintaine whatsoeuer is commodious and gainefull to them As for the glorie of GOD it is the least part of their care nay they care not howe heynous sacrilege they commit in spoyling and robbing him of his honour 34 It is an honour vnto God when all men by faith point their fingers as it were at Christ Iesus naming him the onelie Lambe which taketh away the sinnes of the worlde when he is acknowledged the onely mediatour betweene God and vs when wee confesse that hee is that Priest according to the order of Melchisedech which hauing offered one sacrifice for sinnes hath therewith because it was a perfect sacrifice consecrated for euer them that are sanctified when our faith is so ascertained and grounded vppon his promises that we can bee bolde as Lyons assuring our selues that the eye of the Lorde is on them which trust in his mercie to deliuer their soules from death as the Prophet witnesseth But how doe they giue vnto him this honour who haue deuised so many waies to take away sinne besides the bloud of the Lambe of GOD who as though wee might not be bolde to enter into the holie place by the newe and liuely way which hee hath prepared for vs through the vaile which is his fleshe or as
Thessalonica vnto whom he was not onely content to giue the milke of the gospel of Christ but willing that they might sucke euen bloud out of his brest so it were for their benefite So deare and precious they were vnto him Such a nurce was Moses which fed the people with the Lawe of God the foode of life meate sweeter than honie or the honie combe Such a one Iehosaphat in sending abroade preachers to feede the people Such a one Ezechias in washing and cleansing the Church from Idolatrie Iosias in reforming the house of God Salomon in deposing euil priests and placing better in labouring by all meanes to inlarge the glorious kingdome of God These did the parts of good and faithfull nurces and God did highly requite their seruice 16 After pietie honestie and order must be sought This is attained vnto by seeing good Lawes both made and put in execution For the execution of the Lawe is the life of the Lawe and a Lawe not executed is but a dead Lawe And here let rulers first learne to obserue Lawes themselues and so with greater courage and better countenance they may punish by Lawe the transgressors of the Lawe For this cause S. Paul would haue a Bishop whose office it is to reprooue others himselfe to bee vnreprooueable Iudah gaue sentence against Thamar for her incontinencie Bring her foorth and let her be burnt But when he once vnderstoode it was his owne offence the case was altered The Prophet Dauid was driuen to the like Those magistrates doe both wickedly and shamefully which prescribe a Lawe of honest life vnto others and keepe it not themselues It is fowle thing when he that punisheth is more woorthie punishment than the partie punished Paul himselfe being blamelesse executed discipline with great authoritie vpon that lewde incestuous person Samuel a faultlesse magistrate was not afraide to cut off the head of Agag the king with his owne handes Moses could not with that courage haue hanged vp those Gentlemen-fornicators had not his owne life that way beene without staine or blemish When magistrates themselues be cleare they may boldely punish others and see diligently to the straite execution of Lawes For want whereof it commeth to passe that for the most part Lawes are accounted like to cobwebs which take small flies and hold them fast but suffer hornets to breake through In execution of lawes we may not respect the person of the riche or of the poore neither feare nor pitie must remooue vs that which is iust must take place in both For if Lawes be not executed without respect of person if sinne be not seuerely repressed if the people bee not kept in order it wil shake the state all wil be in an vprore no man shall be master of his owne or in any safetie of his life al iniquitie will abound all honestie will be exiled and the magistrate shall beare the sword in vaine To neglect it is to neglect that thing for which this ordinance of God was first appointed For if men without these meanes might be kept in order surely God would neuer haue established gouernement to keepe them in order by these meanes Barbarous therefore and wicked is the opinion of the Anabaptists which condemne all superioritie authoritie and gouernement in the Church For what is this else but vtterly to expell both out of Church and common wealth all godlinesse all peace all honestie 17 Nowe as magistrates and rulers should by good gouernment procure peace promote religion and preserue honestie amongst men so our Apostle requireth at the peoples handes that they vnder gouernement leade a peaceable quiet and honest life There is a double peace the one outward the other inward peace with men and peace with God With God there is no peace but in Christ. Through faith in him wee haue peace with God and not otherwise He hath peace with God whose sinnes are remitted for Blessed are they whose iniquities are pardoned But our sinnes are remitted onely in the bloud of Christ Iesus his bloud doeth purge vs from all sinne Christ therefore is our onely peacemaker with God This is that peace which passeth all vnderstanding He that wil enioie it must be careful to keepe a good conscience Haue a good conscience that when men speake euill of you as of ill doers they may be ashamed For if our owne heart condemne vs God is greater and wil more syncerely iudge vs. A good conscience maketh a strong faith Many by loosing their hold of the one haue made shipwracke of the other 18 The peaceable and quiet life which S. Paul in this place doeth chiefly require is to haue outward peace with men If it be possible and as much as in you lies haue peace with all men Yet not peace with all men so but that we may be alwaies readie for Gods cause to sustaine the hatred of all men in the world We may not for peace sake flatter men in their sinne for that is to be partakers of euill We must haue peace with all if it may be and so farre as in vs lyeth euer preferring a good conscience and a Christian minde For it may not be which may not be honestly Followe those things that belong vnto peace but vnto godlie peace For our God is the God of true of good peace He detesteth them that sowe discord yea the soule of the Lorde abhorreth them Doeg was hated of God for setting dissension betweene Saul and Dauid Achitophel likewise for stirring vp Absolon to striue against his father For as peacemakers are blessed so cursed are all disturbers of peace all breeders and maintainers of sedition Vnto peace we must ioine holinesse true and religious worshipping of God So saith the Apostle Followe peace and holinesse without which no man shall see the Lorde Thou shalt worship the Lorde thy God and him onely shalt thou serue He is a spirite and will be woorshipped in spirit and trueth in inward holinesse not in outward shew of holinesse onely in synceritie and not in ceremonie alone according to his owne will and commaundement not according to the fancie or inuention of man Euerie God saith Socrates is so to be worshipped as himselfe hath appointed 19 This our seruing of God in the Church of God in true holinesse consisteth chiefly in true and earnest praier vnto God in diligent and duetifull hearing of his word in faithfull and reuerent receiuing of his Sacraments In praier we beg of God those things which we wish and hope to receiue and wee praise him for things alreadie receiued This is a sweete and an acceptable sacrifice The hearing of his word is also a seruice wherewith he is pleased 20 And as praying and hearing so the woorthie receiuing of his sacraments is not onely a sealing of his grace vnto vs but also a testifying of our godlinesse towards him His sacrameuts are two in number
not trauell to tel you howe diuersly the name of grace is taken in the sacred scriptures but rather note vnto you in what sense the holie Ghost doth chiefly vse it in this place Grace is the fauour and mercie of God towards sinnefull men It is called grace because it is giuen gratis freely and vndeseruedly on our parts to whom it is giuen For vs it is purchased by the onely meane and meere merite of our Sauiour Christ and to vs it is both offered and exhibited by the voluntarie and vnprouoked operation of the spirite This grace in it selfe being large more than sufficient for all men the holy Ghost diuideth and bestoweth vpon eache breathing where and as he listeth according to the secrete pleasure of his will Thorough it we haue saluation whereas through sinne wee deserue death For out iniquitie was heinous in the sight of God first committed by Adam and since continued in vs but farre more exceeding was the mercie of our Lord who when we were his enemies sent foorth his sonne made of a woman and made vnder the Lawe that he might redeeme them which were vnder the Lawe and that we might receiue the adoption of sonnes No tongue can expresse neither any minde conceiue this gratiousnesse Yet let vs ponder it with such consideration as we are able Great therefore I say was the mercie of our creator who gaue his sonne and great the loue of our Sauiour who gaue euen himselfe for vs. Our thraldome was great that required a ransome of such value our guiltinesse much that could no otherwise be washed away but with the verie heart bloud of the innocent lambe of God Christ Iesus our Lord Yea inestimable and vneffable was the loue of our gratious Lord who to spare vs spared not himselfe He was content to become ignominious before men that we might be glorious with his father to be condemned that wee might be absolued to bee crowned with thornes to purchase vs a crowne of immortalitie to loose his life that we might gaine life to suffer death that we might escape it and to become as hated and accursed of God that we might find fauour and eternall grace with him In his death our sinne is pardoned by his bloud our filthinesse is washed away by his resurrection we are reconciled to his father and made at one with God Let vs not breake this so happie truce betwixt the Lord and vs let vs not through sinne condemne our selues againe nowe that we are iustified let vs not walke toward hell hee hauing made plaine and easie the path to heauen The image of God in vs defaced through Adam is repaired by Christ Let vs appeare therefore in this pure image before God that wee may be acceptable in his pure sight Through Christ we are called to be citizens with the Saints and Gods houshold-seruaunts let vs then put on the garments of trueth and innocencie that so it may appeare whose seruaunts we are by our Lords liuerie We are made the happie heires of his glorious kingdome and fellow heires with Iesus Christ wherefore let vs not seeke so possessions here that we loose a better inheritance aboue in heauen If wee doe it is in vaine that the grace of our Lorde Iesus Christ hath beene so largely offered vnto vs and plentifully powred on vs. Yea his grace will encrease the wofulnesse of our destruction 7 Grace is offered and receiued by two especiall outwarde meanes the preaching of the Gospel and the holie administration of the blessed Sacraments These two are the instruments or rather the hands by the which the holie Ghost doth offer exhibite seale and deliuer the grace of God vnto vs. 8 And there bee two sorts of men to whom grace is offered by the word in vaine The one are they which wil not giue it so much as the hearing but doe vtterly contemne and vnkindely refuse that which the Lord doth so kindly and so gratiously offer to them The other they that heare it indeede reade it but consider it not receiue it but altogether without fruite and for fashions sake Of the former sort are all such as Pharao was who enioined Moses to come no more in his sight for hee would not heare him Such also were the Iewes to whom when Stephen preached they stopped their eares Such they of whom the Lorde complaineth by the Prophet saying I spake and they would not heare 9 Of the latter sort there be three kindes shadowed in the parable of the sower which went foorth to sowe his seede whereof some fell in the high way side some in stonie grauelly ground some also amongst thornes That which fell by the high waie side either the birds of the aire picked vp or men trod vpon with their feete Which our sauiour applieth vnto him that heareth the word of the kingdome and vnderstandeth it not and by and by the diuell taketh it away least he should beleeue and so be saued For it fareth with the woord preached as with the seede sowen Some are so dissolute and rechelesse that they let it in at the one eare and out at the other The hearts of some be so be so hardened and parched because they want the watering of Gods spirit which doth only mollifie that his word can take no roote in them The diuell and his deceitful Angels doe so bewitch them and fil their harts with vain cogitations so abalienate their mindes and trouble their memorie that they cannot tell what is saide it is forgotten by that it is spoken Yea the diuell doth so throughly occupie the hearts of many other with superstitious opinions and fond perswasions or with such worldly desires such fleshly lusts such froward affections that the hearing of the blessed word is a wearisome worke vnto them euery houre spent that way is as tedious as a yere and thought to bee wholly lost Many likewise both heare the woord preached and reade the Scriptures as the Pharisees did heare them that they may seeme to fauour the Gospel and so vnder pretence of holinesse blinde the eyes of others and purloine commoditie to themselues Such come in amongst the children of God as did Satan of old yet God knowes them to be children of darknesse not of light yea and oftentimes he so shaketh them out of their painted rags that the whole world may espie their ouglie and deformed nakednesse Whilest by their hypocrisie they labour to deceiue others they deceiue yea and damne themselues To this sort of men therefore the word is offered but all in vaine Either they receiue it not or they receiue it to their owne destruction 10 The second sort are resembled to the stonie soile which receiueth the seede and it taketh roote for a time but when the heate of the sunne commeth it withereth away Many such there be which haue gladly heard the Gospel haue frequented sermons with appearance of great deuotion and could freshly
into them also the selfesame blessing of increase and fruitfulnesse And as vnto these so likewise vnto man the greatest in honour though in order the last of all his creatures he gaue the same power to spread out himselfe by propagation and to replenish the face of the earth 2 For the seemelier and better ordering whereof to the ende that as God himselfe is most pure and therefore hateth all vncleannesse so the actions of men who in nature resemble him might be framed according to the paterne of his image hee prescribed a way how man as beseemeth the excellencie of his creation nature might not after a brutish beastly maner but in al honestie cleanlines bring forth the honorable fruit of his bodie that so Gods creation and work might be continued his kingdom inlarged his name by reason of the multitude much more praised And this meane or way appointed by God was matrimonie a state whereof the chosen vessel of God writeth this as the iudgement of the holie Ghost Mariage is honourable Wherein for your better instruction and learning my purpose is to shew you the reasons of the honour which it should haue and also of the great disgrace which it hath amongst men 3 Mariage is honourable first in respect of the author by whom it was ordeined Secondly in regard of the causes thereof Thirdly for the dueties which are required of the parties maried Touching the first it appeareth in the beginning of the booke of Genesis howe after that God had perfectly accomplished his creation and had giuen the Lordeship ouer all liuing creatures vnto Adam he saide It is not good that man be alone let vs make him an helper that may be before him let vs make woman Whereupon our Sauiour in the Gospel inferreth That therefore which God hath ioyned together let no man separate approouing mariage to bee the institution of God and a naturall order proceeding I meane from the God of nature to bee obserued and vsed for euer Neither did hee onely confirme this lawe and ordinaunce of God in plaine woords and in his teaching but he also did honest and honour the same with his presence For being called to a mariage he his mother and kinsfolke gladly went there to feast with others where it pleased him miraculously to increase their cheere and withal their honour For it is not nothing which this doth adde to the holy and reuerend estimation thereof that the first miracle which Christ wrought was wrought at a mariage and is so by the holie Ghost recorded Nowe besides this that almightie God himselfe ordeined mariage and that in Paradise a most heauenly habitation and that before the innocencie was stained with sinne besides this that Christ did allow and many waies approoue the same yea and moreouer vouchsafed to resemble his spirituall coniunction with his Church vnto this estate we finde that the Patriarkes the Priests and Prophets the holiest men of God Abraham Moses Aaron and the rest of that blessed companie haue chosen to liue rather in mariage than otherwise acknowledging thereby the state of mariage to be vndoubtedly no lesse allowable if not more honourable than single life 4 Concerning the second point that is to say the honour which riseth from the causes for which GOD did institute the state of wedlocke the scripture noteth especially three The first is mutuall societie helpe and comfort And this were a cause sufficient to esteeme of mariage highly if there were no other For God hath saide It is not good that man be alone Let vs make him an helper and helper and not an hinderer 5 The second cause why matrimonie was ordeined and must be honoured is increase and propagation For although that this may be as we see it it is in lewde and shamelesse persons too often without this estate of mariage yet this is so much against the dignitie of humane nature that such broodes haue beene alwaies basely accounted of by men which haue had but the bare light of naturall vnderstanding Wherefore the blessed Apostle hath saide I will that the younger sort marie and bring foorth children giuing vs thereby to vnderstand that there can be no seemely propagation of mankinde saue onely in mariage Children begotten in the state of matrimonie are the blessing of God and the fruite of the vndefiled wombe is a reward as Salomon wisely acknowledged in the Psalme For a man to be honoured with the name of a father to be renued and continued in his posteritie if it be not a speciall blessing of God a very exceeding great reward why are men women so desirous to see the fruit of their bodies Why was Anna so exceeding in crauing children at the hands of God Why was barrennesse so grieuous vnto Sara Why did it seeme reprocheful vnto Elizabeth Is it a small benefit that God hath raised out of the bodie of Abraham so many Patriarchs Priests Prophets Iudges and Kings such a multitude not onely of men of reputation on earth but also of blessed saints and citizens in heauen If it were an honour vnto Abraham to be a father of many nations surely mariage which made him a lawfull and an honourable father ought very honourably to be esteemed 6 Another cause of honour giuen vnto mariage is for that it is a remedie against vncleannesse Let euerie man haue his wife and euerie woman her husband for the auoiding of fornication Vpon which words of S. Paul Ambrose writeth verie aptly Qui abstinēt a licitis in illicita prolabuntur They which forbeare things lawfull to vse fall many times to vse things which they should forbeare And he bringeth in the Manichees for example as we may bring in the Papistes and namely that ponde of Rome adioyning to a Nunrie wherein were founde the heads of seuen thousand bastards It is true that all haue not neede of this remedie because all are not subiect to the daunger and perill of this disease But if any man be subiect to this disease let him beware howe he despise this remedie There bee no doubt that haue the gift of chastitie by birth and there be that haue made themselues chast by indeuour but of all this men are not capable As it is the gift of God so it seemeth to be a rare and not a common gift Such as haue it and so liue sole they are more fit to labour in Gods Church it must needes be graunted for they are combred with fewer cares But be these cares neuer so many and great better it is to marie than to burne and to be burthened with ordinarie and nest cares than with vnordinarie and dishonest carelesnesse to be destroied There are many that deceiue themselues thinking a single and a chast life to be all one To bee pure in bodie and in spirite this is chastitie Hee that seeth a woman and in his heart hath
a lewde desire towards her hath defiled his heart and is in soule vnchast If euerie man trie himselfe according to this rule exactly peraduenture hee shall see a disease in himselfe that needeth remedie Which if he neglect and so perish whom may he blame The medicine is commended with a title of honour that thereby we might be allured to vse it The daunger of not vsing of it if neede require is death For harlots and adulterers the Lord shall iudge 7 Thus much beeing spoken of the causes for which honour is giuen vnto mariage I wil briefly speake of the duties of honour required betweene parties maried Howe honourably a man should vse his wife S. Paul teacheth plainly in many places but especially in his epistle to the Ephesians Men loue your wiues as Christ hath loued his Church In which place he instructeth not onely by precept but also by setting a paterne before our eyes to followe and that is Christ the true spouse to his Church the congregation of the faithfull The husband ought to loue his wife euen as Christ did his Church But Christ suffered death to redeeme his Church Euen so the truely the husband if necessitie so required to saue his wife should ieopard his owne life His life is wel spent in sauing of her and by loosing of her ill spared Christ purged and made his Church beautiful voide of spot or wrincle that it might resemble himself as neere as might be in puritie Euen so the husband shold labour to reforme his wife to instruct frame her to discretion sobrietie al matron-like vertues all godlinesse A wise wife maketh a happy husband and in her goodnes he shal find gladnes The husband is called y e head of his wife as Christ is of the congregation When as the head espieth faults in the members of the bodie it doth not studie how to cut them off make separation but doth muse vpon a remedie labour to procure a medicine to applie vnto the hurt parts to recouer the bodie to couer the fault if he cannot cure it A good husband is a good head his indeuour will be to cure his diseased wife and not to cut her off from him especially to winne her vnto Christ if she wander out of the right waie Her faults will make him sorowfull not furious and to pitie her infirmities without hating of her person Wisedome is required in the head to rule and gouerne well the bodie which is placed vnder it He that braggeth and boasteth that hee is the head and yet wanteth the prudencie which the head should haue is vnwoorthy to be named that which indeede he is not A wise husband must winke at many faults and beare with many of his wiues infirmities He that foolishly champeth vpon those griefes which wisedome would haue be swallowed if hee liue in continuall miserie may say that hee onely liueth happily which liueth wisely no greater wisedome than to deuoure follies Yet the husbands lenitie ought not to be such as to nourish foolishnesse Vertue is alwaies discreete and in all things the mediocritie S. Paul giueth the reason why men should giue this honour to their wiues for he that loueth his wife loueth himselfe they two beeing one flesh No man euer hated his owne flesh Our owne bodies wee loue as Christ hath loued his Church If a mans natural bodie were neuer so mangled so sicke so corrupted so crooked and euill fauoured he would yet loue and feede it and cherishe it so much the more by howe much more it needed comfort Euen so ought a man to nourish comfort and helpe his wife bee shee neuer so deformed or out of fashion whether it bee by nature or by casualtie in bodie or in minde Wee haue Christ for our example When the Church ran a whoring and committed lothsome idolatrie he did not forsake it neither yet doth our gratious Lord forsake his beloued spouse wonderfully spotted with sinne but couereth and forgetteth faults and vseth all meanes possible to reforme and make vs fit for him The like should appeare in the husband to his wife seeing Paul setteth foorth Christ to be a paterne to followe This is that which S. Peter meaneth when he exhorteth men to dwell with their wiues according to knowledge He would haue husbands to rule according to wisedome and not to play the tyrants not to be sowre cruell rash rageful but to gouerne them according to y e order of Gods word in al sobrietie grauitie gentlenesse loue and discretion prouiding for them by honest meanes as for thēselues For if he that prouideth not for his familie bee woorse than an infidell there is none so bad as he that is carelesse for his wife No infidell neglecteth his owne bodie And as S. Paul in the place aboue mentioned so S. Peter in this which was last alleaged sheweth reasons why the husband should giue this honour to the wife 8 Giue honour vnto her velut infirmiori as to the weaker This may seeme rather to bee a cause to contemne than to honour For such is the vse The rich despise the poore the learned the ignorant the strong the weake But this vse is wicked Hath not God chosen the weake of this worlde to ouercome the strong the foolish to confound the wise Are not the ignoraunt as well as the learned Gods Haue the riche one foote more of possessions in heauen than haue the poore Despise not therfore the weaker creatures least thou dishonour the creator of them But seeing that man and wife are members of one bodie they especially ought to beare one with anothers infirmities to couer to dissemble and to forgiue eche of them others weakenesse Yea the viler the members of our bodies seeme to bee the more carefull we are to couer and to honour them for so S. Paul speaketh In like maner the more weake the woman is the more diligent should her husband be to giue her this honour to couer her infirmitie and not to broache it abroade For in dishonouring her he dishonesteth his owne bodie Wee easily forgiue children when they offend by reason of their age The want of discretion is for them excuse sufficient So a man ought to consider the infirmitie of his wife and to beare with her for it The second cause of honouring her is for that God doth giue her honour God maketh her partaker with thee of his spirituall graces and fellow heire of euerlasting life Dishonour thou not therefore her on earth whom God hath honoured with a place in heauen The third cause why the wife should bee well esteemed of is for vnities sake For contempt doth breede contention and contention is an hinderance to deuotion Honour your wiues therefore Ne preces vestrae interrumpantur that your praiers through strife bee not interrupted and broken off Thus much for the duetie of the husband 9 Touching the duties of honour which the wife doeth owe to the husband