ynough for theyr wyckednes though no hell shulde cusewe But he whiche all the deceytes of the worlde reiected fireth his hole loue care and studie vpon Iesus that is the hyghe good thynge and hang holly on hym he accordyng to the promise of the gospcll shal not oncly possesse eternal lyfe but also shall receyuc in this worlde an hundreth tymes folde so muchc And what is it to receyue an hūdreth tymes so muche Ueryly for forged and counterfelled goodes true for vncertayne certayuc for transitorie crernal for 〈◊〉 pure for cares quyetnes for vexation of mynde truste confidence for troublesomnes tranquillitte for losses profyte for lewdnes goodnes for the torment of consciēce secrete and incffable ioy for a fowle miserable ende a glorious and triumphant deathe Thou haste dcspysed ryches for Christcs louc iii hym thou shalt fynde true tresures Thou haste reiected false honours so muche in hym thou shalt be the more honorable Thou hast neglec ted the affections of thy parentes so muche the more tenderly wyll the true father cheryshe the which is in heuēs Thou haste set at nought the wysdom of the world in Christ thou shalt much more truely be wyse and more happyly Thou hast despysed pestiferous plea surs in hym shalt thou fynd facre other deynties Brefly to speake when thou seyst ones tho secrete and true ryches of Christ the mysty clowde of the world dryuen in sonder then all thyuges whiche here tofore semed pleasaunte whiche 〈◊〉 sollicite the thou shalt not only not magnific haue them in admi ratiō but a certayn pestilēt destructiōs poysons thou shalt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cast of For it chaunseth wonderfully that so sone as that heuenly lyghte toucheth throughly our myndes sodenly a certayne newe face of all thynges spryngeth forthe so that it whiche a lytle to fore semed dulcet nowe waxeth tart whiche sower waxeth swete whiche semed vnfarynge waxethe amyable whiche semed amyable waxeth vnfarynge whiche tofore gorgyous nowe fylthy whiche myghty weake which beautyfull defourme whiche noble vnnoble whiche ryche nedy whiche hygh lowe whiche gaynes dammage which wyse folyshe whiche lyfe death which to be desyred to be fledde and cōtrary wyse So that sodenly the face of thynges chaunged thou wolt iuge it to be nothyng lesse than that which it semed before wherefore in Christ all good thynges be founde compendiously and truely of which the vayne and counter fet ymages and shadows as it were ioglynge castes this worlde sheweth whiche the wretched cōmon sort of peo ple pursueth and seketh with so greate trouble of mynde with so great losses with so great daungers by ryght and wronge I beseche you what blysse can ye compare with this mynde which is nowe free from errour free from affections without care always ioynge for the testimonie of conscience vexed with nothynge haut hygh and next to heuen and nowe aboue the lot of man which in Christ the most hygh pyllar rocke beynge borne steyed by all the falsities of this worlde the troubles frayes stormes depely laugheth at disuyseth or rather reweth For what shulde he feare which hath god his protectour shulde he feare reproche Nay it is an hyghe glorie to suffer reproche for Christ. 〈◊〉 nay the burdayn of ryches he gladly casteth awaye who so hastcth hym to Christ. Death nay for that he most wysheth wherby he is assured to be set ouer to immortall lyfe For what thyng shuld he take thought whose father in heuē hath not so much but his heares numbred told what shulde he couet which in Christ possesseth al thynges For what is not common to the membres and to the hede Now how great is mans not onely felicitie but also dignitie to be a lyuyshe mēbre of the most holy body the church to be al one with Christ the same fleshe the same spirite to haue all one father with hym in heuens to haue Christe our brother to be destinate with hym to the same enherytauncc And shortly to conclude to be no longer a man but a god Put hereunto a certayne taste of the felicitie that is to com which the good vertuous mynd do perceyue and enioy euer among This vndoubtedly saw this felt the prophete whā he saith Nec auris audiuit nec oculus vidit nec in 〈◊〉 ascendit quae parasti Deus diligentibus te i. Neyther care hath held nor cpe hath seue nor it hath not ascen ded into mans herte whiche thou 〈◊〉 god haste prepared to them that loue the. wherfore most derc companyons it we wyll do our 〈◊〉 that we may be be truely the membres of Christ accordynge to the saynge of the prophete Iustus vt palma storebit the ryghtwyseman shal flower lyke the palme tre yea also in this lyfe we shall spryng and flory she with a certayne perpetual youth not onely in mynde but also in bodye For lyke as that flowryng spirite of Ie su shall redounde into our 〈◊〉 so agayne ours shall slowe into his bodye and so much as may it shal be transfor med into it Nor this so greate beauty both of body and mynde can not beare the fylthyncs of garmente For our mynde is the habitation of god the body is the 〈◊〉 of the mynde and the garment to as who shuld say in ma ner the bodye of the bodye So shall it com to passe that all the hole man shal be correspondaunt to the puritie cleanes of the hede vntyll at laste this lyfe fynyshed we be ledde awaye to euerlastynge ¶ The Epiloge GO ye to then good felowes to this so greate felicitie lette vs labour with our hole myght let vs onely magnifie and haue in admiration our captayne Iesu then whom nothyng is greater nay rather without whom no thyng is at al great Hym onely let vs loue then whō nothynge can be better nay rather without whō nothyng at al is good Hym let vs folowe which onely is the true and perfyte exemplay of goodnes without whō who so semeth wyse is a fowle To hym onely let vs cleaue hym onely let vs embrace in onely hym let vs take fruition in whō is the true peac ioy tranquillitie pleasure lyfe immortalitie what neadeth many wordes he is the sum of al good thynges Besyde hym let vs magnifie nothing loue nothyng desyre nothyng hym onely let vs studie to please Lette vs remembre that vnder his eyes vnder the eyes of his angels which shal be our wytnesses in tyme comynge we do al thyng what so euer we do He is ialous nor cā suffre any fylthynes of this world wherfor let vs lyve ī him a pure angelycal lyfe let hym be to vs in hert in mouth in al our lyfe Hym through let vs sauer hym let vs speake hym in maners let vs expresse In hym let vs set our busynes our quyetnes toy solate hope all our trust and confidence Let hym neuer 〈◊〉 from our myndes when we be wake and in our slepe let vs contynually dreme of hym Hym let our 〈◊〉 and studie yea and our playe and bysportes also sauer smell of by hym and in hym let vs 〈◊〉 and ware tyll at laste we he growen up to a perfyte man and our 〈◊〉 valiantly brought to ende we may kepe a perpetual trumphe with hym in heuē AMEN ¶ Thus endeth the swete sermon of the chylde Iesu made by the most famous clerke Doctour Erasmus of Roterdā Imprynted at London in Fletestrete at the sygne of the George by me Robert Redman
on in Christe There be ryght many suche sorte of places in the mysticall and holy scriptures Generally and at one worde to speake the thynge Christianitie is none other thynge in the worlde but a certayne newe byrth whiche in the Byble is called a regeneration and 〈◊〉 is none other thynge 〈◊〉 a beynge a chylde agayn 〈◊〉 is than the mysterie of a chyld great is the mysterie of chyldhode wherin Iesus so greately was delyted Let not vs then 〈◊〉 our age whiche that true 〈◊〉 and estemer of thynges hath made so muche of Onely this one thynge lette vs gyue our deuour that we may be suche chyldren as Iesus loueth surely he loueth innocent and harmelesse chyldren redy apte to 〈◊〉 and symple And let vs also remembre this thynge that this chyldhode so greatly and so derely beloued of Christe lyeth not in yeres but in myndes it consysteth not in tymes but in maners For there is a certayne kynde and sorte of chyldren which is cleane ouert wart and greatly to be fledde of vs whiche haue smothe chynnes and roughe myndes chyldren and berdles in age but olde in vityous sleyght soteltie and myscheyfe wherfore there is also a certayne newe hynde of chyldehode whiche is alowed of Christ a chyldhode without chyldysshenes and generally to speake a certayne aged chyldehode which standeth not in the noumbre of yeres but in innocentie and simplycitye of wytte doth not Peter openly shewe the same when he sayth Deponentes igitur omnem maliciam omnem dolum simulationes 〈◊〉 detractiones sicut modo geniti infantes rationabile sine dolo lac consupiscite vt in eo crescatis in salutem That is to say wherfore layng a parte al malyce 〈◊〉 wyle hypocrisies and enuyes and backebytynges as newe gotten infasites reasonable without gyle couct ye mylke that by it ye maye increase into saluation why added he reasonable truely because he wolde exclude fowlyshnes which customably is wont cōmonly to be the compaygnyon of this age why doth he contracte and take awaye enuyes simulations and the other vicyes whiche cspecyally raygne in olde men surely to the entēt we shulde vnderstand that the chyldren of Christ be estemed by theyr simplicite and purenesse and not by theyr byrth And in lyke wyse S. Paule also sayth Malicia paruuli estote sensibus aūt perfecti In malice q he be babes but in wytte be ye perfecte howe be it there is vntuersally in the very age of chyldrē a certayne natyue naturall goodnes and as it were a certayne shadowe ymage of innocencye or a hope rather and dyspositton of a goodnes to come A softe mynde and plyable to euery behauour shamefastnes which is a good kepar of innocencit a wytte voyde of vyces bryghtnes of bodye and as it were a flower of a floryshyng worlde and I can not tell how a certayne thyng alye and familiare to spirites For it is not for naught that as ofte as the aungels appeare with thy shewe themselfes in chylderits lykenes yea moreouer they that vse art magicke whan so euer they fetch vp spirites with theyr enchaunte mteēs as men say they be called vp in sykenesse of a bodely chylde but howe muche more gladly wyll that heuenly spirite called vpon with deuout and ho ly vowes enter into suche mansions wherfore to these gyftes of nature if imitation of that hyghe and absolute chylde be caste vnto then fynally shall chyldrē seme louyng kynde towardes hym also worthy fytte for hym for the 〈◊〉 that so prouoketh who can not but loue 〈◊〉 suche is the vcrtue and 〈◊〉 operation of true loue that thou 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be so lyke as may be possyble vnto the thynge which thou louest 〈◊〉 thyng if humayne loue worketh in vs what zele of folowynge shall 〈◊〉 loue kyndlc to which the other compared is vnneth a lytle shadowe of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if truely and with herte not with onely wordes we loue Iesus let vs cudeuer for our power to expresse Iesus or rather to be transformed into hym And if we can not folowe the man let vs chyldren folowe the chylde howe be it this is no chyldes fete yea it passeth the powers of aged ysons but it is a thyng which in maner neuer chaūseth more happely than in chyldrē for so oft as the matter depende on maas helpe theyr strength age the distinction of male female is 〈◊〉 cōsydered but where the mat ter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nature there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his wonderfull worke so much the more that there is but lytle helpe trust in the fleshe Finally what doubt we or distruste syth he hymselfe formeth fathoneth transformeth vs whō we cudeuout to expresse who added so great prudēce to the chylde 〈◊〉 who to the chyld Salomō gaue so great wysdō who to tho 〈◊〉 chyldren 〈◊〉 so great pactēcer who made child Hely worthy to com to goddes speath who to chylde Nicholas to Bylys to Beuet to Agnes to Lesyly to so many so tender virgyns gaue so manly inuincible vertue Truely not nature but grace where nature lesse helpeth there more wōdetfully worketh grace wherfore bearing ourselfes bold of this grace let vs with a great hert and stomacke enterrpryse the studie to folow the chylde Iesus let vs neuer moue our eyes from hymbeynge as who shulde saye our marke we haue a perfyte and an absolute exemplar there is nothyng els where to be softe All his lyf cōtinually cryeth what we ought to do For what teacheth vs that moste pure chylde that he was borne of a moste pure virgyne but to eschue all fylthe and defowlementes of this worlde And to meditate a certayne angely call lyfe euen nowe in erthe that is to meditate that here which there we shal be contynyully Truely the spirite of Iesu generally abborteth and hateth all fylthynes but specyally that beastly luste and vtterly vnworthy for man what taught he vs in that he was borne frōm home in another countre delyuered of his mother in a vyle cotage cast downe in a cribbe wrapped aboute with vyle cloutes but that we shulde always remembre that we be here straungers for a fewe dayes and that all ryches troden vnder fete and the false honours of the worlde despyfeth we shulde haste vs beynge as lyght and lose as maye be to our heuenly countre through vertuose labours in which our heuenly and natyue countre we ought alredy to lyue in mynde although we touche as per the erthe with our corporall fete Agayne what monyshed he vs in that he fledde into Egypt but that by all meanes we shulde eschue to entermedle with contagious people whiche labour to put out Christ in vs that is to wyte innocencye and the despysyng of the world what taught he vs that he was 〈◊〉 but that we shulde cut of all carnall atrections whiche disturbe vs haltyng vnto Christe that beynge dead as 〈◊〉 were in our owne selues be led and nouryshed onely
with the spirite of Iesu what taught he vs in that he was 〈◊〉 vp in the temple but that we shulde holly offer vp and dedicate our selues euen from our infauncie to god and to holy thinges and forthwith the vessell of our mynde beynge yet newe and fresh drynke into vs Iesu for no age is̄ 〈◊〉 to learne holynes naye rather none other age is more tymely and mere to learne Christe than that whiche knoweth not yet the worlde Nowe consyder ye with our selues oh chyldren with howe holy studyes and occupacyons that same chylde so borne so offered vp to god dyd passe our his chyldhode Not with ydelnes not with eatynge and drynkyng not with slepe not with vayne sportes and playes not with fowlyshe fables not with straynges abrode as the common sort of chyl dren are wont to do but outher with minystryng and seruyug his parentes or with holy prayers or hearynge the preachers and teachers or with deuout meditations or with holy and arnest communications with other chyldren hath not saynte Luke in his gospell comprysed brefly all these and many other lyke when he wryteth in this maner Puer crescebat confortabatur plenus sapientia gratia dei erat millo That is to say The chylde grewe and wexed stronge full of wysdom and the grace of god was in hym Do ye not manifestly see a newe kynde of chyldehode Of the chyldren in tymes paste it was sayd Stulticia colligata est in corde pueri That is to saye Foly is teyed to gether in a chyldes herte Of the newe chylde ye here Plenus sapientia full of wysdom why do we any longer excuse our rudenes vnder the clock of our tender age when we heare a chyld not one ly wyse but full of wysdom Se howe this chylde hathe inuerted all order of thinges which sayth in the Apocalyps Ecce ego noua facio omnia that is to saye 〈◊〉 I make all newe The wysdom of the aged is destroyed and the prudence of the prudent is dysalowed and chyldren be replenyshed with wysdom And for this very cause he gyueth thankes to his father saynge Quoniam absondisti haec a sapientibus renelasti 〈◊〉 paruulis because thou haste hydde these from wyse and hast dysclosed them to infauntes But leste we shulde here couette and studye for the fowly she and desceytfull wysdom of this worlde he addeth forthwith Et gratia dei erat ī illo The grace of god was in hym He whan all is done is the wyse man and hathe the ryghte knowledge whiche to the worlde is but a fole and whiche sauereth nothynge but Christe He is knowen not by the bokes of the phylosophers nor yet by subtyll and sophistycall argumentes but by pure faythe he is knowen by hope he is holden by charitie he is wonne Howe manye thynges hathe this chylde taught by his ensample when he was but. xii 〈◊〉 of age he stale awaye preuely frō his parentes whiche coulde not be founde neyther among his kynsfolke nor among his acquayntaunce at last was founde after the space of iii. dayes But wheare I beseche you was he founde In fayres in markettes in ways i tauerns daunsyng or synging Harken ye chyldren where the chylde Iesus was founde leuyng his frendes and in maner a fugityue a renaway and ye shall casyly vnderstande where ye ought to be consernaunt In the tem ple I saye he was founde syttynge in the myddes of the doctours hearynge theyr reasons and demaundynge questiōs of them What hath Iesus taught vs by these so wonderfull deades No doubt but that he hath taught vs some great thynge som earneste matter and to be hyghly folowed what is that Surely that whyle Christ ware bygge in vs for he is also borne in vs hath his degrees of ages vntyl he growe vp to a stronge and perfet man and into the measure of his fulnes wherfore whyle I say he ware bygge in vs he teacheth vs to transferre and shyft our naturall affections whiche be towarde our parentes and other frendes vpon god nothyng to loue here nothyng to magnifie but in Christe Christ in all let vs remembre that we haue our true father countre kynsfolke and frendes in heuen But left a man wold ymagyn with this neglectyng of parentes shuld sauer any pryde or disobediencie it foloweth Et erat subditus illis And he was subiet vnto them nay rather none more truely loueth his parentes none more naturally honoreth them none obeyeth them more obsequiosly than he which thus cōtemueth them What is it to sytte in the temple but to rest in holy thynges and to brynge a mynde to learne quyet from al worldly cares Nothynge is more turbulent than vyces and agayne wysdom loueth 〈◊〉 and quyetnes Now of what any person shall we disdayne to lerne howe attentyte cares ought we to gyue to our maysters whan that heuenly chyld Ie sus the wysdom of god his father sytteth in myddes of the doctours hearyng and agayne demaundyng of them and aunswerynge but so aunswerynge that all wondered on his wysdom Nor no wonder syth he was suche one to whome all the wysdom of the world is folyshe The knowledge of lawes is a goodly thyng the setēce of philosophie is a noble thyng the profession of divinitte is a thynge hyghly to be magnified But who heareth Iesus forthwith all thynge ware folyshe but our aunswer though it can not styre a myracle of wysdom at lest way let it sauer of sovernes and discretion let it sauer innocencie Agayn I beseche you how obeysaujit how seruyable becommeth it vs to be to our parentes maysters whome we ought to preferre as they whiche be the parentes of the wytte syth that lorde of all at what tyme he was of that depe wysdom that his parentes vnderstode hym not yet he retur ned with them to Nazareth submyttyng hymselfe vnto them we owe this to the naturall loue we owe this to the reuerence towarde our parentes that otherwhyles we gyue place to theyr wyl though we see better what is to be done than they But now it is good to see with howe mete an ende Luke hath concluded the chyldehode of Iesus Et Iesus q he proficiebat sapientia aetate gratia apud deum apud homines Iesus 〈◊〉 sayncte Luke dyd further in wysdom age and grace with god and with men Howe many thynges in howe fewe wordes hath he taught vs Fyrste of all that with the growe and the encreace of age the encreace also of holynes ought to be copled 〈◊〉 that sayng be ryghtly spokē vpon vs which sayncte Augustyn spake vpon the com mon sort of men Qui maior est aetate maior est iniquitate 1. the 〈◊〉 in age the greater in lewdnes Or lest in this most goodly and fayer baiell we shulde at any tyme reste vs and stande styll or thynke that we haue wonne the fylde but after the maner of them whiche renne at a game neglectyng that whiche we haue