vnto death to those that beléeue not But howsoeuer men liste to take it this shal be my beléef that the goyng downe of Christ into hell is our deliueraunce from thence For excepte our sauiour Christe had been enuironed and compassed aboute with the sorowes and paines of hell and in a maner ouerwhelmed with them for a while hell would haue swallowed vs vp vnto euerlastyng damnation we should haue perished vtterly both in body and soule wee should neuer haue escaped the tyranny of Sathan nor be healed of the deadly wounde that we haue receiued of that olde venimous serpent the deuill and enimie to our saluation So that I denie not that article of Christes discention but of the maner howe is the question for when it is saide he will not leaue his soule in hell he speaketh not of his discendyng into hell of the damned but that he shal rise againe from the dead that is he shall not leaue hym in death or liyng continuallie in the graue For the soule in that place is taken for the whole naturall man c. For seeke all the scriptures from one ende to a nother and ye shall neuer finde that Christ in body or soule discended into hell but that he died and rose againe the thirde daie accordyng to the Scriptures For you shall note that the East Churche had it not the Counsell of Nicen Creede hath it not nor the Counsell of Ephesus c. But to be short ye shal vnderstande that christ descended into hell three maner of waies Videl Firste in power as when the Uaile of the Temple did rent in twaine from the top to the bottome and the earth did quake and the stones were clouen and the graues did open them selues and many bodies of the Sainctes whiche slept arose and came out of the graues after his resurrection and went into the holy Citie and appeared vnto many Secondly in spirite when as he saide my soule is heauy euen vnto the death and when he cried my God my my God why hast thou forsaken mee The thirde in person when as he was laide in the graue as we reade that thei tooke the body of Iesus and wrapped it in linnen clothes with the odours as the maner of the Iewes is to bury Paul saith now in that hee ascended what is it but that he had also descended first into the lower parte of the earth This deare brother is my beleefe grounded vpon the worde of GOD and not vpon men or mens dreames or phantacies And reporte not that I doe denie any article of the faithe God forbid I should wherfore reade with iudgement and with the spirite of mildenes come not pre iudicio but with iudicio Some there be againe that be of opinion that the soule of Christe went not downe into the hell of the damned but that it went onely downe for to deliuer the Patriarkes and other holy fathers of the olde Testament out of the Lymbe ▪ and also for to deliuer the soules of them that were of lesse perfection then the Patriarkes and other holy fathers out of the paines of purgatory where they were kepte for to make satisfaction for those synnes that they had done no penaunce for in this worlde But as for Lymbe I knowe none but Abrahams bosome whiche to saie truely is that moste blessed life whiche they that dye in the faithe that Abraham did shall enioye after this worlde ¶ The .vij. Chapiter ¶ Christe is our true Purgatorie and the Papistes Purgatorie is false AS for Purgatorie I knowe none other but the blood of Iesu Christe our onely sauiour that doth cleanse vs from all our sinnes Againe none other fire doe I know in all the Scriptures that hath any vertue or power to purge synnes but the fire of his holy spirite wherewith he promised to Baptize his elect and chosen and the fire of his sacred and diuine word whereof hym selfe speaketh on this maner ye are cleane bicause of the woorde that I haue spoken vnto you This is true purgatorie wherein all muste be purged afore that they can enter into the kingdome of God. That other Purgatorie that they haue inuented of their owne heades without and against Gods worde is a most deuillishe and abhominable blasphemyng against the merites and bloodshedding of our sauiour Christes death and Passion For by it the onely begotten sonne of God is made an vnperfect sauiour and of lesse aucthoritie power and strength then they will haue that fleshely ydoll of Rome and most pernicious antichriste to be vnto whom they dare attribute and giue full aucthoritie and power to absolue men and to graunte vnto them a ful pardon of all their synnes euen a poena a culpa that is to say to deliuer them not onely from the offence it self but also from the paine or punishment that is due vnto it Whereas poore Christe who hath shed his heart blood for vs and who hath troden the Wine presse alone is scarcely able by their doctrine to forgeue vs our offences at least he cānot release vs of the paine For if it be of his forgeuing we must suffer the paines that be due vnto our synnes in the fire of Purgatorie till we haue made satisfaction for them or till we haue bought them out at the antichristes handes and at the handes of his shauelinges or els we muste make a full satisfaction for them here in this worlde whiles we are here yet a liue if at least we entend for to escape that whot burning fire of theirs So that euery waie Christe shall be but halfe a a Sauiour and God his father a moste abhominable and deceitfull lyer for he saieth at what tyme soeuer a synner doth repent hym of his synne from the bottome of his harte I wil put his wickednes out of my remembraunce so that it shall no more be thought vpon How is this promise fulfilled I praie you if he doe so cruelly punishe our wickednes and offences in the fire of purgatorie after that he hath forgeuen and pardoned them Is this to thinke no more vpon them what can these deuillishe and abhominable Sophisters alledge nowe for them selues will they saie that GOD is a lier and that he doeth not performe and fulfil his promises moste truely either they must saie so what startyng holes soeuer they can finde out or els confesse and acknowledge that their doctrine is most detestable and also blasphemous against the trueth of Gods promises and against the merites of the moste precious death passion and bloodsheddyng of his onely begotten sonne our Sauiour Iesu Christe And in a nother place this moste mercifull Father and bounteous Lorde who is alwaies true and most faithfull in all his promises doeth crie out saiyng I am he I am he that taketh awaie thy wickednes and that for mine owne sake and thy synnes will I remember no more Here
contradiction or resistaunce But the scriptures do teache vs cleane contrary For they all testifie vnto vs that Christe our Sauiour hauyng offered one oblation or sacrifice for synnes is set downe on the right hande of God for euer tariyng there till his fooes be made his footstoole as it hath been sufficiently proued before Thei doe therefore alledge in vaine the omnipotencie and almightie power of God for to proue thereby their deuillishe and moÌ„strous opinioÌ„ beyng in this point like vnto the anabaptistes which wheÌ„ thei be so sore pressed with the scirptures that they knowe not whiche waie to escape doe flye streight waie vnto the spirite hauyng then none other thyng in their mouthes but the spirite the spirite So these ioly felowes when they be beaten with the scriptures that they haue not one worde to saie will by and by with a great circumstaunce of wordes and fetchyng aboute alledge the omnipotencie and almightie power of God settyng foorth his wonderous works miracles that he hath wrought by it that so they may vnder the shadowe of them deceaue and blinde the poore vnlearned people whiche haue no vnderstandyng nor perceiueraunce of thynges These be for the moste parte the goodly argumentes and reasons that they doe vse if god hath doen this thyng or that thyng then will they bryng in some excellent miracle that god did worke in tymes paste may not he by his omnipotencie and mightie power bring to passe that the natural body of his sonne Christe should be in the Sacrament ye may see howe these newe fangled felowes do most shamefully deny the omnipotencie of God. These and other like thynges they doe daiely vomite out againste the true ministers of Gods worde in their railyng bookes and vpon their Alebenche where as they themselues are vtter enimies and subuerâ—ours of the omnipotencie and almightie power of god For thei do preache and daily shewe teache and write and also with fyre and sworde compell men to beléeue that christe can not geue vnto vs his fleshe to eate excepte his naturall body that he tooke of the virgine Marie that died vpon the crosse and ascended vp into heauen be there in the Sacrament â–ª really and substancially in déede more like a monstrous thyng then an humaine body Wheras on the contrarie we doe both beléeue and teache that our sauiour christ is able by his euerlasting and almighty spirite whensoeuer we doe worthely receiue his Sacrament to feede with his most precious flesh and blood both our soules and bodies vnto life euerlastyng and yet that hee needeth not therefore to come downe from heauen nor to be after suche a monstrous fashion in the sacramentall bread and wine For as the blood of our sauiour christ doth cleanse vs from all our synnes and yet we neede not to haue it really present with vs for to be washed or bathed in it so Christ our sauiour accordyng to his promise doeth daily or whensoeuer we doe come worthely to his holy Table feede both our bodies and soules with the wholsome and heauenly foode of his pretious body and blood and this doeth he by his eternall and almightie spirite so that he needeth not therefore to come downe at the becke and commaundement of euery iuglyng Papiste and to be really present in a péece of their sterched breade after that they haue with gapyng and blowyng spoken foure or fiue wordes vpon it Let any man that hath any sparke of the spirite of GOD iudge whether this maner of feedyng vpon the body and blood of Christ in the holy Sacrament whiche as I saide is doen by his eternall spirite doth not in all poinctes agrée with the holy Scriptures and with the almightie power of God who is neuer wont sith that of his owne nature he is most true to do or worke any thyng againste his owne worde and sacred Scriptures wherby we are certified that the heauens muste holde our Sauiour Christe till all thynges be restored againe that God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophetes since the worlde began The examples that they doe bryng of the walkyng of our Sauiour Christ vpon the waters or of his commyng in to his disciples and apostles when the doores were faste shut if they be well considered and looked vppon it shal be easie for to perceaue and vnderstande that they make nothyng for them but rather against them For when our Sauiour Christe did walke vpon the Sea although he did it by his diuine and godly power yet had he at the same present houre his true and naturall body with due proportion of lymmes and all other dimensions that doe pertaine to a mans body so that he coulde then be seene with the bodily eyes of his apostles taken vp sensibly into the Boate that they were in But no suche thyng will thei alowe in their monstrous being of christe his true and naturall body in their Sacrament Therefore this example maketh not for them but against them Now againe where they saie that our Sauiour Christ did go in to his apostles through the doores beyng faste shut here they make a shamefull lye For neither in the Gréeke nor in the Latine we shal finde that it is written through the doores beyng fast shut but the doores beyng shut or when the doores were fast shut Whereby the Euangelist doth signifie vnto vs the tyme that our Sauiour Christe came in to his disciples For therby may we vnderstande that it was verie late in the night when he came in to them as when any of vs doth saye I came home by candle light or when all the doores were fast shut yet no man is so foolishe as for to construe vppon his wordes that he had light borne afore hym or that he went in through the doores but by this maner of speaking we be wont to gather that it was late in the night when he came home Moreouer we do reade in the booke of the Actes that the apostles were put in the common prison at Hierusalem but the angell of the Lorde by night opened the doores of the prison and brought them foorth the doores of the prison beyng shut fast againe as sure as it was possible and yet none of the kéepers that were standyng without before the doores and kéeping them with al diligence did espie it when it was doen. Likewise in the same booke we finde written that when Herode would haue brought foorth Peter for to put hym to death the angell of the Lorde did come vnto hym as he slept betweene twoo souldiours bounde with two chaines and the keepers that watched and warded the prison standyng without before the doores And as soone as the angell smote Peter on the side and waked him his chaines fel of from his handes and also that when he and the angell were paste the firste and seconde watche and were come to
Thou also saieth he hast through the blood of thy Testamente lette the prisoners out of the pitte where no water is what he will haue to bee vnderstanded by this lake or pitte men maie iudge many waies and that after the right faithe But I thinke that nothyng can better bee vnderstanded by it then the drie and as it were the barraine profunditie of the depenesse of mans miserie where the streames of righteousnesse are not but the mudde of iniquitie And of this pitte it is spoken in the Psalme and he hath saieth he broughte me ▪ out of the pitte of miserie and out of the myre and claie Hitherto Augustine Thus you may easely perceiue that this saiyng of the Prophete nothyng appertaineth vnto the deade whiche are alreadie deliuered from those miseries that are signified by the waterlesse pitte but vnto the liuyng For he saieth directlie after Turne you to the strong holde ye prisoners of hope Whiche woordes can not bee applied to the deade but to the liuyng onely For the Prophete biddeth them turne into the holie lande where the citie and temple are where God will defende them Sainct Hierome therefore saieth to all them that doe hang vpon bare wordes of the scriptures Nec putemus in verbis scripturarum esse Euangelium sed in sensu non in superficie sed in medulla non in sermonum folijs sed in radice rationis That is Neither lette vs thinke that the Gospell cōsisteth in the wordes of the scriptures but in the meanyng not in the barke but in the pithe not in the leaues of wordes but in the roote of the meanyng Peter cōfirmeth this saiyng So that ye first knowe this that no prophecie in the scripture is of any priuate interpretation Thus much as concernyng the place of the Prophete Zacharie As for the place in the Actes of the Apostles what is saied aboue vpon the Psalme maie suffice for that that was spoken by Dauid in the Psalme was prophetically spoken of Christ not that his soule should goe and preache or bryng out any soule from hell that was nothyng the Prophetes meanyng But he prophecied there onely of the death and resurrection of Christe For so dooeth saincte Peter open and expounde it saiyng Therefore seyng he was a Prophete and knewe that God had sworne with an othe to him that of the fruicte of his loynes he would raise vp Christe concernyng the fleshe to set hym vpon his Throne He knowyng this before spake of the resurrection of Christe that his soule that is his person or bodie should not be left in graue neither his fleshe should se corruption Here note that where in one place he calleth it by the name of the soule or bodie immediately he nameth it fleshe Thus you maie see howe one Scripture openeth another So Hierome saieth Moris scripturarum obscuris manifesta subnectere that is It is the order of the scriptures after harde thynges to ioyne other thynges that bee plaine Sainct Augustine also saith Solet circumstantia scripturarum illuminare sententiam The circumstaunces of the scriptures is wont to giue light and to open the meanyng M. Theodorus Beza translateth that verse Non derelinques animam meam in inferno thus Non relinques cadauer meū in sepulchro For as he saith Nequ◠enim Petrus hic disputat de animi immortalitate sed de corporis resurrectione eaque eiusmodi vt nulla praecesserit corruptio Peter faith he doeth not here in this place dispute of the immortalitie of the soule but of the resurrection of Christes bodie in suche maner that no corruption could or should corrupte it Againe he saieth Dico igitur nunquam praetermissuros fuisse Euangelistas istiusmodi historiam descensus animae Christi ad inferos arbitror quod cum veterum pace dictum sit somnia esse quacunque de hac re apud illos cōmemorantur that is Therefore I saie that the Euangelistes would neuer haue ouer passed or lette slippe with silence suche an historie of the descendyng of the soule of Christ into hell if it had been so and I iudge say by the leaue of the auncient fathers what soeuer of this matter thei haue written or remembred amongeste them to bee but dreames and phantasies c. Therefore sainct Augustine giueth this counsaile Nemo de Christo creda◠nisi quod dese credi voluit Christus That is Lette no man beleue more of Christe then Christe hath willed thee to beleue And this bee spoken as sufficiente for this present vpon this place of the actes Nowe lastly is that place of S. Peter where he saieth that Christ was put to death concernyng the flesh but was quickned in the spirite by the which he also went and preached vnto the spirites that were in prison Herevpon they blowe vp the Trumpet but yet stay a litle thou must note gentle reader that here is no mention made Anima Christi of the soule of Christe but that he went tantum spiritu onely in his spirite For as M. Caluin saieth Sunt autem haec longe diuersa animam Christi venisse et Christum praedicasse spiritus sui potentia These are saith he great differences to say that the soule of Christe to haue come And to say Christe to haue preached by the power of his spirite Nowe friendly reader here is the difficultie in these two wordes Spiritus carcer the spirite and the prison Understande that by this worde spirite is not meant nor taken in this place for the soule of Christe but for the power of his Godhead For it was not his soule that was able to quicken him self but the spirite of god quickned him that is his godly and diuine power that quickned his humanitie Paul openeth this very plainly to the Cor. saying Christ was crucified concernyng his infirmitie yet liueth he through the power of god c. Where Peter nameth it the spirite Paul calleth it the power of god And he calleth it the operation of God which raysed and quickned him from the dead And to the Romanes he shewth that the vertue of the spirite was not onely shewed in the person of Christe but is shewed also vpon vs all saying If the spirite of him that raysed vp Iesus from the dead dwell in you he that raysed vp Christ frō the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodies because that his spirit dwelleth in you By these places we may vnderstande what Peter meant by the spirite that is Gods diuine power and might and not the soule of Christ. Nowe in that Peter calleth it a prison is not to be taken here that he vnderstandeth by it the place of hell for the damned but he aludeth it to that place of Genesis where it is sayde Non permanebit spiritus meus in homine inaeternum quia caro est My spirite shall not striue with man because he is but fleshe So that
it is a common phrase of speache in the Scriptures that Peter here vseth for the Prophete Esai hath the like saying Vt aperires oculos caecorum educeres de conclusione vinctum de domo carceris sedentes in tenebris That thou mayest open the eyes of the blinde and bryng out the prisoners from the prison and them that sit in darknesse out of the prison house And in another place he saith Vt dicetis his qui vincti sunt exite his qui in tenebris reuelamini That thou mayest say to the prisoners go foorth and to them that are in darknesse shewe your selues Saint Paul in a maner vseth the like phrase saying Before saith came we were kept vnder the lawe and shut vp vnto the faith which should afterwarde be reuealed Our sauiour Christe vseth it often where it is written The spirite of the Lord is vpon me because he hath annoynted me that I should preache the Gospell to the poore he hath sent me that I shoulde heale the broken hearted that I shoulde preache deliueraunce to the captiues and recoueryng of sight to the blinde that I shoulde set at libertie them that are bruised Saint Peter him selfe in the fourth Chapter folowing speaketh of this matter but yet in other wordes saying For vnto this purpose was the Gospell preached also vnto the dead that they myght be condemned accordyng to men in the fleshe but myght lyue accordyng to God in the spirite that is to say the Gospell was preached not to the dead bodyes in the graues nor to the soules in hell but to them of tyme past which nowe are dead to the entent that they might haue béen condemned or dead vnto sinne in the fleshe and might haue liued to God in the spirite which two are the effect of the Gospell And in his seconde Epistle he calleth them the worlde of the vngodly saying Neither hath spared the olde worlde but saued Noe the eyght person a preacher of righteousnesse and brought in the flood vppon the worlde of the vngodly c. So nowe we may perceaue by the conference of those places what Peter meaneth by the spirites that were in prison that are all those whiche were in the prison of sinne and death c. For Peters onely purpose in this place is to set foorth the vniuersall preaching of repentaunce which was preached in the tymes of Noe euen with the same open and vniuersall preachyng that was dooen in all the worlde in the tyme of Christ the sonne of God after his resurrection from the dead For the sonne of God did preache in the tyme of Noe in the spirite that is by his spirituall preachyng of repentaunce did call the spirites that were in prison that is those wicked men that were shutte vp in the prisone of wickednesse and synne and for their synfulnesse are worthie of death and hell So saieth Titleman Veniens ad illos incredulos homines qui tunc in tenebrosa caligine errorum snorum iacebant demersi â–ª veniens inquam spiritu praedicauit eis ad poenitentiam reuerti vt possent cum Noe saluari inspirando Prophetas Noe qui ex ore domini populum a mâ—lis reuocare quaerebant That is Commyng to those vnbeleuyng men whiche then did lye drowned in the darekenesse of their errours Commyng I saie in spirite did preache to them to tourne to repentaunce that thei might bee saued with Noe inspiryng the Prophetes and Noe did seeke to call the people backe from their euilnesse by the mouthe of god Also he setteth foorth the mercifull goodnesse and long sufferaunce in that he called theim to repentaunce by Noe whiles the Arke was a preparing by the space of a hundred and twentie yeres whiche leuitie goodnesse and long sufferaunce of GOD they did despise and neglecte for whiche the flood of Goddes vengeaunce came vpon them that were disobedient in the tymes of Noe. The verie texte it self plainly declareth that this exposition is true For if wee marke the woordes of the texte as they lye in order it will soone open Peters whole meanyng The wordes are these But was quickened in the spirit by whiche he also went and preached vnto the spirites that were in prisone then immediately followeth what those spirites were whiche saieth he were in time passed disobedient when once the longe sufferyng of God abode Now he sheweth when it was in the daies of Noe. Then he declareth the tyme and how long thei were disobediente while the Arke was preparyng saieth he Which latter wordes maketh it plaine For he saieth he preached in the spirite to the prisoners that were disobedient while the Arke was a makyng So that it appeareth that those prisoners were a liue at the makyng and preparyng of the Arke And duryng all that tyme of a 120. yeres Christe preached to them in his spirite by Noe the eight persone a preacher of righteousnesse to tourne them from their synnes and so bee saued And because they would not in their life tyme obey Gods worde are cast now after their life into iudgemente of hell fire as wee haue saied before And by the same argumente Peter goeth aboute to moue the Iewes by their example to bee obedient to Goddes callyng that calleth theim by his spirite through his Preachers and Ministers by his long sufferaunce to repentaunce and amendement of life whiles thei are here in the earth Otherwise for their disobedience nowe in their life tyme vnto the preachyng of his Ministers shall be damned after this life as thei are Christe our Sauiour dooeth teache this plainely at whose mouthe Peter learned this that nowe he hath taughte in this Epistle to the Iewes When as he spake of the ende of the worlde saiyng As the daies of Noe were so likewise shall the commyng of the sonne of man be For thei did eate and drinke marrie and giue in mariage vnto the daie that Noe entred into the Arke And knewe nothyng till the floodde came and tooke them awaie so also shall the commyng of the sonne of man bee And then immediatly after he giueth this coÌ„maundement to theÌ„ saiyng Wake therefore for ye knowe not what houre your maister will come Therefore bee ye also readie for in the houre that ye thinke not will the sonne of man come Nowe wee maie see that all this is spoken to that ende to moue vs by their example to tourne from our synnes and wicked life and not to proue hereby that the soules of any of the righteous before Christes commyng were in hell and so Christes soule must fetche them out whiche are but the imaginations of men For so saieth Erasmus Talia multa circa hanc adiecticiam particulam quidam commenti sunt narrantes quos Christus abduxerit quos ibi reliquerit quae quibus ad singulos circulos sit loquutus c That is Many suche maner of thinges haue certaine men
and saith either they be sayinges of lying men or the wonders of deceitfulll â—eâ—uls Thus thou mayest plainly sée howe vainely and deceitfully Rabanus Archbishop of Magunce reciteth out of Gregorie the first and of Beâ—ta with the rablement of all the papistes the apparitions of soules departed to mainteyne their fained purgatory and praiyng for the dead which I confesse to be most flat against the written worde of God. By all these testimonies which without all dout haue a most sure grounde and foundation in the worde of God and agree in all pointes with his holy Scriptures All they and especially Saint Augustine doth playnely ouerthrowe their newe forged purgatorie prayer for the dead and apparitions of soules ¶ The .x. Chapiter ¶ Children that are dead borne or dye befâ—â—â— that they can 〈◊〉 to baptisme are 〈…〉 nor yet go into the popishe limbe ALso the Lymbe of the children that either be styll borne or else dye afore that they can receaue baptisme these after the doctrine of the papistes shall neuer enter into the kingdome of heauen but shall be euerlastingly deteined kept in a Lymbe besides the hell of the damned Where though they shall not nor do not feele the paynes and tormentes of the vnquenchable fire of hell as the other damned do yet they shal be depriued for euer of the fruition of Gods glorie and of all other 〈◊〉 and ioy of heauen cursyng continually both father and mother and the houre that euer they were conceiued and begotten so that it were better that a whole citie yea a whole realme should perishe and â—â—icke downe than that one onely childe shoulde deceasse and dye vnbaptized Thus they do blasphemousâ—y preache and teache and set foorth by writing not onely to the great derogation of Gods mercie but also to the great discomforting of the poore seely parentes vnto whom such thinges haue by the prouidence of God happened chaunced either through sicknesse or by some other casualtie and mischaunce that both men and women are at all times subiect vnto in this wretched miserable worlde yea for to declare and testifie openly vnto all men that they do not holde them for true members of the body of Christe â–ª but for such as be euerlastingly banished from the socretie and felowship of all faithfull Christians and of all the blessed spirites and soules thei will in no wise suffer them to be buried in their hallowed grounde I meane among other Christians but cause the poore afflicted parentes to burie them in a ditch or in a doung hill as a dise stinckyng caâ—â—on how much better into more conformable or agreeyng vnto the Gospell of christ were it to teache the poore miserable and afflicted Parentes that there can bee no faulte offence or trespasse but onelie in breakyng the Lordes commaundementes and that where no despising of his holy â—â—â—â—tution ordinaunce is there he doth accepte the good will of them that would gladly haue obeied his lawes and commaundementes if they had not been â—etted by some vrgent and vnexchuable necessitie If then any infantes or children bee preuented by death afore that the faithfull Parentes can bryng and offer theim vnto God by baptisme whiche aboue all thynges they would haue had if it had béen possible by any meanes to be ministred vnto their fruict séede and issue whom they knowe to be comprehended with them vnder the couenaunte that God hath made with Abraham and with all faithful beleuers we must not by and by with suche cruell temeritie and rashnes that hath no grounde but only vpon the foolish perswasion of men folowyng their owne fantasies and dreames holde them for damned and cast awaie For besides that which hath béen said already we must consider and way not with our Ballaunces but with the true and infallible Ballaunce of gods holy word and sacred scriptures that we bee not saued by the outwarde ceremonies of the Sacramentes but by the vertue strength and efficacie of the Lordes couenaunt that he hath made with vs saiyng vnto our father Abraham I will be thy God and the God of thy seede after thee Wherunto he hath added his sacraments as heaueÌ„ly seales of his blessed will fauour towardes vs and our seede whose God he affirmeth hymself to be as well as ours Sainct Paule saieth that faithe was imputed vnto Abraham for righteousnes How was it then imputed when he was circumcised or vncircumcised not when he was circumcised but when hee was vncircumcised after he receiued the signe of circumcision as the seale of the righteousnes of the faithe whiche he had when he was vncircumcised that he should be the father of all them that beleeue not beyng circumcised that righteousnes might be imputed to them also So we see why the sacramentes were ordeined to be as seales and witnesses to our weakenes of Gods promises made vnto vs and our seede for euer so the Lorde saide vnto Abraham In thy seede all nations shal be blessed If then we do take holde by faith vpon his holy couenaunt we and our children shal be saued by the vertue strength and efficacie of it though it were so that by some casualtie or chaunce not commyng through our owne fault we shoulde be put from the outwarde seales or sacramentes of it In déede if it were so that we might conuenientlye receyue the Sacramentes that the Lorde instituted and ordeyned in his worde and yet would not receyue them but contemne them and despise them as thinges nothing parteyning vnto vs I woulde not say for all the goodes in the worlde that either we or our seede shoulde enioy the benefites of the couenaunt For that were a playne contempt or rather a rebellious stubbournnes which we can in no wise excuse before god who doth alwayes punishe most sharply and with all seueritie the contemners of his holy institution and ordinaunces But if we be preuented by death or beyng letted by some other vrgent necessitie or cause can not rightlye come by them nor receyue them I do stedfastly beléeue that the omitting of them shall not be imputed vnto vs The Lorde had ordeyned in his lawe that all men children should be circumcised addyng vnto it a verie terrible threatenyng when he saieth Euery man childe that hath not his foreskin cut of his soule shall perishe from his people bicause he hath broken my TestameÌ„t And yet it is not to be thought but that many died afore they came to eight daies olde at which age not afore they ought to bee circumcised that all men children that died amonges the Isralites euen after this Lawe was made not hauyng their foreskinnes cut of accordyng to this lawe did perishe or were damned for how many thousand besides the infirmitie of naturall death were slaine drowned in the great riuer Nylus in Egipt by the commaundement of that cruelty of Pharao afore that their foreskinnes could be cut of shal
must we be in the resurrection These wordes shal the easlier be vnderstanded if we will consider and marke that the whole life of our sauiour Christe ought to serue vs in stéede of an Allegorie wherby we should make our selues conformable vnto hym spiritually in those thynges that haue been truely and really or in very deede fulfilled in his body and can in no wise be fulfilled in ours As for an example our sauiour Christ hath been conceaued by the holy ghoste borne of the virgine Marie he hath been crucified and put to death he did rise againe the thirde daie and ascended into heauen All those thynges cannot be performed nor fulfilled in our bodies as they were in his But let vs endeuour our selues that our spirite or inwarde man maie be fashioned and made conformable vnto hym in these thinges Our bodies are conceaued and borne in synne not by the holy Ghoste nor in the wombe of a virgine as our Sauiour Christe was but they are conceaued by the carnall copulation of man and woman and of corruptible seede That wee maie therefore be conformable vnto hym in this pointe let vs come vnto his true Churche and beléeue his gospell And when we be in the true Churche of Christe whiche is both our mother and a chaste virgine wee shal be conceaued and begotten in it by the vncorruptible seede of the worde of God our heauenlie father and by the vertue of his holy spirite and shal be borne againe the children of god and made newe creatures we shall put of the olde man and put one the newe bearyng the image of the newe Adam whiche is Iesus Christ as we haue borne the image of the olde Adam and of the man of synne After that we be thus conceaued by the holy ghoste and borne of a virgine which is the true Church and spouse of our sauiour christ the residue of our life must also be conformable vnto the life of our sauiour christ as our spirituall conception and birth is We be not crucified and put to death as he was but we learne of him to beare the Crosse with hym and to be crucified vnto the world that the world may be crucified vnto vs as Sainct Paule writeth of hym selfe But to be crucified and dead vnto the world is to be crucified and dead vnto sinne And to be crucified and dead vnto synne is to forsake synne to haue no more acquaintaunce with it and to be no more a seruaunte vnto it then the dead bee wonte to serue the liuyng For as the dead hath no more to doe with the liuyng but are separated from them so thei be dead vnto the world that haue forsaken it for to serue the liuyng God and that will not fasshion themselues after it nor walke after the fleshe and the concupiscence of it Now it is vnpossible that they that be thus dead vnto the worlde should not liue vnto God and that the worlde shoulde not be dead vnto them As contrariwise thei that liue vnto the worlde and the worlde vnto them they are dead vnto GOD As Sainte Paul hath written of the widowe that liueth in pleasure saiyng that widowe that liueth in pleasure is dead euen yet aliue Bicause she liueth vnto the worlde and is dead vnto God that was the meanyng of our sauiour Christ when he saide to the yong man that would goe and burie his father let the dead burie their dead folow thou me wheÌ„ we die then vnto the worlde we rise againe vnto God. Againe wee practise spiritually in vs the example of the death of Christ when we doe mortifie our earthy members when we offer our bodies a liuely sacrifice vnto god when we doe slaie with the sworde of Gods worde and also burne with the fire of his spirite our concupiscences and carnal affections whiche are the brute beastes that we sacrifice vnto God that the offeryng and sacrifice of our bodies may be reasonable Therefore we dye with our Sauiour Christ when we do kill and mortifie our olde Adam we doe also rise againe with hym when we doe put on Iesus christ and be apparelled with hym when we serue to righteousnes and despise this worlde with all the pompe and pride thereof hauyng our myndes and conuersation in heauen where we doe seeke for our â—auiour Iesu Christe fittyng on the right hande of God the father The Apostles and specially Saint Paul doe teache vs that we ought after this maner to apply and set before vs the death and resurrection of our sauiour Christ of a liuely image and paterne of the Christian and spirituall life And do declare vnto vs that baptisme is a sacrament of all these thynges For the water that is powred vpon vs in baptisme it is firste and formost vnto vs a certificat signe token and seale of the free remission and forgeuenesse of our sinnes and of the holy ghost who is the liuely water that washeth and cleanseth our consciences from synne as the visible water doth washe away the filthines of the body Moreouer it is a sacrament of repentaunce which teacheth vs that as the water doeth come vpon vs as it were for to couer and ouerwhelme vs so it behoueth that our olde man of synne be drowned as Pharao and the Egiptians were drowned in the red Sea and that we must be buried with our sauiour Christe But in this that the water doth not remaine still vpon our heades nor yet drowne vs it is thereby signified vnto vs that the repentaunce and mortifiyng that god doeth require of vs is not vnto death but vnto life so that by death he maketh vs to enter into life as the children of Israell goyng through the red Sea were brought out of seruitude and boundage in to a goodly libertie And as our sauiour Christ did by his death and crosse enter into the glory of his father And so the grace and mercie of God are not only represented vnto vs in our baptisme we are not onely by it grafted in his Testament and receiued into his church but also we haue there the sacrament of the death buriyng and resurrection of our sauiour Christ and of our death buriyng and resurrection with hym We haue also there repentaunce and of remission of synnes and the summe of the whole doctrine of the Gospell and also a liuely image of al the whole christian life preached vnto vs. But to come againe to our purpose After that our sauiour Christe had by manye tokens and signes declared that he was truely risen againe for he was by the space of .xl. daies after his resurrection alwaies conuersaunt with his Apostles and disciples eatyng and drinkyng with them and biddyng them to handle and feele his body and for a further proofe or trial to put their fingers into his woundes that they might bee in no doubt but that it was the same selfe
represent his body with bread whiche no man can denie to be a creature but Christe doth represent his body with bread Ergo the bread is not naught but a good creature of God to be vsed with thankes geuyng But how soeuer the matter goeth Tertullian doth plainely affirme here that Christe doth represent his body with bread And vnto him doeth S. Hierome agree saiyng He taketh bread whiche comforteth the hearte of man that as Melchisedech had doen in the figure of hym when he did bryng foorth bread and wine so he shoulde represent the veritie of his body and blood No man will saie that the thyng that doeth represent and the thing that is represented be all one except it be the papistes as Doctour Harding Cope Marshall and Shakestockes I woulde saie Shackelocke who goeth about by Columellas wordes to proue as VVinchester did such a thyng but if the saiyng of that prophane writer shoulde take place in this matter it should folowe that the bread should but represent it selfe and none other thing as Columella will haue Vt Villicus semper se representet That the Bailife of husbandry shoulde alwaies represent hymselfe whiche is no more in our englishe but that he shoulde be alwaies present We are not woont to saie that a kyng doeth represent hymselfe or his owne person But of a Lorde or of a iudge that sitteth in iudgement we say commonly that the same Lorde or iudge doeth represent the kynges person not as a plaier that doeth represent an Emperour or a kyng in a stage or footplaie but bicause of the kynges aucthoritie and power that is geuen vnto hym Euen so in the Sacrament we saie with the auncient Fathers that the bread doth represent the body of Christ not as a bare naked figure or signe whiche thyng all the rablement of popishe papistes doe most slanderously laie to our charge but bicause that beyng duely ministred and worthely receaued it bringeth with it selfe the nature propertie vertue and grace of the body of christ as Ambrose doth testifie with these wordes Thou doest receaue the Sacrament for a similitude but thou doest obteine the vertue and grace of the true nature And bicause that thou doest receaue bread thou arte in the same foode made partaker of the diuine substaunce These be the causes wherefore we saie with the olde Fathers of the auncient catholique Churche that the bread doeth represent the body of Christe But as it needeth not that a kyng be really or personally present for to haue his aucthoritie or power to take place among his faithfull and obedient subiects so is it nothyng necessarie that wee shoulde haue the naturall body of Christe really present vnder the formes of bread and wine For without it that is to saie though it be sittyng still accordyng to the Scriptures on the right hande of the father we haue by the vertue of his institution and the mighty workyng of his spirite there in the Sacrament the verie propertie vertue and grace of the naturall fleshe and blood of christ most effectuously ministred vnto vs to the euerlastyng comfort and nourishment both of our soules and bodies The same auncient writer and father I meane Tertullian in his fourth boke against Martion writeth after this maner Christe takyng bread and distributyng it did make it his body saiyng Hoc est corpus meum hoc est figura corporis mei This is my body that is to saie the figure of my body And vnto hym will I ioyne Sainct Augustine that all men maye see what shameful lyars Doctour harding other the papistes are who are not ashamed to saie that none of all the auncient fathers neither before nor sence did expounde these wordes of christ as Tertullian did expounde them in that place The wordes of Sainct Augustine are these Adhibuit ad conuiuium in quo corporis sanguinis sui figuram discipulis commendauit tradidit And he did admit or receaue hym vnto the banquet wherein he did commēde and deliuer vnto his disciples the figure of his bodie And in another place he saith againe So the blood is the soule as the Rocke was Christe and yet the apostle saieth not the rocke did signifie Christe but the Rocke was Christ So may I expounde that this precepte or commaundement was geuē in a signe Non dubitauit Dominus dicere hoc est corpus meum cum daret signum corporis sui For the Lorde did not doubte or sticke to saie This is my body when he did geue the signe of his body In their owne distinctions thei haue these wordes Dicitur corpus christi sed improprie vt sit sunsus vocatur corpus christi id est significat corpus christi That is to saie in englishe it is called the body of Christe meanyng the Sacrament but improperly as the meaning of it may be thus it is called the body of christ that is to saie it doeth signifie the bodie of Christ. These sayinges neede no exposition at all For they are so plaine that the very children in the streete be able to vnderstande them and also to perceaue and espie out the shamefull leasinges of our disguised papistes who care not what they say so that they may séeme to say some what for to deceaue the simple and ignoraunt people withall and for to mainteyne their great graundfather Antechristes kingdome of proude Rome For ye must vnderstande that this is the only marke that they shoote at all the packe of them that they may set vp them selues as gods and bryng all mens heades vnder their girdles And no doctrine they thinke wyll serue better for that purpose than this grosse and Capharnaiticall doctrine of transubstantiation and of the corporall presence of Christes body in the sacrament For who woulde not stande in feare of them and reuerence them as gods that can with fiue wordes make Christ both God and man of a péece of bread whensoeuer they list And therefore it is written in a booke of theirs these wordes O howe honourable howe worshipfull and excellent is the dignitie of priestes if they will liue priestlike in whose handes as it were in the virgines wombe the sonne of God is incarnated or taketh fleshe And then by and by after it foloweth Iste qui creauit me dedit mihi creare se qui creauit me sine me creatur mediaente me cum ergo tante dignitatis fit sacerdos quod creator fit sui creatoris totius creature ▪ ipsum perdere vel damnare inconueniens est That is to saie in Englishe He that made mee gaue mee power to make hym and he that made mée without mée is made by the meanes of mée Seeyng then that a Priest is of so greate dignitie that he is the maker of his maker and of euerie creature to destroye or to condemne hym it is not conuenient euen the like you may reade in another
asmuche as we haue soules fastened vnto our bodies therfore God geueth vs thynges spirituall vnder thinges visible Sainct Augustine to put all out of doubte that we eate not grosly nor drynke verily or carnally the body and blood of Christe as the Papiste affirmeth saith these wordes Non hoc corpus quod videtâ—s manducaturi estis bibiturs illud sanguinem quem fusuri sunt qui me cruciâ—igent Sacramentum aliquod vobis commendaui That is to saie Ye shal not eate this body that ye sâ—e mee to haue nor yet shal ye drinke that blod whiche they shall shed that crucifie mee it is a sacrament that I geue or deliuer vnto you therefore hee â—aide in his tracâ—es vppon Iohn Aliud est sacramentum aliud res sacramenti The sacrament is one thyng and the thyng of the sacrament is another Wherefore he geueth this lesson to all saiyng In sacramentis videndum est no quid sint sed quid significent In the sacramentes wee maie not looke what they are but what they doe signifie Nowe all men may see howe shamefully the papistes doe belye vs saying and writyng that we do make of the Sacrament but a bare figure and signe For this is our faith and beléefe that if a man doth truely examine himself that is to say ponder weigh and consider with his owne mynde whether he acknowledgeth him selfe to be a sinner or not and whether he hath an inwarde gréefe and an vnfayned repentaunce or sorow for his sinnes whether he hath forgiuen from the bottome of his heart all his enimies and reconciled him selfe vnto them that he hath offended whether he be determined to restore againe vnto his neighbour al that he hath taken away from him wrongfully by any maner of meanes whether he be mynded for the loue that he beareth vnto God to liue afterwardes vertuously according to his holy coÌ„maundements forsaking sinne and the worlde but aboue all thinges whether he hath a true faith in the mercie of God and in the name of his sonne Iesu Christ and whether he beleueth stedfastly that Iesus Christe is his only sauiour redéemer intercessour aduocate and mediatour betwixt God and him finally whether he hath a desire to liue and dye in the onely doctrine of Christ forsaking all other false and erronious doctrines with all kinde of deuillishe superstition and idolatrie and so eate of this bread and drinke of this cup our faith I say and beléefe is that such a man doeth féede most effectuously vppon the body and blood of Christe our onely sauiour and yet it néedeth not therefore that his naturall body and blood be really present vnder the formes of bread and wine For as in the holy Sacrament of baptisme if it be duely ministred and worthely taken we receaue the holy ghost by whom we are renued or made newe creatures we obtayne frée remission forgeuenesse of our sinnes and are apparelled with Christ whom we do put on there and yet no man wyll say that the water is any of these thinges or that it is turned into them So in the holy misteries when we come worthely vnto them we are most wholsomly fed with the precious bodye and blood of our sauiour Christ yet if we shoulde say that it coulde not be doen vnlesse the bread and wine were transubstantiated into the very body and blood of Christ or except his body and blood be there really present vnder the formes of bread and wine we might moste iustely be likened vnto the Iewishe ruler and gouernour whiche thought that excepte Christ should come in his owne person his sonne could not be healed For christe our sauiour is able by the vertue of his holy institution and by the mightie workyng of his eternall spirite to doe all these thinges as he sitteth on the right hande of his father And for the obiections that some make out of Chrisostome where he saieth doest thou see bread doest thou see wine doe they auoyde beneath as other meates doe God forbid think not so for as waxe if it be put into the fire it is made like the fire no substaunce remainyng nothyng is lefte so here also thinke thou that the misteries be consumed by the substaunce of the body they are easyly aunswered and yet our papistes thinke by these wordes of Chrisostome that they haue the conquest because he saith that we sée no bread nor wine but as waxe in the fire they be consumed to nothing so that no substaunce remayneth If thei had rehearsed no more but the very next sentence that foloweth in Chrisostome which craftyly and deuillishly they leaue out the meanyng of the Doctour would easyly haue appeared which wordes that folowe are these Wherfore saith he when you come to these misteries do not thinke that you receaue by a man the bodye of Christe but that with tonges ye receaue fire by the Angels Seraphin Thinke that the blood of saluation floweth out of the pure and godly side of Christ and so comming to it receaue it with pure lippes casting downe your eyes liftyng vp your mindes mournyng priuily without speache and reioysing in our heartes Nowe if the papistes wyll gather of the wordes by them recited that there is neither bread nor wine in the Sacrament then we may aswel gather of the wordes that folowe that there is neither Priest nor Christes body For as in the former sentence Chrisostome saieth that we maye not thinke that we see bread and wine so in the seconde sentence he saith that we may not thinke that we receaue the body of Christ of the priestes handes Nowe if vpon the seconde sentence the papistes will say it can not be truely gathered that in the holy coÌ„munion there is not the body of Christe ministred by the Priest then must they confesse also that it can not be well and truely gathered vpon the first sentence that there is no bread nor wine But all these thynges be together in the holy Communion Christ hym selfe spiritually eaten and drunken and norishyng the right beléeuers the bread and wine as a sacrament declaryng the same and the priest as a minister thereof wherfore Chrisostome meant not absolutely to deny that there is bread and wine or to deny vtterly the Priest and the body of Christe to be there But his intent was to drawe our myndes vp towards heauen that we should not consider so much the bread wine Priest and body of Christe as we should consider his diuinitie holy spirite geuen vnto vs to our eternall saluation And therefore in the same place he vseth so many tymes these wordes Thinke and Thinke not willyng vs by these wordes that we should not fixe or set our thoughtes and mindes vpon bread wine Priest nor Christes body but to lift vp our heartes higher vnto his spirite and diuinitie without the whiche his body auaileth nothyng as he saieth hym selfe It is the spirite that geueth
5.10 Cap. 6.5 Matth. 22.37 Luk. 10.27 â–ª Mark. 12 2â— Rom. 13.1 Titus 3.1 1. Peter 2.13 Isaiah 66.1 Actes 7.48 Psal. 119. Isaiah 30.21 Iohn 5.39 Actes 17.11 Rom. 15.4 Iohn 17.14 1. Cor. 10.24 2. Cor. 12.14 I beleeue in God the father Almighty c. God doth gouerne rule and preserue all his creatures Nothing able to resist Gods holy wyll 1 Reg. 22.22 Iob. 1.12 Mat. 8.31 2. Cor. 12.7 And in Iesus Christe his onely sonne our Lorde Galat. 4.4 Heb. 3.16 VVhiche was conceiued by the holy ghost Deut. 27.15 Galath 3.13 Rom. 8.3 Heb. 4.15 Suffred vnder pontius pilate Math â–ª 27.2 Wherefore Christe was iudged and condemned before pilate Rom. 8.33 Hebre. 10.12 Hebre. 1.3 Heb. 4.16 VVas crucified Nomb 21.8 Iohn 3.14 What the Serpent signified Heb. 4.15 Rom. 8.3 Christ a most holsom medicine and salue to all poore sinners 1. Cor. 1.18 Marke this ye Masse mongers which seeke such meanes as god neuer appointed Deut. 27.15 Ephe. 2.3 Galath 3.10 Deut. 27.15 Gene. 12.3 Gala. 3.13 Esaie 53.3 Psalme 22.6 Luk 23.33 Psal. 22.6 Esai 53.3 Hebr. 9.11 Hebr. 10.18 Hebr. 10.4 Why the sacrifices of the olde lawe were offered often Heb. 10.1 Hebr. 9.14 Heb. 9.25 Heb. 9.11 Hebr. 1.3 Ephe. 1.20 Zacha. 3.9 A place of Esai expouÌ„ded Rom. 9.5 1. Cor. 10.4 Mat. 16.18 wherefore than doeth their popishe Masse serue Hebre. 9.11 Christe can not be offred excepte he be slaine and put to death Euery person that doth offer is of more worthines theÌ„ the thyng whiche he offereth But the priest doth offer the body of christ Ergo the priest is of more worthines then the body of Christ O blaspemie most intollerable Haggai 2.14 Heb. 7.26 Ephe. 1.21 Psal. 110.4 Hebre. 7.17 Marke 16.15 Luke 24.7 Math. 28 19â— Iohn 5.24 A conclusion The benefites of christes death By the masse the wrath of God is kindled And was buryed Mat. 27.57 Luk. 23.50 Iohn 19.39 Why Christe woulde be laid in a new graue 2. Reg. 13.21 Eccle. 48.14 Why Christe was layde in another maÌ„s graue not in his owne Note What the newe graue doth signifie Iohn 14.23 Matth. 23.27 Ephe. 4.24 What is signified by the graue that was hewen out of the rock Mat. 16.18 Ephe. 4.14 Ephe. 1.12 Ephe. 2.20 The misterie of Ionas fulfylled in Christe Mat. 12.40 Ionas 2.3 A comfortable misterie Ionas 2.3 Aug. lib. 22. de ciuitate dei Cap. 5. By the death of christ gods wrath was pacified Rom. 5.2 He descendid into hell Iob. 14.17 Nomb. 16.21.32 Ezech. 32.21.22 Math. 16. 1. Sam. 2.31 Iob. 10.1.22 Math. 26.38 Luke 22.44 Math. 27. A very hell Esaie 53.4.5.7.8.9.10.11 Gal. 3.13 Luke 23.31 1. Peter 3.18 Heb. 9.15 Rom. 5.6 Ge. 37.44 Esaie 14. Ephe. 4.9 Abrahams bosome Inferna How Christ went in to the hell of the damned Gene. 3. The breakyng of the Serpentes head Math. 16. Iohn 10. What is to be vnderstaÌ„ded when we say that Christ harowed hel Iudic. 9. An. do 1165. The meaning of harowing of hell 1. Cor. 1. 1. Cor. 4. Vnto whom hell is ouercome The foolishe imagination of them that think Christ went to fetch Adam out of hell Luk. 16. The obiections of those that say that christes soule did suffer in hell fire A false conclusion Tertullian Origen Ierom. 9 of the Preacher Aunswere to the foresaide obiections Wherto God had a respecte in his sonne our sauiour Rom. 5.19 Note Nowe the soule of christ did suffer Math. 24. Mark. 14. Luke 22. Iohn 18. Luke 22. What thyng caused Christ to be so heauy before his death Horrible hel Math. 27. Note They know not what hell is The spirituall goyng downe of Christ into hell 1. Peter 3. By the spirite he meaneth the power of the godhead and not of the soule of Christe Both wicked and godlye had one feeling of Christes death but to diuers ends 1. Cor. 1. 2. Cor. 2. What Christes goyng downe to hell is Act. 2.23.24.27.31.32 By the soule is meant the body or person of christ By hell is meant the graue Rom. 13. Hebr. 12. Mat. 12. Actes 2. Luk. 21. Loke more hereof in Erasmus vpon the Creede Christe descended three maner of wayes into hell Mat. 27.51 In power In spirite Mat. 2â— 38 Mat. 27.46 Iohn 19.40 Ephe. 4.9 A request of the aucthour to the gentle reader The opinion of some concerning christes goyng downe to hell What Abrahams bosome is The true purgatorie 1. Iohn 1. Actes 1. Matth. 3. Iohn 1. Luk. 3. Iohn 15. The papistes purgatorie The Pope of greater aucthoritie and force then Christ the sonne of god among the papistes O most abominable blasphemie Esai 63.5 Ezech. 18. If the papistes purgatorie shoulde stande Gods promises must needes be false Esai 43. The place of Esai expounded Iohn 1. Rom. â— That is nine hundred threescore nine yeres Gen. 5. Aug. in Psal. 31. Petrus Martyr in Rom. Bernarde in annunciatione Marie Ser. 1. Rom. â— More gaines by Christe then losse in Adam The papistes doe make Augustine a lyer The papistes doe make Barnarde alyer Galath â— Ezech. 18. Psal. 103. Mat. 17. Brode way and narowe Matth. 7. Two wayes onely Luk. 16. Two estates of dead The riche glutton Purgatorie scullians Iohn 5. What we learne by this place of saint Iohn The place of Iohn expounded truely Note Nowe we are alreadie in possession of gods kingdome Howe long we must suffer in Purgatorie for euery sinne Wherein the fire of Purgatorie doth differ from the fire of hell Apoc. 14. Note Howe it is to be vnderstanded that the faithfull shal not come into iudgement 1. Cor. 1. Rom. 8. How we are passed from death to life Poore Lazarus Luk. 16. Mat. 27. Luk. 23. Iohn 24. VVisd 3. Deut. 33. A papisticall tricke We are al saued by priuiledge Mat. 20. August cont Pelagianos HypponosticoÌ„ lib. 5. Marke this ye purgatorie builders that do holde and mainteyne a thirde place De verbis apostoli Serm. 18. De vanitate huius seculi 1. Thess. 4. Eccle. 9. Hierome in Eccle. 9. Ambr. de bono mort cap. 2. Cipâ— contra DemetrianuÌ„ Ibidem Barnardus Cluniacen in Satyra Rome Baptista maâ—tuanus The marchaundise of Rome No peny no Paternostiâ— Chrisoâ—t in Mat. cap. 8. Hom. 2â— VVisd 3. August lib. 2. quest 3. ad SimplicianuÌ„ Reade Deut. 18. Esai 8. Luk. 16. De ciuitat dei lib. 20. cap. 16. Rabanus Reade the .2 chap. of the boke of wisâ— The Lymbe of the childreÌ„ that be styll borne or dye without baptisme Lib. senten 4. distinct 1. Si vero dist 4. cap. necessariuÌ„ cum filius cum de Sacra This doctrine hath no grounde in Gods word The greate crueltie of the papistes against poore infantes that be still borne or which dye without baptisme Beanardâ— non priuato sed contemptus baptismi damnat Gen. 17. Gen. 17. Rom. 4. Gen. 17. Why the samentes were ordeyned Gen. 22. Marke this ye Anabaptistes Leuit. 10. Gen. 17. Exod. 1. Iosua 5. Gen. 17. The women of the
that he stole awaie from his keper knowing wel in his conscience that he falsely for the most parte had accused mee and wickedly sclaundered mee So that I could not haue hym face to face before the commissioners to trie whether it were all true he spake at the Crosse thus he ranne awaie and lefte the infamie to mee bihinde hym So now I must referre my cause to God who shall call vs both to accomptes one daie from whom there shal be no runnyng nor scapyng awaie This Blackeall reuerende Father did open penaunce at Powles Crosse for that he had at that present foure wiues aliue And also for that he thrust hymselfe into the ministerie for the space of .12 yeres and yet was neuer lawfully called nor made by any Bishop accordingly Foure daies after his penaunce at the Crosse he was set in the Pillory in Chepeside with papers on his head for takyng the Bishop of Canterburies Seale from one writyng and set it to a counterfeict Commission wherewith he polled and pylled greate summes of mony from the poore simple ministers that dwelled in the countrie he is one that choppeth and chaungeth benefices passyng litle what meanes and waies he may practise so that he may haue and get mony from any man He hath and doth runne from countrie to countrie from towne to towne leading about with him naughty women as in Glocester shire he led a naughty strompet aboute the countrie called greene Apron Also he altereth his name whersoeuer he commeth Sometyme he is called Blackeall for that is his right name sometyme Barthall sometyme Dorrell sometyme Barkeley sometyme Baker sometyme one name sometyme another This is that man Reuerende Father that hath Lynxes eyes to see Motes in his brothers eye but cannot see greate beames in his owne He looketh to his brothers synnes that are past but not to his owne that are present and emminent to all mens eyes He casteth that ende of the wallet behinde him but other that come after hym can and will see it truely and reproue it godly and christianly and not enuiously For this enuy as Barnarde saieth is a bablyng euill a secrete poyson a hidden pestilence the worker of crafte the mother of dissimulation the beginning of vices a deuouring canker of holynes the blinder of heartes making diseases of remedies and griefes of medicine But I will leaue hym nowe to the Lorde desiryng hym to conuert him that he may amende his naughty life and turne to the Lorde with faith and true repentaunce and make his members to serue God in righteousnes and true holines all the daies of his life This made mee Reuerende Father accordyng to the talent which God hath geuen mee so in these euill daies and tymes to apply my labour that all men notwithstandyng their filthy bookes and railyng wordes may throughly see and perceiue what I am and haue been since I was called into the ministerie thereby to satisfie a number of fickle heades and vnstable people whiche knowe mee not in person yet by this meanes I shall seeme to be present to them when thei shall reade this my litle treatise of my faith for as Sainct Hierome saieth Letters and Epistles make men present yet beyng absent not doubtyng but that litle with whiche GOD hath indued mee by his free mercie may shine through the Clowdes and Mistes of errours whiche the Prince of darkenesse hath blowen abroade And for that I was one of the first ministers that euer your lordship laide handes on and also for that God hath made you one of good will desirous and of aucthoritie able to defende the profession of a christian man I coulde not but choose your Lordship vnder whose name my litle labour should appeare both for a testimonie vnto all men that you are one in whom the godly doe reioyce and a prouocation vnto others to goe forwarde in all godlines in the buildyng vp of Gods Churche whiche he hath purchased to hym selfe to be a spirituall and holy Priesthoode to offer vp spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God by his precious death and passion Humbly beseechyng your honour to take this my small talent in the beste parte not lookyng in this worke of myne for the pleasaunt speache of Isocrates nor the high style of Demosthenes nor yet the excellent dignitie of Plato nor the reuerende maiestie of Theucidides but a bare and homely style accepte my good meanyng yet whiche tendeth to gods glorie and aduauncement of his kingdome VVho prosper and mainteyne your Lordship in his feare knowledge and wisedome long to continue enrichyng you with all good blessinges and gouerne you by his holy spirite in all your actions and doinges to the maintenaunce of his glory and comfort of his poore afflicted and warryng Church vntyll he shall call you to come vnto him selfe there to continue in his glorious kingdome for euer and euer Amen From Redcliffe in Bristoll ¶ Your Lordships to vse in the Lorde Iohn Northbrooke preacher ¶ August ad Marcellinum Epist. 7. ¶ Ego proinde fateor me eorum numero esse conari qui proficiendo scribunt scribendo proficiunt ¶ To the Christian and faithfull Reader I Am not ignoraunte gentle reader howe daungerous an enterprise it is in this our age either to write or diuulgate any woorke abroade consideryng the furiousnesse of certaine snuffyng detractours in the worlde and bityng zoilous persones at home would make one like Augustines counsaile that saieth Tutior est discentis quam docentis conditio More safe is the condition of the learner then of the teacher For it is no marueile sithe that pernitious and hurtfull stepdame of Uertue Disdaine and Enuie continually putteth in her foote to hinder and let euery honest enterprise How hard a thyng it is and what greate impedimentes and lettes there are to enterprise any acte not onely daiely experience sufficiently declareth but also that Prouerbe confirmeth it whiche saieth that all thynges are hearde whiche are faire and excellent For assuredly there is no condition without his enemie no calling without some temptation no estate sure and cleare Therfore the estate of man so much the more is to be lamented how muche the lesse it is regarded woulde make a godlie harte to muse much and oftentimes how he might be a fruictfull and painfull labourer in Goddes Uineyarde Therefore what soeuer the wicked shall saie of me I will saie with Dauid Detrahebant mihi ego autem orabam For my frendship thei were myne enemies but I gaue my self vnto praier After that I had ended this my booke it happened by Goddes prouidence gentle reader that in a Lecture of myne at Redclif in Bristoll I had occasion giuen me by the text whiche was taken out of the .xxxj. Psalme where Dauid commendeth his spirite into the handes of God to proue that all the soules of the righteous that died before Christes commyng in the fleshe were in heauen and not in any Purgatorie Limbo
imagined also about this particle he descended into hell whiche wee haue shewed to bee an addition to the Crede tellyng what persones Christe did bryng from hell and whom he did leaue there still and what thynges with what woordes he did speake to euery one of the Circles c. Therefore he saieth Tibi satis est profiteri Christum sic descendisse ad inferos quemadmodum sentit scriptura c. It is sufficient for thée saieth he to professe that Christe did so descende to helle as the scripture meaneth For we muste vnderstande Christ beyng from the beginnyng head and gouernour of his Churche came in the daies of Noe not in body which then he had not but in spirite and preached by the mouth of Noe to the disobedieÌ„t which would not then repent and therefore nowe are reserued to the last iudgement For Paul saieth Iesus Christe yesterday and to day the same is also for euer as if he woulde say Christ was and shall be the foundation of all his Church for euer Peter also saith The prophecie came not in olde time by the wyll of man but holie men of God spake as thei were moued by the spirite of God Wherevpon I saie as the sonne of GOD did preache in his spirite to theim that were in prisone as Peter saith that is to them that were then in the prison of their sinnes that thei should repent as we haue before written so be saued Euen so now at this day he is quickened in the spirite and by the same spirite continually doeth preache and teache by his ministers vnto the worldes ende to those people that are in the prisone of synne ignoraunce and disobedience to tourne them to the Lorde that euery one that beleueth maie bee saued This is the verie meanyng of this place therefore we muste not gather or descante vpon bare wordes and take them literally as we liste But wee must gather of the cause For so saieth saincte Hillarie Intelligentia dictorum ex causis est assumenda dicendi quia non sermoni res sed rei est sermo subiectus That is The meanyng of woordes is to bee gathered by the causes of the speakyng for the matter is not subiecte to the worde but the worde to the matter Erasmus saieth that some came after and seemed to gather out of the Scriptures some sentences whereto thei added some reasons Non illas quidem adamantinas But not those reasons saieth he verelie moste strong but suche as are of no weighte And after that he hath recited vp all the places that seme to make for Christes soule to haue descended into helle the place of the dampned he concludeth saiyng Verùm horum nihil est quod cogat credere Christi animam per se decendisse ad tartarum siâ—e vt illi loquuntur ad Limbum That is There is none of all those aucthorities of scriptures that maie constraine any to beleue that the soule of Christe wente doune by hym self personally to hell or as thei call it to Lymbum Hereunto agreeth one Pampolitanus that saieth In inferno igitur damnatorum pro peccato actuali Christus non fuit quia vt ipse dicit inter vos nos chaos magnum statutum est c. Sicut enim coelum Empyrium est locus gloria Ita infernus est locus aeterne poenae Sicut ergo damnatus non potest ascendera coelum Empyrium Ita nullus saluatus potest descendere in locum damnatorum ergo neque Christus That is to saie In the hell of the dampned for actuall synne committed Christe was not for because he saieth Betwene you vs there is a great goulfe set c. For as the Emperiall heauen is a place of glorie So hell is a place of extreme paine and punishemente Therefore as the dampned cannot ascende into the Emperiall heauen So none of the saued can descende into the place of the dampned Therefore muche lesse christ By whiche testemonies it is plaine agreable to the worde of God that Christes soule after his death neuer wente doune to helle the place of the dampned or into any Lymbum but it went directly into heauen as he did commende it vpon the Crosse. The reason that moueth men to iudge that his soule weÌ„t into helle is for that thei supposed all the soules of the righteous before Christes commyng wente doune to helle And of this grosse iudgemente was saincte Augustine Origene Hierome Chrisostome Gregorie Folengius c. And therefore thei affirmed that Christes soule did fetche out Adam Eue Abel Seth Noe Abraham Isaac Iacob c. Howe farre wide all thei were from the truthe herein it maie easely appere by the sacred Scriptures For there it is fullie expressed that the Churche of Christ did beginne froÌ„ the creation of the worlde and from the firste righteous man that euer was and that it shall continue and indure vnto the laste daie for euer For the Churche of the Patriarkes and Prophettes that haue been before Christes commyng is all one with the Churche of his Apostles and Euangelistes and the faithfull of the olde Testamente and the faithfull of the newe are all one people and one Churche thei haue had all one God one Christe and the very same promises Thei haue had all one spirite of faith and haue all eaten of one spirituall foode and drunke of one spirituall drinke with vs So saieth Leo. Misteria pro temporum ratione variata sunt quuÌ„ fides qua viuimus nulla fuerit aetate diuersa That is Their Sacramentes by reason of the tyme were diuerse when as the faithe by the whiche wee all liue in no age was diuerse So saieth saincte Augustine likewise SacrameÌ„ta illa fuerunt in signis diuersa in rebus quae significabaÌ„tur pariae that is Their Sacramentes in outward signes were diuerse from oures but as concernyng the thynges whiche thei did signifie are equall and one with oures Tunc Christus venturus modo Christus venit venturus venit diuersa verba sunt sed idem Christus That is Then was Christ shall come nowe is Christ is come Shall come and is come are sundrie wordes But Christe is all one wherevpon I maie well conclude that all the faithfull in the olde Testament and the faithfull in the newe haue had and haue now but one place of reste and ioy to bee receiued in after their life Chrisostome herein saieth That the bosome of Abraham was vnto the poore Lazarus Paradise or heauen Some wil replie saieth he in Paradise but I confesse also the holie Paradise c. Now gentle Reader vnderstande that the promise was made vnto Adam touching the seede of the womaÌ„ that should breake the Serpentes head and that hath been confirmed againe and more plainely set forth vnto the other Patriarkes and especially vnto Abraham and Dauid all thei I saie that did giue credite
of them howbeit I thinke that he did vnderstande Origene Ierome and Tertullian But nowe we will sée howe well this doth agree with the person of Christe our Sauiour Firste and formoste if they will haue the punishmentes paines and tormentes that Christe suffered to be in all pointes corespondent vnto those synners for whom Christ died had deserued it had not been onely necessarie that he shoulde haue suffered here in the body vppon the earth And that the soule should also haue suffered in hell for a while but that hee shoulde haue suffered both in body and soule euerlastyng punishmentes with the damned But God his father did content hymself with the paines and tormentes that he was in for a while hauyng a respecte not onely vnto the paines that he did suffer but vnto his righteousnes innocencie and obedience whiche caused hym to take and allowe the paines whiche our Sauiour Christe did suffer for a tyme as sufficient for to obtaine and purchase vnto the faithfull beléeuers a full deliueraunce from euerlastyng paines and tormentes which thei had deserued through their synnes Moreouer it was no néede at all that the soule of our Sauiour Christe shoulde goe downe into hell for to suffer there for it hath suffered punishment enough here vpon earth sithe that in it I meane in his soule he did beare the same iudgement and condempnation that we had deserued for the bodie did not suffer without the soule yea if the sorowes and paynes of the one could bee separated from the sorowes and paynes of the other whiles the body and soule be ioyned together by life we should haue a iuste occation to saie that the soule did suffer afore the body and that the sorowes and griefes of the body did proceede and come firste of the soule For els what did these wordes meane my soule is heauie vnto the verie death whereof came this wofull sweate that did runne downe to the grounde as droppes of bloud and the complainte that he made to GOD his father in the Garden Wherof did also come that greate feare trouble and horror that he was possessed withall as the Euangelistes doe testifie vnto vs If he had not bene in an extreame agonie and much greater then mans wisdome can comprehende What neede should he haue of the Angels for to comfort hym Againe who would not wonder and marueile to sée christ our sauiour so sore affraide and troubled as the Euangelistes doe set hym foorth vnto vs for the death that he should suffer if he should haue had respect to none other thing but onely vnto the death Doe we thinke that there was lesse hearte lesse corage constancie and manfulnes in our sauiour christe then in many thousande of Martyres that haue gone so ioyfully and merely vnto their death for his sake But what doe I speake of Martyres howe many wicked doers doe we sée daiely goe to their death whiche they haue deserued with their wicked and abhominable doynges moste manfully and with suche a face and countenaunce that ye would thinke that they did goe to a feaste or banquet Shall we saie that the sonne of god had lesse corage then these haue in so good a cause as he did die in It must needes be then that there was some greater thing then death of the Crosse which was at hande somewhat there was I saie that was of more weight and importaunce then that whichâ— did appeare outwardly His body was not yet in the handes of the tormentours he had onely the death before his eyes and as it were an imagination of it whiche troubled hym nothyng so muche as the dreadfull iudgement of God which he knewe he must needes beare When he did then enter into this agonie then did heâ— begynne already to descende and go downe into this horrible hell where he was deteined and kepte a while for our sakes for what greater hell can one imagine to be vnto man than to féele gods wrath throughly kindled against hym to be faine to beare his terrible iudgement and furie and to bee in the same estate that our sauiour Christe was in when he did crie out saiyng My God my God why hast thou forsaken mée Although he was true and naturall God and also true and naturall man so that his godhead could not be separated from his manhoode yet the humanitie was then as if it had been vtterly forsaken of the diuinitie and left succourlesse and as if it had been both in body and soule driuen downe into the bottomlesse pit of hell and geuen ouer of God. Therefore it was no neede that the soule of christ should goe downe after any other sorte for to suffer the paines and tormentes that we had deserued For the places doo not agrauate the paines or make them more heauie and greeuous but the heauie and intollerable burden of Gods wrath and iudgement wheresoeuer it is felte or whersoeuer men are faine to beare it Therefore they that doe affirme that the soule of our sauiour Christ must néedes of necessitie suffer in hell do plainelie declare that they knowe not what hell is nor what our sauiour christ did suffer for them nor yet what the vertue and efficacie of his death and passion is I allowe better the opinion of them whiche saie that this is to be vnderstanded of a spirituall descendyng or goyng downe whereby it was declared and preached through the efficacie vertue and power of christes holy spirite vnto the soules of the reprobate that were in the vnquenchable fire of hell that their vnbeléefe and stubburnnesse was the cause of their eternall and euerlasting damnation and that they should haue no deliueraunce from it by the death and passion of the onely begotten sonne of god our sauiour Iesu Christe where vnto the wordes of sainct Peter seemeth well to agree saiyng Christ hath once suffered for synnes the iuste for the vniust for to bryng vs to God and was killed as pertainyng to the fleshe but was quickened in â—he spirite in whiche spirite he also went and preached vnto the spirites that were in prisone whiche were in tymes past disobedient So we perceiue by these wordes of the Apostle that both the damned and saued had alone maner of féeling of the death and passion of Christ but yet to diuers endes for the one that is to the godly that were in Abrahams bosome was certified by the diuine power and godhead of Christe that nowe was the fulnes of tyme come to fill vp the measure of their ioye and euerlastyng saluation that they long looked hoped and thirsted for And to the damned was preached christ crucified but to the encreasing and augmentyng of their owne damnation for that they had no parte or portion by his death of gods fauour But rather an heauie iudgement bicause as S. Paule saieth Christe is Odor mortis ad mortem his c. That is the sauour of death
words are most diligently to be noted and marked â–ª for many comfortable lessons may be learned of them to the quietyng of our owne consciences and to the greate comfort of our soules First and formost we learne that they shal take holde by faithe vpon the glad ioyfull tidynges of our sauation 〈◊〉 in his worde how that our sauiour Iesus Christ did bring into this worlde beléeue that God who did sende him is become a most mercifull louing father vnto vs being alwaies ready for his sonne Iesu christes sake who by his death hath pacified his wrath and made attonement 〈◊〉 hym and vs to receiue vs vnto his mercie and to pardone 〈◊〉 all ouâ— synnes haue already euerlastyng life beyng as sure of it as if they were alreadie in full possession of it triumphyng with their head in the glorious kindome of heauen For we do receiue it already in this life by faith we are already possessed of it by hope we are therin already coÌ„firmed by holines of life But how could it be verified that the faithfull beleeuers haue euerlastyng life as beyng already in full possession of it if after their death and departyng out of this life they must be broyled and rosted in their Purgatorie fire by the space of .vij. yeres for euerie sinne that they haue committed in this life if their doctrine be true it were in a maner better for them that they had neuer béen borne For thei say that the fire of purgatorie doeth differ nothyng from the vnquenchable fire of hel sauing only that the one is euerlasting and the other lasteth but for a tyme Is this the blesfull reste that the holy ghoste dothe promise vnto them that die in the Lorde that is to saie in the faith of the onely begotten sonne of God our Sauiour Christe The spirite saieth that they shall after their death reste from their labours verely that were a poore resse if when a man hath toyled and laboured all the daie long he should bee faine to lye all night in a whotte burnyng Ouen I iudge he would not be very hastie to goe vnto his rest Secondly here we shal marke that the true beléeuers shal not come into iudgement of condemnation that is to saâ—e nothyng shal be laide to their chardge no sinnes shal be imputed vnto them but through faithe in the onely begotten sonne of God they shal be accounted as righteous as if they had neuer committed any offence For why Christ our Sauiour is made vnto them righteousnes sanctification and redemption how can it be then that they must suffer such greeuous paines in a fire whiche is altogether like vnto hell fire as they saie if no iudgement shal be geuen against them No offendour is wont to suffer punishment excepte he be iudged and condemned to it But the trueth it selfe doeth saie that thei that beléeue shal not come into iudgement or condemnation whervnto the Appostle doth say Nulla igitur nunc est condemnatio his qui insiti sunt christo Iesu qui non iuxta carnem versantur sed iuxta spirituÌ„ That is to say there is now no condemnation to them that are in christ Iesu whiche walke not after the fleshe but after the spirite They therfore which doe saie and affirme that the faithfull shall in the other worlde suffer the paines and punishementes that are due to their offences and synnes are directly against the Scriptures and worde of God. Laste of all this aâ—e we assured of that they whiche take holde vpon the mercie of God declared vnto vs in our sauiour Iesu Christe are alreadie passed from death to life meanyng thereby that they bee deliuered from the styng and power of death whiche is synne and from all the penalties that are belongyng vnto it and that there remayned no more after this mortall life but to enioye and possesse that eternall euerlastyng life that the onely begotten sonne of god hath so dearely bought and purchased vnto vs whiche thyng the holy Scripture doth declare and set forth vnto vs by many goodly comfortable examples for there doe we reade that as soone as the poore Lazarus was deade his soule was by the handes of the Angels caried vp into the bosome of Abraham that is to saie into ioye and felicitie Againe as soone as the théefe that hong on a Crosse by christ did say remember mee O Lorde when thou commest into thy kyngdome straight waies our sauiour Christe gaue hym this most comfortable aunswere verely I saie vnto thée to daie thou shalt be with mee in Paradise that is to saie in my heauenly kingdome for so christ praied his father as Iohn recordeth in his Gospell saiyng â–ª father I wil that they which thou haste geuen me be with mee euen where I am that thei maie behold my glory So likewise the wise man in his boke nay rather the spirite of god in the wise man saith the soules of the righteous are in the hande of God and no torment shal touche them And whereas they doe bryng here a tricke of their wicked and vngodly sophistry saiyng that the théefe did obtaine this frée pardon at Christes handes by a singuler priuiledge which al men must not looke to enioy for priuiledges as the Lawiers be wont to saie be not common to all men I doe aunswere that no man is saued but by priuiledge whiche doth onely parteine vnto the true and faithfull beleeuers and not to the vnfaithfull and reprobate in comparison of whom the chosen and elect of god are very fewe in number for though many be called yet fewe are chosen and elected to these few doth the priuiledge of the childreÌ„ of god belong and not vnto all men so that the Lawiers saiyng shall also be verified in this pointe as then the poore Lazarus and also the in reste and quietnes and the soules of the vngodly 〈…〉 punishmentes vntill the bodies of those doe â—se againe vnto life euerlastyng and the bodies of â—hese vnto eternall death whiche is also called the seconde deaâ—h 〈…〉 plainely doth he yet in an other place 〈…〉 befoâ—e our eyes the whole substaunce of the matter when he saieth 〈…〉 locum fides catholicorum diuina 〈◊〉 regnum 〈◊〉 esse 〈◊〉 Secundum gehennam Vbi omnis apostatâ— vel à christi fide alienus aeterna supplicia experietur Tertium penituâ— ignoraâ—â—◠〈◊〉 nec esse in scripturis sanct◠〈◊〉 That is 〈◊〉 the faithe of the catholiques by the diuine 〈…〉 that there is the kingdome of heauen And secondly 〈…〉 is a hell fire wherin all Apostates and all they that be 〈◊〉 from the faithe of Christe â–ª do sâ—ffeâ— tormentes and paynes No thirde plaie at all doe we know nor finde in the holy Scriptures And 〈…〉 place â–ª he 〈…〉 saieth he 〈…〉 places the one 〈◊〉 the euerlastyng kyngdom and the other 〈◊〉 the eternall 〈◊〉 And againe
body that he died and was buried in ¶ The .xij. Chapiter ¶ Of Christes ascention into heauen and how it is saide that he sitteth at the right hand of god c. And after what maner he is here amongest vs. AND he did most triumphantly in the sight of al his Apostles and Disciples ascende vp into heauen where a clowde receaued hym vp out of their sight the Angels testifiyng that as he was taken vp from vs into heauen so he shall be séene come againe at the dreadfull daie of iudgement when he shall being accompanied with his holy angels come downe to iudge both the quicke and the dead In the meane season we must not thinke though he hath taken the reall presence of his body away from vs that therfore he hath forsaken vs or that he doth not assist ayde and helpe his chosen and elect as long as they be pylgrimes and straungers here in the earth For according to his promise ▪ he is alwayes with vs vnto the worldes ende Which thing must be vnderstanded of his godly power and inuisible grace So doeth Saint Augustine saie Secundum presentiam maiestatis semper habomus christum Accordyng to the presence or as he is God we haue alwaies christ with vs againe he saieth in the same place Nam secundum maiestatem suam secundum prouidentiam secundum ineffabilem et inuisibilem gratiam impletur quod ab e◠dictum est ecce ego vobiscū sum omnibus diebus vsque ad consummationem seculi That is to saie in englishe as concernyng his diuine maiestie his prouidence his inestimable and inuisible grace these words are fulfilled that were spoken by hym beholde I am with you all the daies of your life vnto the worldes ende For as touching his humanitie or manhoode he is absent from vs and wyll be to the worldes ende vntyll he shall be séene visibly of all fleshe to come againe thereto accordeth S. Augustine saiyng Secundum presentiam carnis recte dictum est discipulis sui◠me autem non semper habebitis Accordyng to the presence of his fleshe or body it was rightly and truely saide vnto his disciples mée you shal not haue alwaies For it is to be noted that as he is both God and man so touchyng his manhoode or humanitie that he tooke in the virgines wombe ▪ he is in all thynges like vnto vs synne onely beyng excepted as the holie apostle doth write saiyng he tooke not on him Angels but the séede of Abraham that in all thinges he might be like vnto his brethren As then he did hunger and thirst in the same body was subiect to all maner of infirmities that we his brethren are subiect vnto sinne alwayes being excepted therefore Barnarde very pretily sayde Christe loued vs dulcior sapientior fortior Swéetely in that he toke our fleshe vpon him wisely in that hée had no sinne by takyng our nature vppon him strongly in that he vanquished Sathan death and sinne So hauing fulfylled the thinges that he toke it for he dyd cary it vp into heauen and there he sitteth in the same humaine body being nowe glorified and immortall on the right hande of God the father Almightie which is as much to say as that he is exalted aboue the heauens hauing receaued a full aucthoritie and power ouer all creatures both in heauen and in earth and raigning there in glorie with the father tyll his enimies be made his footstoole For when we heare that Christ is set downe on the right hande of his father we must put all grosse imaginations out of our mindes We must beware that we imagine not that God the father is set downe as an earthly king in some visible and materiall seate and that Iesus Christ is set downe by him in another as his son or one of his princes and lordes Againe we must not thinke that God the father in his diuine essence hath a right hande and a left hande with other humayne lymmes as we sée mortall men to haue For that were to fall into the heresie of the Antropomorphites but rather we must marke that it is spoken by a similitude being borowed of princes and kinges of the worlde For as a king doth commonly cause that man to sit by him and at his right hande whom he wyll most honour and vnto whom he wyll geue most aucthoritie and power so we do vnderstande by these wordes that our Sauiour Christe is exalted aboue all creatures and that he hath power geuen vnto him both in heauen and in earth and that he raigneth with the father hauing equall power with him Or by the right hande of God we may right well vnderstande with Saint Augustine the place of felicitie and ioye where our Sauiour Christ doth raigne nowe in glorie with the holy angels and with all the blessed spirites and soules of the chosen and elect of God As contrarywise by his left hand the state and condition of the reprobate is vnderstanded and signified vnto vs. Againe it is not knowen to them that reade the scriptures that to syt is many tymes taken for to be in quiet peace and rest as when Moyses saith to the children of Gad and of Ruben Shall your brethren go foorth vnto the warre and ye syt here Againe in the prophete Euery man shall syt vnder his Figge trée When we say then that our Sauiour Christ is set downe we do vnderstande that he is after the paynefull labours of this life and the wofull death of the crosse entred into a ioyfull and quiet rest where he shal be touching his humanitie and manhoode as lorde and head ruler of all creatures both in heauen and in the earth vntyl the time that all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophetes since the worlde began be restored againe as the holy Apostle saint Peter doth testifie vnto vs in the Actes For a better vnderstanding of the whole matter and also that the ignoraunt and simple persons may the better auoyde the subtile trickes of the deuyls Sophistrie which is wont to dasill the eyes of the vnlearned with this like argumentes The right hand of God is taken for his almightie power but his almightie power is can be euery where Ergo sith that Christ touchyng his manhoode is on the right hand of God the humanitie or manhoode of Christe can be euery where It is to be noted and marked that the right hand of God is taken two maner of waies First by it the almightie power of God is vnderstanded as when Moyses doeth saie in his Canticle Thine hande Lorde is glorious thine hande hath all too dashed the enimie And in the Actes of the Apostles Saint Peter saieth him hath God lift vp with his right hande In these places and such like the right hande of god is taken for his almighty power wherwith he
veritie of his body It is not conuenient nor méete that the same that is in God shoulde be euery where as god For the infallible Scripture saith of vs that we be in God that we liue and moue in him and yet we are not in all places as he is And a litle after he concludeth saiyng Ne dubites christum esse in aliquo loco celi propter veri corporis modum Doe not doubte Christe to be in some certaine place of heauen bicause of the propertie and fourme of a verie body for he had said a litle before Christ in that he is God is euery where or in all places and in that he is man he is in heauen Againe he saieth in an other place Corpus enim domini in quo resurrexit in vno loco esse oportet veritas eius vbique diffusa est The body of Christe in the which he rose can be but in one place but his trueth is dispersed euery where Againe he saieth Spatia locorum tolle corporibut et nusquam erunt quia nusquam erunt nec erunt tolle ipsa corpora qualitatibus corporum non erit vbi sint ideo necesse vt non sint That is to saie take awaie from bodies limitation of places and the bodies will be no where and bicause they bee no where they will be nothyng take awaie from bodies the qualities of bodies there will be no place for them to bee in and therefore the same bodies must needes be no bodies at all Againe he saieth Christus secundum presentiam corporalem in Luna in Sole in Cruce simul esse non potuit Christ as touchyng his corporal presence could not be in the Sunne in the Moone and vpon the Crosse at one tyme. Saint Ciryll also saieth Secundum carnem abiturus erat adest autem semper virtute deitatis Touching Christes body or fleshe it is gone notwithstandyng he is present alwaies by the power of his godhead againe Nam si corpore abfuero tamen presens vt deus ero Although I shall bee absent in my bodie notwithstanding I shall be present as I am God. Saint Origene also speaketh most plainely It is not christ as being man that is whersoeuer two or thrée be gathered together in his name neither christ as being man is with vs al daies vnto the worldes ende nor Christ as beyng man is present with the faithful euery where gathered together but the diuine power or nature that is in Christe Gregorie a Pope some tyme of Rome saieth in the like sorte Verbum incarnatum manet recedit manet diuinitate recedit corpore The worde incarnate doth tary and doth go awaie doth tary and remayne by his diuinitie and Godhead doeth depart or go away by or in his body But yet Vigilius Martyr doeth make the matter more playne when he saith If the nature of the fleshe and of the worde is all one howe doeth it chaunce that whereas the worde is euery where the fleshe is not also founde to be euery where For when it was in earth truely it was not in heauen and nowe that it is in heauen truely it is not in the earth and in so much it is not in the earth that we loke that Christ shal come from heauen touching his fleshe whom touching the worde we beléeue to be alwayes with vs. Therefore after your opinion either the worde is conteyned in place with his fleshe or the fleshe is euerywhere with the worde For one nature doeth conceaue no contrarie thing in it selfe But it is most contrarie and vnlike to be euerye where and to be conteyned in place I trust that we haue already sufficiently proued that although the humanitie and Godhead of Christe be so ioyntly ioyned together in vnitie of person that the one can not be separated from the other yet it foloweth not that wheresoeuer the Godhead is there the manhoode and humanitie must be also Therefore when the Scriptures saith that our Sauiour Iesus Christ is syt downe on the right hande of the father they shal be fayne in despite of their heartes there to vnderstande with Saint Augustine by the right hande a place of eternall rest felicitie and ioye where our Sauiour Christ touchyng his manhoode beyng accompanied with all the holy angels and with all the blessed spirites and soules departed doth raigne with the father in coequal glory and maiesty For that the same right hande whereon our sauiour Christe should sit is a certaine locall place it euidently appeareth by his owne wordes where he saith If any man doeth minister vnto mee let hym folow mee and where I am there shall my minister be also Againe I wil that thei which thou hast geuen vnto mée be with mee where I am that they maie see my glory which thou hast geuen vnto mee Who doeth not see that he doeth here speake of some certaine locall place where his elect and chosen should be with hym in euerlastyng glorie and ioye For touchyng his Godhead his chosen and elect are with hym and he with them according to the promise that he hath made vnto vs saiyng Beholde I am with you alwaies vnto the worldes ende Againe if any man loue mee he kepeth my worde and my father shall loue hym and we will come vnto hym and dwell with hym Therefore those places and textes must bee vnderstanded of Christe beyng true and perfect man with whom beyng in the glorious kingdome of his father all his faithfull seruaunts and ministers shal be ▪ Else if they will still mainteine stiflie that Christe touchyng his manhoode can be euerie where thei shal be faine to graunt also that his faithfull seruauntes and ministers be euery where with him For he saieth where I am there shall my ministers be also ¶ The .xiiij. Chapter ¶ Againste popishe transubstantiation THis aunswere I knowe they will make Sith that our sauiour Christe did saie holdyng the bread of the Sacramente in his handes This is my body the body of christ muste needes be wheresoeuer the Sacrament is ministred though it be in ten thousande places at once For he saide and thei were made he commaunded and they were created This is most certaine sure his word must be fulfilled it must needes be as he saide though we can not comprehende by our naturall reason howe it can be doen or brought to passe Moreouer saie they where as twoo witnesses by the lawe of God are sufficient to proue and confirme a trueth we haue foure of the chéefest that euer were in all the whole worlde For we haue thrée of the Euangelistes and the blessed apostle Sainct Paul whiche doe with a whole and full consent rehearse these wordes that we haue alledged whiche the trueth hym selfe did vse in the institution of his Sacrament all after one fashion Whiche thyng they would not haue doen if our Sauiour
they be compelled to geue vnto their monstrous iugglyng and excantation contrary to the myndes and writinges of their owne scholedoctours For Iohannes Scotus otherwise called Duns shewyng from whence this doctrine of Transubstantiation did come writeth after this maner It seemeth that men are chiefly moued to embrace or receaue this sentence bicause that we must holde of the Sacramentes as the holy Churche of Rome doth holde but the holy Churche of Rome doth holde that the bread is transubstantiated or really chaunged into the body of Christ and the wins into his blood Likewise Gabriell Biell writyng vpon the Canon after that he had shewed that it was vncertaine how the body of Christ was in the sacrament whether it was by the conuersion or turnyng of the visible creatures of bread and wine into it or by some other meane doeth saie plainely these wordes But bicause that we muste holde of the Sacramentes as the holy Church of Rome doeth holde sith that it hath decréed and determined that the bread is transubstantiated or really chaunged into the body of Christ therefore this opinion is receaued of all the Catholiques that there remaineth no substaunce but that it is truely and really chaunged transubstantiated and turned into the body of the Lorde Two thynges doe we here learne by the waie First that this monstrous doctrine of transubstantiation did come from Rome the greate Grandame of all abhominable errours heresies and abuses for this doctrine of theirs came neuer out of the worde of God for so saieth he hymselfe I meane Gabriel biell that all this their transubstantiation of substaunces of bread and wine Non inuenitur expressum in canone bibliae That is to saie it is not founde expressed saieth he in the Canon of the Bible And as for the antiquitie of this doctrine it is playnly set foorth by their owne doctour how olde it is For Tonstall saith of the maner meane howe this might be whether by transubstantiation or otherwise perhaps it had been better to leaue euery man that woulde be curious to his owne coniecture sicut liberum fuit ante concilium Lateranum as before the counsell of Laterane it was left at libertie Thus we sée howe auncient it is neuer hearde of in all the worlde vntyll their late counsell of Laterane holden in Rome vnder Pope Innocentius the thirde in the yere of our Lorde 1215. in the time of king Iohn king of Englande and neuer before So for the space of .xij. hundred and .xv. yeres the Churche of God was able to stand well without it So the great antiquitie of their transubstantiation is but thrée hundred fiftie and seuen Therefore all men may see howe much credite we ought to geue vnto it and againe howe worthie a thing it is that for it so many notable learned and other godly men and women shoulde thus cruelly be put to death murthered to the great decay of true religion throughout al realmes whose innocent blood crieth vengeaunce in the eares of god against those wicked papistes and also against the maiestrates that were the Popes butchers and hangmen Wherefore I say turne and repent with all spéede and aske mercie in Iesus Christe our sauiour that your blooddy handes may be made cleane by his blood and so washed from your sinnes Secondly we learne by the sayinges of these holy doctours of theirs that they that holde opinion that the substaunce of bread wine is not really chauÌ„ged but vanisheth away for to geue place vnto the substaunce of the body and blood of Christ do holde against the decrées and canons of the holy mother the Churche of Rome which doth holde that the bread and wine are transubstantiated really chaunged and turned into the substaunce of the body and blood of Christe the outwarde appearaunce and accidentes of them only remayning And therfore wyll they nyll they euen in spite of their smoothe shauen faces thei shal be fayne to confesse if not with their mouthes at least in their consciences that their Christe that they haue in their Masses and in their boxes and in their Sacrament is a bready Christ that is to say a Christ made of bread which hath a body of the substaunce of bread and wine wherewith they haue made all nations to commit most detestable idolatrie and to fal away from the true Messias and Christ whose true and naturall body hath his substaunce not of the corruptible substaunce of bread and wine but of the substance of the blessed virgine Marie his mother and now being glorified and immortal is on the right hand of the maiestie on high where by the mighty operation of his eternal spirite we do feede vpoÌ„ his flesh blood through faith as long as we continue true liuely members of his body but most specially when we do worthely receaue his holy mysteries which he him self hath instituted for a perpetuall remembraunce of his death and passion ¶ The .xxj. Chapiter ¶ The wicked doth neither eate nor drinke the body and blood of Christe IF these wordes This is my body shoulde be taken as they sounde whereby suche transubstantiation must néedes ensue and folowe that no bread and wine shoulde remayne but onely the body blood of Christ couered with the accidentes of bread and wine all the vngodlye and vnfaithfull hypocrites that receaue the Sacrament shoulde eate the fleshe of Christ and drinke his blood and so shoulde haue euerlasting life as it hath béen said before yea they should dwell in Chrst and Christ in them For he saieth He that eateth my fleshe and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him But it is most sure that the vnfaithfull hypocrites do not dwell in Christe nor Christe in them except he woulde haue Christe and the deuyll to dwell both together in one place whiche thing can not be saith Saint Paul to the Corinthians Therefore I may conclude that they do neither eate his flesh nor drinke his blood For as Saint Augustine saith Hoc est â—rgo manducare illam escam illum potum bibere in christo manere illum manentem in se habere That is to saie This is to eate that meate and to drinke that drinke to dwell in Christe and to haue Christ dwel in hym Againe in the same place he saith Ac per hoc qui non manet in christo et in quo non manet christus proculdubio nec manducat spiritualitèr carnem eius nec bibit sanguinem eius licèt carnalitèr visibilitèr premat dentibus Sacramentum corporis sanguinis christi And therefore he that dwelleth not in Christ and in whom christ dwelleth not without doubt doth not eate spiritually his flesh nor drink his blood though he doth carnally and visibly presse with his téeth the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ And in another place he doth shewe saith he what it is to eate his
any other for to make intercession for vs sithe that God in his holie scripture and worde doeth appoincte hym to bée our onely intercessour aduocate and mediatour and none other ¶ The .xxix. Chapiter ¶ Of Christes commyng to iudgemente in the laste daie WHO in the tyme appoincted of his father shall come to iudge bothe the quicke and the dead euen as he was seen to goe vp the Angels testifiyng the same that is to saie in the same shape forme figure and substaunce that he tooke of vs in the virgins wombe of whom he tooke his vndefiled substaunce and that beyng glorified and indued with immortalitie he did carrie vp into heauen He shall come I saie in his maiestie accompanied with all the holie Angelles descendyng from heauen with a shoute and voice of the Archaungell and trompe of god And the deade in Christ shall arise firste then we whiche shall liue euen wee whiche shall remaine shal be caught vp with them in the cloudes to méete the Lorde in the ayre There bee many euen among the olde aunciente writers that by the quicke doe vnderstande those that doe liue in glorie with Christe and by the deade do vnderstande those that beyng deade in synne bee also deade vnto god For saie thei it is not to bée thought that any shall bée founde aliue sithe that the Apostle doth say that it is appointed vnto all men that thei should once die But it appeareth moste manifestly bothe by the woordes of our sauiour and also by the wordes of the Apostle saincte Paule that at the same presente tyme and houre that the sonne of God shall come for to iudge all fleshe some shall be founde aliue For Christ◠our sauiour saieth that as the tyme of Noe of Sodome was so shall the commyng of the sonne of man be But who would saie that none were alive when the floode did sodainly ouerwhelme all the whole face of the earth Or when GOD did raine fire and Brimstone vppon the inhabiters of Sodome and Gomorra If any man would saie so the plaine and manifeste scriptures should reproue hym a lyer Sithe then the commyng of our eternall and euerlastyng iudge shal be as the tyme of Noe and of Sodome was it is to be beleued that we shall not all sleepe How then shall the saiyng of the Apostle bee fulfilled where he doeth bothe saie and write that it is appoincted vnto all men that thei shall once dye Uerely the holie Apostle doeth sufficiently declare hym self when he saieth Beholde I shewe you a misterie we shal not all sleepe but we shall all bee chaunged and that in a momente and in the twinckelyng of an eye at the sounde of the laste Trompe For the Trompe shall blowe and the dead shall arise vncorruptible and wée shall bee chaunged for this corruptible must put on vncorruptible and this mortall must putte on immortalitie This sodaine chaunge and alteration shal bee vnto vs whiche shall liue euen whiche shall remaine in steede of death For that whiche in vs is corruptible shall put on vncorruption and that whiche is mortall shall put on immortalitie To bee shorte this transitorie life shall in a moment and in the twincklyng of an eye bee chaunged into a moste blessedfull life whiche neuer shall haue ende And of this haue we a moste euidente and plaine example bothe in Enoch and Elias whiche were taken vp quicke The true meanyng then of this article whiche seemeth to bee taken out of the sermon that Peter made vnto Cornelius And out of the solemne protestation that saincte Paule vseth to his disciple Timothie is that Christs our Sauiour shall come againe at the laste daie in his glorified manhoode that he tooke of vs and that he shall iudge bothe them that he shall finde aliue here in the earthe and also the deade I meane all those that sleepe in their graues vntill the generall resurrection of all flesh For the father hath cōmitted all iudgement vnto the son that all men should honour the sonne euen as the father Which truely ought to bee verie comfortable vnto vs all to put awaie all vaine feare frō the vnquiet troubled consciences of the Christians For sithe that he shall come to iudge vs who of the father is appoincted to be the Sauiour and redéemer of all them that put their whole truste and confidence in hym seekyng onely to be saued by the merites of his death passion and bloudsheddyng how can it be that he should condemne vs Shall he that is our aduocate intercessour and mediatour giue sentence againste vs Iesus Christ yester daie and to daie and the same continueth for euer If he continueth still Iesus Christe what other thyng can be dooe but saue his people As the Aungell moste truely testified of hym Therefore when soeuer in the extreme agonie and conflicte of our consciences our mortall enemie Sathan doeth laye before our eyes that dreadful daie of iudgement for to driue vs to desperation let vs boldely appeale from Christe beyng iudge to Christe beyng Iesus that is to saie a Sauiour of his people Let vs alwaies haue in our mindes and hartes these godlie saiynges of saincte Paule who shall laye any thyng to the charge of Gods chosen It is GOD that iustifieth who then shall condempne It is Christe whiche is deade yea rather whiche is risen againe whiche is also on the righte hande of God and maketh intercession for vs Wée are in his hande no man none can take vs out because he is stronger then all Are we not as many as be grafted in him by a liuely faithe fleshe of his fleshe bones of his bones Are we not his members and he our heade How could it bee then that beyng our heade he should caste vs awaie Are not these saincte Paules woordes The husbande is the heade of the wife euen as Christe is the heade of the congregation and the same is the Sauiour of the bodie Let vs then indeuour our selues by a liuely faithe workyng through charitie to bee the bodie of Christe and so maie wee bee sure that he will come to saue and not to condemne vs for there is no condemnation to theim that are in Christe Iesus whiche walke not after the fleshe but after the spirite For why He is a sauiour of his bodie But how can the comming of Christ vnto iudgement will some bodie saie bee comfortable vnto vs sithe that wée must giue accompte of euery idle worde that euer we speake in all our life tyme Or sithe he will reward euery man accordyng to his deedes Doeth not saincte Paule saie that we muste all appeare before the iudgemente seate of Christe that euery man maie receiue the workes of his bodie accordyng to that whiche he hath dooen whether it bee to good or euill Yea at that daie the very thoughtes secretes
doctrine as some places thereof I will recite first the Lorde saieth in Genesis I will henceforth curse the earth no more for mans sake For the imagination of mans heart is euill euen from the verie youth of hym Againe in Deuteronomie the L. saieth Ye haue séen all that the Lorde did before your eyes in the lande of Egypte vnto Pharao and vnto all his seruauntes Thine eyes haue seen these greate tokens and wonders And yet vnto this daie hath not the Lorde geuen you a hearte that vnderstandeth eyes that see and eares that heare What coulde Moyses saie more vnlesse he shoulde call vs blockes and stones And in Ezechiell the Lorde saieth A newe hearte will I geue you and a newe spirite will I put in you as for that stonie hearte I will take it out of your bodie and geue you a fleshely hearte I will geue you my spirite among you and cause you to walke in my commaundementes to kéepe my lawes and to fulfill them This place doeth teache vs sufficiently that excepte our stonie heartes be taken awaie from vs and fleshely that is to saie obedient heartes geuen vs in stéede of them and a newe spirite put into vs whiche should worke obedience towardes the Lordes commaundementes we are able to do nothyng we can in no wise kéepe the lawes of God nor yet fulfil them Ieremie also saieth by the spirite of God I wil geue them one heart and one waie that they maie feare mée for euer for the wealth of them and of their children I will put my feare in their heartes that they shall not depart from mée In another place he saieth Conuert thou mée and I shall be conuerted for thou art the Lorde my god And againe he saith O Lorde I knowe that the waie of man is not in his owne power neither is it in man to walke and to direct his steppes Salomon also saieth The kynges hearte is in the hande of the Lorde as the riuers of waters he turneth it whither soeuer it pleaseth him ▪ Dauid saith Turne awaie my eyes from regarding vanitie and quicken mée in thy waie Incline mine heaate vnto thy testimonies and not to couetousnes Sainct Iohn saith A man can receaue nothing excepte it be geuen from aboue he speaketh not there doubtlesse of the common giftes of nature but of the speciall giftes of the holy ghoste Unto this the wordes of Christe agrée when he saieth No man can come vnto mée excepte it be geuen him of my father For this cause when Peter had saide Thou art Christe the sonne of the liuyng God Christe made this aunswere vnto hym againe Blessed art thou Symon the sonne of Ionas for fleshe and blood hath not opened that vnto thee but my father that is in heauen And againe whosoeuer saieth he doth heare and learne of the father commeth to mée and they shall all be taught of God This is the worke of God that ye beleue in hym whom he hath sent Sainct Paule strongly beateth downe the vaine pryde of our fréewill men where he writeth on this maner The naturall man perceiueth nothyng of the spirite of god Whereby he doeth vnderstande that the naturall man whiche is not renewed in Christe can not perceiue the thynges that be of the spirite of god For why thei are but foolishnes vnto him And againe he saieth Suche truste haue we through Christe to Godwarde not that we are sufficient of our selues to thinke any thing as it were of our selues but our ablenesse commeth of God. Now if we be not able to thinke a good thought except◠God doeth put it in vs how much more vnable be we either to will or to doe anye thyng that good is or acceptable in the sight of God And in his Epistle to the Philippians he saieth It is god that worketh in you both the will and the déede euen of his good pleasure And to the Romaines he hath these wordes So then it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercie Therefore we wyll omit many other textes And beléeue verily the words of christ alowyng and ratifiyng all these places of Scriptures before recited when he saith Sine me nihil potestis facere Without me ye can doe nothyng All these Scriptures doe shewe our vnablenesse weakenes and imbecilitie and that we bee the seruauntes of synne vntill and before we be regenerated and renewed by the holy ghoste and made newe creatures What fréedome then can we iustly boast or bragge of Vbi spiritus domini saieth sainct Paule Ibi libertas Where the spirite of the Lorde is there is libertie and fréedome Againe Si vos filius liberauerit vere liberi eritis That is to say If the sonne therefore doe make you frée ye shal be frée in déede These sayinges doe sufficiently declare that as long as we are voyde of the spirite of God and are not set at libertie by the sonne wee are naught else but the bondslaues of Sathan the deuyll of synne and of death All this doeth teache vs that of our selues ▪ we be not able to thynke a good thought as of our selues Therefore Sainct Augustine doeth define fréewyll after this sort Liberum arbitrium est facultas rationis voluntatis qua bonum eligitur gratia adsistente malum verò ea desistente That is to saie frée will is a vertue or power of the reason will whereby the good is chosen when the grace of God doeth assiste and the euill when it is awaie or is withdrawen The meaning is that by frée will if wee haue the assistaunce and helpe of the grace of God wee are able to choose that whiche is good but if the grace of God be awaie or be withdrawen wee can doe no more but embrace that whiche is euill and hurtefull to our owne soules Therefore saide Paule verie well to the Corinthians By the grace of God I am that I am his grace which is in mée was not in vaine but I laboured more aboundantly then thei al yet not I but the grace of God which is with me And in another place he saieth thus I liue yet not I now but Christe liueth in mee Alwaies we sée that all our ablenes power strength fréedome and wyll commeth by the onely grace of God by wis workyng spirite through Iesus Christe our sauiour and not of our owne selues Where as they cauaile and saie man hath free will to doe good and a power to receiue the grace of God alledgyng the place of Ecclesiasticus for their purpose where he saieth God made man from the beginnyng and lefte hym in the hande of his counsell and gaue hym his commauddementes and preceptes if thou wilt thou shalt obserue the commaundements and testifie thy good will. Before man is life and death good and euill what him liketh shall be geuen