hire Sir Iohn Lackelatine to sing or say the seruice howe shall the Gospell haue good successe whilest Church to Church is ioyned and non residencies borne withall and well liked what can go forewarde in the building of the Lorde where preaching is but once a quarter I say not where it is seldome or neuer which I might or once a moneth which some thinke more thē needes if it be eche Saboth it is counted a worke of supererogation how can the people be reclaimed from their vanities or kept within the fold in dew obedience Go to what springes of such contempt in these estates euen effusion of all ryot and running into sinne of the inferiour sort For as the wall within and eke without is made of squared stones betweene the which the lesse stones are contained to make the building vp euē so the minister within the Churche the Magistrate in the common weale should support and vpholde the meaner sort in dewe obedience If then the squared stones within or els with out fall downe the lesse can neuer long endure because they lacke their stay And of cōtempt in these degrees it comes to passe that lacke of discipline good liuing is the cause of many sinnes both in the Church and commō weale Neither woulde I haue this forgotten that whilest ecclesiasticall officers may for money dispense with offendours and also vayne pitie in the common weale maye shadowe iniquities the Churche can not go well Surely Surely it is with Englande as the Prophet Osee saide it was with Israel The Lord hath a controuersie with the people of the land because there is no mercy no truth no knowledge of God in the land But by swearing lying killing stealing and whoring men break out and blood toucheth blood therfore shal the land mourne c. How ripe the sinnes of England be for the sickle of Gods vēgeance euerye Christian eye can testifie And yet for all this we are fast a sleepe with the carelesse world in the time of Noe. We eat drinke we marie giue to mariage most like vntill the flood shall take vs hence wee lye vpon our soft couches and put away the euill day farre frō vs we blesse our selues when wee heare the threatnings of the Lord and curses of his law and say We shall feele none euill we are drunken with foolish Nabal vntill Abigail bring vs word that we must dye We spoyle and make our selues merie with the goods of other men as the Amalekites did in Ziklag vntill Dauid Gods scourge come vpon vs to wounde vs to death and make a reskewe We drinke with Balthasar in bowles vntill the Medes take away our kingdome we enriche our selues also enlarge our barnes and laye vp treasure in store for many yeres and yet this present night our soule must be taken away and then who shal possesse our substance we waste and spoyle our masters goodes liue vnmindfull of our duetie vntill we be called to render an accompt of our stewardshippe we sleepe full harde with the foolish virgins and our lampes quite put out till that the bridegrome be gone in and the doore fast locked that we can not enter We sit like the proud strumpet Babylon feede our selues with folly that we shall feele no sorowe nor widowhead yet al sorows shal sodainly come vpon vs Finally we say Peace peace all things quiet euen when the end is at hand Nay rather let vs watche pray and haue our lampes of righteousnes burning that we may enter into rest with the bridegrome at his comming leaue betimes our great securitie least we perish with the wicked It is reported of Tamberlane the king of the Parthians who tearmed himselfe Iram dei orbis vastitatem to haue set vp three seueral dais three seueral kinds of tents wherof the first was white betokening mercie if his enemies would that day yeeld the secōd day the tēts were red betokenīg the bloodshed of the rulers the thirde was black signifying the burning and destruction of the citie neyther was there hope of mercie when the white tents were takē down although they humbled themselues with lawrell Let vs goe foorth with lawrell braunches in this our time and day of grace for it is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God who is a consuming fire let vs be admonished by the woorde of trueth or els the same will condemne vs with the wicked But the time is past I haue wearied you to much I wil therfore note one worde or two of the last wordes and so make an ende He was made the heire of righteousnes which is according to fayth This is nowe the acceptation reward of Noe his faith who first was receiued into fauour by beleeuing the promise of God and thereby had God a mercifull father Of whō this his obedience was accepted not for anye the worthines of flesh blood which was none but by the free grace of God accepting in good worth what he did For when faith beleueth the promises of God concerning saluation apprehendeth the adoption of the children then foloweth the inheritaunce of our righteousnesse for that we being by fayth the children of God are heires euen felowe heires with Christ of his kingdome For after we beleeue we are sealed with the spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance vntill the redemption of the possession purchased vnto the praise of his glorie This is that which the Apostle saith that wee being iustified by the grace of God should be made heires according to the hope of euerlasting life And for this cause is Christ the mediatour of the newe Testament that through death which was for the redemption of the transgressions which were in the former Testamēt they which were called might receiue the promise of the eternal inheritāce Blessed be God therefore let vs all say euen the father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his aboundant mercie hath begotten vs againe vnto a liuely hope by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance immortal and vndefiled reserued in heauen for vs. This inheritance of righteousnes Abraham behelde with the eyes of fayth whē he forsooke his owne countrey looking for a better and euerlasting in heauen reioycing in spirite to see the day of Christ the Messias This inheritance Dauid longed after when like as the Harte desired the water brookes euen so his soule longed after the Lorde hoping to see the goodnesse of the Lorde in the lande of the liuing This inheritance the Apostles beleeued to haue when they confessed Christ to bee the Sonne of God and to haue the woordes of Eternall life This inheritance the Saints in the reuelatiō cast their eyes vpon when with patience they endured the tormentes
those that lie in darkenes and shadow of death vntill they haue accesse into the Church of the faythfull For so lōg as we be without the church and number of the faythfull we are aliants strangers pilgrims and men without God in this worlde yea wee bee enemies to God vntil we be reconciled to the father by Christ We are without mercy and polluted in our bloud vntil by him we obtaine grace be washed from our sinnes We are dead in trespasses and sinnes till we be raised vp with the righteousnes of Christ We be drunkē with the poisoned dregges of superstition vntil we haue the soueraigne triacle of Gods promises in the worde of the truth for our preseruation How thē ought we think you to make haste into this arke your owne cōsciences herein shal be my iudges Surely we can not be partakers of the heauenly graces except we be within the church of Christ for onely vpon the same they are bestowed Where can our soules be fed with the worde of God but among the faythfull who are the sheepe of Christ heare his voice Where shall we shew our thankfulnesse and confirme our faith with the sacraments but in that Church where thei be sincerely ministred Where can we haue forgiuenesse of our sinnes the grace of God the holy ghost the righteousnesse of Christ and other his benefits vnlesse we be within the Church for whom he wrought the same If therefore we hope for happines looke assuredly for saluation thē must we keepe within the arke then we shall be safe and sounde And that we be not deceyued with the title of the Church which the aduersaries always haue in their mouthes the Lord hath left vs his true and sincere worde the right administratiō of his sacraments and ecclesiasticall discipline to be the perfect marks of this his spirituall arke whereto whilest we do cleaue stick we cannot be deceyued or perish with the wicked What then sayth the papist shall we thinke of all those which liued in the time of ignorāce and were without the Church which now we haue which was so lately found shall we iudge them to be damned which thing we must needes do except wee make the Church of Rome the arke and Church of Christ Concerning the Church of Rome this is to be obserued that this Church of Rome which nowe is is not the same but only in place with that which was in the primitiue time For then they followed the doctrine of the Apostles nowe they haue reuolted from the same and Antichrist sitteth in the Temple of God. And though the auncient fathers speake much in the commendation of the Church of Rome yet speake they only of the church before that superstition crept into the same And now before I answere to this question I must propounde the like to them Before the time of Boniface the third then Pope of Rome when superstition and corruptiō crept into the Church and the light of the trueth began to be darkned were all damned which neuer before or after yeelded to the sea religion of Rome Were all vndone which neuer beleeued transubstantiation concluded by Innocētius the third or those which neuer worshipped their breaden god which thing Honorius did decree What need I speake of other vanities Were all the Prophetes and holy men of God was Christ and his Apostles and the auncient fathers of the primitiue Church beside the way and out of the arke which had the spirite of God to lead thē into all truth who taught the sacred verities and all things necessarie to saluation and yet did neuer retaine such vanities as these men holde And if they did foretell any thing thereof it was but to bid the Church beware of such vngodlinesse And as for the arke or Church wherein we bee it was before theirs was euer deuised not newly and of late yeeres as many iudge begunne but renued and reformed of late according to the worde of God and is in substāce and doctrine all one with the Church of God from the beginning directed by his spirit and by the scepter of his worde And albeit it was long hid through the tyrannie of the deuill who draue the woman into the wildernes yet ceased there not infinite numbers to withstande and gainsay the pollutions of Idolatrie whom God preserued by his grace though they could not bee seene by the eyes of men For like as faith is chiefly knowē to God and cannot be discerned by outwarde senses otherwise then by the declarations thereof so the Lorde knewe onely who were his whose fayth was knowne by their resistance to the beast When Iohn foretold the corruptions of the later times and of the man of sinne he shewed that there was of all tribes many sealed with the spirit of God and marked with the blood of the Lambe receyued by fayth who perished not in the lake of Antichristes pollutions He tolde that the two witnesses of Christ whereby he meant the smal number of the true Church should be murthered by the beast who should make warre with the saints of God and torment them to death who should be drunken with the blood of saints and holy martyrs which could neuer haue beene if there had bene none to haue gainsaid his wicked ways I neede not speake of the churches of Grecia who still withstood the popish vanities yea there neuer ceased some to withstande hir erronious religion Neither must we thinke that all was lost that liued thē For why the Lord hath wayes meanes vnknowen to man to saue his people as hee saued the thiefe euen in the last houre vpon the crosse And as he hath chosen in his secret purpose vnknowne to man who shall bee saued so will he not lose one of them but call them in due time As for this argument which they vse herein it hath bene a stūbling blocke to the wicked of all ages The Iewes were mooued with nothing so much to gainsay the doctrine of the Prophets calling them from their Idolatrie but that their fathers had liued as they did at that present and yet they ought not to haue folowed their fathers further then their fathers folowed the worde of trueth The woman of Samaria reasoned thus against our Sauiour Christ Our fathers saith shee worshipped in this mountaine but hee made hir an answere that they worshipped they knewe not what for saluation came of the Iewes But it is not the part of a good cōscience whē the trueth is opened to leape from the same into the seat of iudgement and define who were saued who were not but rather referring al to the mercy and good pleasure of God both concerning our forefathers all others to labour our wittes to do his will. For now this thing is condemnation that light is come into the world
in whom are all the treasures of wisedome vnderstanding to whom wee can not come but being fully perswaded that our saluation resteth in his free grace and mercy the obiecte of our faith which shee doth chiefly behold must of necessitie be the promises of the Gospel laying forth to vs Christe crucified for our sinnes by whose obedience our saluatiō is wrought in whom alone the Father is well pleased for in him our faith beholdeth the law of God fulfilled for vs who tooke the curse thereof vpon him self that he might make vs blessed In his blood our faith beholdeth perfect redemption and remission of our sinnes we which were farre of are now made neere reconciled to the father By his stripes we feele by faith that we are made whole clothed with his righteousnes by his onely sacrifice done once for euer our faith beholdeth eternall redemption purchased and them consecrat for euer that are sanctified so that where forgiuenesse of sinnes is there is no more oblatiō for sinne In him through him and for his sake faith boldly approcheth to the throne of grace to find mercy to helpe in time of need for he is our peace our aduocate and the propitiation for our sinnes Finally by faith in him wee are assured of Gods fauour and of eternal lyfe so that there is nowe no damnation to such as bee graffed in Christe Iesu which walke according to the spirit not according to that fleshe For it is Christ that doth iustifie vs and therefore none can cōdemne vs none cā lay any thing to our charge neyther separate vs from the loue of god And thus is Christ with his death and passion the onely obiect of our faith Also these two Christ crucified and our faith alwayes must goe together For as the sunne shining in the firmamēt auaileth him not that hath none eyes to see the same neyther him that wincketh with his eyes will not see but only him that doth behold the light thereof So doeth the death of Christe profit him nothing which lacketh true faith to lay holde vpon the same but onely such as by a liuely fruitfull faith applie the same vnto them selues Besides that Noe his faith was specially directed to the promise of the couenant yet was he made more watchful a great deale and kept in obedience by the terrours of the flood and so with feare and trembling wrought his saluation not that he wauered in the faith but that he feared in transgressing to be punished with the wicked For this effect the plagues powred vpon the wicked bring forth in the liues and conuersation of the godly that these are made more circūspect by much to stande in feare least they should fall When Moses counselled the Israelites to the obseruance of the law hee warned them to feare by the plagues powred vpon the Egyptians and vpon the Canaanites thereby to keepe them in obediēce When Ieremie threatned captiuitie vnto the land of Iuda hee vsed the captiuitie of the ten tribes then being in Assyria to make them trēble afrayed When the Apostle vnderstood the hautines of the Romaines he vsed the punishment of the Iewes in whose place they were graffed to bridle them and keepe them in obediēce When the Corinthians waxed proude of the graces of God the Apostle layed forth the plagues of God agaynst the Iewes in the wildernes that who so stood might take heede hee did not fal And this is the cause why the holy Ghost calleth vs to feare that we should not by our dissolute life shake of and lose our faith and make the last end worse thē the beginning The sonne honoureth his father and a seruāt his master If thē God be a father to vs we must honour him if he be a Lorde wee must feare his stripes O that we had the reuerent dread and feare which Noe had it would make vs readie to know and doo the will of God it would bring forth an vnfained loathing and hatred of sinne in vs it would budde forth the studie of true godlines it would set vs forwarde to the loue of God profyt of our brethrē But though we feel the scourge of God so sore that there is no whole part alreadie in the body yet are we not humbled nor afraid though we be strikē we do not sorowe though we be consumed we refuse to receyue correction For why we haue made our faces harder then a stone and will not returne though we be warned of the future woes In steade of keeping the commandementes of GOD we obserue the precepts of men wherewith we worship God in vaine In steade of feare true obedience we loose the bridle to the effusion of al ryot In steade of true religion nothing is to be found but either meere Atheisme or flat dissimulation In steade of holines of life we deck our selues with pride and in steade of iudgement righteousnes we bring forth oppression and crying of the poore and bloud toucheth bloud Where is now the reuerence and feare wherein wee liue or howe are we restrained frō offending by the remembrance of the sea of euils to come No no beloued we feare men more thē god And if in some things we submitte our obedience to the hearing of the scriptures and ordinarie administratiō of the Sacraments in Ecclesiasticall assemblies yet is such duetie in many of vs but constrayned and not of a good and zealous heart delighting in the Gospell But if we do neglect we feare the magistrates sword Wel let vs not play to long with our fleeing shadowe but sanctifie the Lorde that he may be our feare and betime beginne with Noe to feare the worst for if the wrath of God be kindled but a litle blessed are all they that put their trust in him And thus ye see that our faith is specially directed at the promises of God and yet must we not be careles and voyde of feare and so do what we list but alwayes we must stand in awe be afrayde to offende lest with the wicked we haue reward He prepared the Arke Whē Noe was in sundrie wise thus mooued he addressed himself without delay to the making of the Arke thereby to witnes his obedience of fayth For euen as water floweth frō the fountaine so doth this his obediēce spring from faith whereby he had apprehended the promise of saluation His obedience appeareth the more for that the making of this work was tedious and often hindred with the furiousnes of the wicked which vnneth hee could patiently haue abiden if that hee had not safely rested in the promise of the couenant But faith the mistres of obediēce brought forth such fruits as might expresse his willing mind to obey the Lords commandemēt This is that excellēt brāche of our religion that our faith be
the spirit of God consumeth and comes to nought like as a paper arke or ship of leaues had bene a vaine deuise against the water to saue Noe and his familie so is the whole religioÌ„ of Antichrist in vaine to saue our soules What a foolish paradise delight they in which make their arke or ship of the rotten boardes of mannes traditions which can neuer hold together howe loathsome an ensigne hath that vessel which caryeth the marke and Image of the beast How lightlie how perilously howe vainely is he fraughted that makes the chaff of bulles and pardons his surest traffique What loose anchre hold hath he trow ye that rests rides vpon his owne merits and sinfull workes Howe vncertaine is his course who directeth his race to saile to heauen by the mediation of saintes What a cowardly maryner is he that alwayes is afraid at the paper rockes and painted fyers of purgatorie What vaine ordinance is holy bread and holye water to fight against the powers of hell What foode or nourishmeÌ„t can his beades his palmes his caÌ„dles his oyle his ashes and other reliques minister vnto him What an vncertaine trumpet is sounded where the vanitie of organes is good seruice finally how caÌ„ he euer saile in safety who hath none sitting at the stearne but only Antichrist whose purpose is to ouerthrowe the ship In such a naughtie arke and ship they saile that row on forward without let in their owne inuentions and rotten ship of papisme and Idolatrie but the arke ship of God is made of the pyne trees of his word pitched within without with the assured grace of Christ marked with the spirit of God and faith fraughted with the weighty merits of Christs passion casting sure anchor in his promises directed by his mediation to the father emboldened with his blood against the rocks and gates of death defeÌ„ded with the ordinance of Christian armour against the force of Sathan and nourished with the woorde and foode of life Let vs no more then sayle with them nor yet retaine any of their abominations But let vs addresse and prepare our selues with Noe to bee warned let vs with readinesse of fayth obey and let our good life expresse the same in furthering the buylding of the Church in our seuerall callings in all thinges being gouerned by the woorde of God and then with Noe we be wel admonished And thus much of the former part whence it came that Noe was mooued to make the Arke The Lorde giue you vnderstanding in all things and he that hath eares to heare let him heare Hee prepared the Arke to the sauing of his housholde The Lorde welbeloued hath diuers means to saue his people from destruction and therefore the Arke is said first to haue had this effect that Noe his family might bee saued thereby For like as in the burning of Sodome the litle towne Zoar was a refuge for the safetie of Lot and his two daughters Chaldea for Gods people in the destructioÌ„ of Iewrie and Aegypt for Ioseph Marie the childe Iesus against the furious assaultes of Herode eueÌ„ so the Arke was now the means which God would vse for Noe his refuge to saue him his froÌ„ drowning This is the louing care which God hath ouer his people in defeÌ„ding them vnder the shadow of his wings froÌ„ falling with the wicked Let vs then cast our care vpon him for he is carefull for vs and then in the perishing of the wicked wee shall be safe within the Arke Neyther must we thinke that the Arke was able to haue preserued Noe and his family from drowning No no it was the grace of God who had receiued him into fauour which grace hee did assure him of by preseruing him aliue within the Arke Which thing the Apostle Peter doth declare where he compareth Baptisme and the Arke together for like as in Baptisme not the putting away of the filthines of the flesh saueth vs but a good conscience that maketh request to God by the resurrection of Iesus Christ euen so not the outward making of the Arke but fayth beleeuing the promise of God vnto saluatioÌ„ iustified preserued Noe whereof the Arke was a holy signe or sacrament for the confirmation thereof wherby we must obserue not to giue that vnto the Sacramentes which is proper to the grace signified therby For Sacraments neyther of them selues nor in them selues include the grace of God for that belongeth to the Creator and not vnto the creature But they be as instruments seales pledges and confirmations of Gods promises whereby he doth make more strong his graces in our hearts the fruits whereof we do receiue by a liuely fayth For the saluation of Gods chosen resteth not in sacramentall signes but in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and good pleasure of God. Abraham to whom the promise was made was iustified in beleeuing the woorde of grace long time before he receiued the signe or Sacrament of Circumcision which afterward was added for the confirmation of the promise Iacob was chosen when he was yet vnborne neuer had hearde of any SacrameÌ„t Cornelius and his coÌ„panie beleeuing the words of Peter were endued with the holy ghost befâ—â—â—â—hey were baptized Whereby wee learne that our saluatioÌ„ resteth not in the outward Elementes but in the promise of Gods free mercie grace in Christ who before the fundations of the worlde were layed chose vs by him to bee adopted vnto saluation which grace hee sealeth in our hearts by the Sacramentes for our more behoofe the vertue whereof we do receiue by fayth Neyther herein must wee beloued abbridge or extenuate the dignitie of the Sacraments and thinke they be but onely signes of grace as the papists falsely slander vs But as we saye not with the Iewes nor with the papists that the Sacramentes doe giue grace and so with them commit Idolatrie so doe wee not saye that they are onely bare signes vnto the godlies fayth but rightly hold the meane betweene them both belieue assuredly with the sacramentall signe that grace is present vndoubtedly to the faith of him that doth receiue the same aright And thus ye see that not the Arke but the grace of God preserued Noe and his familie for whose saluation and deliuerance the Arke was made an instrument and meanes It is not without good consideration that the Arke was for the safetie of Noe his housholde for it doth expresse the right gouernement of his well disposed family wherein the feare of God did florish and continue For like as when the head is wel sound and also the stomacke pure from hurtfull humours the bodie is commonly well affected euen so where the head or chief of any family is founde in fayth and feareth God it commonly goeth wel with all the housholde For this cause Moses gaue