and cullor hir guile adioyneth vnto hir inchauntment the Lordes Prayer And the Diuinar or hee that telleth and calleth vp by Spirites hee snatcheth something from Christ and hée will haue a leg or an arme of him and so inflamously abuseth the godhead of the Lorde But to take away this olde wiues Tale I thinke it expedient to say somewhat and at the first rather then to interrupte my speech hereafter As therfore Nadab and Abihu the Sonnes of Aaron that offered vp incense in the same Censor that their Father did Yet because they did it not aright they dyed for it So heare though wee praye all with one prayer and powre out our supplications at one time because wée praye not all alike with minde in spirite vnto the Lorde they bee to none effecte neyther auayle they And as there was in the Wildernesse one Manhu wheron Israell fed yet some wicked and disobedient had not the like nourishment and effect therof as had others So the prayer of the Lorde though hée gaue it to all that all might vse it yet it is not profitable to him abuseth it And as Saull vsed Samuell after his death the Pythonest called the Diuell by the name of him hee was not and the Diuell deceyued Samuell and did not profit him So it is with vs The prayer of the Lorde vnto the wicked beeing wrested to their death as Samuell was by the Diuell to blinde Saull shall neuer helpe them But abandon these wicked men wee must and permit them not so much as to haue speech with vs God hath heaped vp iudgement against the day of iudgement to consume them For the prayer of it selfe I say not well the bare wordes not rightly vnderstoode they bee no better then any other The Oyle and the Waxe and the Hony and the Tarre bee common things but to ioyne them to mixte them to compound them togeather to giue them to the pacient at conuenient time there is the cunninge The Nettle byteth yet it healeth the Flaxe it cureth yet it burneth the Spider poysoneth yet shée profiteth Then all thinges are good euen the vngodly man to him can vse him So is the prayer of the Lorde Otherwise as God hath his electe in the Courtes of the Ethnicke and as hee saueth some in the Turks Pallaces and among the Iewes kéepeth those he will haue kept so what saluation can they or others looke for if faith and life of man were tyde to this prayer seeing there bee a number that neuer as yet did knowe the same Also where is Abraham Isaak and Iacob which neuer prayed thus There is then many things to be wayed before wee presume to ground any Religion and health vppon man for repeating this prayer Then this order and manner of praying we must haue it of some other not of our selues therefore hee whiche hath taught it vs and instructed vs in his Spirite graunt vnto vs the true vse hereof in his bloud Trueth it is in Crisostome his Homily that Maximus speaketh Euery one when he prayeth let him pray vnto the Lorde Wherefore my procéeding into this so great a matter maketh mée in doubt but that the Lorde is where he alwayes was to take in hande so great a mysterie But I am content as hetherto I haue to vse my countrie speeche and I knowe that all alike vnto the Lorde is that man accepted that goeth cottered and torne in his ragges as he that is stuffed and pampered vp in veluets and it is a common fashion in the worlde in those our dayes for euery one to vse his libertie of spéeche and lasciniousnesse of tongue in this point Hee that is poore why shoulde I praye saith he for I haue nothing The ritche man he standeth in little néede he hath enough The strong man hee knoweth his portion hée séeketh for no more so valiant and puissant is he in this life The proude man he is in his ruffe hee noddeth with his head and beckeneth with the hande hee setteth saile to all things The incestious person what can he aske he liueth in pleasure The merchaunt what hath he to do with God the winde and weather serueth him And in commeth the student and he maketh his reckoning he casteth and he tumbleth ouer his bookes he looketh and hopeth for nothing for his witt helpeth him So that the whole worlde it is deuided euery one thinketh he hath little to do with god Then my firste note is that this prayer in generall appertaineth to all For from the tabernacle to the tente from him that sitteth in the gate to the poore man in the fielde from Tirus euen from those that go to Tharsis to the thresher the corne flower from him that giueth wages to him that receiueth hire from him that putteth on silke and softe clothing euen vnto Lazarus that lyeth at the doores seuerally from the toppe of Sion to the poore cottage From the Cedar trées of Libanon vnto the man remaining among the fennes and flagges it is his duetie he is bounde he ought to remember that he should praye For hée that sendeth his Cammels for spieerie and aduentureth to Corinthum for Iewels that prouideth into Arabia to get the purest golde and so gréedely searcheth for the riches of Damascus nay though he tarrie at home and abideth the Sunne all the dayes of his life and suffereth the bitter frostes in Winter though hee be created to tende cattell and to kéepe the wilde Coalte and the Asse in the Wildernesse though his handes be wearied with the plough and his arme withered vp with holding of the rake though he sit at the threshholde and haue not wherewithall to féede him yet hath he his soule to looke vnto that in my iudgement it is time to séeke narrowly abroade to recken with our selues to giue attendaunce to waite on God for euery one that liueth hath néede of prayer But to ransake euery thing more narrowly let vs knowe what it is is contained herein for wée dispute not for ritches or for wealth or for honour that vanisheth away but for the Lorde for Christ the firste thing that is mentioned is this that wee call on God and we saye O our father In the scriptures God is called the Lorde of Hostes the iudge of the whole earth the King of Kinges a consuminge fire the founteine of life that sitteth vppon the Cherubynnes that ruleth the worlde And here we call him by the name of father I am not purposed to runne paraphrastically on this if it please you to staye on my simple iudgement this I thinke If in our prayers we make vnto God we should call him Lorde wee spake vnto one that wee thinke shoulde haue dominion ouer vs If as to a Iudge we ought to stande at the barre and holde vp our handes and pleade for our selues then shoulde he sit with his twentie foure elders and giue sentence vppon vs If as to
a King his Scepter and royal seate it would dismay vs if happely we forgate our homage went awrye the messenger of death is readie for vs If as to consuming fire what eye coulde abide him for if the beast that touched the burning mountaine was shott thorough what hope hath man to skape when a flaming fire must go before him and thousandes thousandes minister vnto him and ten thousande times ten thousande stande before him when the seates shal be set the bookes oponed and iudgement giuen what mercie then can wee looke for at Gods hande But if wee called on God as on him that is the fountaine of life howe coulde we call vpon him when we be in death And if you prayd vnto him as the ruler of the worlde then is man beaten downe that coulde neuer as yet among all the beastes thereof be tamed But sée howe louing a Lord God we haue that in our transgressions woundeth vs not in our sinnes striketh vs not in our disobedience remēbreth vs not in our euil wayes punisheth vs not that neuer thinketh on our iniquities but calleth vs as children to aske at his hands the more willingly to trayne vs vp in his feare hath for all our manifolde transgressions made himselfe a father to vs But from whence cometh this our father is Adam and he is dead and we be his children and howe can we liue To him he gaue a charge to sweat it out and to labour on earth what then can happen to vs but miserie Then which way so euer wee looke on our selues wee are in death and whence haue wée this therefore that wee call on God as on our father Pardone mée if being a man as you bée I am inquisitiue to search out what man is And say what you will yet will not I be satisfied til I knows more For as Crisostome is plentifull in the description of man So I thinke that as the shippe is in the Sea that tottereth or as the fether in the ayre that houereth or as the trée on earthe that shaketh euen like portion indge I to be allotted to man when he offendeth For wishe any thing that is good that can not man do without God wil neither willeth he that God wisheth without God please And that I will and that I may I do not if he permitteth not So wish I yet misse I if he directeth not Trewe it is that Isychius saide in man there is two natures or rather properties one is that wee carrie about with vs it is dust the other it is giuen vnto vs it is the spirite both these making but one man yet do wée not know on Christ Salonius writing vpō Ecclesiastes giueth wisedom vnderstanding vnto man aboue al others that haue life and in the same hée giueth vs free passage to know God but it is in Christe And Agustine in his Apognosticon agaynst the Palagian guieth vs liberty to Ploughe to Till to labor to Sowe to Spinne to Carde to drinke to eate to féede our cattell and our Beastes if so you will to vse the Arrowe and the Bowe and the Hearbes but to come vnto God and to haue any portion from him without Christe that hee permitteth not Sedulius vpon the Corrinthians giueth no liberty vnto vs but only to sinne and Primatius in his Treatise on the Romans is of the same iudgement so that in the ende when our deedes bee ransackt our thoughts sought out what is it that wee can clayme of the Lorde Then hereon wée stand Christ which alwayes hath bin with his Father the liuely and expresse Image of his godhead came into the world and was debased for vs and we béeing of his flesh and the same mould that hee was of beeinge perfecte man in all poynctes sinne onely accepted hée hath made vs one with him and taken vs into the same felowship of his kingdome and of his Sainctes and wee are made Sonnes with him vnto one Father Vnto this it was alluded by Dauid As the Father hath pitty on his Children so hath the Lorde on all such as call vpon him faithfully Esay touched this in his comparison that hee maketh with the Woman and hir Infant whom though shée could forget sucking at hir Brestes yet would not the Lorde forsake vs If I were not drawne into a narrow straight by the importunitée allotted to mee at this present I would see what that were which man so mutch braggeth of and if it were possible that frō top to toe hee had no one blemish to bee found within him Yet if a man might enter into his hart and search his Sinewes and his cogitations within how corrupte and vnfauorye should wee finde him well this is our comforte and it is the noate of Maister Gualter that hee is not onely a Father in gouerning the world and the whole trayne that waiteth theron but hee is our Father And as in Iob hee is called the Father of the Aungelles and of the Sainctes and holy men which loued him so that it is litle vnto vs and small prositte haue wee therby beeinge neyther Aungels or so holy as they if of his bounty mercy it were not sayd vnto vs here that hee is our Father toe but I consider yet an other thinge and why saye wee not O my Father as well as O our Father Ciprïan on the prayer of the Lord giueth this reason This prayer it is cōmon to vs all sayth hee for when we pray wee pray not for one but for all because all they we are one And he is sayd to be our Father euen of vs as many as be sanctified as be renewed as bee strengthned in his Spirit as for other they stande aloofe and wish they may to come vnto vs come at any time they shall not Thus you know hee is a Father and hee is our Father it is adioyned he is our God hée is aboue and it is in Heauen These three I ioyne togeather neyther will I seuer them For as hée is far aboue the reatch and capacitie of man so hath he no terrestriall Throne to sit in but a more bright and gloryous Seate is that of the Lorde our god And as was the Arke and mercy Seate within wherunto no mā durst presume to come and looke into it but sutch as God had chosen from the rest so to his kingdome and his Empire shall no man approtche but sutch as hee hath elected in his Christ It may seeme a vayne thing to aske this question why wee praye to God Yet sutch is the vanity and ignoraunce of man that hee knoweth not and such is his dulnes the he answereth not but the weakenes it is alike in vs all that searcheth not To say the truth this question is aboue that I can well attayne vnto and the reasons that may bee giuen they bee so innumerable I bare not enter now into them If God do
Short prayers if they be earnest are better then much babbling vvherin is no stedfastnes Abuse of meÌ„ if they mislike the man that precheth or if he vse common prayer Precise men haue noplace that pray at those times they like othervvise forget them selues the vvhole moneth and the vvhole yere 〈◊〉 Nature condempneth in the wicked that do as their kinde and manner is only they forget God. Christe alone vnspotted blameles maÌ„ of him selfe vvicked and shamelesse â–ª All our corruption is hidden and layed vp in Christe No maÌ„ hath hated his ovvne fleshe at any time then Christe can not cast of vs. This mishapen visage in a Christian is filtâ—y God thinketh vpon our imbecilleties in all he doth Papistes conuicted olde vviues fables haue no place presise and nise long prayers be cause that vvee slip so often Superstition crept in by ignorauce As murtherers Theues vse Kniues Svvordes togeather vvith good men so do the vvicked their praiers together vvith the fà ythfull yet to one they are life to the other death God permitteth the Diuel vvorketh and man sinneth vvilfully they proucke God The Sinner doth all hee doth to death hee vvanteth grace and light the godly they vvorke to life and vse the same thing vvell by the Spirite God hath notied vs to pray after one mannerâ— but this and others bee good for his vvill sake and the perfectnes therof vvee vse this God looketh not on man but on the minde All states can reason vvhy they need no praier but all must submit them selues and pray to God. As is the sapp the earth so is prayer and Inuocation to man As vvater confumeth all so God distroyeth all degrees if they call not vpon him As our life it aboue vvith the God of glory so must vvee be spiritually bent at prayer God named him our Father for that as a Father he giueeth all things that vvee his Children neede The Lorde is terrible yet in Christ is his loue and fauour opened in vvhoÌ„ only there is satisfaction God a Father in the cration and a Father in his blesing and a father to vs in giuing to vs but all alone is hee our father in the attonemente All thinges turne to our destruction if God helpe not If as vvee bee froÌ„ the eathe earthly so vvee vvere not also gouerned by the spirite then vvere vve in death Beeing in death in sâ—n it is requisite that vvee should haue a Mediator Vnmeasurable and vnsearchable is the loue of God that beeinge life gaue himselfe to death foâ— vs. Our Father Seeing our benefits are common to all it is reasoÌ„ that vve pray for alâ—â—and for that God is the author o life vve pray if it bee his vvill that all may liue The electe chosen of God none other come vnto him Why vvee pray to God. All things are not fit for all times For as mutch as God is vnsearchable incompreheÌ„sible it is good reason to submit our selues pray to him All Gods creatures are ready to fulfil his coÌ„maundements against his enemies We pray in the name of one for that the thâ—ee persons make but one God. The sainctes vvith god vve confesse they vvere good men but the honour due to the Lord is not to be giuen vnto them seeing all things be vvonderfull and straung hovv is he most glorious that made them In that perill vvhiche is greatest God is readiest If the heauens passe the creatures perish man also shall haue an end No maÌ„ hath feared God and remained helples Man commeÌ„deth maÌ„ much more man God. First seeke the glorie of God then thine ovvne glorie God honoureth those that honour him and in all thinges that are is he honored if man shuld holde his peace God needeth not man but man needetâ— God. All goodnes all perfectioÌ„ and all holinesse commeth of the spirite Not euery one that saith Lorde Lorde shal be saued but he onely that calleth on him and beleceuâ—th Plaine men begyled in time of poperie keepe the olde superstitioÌ„ still in much bab ling. God knovveÌ„ in all his vvorkes hath names giuen him to shevv the same Iunilius coÌ„tra haereticos Gen. 17. No fleshe shall die for others all flesh dieth or liueth to him selfe All flesh ought to seeke the glorie of god and then is the name of God hallovved God giâ—eth his glory vnto none and those that serue him those he helpeth Such vvere the holy thinges belonging to the teÌ„ple such also vvere the priâ—sts in the lavve such be the preachers novv that be kept as holy vnto god and seuered from the vvorld that they might â—â—lisse and sanctifie him Holy as like to god for that he is holy God most glorious and vvorthy all honour hath created al the treatures to seâ—ue for the vse of man man onely did he make to honour him These three are set dovvn for that his mercie and his loue appeareth most in them Theodoree Eucherius in Reg. Here is it knovven that vve loue God vvhen vve set out his name feare god increase the number of his Church These are vn searchable not to be attained of vs yet do they not and they cannot set out the full povver of God. God helpeth the good beatethdovvn the vvicked punisheth the sinner succoureth his faithfull in vvhich chiefely he is glorified Though Israel vvas as it vvere eaten vp of the vvie ked for a time and the tribe of Iuda extinguished and the root of Dauid forgotten and the temple forsaken yet soudeinly vvas all this renued and God glorified in his Christ This persecucion was greate yet vvas God honoured in the sight of men by the courage death of his saincts For all men vve pray for the good that God vvoulde strengthen them for the faithlull hee vvould deliuer them for the vveake he vvold incourage them for them vvithout that he vvould cal them and for the rebell and obstinat that he vvuld consume theÌ„ in all vvhiche God is magnified God is a consuming fier to the vvicked to them that feaâ—e him â—ee is a mercifull God. God trieth his people suffereth theÌ„ to fall that they may haâ—e a better risinge Sin raigning in our â—â—ortall bodyes vvee vvere câ—oked vp in the sanâ—e but thaâ— only vve are faued and liâ—ted vp in Christ Losenes of life in Christians is the cause of the dishonoring of God and maketh the infidelles the vvorse Scismes in our common vvelth be for our sinnes but the euill life in precise people certefieth vs that they haue an other ende in their dealing then all the vvorld knovveth If God vsed an order in praying then vve in our supplications and in our common vvealth must be also erdered first seeke the kingdome of heauen and the righteousnes therof then all things shall â— giuen you The â—aiâ—ctes holy men they pine avvay and take thought if any superstition do heare svvay rather theÌ„ the truth As the light is more excellent and better vvelcome vvhere
earth to heare vs And if wée cease not in praying how can he be flow in hearing His scholler Lactantius as Ierom recordeth trayned vp at Rome was not of so sounde a iudgement in this as was his maister That supposeth vs if wée aske any thyng of God to be tempted of God to know thereby if wée be thereof worthy Chromatius Bishop of Aquileia may well abide the toutchstone herein that bindeth Prayer to haue his only successe by fayth As for Epiphanius of Eleutherapolis in Palaestine his doynges they bee very pleasaunt and his writynges exquisite he hath also bin a witnes how wée should walke in prayer before the Lorde his iudgment is to call on God only one true and perfecte Lorde and on Christe the Sonne of God with the spirit procéeding from them both And that rare man of God then whom Stridon in the borders of Dalmatia and Pannonia saw neuer as yet a perfecter Ierom I meane so much alowed determineth of this very wisely whose admonition I would it were ingrafted in vs to the full or els I would that graue father liued now whose looke and countenance might withdrawe vs from our vanityes his milde and sugred speech is not vnlike to this Cease not to pray continually and giue not place vnto the Lord in season and out of season and bée importunate vpon him euen as that widow is to that same vniust steward that hard the stony iudge who oftentimes withdrew him selfe This Ierom is hee that so often if chaunce afordeth and I haue to deale with him rauisheth mee so sodenly that I hardly leaue him For this cause his neate and pleasaunt stile requireth mee to taste of one or two more of his sayings It foloweth in the same place not farre of If hee giueth to him that asketh if hee findeth that séeketh if hee openeth when one knocketh it appeareth hee will not bee slowe to him requireth And therfore hee promiseth a reward already for such as demaund and sayth Ierom This Gate wherin the iuste man doth enter is sutch a one wherin are hidden a number of pleasant and delicate things to him that seeketh them Diuers there be that of late and now also haue writte hereof how to â—â—me vnto Christe but in this place I take the fathers for they are sound and very strong in this and very good whose cumly age I must reuerence in that the younger forte and wee also euen in these last yeares are beighly bounden to them so that small cause there is for any to repent him of readinge them whose diligence hath brought to passe that we with lesse payne may teache ours Iulius Firmicus Maternus vnder the Emperour Constantine and his Sonnes an Astrologian at the first and so it séemeth still for hee clymeth vp very hie and mounteth to the Heauens neither looketh hee for any mans helpe in his prayers hée is raysed vpwarde to God hee suffereth no man to bée called on but the name only of Christ The manner also and condition of prayer is séene plentifully in that same borne at Africa a very worthy man of God Caius Marius Victorinus reckoned of Ierom among them of his number and Catalouge worthy and famous wrighters For beside that euer hée did on the Articles of fayth or els in the payne hée tooke agaynst Heretickes no where doth hee séeme to haue delte precisely and more warely then in his opinion of prayer acknowledging Christe to bée sufficient and the only true bread from Heauen to feede vs. There commeth now vnto my hand a man of truth scase worthy the naming among the Fathers for his so vile and euill dealinge and as you may know him a Cinnick fitter for the staffe and the shacky heare then to iudge of Religion borne at Alexandria at what time Gregorie Nazianzen taught at Constantinople hee was brought to Cristianitee by preachinge This Maximus Aegiptius by his wilye sleights hauing gotten many froÌ„ Byantius corrupted one Peter Bishop of Alexandria created this Aegiptius Bishop Yet this man otherwise a faythfull steward in the house of God whrot many good bookes I therfore take his well meaning minde of prayer euen especially agaynst the wicked the they may know that a wicked man hath taught them to praye often his readynes was séene in this for that hée instructed all flesh to pray continually hée adioyneth his reason in an other place The sedulyte and forwardnes of a man calling on the Lorde if it hée donne rightly is that which commendeth the soule of man spoken as I thinke to stir vp the sloth in vs to pighte vs a place in Heauen where the soule of man resteth The liuely exposition thereof is well noted in that hée debarreth vs from all manner contemplations in the earth hee leaueth no roome for the thoughtes of man in time of prayer no not so mutch as to thinke of him that hurt thee or of thy enemy but freely to lay aside all grudginges debates strifes enimyties to repose one only hope in god And I like his reason wel and it is alowed in the Booke of God for that our praying it is a quieting of our mindes so that it appeareth by all those that wente before that terror shoulde strike vs for we speake to God that the world must forsake vs for wee seeke heauen the body leaue vs for wee speake in spirit our wealth must not trouble vs our treasure is aboue nor our enemyes greue vs for wee are freends with Christ On this our prayer there is depending two things the first is calling vpon him The second is geuinge of thankes vnto him If thou aske to wholme it is it is to god If thorow wholme it is through Christ if the meane to him it is faith if wherin in is his bloodsheading and death Therfore Paull continue in prâ—ier and watch in the saine with thankes geuing prayinge for vs that God may open vnto vs the Doore of vtterance to speake the mistery of Christ For euen now doo wee see our full redemption if calling on the Lord wee repose our trust in the only mediator Iesus Christe the Sonne of God beeing nothing careful but that in al things wée let our requests be shewed vnto God in prayer and supplication with giuing thankes For hee is the God of peace which doth kepe our mindes and hartes in Christe Iesus That wee must pray you haue harde what prayer is I haue set downe suffer mee though breefely but to know how wee must vse it and so wee shall discharge our dâ—tye more fully Ephraem a Sirian for so is hee called by Theoderet in an homely of prayer reckoned amonge theÌ„ of Caesarius hath giuen a very good light to this our question Let sayth hee thy calling on the Lord bee as that which was of Hanna Mother vnto Samuell that sat wéeping in spirit and groneing and that was meeke and milde in hart not seene of men not gased vpon of
spare me so much leisure as that successiucly I may but steal one or two houres to labour in I will aunswere this fully I haue nowe sett my pen vnto an other treatise wherein before I end I shall I trust stoppe the mouthes of some as touching god Let this my small time and stolne houres craue pardon for this present and suffer me not to drawe out the length of this threede that we shal neuer winde it vp And if this will not suffise looke toward the heauens iudge the number of the stars call them by their names and giue euerie one his seueral charge Commaund the Sunne the Moone to stayde their course let there not be light any more vpon the earth and if these things be to high for thée iudge of the cōmon creatures that doe dwell with thee and tell me the droppes of the rayne ride vpon the wings of the winde measure me the weighte of the fyre Call backe againe the day that is past and renewe the course of that whiche is to come drawe out the deapth of the Sea by his bucketts and let the earth cast forth the hidde treasuries that be within her if silence hath caught thee and thy wisedom fadeth then giue homage vnto him at whose commaundement they be intreate him to spare thy life in time of neede that hath iudgement in stoore and a consuming fyre to runne before him if they or thou rebell Lactantius in his seconde booke semeth to me to haue delte with these men who dwelling in ignoraunce had small delight to seeke the Lorde And doubted as touching their prayer vnto him his iudgment is this Nothing must be honoured nothing worshipped but the only one Lord God proceeding and comming from the only owne eterall and euerliuing father and therefore hath created man to want many thinges that in his necessitie and want he may know where and of whome to aske for all thinges and Ambrose in his Spiritu fancto The father is to be glorified with the sonne the sonne with the father the holy ghost with them both for these three are but one god Basill against Iulina after that also Martured councelleth him to giue all honour and preheminence in prayer vnto God That in his heauenly and eternall wisedome created all Epiphanius in his thirde Toome Beside many excellent and good sayings pleaseth me in this for hauing to do with them that giue vnséemely reuerence to saincts teacheth thus Let Marie be had in estimation Peter but let the father the sonne the spirit be worshipped for neither to woman nor to man perteineth this honour inuocation neither to Angles or to any other perteneth this glory But it is a mistery proper only to the Lord The time would faile me to vnfoldethe heauenly sayings of the fathers I leaue thē to the diligent searcher The houre passing away so spedely maketh me to hasten to the rest And here I admonish you that in praying to our father you pray to him that is in heauen For wee may aske many thinges on earth yet can we not atteine them but if we aske and faithfully of our father in heauen he will giue vs them where that infidell is condempned that is found in Dauid to haue cryed out and to haue saide in his heart there is no God and that he whiche is in the heauens regardoth not them on earth Teach this man I dare not counsell him I will For let him cast out his eyes lift vp his heade and thinke but on the creatures that be made Howe the Sunne giueth light a farre of and the Axell trée of the heauen doth compasse the earth how the clouds power out their reigne the dewe his siluer dropps and the night his grimme and fierce countenaunce to man and shall we then giue nothing to the Lorde that made them But I cease to followe this path I take an other For if he thought on Israel when their shoulders were worne in péeces with carrying brick or if he brought them from Babilon or fed Elias with the Rauens and made the dumbe creatures to bee Nurses to his seruauntes and sent Daniell pottage into the Lyons denne and stayed the force of the flaming Fornace he can and he will and he stayeth not and I doubt it not but that hee still will helpe vs. Last of all it is a good consequent our father is in heauen Wee therefore ought not to repose our trust and confidence belowe as wee do either tarrie here so much as to abide and lay our affiaunce and steadinesse on things that be aboue For it is an vnfallible trueth that I finde in Paule that wee haue no abydinge here on earth but that our life it is aboue where as is the father of light I might take good occasion to withdrawe a number from the transitorie affaires of this worlde which haue their change and their ende when the heauens shall roll as a scroole and the elements burne with fire but these I leaue them till more longer dayes when the Sunne and the light shall giue vs more libertie who runninge foorth so speedily hath put mée in minde to cut of this spéech It followeth Hallowed be thy name THe great care that the Lorde God hath had of his churche is verie worthily set out in the generall discourse and pittifull callamitie wherein they that knewe him and called all onely on his name continually were assaulted Out of which troubles hee alwayes both mightily and fatherly deliuered them yet in no one thing hath he shewen his tēder affectiō vnto man more then in this in that he hath set him free from the bondage of the diuell the flesh and the workes thereof in that he hath created vs redeemed vs sanctified and regenerated vs And yet lest wée should falter any more and forget him he hath lefte vs a comforter which is his spirite and taught a way and set vs in the path directed vs by his owne mouth to be in our prayers holie and vnspotted vnto him Then in this wherewithall we be instructed of Christ though it be a short lesson is conteined for all that the whole and plentifull discourse of the life of man euen what is meefe and requisite to be done meate as well for the foule to feede withall as for the bodie to liue withall the summe whereof is set downe by Christ in sixe principall heads wherof the firste is this Hallowed be thy name For as al thinges vppon the earth were created by him so ought all that be on the face of the earth continually praise him And as we be children and heires vnto him so cheefely ought all our force our strength our might ought else that is in vs be directed vnto this that we might magnifie his name and praise him The example and patrone whereof is seene in the good Iudges that liued who before they established their own
that not in Iudea only but in all the world sacrifise and burnt offerings shal be offered vp vnto the Lorde And that of Christe to the Woman of Samaria accordeth with this Arte thou greater then our Father Iacob that gaue vs this Well and hee himself dranke therof and his Cattell and agayne our Fathers worshipped in this Mountayne but they saye Ierusalem is the place where men doo worshippe But shee was answered by Christ Beléeue mée Woman the howre commeth and now is when you shal neither in this Mountain nor at Ierusalem worship the Father a reason is also surrendered That the howre shalbée and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirite and truth and albeit in the Psalmes wee finde the affection of the Prophet to haue bin powred out in greater zeale for the Lorde of Hostes sake as Psalm 67. Prayse you the Lord all you nations and that in the .117 I will spread abroad and knowledge thy name among the Gentils Yet is there time and place and occasion too to vtter forth our cogitacions that wee bee not iudged of men I acknowledge and not vnwillingly that Dauid was in the Caue sometimes praying and in the feelde and in the Dennes and in the night and in his bed Ionas could praye in the belly of the Whale Daniell in the Lions Denne and his companions lifted vp their voyces in the flaming Furnace and Noe comming out of the Arke in the open ayre And Elyas on the topp of the Hill groneling with head betwixt his legges and Christ himselfe at the shoare side among the Shippes And Paull with the Elders in the sight of the people Yet this is my watchworde let no man goe beyond his skill nor draw priuate examples to generall obseruations But if death and persecution incroche vpon thée pray euery where for thou it is that shal glorify the lord But if quietnes and rest bee giuen vnto thee vse discretion and modesty in ordering thy forme of prayer For the second thing in this poynt which I noted in Paull without ceasing This is my iudgement that thou bée like minded in all thinges and remember it is the Lorde that searcheth the harte and the reynes that hee will bée worshipped in Spirite and truth But now wée haue harder matters that befall vnto vs and if so it pleased God I would like lots might happeÌ„ to vs al. For I know there is none whom God hath touched by his spirite inwardly but wisheth him selfe accursed to bringe saluation vnto all I speake it for that it is so hard a thing for the sonnes of Adam to bee agréeable to this in all poynctes namely one to praye for an other Ieam 5.16 and for thy enemyes and persecutors Math. 5.44 Lu. 6.35.23.34 Actes 7.6 And for all men 1. Tim. 2.8 I enter now on sutch a stage as that sufficient reason might bée showed to draw the ful length and whole discourse of this tragedy But it is not my minde to vnlase and ripp vp the woundes of any man For euen the vew and sight of this story may bée pitiful enough to any Christian To bringe in place the speakers hereof It were that of Atreus in Seneca and of Astiages in Iustin to bid the Father to the cating of his owne Sonne But I take an other way and not so lothesome as is that for such as bee of this Seane shall not speake I only content to vse a doÌ„me shew for it is straunge that mindes of men are so distracted as the life of any should onely consist in lyfe of thear 's and their iudgment vpon others to stand as sound iudgement to pray for none to condempne all to like of few to vpbrayd the best such iugling there is in worldlinges I know some that haue stumbled so vnluckely on sutch that their hurt hath beene more in one howre then heapes of Golde can recouer in many yéeres These I doo admonish and I charge them too in the Lord for to stay at home and pray less is better for such then to range abroade and liue worse and this is my exhortation to pray for them that curse thee to hate none to iudge the best to loue all for it sauoreth of Anabaptisme to beate downe to suppresse to throwe downe to the ground any man whom thou neuer knewest worthy the smyting to exempte any as extrauegaunts to the Lorde that couldest neuer iudge what the electe are Did Dauid neuer pray for Saull or was hee neuer in his hands that hée might haue slayn him if he would Eut hee not of the lappe of his Coate or touched hee the life of his Maister I knowe that if the soule of some were as fast clasped in the hands of them as the lay of Saulles Coate was in the hande of Dauid it had béene mangled and hewed in péeces before this This is it I giue in charge let them of this world thinke well of all and hope euen of those that bée without For though Samuell would not sée Saull vntill the day of his death yet mourned hee for him Moses will not sticke to pray for such as haue cursed him The iniuries that hee sustained in Sur and the outcryes in that Wildernes of that vnthankefull people turned not away their remembrance in his prayers to the lord Nor Ieremy so often layd in Prison and clogged with Chaynes could yet forget the anguishe of Sion and the tribulation that befell to Ierusalem but hee praied for them Now pittyfull is then the state of vs who rayseth vp him that is afflicted who windeth vp his sores and powreth in Oyle â— and remooueth the stâ—ipâ— from the hart of a truth the sinne of Iudah is written with a pen of Iron the poynt of a Diamond hath ingraueÌ„ in this people so sore a hatred that life to death and flesh to earth and Golde to drosse is chaunged as soone as their lips from leasing or their mindes from strife If you had bin at the death of Steauen when the stones rushed so about him and the states of Ierusalem clapped their hands to drye vp his blood I am affrayd the question might haue béene asked to what end hee suffered so many blowes and these fellowes can not abide so few wordes I aunswere litle herein That which foloweth shall sufficiently approoue it For beside the breach of brotherhoode in the worlde which is common there is many thinges to bée consithered in prayer Onely vnderstande that I wright not as a teacher to reforme that I sée amisse that pertayneth to the aged and the hoary heades I speake now to younglinges and to Babes sutch as bée of greater grothe whose manners I haue glaunsed at whose life and welth I neuer touched to them I leaue the whip and the heauier iudgement my lesson it is to young Schollers whom I teach after this manner Thy peticion made to God hauing clensed thy vessels from dregges and thy hart
lay not thy infirmities abrode and vncouer not thy nakednes before the Lord God when thou enterest into his seate and iudgest presumptuously in thine owne eyes then looke about and beware For of a trueth he hath the lawe and the Scepter and he hath the sworde to destroy thée Remember Dauid his supplication vnto the Lord. O thinke vpon thy tender mercie and louing kindnesse for they haue béene for euer Remember not the sinnes of my youth nor my rebellions but according to thy kindnesse remember thou mée for thy goodnes sake O Lorde I thinke Dauid indifferently smyteth vs vnto the quicke and he that shall turne him selfe to sée the manners of our time will thinke there is scarce a God vppon the earth to sée what glorie he suffereth in the vngodly men and to sée howe the head of the iust is couered with reproches But as the beautie of the Sunne till the cloude ouershadowe it and as is the Palme trée till the frost nippeth it as the blossome of the Peache till the winde alter it so is the beautie of the wicked til the Lord cōsumeth him For if God enter into iudgement what flesh shall bee iustefied in his sight For euen this confessed Daniel in that hee and other of the Church presented not their supplications before God for their owne rightuousnes but for his owne mercy sake foreseeing that wee of Adam are by nature the Children of death to what ende shall wee striue with God whose spirite hath not alwayes striued with vs For he knew that wee were but flesh and that vayne were the cogitacions and thoughtes of man from his youth Then let this bee our first way to prepare our selues to goe to prayer that wee take vnto vs humilite and debase our selues before the Lorde The second kinde of seruice or duety wee owe and rightly to come vnto prayer is this that wee bee not gilty of that in Esay This people confesseth mee with their lippes but their hartes are far from mee Hee that is offender herein is not fitte to come vnto the Lorde namely to haue thy body at the Temple and thy presence at the Alter and thy harte at holme Can the Aethiopian be made white or the sōmer chaunge his course Can you gather Grapes of Thistles and Figges of Thornes wilt thou fetch Honye out of the Rocke and the Sunne beames from the duskishnes of the night or the Cristolet or the Saphir out of all quarters of the earth No more will hée his glorye from the wicked nor his loue and fauour from the vngodly nor ioy and Heauen from the dissembler nor his Christ and his owne presence will hee shew for euer vnto the Hypocrite I remember I spake hereof before yet it is necessary to touch it now that the iust measure of the man of God may appeare The third thinge or the preparation and pathway that wée may haue more assured entrance into praier is to bée of a faythfull and vpright conuersation and to bée steady in fayth If wee come vnto a Senate or before graue and auncient councellors wee repose some assuraunce of that wee come for in their hands and I knowe if it bée the price of Monye there is no man but speketh very cōstātly Then if we haue any thing to craue for of the Lord it behooueth vs to tread our steps aright to lay the forme of our wordes duelye and the manner of our speeche that wée lispe not and thy thoughtes and cogitacions that thou wauer not before his Maiesty For if thy minde be not setled and thy dealings dispised and thou thy selfe strengthned that thou shiuer not it is in hazard but that thy whole request perisheth And to say the truth how can wee call on him on whom wée beleeue not Goe wée vnto the Mariner and the Seafaring man and to no ende or thinke wée then to bée drowned Doo wée run vnto the Phisition or wayte wée for poyson will the Lawier take his fee for nothinge or can wée bow our selues before our God as if wee were at Beersheba or at Dan or at the Idolles of Samaria to retourne agayne without aunswer then vnhappy truely were our case but euen for this doo we come before the Lord to wipe away the teares from our eyes and the burthen from our shoulders and that hee would accepte our fayth For hee that beléeueth in him hee shall not perishe but haue life And vnto this ende are we called that we might bee heires of eternall saluation accordinge to hope Titus 3. Therfore Ieames hee that prayeth let him pray in fayth not doubtinge for hee that wauereth is like vnto the leapinges of the Sea that is turned and walowed in the winde and let not that man thinke that he shall haue any thing from the Lorde that asketh not stedfastly It was well sayde of the Apostle Lorde increase our sayth and agayne helpe or vnbeleefe for it is very hard for flesh and blood to aske so faythfully but that he wil be still in a mammoringe To the end then that wee may appeare before him clothed with rightuousnes and our garmēts bee spanged with sinseritie and truth that we may know to pray faythfully to obey steadely to trust in him obediently I will drawe out the Image of a perfecte and vpright Christian and lay open the tokens and signes of an Infidell There is for so I sinde in the writers fiue kindes or maner of fayth which I doo professe that I haue red also in the booke of God. 1. An Historicall or Ethnicke like 2. A deade fayth that is good for nought 3. A fayth of miracles cōmon to the wicked 4. A temporall fayth which is but for a time 5. A iustifiyng fayth which remayneth euer AN Historical faith such a one as is of the Ethnick when there shal be no difference made of the Heauenly and the Eternall God than is of the Infidell to an Idoll of a Panime to his counterfet and halowed Saincte or the Gentil to his Saturne or the Turke to his Mahomet And this manner of Religion it is in all those that be on the face of the earth for the Heauens declare the glory of God the Firmament his handy worke and very nature shewed to the Heathen that there was one that satte aboue that spred abroad the face of the Heauens as a coueringe and called the Sunne at his pleasure and renued the course of the yéeres Cleanthe◠in Seneca cryed out Duc me summe pater altique dominator poli that excellent verse in Peter Martirre borowed of the Poet Homer can testefie the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristotle had Ens entium in his lips as for any thing els hee knew not It is a common thing among the nations to confesse a God as for ought els they know not Otherwise as I finde it in Arnobius the Persians would neuer ioyne themselues with their Mothers Nor
thrones their dominions their Empires or sought their owne glorie made an entraunce ready gate to set vp and establish the sincerity puritie of religion Therefore Christe of him selfe testifieth I séeke not mine one name but my fathers that seÌ„t mée â–ª I haue glorified thee among men and I will glorifie thee againe For if he be our father where is our honor Will the childe acknowledge his parents the wild and sauage beast giue place to them that nourish her succeadeth the fire the heauens in his place and the fire the ayre and she ayre the water and the water the earth and the earth vs shall not we acknowledge and reuerence the Lorde of Hostes who dwelleth betwixt the Cherubynnes and ought to be worshipped of all nations vnder heauen Cyprian hath giuen as touching this firste point hallowed be thy name in mine opinion a verie good reason For saith he wée craue not that God should be sanctified in our prayers who is alwayes holye but that his name sanctified in vs wée might be made perfecte and holy in him Thus I also finde it in the booke of God in that place Be thou holie because I am holy Then our prayer is that being sanctified cleansed made perfect in the Lorde we may be holie and good perseuere therein For this cause Paulinus in the fifth age of the Churche when he liued called our Baptisteries places of restoring againe of man meaning thereby as I do gesse that we ought to rise froÌ„ sinne and liue to life mortifying and beating downe the lustes of the fleshe and as wee shoulde sanctifie the name of the Lorde so we ought in our conuersation and in our walking before him to bee againe sanctified that is walke as holy before him For as the water in the fifth of Iohn did neuer clense make perfect but when the Angell moued it No more is man renued and altered but when the Spirite sanctifieth him And as Sara was not by nature but by promise made a mother and bare a childe So are we holy not of our selues but of the Lorde Therefore we neede daily sanctifiyng and seeing that wee sinne and fall so often wee must rise and be reared vp in Christ in renouation and sanctification of the spirit For this is our sanctification in Paule that we be no fornicatours no worshipers of Idols no adulterers no light persons no folowers of wemen not théeues not deceiuers not haters not drunkardes and these sometime we were but we are washed but wee are iustified but wee are sanctified in the name of our Lorde Iesus Christe Master Gualter vppon this place hath an especiall note as touching this hallowed or sanctified be thy name neyther wil I blame him here in consideration the superstition of the world is so great who begyled in the vanitie of their thoughts are not able or else will not iudge aright of the will of the Lorde He findeth greate faulte for that men take an occasion from the name of God as though the bare rehersall thereof had vertue in it to doe wounders signes and miracles in the earth And of truth that wherewith M. Gualter found fault is so common in the worlde that as euery one is holyest and wil be counted godlyest so is hée in this life peruersist I wish that of Cyris were setled in the mindes of men that beefore they iudge of any thinge in the Booke of God they would consider thrée things the time the person and the matter that is handled which if they were duely wayed it would bee a cause good enough that men should not stray as they do in the iudging of the Scriptures For as out of this place is grounded this error that if wée recken vp the bare name of the Lord it is sufficient for vs if we say sanctified be his name it is enough vnto saluation therfore the commoÌ„ sorte of people repeate and vtter these wordes of Christe but they consider no more and so think that by saying of the same they haue discharged their duetie but this it is grosse and pernitious it sauoureth of the flesh alone that is sluggishe and heauie tired if it take any paines in searching out the wil of God For not euery one the saith Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but be that knoweth the will of my father doeth it This is the onely cause that the heretikes haue erred so grossely heretofore â— haue taken the bare wordes not the meaning of the spirit Therefore to take away all occasion of falshoâ— which is gathered froÌ„ the name of God I save this The name of God in Scriptures doth signify euery thing which is proper vnto him wherby his heaueÌ„ly diuine nature or his works glory appeareth As in Dauid thy name O Lord thy praise endureth for euer it extendeth and reacheth to the ends coastes of the world and againe praise him al you people blesse you the name of the Lorde Iunilius writting against heretickes reckeneth according to the Hebrewes computation eight especiall names giuen vnto God which bee these first God then Lorde also Lorde and God together or else almightie or sufficient or omnipotent or our piller and stay or God of hosts or a iudge and searcher The He rew I haue lefte out for I thinke it not coÌ„uenient the rehersall nowe these onely significations be they that are presented vnto vs and by these names is he called in the scriptures especially by Abraham when he apeared vnto him and then when he spake to Moses Exod. 3.6 Exod. 15. Psalme 86. And the Grecians call him a secret sercher or pearser of all thinges and a sister of our thoughts Wher vnto Peter Martyr Musculus haue in diuers places alluded and maister Gualter semeth to touch the verie same vpon the exposition of the name of god Here vnto I adioyn put those same glorious titles giueÌ„ vnto him by Moses when he desired he might see and looke vppon the Lord god Exod. 34. For then when he passed by in the cloude when Moses was put into a clifte of the rocke and God had put â—â—s hand before him and Moses sawe his backe parts alone he cried out lord God mercifull and liberall â—â—ntle and pitiful of infinite goodnesse and trueth keeping thy goodnesse for thousanâ—s forgiuing iniquitie and transgressioÌ„s and sinnes leauing not vngodlines vnpunished but visiting the sinnes of their fathers in 〈◊〉 sonnes and sonnes sonnes vppon such as feare not him and kéepe not his commaundements This other such like places of scripture do open and shew vnto vs the incomprehencible Godhead of the Lorde which onely is seene in his workes his creation and his creatures and by the same commaunded in this place to exalte magnifie and blesse his name The wicked take occasion as I shewed you before to call on his name verie often and thinke they doe
thy kingdome come Therefore Eucherius vppon the kings doth figuratiuely drawe the kingdome of Saul vnto Christ in that they of Israel lost the kingdome and gouernement by his reprobation and it shoulde be recouered againe vnder the Messtas by free gift Lactantius giueth a spiritual heauēly kingdome vnto Christ for that he was obedient and fatthfull to his father and fulfilled all thinges euen to the death of the crosse therefore he hath giuen him a kingdome and honour and rule Also Epiphanius maketh a comparison betwixt the house of Israel and Ierusalem from whome the scepter and kingdome was some times taken away but saith he for euer shall our glorie last which we shal haue in the throne of the Lorde And his kingdome it is not on yearth for so he testified vnder that testimonie hee gaue vnto Pontius Pilate Therefore Cyprian Christ may be called the kingdome of God whome we looke for dayly and in our prayers desire he woulde come spéedily for in so much as he is our resurrection our glorie our crowne therefore shall we rise be made like vnto him and raigne with him most gloriously It is true and certeine as there is a dominion and sceptar on earth so there is and shal bee a kingdome in heauen so that at such time as wee pray and desire to be with Christe we desire to bee with him in his kingdome which in the ende hee will giue vnto vs in heauen Then as the power of Sathan is great and as he hath his pollicie and ingins readie prepared to snare vs so hath the Lord God his ordinarie meanes to bring vs to his kingdome and hee layeth vp in store for those that bee his against the day of his comming First of all the kingdom of God was knowen and opened inlarged verie aboundantly by his worde which he gaue vs so that they which were snared intangled by Sathan had to runne vnto that eternal decree and heauenly Oracle that was deliuered by the Lorde The séede of the woman shall tread down the head of the Serpent with this as with spirituall foode were our fathers fedd and liued in the hope which they had in one Christ for they hoped for an heritage and for a kingdome and for their redemption which they knewe shoulde bee fulfilled in their season Secondly the amplification and increase of the kingdō of God was shewed to man in that when the appointed houre was come he sent his onely begotten sonne into the worlde that beeing made man of the virgin Marie he might take our weakenesse vppon him and beare our infirmities that our nakednesse might be no more open before God his father but we might be clothed and couered in his peace First he washed away our sinnes and nayled them vnto the Crosse and adopted vs into the libertie of the children of God That we might falter no more and slide from him he lefte a defence and shielde for vs which is our faith that albeit we haue sinne and iniquitie ranging in our mortal bodies yet by a liuely hope in his bloud we might stande stedfast against the enimie and haue our sinnes no more imputed to vs but be counted able to stande before his tribunal in the merite and death of his sonne and such an assurance is giuen vnto vs of life in that kingdom that Paule bursteth out into a verie vehement speeche and wondereth at the Lord that hath brought to passe so much for vs For who can lay ought to our charge that be the children of God It is God that iustifieth who shall condemne It is Christe that is dead nay rather which is risen againe that sitteth at the right hande of his father and is an intercessor and mediator for vs Wherefore séeing the sonne of God hath made a satisfaction for our sinnes and hath by his resurrection vanquished hell death the diuell and condemnation it doth followe that he hath made vs a frée passage to his kingdome and hath set in good order the perfection that was wanting to make vs obedient children in this life and to giue vs his rewarde at the length euen a crowne of immortalitie and glorie And here commeth in the thirde thing that establisheth and giueth vs full certeintie of our kingdom in Christe whereby he squareth vs as fit stones hewen out in good time for so excellent a building and it is the earnest of the spirite procéeding from his father to direct sanctifie and gouerne vs against all the assaultes and temptations of Sathan And here it commeth to passe that where as by nature and offence of the first man we are vnreadie and vnméete to do that which is acceptable pleasant in his sight nowe by his spirite woorkinge in our mindes and consciences and daily striuing with the fleshe wee finde aptnes in our selues and a more readinesse to obey the Lorde This comforter as he was moste plentifully in great terrour and astonishement manifested to his Apostles at the firste enlarging of the kingdome of God so hath he not forsaken vs thoughe visibly he appeare not vnto vs but doth purge and wipe away our infirmities and lighteneth vs by a perfect calling and secreate operation through the obedience of his name that we may knowe what the holy and perfect and readie will of God is And as Saul a verie wicked and vngodly man was founde prophesying among the Prophets and Amos from the Mulberie trées and from the plough was taken into the temple and Sinagog of Hierusalem and as some of the Apostles from the net and the fishers hooke were altered and chaunged vnto other maner of men so is it with vs made and fashioned againe that were before filthie and wicked we are purged renued clensed and renouated by a more liuelye quickening wee stande boldly before his throne of grace and heare knowe the glad tidings of peace for the spirite maketh intercession with groninges for those that be the Lordes and worketh mightily in our heartes vnto saluation Fourthly and lastly this kingdome of God is increased and inlarged by the preaching of the Gospel a verie ordinarie way that God hath left vnto vs to bring vs to heauen euen to beléeue the worde and obey the Lord God and to attaine to the ful measure and depth thereof which is the eternall decree purpose and determination of his death the ende wherof is our life the cause thereof his onely loue good wil and fauour that he bare to man openly knowen and apparant by the Gospell It is therefore called the Gospell of Iesus Christe the sonne of god Mar. 1. It is called the word of Christe Collos 3. It is called the worde of the Lorde Act. 6. It is called the doctrine of Christ or the teaching of the Lorde Act. 13. And it is called the teaching of him that saueth Tit. 2. It is called the preaching of the Lorde Rom. 16. all which titles epithites giuen vnto the
Gospell that is preached haue this ende To knowe that Firste it came from God then it is deliuered vnto man next we must beléeue it and herchy it is wée are saued for this cause it is called in Math. 13. the good séede By this Gospell health and life is shewed to him that beléeueth for which cause Paul said I am not ashamed of the Gospell of Christ for it is the power of God to all them that beléeue It is also called the worde of life Verbum est viâ—â—â— that containeth or layeth vp a crowne of glorie for him that is stedfast in faith It is called the worde of reconciliation for it declareth the agréement betwixt God man in our Lorde Iesus Christ and so finde we it 2. Cor. 5. All thinges are of the Lord vnto whome we are reconciled in Christ hath giueÌ„ vnto vs the ministerie of reconciliatioÌ„ And this Gospell it is called the Gospell of the glorie of Christ 2. Cor. 4. The God of this world hath blinded the eyes of the vnbeléeuers that the brightnes of the glorious Gospell of God cannot shine amoÌ„g them which is the expresse image of his father therefore in Tim. be calleth it the Gospel of the eternall blessed Lord for this is he that God hath giuen vnto vs a verie pawne pledge full satisfaction for man This is the cause that it is called by the name of good tidings to be the Gospel of the kingdome of God the word of the kingdome Mark. 1. Math. 13. For it bringeth vs from the dominion of the diuell placeth vs againe in the kingdom of the Lord which kingdom as Mat. recordeth hath béene prooided for the godly from the verie beginning of the world but as concerning this kingdom we haue it not in this life present with vs neither attaine we the perfection thereof for there is a kingdome of fauour and of grace a kingdome of glorie this grace then it is in vs because this glorie may bee with vs therefore is it that the kinge of this world is taken from vs that the spirite of God may rest by vs Then in briefe this is the summe of our prayers that for asmuch as Sathan hath his ministers to help assist him to suppresse the worde and beate down the kingdom of Christ of the gospel to set vp fashod vntrueth We humblie craue of the Lord that the enemie of mankind may be snafled and tyed vp his empire rased out and his force abated and that the kingdome of God may onely be among vs Thus much for the second peticion that we make vnto the Lorde wherein is set downe that we ought to pray and vnto God vnto none that is enimie vnto vs but to him that loueth vs and is our father Not to any among the sonnes of men but to one that ruleth them all that sitteth aboue that wee looke for â— kingdome and from the Lord that it is giuen not to vs onely but to all that are his elect not for suche as be earthly but for them that thirst verie gredely and séeke after God that it is not for a time but it is for euer That this kingdome is with vs and we haue a good assuraunce thereof by the worde of God giuen vnto man partely to instruct him partly to strenghen him partly to comfort him that the king and ruler of the ayre may be driuen from him and the kingdom of God and of Christ knowen vnto him whiche kingdome he graunt vnto vs all that hath redéemed all Iesus Christ the righteous to whom with the father and the holy ghost thrée personnes one euerlasting trewe onely and eternall God be all honour and glorie and power and dominion nowe and for euer Amen Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen CHrist our sauior instructing his disciples to pray gaue them firste in charge to sanctifie the name of the Lorde and directe their actiones and vooinges to him that is aboue the father of light For it is the foundation and verie piller of our faith that all thinges be done to the aduansement and setting out of the glorie of our God and his name before wee presume to serch and séeke for our owne commoditie And for that this cannot be done vntill the heade of the serpent and his force be beaten downe We pray that he and his kingdome may be abolished and that the Lord his sonne Christ the kingdome of saluation his gospel may be set vp yet because God cannot reigne so in vs and dwell among vs as either we looke for or we wishe for We make our continual prayer that his will may be done in earth among vs as it is in heauen Whereby wee giue our selues aswell in bodie as in soule to obey him Where our onely demaunde and peticion is vnto the Lorde that his kingdome may come among vs his name knowen of vs hee woulde take vs into his protection and guidance to obey his will to remember his lawes to fulfill his heasts to vowe our bodies and soules asâ—â—uch as in vs lyeth continully to serue him M. Gualter in his question wherefere wee pray not for our selues and that our will may be done as for the Lorde and for his Seing that is against reason we shoulde make request for an other and leaue the commoditie which is our owne Hée aunswereth thus for that Christ hath giuen an exaÌ„ple of praying and set downe that which is is porfitable for vs he could not say that our will shoulde be fulfilled which is vngodly euill malicious and dayly requiring that doth hurte vs But he leaueth it to God as knowing what it is that is more néedefull for vs. Cyprian discoursing hereof giueth a good reason that because the deuill desireth and striueth with vs therefore pray we for resistance that God woulde comfort vs For the deuill willeth and we will But the will of God breaketh both So that neither wil I neither nill I but that God woulde This place it wipeth away all that the Pelagianes can or may say herein for if the will of man be ruled by the will of the Lord and our works and our wits and our saying and our doing be all framed by the will of god What is there left behinde for vs to reason of Thy hands if they laboure thy wisedome in foretelling thy bodie in thy indeuour thy minde and soule what euer it be that it reckeneth yet it is guided by the Lorde And to the man that hath reason what can bee more vnreasonable then when the Angles doe there messags at his wil the heauens obey him at his beck The ayre flickereth fleeteth away when hee bideth it The waters roll and plounce forth and consumeth the inheritannce that dwell vnder the sunne And at his pleasure returneth to his place when the earth remoueth at his wrath the
writeteth in the yeare of Christe 415. Or as Marianus reckoneth 414. In the time of Honorius and Theodotius that spreade abrode his heresies throughout all the East And hee with a greate number more infected the whole countrie And it is complained by Augustus that it blazed and bruted foorth throughout all Palestine And the same is author that it was knowen in Affrica and then carried to Constantinople into Italy into Scilitia into Fraunce into Englande as Prosper recordeth So that I wounder not at all if the reliques thereof remaine still For Melanchton though otherwise a good man and a verie notable member in the Churche of God of late yeares in Germanie was ouerthrowne in this And Erasmus that Semipelagian verie vnsteadie I must needes saye and one that durst not stande longe vnto the trueth stumbled in this As for Osorius his swéete woordes hath so rauished our young wittes that it is to be feared they taste a little of his rankenesse of spéeche Therefore to confounde him with others that Hyerarkye I referre you to that man of late memorie the light and glorie of Germanie Martine Luther that I knowe bothe can and will take my parte against them all For I stande not here by waye of confutation to set my selfe an aduersarie against all but to giue vnto you a notice of some for bothe I others may well touche it seeing it hath had so great defenders of late and so néere vs. Nowe then I speake not of the state of Adam and his sâ—yding from the Lorde what hee was in Paradice It is another question I talke of such as wée be now I touche not what wée are in ciuil matters or what our will is in common affaires eating and drinking in cloth in apparell in suche of that sorte These pertaine to the earth Wée dispute of that that leadeth vs to heauen Wee take not in hande what there is in that man that is regenerated by the spirite where there is a minde and a will to the Lorde by the Lorde But wée speake of him that is in sinne howe he commeth to god And I meddle not with destenie with prouidence with necessitie they are not depending hereon For there should then be no ende of our contreuersie Neither with the ministerie of the woorde and of the Sacramentes as meanes to bring vs Wée shoulde then bee too long Nor yet whether wée haue any light or not any force and might or no any wil any mouing any care any desire For it is easily knowen without God we haue nothing This is it which I touche briefely at this time and it is my question That in the conuersion of the wicked and vngodly man vnto the Lorde Whereby hée is throughly greeued for his sinne whereby hée séeth in a liuely faith the frée mercie of God and the benefite of his Mediatour whereby hee is instified before the Lorde whereby hee is renued whereby he is lightened whether or not there be a minde and readinesse in him whether his will his soule and his vnderstanding is raised or stirred vp of him selfe of his owne libertie at his pleasure for to knowe Séeke the Lorde and his Christe Or whether his whole conuersioÌ„ his alteration his regeneration is to be referred to the Spirite of the Lorde and the woorking of God and his minde moued and settled by the Holy Ghost or whether it commeth and proréede of him selfe This therefore to bee shorte it commeth and procéedeth all from God. For first I shewe that from the toppe of the heade to the soule of the foote wee are full of botches and blaines there is no whole parte within vs as the leprocie the bodie so doth Sathanas infecte the soule as the botches and byles the skinne and fleshe So the deuill the minde and heart of man For wee are vnder bondage seruitude and in the slauerie of this world Secondly the spirite of God onely doth drawe vs and doth renew vs doth make vs newe creatures The minde and heart of man is ruled and obayeth of our selues wee can doe nothing no not thinke a good thought this is more plainely seene by the forme of this prayer that I haue in hande For the caller is the Lorde it is done by his will to saue them that bée on earth to fulfill the petition that it may be with vs as it is in heauen The next cause hereof is Christe First for that he became man Nexte to saue men his bloud was shedde and hee died to get vs life Thirdly he rose from death and went vp to heauen that wee might haue our dwelling and mansion with him who is aboue To haue an assuraunce hereof we haue the spirite that continually worketh in the mindes of those that be his whome he hath seuered from the beginning of the world to dwel with him That he hath predistinated vnto life and made the heires of his glorie For whome hee hath elected those he calleth whome hee calleth those hee iustifieth whome hee iustifieth those hee glorifieth And where is nowe the will of man But to vnderstand more plainely the way and order of his elect whome he hath appointed in this life to dwell with him First I giue them this note that it is by regeneration of the spirit which they shall féele working in theÌ„ in that being ouerwhelmed in sinne and loden with iniquitie they shall haue tast of their owne transgressions and a hatred of themselus as touching the flesh And they doe rise out of darkenesse and the lustes of this life and reforme them as newe creatures vnto God and his Christ making shipwrecke of their bodies for the testimonie of his trueth And therefore conuertion or repentaunce is in the regenerate man in whome there is an alteration and chaunge from this wicked and vngodly life His soule it sorroweth for the sinne past Contrition and repentaunce is so setled within him that the feare of the iudgementes and wrath of GOD hangeth ouer him But hee knoweth that he is saued and kept from it in Christe For this cause we haue a lather to climbe withal into heaueÌ„ by steps degrées as it were to come to God. The first is our conuertion from sinne vnto holinesse and good conuersation The second is our quickning or our renewing according to the image of God that is in man The third is our gouernement or direction in the whole course of our whole life The fourth is the perfection of righteousnes according to the gifte of perseuerance continuing to th end of our race Truth it is that God hath left vs a meane in earth and a way to atteine to this and it is by hearing his word wherein the lawe and the gospell is verie plentifully set out vnto vs And therfore the counsailes of Christ may be sufficieÌ„t that vpon the excelleÌ„cie of his message sheweth our duetie For hee witnesseth that he spake not of
him self but from the father that sent him the had giuē him a commaundement what to say what to speake And sainct Paul saith I make open vnto you the Gospel which I preached whiche you haue receiued wherein you stande and wherein you are saued Therefore we looke not here vpon the madnesse of Enthusiastists that be franticke and thinke they haue the spirite Nor of the Anabaptistes that looke for reuelations and dreames But wee take a meane giuen vnto vs by the spirit which is the word For as man hath power to heare to vnderstande to giue eare to reade so vnlesse there come a schoulemaister to instruct vs and a gouerner to guide vs wee doe as Agrippa did We come but faire and softely I acknowledge an hethnish and as it were an outlandish kinde of reuerence that we giue vnto the lord which is in a bare sight of the heauens vewe of the Elementes that iudgeth there is a Lorde But this it maketh not vnto saluation And for that cause the Prophets the Apostles calleth man but by the name of him that is in darkenesse and in death And therefore sainct Iohn saith the light appeared in darkenes and the darkenesse comprehendid it not And Sainct Paul saith the worldly or fleshly man perceiueth not those things which are of the spirit for they be foolishnes vnto him And Christ himself affirmeth the no man knoweth the father but the sonne he vnto whom he reuealeth him And againe when he asked Peter who saist thou that I am He aunswered thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing god Happie art thou Symon said the Lorde for flesh and bloude hath not reuealed this but my father which is in heauen And therefore verie louingly it is said vnto vs that for this end Christ came into the world euen vnto iudgement that those which are blinde might sée Then this is the ful force and aucthoritie of the spirite that ruleth and altereth the actions in man and maketh the doings of those in the world to be acceptable by quickening reuiuing by altering by renewing the man of God which before was vnperfect That it is the worke of the spirte take that in the Prophet they shal be all taught of god Any that of Christ when the comforter shall come the spirite of truth he shall teach you all things For so I finde it euerie where Lydia did heare whose hart the Lorde opened that she might giue eare vnto the words of Paul. And therefore one of the Prophets I will giue them an heart they shal knowe me So that the true vnderstanding hearing following and obseruing the laws of the Lord from whence come they But from aboue from the Lorde of trueth from him that willeth the saluation of all euen of all those that hee will saue For where Sainct Paul saith that the fulnesse of gentiles shall come in And againe it is saide in the Prophets all flesh shall sée the saluation of our God. I vnderstand it thus Euen as Augustine doth vpon that place in Math. That God willeth all men shal be saued of those saith he whome he hath determined for to saue For as Gregorie Nazianzen confuteth the heretickes that denied the holy ghost to be God out of the first of Iohn that reasoned with him in the same text Euen so do I here For vpon that place in Iohn by him were all thinges made and without him were nothing made that was made they cauell thus The holy ghost is some thing and existeth Ergo the holy ghost is a creature and made by him That father Nazianzen aunswereth thus Al things were made by him or created of those things saith he which he did make or create And so say I he willeth the life of all and giueth saluation vnto all euen to whom in his secrete power and determinate purpose he will giue vnto To those he giueth Therefore Ieremie had a sore fall here at and stumbled greuously in my iudgment in one place where I finde thus It is our parte to beginne that is good but the part of God to end it our part to offer that we can his part to finish that we wil But howe can we most miserably liuing here on earth will that which is good without the will of God or giue assault thereunto which are of strength to accomplish nothing Augustin fasted hereof and almost poysoned him selfe therewith if he had not lifted his head from the cup as he did For he imagineth that faith whereby wee beléeue in God is not to bee saide the gifte of God but to be within vs as from vs And thereby wée begin to wishe and to aske the giftes of god But he gaue ouer this in the ende and attributeth all vnto the Lorde that helpeth prepareth prospereth and maketh readie all our heartes The diuersitie in those that are baptized sheweth this For all alike receiuing the Sacraments are not like in conuersation in life in manners and children some are taken awaye at the time of regenerating some before they are brought into the Church Others before they come to full groweth dyuers in the middle age of which none of them I know but would go to heauen if it lay in their power to get it But because it is the choise of the Lorde and he clecteth vs wée may cry with Sainct Paule Oh the heighth depth and breadth of the riches of the Lord howe vnsearchable are his woorkes and his wayes past finding out Therefore I like that whiche is in Cyprian That wee must bragge in nothing because nothing is ours Onely among the fathers Clemens and Cyprian are those whose bookes I wishe alone to bee read of suche as God hath giuen wisedome vnto and good iudgement in the discerning of Scriptures For they bee daungerous to wade in and though they were neare the Apostles time yet all the chaffe and the rubbigges that our late writers haue stuffe vp their volumes withall séemeth to bée fetched from thence This disputation might bee prolonged But the searching out of the fathers is a greater labour then can be arraigned vnto soudenly And the lothsome sente wherewithall our late writers dooinges are taynted do discourage mée to meddle with them I briefely ende thus If there be yet a reason to bee shewed in naturall causes Or if we wauer and falter in things that be common with vs If the mouing of the beauens cannot be opened If no man can shewe a reason of the brightnesse in the Sunne nor of the cléerenesse of the ayre or of the operation of the winde or of the order and knitting togéether of the bodie If wee cannot measure out the sinewes or drawe out the ioyntes or vnfolde the secreat creuisses in the head What are wee to reason and dispute with God Howe feedeth hee the young Rauen Howe is the Phenix hatched Howe keepeth he the Storke What daiyaunce hath he
giuen to the Conney Or what yeres doth he permit to the wilde Colte Howe gardeth he the Lyon What harbour hath he giuen to the sauage beastes And to saye a trueth what ende hath hee allotted vnto man I saye all the woorkes of the Lorde are wonderfull But his secreat wisedome wherein he hath prouided and laide vp in his mercie for the sonnes of Adam great and most singular benefites They are not to be attained vnto For his doings are incomprehensible his iudgements are secreat His wayes vnknowen his counsell hidden his loue and his fauour farre outreaching vs that wee may well make our prayer vnto the Lorde to haue his will fulfilled his commaundements obeyed in earth because no man is able eyther by wishing eyther by desiring eyther yet by willing it to come to heauen Thus much for these two kindes of men the are in our dayes whereof I am sure there is a greate number For partly by their déedes for they be outragious partely by their courage they be so quarellous the common sort of men must needes knowe them But to that which followeth Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen Cyprian géeueth a verie good reason hereof Voluntate Dei id est Dei protectione egeamus The will of God that is the ayde and helpe of God is that wée néede For without his will we haue nought And no man is of any force if he in his fauour and his mercie help them not for who hath resisted him and hath not dyed for it Then we haue to searche what it is that is the wil of the Lord to be done And this is said by the fathers the same I find in the Scriptures to be of two sortes First his will it is holy pure perfect eternall euerlasting from all beginning without power of man according to the which he ruleth all he gouerneth all he guideth and protecteth all wherein all things be as they are And he hath created fashioned all whatsoeuer that is on the earth from the foundation original of the same And this is alwayes fulfilled No man hindereth it no man stoppeth it For the Lorde hath his decrée aboue all the inhabitants of the earth of the Sea and they be obedient Of this is written in Esay I am God the Lorde which speake it my counsell is firme or indureth euer Whatsoeuer I will that I do Dauid also prophesied hereof For our God he is in heauen he hath done all things whatsoeuer pleaseth him For the counsell of the Lord remaineth for euer Againe in Esay If the Lord of hoasts decrée any thing who is the shall resist him But of this the eternall purpose of the Lord I speake not of for it conteineth the secret and hiddē mysterie ef our election of our predestination of his prouidence of his gouernement of his regiment in the earth And here we do as Iob did Wee lay our hands vppon our mouth wee staye the course of our lippes we falter in our spéech before the Lorde And therefore for that hee ruleth all let vs commit our selues into his hand that guydeth vs and not curiously serch that hath in his secret determination ruled the wayes the steppes and the hearts mindes of all fleshe We therefore handle this point reuerendly and stay on him that assuredly worketh for al those that be his Onely let man and the sonne of man giue him selfe into his handes leaue to serch out by any curious meane what it is he hath purposed The next and the moste perfect will of God is reuealed by the Gospell without which knowledge we are in death This he hath moste fully opened in Iesus Christ his sonne the redeemer onely sauiour of the worlde whome hee hath appointed the onely true right instructour of those that dwell in earth according to the Oracle receiued from heauen This is my beloued sonne heare him verie nighe to the saying that is in Iohn No man hath séene God at any time The sonne which is in the bosome of his father he hath reuealed him For he is the true interpreter of his father And therefore Christe of him selfe saith All that I haue had of my father I haue shewen vnto you Not that Christ was not knowen before for he is openly desiphered out in the Prophete But in especiall at his incarnation when hee tooke our flesh vpon him was made man it was fulfilled that euery one shall tell his neighbour from the greatest to the least euen babes little ones shoulde prophesie of the workes of the Lord tel abrode his name Therfore Peter the Prophets and men of God spoke by the Spirite suffered persecution death were serchers out of the mysteries of our redemption And this is the will of God spoken of in this prayer that we séeke not after any other knowledge but onely bent and giuen vnto his word we meditate to serue him day and night whereof this is the end that God woulde direct vs in his pathes and lead vs a right to follow his lawes That we may delight and be practised therein all our life Nowe to know this will of God the better this is the swéetnesse and perfect comfort that we get to vnderstand and learne 3. thinges giuen vnto vs by his wil. First it is the wil of God that we should be saued by his sonne Iesus Christe for in him we are chosen from all beginning to be heires of eternall life Of this our sauiour speaketh in Iohn This is the will of him that sent me that all which séeth the sonne and knoweth him and beléeueth in him should haue eternall life Then this is our peticion that aboue all it woulde please the Lorde to illuminate and lighten euery man with the trueth that his will by our incredulitie and others their continancie bee not hindered Here appeareth that whereof I made mention before namely that faith is the gift of God giuen vnto vs in his mercie by his grace not gotten of our selues of our might by our strength To fulfill that of Christ so often spoken in Iohn No man knoweth the sonne but the father and he to whome the father will shewe him And verefied yet againe no man commeth vnto me vnlesse that my father drawe him to me For all this hidden Secrete of the death of Christ of his bloude that was shed and giuen for man it is foolishnes vnto the fleshly man if he be not drawen and brought therevnto by god Then from aboue it is we are lightened that his will may bee done in vs that are wilfull Secondly it is the will of God that those whiche are redéemed in I. sus Christe and doe atteine him willingly by faith shewe them selues obedient and deutifull vnto the Lorde and walke in his commaundements he hath taught them Nature teacheth those be his to owe obeyzance and homage
vnto them that hazarde and aduenture their liues for their sake And the sauedge and vntamed Colte turneth backe with his salutation gréeteth them w her neighing that suckereth her Then it is good reason and agreat point in vs to be considered of to know what honour what reuerence what deutie what obeyzance we owe vnto him that hath giuen his life for vs and purchasâ—d a raunsome when we were captiues and cheaned vnder Sathan and that by so greate a price the price of bloude And it is first required that as their is one God so we agrée and loue as one That wee loue him withall our heart with our soule with our might it is his will that those purified washed and clensed in his bloude doe not defile their bodies that be temples of the holy ghost but kéepe them as vndefiled members of his Church Therefore Saint Paule saith this is the will of God your sanctification your holinesse that euery one kéepe his vessell in puritie and in honour not in lust and filthinesse as the nations did that knew not god And to the Ephes God hath elected vs from all beginning the according to the measure giuen vs in this life wee might bee blamelesse and without spot Whereunto I may refer that of Christ done of him at his last supper that very humbly he washed his desciples féete In token of the corruption and putrifaction that must be seared cut away in those that be his Therefore it is Gods will that we folowe not the lusts of the flesh but mortifie our earthly members dying vnto sinne that we may rise againe to newnesse of life Then in these thrée the loue of God the holinesse of life the mutuall societie brotherly loue one with another is the will of God reposed This it is that we must vnderstande herein the will of the Lorde Euen that we be vnspotted and blamelesse in our conuersation That the feare of God and dread of his maiestie may touche vs that we be freendly louing one vnto another through loue Thirdly it is the will of the Lorde that we be conformed and made like in the image of his son Christe And as by his crosse and death he entered the glorious heauens and sitteth in maiestie and power with his father so we may also be tamed and crucified as touching the flesh the we may rest dwel with him aboue For as the father sometime doth lashe his sonne and by a fewe scorges draweth him home vnto him So our Father in troubles and a little trying as it were by stripes bringeth vs backe that were lost and causeth vs retyre that went astray prepareth a salue to heale vs againe Euen meditation and prayer in his Christ This is the cause he exhorteth man vnto the bearing of his crosse and chargeth his disciples to arme themselues against persecution and hath made his saincts to taste of the whippe and of the rodde to reclame them when they waltered in their sinne For it is true that through many tribulations wee must enter into the kingdome of heauen So that it is the doctrine we learne here that when we suffer persecution and all the day long are scorned for his sake we remember it is the will of God that hath promised saluation and victorie to his saincts ouerthrowe and destruction to such as hate him Therefore wee say it is his will to permit the vngodly and lose lyuer to florish for a season and in the ende as the Sunne doth the berbe and as winter doth the trées he consumeth them Furthermore we say Let thy wil be done in earth as it is in heauen and not without good cause for the sunne very gloriously runneth forth and doth knowe his cabbon to abide in and when so euer it pleaseth the Lorde to commaunde them any seruice that be a boue they are spedie in their message The Angels obey him the furniture of the heauens and artillery that is there serueth him The fire at his becke consumeth The ayre at his commaundement infecteth the water riseth aboue the banckes and deuoureth The earth is opened at his pleasure and swaloweth But if he speake vnto man and chargeth him to stand and to obey he rebelleth Then that which by nature wee haue not By grace and fauour we atteine vnto And we pray that hys wil may be done in earth as it is in heauen That heauen and earth may obey him together For as the Angels minister before him and as the spirites and soules of righteous men reioyce and sing vnto him So take it here that there might be a consent agréement of vs all in the bonde of peace in the vnitie of the gospell that heauen and earth might reioyce at it Wherin we consent confesse that he is Lorde aswell of the heauen as of the earth And we condempne those that thinke in their heartes there is no god For the earth is the Lordes and the fulnesse thereof Also we are put in minde of the miserable condition and state of man himselfe that dayly transgresseth and continually forgetteth the goodnesse of his god Therfore our custom is as was the of Lot reckned by Peter 2.2 That liuing with the filthy and swinish Sodomittes lamented dayly and bewayled the filthinesse that he sawe there And as is of the good subiecte that is dayly conuersant with such as be rebellious So is the state of Godly men that sigh and grone in spirite at the peruersitie of those that resist the worde And wish if so the Lord will that his will may be fulfilled in them Thus much for this thirde parte of this prayer wherein wee acknowledge the will and word of God howe it is hee that ruleth vs that of our selues wée haue nothing to helpe vs that fleshe and bloud cannot obey him if wée want his grace to bring vs to him that hée whiche elected vs is God and not of our selues but in his Christe And brought vs out of bondage by his death and made a propitiation for vs in his bloud and left vs an earnest of his inheriritaunce and a token of his fauour whiche is the Spirite that guydeth and ruleth vs and incourageth and comforteth vs illuminatinge our myndes in his might To whome with the father and his sonne Christe be all dominion and glorie nowe and euer Amen Geeue vs this daye our dayly bread THE happie and blessed state wherein man liued before hee fell from God is apparant and opened vnto vs in that the Image of the Lorde appeared in him more plentifully then nowe it doth When as neyther tyllinge neyther sowing neyther reaping neyther gathering was founde vppon the earth But hee sucked from her breastes and gleaned vp the ritches of the fielde without labour and sweate of the Browes But after that Sathan had subtelly preuented vs Our glorye was our ignominie and our fall was our shame and the
Figge leaues were a token to our nakednesse Our aboundance was turned into scarcetic and wee cast out as Plowmen to harrowe and till the ground We tasted no more of the liberalitie of our firste Nurse but for our offence shée became harde and flintie vnto vs and euery one eateth of the labour of his handes and in care and sorrowe doth hée liue all his dayes so that the necessitie wherein wée bee the anguishe of the spirite and trouble of minde that wée liue in is of sufficient force to compell vs to crye vnto our God and to howle in our miserie that he woulde helpe that he woulde reléeue vs that hée woulde prosper vs that he woulde géeue vnto vs our dayly bread The prayers that wée powred forth before the Lorde that kepte the firste entraunce and stepped vp in the former array to conduct vs vnto Christe Perteined vnto the person of God and gaue vs an admonition to seeke the glorie of the Lorde and the enlarging of his kingdome before wée presume to seeke our owne commodities And nowe that obeysaunce is giuen vnto him he géeueth vs lycence in our owne behalfe to aske of him suche thinges as be necessarie And therefore that saying of Maister Caluin the verie Sainct of God and elect of Christe is in manye places of his booke repeated whose sweete speeche and fyled style hath opened suche a dore to Christianitie as that the Spirite of the Lorde for exquisite iudgement and true exposition of the woorde hath not to this day blessed one of his Sainctes more plentifully then he hath done him In his harmonie page the 90. He maketh as it were a couple of Tables and cutteth this prayer by section into two parts whereof the one respecteth the true worship of God The other appertaineth to the woorkes of Charitie And trueth it is Prius nos instituit ad querendam Deigloriam in altera parte ostendit quid pro nobis petere conueniat He hath added for so it pleaseth mée at this time a verie good reason Non enim propriae v◠tilitatis studio sic nos occuparifas est quin primatum semper teneat dei gloria Then this is the ende that I serche out that all things that are necessarie for the vse of man All our good giftes giuen vnto vs from the Lorde be the woorkemanship of his handes and the blessing wherewith hee prospereth vs That out of this may spring this interpretation by breade to vnderstande as Maister Gualter thinketh Vniuersum hominis victum quaecumque ad eius conseruationem requiruntur All that is expedient for life and that which doeth nourishe and kéepe vs. This breade is called heauenly Lightening or comming from aboue vnto vs that our duetie maye appeare and our reddinesse may be séene That séeing all things commeth from aboue our Lorde God woulde not be slacke in giuing vnto vs that we néede Maister Caluine moueth out of this place an obiection That when as Christe hath giuen this vnto all men that are of the faithfull and praye truely Giue vs this day our dayly breade And of this number there bee a greate number that bee verie ritche and haue plentie and their Garners stored also and heaped with aboundance of victuall To what ende saith he is this they shoulde aske of God when they haue yerely comming in to enritch them Maister Caluin aunswereth It is an admonition to vs that if God dayly prosper vs not thy heapes of Corne thy vessels of Oyle of Wine perisheth And so it is and so I finde it For hee is the onely staffe of breade and stay of meate and he can féede Daniell and make him as well liking with the Pulse hee eateth as the children bee that fed dayly from the kinges table And his power is séene aswell in him that dwelleth vnder the Oke and in the depth of the earth and in the poore cottage as it is in the Pallaces of the ritche and with those that haue their houses of Cedar The great mightie and wounderfull woorkes of God are many yet in no one is his power seene more then it is in this That euery creature hath his sundrye kindes of meate And euery countrie his sundrie kinde of breade And euery degree his contrarie manner in fare Yet euery one in his stature and eche person in comlinesse hath his countenannce and his beautie from the Lorde I sometimes talked with one not so well instructed as I wished in this And many an houre I spent in talke and a fewe dayes I consumed to open vnto him the woorkes of god I reasoned from the excellencie that hée gaue vnto the workemanship of his handes For the Birdes they haue their glittering attyre and are cloathed as with golde and purple Verye pleasantly they spreade abroade their winges and they vaunt it soorth in the ayre as in their houses and bid battell to their enimies yet are they fedde with verie homely dishes The Beastes of the earth haue their seuerall pasture and make their boast of the flowers and of the gréene grasse and féede verie delicately on the Salowes and are valiant Champions in their kinde and afoorde vs their coates for apparell and their liues for our foode So kinde they bee that when they haue laboured all the daye and toyled in the myre and be verie wearie euen vnto death yet will hee bragge as muche of his haye and of his stubble that hee eateth as the prowdest Paramour of them all of her nyce iouncating I reckoned vp the whole hoast of heauen the creeping woorme The floting fishe the serpent that groueleth on earth The mansions of the depth with the cabones thereof No one thing I pretermitted that I remembred to set out the workes of God his regiment I called to minde that GOD giueth to man all thinges on earth to foster man Yet vnnaturally against nature we abuse the naturall giftes of God. And men verie vnkindly against their kindly course eateth man. Yet is he puissant and coragious in his kinde féedeth as hungerly and fareth as deintily and loketh as merely runneth as spéedely liueth as prondly goeth as stately as we in England with all our concepts inuented for vs Yet could I not perswade this man nature and ignorance had wrought so in him And a Stoycke I found him an Epicure I left him counting him and his belly to be but beastly till God shall turne him This I say that expedient yea verie méete is it we should knowe the operation and inwarde working of the creatour that raiseth out of the dust so singuler an Image and paterne of his deitie and hath made the sonne of that man which goeth to the Plough and to the cart and that followeth the cattel kepeth the swine in the fielde That tombleth at home in the strawe and hideth his heade in the couche the is parched with the heat of the sunne smothered vp with
his beames runneth to the heapes of snowe and abideth in chillie frost and is benommed with the blastes of the winde and houereth ouer a fewe chippes at the end of his labour And féedeth chearely on browne breade Yet euen this fame poore creature dandeleth his little one in his armes and hauing so grosse a father and so homely a Nurse this fame little babe it looketh as pertely in face as comely and sheweth it selfe I waraunt you in gesture so neatly as if it had neuer knowen so base a parentage Yet that which is more strippe it of the poore ragges he weareth and apparell him with purple and fine silke set him at thy table and pamper him vp with thine own delicacies he wil leaue al thy meate thy table thy bed he wil bluther til the death and pine away in sorowe he will acknowledge his father he will call and run to the poore herdwoman he will not exchaunge that same thatcht house for the gorgiousnesse brauerie of the court This is a blessing of God the prospereth-him that tilleth in the fielde and increaseth the labour of his handes aswell as that man that is of the city or in the pauilion or in the houses of great men And it is euen the same thing that I vnderstande here when as we pray giue vs this day our dayly bread Euen that God would blesse vs and protect vs and giue vs of his benifites and inlarge our stoore and permit vs to enioy the welth he lendeth vs And sanctifie himselfe in our actions and féede vs in his mercie helpe vs in extréemitie nourishe vs by his creatures guide vs in our labouring in our going in in our going out in the field in the house in our sitting downe in our rising vp at meate at table at borde at bed euen at all times his grace woulde be with vs to defende vs. It is well knowen that man consisteth of soule bodie we shoulde doe iniurie to our selues and detract from the power of God If in our prayer wee vnderstoode those things onely that bee transitorie and apperteine to this life and left the care and foresight of thinges to come that may last and remaine with vs foreuer in heauen Then let the same be in vs the is in the skilfull Mariner and let vs repose no lesse trust in our selues then the Chirurga doth that in daunger or in perill or in rest or in quietnesse omitteth no one thing that is appertinent It is my wishe also in those that are the Lordes to regard this life as though they liued not and to enioy these terrestical benifits as though they had theÌ„ not for their dealings in this life to deale as though they knewe them not For the life to come to be launchers and fearers of such corrupt and putrified members as shall hinder them And to bee phisitions in there dyet and sparing in their life that the cares of this worlde chooke them not But aswell to seeke for the breade that came down from heauen and the spiritual Manna As they be readie to enquire and serch out for there pelfe in this life For as the bodie is fed to encrease it so hath also the spirite of man his preseruatiues to kéepe it And the nourishement hereof is the worde of God euen Iesus Christe the expresse image and liuelines of his father that came downe from heauen and dyed for vs that suffered on the crosse and by his merits and bloude sheading redemed vs our soules bodies and hath made vs inheritors with him in the kingdome of his father Whereunto Paul alludeth Where hee calleth him the spirituall foode that oure fathers fedde on and that selfe same rocke that they stande on and maketh them to bee baptised with the same baptisme that wee are All which I could liuely set forth to haue bene accomplished vnder the ceremonyes in the lawe But that the houre warneth me to make hast And to this interpretation maister Gualter hath alluded in Luke Whose saying I cannot but reuerence that wrote so learnedly Cum homo duabus partibus conslet anima corpore duplici cibo opus est quo totus ali atque conseruari possit Therefore it is our petion that we may haue the knowledge of his sonne Christ reuealed the only salnation of our soules the we may enioy the merites of his death be led confirmed by the working of his spirite very well and truely vnderstoode in this Giue vs this day our dayly breade And here for the acknowledging and full vnderstanding of this verse I haue at this present alluded vnto our temporall benifits and that the force and eâ—â—casie may appeare collected a certeine simile or congruence which I finde mistically to bee comprised in that it is said our dayly bread He that feedeth vs is Christ Our breade is his bodie Our drinke is his bloud Our vessell from whence we drawe it is the Lorde Our feeding is in spirite The corne or graine it is glad tidings of the Gospel The mill or he that grindeth and fashioneth it is god the father and the spirite The bag or vessell it is put into is our bodies The workemen it is deliuered vnto bee his ministers They that eate and feede hereof be his faithfull and olect in Christ This bread is deliuered by preaching It is receiued by hearing We enioy it or feede thereon by following The manner or condition of this breade is sutch It is pure and perfect wheate the sauour whereof is to life It is vnleuened for it is wrought like sweete cakes with holinesse and puritie It is not rawe like dough but seasoned in the fire the furnace of the spirite It is not Mislin It is without blemishe vnspotted kned with sinceritie It is pleasaunt in taste and operation for it saueth vs. It is of many graines made one bodie to knit vs together in one Christe It is not for a season to our bodies it is for euer to our soules in heauen Last of all wee chawe it and consume it by faith This breade hée that tasteth of and vomiteth it vp no more is sure to receiue the right vse thereof And hee may speake boldly with Paul That hée hath a crowne of glorie layde vp for him Hée néede not repent him of his labour or bee forrowfull for his payne taken on the earth For his commendation shal be with the Prophets that are gone before and with the good men of God that are translated from this earthly mantion and sit aboue with GOD in glorie The Spirituall foode I haue touched and made serche for our heauenly meate Let vs nowe procéede to ransacke out that whiche is the bread of our bodye For in this woorde Bread taken alone for corporall and bodyly sustenaunce I comprehende all kynde of foode of the greate and sumptuous Table aswell as the base and homely banquet Thy clothe thy garment thy
innocent Able by the blood of righteous men and by inglutting him selfe in their innocencie to stande on feete and praunce it to looke alofte and countenaunce it to goe stately to stande stoutly as though hee were moste pure in harte This kinde of man I would hée were not with vs or if hée bée gone let him bée a warning to vs for it is not with our humanitie when God hath giuen vs Bread plenty and blessed vs with aboundance to aske still with Mydas till wée bée choked with Golde So Naball like that wée can not spare Dauid so mutch as thrée Loues of Breade to féede his Seruantes That riche gluttō in Luke as I am perswaded when hée lay in Hell in tormentes and saw Abraham hee woulde willingly haue drawen out his Golde vntill the bottome of his Coffars and haue morgaged all his land and substaunce too for one droppe of water to coole his tongue But goe too thou riche man laugh sporte playe and bée merry Thou knowest thy Heauen and that is Hell. The nexte thing I haue noted is this Fyrst he giueth then to vs Thirdly to day Fourthly Bread. Wherin wee are admonished of the duety of all Christians not to gaze so mutch on the commodity of priuate gayne as to pray and to remember the state of the Church For in that wee pray for vs wée pray for all euen such as bee of the Household of GOD. It accordeth to the doctrine of Paull 1. Corinth 12. That maketh our body vnder one head Christe And that mutuall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that compassion and remorse wee haue one of an other is properly set forth to the Ephes 2. And as the Children in Luke are sayd to daunce when their fellowes daunced and are sayde to wéepe when as they wepte and to bée merry when their companions were glad So in like manner are the Seruauntes of our God that remember the afflictions of our fellowe Brethren and thinke on the calamities of such as suffer with vs For as in heauen there shal be not diuers but one Song one Alleluiah to prayse the Lorde And as there is not many Ierusalems but one Ierusalem And as there is but one Golden Read to measure the Temple So there can not bée neither should there bée any more then one voice in one Church to pray to God. Hee that giueth is God To whom it is giuen is all flesh It is to day for wee alwayes neede it And Breade it is euen all manner sustenance to nourishe vs. The vse hereof is this that wée shewe our selues duetiful and obedient rendering due homage and reuerence to the Lord from whom wée haue all things For if the Oxe knoweth his kéeper and the Asse his Maisters Cribbe Shall Israell and they of the house of God forget the Lorde Fighteth not the Dog for his Maister striueth not the Beare for the safety of hir younge doth not the Husbandman lay his corne to vsury And hydeth hee not his grayne in earth And is not the ground thankefull agayne for his tendinge and care hee had of it Then let man cast his eyes to Heauen and thinke on the Lord that giueth all that hée bée not forgotten of his Father aboue when Christ shall come and deliuer vp the Kingdome to his Father and giue rewarde to them that serue him Thus I haue though very wearysome paraduenture to your hearinge bréefelye passed euer this firste lesson of our first Table concerninge man. Two more there is left behinde which if God permit and my leysure doo afforde it shal be more narrowly and straitly handled hereafter Forgiue vs our Tresspasses as wee forgiue them that Tresspas against vs. I Haue very often made mentiō in this my Treatise of the necessity of prayer now the force therof appeareth so liuely and the greatnes therof is set down so fully that in so good a thing in so perfecte a rule appointed by the Lord I once more am enforced to call you altogeather to assemble your selues as they in Esdras did to vnderstande and heare the Booke of God. For as in the Tables of Stone wherin the commaundements were engrauen The first commaundement auayled not if they made a seclusion of the second No more can that which went before profitt vs of the Lorde and of God and of our bare protestation vnto Christe vnlesse in his mercy hee forgiue vs Wherfore wée are to bée called togeather euery one and to all persons I giue notice of thefame that euery one may iudge his dealinge Then shall wee bée forwarde and attentiue to heare the Lorde when wée are found to agrée and méete as one Or when such A. Zacheus is caught among vs as wil not iudge but forgiue and pay his debts and that can as expedient speake trueth in all As for mée I may doo that which Statius doth in Synephebis and with good cause desire and craue the helpe of all which are as I all wrapt in sinnes And iustly I thinke I can crye cut Pro deum popularium omnium adolescentum Clamo postulo Oro ploro atque imploro fidem Not for a light and trifling thing offence is committed he must die the death Ab amico amante argentum accipere meretrix non vult The money that was offered of the louer is refused of his Peragon But euen to ioyne helpe come in one and marke my speech that haue to doe and to medle with that will accuse you all euen of faith of hope of religion of trueth of allegiaunce Non dijs immortalibus As the Orator reported But to God to the Lord vnto Christ that can consume vs. For iniquitie is the way of all fleshe and the treadings of those in earth is ignoraunce Wherefore lot vs consider the vanitie of man and by déepe consideration open the rawnesse of our nature let vs perseuaer in discerning our owne corruption and offer vp our soules and bodies to the Lorde for he it is wee haue offended Therefore in this next percell though it be but a small bundel is trussed vp the saluation ful drift of vs all that can neuer glorifie the Lorde better nor shew our selues more obedient vnto him then at such time as we debase and humble vs before the Lorde when that arrogancie and the man of pride is laide down our bodis mortified before our god For if we do confesse the Lord to be our father if not on earth but in heauen if we séeke to sanctifie him and to magnifie his name If to reigne in vs by his spirite If that his kingdome should be enlarged his name glorified his praise exalted among the sonnes of men If that his will may bee fulfilled and what please him may come to passe If that he giueth to vs continually and feedeth vs dayly and nourisheth vs howrely and giueth vs bread and meate in due season yet is it nothing it is but a bare knowledge and an hypocriticall
Christ And so Paul prayed that the Tēpter which was giuen him that he shoulde not waxe proude after such time be was wrapte vp into the thirde heauens might be taken from him And Christ gaue vs an example hereof in Math. Father take away this Cuppe from me if it be thy will. In another place Therefore came I into the world that by my death I might saue some Or that I might drinke of this Cuppe And this he did for our example for of him selfe he was stroung enough and he knew what should happen but being man he tooke vpon him our in firmities and bare our greife and as for our aduersitie the first kind of temptation it can not be but profitable séeing that God will not suffer those that bee his to bee tempted aboue that they bee able to beare And Iames. 11. Thinke it a greate ioy my brethren so often as you fall into temptation seeing you know that the tryall of your faith bringeth patience and pacience maketh a full end or consummation of all And Dauid Happie is he that suffereth temptation for because when hee is tryed hee shall receiue a crowne of life which God hath promised to them that loue him There is also a temptation whiche is of Sathan Maister Gualter in Luke Pag. 286. Calleth the deuill a tempter he fetcheth it from out of the scriptures which in déede you shall finde in many places His reason is good Assidue varieque molitur vt nos a Deo abducat per incredulitatem aut peccandi licentiam male perdat 1 Continually doth the deuill goe about to seduce vs from the Lorde that by incredulitie and by licentious life he may destroy vs Therefore in this place it is well noted where hee is saide 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a tempter And here it is that wee call him Sathan which is the Hebrew and signifieth an enimie And so he is called in Zacharie 3. He shewed mee Iehosua the high preist standing before the Angell of the Lord to resist me And the Lord said to Sathan the Lord reprooued thée thou Sathan that is thou enemy to man And in Iob the children of God came stoode before God and Sathan was among them that is their enimie And so when the sonns of Seruia came vnto Dauid and would haue had execution done Dauid aunswered what haue I to doe with you you children of Seruia you are this day vnto me as Sathan an enimie For they thought to slea Semei to make it a bloudy day to Dauid And so is he called Diavolous a deuil that is an accusar and so it is in the Reuela 12. The old Serpent which is called the Deuil and Sathanas that is your accuser and enimie is cast forth Then wee pray here against temptations That is he woulde not let vs be snared or swallowed vp by the subtiltie and wilinesse of the deuil This is the end hereof That as Caluin Propiae infirmitatis nobis conscii dei presidio defendi nos sciamus That being guiltie of our owne weakenesse wee might be fostered or stayed by the helpe of the Lorde that we may stande assured against all engynes of of Sathan For therfore it is spoken that we may knowe all things happen by the prouidence of God that we were in extréeme miserie and ouercame by the wilinesse and subtiltie of this enimie of ours if hée reared vs not and lifted vs not vp in his Christe Aug. in his booke De Natura gratia Ca. 58. thinketh thus Vt resistamus diabolo precamur vt aufugiat Diabolus cum dicimus Ne nos inducas in temptacionem The Aucthor agaynst the two Epistles of Pelagius Lib. 4. Cap. 9. doth bring out of Cyprian this Exposition when it is sayde Lead vs not into temptation Wée are admonished of our imbecility weakenesse For it is sayd watch and pray that you enter not into temptation A reason is adioyned the Spirit is willing the flesh is weake and this is least wée shoulde be puffed vp insolently Cyprian vppon the Lordes Prayer gathereth a verygood lesson The author of vntrueth and our aduersarie the diuell can doo nothinge without Gods permission And therfore all our feare and our trembling is to be layde vpon the Lorde for that in all temptations the wicked man can do nought vnlesse hee haue powre from god Where I desire you to cōsither with mée two things First the disposition of the wicked for their reason is hée leadeth vs into Temptation hée is therfore the Aucthor of sinne The godly man hée sayth hée leadeth vs into temptation Sée first what a louing Father wée haue how good a God hée trieth vs and prooueth vs hee suffereth vs not to bée tempted aboue our strength For in his goodnes by his Scourges hée reclaymeth vs That which I giue to vnderstand is this The godly take all things to the best for their Saluation The wicked wrest and wreath all manner of Gods works all his dealings to their reprobation For this Heresye grounded out of this place God tempteth vs hee is therfore the Aucthor of sinne I will confute it bréefely Thrée kindes of men I finde here that peruerte and turne the meaninge of the Spirite of God. The first is detestable and derogating from the Maiesty of the Lord. And it is of the Libertines touched also before That hurle and thrust vpō the Lord all their offences al their wicked malitious deedes and make him the Author of sinne The second opinion is of learned and wise Fathers whom I reuerence for their skill and honor for their guiftes Yet holde I not with them in that they are faulty they thinke that God hardneth and stifneth the hartes of men And that hée is the cause of sinne yet so that the same which is malice in man raysed vp by God is perfectnes in him That hée punisheth sinne by sinne yet are they affrayd to graunt that hee worketh in all The third kinde is of them that interprete thorow the whole Volume and Booke of God thus Hée suffereth him to fall he permitteth him to offēd Hée letteth them goe astray and going so nicely to worke thinke they shall escape all hinderaunces thereby to detracte any thinge from the Maiesty of the Lorde Of these some one of them must they cannot all bée true It is an excellente Argumente that I finde in Augustine in his questions Deus non est aucthor vllius rei qua homo fit deterior c. God is not the Aucthor of any one thing in man for which hée is worse But by sin men are the worse then God is not the aucthor of sin Hée that is the punisher of offenders and a distroyer of those he malefactors and consumer of sutch as run in sinne hée cannot bée sinfull or the Aucthor of sin God punisheth offenders and destroyeth malefactors and is a flame of fier to the wicked then God is
euill before as vvith vs. Custome of theÌ„ in India to pray in Aegipt in Barbarie Errours of diuerse that like not our temples Argument taken from traditions Zenon of Gaza A temple built at Edessa to saint Thomas Question â—oued The Surplesse vvhich keepeth men fâ—â—â— church Great abuse littlevse vvheÌ„ men so vvillingly abuse the Lord. Disorders iâ— our church Reason to keepe the Church though the Surplesse bee vvorne No excuse for ceremonies that bee indifferent Our puplike prayer is to be referred in espetiall to the Sabboth Three causes of the celebration of the Sabboth by Gods appoyntment The straight nes that God vsed for sutch as brooke the Sabboth Controuersy that is about the day of the Sabboth The true vse of the Sacraments and hovv to bee esteemed Though vve neuer reccaue the Sacraments vvee may be saued yet for al thâ—g custome appoynted by God is to beâ— kepte The manner of priuate prayer In publique prayer agreement is to be made of necessitie Their euâ—ome and maner in the time of Baâ—ll Athanâ—sâ—uâ— record Praecise maners they be vn manerly novv Concilium Nicenum Much striuing small Christianitie in a number of these Hovve to prepare our selues to praye the last parte of this booke The 〈◊〉 thing in our preparacion to prayer it to be humble and lovvly in heart The manner of vvorlingâ— and of hypocrites Humilitie in all at comming to prayer Psal. 25. Dan. 9. Gen. 8. The state of such as dissemble The perfection of the man of God. Rom. 10. Luke 7. Mark. 9. For that the Infidest and the Panim the vngodly do thinke they haue fayth I haue therfore put in this diuisioÌ„ or disterence which is in fayth â–ª The Heruâ—â— the workâ— of his handes doo declare there is a God. Brutishnes in the â—â—ntâ—â—ies and sâ—ch as know not God. Esay 6. Diocletiam vvorshipped as a God The blindenes and hardnes of harte for their incredulite vpon the Gentilles The end of the election in man at his calling to be godly c. The Gospell bringeth in all trueth vvipeth avvay all idolatrie and all supeâ—stition all blindnesse errour and teacheth vs to knovve God. Gen. 4 Gen. 21. Gen. 37. Wicked men infidels stroken vvith feeling of Gods iudgemeÌ„ts though else they knovv him not therein shevv that they deserue death and condemnation A dead faith 1 King. 12. Theodoret of Cyrus Blindnes iâ— the heretikeâ— The order in double dealers Ioâ—h 7. 1. Sam. 2. 1. King. 16. 1. King. 13. This euill life maketh all the pomp and boasting of our common striuers to vanish avvay The very vvicked are preserued kepte for the good mans lake This kinde taketh avvay the hope that is in Anabap. in papistes in the inchauntresse in the vngodly Crisostom 〈◊〉 Theophilact vpon thiâ— Prophesing and miracles and signes a tryall oftentimes of his people Miracles theâ— be◠〈◊〉 signes they be no certâ—ya tokens of lyâ—e Simon magus estemed as God with the Samaritans A bufiue â—â—gument 〈◊〉 froÌ„ Ciprian The villany of the pope Hildebrand The peeuish nes of their reason appeareth Error is shevved by example Dregges of Popery in â—apistes Trifling bookes of sluggish idle priestes SaluatioÌ„ only in a liuely faith Faith vv â— is for a tiâ— The vn tovvard and vnfearned reason of a popish prelat The true fight of the faithful man To be faithful for a time to reuolt is a signe of reprobation how euer xvc cloak it Time trieth and persecution iudgeth of the good golde and then shall the drosse be knovven poperie thâ—â— vvas once iâ— England 1. King. 2 〈◊〉 2. King. 10. 2. King. 23. Iudg. 11. There is falshed and vvickednes euen in those that professe the Gospell Eph. 6. These vveapons shevve not thy man lynes but goâ—lynes Readines in praying steadines in perseuering and vvatchfulnes in thy dealings bee trevv tokens of iustefiyng fayth Thâ—e things to bee required in a iulcesting fayth A man hopeth that beleeuâ—th not but hee that hath fayth hath assured hope A sight and vevv efhope before vvee come to faith A true and infallable signe of sayth Starters from the truth Examples oâ— the true iustesiyng fayth by this from Christe The Spirit that is guide and leader of all such as feare the Lorde The spirite is only retayned by prayer Gen. 4. A reason thaâ— vve are not iustified by good vvorkâ— The profite and commo ditie that vve haue by faith Without grace vvithout the operation and vvorking of the Lorde vvee fall to the ground Our faith hath adioyned to the knovvlege therof three things A good token of a true Israelite to be a hearer of the vvorde and is also verie often a couering for the vvicked to cloak him vvithall Papistes runners abroade and greate seekers after Bulles and pardons no follovvers seekers of the vvorde of God Papiâ—es that looke for a day An exhortation to those yong schollars to vvhoÌ„ this same vvas vvriten As God hath made vs so vvill hee bee honored for vs Comlynes 〈◊〉 commended by Paull elâ— eucry man vvill haue his custome theÌ„ shall there be no order This dealing and dalying precisenes yet vvickednes in greater matters is abhorninable These and such like bee common with vs. More amendment and les iudgement of others is good All order contempned vvith vs. Obedience is superstition vvhere vvisdoÌ„ is vvantinge Signes are to kens no necessary assuraunces of our saluatioÌ„ Hee that forsaketh not the vvorks is the Seruaunt of the Diuell and hee hath no portion in Christe Wee are of the Church euery man is not the Church In speaking dissembling in brotherhood falsehood in thy actions nought else but factions they be tokens of impietie no Christiamtie The conâ—eÌ„pt of Magistracy is the only token of one that is carclesse Fâ—llinge so grosely and cauilling so dispightfully is a small token of Christiany tie If errors bee not taken in time they will neuer be Seared or weeded out will death Al iudgment is to bee deferred to the Lorde but no authority is giuen to mâ—â— A general repeticion of things contayned in this Booke All our traâ—aile in this life all our paine it is made ioy pleasure vnto vs in Christ The differeÌ„ce in the prayiÌ„ng of our forfathers the contrarie aic in ours They prayed as for one they looked for vve pray as thankfull vnto him in that vve haue receiued him God is our father in that he is the father to his sonne Christ and God to vs in that vve are his brethren God spake vnto our fathers but roughly to vs familiarly by the man Christe The heauens may passe avvay but the loue of God vvill neuer faile his children The death of Christe sealed our redemption fully and made accoÌ„plishment for our sinus The letters patents vvee can shevve or our â—nheitance The loue of God is seene in the vse of all his creatures the heauens the earth c. No excusâ— can be admitted for thy negligence in the seruice of the Lord.
there hath bin darkenes and ioy vvhere sorrovv and truth vvhete vvas ignoraÌ„ce so out of the kindome of Satan is the kingdome of Heauen made more glorious and better accepted among men The vvicked hee blindeth the godly hee stirreth vp by his temtations he doth make those that be the Lordes more vvarye God neâ—â—â— forsaketh hist but in desperate cases vseth mightily to restore hiâ— children God vvilhaâ—e his to mourn a season that they may be glad and reâ—oyce vvith great honor No trueth is in his lippes but falshod and lyes be the vveapons of the diuell Of euill Parents often times good children and of an euill stocke good branches yet onely the vvill of God that is tyed vnto no person God is not tyed to the greatest number but hee taketh vvhere he pleaseth and chooseth vvhere he listeth God seeth 〈◊〉 and in due time executeth his fierce vvrath Prayer refiss teth all troubles and if vve vvere at the dore of death yet are vve deliuered by it This serpent vvith many heads God vvill bring dovvne and you shall see him treden vnder foote The Pope vvil fall ere long and his time as it is but short so it is the easier to be borne as he is novve rent torne in peeces and his legges also and feete almost cut off The enimies backbite the vvorde and God and the Gospel if any fall neither knovve they hovv out of their fall ther commeth vp strength and abey the better armed Our strife is for trifles albeit great shevve be made of conscience all men may see hovv small â—â—nscience these haue vvhich leaue their vocatioÌ„ their calling the church the faithfull contemning brotherly felovvship absent them from preaching and hearing the vvorde and distike al but such as they vvould haue this is puritie vvith securatie Very subtil is Sathan seeketh by all meanes to suppresse religion euen by couler of Religion This diuisioâ— came in but of late yeares and Sathan mightely preuailed I knovv not vvhat this precise life meaneth this dealinge vvilleth but I knovv it is against the vvill of God. Flyinge from the Church ronninge froÌ„ preaching so small frequentinge of the Temple on the saboth vvil cause the Lord to take his Gospell from vs. It is filthy wheÌ„ priuate men become Preachers God taketh to him no man can take from him Gods loue vvas seen before the vvorld in electing vs at the creation in giuing to vs in the vvorld in calling vs then in Christ in redeeming vs and it vvilbee fully shevven in beâ—uen vvhen he crovvneth vs. All things do appertaing to the Lorde for he vvas made all in all for vs. Wee haue no glorie but in Christ nor kingdoÌ„ but in Christ noâ— honour but in Christ therefore are vve joyfull glad onely in Christ Faith finisheth and disposeth all things An instumeÌ„t to vvorke vvith all sharper then any svvord to deuide the vvorde of life Though god defer long yet hee vvill pay vs in the ende Man vveake of him selfe vngodlye he is perfited and chauÌ„ged by the Spirit of God. The time it is appointed vvhen vvee shal come to God beefore that vvee are as men in this vvorlde drovvned in sin and vvies kednesse If the conteÌ„pt of this be death vvhat shall become of them that do contempt it The ordinarie meane to come to God is by hering by this life by life God in him our heauen and our saluation and our life The loue of the father is the loue of his Christ that came for man dyed that out of death there might spring foorth life to all beleeuers No man is crowned if he haue not runne for it no man hath it if also hee win it not no man doth win it bntby strength no man is strong but in God so that wee must stay til God giue vs povver that we may haue the victorie Althings are giuen to knowe God but these are giuen to knowe God our neighbour our selues and his Christ in whome wee finishe and end all The ende of our prayer is that the king dome of God his Christe may shine darkenes and popery and dregs of superstition may bee abolished The kingdoÌ„e of God. Nothinge so accepted to the Lord as a vvillinge and ready minde to serue him M. Gualter Ciprian Pelagius con dempned heare The obedieÌ„ce of creatures to the Lorde doth continu ally checke vs that dâ—scbay him break his commauÌ„dements The life of man is for a time but he that feareth God liueth for euer The incomprehencible vvisedome of God and the vveakenes of man. Gods prouidence in guiding and prouiding for al. Two kindes of Heretickes bee condempned here the housholde of faith Free vvill men banished by this place MaÌ„ striuinge vvith God is as a beast but vvhen he fighteth vvith him he vanisheth as doth the dust Simon Magus the beginner of the houshold of faith some call it the family of loue The beastlinesse of man drovvned in sinne Carpocrates heresie Prodicus errour Donatistes their fall In time of peace men do occupie them selues vvith idle questioÌ„s and among those that thinke them selues purest are greatest â—eresies The house hold of faith brought in among the â—ermans A reason that vve all do sinne this man doth erre The sinneof the elect are not to death but falling they rise again by grace The imbecilitie and fall of the faithfull The godly are neuer cast off the vvicked vvhen they stande fall dovvn to hell The spirit of God is not tied to man but man is â—ied to the spirit Three kindes of operation and vvorking by the spirit Reason that man ruleth not the spirite of God. A comparisoÌ„ vvith the Fathers and our men that in all manner dealings crye out that it is the spirite of God. The dumbe creatures are a vvitnesse against vs that obay the Lord yet man doth not MaÌ„ on earth is a straunger but kept of the Lorde till the daye of iudgement Error and faulte of a false argument The fall of man is for tvvo endes to knovv his ovvne vveaknes to praye the more earnesty Heresy of the Persians Their false conclusion taken avvay Argumentes to proue that vve bee ful of sin and that hee vvhich continueth therin shall die the death The Famely of Loue condempned The doctrine of Balaam Nicolitans that make other mennes vviues coÌ„moÌ„ condempned Manlynes is beastlynes humanity is villany vvheÌ„ grace vvanteth Nazianzon Ambrose Epiphanus that doth alovve mariages Ierom. Basill Athanasius The revvarde of sin is death The abuse of our men that vsurpe the glorie of god and edifying and suffer all things and he accounted as vvicked that misti keth them This errour is common but as God loueth the good and the godly so he hateth the vvicked and the sinners they be not the Lordes In this age increased this grosle ignorance after Christ the fourth age Iudges take heede hovve you admitt othes for this herisie is commonly sprong vp it is
abyvvord that those that be not as they are they be vvithout therfore they may svveare though falsly if it be for the safetie of their companion others are thought to be but Aegyptians that are not as they be Arbitrarii A subtile and craftie reason taken from the impotencie that is in man the more by his â—railtie and vveikenesse to stirre vp man. Ieromagainst Bryto Marke the state of vvickednes for as euery thing is most phantasticall so commonly iâ— is beleeued Sooner is the trueth abolished then filshod rooted out and for this reade the state of the kings of israel Osorius I thinke as odiosus to the church of God. Martyn Luther Many things to be vvayed in the handeling of free vvill In God are vve made redie to doe good in our selues vvee Iose all euen our ovvne selues The calling of the finner and the alteration in this life of the vngodly man is the onely vvorke of God. With our conception commeth in sin vviped avvay in the blood of Christ The manner and order of our saluatioÌ„ If man had life of him selfe then no man vvoulde die but this is salse then no doubt eternall life commeth from God. Sorites or rather gradatio So longe as there is life so long raigneth sin in our mortall bodies yet by our imputation in Christ it is vviped avvay Foure seueral things required in the regenerate man This meane is much contempned preachinge despised if the man bee misliked therfore is there open to kens of infidelitie Enthusiastike very heretikes Heare the vvorde refuse it not rebell not against the spirite God is saide to do it the sonne to bring it the holy ghost to finish it if it be good that is man and this vvorke is but one Proofe that all our good actions come of God. god electeth Christe saueth the spirite vvorketh and all this is but one vvork in one God. Nazianzne Ierom. The verie chosen and elect vessels of God haue their faultes some more and some lesse Augustine The labor of man is in vaine if God helpe not then much lesse is our saluation in our povvre being sinfull Iudgementeâ— and vvorks in God are secret Cyprian The Pathers are very daungerous to vvade in vvithout great aduisement and ernest prayer for euery one hath his fall the young vvits are casely choked vvith them The consideration of the creatures conuersant vvith vs doth amaz and dim our sight then much more God. If vvee could but immagine the state of the blessed vvee shoulde be rauished O Lord hovv straungly Contentious Scismatickes become if God stay not grosse Heretickes Cypriâ—â— The vvill of God is of tvvo sortes God as hee is can not bee comprehended but as hee shevveth him selfe vnto vs and hath reuealed him selfe in the vvorkâ— of his hands so not els can vvee knovv him The minde of God is said to be knovven for that he gaue vs his Worde and his Gospell vvherin vvee savve the vvil of his father In Christ are vve partakers of the heauenly nature The prophets and the fathers receiued the same spirite vvhich vve do novve yet it is more apparant speketh more familiarly vnto vs then in olde time Three things considered in the vvill of God. All good things commeth from aboue the father of light then papistes haue no place manthinkeâ—h gift of God. The earthly manthinketh vpon those things that are earthly he that is heauenly layeth his cogitations vpoÌ„ those things that are aâ— Our redemptioÌ„ vvrought and bought in Christ Iesus freely The Church of God is knovven in that they Ioue one another All bee not alike but as is the measure of grace so do vve liue in this vvorld To keepe vs from fin it is the token of the man of God. Loue bindeth vp all sores healeth all vvoundes Mortefiynge of our fleshly members is rising vp vnto God. Persecution coÌ„mon trials of the faythfull As sheepe are vve slayne for the Lord sake All creatures obedient to the vvill of God. Euery houre are vvee put in minde of our seruice to the Lorde by his creatures This blessednes shal bee seene in the nevve Ierusalem vvhen the Sainctes and the Aungels and the heauens and earth vvill make one consente and one voyce in seruing God no not the Diuelles shall rebel any more against him but stande to his â—udgemente As God by his vvill did that he could so by that ought vve be vvilling to that hee vvilleth vs least vvee striue against the vvill of God. The vnhappy and pittifull fall of man is seene in that all things stand serue and obay God vve only left that first state and fell from that happines vvherin vvee vvere The earth be coÌ„meth Iron and the beauens be as brasse the trees denie their seruice vnto man if God be angrie vvith him Firste seeke the kingdom of God then all things shal be ministred vn to thee The good gifts of the Lorde are common to all for the Sun shineth and the raine droppeth vppon the vnrighteous as on the righteous man. He that needeth prayeth to haue it he that hath it prayeth to keepe it but happie is that man vvhich doth his duitie and prayeth as commaunded of God that hee falleth not The singular operation vvorking gouernemeÌ„t of the Lorde against nature The singuler operation vvorking and gouernment of the Lorde against nature Our English Athists neuer haue enough till their mouthes bee stopped vvith clay their bodies couered vvith the earth All things are giueÌ„ for maÌ„ man onely is created to glorifie the Lorde Anthropophagâ— Of so homly a mould as vvee came of how bevvtifull a Tabernacle did God erect Al cretâ—rs do knovv their bringing vp and the verye â—outch is more vvelcoÌ„â—chim that is acquainted thervvith theÌ„ sumptuous furniture Giue vs our daily bread this day In the Scriptures bread is taken for the foode of the soule often times ther fore Christ is called the true breade came dovvne sâ—om Heauen to feede vs. Carelesnes iâ— impiety but greedmes with couetousnes is irreligiousnes Wee fell by man vvee are all redeemed againe in the man Christ 1. Cor. 10. One God in the lavve and the same Christ in the lavve vvith one oblation saned vs both before after the lavveâ— for he vvas slaine from al beginning A temporall comparison vvith heauen ly thinges Better is hee that knevv not the vvord and heard not of it theÌ„ hee that hath it folovveth it not the first is of ignorance to reprobation this is of foly to greater coÌ„dempâ—ation that by Diuelishnes this of peeâ—ishnes haue one revvarde eternall death What is vnderstoode by bread God often times tryeth his Sainctes and vvhen all hope is past as appeareth to man then commeth his sauing health soudenly The doctors and the fathers are as good instruments vvhet and prepared for the vse of Gods church Our bread is asked for that it is not common vnto one but to vs all and because God vvould haue vs remember