wilfully blinde the greate loue and holy reuerence the great obedience dutifull alleageaunce which these holy Angels do beare towardes their God howe ready they are to execute his will howe prest to performe whatsoeuer hee doth inioyne them and how loyally and howe faithfully they behaue themselues in all things And neuer was there one found disobedient or rebellious agaynst his blessed will since that great defection apostasie of the first Angels who now being transnatured and degenerate into deuills for theyr sinne of pride disobedience are condemned to euerlasting destruction as holy Iude beareth record And vpon the otherside who seeth not our disobedience our infidelitie nay our plaine perfidie our vnfaithfulnesse our vndutifulnesse our disloialtie and trechery In a worde who seeth not our contumacie insolencie pride and rebellion against our God in all things So that there is no more comparison betwixt the holy Angels vs in our obediēce seruice of God than is betwixt light and darknes fire and water lyfe and death sinne and vertue Let vs therefore throw downe our selues in all humilitie before his footstoole confessing our sinnes and craue mercie at his handes for Christ his sake Let vs cast away this filthie Philautia this selfe loue this ouerweening of our selues and account of our selues as we are in deede sackes of ashes bagges of wind bubbles of water wormes meate and no men Let vs say with the Apostle I knowe that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing let vs hold that for truth which the holy Ghost vttered long since by the mouth of holy Dauid there is not one good vpō the earth no not one they are all gone out of the way they drink vp iniquitie as it were water and swallow down wickednes as it wer bread True therfore is that sentēce pronounced by the mouth of God himselfe in the 6. of Gen. The will of mā is wicked set vpō wickednes euen frō his verie cradle or rather from the verie wombe as the Psalmist Dauid witnesseth where he sayth Behould I was begotten in wickednes and in sinne hath my mother conceyued me So that our willes except they be regenerate and sanctifyed by the spirit of God are nothing else but puddles of sinne sinckes of iniquitie and quagmires of all abhominacion belching forth filthines and breathing out vngodlynes euen to the polluting if it were possible of the very heauens with our sinne And therefore must we needes confesse with the Apostle It is God which worketh in vs both the wil and the deed euen of his owne grace mercie and loue which he beareth towards vs in Christ. And yet notwithstanding there are some that wil not stick to affirm that thought is free and that it is lawful for vs to thinke what we will good or euill But I would fayne learne of these cunning sophisters whether they thinke it lawfull and no sin before God to thinke an euil thought although secretly in the hart I think they will say no. For our Sauiour Christ condēneth an euil thought as a most hainous sin saying he that but lusteth after a woman in his hart hath committed adulterie already before God and is as guiltie thereof in the iustice of God as though he had cōmitted the fact where you see he maketh an euill thought or conceipt of the hart equiualēt with the deed before God Agayne our sauior Christ reckning vp a great catalogue of sinnes which defile a man amongst the rest bringeth in euill thoughts not onely for one but as chiefe and principall So that I conclude that euery euill thought secret motion priuate affection or conceit of the heart whatsoeuer is not free as some Lybertines woulde haue it but rather damnable for is it lawfull for a man to think to conceiue to meditate and reuolue mischiefe and wickednesse in his heart and can the same bee free and without sinne before God Is not hee the searcher of the heart and raines knoweth not he our thoughts long before they bee conceiued in our mindes Respecteth not hee the heart alone and shall wee saie that an euill thought is free God forbid In deede euery good thought is free and proceedeth from the spirit of grace suggesting the same vnto vs but euerie euill thought is damnable and proceedeth from the spirit of the deuill and the stinking pumpe of mans corrupt and canckred nature Let vs therefore praie vnto GOD to sanctifie our thoughts and to rectifie our secrete cogitations that we may meditate and thinke of those thinges which may please him and by his holy grace may manfully put the same in practise to the glorie of his holy name and our eternall saluation But let vs come to other of his creatures You would think it strange if I could proue that euen the verie deuils themselues do feare the maiestie of GOD more than man at lest more than some men yea and bee more obedient duetifull and prest to doo his will and yet it is most true they are so For we reade in the sacred history that the deuils doe tremble and quake at the verie name of God and that they are and euer haue ben ready at hand to execute the wil and good pleasure of God Yet I must needes graunt in deede that this theyr feare is a seruile and slauish feare and this their obedience is a forced and coacted obedience and not voluntary nor proceeding of loue nor good will but rather of feare and constraint but how euer it be it is yet farre better than the feare and obedience of some miscreants towards God who will neuer bee drawen neither by loue feare nor scarce constraint if they could otherwise choose to the obedience of God and executing of his will Naie there are some so indurate and so frozen in the dregs of their sinne that neither feare of hell nor loue of heauen can once moue them to leaue their sinne beeing of this resolution in deede that there is neither God nor deuill heauen nor hel no immortalitie of the soul nor any life after this If these were not their persuasions they wold neuer liue as they do worser than the deuils thēselues who feare tremble at the maiestie of God But they are so far off from trēbling at him that they beleeue there is no God to reward vertue nor Deuill to punish sin after this life And therfore may I conclude that such Atheists are worser than the deuils for they belieue both But let vs leaue them to thēselues proceed in our intēded discourse The Sunne the Moone the Starres the Signes Planets with all the rest of the celestiall bodies whatsoeuer we see what a notable concord what a pleasant consent sweet harmonie they keep obserue in their seueral progressions places reuolutiōs euen frō the beginning of the world to this present day not one of them rebelling or disobeying the law of their maker nor so
Stone and Nantwich in Chesshire for horse and man to passe Hee caused the like causie to bee made betwixt Dunchurch and Brausen in Warwikshier well nere three miles in length Hee gaue twentie pounds in monie towards the making of Royton bridge he made also foure bridges two of stone and two of timber he built also a notable free schoole at DraitoÌ„ in Shrop-shier with lands sufficient for maister and vsher for euer Moreouer hee gaue in his life time fiue hundred poundes in monie to the hospitall of Christes Church in London and an hundred pounds at his death Sir William Peter knight besides that he gaue one hundred pounds a yeere in lands to Exeter colledge in Oxford builded also ten almes houses in Ingerstone for twentie poore people euerie one of them hauing two pence a daie a winter gowne and two loads of wood amongest them all keeping for sixe kine Winter and Summer for euer William Lambe Gentleman of the Chappell to king Henrie the eight made the great conduit nere Holborne bridge in London carrying the water by pipes of lead aboue two thousand yards and this he did of his owne proper cost and charges amounting by estimation to the summe of fifteene hundred poundes The same master Lambe gaue to the parish of Saint Faiths vnder Paules in London sixe poundes thirteene shillings and foure pence yeerely to be distributed equally amongst twelue pore people euerie fridaie twelue pence in monie and twelue pence in bread for euer He gaue also to Christs hospitall yerely for euer sixe pound and an hundred pound in monie to purchase lands to the same To Saint Thomas hospitall in Southwarke hee gaue 4. pound a yeere for euer To the hospitall called the Sauor hee gaue sometimes ten pounds at once towardes the buying of bedding for the poore He gaue to the Companie of the cloth workers in London foure poundes a yeere for euer He gaue to the same companie his dwelling house and other lands to the value of thirtie pounds a yeere to hire a Minister to saie seruice euerie wednesdaie fridaie and saterdaie to preach foure sermons euerie yeere after his decease in the Church called Saint Iamesses in the wall by Cripple gate in London and also to giue to xii poore men to euerie one a freeze gowne ready made a shirt of locoram and a new paire of shooes and to twelue pore women twelue gownes of freese twelue smockes and twelue payre of shooes for euer Hee also erected a free schoole and six almes houses at Sutton Valens in Kent with sufficient allowance mayntenance for them both Hee also gaue to the townes of Ludlow and Bridgenorth to either an hundred pounds a peece to set poore men on worke withall He gaue also towardes the setting of poore men on worke in Suffolke an hundred poundes I might heere recite many moe such lyke examples of our good forefathers if I feared not to bee tedious but I will wade no further heerein at this time hoping that those fewe except we haue shakeÌ„ hands with all godlynesse made a league with death a couenant with hell as the Prophet speaketh wil yet some what serue to the stirring vp of our drousie mindes to the exercise and practise of good workes and to leaue behinde vs to the posterityes to come some fruites of our faith some seales of our profession and some pledges of our christian loue and charitie as our good ancestors haue done before vs. For is it not a shame vnto vs that our forefathers liuing in the times of superstition when poperie and Idolatrie had ouerflowed almost the whole world and hauing but as it were a glimmering of the glorious lyght of the Gospell of Christe shoulde notwithstanding so farre passe vs in good workes as that we may not once be compared to them in anie small measure Oh what a condemnation will this be vnto vs It had bin better for vs a great deale we had neuer knowen the truth than knowing it not to follow it as Christ witneseth in a certayne place if I had not come vnto them and done those works which none else could do they should haue had no sinne yea I pray God that publicanes and sinners do not goe before many of vs Protestants into the kingdome of heauen for wee talke much but walke nothing after it And therfore now at the last euen in the name of God let vs contend and striue one with another in an holy zeale if not to excel yet to match or if not to match yet to come some-what neere our forefathers in doing of good works Let vs follow the councell of Christ who sayth Let your lightes so shine before men that they seeing your good works may glorify your father which is in heauen And doubtles God is glorified by vs in nothing more than in good works being done in faith according to the word of God and in leauing of monuments and remembraÌ„ces of our christian loue and godly zeale towards the brethren behind vs. And no maruaile for in the very actioÌ„ of good works we effect three most excellent vertues christian dutiess as first we glorify God in our selues and by our selues secondly we relieue sustaine and comfort our poore brethren and thirdly we moue theyr harts their soules spirits to thank God for vs to pray for vs and to praise the Lord for his blessings bestowed vpon them in the mouing of our harts to the succoring of theÌ„ For if the goods that wee bestowe be the Lordes and not ours as without all peraduenture they are the Psalmist bearing witnes where he sayth Domini est terra plenitudo eius The earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof and the Prophet affirming the same speaking in the person of God golde is mine siluer is mine and all the riches vpon the face of the earth is mine and haue not my handes made them all and if it be God that geueth both the will and the deede as the Apostle sayth it is then great cause haue the poore soules to prayse the goodnes of God for hys fatherly care and mercifull prouidence towardes them in succouring and relieuing theyr necessities by the hande or ministery of such and such hys seruants And vppon the other side happie and blessed art thou whome God thy creator doth vse as an instrumeÌ„t to do good and to relieue his Saints vppon the earth that haue neede It is a testimonie to thy conscience that thou art a childe of grace a vessell of saluation and feaâ—â—ed vp to the day of redemption But heere peraduenture it may be obiected that these men that did these workes were for the most part Papists and therfore their deedes were naught and no better than the workes of the Turkes Infidels or Pagans I graunt that the most part of them were indeede Papists but yet it followeth not therefore that they were absolutely euill because they were done by Papists The Deuill may doe and sometimes
not now bee anie meanes to build vp or repayre his Church agayne any manner of waie The Lorde hath all meanes in his handes and both can and will in his good time build his Church by other meanes than by the reliques of Antichrist orrmaenentes of idolatrie and superstition Therefore let vs rest contented with whatsoeuer he doeth knowing let vs rest coytented with whatsoeuer he doth knowing that his wyll is the perfect square rule of all perfection and that he doth all things for his owne glorie and the good of his Church But to returne to the matter in hand so to conclude this point I graunt indeede that the building of Abbies and Monasteries in regarde of the abuses which afterwards insued of them by them was altogether vnlawfull pernitious and execrable yea altogether abhominable and consequentlie intollerable yet in respect of the intentions of the first founders of them and of the end whereto they were erected as namely to the end that God might bee glorified by them and his religion exercised maintained practised in them amongst all generations to the end of the world and the like I saie in respect of these ends they were not altogether so vnlawfull nor intollerable but beeing done to these ends to maintaine superstition and idolatrie to iustifie vs before God to purchase righteousnes to merit euerlasting life the like thē were they abhominable and detestable before God man But whatsoeeuer the building of thē was good or badde as good it could not be these are not such as the papists that liue in this age do greatly accouut of to be good workes And therefore to the end no man may heereafter bee ignorant hereof I will as briefly as I can endeuor my selfe to set down in order some such as the Papists now a daies do account for good workes in deede and such as deserue say they in this life infinit renumeratiō in the life to come euerlasting saluation These such like are they as followe The third Section Wherein is contained a briefe rehearsall of such workes as the Papists doe account to bee good workes and of great merite and desert before God though they bee repugnant and contrarie to the word of God and therefore cā they merit nothing but damnation in the iustice of God THE Papists account it a worke of infinit merite and vnspeakable deserte to persecute the Church of God to murther and kill his Saintes to massacre his children and to shedde innocent bloud That this is true I refer you to the registers and records of all ages and times that haue bene since the beginning of the worlde to this daie but especially in that famous ecclesiasticall cronologie of Actes and Monumentes of the Church made and published by that reuerend Father and learned diuine master Iohn Foxe wherein you shal finde almost infinite millions of blessed martyrs which haue bene murthered and put to most cruell death by these bloud-thirstie Papists yea in fiue yeres space to wit in the daies of Queene Marie you shall finde welneere if not altogether one thousand men women children of all ages degrees and sexes to haue bene some hanged strangled murthered burned racked and otherwise most cruelly tortured and put to death for the testimonie of Iesus and for the word of God If you list to haue further profe I refer you to that most perfidious cruell and more than barbarous massacre of Paris wherein were murthered and put to the swoord aboue fortie or fiftie thousand protestants within the compasse of one month throughout the whole realme of Fraunce And yet was this bloudie crueltie and slaughter of Gods Saintes so much applauded of the Pope that hee not onely dispensed with the murtherers but also graunted them pardon and indulgence of all their sinnes besides large promises of rewardes made to the perpetrators thereof as also bone fires banquettinges and feastinges throughout all the Citie of Rome for ioy as though it had beene the yeere of Iubelie or the creation of a newe Antichrist And heerein they doo but theyr kinde For it is the badge of the Church of Antichrist and the cognisaunce of the synagogue of Sathan to persecute murther and kill the Church of God It hath bene so from the beginning and shall bee so as Iohn in the Reuelation most prophetically speaketh to the end of the worlde Cain was a figure of theyr bloudie Church who persecuted his brother euen to the effusion of his bloud Esau was also a type of theyr Antichristian Church who persecuted Iacob threatning his destruction and which no doubt hee had perfourmed had it not beene wisely preuented by his mother Ishmael was the like who persecuted Isaac Pharao the verie same who persecuted the Israelites And truely this is a notable and an infallible marke to knowe the Church of GOD by from the synagogue of sathan For the badge of the Church of God is to bee afflicted persecuted and to haue theyr bloude shedde Contraryly the marke of the Antichristian church is to persecute to kill to slaie to murther and shed bloud to the end It was neuer read in any age or time that the church of GOD dyd euer persecute or shedde bloud but was alwaies persecuted and had theyr bloud shed by the synagogue of sathan and yet for all that which is myraculous the Church of God hath doeth and euer shall flourishe and increase still more and more maugre the heades and spite of all Papists and schismatikes whatsoeuer Yea by how much the more they goe aboute to suppresse it by so much the more it increaseth dayly much lyke to the Palme tree which the more waight it hath layde vpon it the broader it spreadeth his loppes and branches on euerie side True therefore is that saying of an ancient father Sanguis martyrum semen Ecclesiae The bloude of martyres is the seede of the Church And therfore would I wish all Papists to leaue off from murthering the poore Saintes of God anie longer for this if for no other cause yet for that they shall neuer bee able to preuaile against them no they are so inuinsible through the might of Christ who raigneth in them and strengthneth them that the gates of hell cannot preuaile against them nor death itselfe ouercome or vanguish them but euen in the middest of the raging flames they triumph ouer it The Papists also thinke it a worke of inestimable merite before God to laie violent handes vppon the Lordes annointed to kil and murrher Emperours Kings and Princes when they haue done they are canonized Saintes for theyr labour A fit guerdon for such a facte For as a holy writer sayth Multi adorantur per sanctis in hoc mundo quorum animae in inferno sepeliuntur Many are worshipped for Saintes vppon earth whose soules are buryed in hell Such Saintes are these whom the Pope doeth thus canonize Good king Dauid inspired with the spirit of God was of another mind when he
wee neuer fast and that our preachers doe preach against it as against a thing altogether vnlawfull But as they speake truth in this so let them be beleeued in euery thing else Indeede wee holde and that truely that all meates may bee eaten at all times and at all seasons of him that hath faith for so the Apostle teacheth saying Nowe the spirite speaketh euidently that in the later daies some shall depart from the faith and shall giue heede to spirites of error doctrine of deuils which speak lies thorough hypocrisie and haue theyr consciences burned with a hot yron forbidding to marry and commaunding to abstaine from meates which GOD hath created to be receiued wyth thankes-giuing of them which beleeue and knowe the truth And in another place hee sayeth Euerie creature of God is good and nothing ought to bee refused if it bee receiued with faith and thankesgiuing for it is sanctified by the worde of God and by praier So that wee holde it a matter meerely indifferent to eat or not to eate at all times Wee repose no religion in eating or drinking but hold it rather for a matter of pollicie than of diuinitie Our Sauiour Christ sayth there is nothing that entereth into man that defile the man but those things which come out of a man those defile a man It is sayd also in another place All things are cleane to those that be cleane And further we reade in the history of the Acts how the Apostle Paule himselfe was commanded in a vision as it were by oracle from heauen to eate of all meates conteyned in the sheete being also forbid to call that vncleane which God had sanctified made cleane And therefore I say we hould it lawfull by the word of God to eate all meates at all times yea though it were in Lent it selfe But yet if it please the Prince for pollicy sake and for a common wealth for that at that time of the yeare all creatures do breede and ingender together and therefore besides that they are not so wholesome as at other times of the yeare if they should then be killed and eaten as they are at other times there must needes growe great dearth scarsity of them to commaund vs to absteine from eating of flesh that time of the yeare only we willingly obey it as a matter of pollicy and not of diuinitie religion or conscience And albeit it be obiected that Christ fasted 40. dayes and 40. nightes yet it followeth not that of necessity we should absteyne from flesh only for so long no more than it followeth that we must absteyne from all other meates because Christ did so Wee haue no one sillable in the word of God for our warrant to do so Nay if we would imitate Christs example in this we are not able For can wee absteyne from all kind of sustenance whatsoeuer 40. dayes and 40. nights as Christ did And yet if wee wyll follow strictly hys example we must doe so Therefore it is true omnis Christi actio nostra est instructio non imitatio euery action of Christ is our instruction but not a president to follow in euery thing And doubtlesse if he would that we should haue absteyned from the eating of flesh in Lent only he would haue geuen vs some precept or other or at least some one word or other sounding that way To conclude therefore we hould that fasting from meates and drinkes is both good and godly and many times very necessary to tame the wanton affections of the flesh and to subdue them to the spirit And yet we looke not to merite by our fasts neyther yet doe wee fast in honor or worship to any dead Saints as the Papists most blasphemously doe And thus much of fasting Now to go forward It is a good worke in euery one to preuent and as much as lyeth in hys power to hynder and stay euery euill action or vngodlye deede which eyther hee knoweth of hys owne knowledge or else is informed and aduertised of by others is like to come to passe if he do not he is as guilty of the mischife whatsoeuer it be that hapneth as he that committed it And therefore it standeth euery one in hand to take heed to himselfe that he be not partaker of other mens sinnes for euery one hath inough and too many of his owne to answere for God be mercifull to vs. It is a good worke in euery one to practise sobrietie temperancie and frugalitie as well in his meates as also in his drinks to eschew all gluttony drunknes ryot excesse to vse such apparell and attyre as is decent and comely rather obeying necessity than seruing curious phantesie knowing that our apparell was geuen vs to couer our nakednes withall to hide our shamefull parts and not to puffe vs vp into a prowde humor or vayne conceipt of our selues And trust me truly I see no greater reason that we haue to be prowde of our apparell than the poore Lazar hath to be prowd of his rags clouts that wrap his sores It is a good worke in euery one to moderate his affections so as he neyther thinke meditate nor practise any euil against any man that he refrayne his tongue from all maner of swearing and blaspheming of Gods most holy name that he fall out with no man curse nor ban not any finally that he keepe his eyes from beholding of vanitie his eares from hearing of filthines or ribaldry and his hands feet from committing of euill Now if these be good works as they are indeede then most vnhappy are they that be so farre from doing any of them that they dayly and hourely practise the contrary and will iustifie themselues too by the word of God For sayth one is not swearing tollerable doth not God say thou shalt honor me and sweare by my name and therefore they conclude that God is rather honored than dishonored by swearing Othersome when a man reprooues them for it will aske hym why Is it not lawfull for a man to haue God in hys minde and to name hym often yea the oftner the betters Thus these reprobate miscreants iustifye themselues in theyr sinne and abuse the word of God to their owne destruction For answere to the first I graunt indeede that God is honored by swearing by his name in this sence when a matter or controuersie falleth out which can not otherwise be determined than by an oth then are we being called by the Magistrates and those that are in authority to depose the truth by the inuocation and calling to witnesse of the name of God or else in a priuate action betwixt party and party to end a controuersy we may lawfully take an oth for so the Apostle sayth let an oth make an end of all controuersies In these two respects it is lawfull to sweare as I haue sayd and God is honored thereby if we depose the truth as he is truth But as he
good works and the like it is vnpossible for thee to see the face of God to thy saluacion otherwise than the deuils and the reprobate who shall see the face of God I graunt but to their euerlasting condemnation So thou without good workes mayest see the face of God with thē but to thy vtter cōfusion destruction both of body soule for euer Be zealous therefore good Christian of good workes do good whilest thou hast time for the night of death will come when thou canst not work redeme the time with wel doing as the Apostle speaketh yea withdraw from thy sleepe from thy meate drink and frō thy necessary affaires to do good Remember thy yeres are few vpō earth thou hast but a short time to liue to work in Admit thou attainest to fortie fiftie sixtie or it may be eighty yeres wherto fewe doe come in comparison of those that die before alas that time is nothing neither in regard of the perpetuity eternity of the life to come Haue euer in thy minde that golden sentence of the Apostle He that soweth little shall reape little and he that soweth plentifully shall reape plentifully Let the words of our sauior neuer slip out of thy remembrance Beatius est dare potius quam accipere It is a thing more blessed to giue meaning to the poore than to receiue Giue therefore lend freely to them that haue need loking for nothing again and thy reward shall be great in heauen sayth our sauiour Christ. Consider it is sayde What is giuen to the poore is lent to the Lorde and looke what thou laiest out it shall bee paide thee again Distrust not Gods promises for he is yea and amen in all his sayings and faithfull and true in all his dooings Hee both can for that he is almightie and also will for that hee is mercifull most bountifully remunerate and most liberally rewarde them for whatsoeuer good thou dost in this life yea so precise is he herein that he hath bound himselfe with a promise that he wil not leaue so much as a cup of colde water giuen to anie in his name vnrewarded at that day The fifth Section Wherein is shewed the ends of good works and of our iustification by faith onely with a conclusion exhortatorie to good workes NOw as thou art to do good workes so thou must take heed that thou dost them not neither for desire of reward nor yet for feare of punishment but for the loue and obedience which thou bearest to thy God And so farre off oughtest thou to bee from thinking to be iustified or to merit any thing by thy workes as the blasphemous papistes doo contend that thou must both think saie as Christ teacheth thee to say When thou hast done all that is commaunded thee to doe thou art yet an vnprofitable seruant and hast done but thy dutie nay nor thy duetie neither no not in anie small measure No although thou were stable to do all the good workes in the world and all the good workes which the worde of God doth command thee yea and in that perfection which GOD doeth require of thee which thing neuer anie was nor euer shall be found able to performe Christ Iesus only excepted yet couldest thou neither bee iustified before God nor yet merite anie thing by them ex opere operato as the Papistes doo dreame But yet they are in deed notable seales and testimonies to thy conscience that thou art the childe of God and coheire with Christ Iesus of the kingdome of heauen And heereof is it that the Apostle biddeth vs make our saluation sure by good works not that good workes are any efficient cause of our saluation but doe assure confirme and seale vp vnto vs our saluation purchased by Christ. They are therefore most excellent fruites of our faith and infallible pledges of our election in Christe but no causes of our iustification before GOD. For euen as no fruit can make the tree good which by nature is naught so no good workes can make a man good before God who before was wicked euill for as the tree must of necessitie bee good before it canne bring foorth anie good fruite at all so a man must bee sanctified and regenerate by the spirit of God before he can doo anie good workes acceptable vnto God which once being accomplished thē follow good works as the effect from the cause And therefore I cannot but wonder at the more than palpable blindnes of these iusticiaries and merit-mongers the papists who beleeue that good workes can iustifie vs before God Our sauiour Christ sayth Without mee yee can doo nothing Whereto the Apostle seemeth to agree when he sayth It is God which geueth both the wil the deed euen of his good will and then alas what place of merit is there left for vs And whereas they obiect that God hath promised to reward our good works True it is hee giueth vs grace first to will then power to performe and put in practise euerie good worke that we doo and hath bound himselfe with a promise to reward these his own gifts in vs. But this reward standeth in the mercie of God not in the merit of the worke Let vs therefore abandoning our owne merits as filthie dong hold the mercies of God in Christ to bee our righteousnes beeing assured that if the Lord shoulde enter into iudgement with vs waying our verie righteousnes in the ballance of his iustice and rewarding vs according to our deserts we should be vtterly condemned and cast awaie for euer This the Prophet Esay confirmeth where hee saith That all our righteousnes is like a menstruous clout than the which there is nothing more filthy stinking or fulsome To which sentence Saint Barnard seemeth to allude saying Ve vniuersae iusticiae nostrae si remota miserecordia iudicetur Woe be to our righteousnesse if we should be iudged with out mercie And yet the papistes are perswaded that they are not onely iustified that is pronounced iust before God freed from sinne and all punishment due for sinne but also that they merite the kingdome of heauen and euerlasting life by their good workes Yea they haue not onely good works inough to saue themselues withall but others also and these they call works of supererogation that is whē they doe moe good workes and in greater perfection than God eyther can or will require of them as I haue noted before and therefore with the ouerplus of these forsooth they will helpe their fellowes if they will paie well for them else get they none for No pennie no Pater noster And is not this a pretie matter that they can not onely saue themselues but also others to by their workes of supererogation What should a man care for doing of good workes himself when for a little monie hee may buy inough of others The fiue foolish virgines would haue bought oile of the wise but it was answered
sayd God forbidde that I should laie violent handes vppon the Lordes annoynted The Apostle Paul was indued with another spirite when he sayde Omnis anima potestatibus supereminentibas subdita sit Let euerie soule hee sayth not one soule or some soules but euerie soule bee subiecte to the higher powers his reason for there is no power but of GOD the penaltie or dannger of those that doo resist and those that doo resist sayth hee the power they resist the ordinaunce of GOD and purchase to themselues eternall damnation Then I woulde aske these murthering Papists if they that doe but resist the power doe purchase to thēselues damnation both of bodie and soule oh then what doo they purchase that not onely doo resist but also murther and kill the Lords annoynted And yet theyr delight is in nothing so much as to imbrue theyr cruell handes in the bloud of kings and princes For example What Emperours haue they poysoned yea in the verie wine of the challice What Kings and Princes what Peeres and Nobles haue they most cruelly murthered in sundrie partes of the worlde Did they not most trayterously murther the good Prince of Orenge with a dagge The late famous King of France with a double poisoned knife by the subornation of a Iacobine Frier Doe they not now also by all meanes possible by all plots and deuises seeke and practise the death of him who at this present is the most lawfull king of France Haue they not murthered two or three of the late kinges of Scotland And to come neerer home Haue they not practised attempted the murthering of our gracious soueraigne Queene Elizabeth by infinite waies meanes and by innumerable plots and deuises As first by sending in a number of Iesuites and seminary priests starke roagues and plaine traytors into her Maiesties realme to withdrawe the heartes of the people from theyr allegeance and to raise vp warres and commotions in euerie place And when these deuises and driftes dyd not take effect according vnto theyr expectation then they suborned and hired a sort of desperate graceles and reprobate villaynes to kill her Maiesties royall person as namely Parry Sommeruile Arden Throgmorton Babington with 13. moe of his collegues and confederates besides many moe which heare to recite were but superfluous All whiche notwithstanding Gods name be praysed for it receyued such condigne punishments for theyr deserts as I pray God all Traytors against their Prince and Cuntrey may do They hould it also for a principall good worke and of great merite to take armor and to rayse vp warres for the mayntenance inlarging and augmenting of their pretenced conterfeite Catholike Church or rather most diuelish antichristian synagogue of Sathan And therefore is the Pope with his Cardinals Abbots Friers Monks and all other consorts of that viperous generation sworne at their creation that they shall to the vttermost of theyr powers defend mayntayne and inlarge as they falssely call it Saint Peters patrimonie And to this end doth the Popes vnholie holynes sende abroade hys bandogges the Cardinalles hys curre dogges the Abbots and Monkes and his spanyels the sneaking Friers into euery cuntrey to perswade Kings and Princes to take Armes agaynst such and such for such and such causes as he hymselfe shall frame in the forge of hys owne brayne And the better to effect hys purpose hee sends them eyther some lowsye indulgence or else some beggerly pardon or other in a Bull of leade and that of all their sinnes for euer or else hee sends them some scalde relique or other and if that wyll not serue sometymes he sends them a goodly oyntment called rubrum vnguentum which wyll worke more then all the rest And when hee hath thus set them together by the eares then commes hee as a rauenous Gripe and deuoures eyther the one or both of them at hys pleasure And thus rageth hee euery where through-out Christendome so that in my conscience the Pope with the rest of hys broode are the very authors of all the warres and bloudshead in all Europe at thys present and that for the inlarging forsooth of Saint Peters Patrimonye What warres hath hee raysed heeretofore in Spayne What warres hath hee and at thys present doeth hee manage and maynteyne in the Kingdome of Fraunce in Flaunders and in the lowe cuntreys in Germany in Italy and sundry other places of the world it is vnpossible to number the infinit millions of Gods saints that he hath murthered and beene author of theyr murthers what warres he hath raysed what tumults he hath caused what rebellions insurrections and commotions he hath stirred vp throughout all Christendome and all to maynteyne his paunch his honor his glory his renowne his dignitie and estimation in the world And yet all will not serue for thanks be to God he cums tumbling downe euery day And the more he striues to be honored and magnified in this world the more is he hated of God and detested of men The Pope and Papists also accoumpt it a good worke to set vp stewes and brothell houses whether euery man may resort at his pleasure and that sana conscientia with a safe conscience as they say and inioy his whore or whores as many as he list and no man may say blacke is his eye or Domine cur ita facis because forsooth the Pope hath dispensed with him in a wanyon And as though this were no sinne but rather a good worke for so he and they all accompt it indeede he tollerateth Buggery Sodometry and other filthy sinnes for money which are not once to be named amongst the children of God And this is his reason Is it not better sayth this vile beast for me to tollerate them receyuing yearely a million or two of gould for them towards the maintenance of the Church or rather his owne carren carkasse than they to commit them secretly without my tolleration I receyuing nothing therfore But how light soeuer they esteeme of whoredome the word of God condemneth both it and the doers thereof to hell Was not Sodoma and Gomorrha consumed with fire and brimstone from heauen for this filthie sinne of whoredome buggery and yet thinke they to escape free The whole world eyght persons only excepted was drowned in that great and vniuersall deluge for the same sinne of whoredome The citie of the Sichemites was wholy destroyed and put to the sword for the same sinne also There were slayne of the Beniamites in one day 25000. for the defiling of a Leuites wife Zimri and Cosbi were both slayne for their whoredome together by Phinehas whose fact so pleased God that hee turned away hys wrath from the rest of the people that they were not destroyed Besides examples the Apostle Paule sayth that neither whoremongers adulterers nor incestuous persons shall enter into the kingdome of heauē The Apostle Iohn saith mariage is honorable amongst all mē and the bed vndefiled but whoremongers and adulterers God