calling and what the riches of his glorious inheritaunce is in the Saintes These thinges as the opening of the eyes the vnderstanding of the waye of Gods commaundementes the making vs to goe in the path of them the creating of a cleane hearte the renewing of a righte spirite the clensing of sinne the inclination of oure heartes to his testimonies they woulde not haue craued so constantlye at Gods hande by earnest and humble prayer if they had not bene perswaded they came onelye from him to be his méere giftes Secondlye as the meditation of this oughte to make vs to praye to obtayne so hauing atteyned by his goodnesse to anye of these benefites it shoulde excite vs also to thankefulnesse after the example of all Gods Children and of our Sauioure Christe who giueth thankes to his father Lorde of heauen and earth Mat. 11.20 because he had hid his gospell from the wise and men of vnderstanding and had opened it to babes Thirdelye hauing receyued anye lighte of knowledge and graces of GOD wée must haue a greate care in vsing them to encrease his giftes in vs to prouoke God through our thankefulnesse to bestowe his mercyes in moste humble manner vppon vs. Mat. 13.12 For whosoeuer hath to him shall bee giuen but whosoeuer hath not from him shall bee taken awaye euen that whiche hée hath it cannot neyther oughte it to ingender sloothfulnesse in vs because GOD giueth and worketh all in all for moste true and excellent is that warning which Saynte Augustine giueth in his Booke De correptione gratia Aug. de Correptio gratia cap. 2. Non se itaque fallant qui dicunt vt quid nobis predicatur c. That is Let not sayth Augustine them deceiue themselues who saye Wherefore is it preached and taughte vs to eschew euill and to doe good if wee doe it not but it be GOD which worketh in vs both the will and the deede but rather let the faithfull know that they are led with the spirit of God that they may doe that they ought to doe and when they haue done it they may giue thanks to him that caused them for they are driuen to the ende they should endeuour to worke not that they should doe nothing themselues Fourthly and last of all this putteth vs in minde of our owne want and imperfection of our blindnesse and ignoraunce wherby we are driuen to acknowledge our owne miserye to humble our selues before the Lorde to prayse God in his giftes we sée in our brother and not to contemn and despise them whome we sée to want nor to be proude and loftie for any thing in vs but to geue the whole praise and glorye to God alone Thus noteth Augustine verye well in his booke De bono perseuerantiae Cap. 63 6 Nos volumus sed Deus operatur in nobis velle August de bono perscuerantiae cap. â—3 6 nos operamur sed Deus operatur in nobis c. that is We will but God worketh in vs to will we doe but God worketh in vs the déed after his good pleasure this is profitable for vs to beleeue and to say that is godly and true that our confession may be humble and lowly the whole may be giuen to God and in his sixte chapter of the same booke he sayth Tutiores viuimus si totum Deo damus non autem nos illi ex parte nobis ex parte committimus wée liue or deale the safelier if we giue the whole to God and not partlye to him and partly to our selues The Apostle S. Paule hereof beateth downe the pride and vainglorye of the Corinthian Doctors in that whatsoeuer they had they had receiued it of God For so he reasoneth 1. Cor. 4 7. What hast thou that thou hast not receiued if thou hast receiued why reioycest thou as though thou hadst not receiued it If the knowledge of this doctrine work these effects in vs then shall we haue learned this lesson that Christ here teacheth vs to good purpose otherwise it shall auaile vs no more then to sée the meate whereof we may not féede shall nourish our bodies or to beholde the gold which we may not vse shal serue our turne To conclude on this part one onelye caueat is to be giuen that we take héede that we abuse not this doctrine and maner of spéeche as the Euthusiasts Anabaptists and the family of Loue to the contemning or neglecting of the preaching of the word of God who for as muche as here and in diuerse places besides it is sayde that God reuealeth the misteries of his kingdom vnto vs and worketh all things by his holye spirit therof haue they condemned the vocall preaching of the word and haue fled to priuat inspirations reuelatioÌ„s dreames and fantasies whereby they haue ben lead into diuers dangerous heresies But wée must this learn vnderstaÌ„d that although god reueleth his wil vnto vs and worketh both knowledge fayth by his holy spirit yet doth hee it not but by that meanes hee hath appointed that is by the ministerie of his word and therefore Esai Esai 59.21 the Prophet ioineth in the promise of God made both the word and the spirite together My spirite that is vpon thée and my words which I haue put in thy mouth shall not departe out of thy mouth of thy séed nor out of the mouth of the séed of thy séede sayth the Lord from henceforth for euer Where we sée he ioyneth both the word the spirit together they are not to be sundered The Apostle Paul plainly teacheth to the Romains Rom. 10.14.17 that no man can beleeue in him of whome hee hath not heard and that they cannot heare without a preacher that faith commeth by hearing and hearing by the worde of God And in the 4 to the Ephesians Ephe 4.10 he testifieth that when Christ ascended vp into heauen he led captiuitie captiue gaue gifts vnto men that he therefore gaue some to be Apostles some prophets and some Euangelists some pastors and teachers to what end he expresseth it to that gathering togither of the saints for the work of the ministery for the building vp of the body of Christ If beléefe faith in him cannot come but by hearing the word of god preached his ministers in his church be appointed by him that the saints might haue all thinges necessarie to the edifying of the bodye of Christ what impietie is in these Anabaptisticall spirites eyther to condemn or neglect this so excellent not only an instrument but euen the sole ordinarye meanes God hath appointed to his church to work our saluation Paul in the 5 to the Thessalonians Thes 5.19 giueth warning that we quench not the spirit but therewithal he ioyneth that we despise not prophecying he himself though he was rapte vp vnto the thirde Heauen where he hearde wordes which cannot bée spoken 2. Cor. 12.2 which
A GODLYE SERMON Preached before the Queens most excellent Maiestie vpon the 17. 18. 19. verses of the 16. Chapter of S. Mathew VVherein is contained the conclusion of a Dialogue betweene Christ and his Disciples Shewing breefely that the authoritie which the Pope of Rome doth challenge to himselfe is vnlawfully vsurped Very necessarie for these perilous times wherein the simple may perceiue their intollerable impietie vsurping that office and action which euer appertayned vnto Christ only Published at the request of sundry godly and well disposed persons ¶ Imprinted at London by Iohn Windet for Iohn Perin and are to be sold at his shop in Paules churchyard at the sign of the Angel A godly Sermon preached before the Queenes most excellent Maiestie vpon the 17. 18. 19. verses of the 16. Chapter of S. Matthewe Matth. Chap. 16. vers 17. 17 And Iesus answered and said to him Blessed art thou Simon the sonne of Ionas for flesh and bloud hath not reueiled it vnto thee but my Father which is in heauē 18 And I say also vnto thee that thou art Peter and vpon this rocke I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not euercome it 19 And I will giue vnto thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt binde vpon earth shal be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt loose on earth shal be loosed in heauen THese words which I haue read right honourable beloued in our Sauioure Christ containe the conclusion of a Dialogue betwéene Christ and his disciples For we read immediatly before in the thirtéenth verse of this sixtéenth Chapter that when Iesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi our Sauiour Christ partly to make tryall of the faith knowledge and profiting of his disciples hauing bene now so long taught by him and séene so great wonderfull miracles and partly to learn whether they conceiued any better of him than the common multitude as also to cause them to make a confession of their faith and beliefe in him in which he might strengthen and confirme them against al troubles and persecutions that were after to ensue he demaunded of them all this question whome do men say that I the sonne of man am Answere was made by them that some said he was Iohn Baptist Matth. 14.2 for so surmised the Herodians as apeareth in the 14. of this Gospel Where it is sayde that when Herod the Tetrarch who had beheaded Iohn Baptist heard of the fame of Iesus he said vnto his seruaunts this is Iohn Baptist that is risen againe from the dead and therefore great workes are wrought by him Some said he was Elias being deceiued partly by the Prophecie of Malachie misvnderstoode who had prophcied that Eliah the Prophet should be sent before the comming of the great and fearfull day of the Malach. 4.5 Lord partly by the like spirite they perceiued in Christ that was in Elias as the frée libertie of rebuking vices in the scribes and Pharisées the power of working miracles raising vp the dead to life againe as Elias did Some other thought him to be Hieremias because he bare a figure of Christ and for that it was saide of him Beholde this day haue I set thee ouer the nations and ouer the kingdomes Ierem. 1.9 to plucke vp and to roote out and to destroye and throw downe to build and to plant which was in verie déede truely to be perfourmed in Christ And they that thought him none of these yet because of his doctrine for he taught them as hauing authoritie Matth. 7.29 not as the Scribes and for his life and miracles they accounted him as one of the Prophets Christ hearing this to drawe out a more certaine and excellent confessiō out of his disciples than this was he further demaunded of them all but whome say ye that I am as though he should haue said whatsoeuer other men do thinke of mée or howsoeuer they be distract in opinions you who ought to haue better knewledge of mée whome do ye thinke me to be Then aunswered Simon Peter in the name of al the rest thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God Christ reioycing at this true perfect and constant confession that Peter had made as it were in recompence and commendation therof he burst out into these words Blessed art thou Simon the sonne of Ionas for flesh and bloud hath not reueiled it vnto thee but my father which is in heauen c. Which wordes are euen the conclusion of that Dialogue betwéene Christ and his disciples and do containe the approbation and commendation of Peters confession In the which many things do offer them selues to our considerations but for this present time and occasion in these thrée verses thrée especiall pointes may be here obserued by vs. The first from whence Peter had this knowledge faith of Christ that he was the sonne of the liuing God Secondarily what is the foundation and rocke whereupon the Church of God was built Thirdly what the power authoritie commission was that is giuen vnto Peter in this place The first point is declared in the first verse of this text by two meanes first by remouing and denying those things which might séeme to be the cause yet are not as flesh and bloud Secondarily by expressing the true and perfect cause which was the reuelation of Almightie GOD. For the first by flesh and bloud is meant here the nature of man and all his giftes that he hath naturally as his wit vnderstanding and wil for so it is taken in sundrie other places of the holie Scriptures as in the first of Saint Iohns Gospell Ioan. 1.12 where he saith that such as receiued Christ they were borne not of bloud nor of the will of flesh nor of the will of man but of God And in the first to the Galathians Galath 1 1◠where he testifieth that when it pleased God to reueale his sonne in him that he shoulde preach him among the Gentiles he communicated not with flesh and bloud and in like manner in the sixth to the Ephesians Ephes 6.12 exhorting vs to put on all the armour of God that we might be able to stande against the assaultes of the diuell because we wrestle not against flesh bloud but against principalities and powers c. In which places as in diuerse others also by flesh and bloud is meant nothing but the nature of man and whatsoeuer is in him by his naturall birth and procreation so that this phrase and manner of spéech vsed of our Sauiour Christ here in this place doth signifie and declare vnto vs that this knowledge of Christ confession of faith which Peter made he had it not of himself neither by any meanes of man but from aboue by the manifestation and reuelatiō of God who had opened this great mysterie and giuen him this faith This doctrin ouerthroweth the iudgement and opinion of the
I will put my Spirite within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall éepe my iudgements and doe them Ezech. 36 26 In which wordes Ezechiel attributeth the whole worke of our regeneration vnto the gift of God he it is that taketh away that olde stonie heart whereby we are giuen to all iniquitie and hardnesse from giuing eare vnto any cōmaundement of God he giueth a newe heart an heart of flesh whereby we become apt to receiue the commaundements of God a new spirite which leadeth vs both to the knowledge of the will of God and to the obedience thereof Likewise Moses in Deuteronomie Deut. 36.6 setting foorth the great goodnesse of God to his people Israel he ascribeth the circumcision of the heart to the operation and working of the Lorde For God promiseth that if they returne vnto him and obey his voice the Lord God shal circumcise their heartes and the heart of their séede after them that they may loue the Lorde their God with all their heart with all their soule And to conclude this matter which néedeth no further proofe that which the Euangelist Saint Iohn writeth in the first of his Gospell Ioan. 1.12 howe iumpeth it with this that our Euāgelist affirmeth here and how euidently doth it confirme both those pointes wee haue hereto stoode vpon where he assereth that such as receiued Christ beléeued in his name were borne not of bloud nor of the wil of flesh nor of the will of man but of God By which words both the knowledge of Christ and the beléeuing in his name is denyed to man giuen to God alone The verie worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vsed here of our Euangelist being well weyed doth sufficiently argue that all heauenly things are hid from vs vntil they be opened and manifested by God For this word being attributed vnto God doth signifie a reuealing by him of such things as were quite before hidden frō our knowledge vnderstanding Now if this general doctrin shall be proued by particular example Deut. 29.30 what can be required for the further certaintie and truth hereof Moses in the 29. of Deut. obbraideth the people of Israel for their obliuiō forgetfulnes of the graces mercies god had shewed them in the land of Aegypt yet therwithal he there noteth that they could not take any profit by these things but thorough the working goodnes of God Ye haue seen sayth Moses al that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Aegypt vnto Pharao vnto al his seruāts vnto al his land The great temptations which thine eyes haue séen those great miracles wonders yet the Lorde hath not giuen you an heart to perceiue eyes to sée and eares to heare vnto this day And in the 13. of Math. Christ hauing taught many things by parables his disciples came to him and demaunded why he spake thus in parables he made answere Mat. 13.30 because it is giuē to you to know the secrets of the kingdom of heauen but to them it is not giuen therefore speak I vnto thē in parables because they séeing do not sée hearing they heare not neither vnderstand c. Thus we sée how the people of Israel although they saw the great wonders miracles which God did for them in Aegypt notwithstāding they reap no cōmoditie therby because the Lorde did not open their eyes to behold them to profit neither yet their eares to attende vnto such things or their hart mind to cōceiue the goodnes of God obedience thankfulnes which they ought to perfourme vnto God therfore The disciples of Christ they vnderstood the doctrine of Christ they profited encreased in knowledge therby but why or by what meanes because to them it was giuen to knowe the secretes of the kingdom of God The Iewes they were not able to perceiue the doctrine of Christ they learned nothing therby but rather be came more blind obstinate the reason is added because to them it is not giuen So that it wholy dependeth vpon the gift of God Cleophas and the other disciple in the 24. Chapter of Luke Luc. 24.27.45 when Christ ouertooke them going to Emaus although Christe rebuked them for their slowenesse in beléeuing all that the Prophetes had spoken And accompanying them began at Moses and the Prophets and interpreted vnto them in all the Scriptures the thinges which were written of him yet were their eyes so holden that they knewe him not whome before they had often séene neither yet vnderstood they the Scriptures vntill such time as God opened their eyes and vnderstanding both to knowe him and vnderstande the Scripture Euen as the disciples of our Sauiour Christ had no knowledge no vnderstanding vntill God gaue it them so fareth it with all the rest of the children of God heare they neuer so much his Apostles preache yea Christ himselfe personally sounding in their eares yet except the Lorde open our heartes and mindes as he did Lydia the sicke womans in the Actes Act. 16.14 it auayleth not one iot wherefore flesh and bloud reuealeth not Christ vnto vs but our Father which is in heauen It remayneth nowe wée weight and consider what commoditie and profite wée ought to reape by this doctrine to what vse it ought to serue vs. First if God be the authour and fountaine and sole giuer of all knowledge faith and all other heauenly gifts it must kindle in vs an earnest and feruent desire to prayer to desire him to giue vs knowledge and fayth and vnderstanding for that otherwayes we cannot attaine therevnto The consideration of this heretofore hath moued the saintes of God to be feruente in prayer vnto almighty God for the obtaining of these graces Among others how often and how vehemently doth the Prophet Dauid praye for this at Gods hands as in the 119 Psal Psal 1 19 18.27 33 34 35 36. Open thou mine eies O Lord that I may see the wondrous things of thy law make me to vnderstand the way of thy commandements so shall I talke of thy wondrous workes And againe Teach me O Lorde the way of thy statutes and I shall keepe it vnto the end giue me vnderstanding and I shall kéepe thy law make me to goe into the path of thy commaundements encline my hart to thy testimonies c. and in the 51. Psalme Psalm 51. that God would make him a cleane heart and renew a right spirit with in him that he would throughly wash him and clense him from his sinne And the Apostle S. Paul prayeth not onlye for himselfe but for the Churche of the Ephesians Ephe. 1.16 17.18 that the GOD of our Lorde Iesus Christe the father of glory might yéeld vnto them the spirite of wisedome and vnderstanding through the knowledge of him that the eyes of their vnderstanding maye bée lightened that they maye knowe the hope of his