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
their partes very conningly and writ very subtellye and comprehended all that they did artificially that therfore they swalowed vp whole multitudes of such as succéeded them For neither Ireneus stayed because that the fathers which went before him knewe the Lorde neyther Origen kepte backe his hand or lefte his pen or dispised labor albeit the matters hee tooke vpon him were described of others And as for those succéeded them eyther faltered they in their spéech or swounded they in common talke or did they fall because Cirill or Ierom or Crysostom or Ambrose plentifully and verye faythfully with great zeale and singuler trauayle painted forth the dealing and conuersatiō of the men that liued then I say naye but those flowing wits did leaue behind them a gret light to their posteritie and they that came after sucked out the Marrow and the strength and robbed their Progenitors and after that became as mighty in their laboures as valyaunt in their wrightinges and as pleasaunt in their tongue and language as the most renowmed men of them that liued in former ages And that I can sée or may iudge as yet our time hath bin as well blessed with flourishinge wittes and our men that now liue garnished with so great knowledge as I doo and dare incourage them al that loue the Lord to procéed manfully in their callinges in as mutch as both our Forfathers haue not stolne away all cōmendation from vs that follow them neyther we shut vp into so narowe a roome but that in the light and beauty of the dayes wherin wée bée wee may amonge many good and excellent writers say something To him that looketh for the first place it is good to contente him with the second or the thirde degrée For him that gapeth to contend for the rest if hée wil be aduertised by mée hée shall thinke himselfe well if hée can haue place with the hindermost So that great thinges shall not dismaye the weake and simple men shall stande by the best But if any one pleased with his condition can kéepe a meane that is hée that shall haue the commendation from them bothe As for this my trauaile and first byrth as it were pained so mutch the more as I desire earnestly the Church of the Lorde God should inioy it séeing it is my first Babe I willingly offer him vnto you all to looke vpon him and this Booke I giue it the rather to young men as I my selfe am but growing vp and attende the good leysure of the Lorde that can increase and strengthen mee and bringe mee vp to greater stature For any fine and conninge feature you shall finde herein I dare not promise so much as any iot therof but as be the bookes of Deuines commonly talkinge to common men laying out the plainenes and behauiour of the people such is this that I giue vnto you If any question with mee for the matter and the substaunce therin contayned let him not thinke hee is in the Goldsmithes shop hée wil be content when hée hath red so much as I haue doone and séene the behauiour of the worlde as all may doo that liue nowe to bestow himselfe in some more homely trade a greate deale Yet I will say something vnto him please it him to enter in to sée what ware I haue and wil he vouchsafe to reade ouer this worke of mine hee shall finde though an vnskilfull Artificer meddeleth with it yet so much both of housholde stuffe and other furniture if hée can place it well and bestowe it in his house as is able to suffise the best learned man that I knowe to stop vp more then one creuice or two in his study Neyther can I see if so bee this worke were taken in hand by any other learned and skilfull in iudgement but that hee whiche looketh on it might receiue greate comfort and singuler pleasure in the same Consideringe that hee looketh vpon the Lorde God and talketh familiarly with Christe and is bolde to presente him selfe beefore Aungelles and powres and prayeth for his Bretheren and is harde of so good and gratious a Lorde as our God is That giueth when hée asketh openeth when hée knocketh bestoweth when hée demaundeth that shal feare him and call on his name faythfully Also whosoeuer buieth of his Marchandrise and vseth it well to the glory of the Lorde and profitinge himselfe with others hée layeth not vp treasure that is to be taken frō him but caryeth it with him vnto Heauen and it lyeth by him for euer And amonge all the thinges pretious and excellent that I haue seene on earth neuer tooke I more comforte in any one then this that the glory of the Lorde and the sweetnes of his worde and this helpe wherin by prayer I haue all that is necessary both heauenly and terrestriall tittelled mee from time to time till I had inioyed them of trueth neuer rauished with any pleasure of man so much as of late in the meditation and heauenly spéeche that I had when I questioned too and froe with the Lorde God what it was hée would haue his people and poore famely that pineth away in this world to looke vpon From whom I receiued this message that séeynge it pleased him to make choyse of the sonnes of men and to take vnto him those that he loued in this life they ought therfore to disioyne themselues and forsake the company of vnbeléeuers praying for and meditating heauenly thinges castinge vp their mindes to Heauen and reposinge their hope on the God of glorye that hath giuen vnto vs his liuery and his colyzen to bee knowne as his Seruauntes euen by prayer and earnest inuocation vpon his name the order frame wherof I haue largely set downe in my first Booke After this that no man bee excusable but vnderstande so mutch as is set downe by the Lorde when anye one shall come beefore him that hee may not speake vnknowne thinges or praye when hée vnderstandeth not or vtter that hee knoweth not or powre out before God and his Aungelles and all the honorable company and assembly of Sainctes vnaduisedly that which hee regardeth not for this cause haue I vnfolded the darkenesse of speeche and layde open to euery Babe if so hee can reade the wordes of our Sauiour Christe set downe by him in the eleuenth of Luke all which you shall finde layd on a heape and knitte vp togeather in my second Booke Of those that come betwixt eyther precepts eyther rules either exhortations eyther demaundes eyther things that bee amisse eyther such as bee well eyther life cyther dealinges and demeanor of men that shewe themselues in their proper places them I exhorte euery man to take priuatly vnto him not to vse them as common vnto all As concerning my iudgement indiuers poinctes of Religion and called in controuersy by men of our time I haue looked at them handled them I haue not to the decidinge of them I haue selected out an other time and
the causes of the institution thereof bée opened The first cause for which the Sabboth was ordayned was Economicall or politicke it is expedient for the preseruation and safety of man that hee may rest his weary bones and eate the labour of his hands and the sweate of his browes with ioyfulnes To this alludeth the spirite of God in Exodus thou and thy Seruaunt and thy Mayde and Cattell and thy Straunger that is within thy Gates The cause is that in care ouerlabouring tediousnes of thy soule thou shouldest not repine agaynst the lord Of the rest much is written Exod. 13. Deut. 5. The second cause of Sabbothe is ecclesiasticall or for the Church because as there was assembling togeather of the Iewes wherin the Lord was reuerenced and his Sabboth halowed so especiallye for this that agréeinge in one wée might be mēbers and professors of one Christe which was the only end of the law For as they had the Tabernacle to come vnto so they had thrée seueral time◠appoynted to meete in their Passouer for their deliuery out of Aegipt their Penticost for the rememberaunce of the lawe giuen by Moses their feast of Tabernacles for that God kepte and deliuered their Fathers in the Wildernes the space of forty yeares So that as they did meete and had seueral places for their offeringes so ought wee to bee gathered togeather at Prayer The thirde cause of the institution of the Sabboth is the rest and quietnes therin prefigured when the Saincts of God shal be associated all of them and dwell with the Lorde of the Sabboth and the vse therof I referre you to the Prophets In wholme I finde no one so great complaynt of them in Israel as I doo for the contempt and breach of the holy day The blessinge in keeping it the dreadfull cursing in breaking it is set downe Esay 58.13 and 56.2 The curse to him that dispiseth his ordinance is shewed in Deut. but his displeasure and wrath is opened to vs in that the fellow that gathered stickes on the Sabboth was stoned and in them sufficiently declared whom God checked for that they gathered Manhu on the Saboth and when they went out found none if it bée a cause of force enough to kepe a man from Church to breake the Sabboth to iourney many miles to heare a Sermond when thy aboade weare more acceptable to thy God and thy diligence more commendable Then truely these men named béefore may pleade with the Lord as vniustly punished For the one had no ster to warme him with the other lackte meate to féede him with and thou wantest a Prophet goest a gadding and seekest a straunger and huntest after the worde to delight thée with Surely this was looked too in Israell and it was neuer permitted amonge the Gentilles and the contempte of the worde and of the Sabboth was neuer suffered amonge Infidelles it was greeuously punished in the primatiue Church and if Constantine Athamasius and Ierom liued they would haue rowsed them out and haue fetchte them wholme long ere this I trust I neede not question heare with any man as touching the day that is appointed for the Sabboth For dayes of them selues are indifferent Math. 22.5 Luke 13.15 Ioh. 5.10 Rom. 14.5 Gala. 4.10 And God could haue appointed euery day to worship him if so his Maiesty had thought good therof but hee appoynted onely one that giuinge our selues to labour wée might bee readyer at appoynted day to learne our duety For as in other Ceremonyes there is sumthing that can not bee chaunged and there is that may bee forborne and lefte out so also is it heare For in Circumsitiō and in Baptisme it is necessarely required that those which pertayne vnto the couenaunt and bee lately ioyned to the Church should haue some external signe to shew it but the manner therof is for a time as first the cutting of the foreskinne the alteration therof renewed againe in the sprinkling of water Therfore to shew there was no necessity therof there was a time wherin none was circumcised and afterward giuen to Abraham established it was left vndoon in the Wildernes the space of forty yeeres so then we bee not tyed therunto and the external rites In like māner the case is all one in vs the Ministers of the word namely the we haue prouided for vs to liue by But whither we take it as tithe or out of the Kings tresury it is indifferent And so is it in the Saboth euen the we keepe a day holy vnto the Lord but whyther it bee the first day or the second or the fourth that for ought that I can yet see I finde not Then this is taken in of the Church as beeing hir right and at hir appoyntment and shée hath instituted the Sunday for the Saboth to magnefie the name of the Lord withall as for other Festiuall dayes then when I haue occasion to speake the breach of these beeinge as great as the abuse of the other at more conuenient place must bee examined for now I am already admonished to make haste only let this bée sufficient for the vnderstanding of that which I considered in Prayer that on s parte therof was publique and the other priuate The manner of prayer howe it is to be vsed whether knéeling sitting standing or going there is small cause to reason of it For if it be priuate to thy selfe the Lord accepteth as well the goer as the runner and the stander as the knéeler if he come in spirite and trueth Albeit I do wishe a reuerend feare in euery one that commeth before the lord For if there be duetie and reuerence and care to be had among men and those that dwell in teats whose building is but for a season What manner of humilitie ought we to vse vnto the Lorde our God that gouerneth vs and the whole earth But in publique prayer it is my desire that all would be of one mind not reading when one is preaching or another talking while he is ministring or thou knéeling when he is sitting but that we be alike affectioned vnto the Lorde For as the Leuites when the Trumpe did sound at once did agree alike so would I at one time wee might accorde in voice in gesture in prayer in supplication in soule in heart vnto our god For lift thou vp thy hands or beate thou on thy brest or speake thou openly or sigh inwardly or else what euer thy custome be be it not Iewishe or Ethnicke like it is all one vnto the Lorde Onely in the Congregation where God wil be knowen among vs where we may be iudged to be as seruauntes vnto one Lorde let there be no discorde or disagréement in any thing For as is of the seruaunt to the master so is there of vs by duetie in vs to our God and if in the house they be at variance among them selues will their Lord
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
fayth that it wauer not This sure and stedfast hope I put it in the forefront of this battayle because it leadeth vs by hand as it were vnto the Lord and maketh vs certeyne that hee can and will fight for vs. And this hope it was in the blinde man that cryed out Iesus thou Sunne of Dauid haue mercy on mee I cut not in péeces these too fayth and hope if they bée in the godly yet I seauer the one from the other after a forte for I know that hee which hopeth is in a good entraunce vnto fayth For the certenty of the seconde it is the establishinge of the first and thoughe they bee called as beeinge one fayth Luk. 18.24 yet it is in a diuers respecte For the hope that is in man it is the Page and Seruetar and the very wayter vpon fayth giuinge attendaunce theron Fayth it is Lady and gouernesse to the other it spinneth vp the Thrid and so much as it wanteth it addeth vnto it It becommeth all of vs to say Lord wee beleeue helpe our vnbeleefe For I can determine no otherwise of that in Naman the Syrian when hee went away angry from the Prophet Is there no waters in Damascus Abanar and Parpar as good as those that bee about Samaria Yet with what manner of hope hee washed him in Iordayne I leaue to others To discourse at large hereof it is fitter for him that will guide a great Nauy in the wide Ocean Sea then for a man that is contente to rule a small Galley in the Riuar such therfore as looke for larger discourses I refer them to sutch as take in hand greater volumes I giue but shorte lessons and haue consideration of the memoryes of them I spake vnto but it foloweth To the fayth which iustefieth there goeth hope to this hope I haue annexed assuraunce and the spirite of God knitteth them togeather what is it if a man cry Lorde Lorde and then he doth heare him when hée hath that hee looked for and enioyeth that hée wished for hee shall then reuolte and repente him of the truth hee stoode in These Weathercocks they are good for nothinge but to stand in the ayre for if a tempest do come and a showre fall it tottereth againe and houereth as at the first whose picture I remēber I once saw in the discription of Bifrons Ianus which stoode in the Temple of Rome and had two faces for both eares and these men they haue two tongues for bothe times God weede out sutch vnprofitable Nettels if so it please him for they can tingle nowe and then and peraduenture blistar the hands of a few refreshe as yet the simple soule they will not Well these haue the rewarde and because they are luke warme neyther whot nor colde God hath promised to spue them forth This man that I seeke for that hath learned to know the Lorde Christe and seasoned his spéech with salte and wayted for the Bridegroms comming Hée is of another manner of harte and of an an other Spirite and vexations and troubles and anguishe of minde and care and the worlde and the assaultes of Sathan they can neuer remooue him Dauid stayeth not Ionathas sléepeth not Daniell trifeleth not Esdras is not dismayde Iudith discomforted Mardochaeus altered but they stand in the Lorde corragiously The Martirdome of Antonius mooued him not the death of Sabinas turned him not the slaughter of Germanus withdrewe him not Wée must bee whipped and drowned with Theodotia content to suffer and dig in minde pittes with Siluanus to be burned with Domininus to haue our sides launched with sharpe Rasars as Pamphylus For our life it is as the life of Latimar our faith as the faith of Ridley our ende as the end of Cranmar our wayes as the wayes of Death for the Lordes sake for blessed is that man continueth to the ende and hée it is that shal bee saued The thirde and last helpe wherto wée trust that holdeth vs that raiseth vs that renueth vs the strength neth vs it is the spirite This is he that finisheth and endeth all hast thou wisdome hast thou knowledge hast thou giftes of Prophesie of tongues of discerning of béeléeuing of fayth It is not thyne the spirite of God is hée that gaue it This is a harde thinge for man to disgest who when hée inioyeth and possesseth all whē hée is the ruler and Maister vpon earth when hée biddeth hee commaundeth hée buildeth hée altereth hee gathereth hee inritcheth yet all that hee hath it is layed in the dust and caryed with him to the Graue hee himselfe also at the will of the Lorde This I speake to suppresse the insolency of man that beeinge heare in life doth liue in death and can not come to dwell with Christe vnleast the spirite of God directe him Then in that fayth wherby we be fully iustefied our hope it is made perfect our perfection remaineth to the ende our ende is directed by the spirite so that this is the some of all that I haue spoken that we staye and bee reared vp and dye and liue and in the Lorde The way and the meane I haue set downe the order to come vnto it the rules and ordinaunces wee should keepe in it It remayneth lastly to praye vnto our Lorde Iesus Christ the Sunne of God to inflame and guide vs by his spirite that wee fall not For I acknowledge my selfe a professed enemye agaynst that of the Papistes and the exclamation they make of good workes Other wise Moses could haue come to the Lorde and haue knowne the God of Iacob by him selfe God needed not to haue called but as one mightely preserued by the daughter of Pharoath that founde him wrapped in swaddling cloures in a basket of flagges sheweth vnto mee that God had some greate message for him to doe that kepte him so mightily in the time of death It is said I think that God had respect vnto Abell and that he cared not for the offering of Cain good woorkes are left out here we must rifle somewhat farther from them Abraham beléeued and it was counted vnto him for rightuousnes to whome appertaineth the gifte of beléefe but vnto God to whome are wee comptable who is it that layeth not sinne vnto our charge who accepteth of our life conuersation but God who onely is righteous who onely iust who onely pure who onely faithfull but onely one Lorde Then who giueth the same grace the same life the same giftes but the same Christ Nowe finde out the merites and woorkes in man I might be long in this discourse of the Patriarkes of the prophets of all the elect of the Lorde in due time called and brought home to serue him But there is no wrestling and strife nowe then when wee ioyne hande to hande and cupple our selues to the barre to trye it then shal be séene who it is that hath this priuiledge Onely remaineth that whereas I haue set
Diuell and thou muste vowe and promise to forsake him and all his woorkes and come to God For God loueth the willinge soule and the minde that is ready to obay him is acceptable in his sight It is a grosse error my Children to say that you only are the Church of God and forget this and learne of mée There is on earth but one true Church and one head wee haue and one espoused therunto in one Christe and euery man is or ought to bée a member of the same not euery man one Church For as on earth wee confesse that there is aboue vs but one Lord one Kinge so in Heauen there is but one Lorde one God one Christe of whō wee be members knit vnited and coopeled together to haue our dwellinge in the heauens Let this then passe and vnderstande that our mantion and abiding place is aboue and though we be in sundry countries here on earth yet wee professe one faith one trueth one hope all which be the true tokens the we agrée together in one churche So then wee bee members one of another and not euery one one anothers head and wee be parteners and fellows in one and the same churche not euery one the seueral head of the true churche Wherefore instructed fully in this knowe that it is expedient as you are all of one bodie and ioynts and members of one head so to frame and fashion you here in this worlde that you loue and agree in one as also that you make profession and promise in open dealinges that you bee at agréement and condescende together in one congregation for it is abhominable and learne it béefore crookednesse and wearinesse incrotche that any one for priuate gaine shall cloake and couer the inward affections or shewe him selfe by outwarde gesture and déede to be another manner of man then he is in minde and heart for it is good that there bee no doublenesse no hypocrisie no open shewe and profession in any thing which notwithstanding thou shalt mislike in priuate assemblies or shewe thy selfe an aduersarie before men that liking and good report may be taken yet in thy soule and in thy heart shalt be another man. Thus if thou bée affectioned God shall blesse thée in thy dealing and prosper thée in that thou goest about and he will giue thée honour in thine age and glorie will fellowe thée to the grane Then if the Lorde do visite thée and thinke on thée in his mercy in his fauour giue vnto thée a comforter which is fleshe of thy fleshe and bone of thy bone and thou acknowledging his benefite and confessing his rewarde wilte shewe the obeysance and duetie to him Then coople thy selfe to the order of the churche and disdaine not to be ordered by gouernement Thy marriage it is as lawfull and acceptable vnto God as well in the body and middest of the church as if it were celebrated or solemnized at the table of the Lorde Stande not so mutche vppon the vse of the ring which is a sigue onely of the ioyning and a pawne of your trothe plighted eche to other hath neither force to saluation or any religion that is the more beautified by it but is a bare order custome in the churche Let no man persuade thée that any euil or accursed dealing any wicked or vngodly mans life is to be kept close and secreate or bidden from the worlde if thou knowe it for feare the Gospell should be slaundered It is abhomination to the Lord he will disclose it Sée vnto thy selfe and looke narrowly to thy steppes and examine thy wayes take not an othe falsly neither bring thou destruction to thine owne soule for the credite and the honor thou maist purchase to the wicked man For the portion of him that vseth periurie is death and the lying soule heapeth vp wrath and a peruerse man is destruction and happie is that man whose vprightnes is not intangled nor snared with the wicked Laste of all my litrie babes for a number are euen nowe to bee taken and it is good to vse the benefite of the yeare and oportunitie of the seasonable weather we haue otherwise a great fort of you be so farre growen that if moderation be not had wee shall neuer bende you For this cause learne in time and presume to iudge no man in his dealing Thinke Christianly of all condempne none Seclude not the infidell from Christe but leaue a hope till the last gaspe As for Christians and vs all that ought to be of one churche let charitie rule thée brotherhood moue thée and the same profession of which wee be all continually guide thée enter rashly into iudgement with none As for the wicked let him be wicked still and for the vngodly let him wallawe in vngodlinesse The Lorde will recompence him at his appearing he hath giuen thee no authoritie to reuenge it And nowe that I haue brought you as I take it out of ignorannce and layde before you the way to goe in receiue at my handes a fewe wordes lappe them vp in thy breast and hide them in the secrete closet of thine hearte for they be as the Balme and as precious as the oyntment and they will bring ioye and pleasure in the ende if thou keepe them Marke therefore and vnderstande what it is that I teache First I open vnto thée my faith and I giue vnto thée the assured colisen of a Christian and it is this Learne to praye for it is necessarie and conuenient to all flesh Knowe what prayer is and vse it rightly Vnderstande the manner order howe to pray vse not the fonde custome of the nations settle thy selfe and prepare thée as vnto the battaile so to bée strongly armed against temptations First knowe our fathers did it then the expresse woorde of God commaundeth it that our necessitie willeth it that our danger and perill wherein wee bee requireth it that our deliuerance from the Lorde otherwise helplesse compelleth it that our enimie the diuell Satanas dayly assaying vs doth driue vs to it In thy prayer flye Hipocrisie come humbly and lowly to the Lorde put away hollownesse and loosenesse of heart from thée Be thou in assurance and fixed in hope Aske not at his handes what pleaseth thée and let not thy prayers be vnséemely for his maiestie Faile not herein neither stay thou but perseuere and continue in thy prayer And nowe take an assurance of thy faith laye holde in time and leaue not the hope that thou hast in the Lorde Renounce all Gentilisme Giue no credite to sighes and wenders be not dead in thy life shewe thy faith by thy deedes Let it not be for a time neyther continue in faith for a season but be stedfast confessing and acknowledging that the faith which iustifieth thée is brought from hope vnto assurance and guided by the spirite that directeth thée Vnderstande that there is but one faith as
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
signes and miracles without any slothe or staying but euen spéedely at his woorde not saith hee with many trifling circumstances but in his wisedome at his pleasure Howe glorious a God then is he and worthie to be magnified Therefore Crisostom to Philemon When God did not stande in néede of our helpe he created made vs of nothing For when he had made euery thing then made he man what reuerence then can we giue to our God more then sanctifie him shewe his power among men Primatius on the Romanes atributeth mercie iustice goodnes peace with all other good giftes vnto the Lord and to this end he doth it euen to pluck downe debase man to exalt and sanctifie the name of god Augustine is verie excellent in his meditations hee giueth vnto God these titles Great mightie omnipotent eternall pittifull long suffering righteous that hydeth many things knoweth all things Only strong onely present onely of force and of strength vncomprehensible seeinge all thinges iudginge all thinges vuchanngable yet chaunging and altering all other immortall infinite whom no man can attayne vnto Immoouable yet moouinge and turninge all vnsearchable yet searching all feareful and fearing all yet neuer feared that is aunciaunt and olde and gray headed for hée was euer not altered for hée is the same that bringeth all to age and continueth alwayes workinge and fashioninge and framinge and making and creating all yet alwayes quiet alwayes strong alwayes giuing neuer needing defending distributing nourishing profiting louinge ayding mainteining displeased yet pleased repenting not striking and consuming yet protecting fostering that is onely one and eternall and euerlasting and vnchangeable in his counsell I suppose that Augustine hath shewed vs howe to iudge of the Lorde howe to sanctifie him howe to glorifie him euen when we lay aside all that is in man and giue due honour reuerence feare and maiestie vnto him I will staye no longer in this place I procéede to that which followeth for I dare not stande in curious intermedling with the Lorde but I shewe yon briefely in what the Lorde is sanctified euen in all things that are vppon the earth whose excellencie if it haue any and glorie and goodnes commeth onely from God But in especial God is sanctified by these two workes and iust iudgements of his that happen in the worlde The firste is his righteousnesss and his iustice in the reuealing whereof euen by punishing the wicked and comforting them that bee his the Lorde God is chiefely glorified as in Pharao his ouerthrow in the read Sea with the destruction and ouerwhelming of his captaines horses and chariots that was a feare and astonishment to all nations The like in Sennacharib the Tirant of Assiria that ouerthrewe the Gods of the nations and blasphemed the trewe liuing God and perished he and his people by the hand of the Angell In no one thing is the Lorde so glorified as in this in shewing his rigour and sharpnesse to the infidels and nations and by sauing and protecting his people what glorious beautiful steppes had the daughter of Syon when Iuda was brought out of captiuitie and Hierusalem from thraldome bondage and the lame man went in the stréetes and the blinde could sée the Lorde and the Leapers were clensed and the bloudie Cyte was made a running spring and the standing poole a riuer of sweete water and when ioye and health was spreade abrode vpon the children of that wofull and desolate widow Sion when the Messias was come the Churche deliuered the Apostles called the Gentiles elected Herod eaten and deuoured with Lice the enimie of the Lorde and the Churche had quietnesse and the enimies were swallowed vp and glad tydings of the Gospel was preached on the face of the whole earth When the Lord permitted persecution vnder Nero Domitian Traian Dioclesian vntill Arcadius howe rose it againe triumphantly the Lorde God magnified in Asia in Aphrica in Europe and the heretikes beaten and suppressed downe by the worde of God. After that from Arcadius vnto Honorius vnto Theodotius the younger vnto Martian vntill Leo vntill Zeno. Howe worthie a passage had the power of the Gospell euen from Arrius and those heretikes that went before him vntill Pelagius and those heretikes which succeeded him I might cunne ouer the sixt age since Christ where albeit the countenance of the Lorde shined not so pleasantly as it did 〈◊〉 others yet the stories of Anastatius of Iustus of lusâ—mian of Iustin of Tâ—berius of Mauritius do testifie that the Lorde God gaue his Church an honourable conquest ouer the enimies of Christe But I let this â—ip and I returne thither from whence I went namely that this ought to be our petition our earnest sute and desire vnto the lord that he would not permit his name to be blasphemed and prophaned among the nations but in his mercie he would giue vs of his grace and in his iustice strike and punishe those that be his aduersaries that all men may knowe him and adore his name and that he may be feared and honoured among all After this manner be the godly brought speaking as it were in their owne persons Not vnto vs O Lorde not vnto vs but vnto thy name giue thy praise for thy goodnesse and for the truethes sake And againe in pittifull sorte do the Sainctes complaine by Dauid when the heathen cryed out where is their God And againe Powre foorth thy wrathe and indignation vppon the heathen which know thée not and vppon the kingdomes which call not on thy name And againe in Ioell Help vs O Lord of our strength eueÌ„ for thy glorâ—e for thy names sake Let the reuenge of the bloud of thy Saincts powred forth be openly shewed among the nations Yet herein is héede to be taken namely that priuate grâ—dge prinate malice make vs not to burst out into these exclamations but that it be done in the zeale of the Lord. The seconde kinde or manner of his power wherein he is sanctified his name glorified and he praised among the children of men is his infinite merâ—ic and goodnesse that is extended from generation to generation euen vnto thousand shousandes of such as feare him and kéepe his commaundements and were it not for the Lord of hostes for his great mercie that in Esay shoulde â—e fulfilled that we were as Sodoma and become as outcastes in Gomorra the calamities that happened to Iuda in so oftâ— times changing their iudges that were falne so strangely yet recouered themselues againe so mightely in a shorte space are a witnesse vnto vs to testifite this Their transgressions vnder Samuel yet he deliuered them their falling in the time of Dauid yet he â—aued them their miserie and desperate case wherein they faltered vnder Salomon yet he protected them vnder Ahab yet he defended them vnder the residewe of his successours yet did he not deface them so that his iustice to
punishe them his iudgmentes to tame them his wraith and his furie to consume them And his mercie to incourage them his righteousnesse to helpe them his clemencie to hold them and his goodnesse for to ransome them be the greatest and the mightiest woorkes of the Lorde wherein hee is glorified Yet in none so much as in this that they which went before vs and we whiche followe nowe that be aliue are in his mercie and goodnesse saued in one Iesus Christ that being deade are made aliue being falâ—en from grace are raised vp in a gratiouâ— Lord and swalowed vp with iniquitie are made new treatures and a perfect workemanshippe vnto God our father Thelassius hereon in his Hecatondate the seconde properly toucheth this Thou art frée saith he and called vnto libertie in Christ by grace giue not thy selfe then vnto the pleasure of the flest for euen in this benefite is wrought the worke of our saluation which is that we be true vprighte and perfect that by vs in our works the name of God may be glorified For euen in this is the worde euil spoken of in that we be followers of the flesh for this the name of God is dishonoured among the Gentiles Then to the end this parte for I see that I am ouer reached by the houre nothing on earth both set out his glorie that made it somuch as this That he confoundeth his enimies wherby the Godly are comforted and his worde hath free passage and in his mercie forbeareth his saincts and at once consumeth not or in his wrath destroyeth not but patient loÌ„g sufferinge of great goodnes vseth all kind of clemencie to bring those his vnto him To conclude it is the onely ende and vse of this petition Halowed be thy name That if we shall see the whole world to be deuided and cut in sunder For the word of God then in our peticion the sects may be abolished falfe opinions defaced the truth established the Gospell confirmed to pray to our Lorde god Hallowed be thy name if we be snared with the intisemeÌ„ts of the flesh if glorie puffe vs if brauerie gallantnesse in the world do moue vs If concupisence sturre vs or impietie and vngodlynesse wrestle with vs No easier way can befounde to ouercome them then this Halowed be thy name The ritch man he forgetteth the Lord and is choked with the cares of this life hée scrapeth greadely he oppresseth vnbrotherly begileth vncharitablie dealeth with all men vniustly and liueth vnchristianly The aduouterer vnchastly the thaefe vntruely the extortioner by robbery the vserrer by pilferie or els if al the world should ioyn together in tyrranie it can no better way remedied bee more easely redressed or the word of God obeyed or thy life and wicked demeanour purged then by this prayer Halowed be thy name but let vs leaue this come to the next and it folweth Let thy Kingdome come OVR Lorde and sauiour Christ as tendering the health and safetie of man hath set downe a definitie certeine order of prayer to be vled Not to take away all other or the no man may or can pray but onely praying thus but to shew vs in espetiall that the glorie of God is first to be looked for his name promoted his aucthoritie established his Godhead magnified his kingdome inlarged that in all our petitions this aboue other things ought to be regarded to desire earnestly that the retrennesse of the flesh and beastlines thereof might be launched and the glorie of God his gospell his worde his kingdome ratified This is the seconde peticion or request that we make vnto God in our prayers For we desired at the first to be helped of him as of our father it is expedient that we shoulde not séeke our owne commoditie but the Lordes and it is knowen in that we aske newe Let thy kingdome come This kingdome it is net giuen to one onely but to all fleshe it is not of man or the power of man but of the Lorde for that wee bee weake it is giuen to strengthen vs because we be sorowfull it is giuen to comforte vs and knowing wée be ignorant he hath giuen it to instruct vs and for our better consolation this is that he teacheth vs Let thy kingdome come M. Gualter is of this opinion that for so much as sinne and iniquitie reigneth in vs therefore we pray that vngodlynesse may be expelled and wickednesse banished and the only kingdome of God knowen among vs Cyprian vpon the Lords prayer We pray saith he that the kingdome of glorie may come promised by Christ and bought by the bloud and death of Christ that we which reigned in the world may now againe be chaunged and reigne with Christe For so it is prepared of the Lord that such as be his shoulde be seauered from the Gods of this worlde and made a newe people to him his father so receiue as it is in Matthew the kingdome that was prepared for them from the beginning There is in this life two manner of regiments two kingdomes that be among vs one it is of God and of the Lorde and of his sonne Christ The other is of the prince of this world the ruler of the ayre that gouerneth the hearts of the wicked as in Peter And this coÌ„quest this victorie that he claymeth and the rule which he hath it came in by that vntimely fight which he had with our first father Adam who in the cumbat and battell whiche he had was seduced by the wilinesse of a poore woman you may easely knowe what force we be of that are ouercome by so weake creatures And from that time Sathan hath so preuailed with the sonnes of men that they haue haene slaues and Galeboyes to doe his worke and toyle in his carte euer since yet not so that he hath cleane swallowed vs taken the whole gouernement into his handes but in this respect said to reigne in that commonly he infecteth the kings of the earth and the most of the nations with the cup of his fornication That in iust iudgement and in ful desert for their manifould sinnes are permitted to be scourged and for their malice and ingratitude duely punished In whome the kingdome of Sathan is said to haue poure for that he gouerneth their déedes and their whole life neither suffered hee them to sée the light and puritie of the Gospel And this gouernemeÌ„t it hath stollen away and so bewitched the mindes of men that for the space of one thousande sire hundred fiftie sixe yeres the Lorde God saue onely in a poore family or nowe and then in some Seth or one Enoch was scarce knowen vppon the face of the earth for which cause the windowes of the heauen opened they powred downe rayne and consumed those of the earth And to so many thousandes as were there what was the Arke that it might be rompared therevnto
which had in it but eyght persons as a seueral people kept to God And in this place I haue drawn you out a shorte catalouge of the peruerse and crooked kingdome the dominion of the diuel by which you may knowe what wee are of our selues when God forsaketh vs and you shall vnderstande againe that the Lord euen in the midst of death can keepe vs that be of his Church vnto life I knowe the I haue to deale with a great number that if God would not cut off the presumptuous spéech would complaine with Esdras the he had forgotten Sion that his people had hanged vp their harpes by the riuer of Babell and wepte there yet could not be heard of god And if euer it appeared in blacke and mourning wéede then was the Church of God chéefely destitute voide of helpe when as Nemrod that mightie hunter grewe vp to so great strength and consumed the flocke and heritage of the Lorde This kingdome of Sathan it is enlarged especially by these three meanes the firste is in belying and defacing the trueth the woorde of God the seconde is in open wickednes the third is by sects scismes heresies to beat downe the Gospel An example of the first I cannot shew better then in him of whom we brag so much our first father what a lye was that he made vnto him to begyle him withall If you eat of this fruit you shal be Gods knowing good euil then take this in the meane time as God his glorie his kingdome his empire is enlarged by setting out the trueth so is the kingdom of the diuel by disceit After this sort he bewitched the Philosophers of olde he begyled the Gentiles and nations on the earth with fonde and fantasticall illusions taken frō the Sunne the Moone and the other creatures whō they worshipped The beginning of the Kinge of Babylon and of Assiria after the floode 131. yeare testifie the same euen from Nemrod before named called of M. Bullinger and of the Poets Saturnus how great blindnesse and filthie superstition incroched on the earth euen that blessed nation whome God hath nowe mightily prospered the Germanes frō whence I knowe not whether any more heauenly or more wise or better learned or greater number to set out the glorie of the Lord and his Christ hath risen out of any place or nation or countrie vnder the Sunne then hath from them Yet these came out of the loynes of that beastly Monarcha and liued a long time in Idolatrie For take a viewe of their predccessours frō whence they came and iudge whether God hath blessed them or no that when they were wilde grapes good for nothing hath graffed them againe vppon a newe stocke and they bring foorth verie plentifull fruite For consider all and the power of God which wrought it Howe sprang vp Idolatrie when Ninus sonne to Nemrod otherwise of the Poets Iupiter Belus began to reigne Hee erected a temple to his father and to his mother Iuno and to Rhea his mothers mother and be was the chiefe author of idolatrie euen the moste grosse and beastliest that I finde among men Him did Semiramis a Paragon and his mother and an Amazon as filthie wicked as her sonne succede in the Empire Only in an out corner about Mesopotamia and in other pettie viliages was God knowen I touche this age For that it pleased God to suffer Sathan to build him a throne a kingdome among men in those dayes especially which was the foundation and Piller of all vntrueth vntill this day For nowe began the Aegyptians to bud vp that vntoward generation whose name deserueth to be hated for that all our toyes and inuentions in hidden and vnknowen artes began with them And the diuell to establishe and ratisie his dourine began in Aegypt the fiftéenth yere of Nemrod which was of Noe the 745. of the world 1801. yeres Then began Mizraim so called in their language his tyranny this is he called of the Histeriographers Oceanus that made great broyles in the Church and confirmed his wickednesse with bloude But it is true that is in Salomon The Lorde that sitteth in his seate doth wipe away all euill And againe the wise King doth scatter the wicked and bring a mischiefe vppon them And therefore this buylding of Sathan it lasted not long but was broken downe euen the chéefe walles thereof when hee suffered Abraham to soiourne among them For his posteritie sufferes many troubles and diuers calamities and were oppressed many yeres yet in the ende the Lorde God was magnified his name was praised and his Maiestie séene his people had a glorious day of them when Pharooth and his horsemen and his Chariots were ouerwhelmed and drowned in the deapth of the Seas Therefore in my iudgement this is a worthy and moste excellent prayer that the olde reliques of the auncient building may be defaced and to desire the Lorde that his kingdome may bee increased and superstition and falshod sowed and setled in the hearts of men rooted out and the puritie of the Gospel may take holde and veritie and religion shine among vs For it is the olde custome of Sathan to begyle vs as auncient as the Aegyptians be and the Caldees the Hebrewes so is his pollicie and his wilinesse of many yeres and long time greater continuance then our late and miserable dayes be able to resist if we were assaulted with the like For which cause séeing superstition hath heretofore ouerflowed the face of the whole earth from the beginning might haue continued vntill our latter times had not the Lorde God in his sonne Chrisie looked on vs For that Mahomet and the Turke haue their dominion and glorious titles to be made Gods aboue all that be in earth and his neighbour his nexte rempanion hath nowe a long season set him selfe in his chaire of state and Imperiall throne and hath made al the princes of the earth drunken with his venomous eup for that wée our selues bee a gazing stocke almoste to the whole worlde and the eyes of euery kingdome and nation cast vppon vs for that peace and quietnes the true light of the Gospel was neuer set out in his perfecte colour as it is at this day with vs and for that if vnthankfulnesse continue and lothsomnesse take vs we are at a venture that God will depriue vs of his benefites Considering the brickle state and distresse wherein we be no greater consolation in my iudgement may or can happen to vs nor worthier blessing light on vs or more earnest supplication moued by vs then that he would promete his glorie sanctifie his name defend his church establishe his kingdom roote out the posteritie of Sathan suffer his peace to be among vs. The second shift and pollicie that hee hath to erect his owne glorie and set vp his kingdome is by open sinne manifest
once named among you as becommeth sainctes If in the reuelation The Lord had some thing to say vnto the church of Pargamos although that in the heat and percecution and slaughter of the Martyrs of God they continued steadily Yet had some among them where as sathan dwelt that mainteined the doctrine of Balaam that taught Balaac to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel to sacrifice vnto Idols and commit fornication If hee had something to say vnto them for that they mainteined the doctrine of the Nicolitans which thing he hateth It is most certeine and true that the family of loue hath erred If God taught vs a right commit not adulterie If Moses said that very truely ioyne not your selues to the maner or custome of the nations If Samuel checked them for that they weÌ„t a whoring after straunge wiues If Esaias for that Israel rose vp early and went astray And as the vntamed and vnbridled Colt went a neighing after other mens wiues if Ieremie that confusion shall come on them and baldnesse on their pates for defiling their owne coutche It is vndoubted it is most true that the famelie of loue hath erred If the fatheâ—â— haue iudged rightly if Nazianzen in his funerall laste talke vnto his sister To ioyne vs together in one flesh cannot seperate vs from the spirite If Ambrose in his speach he hath of virgens was wont to commende Sara and Rebecca and Rachell as Matrons of chastitie Their husbande 's as Lordes to direct them in integritie If Epiphanius in his second booke agréeth with the church as vnspotted cleane hauing honest comly mariages therin If Ierome vpon Timothie the 4. condempneth suche as thinke not reuerenly of Matrimonie If Basill in his Examero calleth it the chaine and bonde of nature If Athanasius accuseth Miluius of this heresie and in iudging not honourably of mariage setteth forth Adam and Eue ioyned together in Paradice If all the fathers haue agreed and set themselues against the adulterer If Christ committed them to death And Paul that incestuous man to Sathanas If they in the prematiue Church haue consented all in one and our lawes agree in the same at this day What néede we to striue any more for this The case is open the thing is knowen It is vndoubted it is most true that the famelie of loue hath erred To confute them perticulerly as it were by treatise that I leaue to them whose priuate charge requireth it To you I speake this to giue a warning that all such detestable vnto the Lorde are reserued against the great day the day of wrath he will iudge them Partely to awake you out of that slumber wherein you be that this beginning and enteraunce which I nowe perceiue to be grounded a little in smaller trifles burst not out into greater heresies But I returne to the next and that is of frée will men And yet a little I am inforsed to serch out this which is verie comon and it smelleth of the Donatist that thinke the Church is no where but where suche as they be are Your prayer that the will of God may be done in earthe willeth not thée to iudge so rashly of thy brother And that byworde so common in the woride Do all thinges to the glorie of God tasteth of those runninge heades in the Primatiue church in Affrica The Circumcelions that thought all thinges which were not done and liked by them they coulde neuer be done to Gods glorie Againe for I will neuer spare the wicked It is not the will of God that any as a man franticke and without wit shoulde scourge and whip them selues as the Iewes and Italian fashion was and renued amonge them in Italy of late that remaine as the Iewes do in the olde ceremonies I touche them vppon good occasion for I haue knowen of these Iewish rites renued of late And it is a wicked and moste heynous â—fence against the rule prescript commaundement of god To kéepe trueth in thy heart and to lye vnto thy neighbour for aduauntage or for the Gospell to sweare to an vntrueth to honest him that professeth religion And it tooke the beginning from the Maniches and from the Gnostiches and renued in Priscillian which thinge I thinke it is but of a blinde affection and ignoraunt zeale and not knowen vnto some Let warninge therefore bee taken in time I finde that vnder Gratian and Valentinian the assembly of the Priscilianistes were verie greate suche as were defiled with filthines with whoredom with euill dealing with any vice whatsoeuer If they came vnto their secte they kepte it close If they ioyned with them they concealed it All others they estéemed as castawayes There was a verse among them Iura periura secretum prodere noli Sweare and forsweare kéepe secrete thy secret déedes bewray them not I accuse no man I wish amendment for I sée that which is amisse God which knoweth the hearte and the secretes and searcheth the raines will search out and examine and iudge it to Let this be a remembraunce in prayer His will be done in earth and it will take away thy wil from this wilfulnesse And nowe I come to the frée will men I am longer then hitherto I was wont but the matter and the weightinesse of the cause compelleth mée Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen This order in prayer taketh away the will of man it taketh away workes it taketh away all power the is in vs it referreth vs only to the will of god Fleshe and bloud hath in this place a great combate with the Spirite that seeing he is lorde in earth and maister of the fishes in the Sea and guyde and ruler ouer the creatures in the earth yet shoulde be so debarred of his libertie and so tyed vnto thraldome that hee hath not so muche as power ouer his owne soule nor discretion to iudge of that should bring him life The fishe that swimmeth in the riuer The birde that flickereth in the ayre the worme that créepeth on the earth may séeme to be happier then man is For euery one hath an ende and appointed time giuen him to iudge of that whiche bringeth life and avoide that which is euill As for man he is so tyed that the sworde the Ieobet the Axe the water the fire cannot bee auoided if it bee determined by the Lorde But vnhappie is man that cannot sée the goodnes of our god For séeing all things happen by the Lorde what is it shall trouble mée God hath appointed the heauens the earth the clowdes and all shall be obedient to them that feareth him For it is our comfortes we are weake and we be not able to helpe our selues But one there is that sitteth aboue and it is hee that shall prouide for vs. Ierome vnto Tesiphon complayneth of Pelagius by sirname Bryto according as Prosperus
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
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
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