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
others That same Ephraem hath yet gonne farther in this hée searcheth out more narrowly the dealinges of the world and preuenteth that same glorious pompe in our professors that lay open their thoughts and ripp vp their cogitacions to bée séen of men with which kynde of people I professe my selfe mutch to haue delt withall and glad I am it pleased God to let mée haue sight of sutch in these my younge dayes for that I may beeware the better in ryper yéeres But his councell it is not to praye for our selues but for all euen sutch as bée Christians and of the Lorde and not for our fréends but euen for those that hate vs I thinke hée hath sufficiently glaunced at our Anabaptists that beside their error in mislyking our manner of prayer holdinge with none but sutch as is framed and ordered by them intertayne but litle order in the Church but careles in life and suspected in their dealing make the Gospell a couering and the word a cloake to dissemble with regard sutch as fauor them presume to appoincte the elect of the Lord at their seuerall iudgments pray for sutch as bée of their Church kéepe secret the dealinges of vngodly men least their profession and calling bee dishonested as though Dauid could not offend or Abraham transgresse the will of God bee it reuerently spoken and with feare but the Churche of God should suffer Shipwracke for it I speake as one mooued and sory I am that I am at holme And this sore it is so festred writhed already into the harts of men that an Iron to seare it is better thē a plaister to mollefy it with And if God doo not giue an other spirit or dalyaunce bée deferred as yet it is I haue at this tyme but looked at them if God permit and leysure serue and these outragious enemyties stil continue I am not purposed to leaue them so rawly But ouerslipping my self I haue plunged vnaduisedly to come so neere vs truly so it may bee For better a great deale is it to kéepe him that is abroad and strike the enemye then to rushe vpon our fréendes that bée at holme And yet not so nor so wisely neyther if wee consider all For it is wisdome to cut of him in thy owne Campe first if so thy liberty permitteth thee and then to wrestle with the forraner but content I am and I striue not nowe I will arme my selfe agaynst some other time Only let them take heede they come not nearer for if they doo though now they bée without reatch yet Pen Inke and Paper shall neuer spare them wel to leaue this of our disordered and crooked dealing let vs approtche to that which is more pleasaunt and frutefull then is this and if thou wilt pray and pray aright pray thus First in spirite Ephe. 6.8 Iude. 20. and in many other places the reason hereof is For that the man alwayes occupyed in his traficke is not able to vse the body the ioynctes the lymmes the outward gesture as other doth whose leysure suffereth them to praye at all times but euen this is required in him as in all other to lifte vp himself to erecte and reare him vp in soule in spirit in hart vnto the Lord that the affayres and dealings in this world ouercome thée not Secondly in fayth Math. 2.12 Mark. 11.23 Ioh. 15.7 Iam. 1.6 and the 5.15 Ephe. 3.12 Ephe. 2.8 and els wheare For as God hath left vnto vs all manner of instrumentes to woorke by as hee hath giuen vs a meane and way on earth to labour by as man hath his seuerall manner to inritch him with So for the spirituall affayres for thy woorke for thy waye for thy labour for thy custome to attaine thy honor with all is theare of vs all as common vnto all one onely instrument which is sayth Thirdly it must bée donne in the name of Christ alone wher in is secluded all manner worship and inuocation eyther of Saincts eyther of men eyther of creature on the earth That prayer vsed of them in Aegipt to Isis so named of the glory which they saw in the Moone Also they of Athens that worshipped the vnknowne god Actes 20. As they which were at Rome that serued Minerua Pallas Iuno Hereules with the rest diuersly inuented by the Ethnickes All els whatsoeuer they bee condempned by this for it ought to be in the name of Christ the reason is that wée take it not as a charactar or fondly for the repeating therof as that there should be any forse vertue in it But théese bee the causes for which wée are charged and inioyned to thinke that wée haue saluation in the name of Christ ¶ The first cause for which wee pray in the name of Christ For that hée onely forgiueth sinnes Math. 9.2 Actes 10.43 Rom. 8.4 1. Cor. 5.18 Ephe. 1.7 and the fourth the thirtéenth verse otherwise wée might pray to the Blocke and to the stone and to the thinge that créepeth and profiteth vs not For what aduauntage had wée in sorrowing all the dayes of our life and in the ende when the wrinckels in our sace appeareth and the messenger doth his duty and citeth vs before the Lorde then wee bée still in death and life is kepte from vs then this is the ende bereof Namely that our transgressiōs may be hid and our sinnes couered and that wée may haue remission of the same and life eternall which is the first cause we pray in the name of Iesus Christ The second for that hee is the way the truth and the life Ioh. 14.5 and 26. Ioh. 11.2 Ioh. 14 6. Actes 3.15.1 Ioh. 1.2.1 Ioh. 5.11 Colos 3.4 By this wee are secluded from all licentious liberty of the Gentilles from all inuention of man from all fonde and phanatical illutions For if wee séeke for lyse wee haue it in Christe that dyed for vs to bringe vs out of death If for a guide wee haue the spirit that will conducte vs in the right way and leade vs to his Father if the truth there was no blemish found on his lippes nor deceypt in his tongue and hée brought in the truth the Gospell of his Father and the woord of lyfe kept secret from the beginning of the world and reuealed in these latter daies vnto the sonnes of men wherfore wee néede to séeke no farther wée haue all things wrought in Christ The thirde for that hée is the accomplishment and ende of the law This may seeme litle to apperfayn to vs but whē we cōsider the by the law came in death and by the fulfillinge of the lawe came deliueraunce from death it may appeare what a glorious God hée was and moste victorious that hath ouercome the sharpenes thereof and vanquished the power of the Deuill that kepte this as a handwrighting agaynste man that of himself was neuer able to fulfil it wherfore wée pray in the name of Christ for that hée hath abolished the strength and force of sinne
and finished the manifolde rites and ordinaunces required therin who was the onely ende and fulfiller of them all Mat. 5.17 Rom. 10.4 The fourth for that hée is our Maister or Lorde whome wée ought to heare Math. 17.5 and 23.8 Mark 9.7 Ioh. 13.13 Actes 3.22 The fifth for that hee is King and prince of kinges Math. 12.9 and 27.11 Luke 1.33 Ioh. 1.40 and 12.15 Reuel 1.5 and 11.19 The firte for that hee can call hée can heale and hée can comforte sinners Math. 2.21 and .9.13 and 11.28 and 18.10 Luke 4.19 and 19.10.1 Timo. 1.15 The seuenth for that hée is the searcher of the hart Math. 9.22 Luke 6.8 and 11.17 and 9.47 Ioh. 2.24 Hebrue 4.13 Reuel 2 23. The eyght for that hée only is Lorde Math. 22.43 Luke 2 11. Ioh. 12.13 Pro. 28. Actes 9.5 10.48 1 Cor. 2.8 and 8.6 12.3 Eph. 4.1 Philem. 2.11 Reuel 17.14 The ninth for that hee only is sauiour Math. 1.21 Luke 1.32 Ioh. 3.16 and 4.24 Actes 40.12 1. Tim. 1.15.1 Ioh. 4.9 The tenth and the last for that hée is only mediator and aduocate for man Math. 11.27 Ioh 10.9 and 14 6. Actes 4 22. Rom. 5.1 and 8.34 Eph. 2.18 and 3.12.1 Tim 2.5 Heb. 7.27 6.6 and 9.15 12 24. 13.15.1 Ioh. 2.1 THus mutch to debar man from the authority that hee looked for that hauing our true fayth fired on the Lord reposing our hope in Christ calling vpoÌ„ his name all inuocation vpon Sainctes all homage and reuerence they clayme as due vnto Peter the dignity and superioritie to the Virgin Mary all prerogatiue falsely attributed by the Papists vnto Images with other the ofskourings and imaginations whatsoeuer of manne vsurped agaynst the Maiesty of our God is altogeather clipped of So that wée may come before his iudgement seate claime a right title for that wée be heyres in his Christ we be clensed purged renued in him our sinnes are wiped and washed in his blood Hee it is that directeth vs in the iourny and wearisome Pilgrimage wée haue to goe in hee guardeth vs by the spirite in truth whome the Prâ—phets prefigured before and the Booke of God did for-signifie to come on earth that is Lord and King ouer all and hath conquered Hell death the Deuill and the world that hath led captiuety captiue and giuen giftes vnto men that calleth vs at his pleasure and healeth vs if at any time wée surfett in the vanityes of the flesh and he doth fatherly coÌ„forte vs if by diseases wée bee pestered or swolne with infirmities which often times doo so bubble vp in the hartes of men that neuer it is or rather rare and very seldome féene that the coÌ„tagiousnes within vs may or can be healed This is the same christ that searcheth the harts and reynes that bee thou in the height aboue or in the depth below bee thou in thy closet or in thy secret chaumber yet knoweth he thy dooings he examineth thy deeds hee tryeth the harte and immagination of man and wayeth out thy life by thy faith For hee rydeth vpon the Cherubins and his wings are spread on the whole face of the earthe hee commeth out as a Gyaunt to run his course and valiauntly doth hée run out in his displeasure the Hilles the mountaynes the lambes and the litle shéep they leape and hopp at the sight of the Maiesty of our God which only saueth vs onely protecteth vs guideth vs alone and is intercessor for vs bought vs with a deare price the price of blood and debased for our infirmities vnder Pontius Pilate euen of his loue to man gaue vp his life into his Fathers hands and was séene againe aboue men and tooke vp our flesh with him into Heauen at his glorious ascendinge and sitteth at the right hande of his Father a mediator and intercessor for man that only pacefieth the wrath of God in wholm both Iewe and Gentil both Gretian and Barbarian hath remission of sinnes on whose name we must cal in whom wee must trust vpon whose shoulders is layed the weakenesse of our flesh in whom wée must beléeue euen in Iesus Christ the Sonne of God equall with his Father in powre in dignity in maiesty in deiete to whom belongeth glory for euer and for euer This is the true Christian fayth to beléeue thee only true Lorde and Iesus Christe whom thou hast sente Hauinge at length drawen out the full proportion almost the heigh stature and cumlynes of such a man as feareth God wée may now returne agayne to the seconde parte of this worke For ouerslipping our selues a litle in so déepe a mistery of the Lorde and his Christ I haue prolonged my spéech of that I tooke in hand at the first Too finish vp then this Treatise as our prayer it is in the name of Christ so discreatly must it and very orderly bée donne debasing our selues and laying downe that hawtines of courage the man of this world boasting and bragginge of good woorks and attire our selues with more spirituall and perfecte apparrell then that is and this garment it must neuer bee put of but wée ought to weare it as comly and decente clothing euen vnto the Graue For intermission will not bee suffered in those that bee the Lordes but our prayinge it must bee continually by perseueringe therin Luke 1â— 8 and 16.1 and 21.36 Actes 2.14 Rom. 2.12 Eph. 6.16 Colos 4.2 Pet. 4.7 neyther haue I opened sutch a doore I hope to panisme that any man mistakinge mee shall vse the house the fielde the Temple the streat the open ayre and the day and the night alike No I leaue a time to worke a time to playe a tyme to labor a time to rest a time to pray a time to cease from praying For the lifting vp of thy hands thy reuerence downward to the ground thy howlinge and shreaking in the Temple thy knockinge and belowinge at the Alter thy bent knées they bee some times tokens of Ipocresy as christianitée But I say if place and time though neuer out of time to praye can bee donne without gazing on of men and truely and duly with no affected prayse of worldlings I doo appoynt thee all times For I will that thou pray alwayes lifting vp pure hands without wrath without doubtinge This place I doo expresse it more willingly for that of late I know some that haue though presisely yet not so wisely intercepted no time no occation no season no howre but in sighing and groneing by open tokens of their inwarde thoughts haue ouerslipped no opertunitye to shewe their affectioned mindes vuto religion To auoyd all inconueniences this of Paul and of Christ to pray euery wheare with out ceasing I take thus The first I vnderstand as that 1. Cor. 2. That there is now no difference betwixt the Iew and the Gentill the Barbarian and the Graetian because God is father to them all And now in Christ is that of Malachy brought to passe
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
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
and cullor hir guile adioyneth vnto hir inchauntment the Lordes Prayer And the Diuinar or hee that telleth and calleth vp by Spirites hee snatcheth something from Christ and hée will haue a leg or an arme of him and so inflamously abuseth the godhead of the Lorde But to take away this olde wiues Tale I thinke it expedient to say somewhat and at the first rather then to interrupte my speech hereafter As therfore Nadab and Abihu the Sonnes of Aaron that offered vp incense in the same Censor that their Father did Yet because they did it not aright they dyed for it So heare though wee praye all with one prayer and powre out our supplications at one time because wée praye not all alike with minde in spirite vnto the Lorde they bee to none effecte neyther auayle they And as there was in the Wildernesse one Manhu wheron Israell fed yet some wicked and disobedient had not the like nourishment and effect therof as had others So the prayer of the Lorde though hée gaue it to all that all might vse it yet it is not profitable to him abuseth it And as Saull vsed Samuell after his death the Pythonest called the Diuell by the name of him hee was not and the Diuell deceyued Samuell and did not profit him So it is with vs The prayer of the Lorde vnto the wicked beeing wrested to their death as Samuell was by the Diuell to blinde Saull shall neuer helpe them But abandon these wicked men wee must and permit them not so much as to haue speech with vs God hath heaped vp iudgement against the day of iudgement to consume them For the prayer of it selfe I say not well the bare wordes not rightly vnderstoode they bee no better then any other The Oyle and the Waxe and the Hony and the Tarre bee common things but to ioyne them to mixte them to compound them togeather to giue them to the pacient at conuenient time there is the cunninge The Nettle byteth yet it healeth the Flaxe it cureth yet it burneth the Spider poysoneth yet shée profiteth Then all thinges are good euen the vngodly man to him can vse him So is the prayer of the Lorde Otherwise as God hath his electe in the Courtes of the Ethnicke and as hee saueth some in the Turks Pallaces and among the Iewes kéepeth those he will haue kept so what saluation can they or others looke for if faith and life of man were tyde to this prayer seeing there bee a number that neuer as yet did knowe the same Also where is Abraham Isaak and Iacob which neuer prayed thus There is then many things to be wayed before wee presume to ground any Religion and health vppon man for repeating this prayer Then this order and manner of praying we must haue it of some other not of our selues therefore hee whiche hath taught it vs and instructed vs in his Spirite graunt vnto vs the true vse hereof in his bloud Trueth it is in Crisostome his Homily that Maximus speaketh Euery one when he prayeth let him pray vnto the Lorde Wherefore my procéeding into this so great a matter maketh mée in doubt but that the Lorde is where he alwayes was to take in hande so great a mysterie But I am content as hetherto I haue to vse my countrie speeche and I knowe that all alike vnto the Lorde is that man accepted that goeth cottered and torne in his ragges as he that is stuffed and pampered vp in veluets and it is a common fashion in the worlde in those our dayes for euery one to vse his libertie of spéeche and lasciniousnesse of tongue in this point Hee that is poore why shoulde I praye saith he for I haue nothing The ritche man he standeth in little néede he hath enough The strong man hee knoweth his portion hée séeketh for no more so valiant and puissant is he in this life The proude man he is in his ruffe hee noddeth with his head and beckeneth with the hande hee setteth saile to all things The incestious person what can he aske he liueth in pleasure The merchaunt what hath he to do with God the winde and weather serueth him And in commeth the student and he maketh his reckoning he casteth and he tumbleth ouer his bookes he looketh and hopeth for nothing for his witt helpeth him So that the whole worlde it is deuided euery one thinketh he hath little to do with god Then my firste note is that this prayer in generall appertaineth to all For from the tabernacle to the tente from him that sitteth in the gate to the poore man in the fielde from Tirus euen from those that go to Tharsis to the thresher the corne flower from him that giueth wages to him that receiueth hire from him that putteth on silke and softe clothing euen vnto Lazarus that lyeth at the doores seuerally from the toppe of Sion to the poore cottage From the Cedar trées of Libanon vnto the man remaining among the fennes and flagges it is his duetie he is bounde he ought to remember that he should praye For hée that sendeth his Cammels for spieerie and aduentureth to Corinthum for Iewels that prouideth into Arabia to get the purest golde and so gréedely searcheth for the riches of Damascus nay though he tarrie at home and abideth the Sunne all the dayes of his life and suffereth the bitter frostes in Winter though hee be created to tende cattell and to kéepe the wilde Coalte and the Asse in the Wildernesse though his handes be wearied with the plough and his arme withered vp with holding of the rake though he sit at the threshholde and haue not wherewithall to féede him yet hath he his soule to looke vnto that in my iudgement it is time to séeke narrowly abroade to recken with our selues to giue attendaunce to waite on God for euery one that liueth hath néede of prayer But to ransake euery thing more narrowly let vs knowe what it is is contained herein for wée dispute not for ritches or for wealth or for honour that vanisheth away but for the Lorde for Christ the firste thing that is mentioned is this that wee call on God and we saye O our father In the scriptures God is called the Lorde of Hostes the iudge of the whole earth the King of Kinges a consuminge fire the founteine of life that sitteth vppon the Cherubynnes that ruleth the worlde And here we call him by the name of father I am not purposed to runne paraphrastically on this if it please you to staye on my simple iudgement this I thinke If in our prayers we make vnto God we should call him Lorde wee spake vnto one that wee thinke shoulde haue dominion ouer vs If as to a Iudge we ought to stande at the barre and holde vp our handes and pleade for our selues then shoulde he sit with his twentie foure elders and giue sentence vppon vs If as to
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
and alowe hir wordes I will commende it But where find we in the word of God to sweare for any and that falsely and that as you think for his glorie I will giue you no weapons to fight withall And those wherwith you séeme to strike are blount already And it may be that he whiche fyled them and deliuered them vnto you as good mettall wanted cunning When ye haue considered better and cast your penyworthes paraduenture also you wil repent you for so shrewde a bargain as you haue had in giuing so largely for such counterfeites it may be a warning vnto you to serch more narrowely As for my selfe I can be but briefe herein the son calleth me back the ronning so hastely putteth mee in mind what to do this iudgemēt shal not be my own take it frō Gregorius that alloweth in some case to be lye thy selfe to saue others But I oppose Augustine against him the in the sermō de verbis Apostili Cap. 29. Determineth more soundly and discréefely a great deale of this matter Fingendo si prius non eras peccator factus eris peccator Nempe dicendo te commisisse quod non admiseris To lye saith Augustine for any thing though beefore thou offendest not It maketh thée as he that finned namely thou saidste thou didest that was neuer done And I am vtterly agaynst all whatsoeuer that giue larger scope to these double harted fellowes then can bée alowed by the worde of God Or that any man should conceale kéepe close his wickednes the filthines of life in others for feare that the Gospell shoulde be discredited and God dishonoured But I say if it bee in Absalon if in thy Sonne if in thy onely sonne conceale it not Heare for I will aunswer that doubt to cut you shorter It is not lawfull to tell an vntrueth no not to saue the life of thy neighbour Augustine in his booke De mendatio to Consentius questioneth thus If a man be sicke extremely euen to death and the same man also knewe his sonne to be in great ieopardie and perill of his life The father hath such loue vnto his childe that the death of his sonne will bee the death of him his father if hee knowe it One standeth by that knoweth his sonne is dead The father asketh the same person as touching his sonne What shal be done in this case If he saith that he is not dead he lyeth if that he saye he knoweth not he dissembleth if he saith he is dead he doth against nature he burieth the father with the sonne Homo vt sum permoueor res dura est As I am a man saith Augustine I am sore affrighted and it is a harde case But hee concludeth Non esse mentiendum Lye not at all Take yet an other Question if you méete with a strumpet with an vnchaste woman that as Putiphars wife to Ioseph would haue thée to defile thy soule in hir dischastitie by Foruication and thou denyest it is come so farre that shee will stea hir selfe vnles shee satisfie hir lust with thée What shal be done now shalt thou agrée condescend vnto hir I say no. And sayth Augustine The reason is alike in both thou shalt not lye and cōmit euill for thy neighbours cōmodity Otherwise there is a Latice an open pathway◠to all mischiefe For one lyeth for his substaunce an other for his neighbours wealth another for his fathers commoditie One for his brother and for his honour and for his dignitie and so in al states there is is no ende of lying But yet againe I saye with Augustine Non est committendum vt proalterius corporali vita quicquis suam occidat animam For thy corporall gayne let no man cast away his soule And I say agayne lye not at all But yet to exclude all shifts and lcaue no one creuise to péepe into what shall bée sayde to this Lawyare shift◠murtherers and Théeues set vpon a man one hydeth him These men woulde knowe where hée is hidden Reuelabit an non I say commit the matter vnto God if thou canst conueigh him sende him away if not but they demaund where hée is to haue his life Thou néedest not to tell it they be but priuate men If thou art not inforsed conceale it But if they compell thée by thy life Thy soule is in the handes of God thy life is in theirs Obaye thou God before men If the Magistrate do aske thée of a wicked man that hath cōmitted treason againste his person If of an Extorcioner if of an vniust dealer if of a wicked person I say though hee bée thy Brother though thy fréend though thy Maister though thy father though shée out of whose bowels thou commeste Hir blood is on hir owne head disclose it lye not otherwise soule for soue life for life man for man blood for blood you dye both To conclude in thy Marchandize truth in thy dealings truth in barganing truth in selling truthe in inritching truthe Truthe in all thinges For men that deale vntruely ofte times do liue vnruely And these be they that commonly do end their liues most desperatly I am now at length arriued to a very daungerous and troublesome porte Wheras but that now God bée thanked the winde and weather is delayed There might séeme some danger of sanding for thrée already I escaped very perellous kinde of men And I haue now to incounter with the fourth That bée suche as fright mée the more as I sée there pretensed zeale more cunningly cloaked then the rest And yet these forgiue their debtes and pardon their enemyes Yet mooued by the Spirit and for zeale of the Gospell or by reuelation from Heauen or by certayne peruersnes that they bée the enemies of Christ Wil vse the Swoord and aucthority and put their hands to the knife to wound and launche their Brothers throte Some haue dyed in England not long since for the same And the Martirdome of one Burchet a Gentleman with one or two more his companyons Par semper paria petit though vnknowē as yet hanged at the Strand in London a few yeeres now past did much mischeefe heare in England I was in the Country nowe past but two yéeres where in a long Voiage that I tooke I did by chaunce stumble vpon some of them and about Sowthhampton with the Coast there adioyning and Westward towards Portchmowth I had som talke with poore Laymen as I rode that enclined much hereunto Whome after I had admonished with a litle bitter spéech as a terror to them for procéedinge any farther ▪ They reclaimed for a time how since that they haue béene mooued by the Spirite of God I know not In this Cuntry where now I am I can accuse none but how neare in diuers poynctes they come vnto them I refer mée to the discretion of sutch as knowe them without affection béeinge pertiall vnto none I set
downe the truth That wise men may know them and the simple flye them That only God may bee glorified in the ordinary meanes hée hath appoynted The beginninge wherof I can fetch it from none other then from that villanous secte of Enthusiastistes that was the beginning and Orriginall of beastly and filthy deuinacions and liued by inspiration as I finde in ▪ Theodoret of Cyrus whose beginner therof and Kingleader was sometimes Salbas ruler among very wicked and graceles men And Adelphius and Daodes and Simeones and Hermes with others And as Iudas for betraying Christe so were these for abusinge the Church very infamous and noted amonge the Fathers These fellow seruaunts and Copemates as it were with Nouatus that infected them of Phrigia and Paphlagonia with his precisenes exactnes of life permitted none that had sacrifised to Idols to come neare the church refused the maner of Baptisme the was vsed permitted none to come to the holy misteries Neyther yet referred him to the mercy of god Which how much it differeth frō them in our English Church wherof the Lorde bée merciful vnto vs there is a great nomber euery where sprong vp of late denying our order manner in baptisme thrusting such frō the Supper of the Lord as they like not take them selues onely for the pure perfect church refusing others with such like opinions a number as the like hath béen seldome séen in any age in any church since Christes comming in so short a space as is now I can compare them to no one state of any cōmon wealth so neare and so narrowly as I can vnto that wherof there is some mention made in Sleidons Commentaries in his tenth booke For vnto the same great and famous Cittie of Mounster the Metropolis of Westphalia there resorted certaine Anabaptistes whose beginning and Orriginal was taken from one Tho. Muncer that raised a tumult of the cōmunalty And these pretended certeine holynesse and puritie of life in so much that counted as Godly and zealous christians they were neuer espied they delt so closely and holilye in life vntill they began to spreade thorowe out Germanie and Luther almost al other learned men inueighed against them But after when this their childhoode began to reatch vnto it fresher bloude and gathered strength to creepe withall not farre from Mounster at a Church of S. Morris the yeare of our Lorde 1332. One Barnearde Rotman a preacher of the Gospell gathered together a great audience in that Citie and suppressed at the first by the Catholikes being sent away emptie without hope of that he came for he went aside to another countrey for a space Yet after that retourned backe being very popular he rauished the minds of the people he preached very sincerely hee liued vprightly and faught zealously But knowe all and iudge with me dissembling a long time what he was Commeth at length a certein Cobler to Mounster out of Holland to name Ihon Leidan A ranke Anabaptist hauing got acquaintance with the preachers assotiated kept company with them after familiaritie among thē being well knowne to the cōmons he inueighed openly against the state At which time one Herman Stapred as preuie to the drift of his fellowe Rotman linked him self at length with the rest it was that Stapred the was scholler to Henrick Rolly which a little before was executed at Vtreight for the opinion of Anabaptisme but it grew to so great inconueniēce here with them of the city that the senate banished al the pack of thē yet the subtiltie of these men preuented the intent of the wise Senate neither departed they but kept secretly in holes corners went priuely to the followers of their sect lurked there for a space taught in the night preached in priuat places vsed conuēticles gathered cōpanies the the nūber of thē in the end increased aboūdātly And then hauing gotten the vpper hande came in the diuilish deuice of running vp downe in the stréetes as though they had been inspired with a kinde of prophesie Then began one Kniperdoling with other lay mē to vse expoundings interpretations and diuinations Woemen were prophets and spake openly in congregations Good preachers were exiled and in their steede came vp the ofscowring of the Citie and then began ciuil warre and murther discention and confusion of the state For my owne part I iudge Christianly and the Lord God looke vpon me in the same yet this I think that the Lorde being angry hath somewhat care long to say vnto vs And for the thing it selfe he that hath but one eye may séewhat marke it is they shoote at for the state the lawes the common wealth if their request bee graunted cannot stande And as in the reigne of Emperour Charles the firste began moste bloodie broyles by auarice and herisie that sprange vp So in espetiall it was seene in that vnlucky Westphalia when heapes of deade men lay scattered in the stréetes and the bodies of their Emperours were vnburied when the Senate was expelled euery one that ought priuat grudge ware a dagger in his sleeue to cut his neighbours throte And all things were in common when this heresie was spreade in many places thorow out Germanie that if was lawful for euery one to kill his enimie That is flatte against that I haue in hand Forgiue vs our trespaces as wee forgiue them that trespasse against vs. For that same Iellowzie in Elyas That called to heauen and was heard of the Lorde and fire came downe and consumed those he cursed Is no sufficient argument to confirme that errour For when thou art a Prophet and canst tell what is to come when thou hast suche commaundement from the Lord and art assuredly mooued by the Spirite when thy life is sought and God wil bee reuenged on them that mocke thée when the prophets be despised and any seeke there death and thou also hast an assured warraunt from the LORD I will agrée with thée But if Christ when he was dispised of them in Samaria and could haue cast of the dust of his feete against thē reuenged not againe If he checked Iames Iohn that asked if fyre should come downe from heauen to distroy them when he went from Galilee to Ierusalem you may know e well it was an extraordinarie thing God would haue done he vsed not the naturall wayes on earth to fulfill his minde What if Peter destroyed Ananias and Saphira his wife and cursed them to death Are you Apostles as they were Did you euer sée Christe haue you commaundement to do signes and wounders and to heale and foretell or if you drinke poyson will it not hurt you if this commaundement was neuer giuen you your reason quayleth But if God will haue his indignation and furie to be shewen vppon the vesselles of wrath If he will not spare the hipocrite but vnlace his