TWO SERMONS preached the one at Paules Crosse the eight of Ianuarie 1580. The other at Christes Churche in London the same day in the after noone By Iames Bisse maister of Art and fellowe of Magdalen â—â—lledge in Oxenford ¶ Imprinted at London by Thomas Woodcocke 1581. To the right worshipfull Syr Iohn Horner and Syr George Rogers knightes Iames Bisse wisheth grace mercy and peace from GOD our father and from our Lorde Iesus Christe WHen I had preached these two sermons right worshipfull diuers of my friendes requested a Copie of them the which they craued earnestly at the last I graunted hardly I had small leasure to pen my Sermons for them and thought it lesse honestie and as little curtesie to denie them But when through importunitie they had gotten the vpper hande and receiued my Sermons at my handes they went presently after a viewe taken of them vnto the Printer to haue them published They vsed many reasons to persuade me to yeeld therevnto but but when they coulde by no reason moue me to agree to their attempt they protested that my Sermons shoulde bee printed though I were neuer so vnwilling they hauing the copies in their handes in the ende wheÌ„ I could nothing preuaile with them but perforce was constrained to yeelde to the publishing of these my Sermons I Purposed as duetie moued mee to commend and commit them vnto your worships to whom I doe acknowledge my selfe diuers wayes much bounden and the rather was I mooued to hide them vnder the winges of your worships protection because your fauour in mainteining the Gospell your zeale to Gods worde the regard that you haue of Gods Ministers is knowne not to mee only who haue often times perceiued it but to all theÌ„ which although they know not you yet both know do acknowledge your good deedes The Lorde powre downe his spirite plentifully vpon you kindle more more in you the true zeale that alredy burneth increase the loue and good affection which you haue toward the gospel that you being pillers in the Church of Christ militant may also bee pillers in his Church triumphant And thus desiring your worships to accept this my simple and rude worke with my humble commeÌ„dations to you and to the vertuous Ladies your wiues I bid you hartily fare well from London this xix of Ianuarie 1580. Your worships to commaâ—ndâ— in the Lord Iames Bisse Iohn 6. 27. Labour not for the meat which perisheth but for the meat that endureth vnto euerlasting life Which the Sonâ—â— of man shall giue vnto you for him hath God the Father sealed DAuid a King and a Prophet a man after Gods owne heart the first liuely branche of the roote of Iesse of whose seed Christ was made according to the flesh vpon whose throne he doeth and shal sit for euer although he were a worme and no man the outcast of the people a Pellicane in the wildernesse an owle in the desert a sparowe without her mate alone vpoÌ„ the house top yet as the heart desireth the water brookes so longed his soule after the meate whiche endureth vnto euerlasting life being more precious vnto him than thousandes of gold and siluer sweeter than hony vnto his mouth and the honycombe vnto his throte For though the plowers had so plowed vpon his backe and made long furrows though the Lord so had troden downe his soule vpon the earth and layd his honour in the dust though his God had so exalted the horne of his enimies making them to ryde ouer his back that he as it were entring into the kingdome of desperation did cry then haue I clensed my hearte in vaine in vaine haue I washed my handes in innocencie and againe will the Lord absent himselfe for euer wil he be no more intreted is his mercie cleane gone for euer and is his promise come vtterly to an ende for euermore What will he now forget to bee gratious and shutte vp his louing kindenesse in displeasure Yet notwithstanding when hee had beene in the sanctuary of the Lord and so knewe the ende of his enemies and the causes of those thinges he was filled with marow and fatnes his head was annointed with fresh oile his cup was ful because he had dronken plentifully of the water of life and eaten abundantly of the bread of heauen For as Iohn did eate not a leafe only but the whole booke as Ezechiel did eate not a peece but the whole role the which booke and role were sweet as honie in their mouthes But the booke made Iohns bellie bitter and the role brought heauinesse to Ezechiels spirite that is the word brought vnto theÌ„ both peace to the conscience from the Lorde but warre to the bodie from the world So Dauids whole delight was in the law of the Lord his God to muse and meditate thereon too exercise and practise himselfe therein both day and night all dayes nightes of his life Whose good and godly example wee must followe in labouring for meate if wee will haue the crowne of life if wee will eate of the tree of life if we will eate of manna that is hid if we will haue that whitestone in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth but he that receiueth it if wee will stande in the middest of the paradise of GOD if wee will bee cloathed in white aray if wee will haue our names in the booke of life if we will be a piller in the temple of God and neuer goe out if we wil haue written vpon vs the name of God and the name of Ierusalem if wee will come to mount Syon to the citie of the liuing God to the coelestiall Ierusalem to the companie of innumerable angelles to the assembly and congregation of the first borne which are written in heauen to God the iudge of al to the spirits of iust and perfect men to Iesus the mediatour of the new tastament to the blood of sprinckling that speaketh better thinges then the blood of Abel For all other meates perish they with vs and we with them O then labour not for them only this meate the foode of the soule doth endure vnto euerlasting life it with vs and wee with it O then let vs all labour for it The children of Israel did eate Manna in the wildernesse but they are al dead Manna was not to bee founde on the sabboth dayes Manna was full of wormes and stanke Manna ceased when they had eaten of the corne in Canaan Manna was kept in a pot for the posteritie But is was no where to bee founde in the dayes of Solomon But they that are fedde with this bread shall neuer dye it is to be founde at al times it neuer putrifieth it neuer ceaseth for it doeth endure not to death but to life and that to euerlasting life Hee that drinketh of the water of Iacobs well shall thirst againe
but he that drinketh of the water whiche the sonne of man shall giue vnto him whome God the father to this purpose hath sealed shall neuer thirst agayne but the water in him shalbe a well of water springing vpp vnto euerlasting life yea out of his belly shall flowe riuers of water of life Wherefore as Eleasar and his two companions did breake thorowe the mighty hoste of the Philistines and brought water out of Bethlehem for Dauid euen thorowe the hoste backe againe Dauid longing after that water right so let vs boldely and couragiously breake thorowe the middes of all our enemies both temporal and spirituall to get this water and this bread of the soule of heauen and of life that it may bee sayde of vs as our Sauiour spake of the Iewes in the beginning of the gospel the kingdome of heauen suffereth violence and the violent take it by force So zealous were they O I wold to God so zealous were wee too receiue Gods mercy so freely offered so greedie were they O I would to God so greedy were we to imbrace to loue to obey to follow Gods word so purely preached For as the pewter pot which the fire melteth is not so soone consumed beeing full of licour as the glasse which euery knock breaketh is not so lightly dasht in peeces beeing full of water so we though wee consume as the fat of lambes before the presence of the Lord and be as drie stubble the Lorde a consuming fire though we be more brickle then glasse for glasse being safely lockt vp endureth long but we kepe we our selues neuer so daintily neuer so warily neuer so safely come to an end as a tale that is told So wee I say being full fed with this foode shalbee able to abide all blowes al knocks shall quēch all the fyrie darts of the wicked shall stand fast in the euil day so stand that all the gates of hell shal not once be able to preuayle against vs. What better reason can I geue then this for it endureth vnto euerlasting life But alas as Eue was content to aduenture the losse of Paradise for an apple as Esau was content to loose his birthright his fathers blessing for a messe of pottage as the children of Israel did loath Manna Angels foode in their hearts turned back to the flesh pottes of Egypt as the Iewes at this time did seek Christ not for his doctrine not for his miracles but chiefly for meate because hee had fedde them and so fedde them that they had more store left when they had done then when they beganne to eate So because the dayes of Noe are come because the dayes of Lot are come because the dayes of the Sonne of man are at hande wee are weerie of the meate that endureth vnto euerlasting life and doe labour for the meate whiche perisheth to serue the bellie the fleshe sinne the worlde and all is to serue the Diuell For as it was in the dayes of Noah so shall it bee in the dayes of the sonne of man they ate they dranke they maried and gaue in mariage vnto the day that Noah went into the Arke and the flood came and drowned them all lyke as it was in the dayes of Lot they ate they drank they bought they solde they plāted they builte they married but in the day that Lot wēt out of Sodom the lord rayned fire brimstone from heauen consumed them all There was neuer more eating and drinking I meane neuer more surfetting and drunkennesse neuer more buying and selling I say neuer more deceyt in buying and selling neuer more planting I might truely say neuer more supplanting one of another neuer more marying I woulde to God I might not iustly say neuer more whoring to conclude neuer more building I meane not building of Colledges of almes houses of schooles there was neuer lesse I pray you mistake me not I say neuer more building of priuate houses which wee thinke shall continue for eeuer and call our houses and our landes after our owne names So that wee may iustly bewayle the madnesse and miserie of this age as Chrysostome did the folly and fondnesse of his tyme. Si secularibus abstinere iubemur quae miseria quae amentia est ea a domino postulare quae habita abiicienda desiderare in quibus nullam omnino curam adhibendam praecipit That is if wee are commanded to abstayne from worldly thinges what a misery what a madnesse is it to begge those thinges at the Lordes hands which when we haue wee must cast away and to desire those things wherein the Lord commaundeth vs to put no care at all Wherefore seeing it may well be sayde of vs Englishmen as Paule sayde of the Cretians euil beastes slowe bellyes and seeing I may now truly speake with Paule many walke of whome I haue told you often and nowe tell you weeping that they are enemies to the crosse of Christ whose ende is dānation whose God is their belly whose glory is to their shame whiche minde earthly thinges and seeing vppon good occasion I may exhorte you with Paule nowe I beseeche you brethren marke them diligently whiche make diuision offēces cōtrary to the doctrine which you haue learned and auoyde them for they that are such serue not the Lord Iesus but their owne bellies with fayre speech flattering deceiue the hearts of the people this doctrine is as needfull necessary nowe as it was in the time of our Sauiour Christ when he thus taught the people Labour not c. Not onely to disswade you frō laboring for the meate which perisheth but to perswade you to labour for that meat which doth endure vnto euerlasting life The which wordes conteine in them first a disswasion a dehortation a proposition negatiue Secondly a perswasion an exhortation or conclusion positiue Whervnto is annexed first a reason taken from the person that geueth the certainty of the thing geuen which the Sonne of man shal giue vnto you Secondly a confirmation drawen from the office and function of our Messias and Sauiour For him hath the Father sealed that is appoynted and consecrated him to geue life vnto all thē that labour for this meate IT had been sufficient for our Sauiour onely to haue vsed the exhortation labour for c had he not perceiued them as we nowe see the worlde to hunt labour for bellie cheere as dogges doe for carion swine for draugh horses for prouender too bee wrapped and tyed in these earthly thinges as the men of this age are like the fishe in the hooke the bird in the net the conie in the hay therfore he beginneth with the dehortation Labour not c. And bicause a litle before mention was made of meat he speaketh figuratiuely vsing the Metaphore of meate whereas hee might plainely haue saide care not for the bodie to fulfill the lustes of it but care
trespasses leade vs not into temptation deliuer vs from euill are also for the spirit and soule Onely this giue vs this day our dayly breade is for the bodie and not for foode of bodie onely but for meate of the soule Ceres the goddesse of corne and bread is placed in the lowest roome of the heathen Gods and Goddesses and her daughter Proserpina was married to Pluto king of hel Let Ceres bread bellie and bellie cheere be last and least accounted of vs. As for her daughters they are not virgines to be married to the great kinges sonne but harlots to be married to Belzebub king of hell Tertullian saith that although God after the flood did permit the vse of flesh yet to his people hee inhibited the vse of certaine meates consilium exercendae continentiae a counsell practise to exercise their continencie vii sonnes with their mother were by that horselech bludsucker Antiochus most cruelly put to death because they would not eate swines fleshe agaynst the commaundement of the Lord. Moses refused to be called the sonne of Pharaos daughter and chose rather to suffer aduersitie with the people of God then to enioy the pleasures of sinne for a season esteeming the rebuke of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt Daniel woulde not defile him selfe with the portion of the kinges meate nor with the wine that he dranke he would haue nothing but pulse to eate and water too drinke O yee adulterers and adulteresses sayth Iames knowe yee not that the frendship of this worlde is enmitie with God Iohn sayth if any man loue this worlde the loue of the father is not in him Lay not vp your treasures therfore on earth where the moth fretteth the rust kankereth the theefe breaketh thorowe and steale but lay vp your treasures in heaueÌ„ where there is no moth to fret no rust to kanker no theefe too breake thorow and steale For is it not a great folly to lay thy tresure in an Inne doubtfully wheÌ„ thou maist lay it in thine own house safely folly to lay it in an house which together with thy treasure thou shalt leaue behind thee certainly not in that house whither thou shalt go find thy treasure assuredly and abyde therin perpetually the fashion of this worlde passeth away the heauens and the earth waxe olde as doth a garment O let vs then get that which endureth vnto euerlasting life The heauens shal passe away with a noise the elements shal melt with heate the earth and 〈◊〉 works therin shalbe burnt vp o let vs then labour for that which the fire cannot consume which wil saue oursoules froÌ„ euerlasting fire If we would thinke vpon our name that we are christians we would vnles we should prooue our selues to be reprobates not so much labour for this bellie meat First let vs remeÌ„ber that in our baptisme we forsake the world the flesh the â—iuel for baptisme signifieth not only the death and resurrection of Christ bâ—â— that we must dye to sin and liue in newnes of life How shal we saith Paul that are dead to sin liue yet therin Knowye not that al we which haue bin baptized into Iesus Christ haue bin baptized into his death we are buried then with him by baptisme into his death that like as Christ was raised from the dead to the glory of the father so wee should walke in newnes of life SecoÌ„dly as thou art a christian remember the estate of thy lord maister here on erth Doest thou brag of thy blood thy progenitors thy house stock thy maister came as of a pure so of a poore virgine espoused to a poore carpenter who for lack of mony could haue no roome in the Inne who did offer to the Lorde a paire of Pigeons because he was not able to buy a lamb Ierome noteth that only poore sinfull women are named by S. Math. in the genelogie of Christ as Ruth a poore Moabitis pore Mary the carpenters wife to signifie howe Christ did vouchsafe to come of poore womeÌ„ came into the world to redeeÌ„e pore sinful persons doest thou brag of the countrye Adam was made out of Paradice and Euah in Paradice yet the Diuell hadde more power ouer her then ouer him they had both one name Adam reed earth for this name Adam was not giuen by God only to the man but also to the woman Thy maister was not borne in Ierusalem whither the wise men came but in little Bethlehem as it was prophesied Doest thou glory in thy houses buildings courtes pallaces Thy maister was borne in a manger the foxes haue holes and the birdes haue nestes but the sonne of man thy Lorde had no where to rest his heade on Doest thou boast of thy bagges thy coffers thy welth When thy maister woulde haue payed tribute Iudas bagge was emptie Peter must run and fetch a peece of monie in the mouth of a fishe Doest thou desire to be well spoken of to haue the good will of the world There were generally iii. diuerse opinions of Christ one which flesh and blood could not reueale that he was Christ the sonne of God an other of ignorance that he was Elias Ieremie Iohn Baptist or one of the prophets the third was of mallice that hee was a glutton a drunkard a bon companion a friend to Publicans and sinners a coniurer a woorker by Diuels But what sayth he Woe bee vnto you when all men speake well of you Why For so did their fathers to the false Prophets But reioyce when they speake euil of you for so did they to the true Prophets reioyce and great shalbe your rewarde in heauen Finally if you be a christian remember the resurrection of thy mayster Iesus Christ and what of that if you be risen with Christ sayth Peter seeke those thinges that are aboue where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God I would to God we were as prouident and carefull to prouide foode for our soules as brute beastes are vigilant and paynefull to lay vp foode for theyr bodies The Emmot doeth lay vp in sommer foode for winter Istuc est sapere sayth Syrus in Terence non quod ante pedes modo est videre sed etiam illa quae futura sunt This is wisedome not to see those things only which lye before our feete but to fore see thinges that are to come But as the fishe called Vrlica feedeth alwayes on a stone and being taken from the stone dyeth presently so we doe so cleaue vnto to stones vntoo earthly thinges that wee account life lost if they bee taken from vs or wee from them Nay I woulde to GOD wee did not thinke these corruptible thinges to bee meete meate and sufficient food for our soules and say with the rich mans soule thou hast much goodes layde vppe for many yeeres liue at ease eate drinke and take thy pastime