them they could haue none lest there were not inogh for them both Wherby wee see that as no man can buy the good workes of another so no man hath inough to saue himselfe The Apostle Peter saith There is no other name giuen vnder heauen whereby man can bee saued but onely Iesus Christ. And if good workes coulde saue vs as the same Apostle reasoneth then had Christ died in vaine For how vaine a thing had it ben for the maiesty of God to haue sent his owne sonne into this miserable worlde to take our nature vpon him to shed his most precious bloud for vs if wee coulde haue iustified our selues or purchased our saluation either through our inherent righteousnes as the papists most blasphemously affirme by our merits or by anie other means whatsoeuer And therefore Paul was bold to conclude that wee are iustified by faith only without the works of the law Being iustified sayth he by faith we haue peace with God thorough Iesus Christ. And to the Galath he sayth further that as many as do relye vpon the works of the lawe are vnder the curse and banished frō grace To which the Prophet Abacuc seemeth to agree saying the iust shall liue by faith But what shall we say then to the Apostle Iames who sayth we are iustified by works and not by faith only I answere There are two maner of iustifications one absolute before GOD the other demonstratiue before the world Paule writing that wee are iustifyed by fayth onely meaneth absolutely before God Iames saying wee are iustifyed by workes meaneth demonstratiuely before the worlde Agayne Paule wrighteth of the efficient cause of our iustification Iames of the effecte Paule had to do with them that contemned faith as the Heathen Iewes and Turks do now and therefore he attributed and that worthely iustification to faith only Iames he had to do with them that contemned good works as things of no value affirming that bare faith alone was sufficiēt to saluation therefore he attributeth the more to works therby to draw them to the practising of them Againe Paule speaketh of such works as goe before iustification Iames of such as followe after Paule meaneth not of a bare and naked faith without good works but of such a faith as can no more be without good workes than the sunne without light or the fire without heate Iames he meaneth of a bare naked and dead faith such as the very deuils haue as the very heathen infidels haue So that in substance matter they both meane and speake one and the same thing For truly as faith is the efficient cause of our iustification before God so our workes are the effects or fruits issuing thereout whereby wee are knowen to bee iustified before the world And therefore let vs brag of our faith as much as we will if it bee but such a faith as bringeth forth no good workes we can neuer be saued by it This is not that iustifieng faith which Paule speaketh of nor which the children of God haue but a dead faith a barren faith an historical faith which the deuills and all reprobates haue But here perchāce some captious sophister wil aske me if we cānot be iustified by good workes to ' what end then shoulde wee doo them To whom I answere We are to do good workes for sixe causes especially first for the loue obedience which wee owe vnto God secondly for the mutuall loue brotherly charity which wee beare one towardes an other thirdly to make our saluation sure certaine vnto vs as the Apostle saith Make your saluation sure by good workes fourthly for the zeale wee haue of the glorie of God fiftly to drawe others from sinne to the practife of godlinesse by our good example and sixtly for the increase of our owne rewarde in the life to come where no good worke such is the bountifull liberalitie and mercifull beneficence of our good GOD towards vs miserable sinners shall bee lefte vnrewarded And albeit that good workes are no causes of our iustification nor that thou canst not be iustified by them yet canst thou neuer be saued without thē And therefore woulde I wish euerie one that hath a care of his saluation to labor studie endeuor night day to do good workes Remember how notably our forefathers haue behaued thē selues heerein what monuments of charity and almes deedes haue they left behinde them to the posterities to come and yet liued in feare and trembling And doe wee thinke to come to heauen and leaue no good works behinde vs at all but rather infinite millions of wicked deedes and vngodly examples which cry for vengeance before the throne of God night and day incessantly Oh let vs remember and neuer forget if it be true which some do hould as I fully perswade my selfe it is that as our wicked deedes and euill examples which wee haue left behinde vs in this life do hurt vnto other and dishonor the Maiestie of God so shall our paine be increased augmented in hell for euermore world without end And againe as our good deeds and good examples which we haue left behind vs in this life do good to the Saints of God vppon earth and increase his glory so shall our glory and our ioy be increased from day to day to the end of the world in the kingdome of heauen Let either the feare of the one therfore deare christian or the loue of the other moue thee now at the last to this resolution of good works Let not the vayne-glory and deceiptfull honor of this world beguile thee let not couetousnes blinde thee nor any priuate affection else moue thee to do euill or to deceiue any more in bargaining selling or otherwise howsoeuer for the Lord as the Apostle witnesseth is the reuenger of all such wickednes and though thou escapest for a time the lawes of men yet canst thou not escape the iudgements of God but in his good time he wyll finde thee out and recompence thee according to thy deserts Remember that Salomon was rich and had as plenty of gould siluer as of stones iewells and ornaments great store with fish-pondes orchards gardens forrests parkes men-singers women singers musicke and all pleasures else vnder the Sunne and of them all he pronounced this sentence Vanitas vanitatis omnia vanitas Vanitie of vanities and all is but vanitie Consider with thy selfe and often reuolue in thy minde the wordes of our sauiour Heauen and earth shal passe but the word of God indureth for euer And againe in another place No mans life standeth in the abundance of those thinges which he possesseth And againe What will it preuaile a man to win the whole world loose his owne soule Remember the rich glutton though he fared dilitiouslie and ruffeled in his silkes and veluets euerie daie yet in one moment his soule was taken from him he lodged in hell Take example by the rich man in the gospell who flowed with such abundance of all things that he was forced to pull downe his olde barnes and to build new ones was it not saide to him Thou foole this night shall they fetch awaie thy soul and then whose shall those things be which thou hast gathered Oh what a vaine thing is it therfore for a man to rake into his handes fiue hundred or one thousand mens liuinges to leaue it to his children who for the the most parte spend it either in hauking hunting dicing carding or else in whooring gourmandizing and infinite the lyke vices for Malè parta malè dilabuntur Ill got ill spent whereas in the meane time thou must goe to the barre to aunswere for the getting of them peraduenture to euerlasting damnation both of bodie and soule Therefore haue a care whatsoeuer thou be that thou get thy goods in the feare of God with a good conscience so shall they prosper with thy children after thee and thou blessed eternally And when thou hast thus got them be carefull how thou bestowest them and to whome thou geuest them For it is not inough for thee to say I gaue so much and so much to my carnall kindred friends and aliance but if thou hast geuen so much and so much to the poore so much and so much to this good end and to that good end to this good worke and that good worke to remayne to the posterities after thee to the end of the world oh then well is thee and happy shalt thou be yea then shalt thou be sure to attayne to the end of thy hope that is euerlasting life To the which hee bring vs all that apperteyne to his kingdome that dyed for vs to whom with the Father the holy Ghost be all glory and prayse for euer Amen FINIS Heb. 1.14 Gen. 19.22 1. Reg. 19. Gen. 21. Gen. 16. Gen. 21. Dan. 3. 2. Reg. 5 Tobit 5 Dan. 6 Exo. 1◠2. Sam. 24 2. Chr. 12.21 Luke 1.26 27 28 Iude vers 6 Gen. 6. Psal. 51.5 Math. 5.28 Math. 15.18 19.20 Gen. 1 ◠Gen. 1 ◠Gen. 6. Esa. 1 Gen. 47 9◠Gen. 3. Reuel 22 Iudic. 20.35.46 Nu. 25.8 Gen. 18.1.2 Gen. 19.1.2 3. 1. Timot. 3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Cor. 14. Psal. 1.1.2 Deut. 6. Matth. 4. Rom. 13.8 3. 4. 6. 7. Tit. 3 Timoth. 2. Rom. 14◠1. Cor 13 Esay ◠Tim. 4◠Math. 5.33 34. 35. Iacob v. 12. 1. Cor. 13. 1. Pet. 4.8 1. Ioh. 4.16 Iob. 14. Luke 1.74.75 Matth. 25. Galath 5.
within them anie feare of God anie loue anie remorse of conscience any regard of the saluation of theyr bodies and soules in the life to come nowe at the last to rouse vp themselues out of the cradle of securitie and drousie lethargie of sin wherin they haue long slept and by the examples of bruit beasts to do the workes and offices of their vocation and calling Let vs cast off the workes of darknesse as the Apostle exhorteth vs that is the workes of sinne and put vpon vs the armor of light that is the workes of righteousnesse holynes and truth redeeming the time because the dayes are euill as the same Apostle in an other place willeth vs. Let vs consisider weigh that we are they vpō whom the endes of the worlde are come and that the bridegroome Christe Iesus standeth before the doores Let vs think that the iudge is at hand to sūmon vs to the dome who though he defer his cōming yet be sure he will come at the last and reward euery one according to his doings in this life whether they be good or bad Let vs thinke that he who hath committed his talents to vs wil one day demaund accompts of them Remember these things whilest thou hast time deare Christian do the workes of mercy Follow the councell of the holy Ghost by the mouth of Dauid Eschew euill and do good Seeke after peace and ensue it Oh let not bruite beasts and vnreasonable creatures goe before thee in the doing of their duties Think thus that hee to whome much is committed shall be accomptable for much then reason thus with thy selfe As the Lord hath bestowed many great blessings and graces vpon me far aboue many other of his creatures so will he require of me that I should loue honor obey magnify prayse and in all my actions glorify him more than any other creatures And knowe this whatsoeuer thou art high or lowe ritch or poore yong or olde that thy yeares nay that thy very dayes houres and minuts of hours which thou hast to liue are numbred with God and that thou canst not by any means possible passe the same no not the twinckling of an eye or the least period of time that may be therfore good Dauid prayed the Lord to teach him to number his dayes that he might know how long he had to liue But admit that thou liuest to 60.80 or 100. yeres alas yet are thy dayes full of miserie affliction calamitie vexacion trouble as good Iacob sayd vnto Pharao being demanded how old he was few and euill are the dayes of thy seruant But say that thou shouldst liue to hundreths of yeres as many of our forefathers did yet must thou needs die at the last Adā liued nine hundred yeres od he died saith the text Abraham so many yeres he died Isaac so many yeres and he died Iacob so many yeres and he died Dauid so many he died Salomon so many hee died Methusalē so many yeres yea the most of any that euer liued vpō the earth and yet saith the text he died so that the foot of the song is still and he died Irreuocable therfore is the sentence of God against al flesh Dust thou art and into dust thou shalt returne again The same thing witnesseth the Apostle Paul where he saith Destinatum est omni homini semel mori It is appointed to euery man to die once and then to come to iudgement Then seeing the case standeth thus that we must all die that we shal cary nothing with vs but our good works our bad as Iohn witnesseth in the 22. of the Reuelation saying Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their labour theyr workes follow them let vs I saie in the name of God resolue our selues to glorify our God by good works in this life that we may be glorified of him for euer in the life to come The second Section Wherein is shewed how necessarie good workes are Of the great Zeale of our forefathers in doing of good workes Of their simplicitie and plaine dealing and of our want of both NOtwithstanding al that hath or can be sayde to this purpose there are some Atheistes that hold and also teach that Christ being come hauing shed his bloud for vs hath heereby so satisfied his fathers iustice and paide the raunsome for sinne that now whatsoeuer we doe is no sinne Nay further they will not sticke to affirme that Christ hath taken awaie all sin out of the world and therefore we cannot sinne Another sort of Locustes they affirme that as a man cānot be saued by his good works so he cannot be condemned by his euill workes and therefore it maketh no matter saith these Libertines whether a man doth the one or the other But these bee all most execrable and damnable opinions inuented by the deuill and broched by his members to the vtter destruction and confusion of as many as follow them Let vs that be christians and hope to be saued by the merits of Christes bloud rather obey the counsell of the holy ghost who warneth vs to worke out our saluation in feare and trembling in another place make your saluation sure by good workes Let vs with the Apostle Iames shew forth our faith by our good workes beeing assured that that faith which bringeth not forth good workes in some measure is no true iustifieng faith but a dead faith such as the deuils haue who are sayde to beleeue tremble The tree is knowen saith our sauiour Christ by the fruit and a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit nor a bad tree good fruit To the same effect Christ telleth vs in another place that not euery one that saith vnto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heauen but he that doth the wil of my father which is in heauen he shall enter into the kingdome of heauen And the Apostle Iames telleth vs that not the hearers of the law but the doers shall be iustified And therefore let vs brag of a naked bare faith as long as we will I am fully perswaded by the spirite of God that if wee haue no other faith than such as bringeth foorth no good workes we can neuer bee saued by it For a true liuely and iustifying faith can no more bee without good works than the Sun without light or fire without heat And yet doe I not attribute iustification to good workes neither for that were to attribute that to the effect which is proper incident to the cause or efficient but to such a faith as bringeth foorth good workes to the praise and honor of God But of this heereafter in his due place now to returne to the matter in hand It was tolde Saint Paul how that some preached CHRIST vppon enuie some of mallice some of pride some of one affection and some of an other who
good works and the like it is vnpossible for thee to see the face of God to thy saluacion otherwise than the deuils and the reprobate who shall see the face of God I graunt but to their euerlasting condemnation So thou without good workes mayest see the face of God with thē but to thy vtter cōfusion destruction both of body soule for euer Be zealous therefore good Christian of good workes do good whilest thou hast time for the night of death will come when thou canst not work redeme the time with wel doing as the Apostle speaketh yea withdraw from thy sleepe from thy meate drink and frō thy necessary affaires to do good Remember thy yeres are few vpō earth thou hast but a short time to liue to work in Admit thou attainest to fortie fiftie sixtie or it may be eighty yeres wherto fewe doe come in comparison of those that die before alas that time is nothing neither in regard of the perpetuity eternity of the life to come Haue euer in thy minde that golden sentence of the Apostle He that soweth little shall reape little and he that soweth plentifully shall reape plentifully Let the words of our sauior neuer slip out of thy remembrance Beatius est dare potius quam accipere It is a thing more blessed to giue meaning to the poore than to receiue Giue therefore lend freely to them that haue need loking for nothing again and thy reward shall be great in heauen sayth our sauiour Christ. Consider it is sayde What is giuen to the poore is lent to the Lorde and looke what thou laiest out it shall bee paide thee again Distrust not Gods promises for he is yea and amen in all his sayings and faithfull and true in all his dooings Hee both can for that he is almightie and also will for that hee is mercifull most bountifully remunerate and most liberally rewarde them for whatsoeuer good thou dost in this life yea so precise is he herein that he hath bound himselfe with a promise that he wil not leaue so much as a cup of colde water giuen to anie in his name vnrewarded at that day The fifth Section Wherein is shewed the ends of good works and of our iustification by faith onely with a conclusion exhortatorie to good workes NOw as thou art to do good workes so thou must take heed that thou dost them not neither for desire of reward nor yet for feare of punishment but for the loue and obedience which thou bearest to thy God And so farre off oughtest thou to bee from thinking to be iustified or to merit any thing by thy workes as the blasphemous papistes doo contend that thou must both think saie as Christ teacheth thee to say When thou hast done all that is commaunded thee to doe thou art yet an vnprofitable seruant and hast done but thy dutie nay nor thy duetie neither no not in anie small measure No although thou were stable to do all the good workes in the world and all the good workes which the worde of God doth command thee yea and in that perfection which GOD doeth require of thee which thing neuer anie was nor euer shall be found able to performe Christ Iesus only excepted yet couldest thou neither bee iustified before God nor yet merite anie thing by them ex opere operato as the Papistes doo dreame But yet they are in deed notable seales and testimonies to thy conscience that thou art the childe of God and coheire with Christ Iesus of the kingdome of heauen And heereof is it that the Apostle biddeth vs make our saluation sure by good works not that good workes are any efficient cause of our saluation but doe assure confirme and seale vp vnto vs our saluation purchased by Christ. They are therefore most excellent fruites of our faith and infallible pledges of our election in Christe but no causes of our iustification before GOD. For euen as no fruit can make the tree good which by nature is naught so no good workes can make a man good before God who before was wicked euill for as the tree must of necessitie bee good before it canne bring foorth anie good fruite at all so a man must bee sanctified and regenerate by the spirit of God before he can doo anie good workes acceptable vnto God which once being accomplished thē follow good works as the effect from the cause And therefore I cannot but wonder at the more than palpable blindnes of these iusticiaries and merit-mongers the papists who beleeue that good workes can iustifie vs before God Our sauiour Christ sayth Without mee yee can doo nothing Whereto the Apostle seemeth to agree when he sayth It is God which geueth both the wil the deed euen of his good will and then alas what place of merit is there left for vs And whereas they obiect that God hath promised to reward our good works True it is hee giueth vs grace first to will then power to performe and put in practise euerie good worke that we doo and hath bound himselfe with a promise to reward these his own gifts in vs. But this reward standeth in the mercie of God not in the merit of the worke Let vs therefore abandoning our owne merits as filthie dong hold the mercies of God in Christ to bee our righteousnes beeing assured that if the Lord shoulde enter into iudgement with vs waying our verie righteousnes in the ballance of his iustice and rewarding vs according to our deserts we should be vtterly condemned and cast awaie for euer This the Prophet Esay confirmeth where hee saith That all our righteousnes is like a menstruous clout than the which there is nothing more filthy stinking or fulsome To which sentence Saint Barnard seemeth to allude saying Ve vniuersae iusticiae nostrae si remota miserecordia iudicetur Woe be to our righteousnesse if we should be iudged with out mercie And yet the papistes are perswaded that they are not onely iustified that is pronounced iust before God freed from sinne and all punishment due for sinne but also that they merite the kingdome of heauen and euerlasting life by their good workes Yea they haue not onely good works inough to saue themselues withall but others also and these they call works of supererogation that is whē they doe moe good workes and in greater perfection than God eyther can or will require of them as I haue noted before and therefore with the ouerplus of these forsooth they will helpe their fellowes if they will paie well for them else get they none for No pennie no Pater noster And is not this a pretie matter that they can not onely saue themselues but also others to by their workes of supererogation What should a man care for doing of good workes himself when for a little monie hee may buy inough of others The fiue foolish virgines would haue bought oile of the wise but it was answered
the crosse in Chepe side Others forsooth wyll kneele before them creepe to them bare foote and bare legged offer to them And others that wil not seeme so grosse wil yet make a thousand crosses on their forheds brests being of this mind that the signe of the crosse hath power to defend any one not only frō all corporall enemies but also frō all the diuels in hell And therfore as it is a moment of great superstition so I pray God it may be remoued from amongst vs. But if it be obiected that it keepeth in our mindes the remembraunce of Christ and of hys death which he suffered vpon it I answere we haue no warrant out of the booke of God to keepe any such superstitious crosses amongst vs to any such ende For the word it selfe was geuen vs to that end to keepe in memory and as it were to paynt out vnto vs the death and passion of our Sauiour Christ and not such Popish trash To that end also were the Sacraments left vs with the ministerie and preaching of the Gospell of Christ and therefore their obiection is scarse worth the answering The Papists also holde it to be a work of vnspeakable merit for a man or woman eyther before they dye or else at their death to giue the greatest part of their goods lāds the more the more merite to popish priestes though in the meane time theyr wife children and whole familyes goe a begging all theyr lyfe long to Monkes and Fryers with the rest of that filthie generation to the ende they may pray for them whē they are dead to saie masses trentalls diriges de profundis Ladies psalters and I can not tell what riffe raffe else for them bearing them in hand that their souls the soules of al their friends parēts kindred and aliance shall not onely bee releeued but also cleerely delyuered thereby out of the pains of purgatorie which otherwise shoulde lye there broiling in firie flames seauen yeeres for euerie sinne that euer they cōmitted in this life either in thoght word or deed Which if it were true as it is most false and blasphemous I could not blame men though they gaue all they had and more too to the Priests But alasse who seeth not the vanitie of this fonde opinion of Purgatorie If Masses Diriges trentals de profundis Ladies psalters and such pelting trash could redeeme vs from paine and punishment after this life and place our soules in ioye and blisse I praie you then what is left to the bloud of Christ to doo for vs iust nothing at all And why died Christ if we might haue bene redeemed by corruptible money lands or pessessions as the Apostles Saint Paule and Saint Peter doe reason What can be more derogatorie to the death of Christ and the efficacie of his bloud than this You were not redeemed sayth Paul from your sinnes neither by golde nor siluer but by the precious bloud of that immaculate lambe Iesus Christ. And doeth not the apostle Iohn thunder out vnto vs The bloude of Iesus Christ doeth cleanse vs from all sinne And as for the ridiculous opinion of purgatory it is so foolish a thing that I am ashamed to bestow anie labour in confuting of it as hauing indeede neyther ground out of the word of God no nor so much as one sillable sounding that waie nor anie approued or autentike writer excepte out of such apocryphas as Ouid Virgil and other heathen Poets And yet for all that the Papists haue gayned as much I suppose by the broching of this fraibugge or scar-crow Purgatorie since it was first hatched as all christendome is worth besides But to proceede The Papistes also holde these to bee singular good workes yea the chiefest of all to heare Masse deuoutly euerie daie to worshippe Saintes to obserue and keepe precisely all holy dayes Saintes daies anp feastiuall dayes as they call them to giue frankely to begging Friers Nunns and Ankresses which were a sort of secluses or rather plain prostitute whoores mued vp in cloisters celles vautes and holes vnder ground onely to serue the Monkes and the Abbots turnes at theyr need whereof I could giue you a thousand instances if it were not from my purpose to mumble vp a great rabble of Pater nosters Creedes Aue Maries and the like vpon their beads to contribute liberally to the making and christning of bels and to bee god-fathers and god-mothers to them to the buying of waxe candles tapers lyghtes to buy coapes challices surplesses and other vestmentes of the Church to giue soule-cakes for so they shame not to cal them or rather foole-cakes agaynst all soules daie for the redemption of all christen soules as they blasphemously speake They account it also a worke of great merite to disple to whip scourge themselues with whippes made of ropes endes of cordes and some of wyre with lyttle rowels of spurres at the ends wherewith forsooth they must whippe themselues naked till theyr bodies appeare all full of bloudie gores and in so doing they merit the deuill and all I should say heauen and all They account it also an excellent good worke and of great merit to lie al night vpon the boords or the bare ground to weare shirts of hayre to fast with bread and water to carry candles tapers and palmes vp and downe the church and round about the Church-yard to see and worship theyr little God of the pix that hangs so pretily in a string like a Bee in a boxe to receiue holy bread and holy water to goe to shrift where euerye one must confesse his sinnes to the Priest and receue absolution but specially the women who many times haue theyr absolution giuen them with a Friers taile These with infinite the like are the good workes of the Papists wherby they trust to gain heauen and to merite euerlasting life whether God will or no. Yea they will haue it by merit and not by mercie and therefore God is bounde to giue it them ex debito and ex opere operato of duetie in regarde of their workes and not ex gratia and good reason if it bee so for doeth not the Apostle affirm that to him that worketh is the hire giuen of duetie not of fauour Nowe they doe all and more too or else they lie which God hath commaunded them and which is more they haue not onelie workes inough of their owne to saue themselues withal but also workes of supererogation which will helpe at a dead lift if need bee to sell or giue to others and therfore they must needs as I say come to heauen whether God will or not but God grant mee and all that appertain to him eternall life for his mercies sake in Christ and let the Papists challenge it stil by their workes merits and deserts And truly I cannot but wonder that the Papists should be so blinded as to think that anie workes at all much lesse these hauing no
warrant at all out of the worde of God but rather quite contrarie vtterly repugnant shuld merite and deserue the kingdome of heauen and euerlasting life being indeed such as Christ speaketh of In vaine doo they worship me teaching for doctrines the ordinances of men But to conclude this point The Apostle saith whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne but these works of the papists are not of faith and therefore are sin And to proue that they are not of faith I reason thus Whatsoeuer hath not his grounde and warrant out of the worde of God is not of faith but these workes haue not anie ground out of the word of God and therefore are not of faith Therefore would I counsell all Papists to abandon theyr workes especially these which I haue recited to the deuill theyr author from whome they first came and to do those workes which God hath in his holy word commanded and which in mercie but not in merite he hath promised to rewarde at that daie And nowe because neyther they nor anie else shall bee ignoraunt what those good workes bee which God hath commaunded vs to doe in his holy word I will decypher forth vnto them though not all yet some of them in as fewe wordes as I can The 4. Section Containing a description of such workes as the Protestants doo account for good workes and which in deede are good workes and grounded vpon the worde of God Wherein by the waie also is shewed euerie ones dutie in his seuerall calling in this life OVR sauior Christ in the fiue twentith of Saint Mathewes Gospell setteth downe a notable Catologue of good workes amongst which hee accounteth this to be one namely to feed the hungrie to giue drinke to the thirsty to cloath the naked to visite the sicke and those that bee in prison to lodge the harbourlesse and to entertayne straungers and way-faring men This dyd good Abraham well vnderstand and practise who is sayde to haue sate in his tent doore in the heate of the daie of purpose to inuite and call in straungers way-faring men and trauelers to relieue them And therefore when the Angelles came to him in the forme of men he is noted by the holy Ghost to haue intreated them nay to haue compelled them to eate meate with him in his house Good father Lot dyd the very same watching in his dores or gates to harbour poore straungers and therefore when the Angells came into Sodome like strangers pilgrimes hee compelled them in some sort to enter into his house and to take such lodging and entertaynment as the countrey would yeeld and his state was able to affoord And hereby many as the Apostle noteth haue receyued Angels into theyr houses at vnawares in the formes of men But now adayes there are many that are so farre off from this kinde of liberality towards poore strangers or beggers as we call them that they wyll shut vp their gates when there is any meate or drinke stirring And which is too bad I haue knowne some that haue caused the poore to be whipped away from their gates Again othersome althogh of great reuenews because they wil not keepe hospitality nor relieue the pore at home they will geue vp house and eyther go soiorne table with some friend or els take a chamber in some city or town where they will kepe no house at all but with a man a boy and it is wel if that too liue both meanely basely and obscurely to the blemishing steyning of their worship credit for euer Euen they whose lands and possessiōs are worth peraduenture 500. pounds a yeare yea it may be 1000. pounds a yeare whose parēts ancestors kept 20. or 40. mē in a liuery mainteind great hospitality to the reliefe of all the cuntrey about them euen they I say wil not stick to do so And yet wil all their reuenews scarse serue to maynteyne this small port withall notwithstāding that they so racke their lands rayse their rents exact such fines and incomes as they make twentie times so much more of their liuings now as their forefathers did in times past Now if it be demanded how they carrying so low a saile can spende so great reuenues which were wont to maintayne so many score and to releeue so many thousandes of poore soules I aunswere They spende it as I suppose for the most part either in sumptuous apparel gorgeous buildings both which are at this daie too rife in England if it pleased God or els in feasting and banketting in roieting and gourmandizing besides other chamber workes which I blush to name For as the Apostle sayth it is a shame once to speake of those things which are done of them in secrete God turne their heartes and giue them grace to contayne themselues within themselues to mayntaine hospitalitie for the releefe of the poore and to vpholde that porte worship and credit which their forefathers dyd Our sauiour Christ saith that a cup of cold water giuen in his name shall not bee lefte vnrewarded at the later daie And the Apostle Paul commendeth hospitalitie as one of the works of mercie calling it in many places a sweete smelling sacrifice pleasaunt and acceptable to God Alasse let them consider wherefore dyd God giue them such great store of riches and large possessions in this lyfe aboue theyr fellows brethren was it not to doo good with them and to helpe those that haue neede Let them knowe it was not giuen them to misspend in ryot and excesse in pride in gluttonie or dronkennesse in whooring no nor in hawking and hunting nor in anie other such kinde of vanitie No no it wyll not goe for payment at the daye of iudgement when it shall be sayd vnto them redde rationem villicationis tuae come geue accoumpt of thy Stewardship I woulde wishe them therefore to learne euen of the vniust Steward spoken of by our Sauiour Christ to make them friends of the wicked mammon And surely to bend my style to all in generall I would councell all men to studie to be more carefull and diligent in doing of good workes to feede the hungrie to cloth the naked to harbor the harborlesse to visite them that be sicke and in prison and to doe to all men as hee would wishe all should do to him if he were in like condicion Say not as Saint Iames noteth the rich mercilesse men of hys tyme to haue sayde I haue not for you now come agayne an other tyme God send you comfort and so they geue them nothing themselues notwithstanding in the meane tyme flowing nay ouerflowing with the aboundance of all things Saint Augustine tells vs that looke what apparrell we haue in our presses what clothes in our chests what garments in our warderobes more than we weare on our backes they are sayth this holy Father none of ours but the poores and to withhold them from them hauing neede is to robbe
doe nowe almost in Scotland If this be not the way to bring the ministery into contempt the Sacraments and word of God into hatred and religion into detestacion Say if this be not the way to bring in playne Atheisme and consequētly confusion and ouerthrow of all things I knowe not what is For take away reward frō learning who will set his sonne to learning who I say will set his child to the Vniuersitie and bestowe almost all hee hath vppon hym to get him learning wheras afterwards he shall liue but as a begger all dayes of his life But as I would wish that they who be good able and sufficient preachers indeede should haue liuing enough so would I wish that those who haue too much should part with some of their superfluitie to others that eyther haue too little or iust none at all For you shall haue some that can speake but little congrue latine much lesse preach the word of God nay would God they could reade english well and yet they haue some of them two some of them three and it is well if not four benefices a peece you shal haue othersome fine schollers and famous preachers indeed want euen competent mayntenance And therefore could I wish if it might possibly be brought to passe that a more equall distribution of liuings were had amongst vs. But it may sooner I feare me be wished for than hastely effected Now as this is a great plague to our Church so I doubt least in time these impropriacions will be the bane of the same I pray God to moue her Maiesties royall heart and the heartes of her honorable Councell to redresse this great calamitie if it be his blessed will But whether am I caryed It is a good worke in a Bishop to preache the worde of God truely to minister the Sacraments sincerely to execute ecclesiasticall discipline and other censures of the Churche seuearely to rule and gouerne the Churche of God vprightly according to the word of God to constitute and place in euery seuerall Church and congregation as neere as is possible a good and sufficient preacher and to see that euery one in hys perticular charge and calling doe hys duety diligently He must bee an example to his flocke as well in life as in doctrine else what hee buildeth with one hand hee pulleth downe with the other Yea hee must bee of that holy conuersation and integritie of life that euen they that are without as the Apostle speaketh may bee wonne and reclaymed thereby Briefely hee must be in all poynts such a one as Paule describeth to Timothy and to such a one is all honor due as the same Apostle sayth in an other place those Elders that gouerne well are worthye of double honour It is also a principall good worke in a King or Prince fyrst and aboue all things to establish the true religion and worship of God to abolish all superstition idolatrie and Popery to roote out all vayne tradicions ordenances and constitutions of men eyther not grounded vppon the word of God or else repugnant to the same euer taking the worde of God for hys tutchstone and square rule to leuile all hys actions by It is also a good worke in a King of Prince and his very duty to publish enact good lawes and wholesome Statutes tending to the aduancement of vertue and godlynes and to the suppressing and ouerthrowing of all sinne and wickednes to see iustice ministred to all men alike without parcialitie fauour or affection to restrayne and inhibite all gnawing vsury extortion and exaction to suppresse all robbing murthering slaying and killing one of an other to defend the pore from the iniury and violence of the mighty to punish sin in all men according to the nature and quality therof as well in the nobility gentry and yeomanry as in them of the lowest degree knowing that the iudgement is the Lords that they be the Lords ministers and that they carry not the sword for naught as Paule witnesseth being also assured of this that the Lord respecteth no mans person neyther hath he graunted any greater charter to the mightie than to the poore to sinne No no they haue neyther commission nor priuiledge eyther of immunitie or impunitie no more than the poorest swayne or meanest peasant that lyueth vppon the face of the earth hath But the soule that sinneth shall dye sayth the Apostle of what condicion estate or degree soeuer they be Yea the greater honor or dignitie that the Lord bestoweth vppon any one in this life the greater innocency and perfection he requireth at his hands so farre off is hee from dispensing with any to sinne Princes therefore Noble men and Gentlemen should be examples of godlynes and holynes to those that bee theyr inferiors for it is an olde prouerbe and verie true Quales Principes Nobiles Gubernatores tales populi subditi Such as the Prince Nobles and Gentlemen are such are commonly the people and subiects also It is also an excellent good worke in a Prince to see that euery one man woman and childe be Cathechised and taught the true Religion of God and to compell them to heare reade meditate conferre and talke of the same contrarie to that blasphemous opinion of the Papists who teach that the knowledge of the word of God amongst the Layty as they call them doth make them Heretiques But our Sauiour Christ teacheth vs another lesson Scrutamini Scripturas Search the Scriptures for in them yee hope to haue eternall life And in an other place agayne Search the scriptures for they are they which testifye of me Also in the Acts we reade that the Byrreans searched the Scriptures dayly to see whether those things preached by the Apostles were so or not and they are wonderfully commended therefore by the holy Ghost in the same place Agayne when the Pharises came to Christ tempting him concerning the faith of the resurrection he answered them yee erre not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God So that whereas the Papists contrary to all truth do hould that the knowledge of the scriptures is cause of heresy we finde heere by our Sauiours owne words that the ignorance of them is cause of all errors heresy and supersticion Dauid in his first Psalme verse 1.2 accoumpted hym blessed that was conuersant dayly in the word of God saying Blessed is the man that doth not walke in the councell of the wicked nor stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the seate of the scornefull but his delight is in the lawe of the Lord and in this lawe doth hee exercise himselfe day and night Agayne in the syxt of Deuteronomie wee are commaunded by expresse wordes that the word of God shall neuer goe out of our heartes that wee shall teache it to our children that wee shall talke of it when wee are in our houses when wee goe by the waye when wee
is honored by these two kindes of othes so is hee dishonored and displeased with swearing by him at euery word in our ordenary talke and that vppon euery trifle or light occasion or rather for no cause at all This kinde of vsuall swearing is altogether forbidden by our Sauiour himselfe where he sayth Sweare not at all neyther by heauen for it is the throne of God nor yet by the earth for it is his footestoole neyther by Ierusalem for it is the City of the great King neyther shalt thou sweare by thy head because thou canst not make one hayre white or blacke but your communication shall be yea yea nay nay for whatsoeuer is more than this commeth of euill The Apostle S. Iames also warneth vs to the same effect saying but aboue all things my brethren sweare not neither by heauen nor by earth nor by any other kinde of oth but let your communication be yea yea nay nay least you fall into cōdemnation The very same doth Salomon teach vs when he sayth The man that vseth much swearing shall be filled with iniquity the plague of God shall neuer goe frō his house And yet notwithstanding all this there are not a few that make euen as it were an occupation of swearing and forswearing of blaspheming cursing and banning at euery word accoumpting him a peasant and no man that cannot sweare it out lustely In which point the diuels are better than they for as the Apostle Iames recordeth they tremble and quake at the very name of the Maiestie of God but these desperate roagues and shagd hayred ruffians are so farre off from trembling or quaking at the name of God that they rent and teare him in a thousand pieces at euery word as much as lieth in their powers blaspheming both him and his glorious name without all remorse or conscience But let them take heede for surely I am of this minde that it were better though both in the iustice of God be damnable to kill a man than to sweare an oth or once to blaspheme the name of God any maner of way for the one is the breach of the first Table which respecteth the worship of God only the other is but the breach of the second Table which compriseth our duties one towards an other And as it is forbid to sweare vaynely by the name of God in our ordenary talke familiar communication at euery word for euery trifle so is it also forbid to sweare by any other than by God alone in the two respects before remembred and neither by Saints nor Angels Sunne nor Moone Starres nor Planets bread nor salt fire nor water nor any other creature else what so euer neyther is it lawfull to sweare by any counterfaite oth as fay or fecke gogs bud gogs lownes nor the lyke for all these kindes of swearings are abhomination before the Lord who hath geuen vs an expresse commaundement that wee neyther sweare by their idolls nor yet once make mention of theyr gods in our mouthes For whatsoeuer we sweare by we make an idoll of it and a false God attributing that honor and worship to the creature which is due to the creator who only is to be inuocate and called vppon as a witnesse in all our actions and none but hee And nowe to the second part of theyr blasphemous allegacion Whereas they say that it is lawfull to haue the name of God often in our mouthes and the oftner the better I aunswere true it is wee ought indeede to haue the maiestie of God both in our heartes and in our mouthes and the oftener the better but how not in blasphemous sort to make a stale or a iesting stocke of hym for we are forbid to take the name of God in vayne and the Lorde wyll not hould hym guiltlesse that taketh hys name in vayne but in all holy reuerence deuotion and obedience yea in all holy feare and trembling This the Apostle meant when he sayde If any man speake let hym speake as sayth the word of God againe let your cōmunication be such as may minister grace to the hearers Let these lusty Caueliroes take heed how they dally with the Lord any while for as the Apostle noteth God is a consuming fire and in an other place it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of God yea he is that stone that vpon whom soeuer he falleth he grindeth to powder But to draw towards an end It is a good worke in euery one to be carefull of his brothers good name neyther backbiting detracting slaundering nor any way discrediting him by word or deede but rather seeking by all meanes possible to conserue his credit as much yea and in some respects more than his owne And if he knowe or heare any thing which might sound to the impayring of his credit or blemishing of hys good name to bury it in the graue of obliuion that it may neuer rise agayne nor come to light to the disparagement or preiudice of his brothers good name for euer What shall we say then to those vile persons and scummes of the worlde not worthie to haue cōmon breath amongst christians who are so farre off from christian charitie that albeit they neither knowe nor in truth neuer heard anie euill of their brother will yet in the fulnesse of their mallice coine and forge matter defamatorie agaynst him and when they haue done publish it to the view of the world in railing pamphlets and paltrie libels to his vniust infamie and their owne perpetuall shame The badge or cognisance of the children of God whereby they are knowen and discerned from the children of the deuill is loue as our sauiour Christ saith himselfe By this shall all men knowe that you are my disciples if you loue one another Again the badge or cognisance of the children of the deuill whereby they are discerned from the children of God is hatred rancour mallice enuie lying slaundering detracting and backbiting of theyr brethren and the lyke Now then these fellowes are so farre off from wearing the cognizance of the children of God that they marshall themselues vnder the standard of the deuill being inuested with his cognizance as his seruants and vassals Is this to doe to an other as they would wish an other should doe to them Is this the nature of that loue which Paule describeth where he saith Loue suffereth long is bountiful enuieth not doth no euill is not prouoked to anger thinketh no euill reioyseth not in iniquity Is this the fruite of that loue which the Apostle Peter goeth about so earnestly to perswade vs vnto where he sayth But aboue all things my brethren haue feruent loue amongst your selues for loue shall couer a multitude of sins The Apostle S. Iohn sayth that God is loue and that those that dwell in loue dwell in God and God in thē Then it must needes follow that if those that dwell in loue do dwell
in God then those who dwell in hatred rancor and malice dwell in the deuill and the deuill in them Now then whether these men dwell in God and God in them or not rather in the deuill and the deuill in them let the world iudge Agayne the same Apostle Iohn in the same place aleaged sayth If any man affirme that hee loueth God and yet hateth his brother he is a lyer and the truth is not in hym Nowe then what kynde of people these are and how vnsufferable in a common wealth who delight in nothing so much as to broch lyes slaunders against their brethren and where they heare any thing against any man without examination of the quality and property of the party that told thē of the person whome they concerne or of the matter it selfe they presently spue out their mallice in libelling pamphletting agaynst him as though all were true that is reported of euerie man These kind of fellowes are worser than the caterpillers or locusts of Aegypt who deuoured but the fruits of the earth these the good names of men yea and of such men as in comparison of whome they are notworthie to be named the same daie the others are named in They are worser than rauens or kites who will not eat theyr praie before it bee dead but they will deuour the good names of theyr brethren beeing on liue Such curre dogges woulde bee hanged vp as will snappe euerie bodie by the shinnes liuing to the hurt of all and good of none And therefore I cannot a lyttle meruayle that our graue and reuerend Bishops and other inferiour magistrates and officers to whom the ouersight and charge of such thinges are committed will either lisence which I trust they do not for I wyll hope better of them or in anie sorte tollerate such railing libels slanderous pamphlets as haue beene of late published in print one man against another to the greate dishonour of God corruption of good manners breach of charitie and in a worde to the iust offence scandall of al good christians And truely to speake my conscience freely I thinke there cannot a greater mischiefe be suffered in a common wealth than for one man to write against another and to publish it in print to the viewe of the world I wis the noble science of printing was not giuen vs to that end being indeede one of the chiefest blessings that God hath giuen to the sons of men heere vppon earth For is not this the next way to broach rancor hatred malice emulacion enuie and the like amongst men nay is not this the next way to make bloudshed and murther to rayse vp mutenies insurrections commotions and rebellions in a christian common-wealth and therefore would I wish both the bookes and the authors of them to be vtterly suppressed for euer the one by fire the other by the halter or gallowes if nothing else will serue But what should I say I can not but lament the corruption of our time for alas now adayes it is growen to be a hard matter to get a good booke licensed without staying peraduenture a quarter of a yeare for it yea sometymes two or three yeares before he can haue it allowed and in the end happyly reiected too so that that which many a good man hath studyed sore for and traueyled long in perchance all dayes of his life shall be buryed in silence and smothered vp in forgetfulnes and neuer see the light whilest in the meane tyme other bookes full of all filthines scurrilitie baudry dissolutenes cosonage cony-catching and the lyke which all call for vengeance to heauen are eyther quickely licensed or at least easily tollerate without all denyall or contradiction whatsoeuer And albeit it may be answered that such filthy baudy bookes are not licensed by the Magistrates as I thinke in deede they are not for what man can with a good conscience licence those bookes to be printed which are seared with a hote iron and branded with the blacke cole of Gods cursse yet notwithstanding as long as they tollerate or suffer them eyther to bee printed or to bee soulde in theyr Shops they are as culpable and as guiltie before God for them as the authors of them and looke what euill commeth by them they shal one day aunswere for before the tribunall seate of God because it was in them to haue suppressed them and did not But I will leaue them to theyr iudge to whome they either stand or fall and who will one day reward euery one according to his dooings It is a good worke to meditate and to thinke that this lyfe is but momentarie short and transitorie no life indeed but a shadow of a life or rather a meditation of death for so good men haue called it a pilgrimage a thorough-fare an Inne or hostrie a place of trial of aduersitie calamitie a vale of woe a sea of all afflictions and miseries The consideration of this caused the holy Iob that mirror of patience to burst forth into these speeches Man that is borne of a woman hath but a short time to liue and is ful of misery he springeth vp as a flower and is cut downe he vanisheth also as a shadow cōtinueth not It is a good worke for the children of God to set their minds of heauen and heauenly thinges to meditate of the ioyes of heauen and of the glorie prepared for such as walke here with their God in all holy obedience and christian humilitie before him Finally last of all because I would draw towards an end though there bee no end indeede of good workes it is a good worke to mortifie our carnall lusts and to slay our inordinate affections to crucify the old man with the whole bodie of sinne and to put on the new man Christ Iesus walking going on from faith to faith frō hope to hope from repentaunce to repentance from holines to holines from grace to grace from perfectiō to perfection and from one good worke to another till wee attaine to the end of our hope which is euerlasting life in the kingdome of heauen These bee those good workes indeede which as the Apostle witnesseth Christ hath ordeyned that wee shoulde walke in them These bee those good workes which Zachary prooueth to bee the ends of our redemption that wee being deliuered out of the hands of our enimies myght serue hym without feare in holynes and righteousnes all the dayes of our lyfe These are the oyle which euery Christian is to haue in hys Lampe and whiche the foolish Virgins wanting were shut out and excluded the kingdome of God These bee they that I would councell euery Christian man and woman that haue any regard of their saluacion to practise in this life leauing the Antichristian workes of the Papists as abortiues and miscreants to their father the Diuell from whome they fyrst came For perswade thy selfe whosoeuer thou art that without these