specially wheÌ„ his word is preached as is said by the Prophet Esay Esa. 66.2.5 For so shall wee shewe not onely in wordes but also in deede that wee be true beleeuers and God also will auowe vs for his people and in the end gather vs into the heritage of the kingdome of heauen Now let vs kneele downe in the presence of our good God with acknowledgement of our faultes praying him not to impute those vnto vs which we haue committed heretofore but that it may please him so to reforme vs to himselfe as our whole seeking may bee to honour him and to giue our selues to his seruice y t he may dwell among vs and our Lorde Iesus raigne ouer vs both by his holy spirit and by his woord And so let vs all say Almighty God heauenly father c. On Thursday the xx of Iune 1555. The xxxiiij Sermon which is the fifth vpon the fifth Chapter 12 Keepe the day of rest to hallowe it as the Lord thy God hath commaunded thee 13 Sixe dayes shalt thou labour and doe all thy businesses 14 But the seuenth day is the rest of the Lorde thy God Thou shalt not doe any worke therein AFter that he had spoken of the pure worshipping and seruing of GOD to the glorifying of his name without taking of it either in othes or in other thinges otherwise than in way of honour nowe mention is made of Gods seruice accordingly as he hath required it in his lawe and of the order which he hath set downe for the faithfull to exercise themselues in As for example the Sabaoth or day of rest was a figure partly to shewe that men could not serue God duetifully but by mortifying all that euer is of our owne nature and by dedicating themselues therewithall in such sort vnto him as they may bee as it were quite separated from the world Secondly the day of rest was a Ceremonie to bring the people togither that they might heare the Lawe and call vppon the name of GOD and offer the sacrifices and all other thinges that concerne the spirituall gouernment Thus then wee see nowe after what sorte the Sabaoth day was spoken of but yet would it not be well vnderstoode without distinction and without laying forth of the said two partes by peece meale Therefore we haue to note that the Sabaoth or day of rest was a shadow vnder the Law till the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ to doe meÌ„ to vnderstand that God requireth that they should vtterly ceasse from their owne workes and that is it which I meant in one word when I said y t we must mortifie all that euer is of our own nature if wee will conforme our selues to our God And that it is so Saint Paule declareth and besides that wee haue recordes ynow thereof in the newe Testament But it shall suffice to haue alledged that which is most apparant namely to the Colossians Col. 2.17 where it is saide that wee haue the substance and the body of the thinges that were vnder the Lawe wee haue it sayeth he in Iesus Christ. And therefore it was requisite for the fathers of old time to bee trained in this hope as well by the day of rest as by some other Ceremonies But nowe that the thing it selfe is giuen vnto vs wee must no more stay vppon the shadowes In deede the lawe is not so abolished but that we ought to holde still the substance and trueth of it Matt. 5.18 Eph. 2.15 Col. 2.14.17 but yet is the shadowe of it done away by the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ If it bee demaunded how the fathers of olde time knewe that Moses hath giuen vs vnderstanding thereof as is shewed sufficiently in the Booke of Exodus Exod. â—â— 17. For God hauing set foorth his Lawe in the twentieth of Exodus which hee vttered vnto Moses telleth him to what ende it tended saying that he had ordeyned the Sabaoth daye to bee as a warrant of the sanctifying of the people of Israel vnto him It is sayeth he a badge of my holynesse which I haue ordayned among you Now when as the scripture speaketh to vs of being made holy vnto GOD it is to separate vs from all thinges that are contrarie to his seruice But where is such purenesse to bee founde Wee bee in the worlde and wee knowe that in the worlde there is nothing but vtter frowardnesse and naughtinesse as sayeth Saint Iohn in his Canonicall Epistle 1. Ioh. â—â—â— But men neede not to goe out of themselues to haue battell against God and his righteousnesse for all our senses and all our affections sayeth Saint Paule in the eyght to the Romanes are enemies vnto God Rom. â—â—â— When men giue heede to their owne thoughts desires likings and lustes they make open warre against God Wee knowe howe it is tolde vs in the sixth of Genesis that all that euer man can imagine is alwayes euill Gen. â— â— and that all that euer man deuiseth in himselfe and hath of his owne store is vtterly vntowarde and corrupt afore God So then wee see well that wee cannot bee sanctifyed to our God that is to say wee cannot serue him vndefyledly except wee bee separated from the defylings that are contrarie to him and that the thinges which are of our owne nature bee abolished Nowe it was requisite that all these thinges should bee figured to the auncient fathers bicause Iesus Christ was not yet fully reuealed vnto them But wee in these dayes haue the full accomplishment and performance of all thinges in Iesus Christ. And for proofe thereof Roâ— â—â— Saint Paule saieth that the olde man is crucified with him Whereas Saint Paul speakes after that sort of the olde man he meaneth the things that we haue from Adam all which must be rypened and done away Not as touching the substance of our bodie or of our soule but as touching y e naughtines that is in vs. The blindnes that maketh vs to go astray and the wicked lustes likings which are vtterly disobedient to Gods rightuousnesse must be beaten downe bicause they be drawen froÌ„ Adam And how is that done Not by our owne power or policie but by our Lorde Iesus Christ 1. Cor. â— who by dying for vs Rom. â—â— to wipe away our sinnes y t they might no more bee imputed vnto vs hath also purchased vs this prerogatiue y t by y e power of his holy spirit we be able to forsake the world our selues so as our fleshly affectioÌ„s shall not ouermaister vs. And although we be ful of disobedience yet shall Gods spirit ouerrule vs to hold them downe to keep theÌ„ in awe And therefore it is sayd y t wee be risen againe with him Col. 2.12 as S. Paul declareth lykewise in y e forealledged text to y e Colossians But this was not yet manifested vnder y e Law Therfore it was requisit y t the fathers which liued at
inclined to euill as there needeth not any thing to thrust vs out of the way and therefore it were expedient for vs to come together dayly in the name of God But what We see that men wil scarse meete vpon the Lord his day and that moste of them must bee held to it as it were by force Considering then that there is such infirmitie in vs let vs vnderstand that this order was not made al onely for the Iewes that they might haue some day wherin to come together but also for vs so as it belongeth to vs as well as to thē But yet herewithall we haue to marke that this is not all for it were a very slender order to haue a rest of our handes and feete and to go no further than so What then we must apply this rest to a higher purpose we must refraine from our owne businesse which might hinder vs from the minding of Gods workes and wee must call vpon his name and exercise our selues in his worde If wee spende the Lordes day in making good cheere and in playing and gaming is that a good honoring of God Nay is it not a mockerie yea and a very vnhalowing of his name Yes But when the Shopwindowes are shut in on the Lords day and men trauel not as they do on other dayes it is to the ende wee shoulde haue the more leasure and libertie to intend to the thinges that God commaundeth that is to wit to be taught by his worde to meete together to make confession of our faith to call vppon his name to exercise our selues in y e vse of his Sacramentes That is the purpose whereunto this order ought to serue vs. But now let vs see if those which name themselues Christians discharge themselues as they ought to do Behold a great number thinke to haue y e Lordes day most free to followe their owne busines reserue that day for the same purpose as though there were none other day for them to appoynt vppon of all the weeke long And though the bell tole to bring them to the sermon yet it seemeth vnto them that they haue nothing else to doe but to thinke vpon their busines and to cast vp their accounts concerning this and that matter Othersome fall to gluttonie and shut vp thēselues in their houses because they dare not shewe a manifest contempt in the open streetes but yet the Lord his day is to them but as a couert to shrinke aside in from the Church of God And hereby it appeareth what affection we haue towardes all Christianitie towardes y e seruing of God seeing we make that thing an occasion of withdrawing our selues further of from God which is giuen vs for a helpe to bring vs neerer vnto him And againe be we once gone astray it serueth to pul vs quite and cleane away And is not y t a diuelish spite of men yet notwithstanding it is so cōmon a thing as is pitie to see and would God that examples were more rare and further of to be found But y e worlde sees how all thinges are vnhallowed insomuch that most folke haue no regard at al of y e vsing of that day which was ordayned to withdrawe vs from all earthly cares and affaires that wee might giue our selues wholy vnto God Furthermore wee must vnderstand that the Lord his day was not appoynted al onely to the hearing of Sermons but to the ende wee should apply the rest of the time to y e praysing of God Yea verily For although he feede vs euery day yet doe wee not minde his gratious benefites sufficiently to magnify them In deede it were a poore thing if wee minded not Gods benefites but vpon the Lordes day But because we be occupied too much about our owne affaires on the other dayes therefore wee bee not so much giuen to serue God in them as vppon the day which is assigned wholy therunto The Lord his day then must serue vs for a tower to mount vp into to vewe Gods workes a farre of as a time wherein we haue nothing to let vs or to keepe vs occupied but that we may imploy all our wits to consider the benefites and gratious gifts that he hath bestowed vppon vs. And if wee can put this thing wel in vre that is to say if we can consider Gods workes vpon the Lordes day surely we shall be the more giuen vnto it all the reste of the weeke after and the minding thereof wil as it were fashion and polish vs aforehand so as our musing vppon his workes long afore to the intent wee may knowe how to fare the better by them wil leade vs to yeeld thanks vnto our God vppon the munday and all the weeke after But if the Lordes day be spent not onely in games pastimes full of vanitie but also in thinges quite contrarie to God so as men thinke they haue not kept holy the Lorde his day except God be offended diuers wayes if the holy order which God ordeyned to bring vs to him be broken after that fashion is it any woonder though men play the beastes all the weeke after What is to be done then Let vs assure our selues that it is not enough for vs to goe to some Sermon vppon the Lordes day to receiue some good instruction to cal vpon the name of God but we must also digest the same thinges and bende all our wittes to consider the gratious thinges that God hath done for vs and by that meanes wee must frame our selues to the thinges that may leade vs to our God without further trauel on y e Munday or of all the weeke after And to the intent we may not doe aught else than record y e thinges by good leasure which we had learned afore let our mindes be discharged of all things that may hinder vs or plucke vs backe from the considering of Gods workes Thus ye see what the order is which we must keepe at this day It is not to keepe the ceremonie so straite as it was vnder the bondage of y e lawe for we haue not the figure or shadowe any more But it serueth to cal vs together that we may be inured according to our infirmitie to apply our selues the better to y e seruing of God and to dedicate that day wholy vnto him so as we may bee vtterly withdrawen from the worlde and the same may stand vs in stead all the rest of the weeke as I sayd afore Yea and wee haue to marke also that it is not enough for vs to thinke vpon God and his works vppon the Lordes day euery man alone by himselfe but that wee must meete together vppon some day certeine to make open confession of our faith In deede this ought to be done euery day as I haue sayd afore But yet in respect of mens rawnesse and by reason of their slothfulnesse it is necessarie to haue one speciall day dedicated wholy thereunto It is true that
to bee gouerned by him as he thinketh good Finally he sheweth how greatly it is for our benefite to be beaten with his roddes And therefore doeth hee make vs to passe through many troubles and to bee greatly vexed and tormented And if there were none other enemies to withstand vs than such as are spoken of here wel wee might hap to doe wel ynough with them for they be men But wee bee dayly assaulted by the diuel and by sinne 1. Pet. 5.8 and wee would faine ouercome them at the first push and obtaine victorie against Satan and against all the temptations of the world But what a thing were that Our pride would be intollerable wee would thinke our selues to bee Gods wee would not passe to call any more vpon God no◠to sigh and mourne for our own weakenesse wee shoulde not tell what it were to mislike of our selues nor to vnderstand that there is none which hath all power in him but onely God So then although God haue assured vs that we shall haue the vpper hand of all our enemies yet shall not y t be performed at y e first brunt And why Bicause it were not good for vs. True it is that wild beastes would not come and deuour vs but wee haue pride and vaineglorie and wee bee sotted with selfweening And that deuilish ouerlustinesse would carie vs away so as wee should fall asleepe in our vanities and delightes and that would bee worse to vs than all the wilde beastes in the worlde And therefore let vs assure our selues that Gods leisurely working as it were by degrees and by lyne and by leuell is to our benefite For coulde he be letted to accomplish all his worke in one minute of an houre No but he listeth not to doe it so soone And therefore let vs learne to keepe the spirituall rest or Sabboth as it is spoken of in the fifth Chapter Deut. 5.14 Esa. 58.13 that is to say imprison our wit reason and will and all that euer wee haue besides and to hold them in such awe as none but onely God may haue the rule of vs and dispose of all things at his will And moreouer let vs go on when he leadeth vs the way For that is no breaking of the Sabboth To occupie our selues euerie man in the charge that God calleth him vnto and to doe our duties faithfully euery man in his vocation according to the measure of grace that GOD hath giuen him are the workes of God and we must vnderstand that it is God which woorketh them in vs. But yet for all that wee must not bee too hastie as who shoulde say that God were at our commaundement or that wee would haue him doe what wee list and when wee list but all our wisedome must bee to submit our selues to his will The thing then which wee haue to remēber vppon this text that we may fare the better by it is that we must learne to bee obedient to our God all the time of this our mortall and transitorie life not doubting but that at length he will vanquish Satan and all that is against vs and turne euen those things to our benefite and saluation which we thinke as now to be hurtful and harmfull to vs. Nowe let vs kneele downe in the presence of our good God with acknowledgement of our faultes praying him to make vs feele them better than wee haue doone so as wee may bee drawen to a right repentaunce and learne more and more to distrust our selues and to settle our trust in him and that when wee haue imbraced his promises wee may fare the better by them by applying our selues to his seruice so as wee may not be vnprofitable in the world but that as soone as his spirit dwelleth in vs it may forthwith auaile vs and shewe by effect that he hath not adopted vs in vaine in our Lord Iesus Christ so as wee may grow in the same knowledge more and more till he haue throughly accomplished it in vs and that wee haue the full measure of it wherof we haue but a very small portion as now That it may please him to graunt this grace not onely to vs but also to all people and Nations of the earth c. On VVednesday the xiiij of August 1555. The Lvij. Sermon which is the seuenth vpon the seuenth Chapter 22.23.24 And the Lord c. 25 Thou shalt burne the images of their Gods with fire And neither couet n◠take thou to thee the golde or siluer that is vpon them for feare least it turne to thy decay For such things are abhomination to the Lord thy God 26 Therefore thou shalt not bring anie abhomination into thine house least thou thy selfe become accursed as well as it But thou shalt abhorre it and loath it vtterly for it is a cursed thing YEsterday I began to shew that we must be constant vnto the end in trusting vnto God in holding of our selues to his promises though the thing that he speaketh be not performed out of hande nor his determination put in execution by and by for he hath alwayes good reason to make delay thereof True it is that wee perceiue it not and that is because our eyesight extendeth not farre We see euen among men that such as haue liued long time and haue had most experience of thinges haue most stay of themselues and are not so hastie to doe and attempt things as younger folkes are which cast no perils but runne all on head A yong man hauing a whot braine wil needs dispatch al things out of hand in one day But he that hath some stay of himselfe by reason of much experience will looke about him how to dispose his matters and to doe his things in good order Now there is no comparison betweene God and men It is not to be saide that he is an olde expert artificer as men terme it for all thinges are euer present vnto him and euer haue bin since the creation of the worlde and againe his will is the rule of all wisedome and right Sith it is so let vs forbeare to be ouerhastie and if it please him to let vs linger for a time let vs beare it patiently Moreouer wee haue to note the thing that was declared yesterday in a word or twaine that is to wit that if GOD deliuer vs not from all troubles and vexations out of hande it is thorough our fault For as soone as one mischiefe is past we procure another to come in the neck of it This is not to be wited vpon God nor vppon the state of the life wherein wee bee But we our selues are so fruitfull in bringing forth of euill that although God purge vs of neuer somuch yet will the seede of it spring vp newe againe and yeelde manifolde increase by and by after That say I proceedeth of our sinfulnesse And therefore let vs marke well that if God set vs not in quiet at the first dashe but
that our Lordes intent was to say here in fewe wordes that men ought to behaue thēselues so friendly as no man were oppressed and that although it lie not in men to let that there should not bee both poore and rich among them yet they should so deale as the poorer sort were not troden vnderfoote For wee see that such as are welthie do lay their snares and catch whatsoeuer they can come by so as the poorer sorte dare not come neere thē and if they get but the value of a pinne at their hands they fleece them of it by and by againe Therefore it was our Lordes intent to prouide a remedie for that mischiefe among his people Nowe remaineth that wee apply this matter to our owne behoofe True it is that this order belonged peculiarly to the Iewes but yet doth it concerne vs also namely that we shoulde not vexe them out of measure which are indetted vnto vs. And it may well bee among those that beare the name of Christians that they wil not goe to lawe vppon the Sabboth day and the reason is that vpon that day euery man ought to haue leasure to withdrawe himselfe to Godwarde to minde his workes that wee may all of vs be prouoked to serue and honour him For all our life long wee ought to giue our selues to praying and supplication Neuerthelesse cōmon meetings are made that men may heare the cōmon doctrine of saluation and it is good reason that on the Sabboth day all other cares and thoughts should be laide aside Notwithstanding let vs take good heede that wee keepe not the single Ceremony onely but also the intent of God therewithall which is that our neighbours be not so vexed by vs as they may haue occasion to despise God and to be cast into despaire For our Lorde will haue vs giue such respit as the poore may not bee ouer grieued Wee see howe he saith in other places that wee must not take a poore mans mattres from vnder him Exod. 22.26 27. As for example when a man hath broken payment if hee bring his bedde to lay to gage our Lorde forbiddeth the taking thereof and likewise the taking of a poore mans rayment which hee hath neede of to weare For if he be a cold saith he and thou keepest his bed from him although hee speake neuer a worde yet shall his sides curse thee because thou beest so hardhearted that thou hast no pitie of him when thou seest him afflicted in his bodie And albeit that the poore man be patient in his aduersitie yet doeth God in heauen consider thy crueltie and in the ende he will reuenge it Contrariwise he that giueth his poore neighbour his gage againe and is so pitifull towards him that he cannot find in his heart to see him indure necessitie although the partie so releeued do play the Churle and regarde not the good that hath bin done vnto him yet shall hee haue his good deede to answere for him before me 〈◊〉 24.12 saith the Lord. Yee see then that we must be kindharted both generally and particularly as time requireth As how If there come a yeare of dearth many men will seeke to inrich themselues by it and they beare themselues in hande that it is a time euen for their owne tooth and it is a thing too much vsed nowadayes as it hath bin at all times heretofore and woulde God we coulde forget it But we shal see a number that lye in waite like skouts or spies and if there come a deare yeare O say they this serues well to make me rich when as in verie deede it is the time wherein they should open their bowels to haue compassion of such as are in necessitie Wee see that poore folke haue much ado to maintaine themselues though they be succoured yea and such as heretofore haue beene able to liue in their owne houses without being pinched ouer neere are nowe driuen to borrow And why is that They haue their ordinarie earnings as before but corne and wine are at such excessiue prices that they be not able to buy them euery man shrinkes away and holdes himself short And as for the rich man that hath wherewith to liue his minde is vppon nothing else but howe he may inrich himselfe O saieth he this is a fatte yeare for mee for it is a leane yeare for all others Alas heere is a wretched regarde So then let vs learne that our Lordes meaning by this Lawe is not that we should forbeare to releeue such as are as yee woulde say windshaken already but that if we see a man that hath much ado to maintaine himself we should not runne vpon him to ouerthrowe him altogether As howe If I see a man a little behinde hand and I haue a mind to some cornegrounde or vyneyard of his loe hee is in fitte case for my purpose and if I take him at the vantage hee is vndone by it it is vnpossible for him to scape vtter ruine And when a man hauing that regard to selfeprofite indeuoureth to catch away the poore mans possessions surely although there were no Lawe of God at all yet doeth euen naturall equitie condemne it But heere our Lorde sheweth vs his will which is that whensoeuer wee see any man distressed wee shoulde spare him so much the more vntill hee haue some meanes to recouer himselfe againe and that wee shoulde not lye in waite to catch from him at euerie occasion that is offered to further the matter but rather that wee shoulde vse such vprightnesse as to saye If I beare with him hee will pay mee one time or other I see hee is willing ynough I see hee woulde paye mee mine owne and doe asmuch for mee if hee were not ouerpressed otherwise and seeing I knowe him to bee such a one shall I nowe set vppon him with rigour That were euen as much as though I woulde cutte asunder his hamstringes that hee might bee able to goe no further I see he is scarse able to drawe his legges after him and therefore if I should fall to cutting of his sinewes asunder and so fell him downe altogether if hee bee vtterly ouerthrowen for want of lending him my helping hand at his neede am not I the cause therof Shal not his pouertie crie out for vengeance against mee vnto God Nowe wee see howe this Lawe serued as a policie among the Iewes and yet neuerthelesse that it sheweth vs Gods will at this day because it teacheth vs to beare with the poore and needie To be short let vs marke that our sparing of the poore after that fashion is an acceptable sacrifice to God and that after the same manner he will accept all other seruices that we do vnto him where as if wee performe neuer so manie Ceremonies and in the meane while haue no equitie nor vpright meaning in vs we do but prouoke Gods wrath according to the saying of the Prophet Esay which I haue alledged already
dunghil of hell why 499. a 10 Of the vsurped supremacie of the sea of Rome 498. b 60.499 a 10 Roote The meaning of these words Let there not be found among you any Roote that bringeth forth wormewood and gall 1032. a 50. b all 1033. a b al. Looke Prophets and false Prophets Ruben The kingdome was not established in the tribe of Ruben 1195. b 50.60 He was Iacobs eldest sonne bereft of the right of the first begotten for incest 1193. a 40. The meaning of Moses in saying Let him liue and not die 1194. a 10.20.30.40 He was a Patriach and what a great number of heads of houses came of him 1194. a all b 30.40 Ruffians A common trade of certaine squaring Ruffians noted and a lesson for their learning 936. b 40 S. Sabboth The ceremony alone of the Sabboth is to no purpose 20. a 40 Of what things the Sabboth vnder the law putteth men in minde 200. a 20.30.204 b 10.20 Howe the spirituall rest and Sabboth is kept 339. b 10.20.203 b 10.20 Wee ought to bee greatlie inflamed to the spirituall keeping of Gods Sabboth and why 20. b 50 Till what time wee shall neuer attaine fully to the keeping of Gods spirituall Sabboth 203. b 10 How the faithful ought to keepe a continuall Sabboth all their life long 203. a 20 We haue not the figure or shadowe of the Sabboth day 204. b 50.202 a 50 To what end or intent the Sabboth day was ordeined 203. b 50.200 b 10.208 b 50.60.573 b 10 204. a 10.203 b 50.208 a 60 What is the first entrance to keepe the Sabboth day as wee ought 201. b 10 A supposed speech of God to the Iewes touching the Sabboth dayes seruice 206. b 40.50.60 207. a 10 Other solemnities besides the Sabboth day vnder the law 206. b 30 What wee haue to marke and consider when God commaÌ„deth vs to keepe the Sabboth day 20. b 40.205 a 10 The Iewes Sabboth day was the Saturday and why ours is the Sunday 205. a 10 We are exhorted to retaine stil the outwarde order of the Sabboth day though it were but figuratiue 205. b 20 The cause why the ceremonie of the Sabboth day was so streitly looked vnto vnder the lawe 202. a 30.40.50 He that despiseth y e Sabboth day hath thrust as much as in him lieth the whole seruice of God vnder foote 20. a 30 Why we be not giuen so much to serue God on worke dayes on the Sabboth day 204. b 10 The traffikers among the Iewes enioyned to keepe y e Sabboth day though they were not sanctified 210. b 60. and 211. a 10.20.30 The Sabboth day exteÌ„ded to the whole seruice of God 20. a 20.60 Why God setteth his owne example of keeping the Sabboth day before vs. 203. a 10. How the Sabboth day is sanctified and prophaned read page 200. the whole Sermon ouer Of what things the Sabboth or day of rest was a figure 200. a 10. 201. a 10.207 b 30.40 206. a 30 Why Christians ought not to go to law on the Sabboth day 575. a 10 Of what thing the Sabboth day giuen to the Iewes was a signe 207. b 30.40 The right order and vse of the Sabboth day summarily recorded reade the place 204. b 40.50 Common abuses of the Lordes day or Sabboth day too too true 204. a 20. 30.40.50 Looke Rest of God and man Sacrament Of a defiling of the Sacrament of the Lords supper too much vsed in these dayes 600. b 40 A Sacrament without teaching and instruction is a deade thing 607. a 10 Sacraments The Sacraments of themselues haue not the power to cleanse 668. a 30 Sacraments of themselues be visible in what respects spirituall 648. b 10 How we be in the presence of the Lord when we be partakers of the Sacraments 618. b all 138. b 50 The Sacraments and the word are badges of Gods fatherly election 316. b 60 SacrameÌ„ts are peculiar to the Church they be not things for men to put to vnholie vses 600. b 30 Howe wee must thinke without selues when we vse the Sacraments 600. b 40.168 a 50 How the papists haue corrupted y e true Sacraments 598. a 50.60.680 b 10.138 b 30.40 In what respects the Sacraments be but as a dead letter 441. a 40 Of the Sacraments and the true vse of the same 680. a 30.1208 a 10.894 a all 1055. a all b 10 God in the Sacraments worketh that by his power which men cannot do 1244. b 30 Sacraments of the papistes owne forging and deuising 1245. a 50.60 We haue not so great a multitude of Sacraments as the olde fathers had 1081. a 40.1055 a all b 10.20 The Sacraments bee not meritorious matters and that we come to them to receiue that which is offered 1056 a 10 Sacrifice Why the Iewes were forbidden to offer Sacrifice in any other place than onlie one 565. b 50 Why it is said that no Sacrifice shoulde be offered without salt 502. b 60 God did not without cause giue the Iewes so many rules to shewe them how to do Sacrifice 502. a 30.40 Sacrifice appointed to be done for maÌ„slaughter the maner how 516. a 30 Whether the Israelits did for a time offer Sacrifice at their owne pleasure without rule or without being certaine what God required or allowed 501. a 30.40 Of the Sacrifice of Christ offered once for all where also the masse is condemned 603. b 50.60 Who they be that must be merrie with those that present themselues to God to offer him Sacrifice 619. b 50 Sacrifice commaunded to be made for the bodie of one that is found slaine reade sermon 120. Of the most abhominable Sacrifice of the masse wherin the papists vsurpe the office of Christ. 505. b 10.20 c. 739. a 50. b 10 What is the way for vs to bee partakers of the Sacrifice which Christ hath offered 605. a 10.20 How Moses may say that all the things which shal be found in an idolatrous citie shal be accurâ—sed and yet they must be put ouer as an offering or Sacrifice to God 550. a 20.30 c. What is the chiefe thing that goeth before Sacrifice 593. a 30 How a citie that hath beene idolatrous becommeth a Sacrifice of good liking to God 550. a 60. b 10 Of the sprinkling of the bloud of a Sacrifice in the time of the lawe when it was to bee offered and what that ceremonie signified 418. b 10 What is the true Sacrifice that God requireth at our hands 374. a 10.294 b 60. a 10.503 a 30.630 a 40.50.267 a 20.30 What mans executing of punishment is a Sacrifice to God 306. a 30.40 Sacrifices Whatsoeuer God requireth of vs hee calleth Sacrifices 870. b 60 To what end God ordeined Sacrifices vowes c. among the Iewes 499. a 40.50.60 b 10 A difference made betweene the Sacrifices and common meates and what doctrine concerneth vs thereby 512. a 60. b 10.20.30.40 Of the Sacrifices of the law the meaning of
from vs and that wee had neede of wings to flie aboue the skyes But what Wee must so honour Gods worde as I saide as wee must not doubt but that the thing which is spoken there is possible to be done although wee conceiue not howe by our fleshly vnderstanding faith must surmount all capacitie of man And if wee finde any hardnesse therein let vs fight against our selues and dayly indeuour to recouer vnto God For the way whereby hee will be glorified at our hands is as I saide at the beginning that if there were no more but his bare worde yet ought the same to contēt and suffice vs. But seeing he hath vouchsafed to deliuer vs this pledge which he hath giuen vs in the death and passion of our Lorde Iesus Christ we shal be the lesse excusable if wee haue not a full and whole contentation Seeing then that we haue such an assurance of the kingdome of heauen let vs go and take possession of the lande For as I said afore God will not haue vs idle True it is that hee sheweth vs by the holy scripture that there is not one drop of power in vs that tendeth vnto good but that wee be wholly giuen to euill And yet notwithstanding it is his will also that when he hath put his gratious gifts into vs we shoulde make them auaylable without chalenging any thing at all to our selues For in this case it is not for vs to glorie in our selues nor to trust in our owne legges according wherevnto it is saide in the Psalme to such as are giuen to the worlde Psal. 33.16 and 17. that they must not trust in their owne strength nor in the strength of their horses If this bee saide of the thinges that perteine to this flightfull life what is to bee saide of the spirituall life which is much more excellent So then w tout attributing any thing to our selues let vs indeuour neuerthelesse seeing that God commandeth vs and let vs goe on to enter into the possession of the spirituall kingdome whereunto he calleth vs. And that is the cause why I said that wee must euermore come backe to our Lorde Iesus Christ and there seeke y e thing that is wanting in our selues For wee knowe that his suffering of his death and passion was to exalt vs aboue the heauens and although wee doe but creepe vppon the earth or rather bee so loppeheauie that wee sinke still downeward to plundge our selues in the bottomlesse gulfes yet will our Lorde Iesus lift vs vp according as he himself was exalted to the same end and intent as is declared in the third Chapter of the Gospel of S. Iohn Iohn 3.14 Furthermore to the ende wee may bee discharged of all selftrust let vs looke vppon the notable example that was giuen vs at the death of our Lorde Iesus Christ. For if wee will goe the right way to heauen wee must followe the poore theefe to whom he saide This day shalt thou bee with mee in Paradise Howe can wee bee sure that GOD will bring vs to the kingdome of heauen seeing that wee seeke hell and all our affections all our thoughtes all our desires all our powers and all our workes tend wholly thither euen to separate vs from God and to alienate vs from his kingdome and to driue vs away from life and saluation How may wee say I be sure that God will take vs vppe into his heauenly kingdome We must haue recourse to this word that was spoken to the poore theefe This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Seeing it is so that our Lord died that he entred into such gulfes of sorrowe that he was pinched so farre as to abide the tormentes that were due vnto vs and not only abode y e reproch and griefe of bodily death but also felt y e Iustice of God and became as a wretched offender to beare all the sinnes of the world let vs not doubt but he hath deliuered vs from the paines anguish which wee should haue felt and will lifte vs vp to himselfe and therefore nowe let vs not bee afraide of death But first of all it behoueth vs to followe the poore theefe What had he in him to bring him to the kingdome of heauen He was fastened to a crosse he had his armes and legges broken he seemed to bee but a wretched carkasse there was nothing but reproche in him Thus then you see howe he was an owgly myrrour to looke vpon and yet neuerthelesse Iesus Christe promiseth him to make him his partaker and companion of his heauenly glorie And what had hee beene all the time of his lyfe So lewde and wicked both before God and man that he was worse than condemned and accursed Will we then be the heires of God Wee must follow this theefe who had the preheminence to goe before vs into the heritage of heauen And how must wee follow him We must acknowledge y t naturally there is nothing in vs but vtter wickednesse and that GOD might iustly holde vs accursed Also wee must thinke our selues to bee as folke that haue their armes and legges broken yea and as men vtterly dismembred so as we haue not one whit of strength in vs at leastwise as in respect of our selues And yet for all that therewithall we must not doubt but that God accepteth vs to him when wee linke in with our Lorde Iesus Christ by right faith and pure affection acknowledging him to be our king and hauing our eyes fastened vpon the inuisible kingdome as I saide afore For if the wretched theefe which sawe death before his eyes which was in as great tormentes as was possible and sawe himselfe as it were behated of all the world did put his trust in Iesus Christe what ought wee to doe Againe in what state was our Lord Iesus Christ at the same time He hung vpon a crosse full of reproche and shame all men did spit at him all men did spite him And yet notwithstanding that reprochfull state the poore wretch ceassed not to behold life in death and to say Lorde remember me when thou commest into thy kingdome But now wee knowe that Iesus Christ is exalted to the right hand of GOD his father and hath souereigne power ouer all creatures so that if wee yeeld him not his due honour now that he is entered into his glorie wee shall haue no excuse at all True it is that he was once hanged vpon a gibbet ful of reproch and shame but yet wee see therewithall that the same was turned into glorie and triumph so as the victorie which he obteined was more royall than all the triumphes of all the Princes in the worlde Seeing then that wee doe see that Iesus Christ hath ridde away all the slaunder of his crosse by the power of his resurrection ought wee not at leastwise to looke vp to the kingdome where he dwelleth whereunto he calleth vs and which he hath purchased so
we bee not bound to the seuenth day neither doe wee in deede keepe the same day that was appointed to the Iewes for that was the Saterday But to the intent to shewe the libertie of Christians the day was chaunged because Iesus Christ in his resurrection did set vs free from the bondage of the law Col. 2.11.12 14. cancelled the obligation therof That was the cause why the day was shifted But yet must wee obserue the same order of hauing some day in the weeke be it one or be it two for that is left to the free choyce of Christians Neuerthelesse if a people assemble to haue the Sacramentes ministred and to make common prayer vnto GOD and to shewe one agreement and vnion of faith it is conuenient to haue some one day certeine for that purpose Then is it not enough for euery man to withdrawe himselfe into his owne house whether it bee to reade the holy scripture or to pray vnto GOD but it is meete that wee shoulde come into the companie of the faithfull and there shewe the agreement which wee haue with all the whole body of the Church by keeping this order which our Lord hath so commanded But what There a man may see too apparant vnhallowing of Gods seruice For as I haue touched afore are there not a great sorte which could well finde in their heartes to shewe that they doe but mocke God and that they would faine be exempted from the common lawe It is true that they wil come to a sermon a fiue or sixe times a yeere And what to doe there Forsooth euen to mocke at God at all his doctrine In deede they be very swine which come to defile Gods temple and are worthier to be in stables than there and they were better to keepe themselues at home in their stinking cabans To bee short it were better that such rascals and filthie vilaâ—nes were quite cut off from the Church of God than that they should come and intermingle themselues after that sort in companie with the faithfull But yet how many times come they thither The bel may ring wel enough for looke where a man left them there shall he finde theÌ„ So then we ought to bee the more diligent and careful in quickening vp our selues to make such confession of our faith as God may be honored with one common consent among vs. And besides that all superstitions must bee banished For we se how it is an opinion is poperie that God is serued with idlenesse It is not after that sorte that we must keepe holy the Saboth day But to the intent it may bee applyed to the right and lawfull vse we must consider as I sayd afore how our Lord requireth to haue this day bestowed in nothing else but in hearing of his worde in making common prayer in making confession of our faith and in hauing the vse of the Sacramentes Those are the thinges that wee bee called to Howbeit we see how al things haue bin corrupted confounded in the popedome For lyke as they haue alotted dayes to honoring of their hee Saints and shee Saints and set vp images of theÌ„ so haue they surmised that they were to be worshipped with idlenesse But seeing that y e world is so giuen to corruption it standeth vs so much the more in hand to marke well this discourse concerning the Saboth day as it is set downe here by Moses And let vs consider to what ende our Lorde commaunded the people of olde time to haue one day in the weeke to rest in to the intent that wee knowing how the same is abolished by the comming of our Lorde Iesus Christ may take our selues to the spiritual rest that is to say dedicate out selues wholy vnto God forsaking all our owne reason and affections Againe let vs reteine still the outward order so farre as is meete for vs that is to wit of forbearing our owne affaires and worldly businesses that we may intend wholy to the minding of Gods workes and occupy our selues in the consideration of the good thinges that hee hath done for vs. And aboue all thinges let vs streine our selues to acknowledge the grace that hee offereth vs dayly in his Gospel that we may be strengthened in it still more and more And when wee haue bestowed the Lord his day in praysing and magnifying Gods name and in minding his workes let vs shewe all the weeke after that wee haue profited in the same Now let vs kneele downe in the presence of our good GOD with acknowledgement of our faultes praying him to make vs feele them better than we haue done And forasmuch as wee can by no meanes serue him vntill the frowardnesse that is in vs be done away and inasmuch as he hath tolde vs that wee shall not cease to fight against his righteousnesse so long as wee giue heade to our owne lusts and imaginations it may please our good God to graunt vs such grace by the power of his holy spirit as wee may be fully fashioned lyke vnto him that dyed and rose again for vs to mortify vs and to quicken vs. So then let vs beare the marke of our Lorde Iesus Christ euen in renouncing our selues and let vs so submit vs to his will as our whole seeking may bee to be fashioned lyke to his righteousnesse that his lawe may bee fulfilled in vs euen as it is spirituall and wee be changed from flesh to spirit to liue vnder his obeisance And because there is alwayes so much in vs to be mislyked it may please the same good GOD to beare with our infirmities vntill his rest be fully brought to passe in vs and that he haue taken vs vp into his heauenly kingdome That it may please him to graunt this grace not onely c. On Friday the xxj of Iune 1555. The xxxv Sermon which is the sixth vpon the fift Chapter 13 Six dayes shalt thou labour c. 14 Thou shalt not doe anie worke therein thy selfe thy Sonne thy daughter thy manseruaunt thy womanseruaunt thyne Ox thyne Asse and thy cattle and thy Straunger which is within thy gates that thy manseruaunt and thy womanseruaunt may haue rest as well as thy selfe 15 Remember that thou wast a seruaunt in the land of Egypt and that the Lorde thy God brought thee thence with strong hande and arme stretched out And therefore the Lord thy God hath commaunded thee to keepe holie the Saboth day I Declared yesterday how and why the commaundement of keeping the Saboth day was giuen to the Iewes I told you briefly how it was a figure of the spirituall rest which the faithfull ought to obserue to serue God in Col. 2.14.17 20. Howbeit our Lorde Iesus Christ hath brought vs the performance thereof so as wee must no more stay vppon the shadowe of the Lawe Rom. 6.6 but content our selues with the crucifying of our olde man by the power of y e death and passion of our Lorde Iesus
of September 1555. The Lxxiiii Sermon in which the last verse of the tenth Chapter is expounded and this is the first Sermon vpon the eleuenth Chapter 22 Thy fathers went downe into Egypt in number threescore and ten soules and now the Lord thy God hath made thee in multitude as the stars of the skie The eleuenth Chapter LOue the Lorde thy God therefore and keepe his appointmentes Ordinances Lawes and Commaundementes for euer 2 And consider you this day for I speake not to your children which haue neither knowen nor seene them the instruction of the Lord your God his greatnesse his mightie hande and his stretched out arme 3 And his wonders and workes which hee did in the middes of Egypt vnto Pharao king of Egypt and all his Land 4 And what he did to the host of the Egyptians vnto their horses Chariots when the Lord brought the waters of the read sea vpon their faces when they pursued you and how the Lord destroyed them vnto this day I Haue alreadie shewed y e meaning of Moses how that by rehearsinge y e wonders y t GOD had wrought for the deliuering of his people out of captiuity he shewed the Iewes that they ought to haue bin the more conformable to him in respect of the fauor and loue which he had shewed to them at al times For he had alwayes shewed by his doings that his promising to take Abraham all his ofspring into his protection was not in vain Ye see then an euident proofe y t God hauing receiued Abrahams ofspring into his free fauour hath also confirmed it by deedes experience And thereupon it is to be concluded that if that people had not beene altogether froward they ought of reason to haue serued God And that is the point that Moses shot at Consider with your selues saith he if ye be not bounde to giue your selues wholy to the obeying of your God For he hath multiplied you as the stars of the skie Through his gratious goodnes you are become so great a nūber y t euen you your selues may be astonished at it To be short if ye look vpō your body y t is to say your state you cānot but see such a wōderful fauor of your God as you could neuer haue once looked for or hoped Sith it is so there is now no excuse for you if you cannot find in your hartes to glorifie his name Gen. 15.5 seeing he hath shewed him selfe so good merciful towards you That is y e sūme of y e matter y t Moses intended to set down And he speaketh expresly of the stars of the skie because of the promise For God speaking to his seruāt Abrahā shewed him in a vision y e multitude of the stars which is infinite Euen as they be past reckening saith god so also shal thy seed be Now then the meaning of Moses in this text is y t Gods saying so was not in vain that Abraham was not disappointed of his hope in resting altogether vpon y t promise for we see the thing performed before our eies And this is wel worth the noting For if God haue done vs any good we wil indeed for maners sake say it was he y t did it but to be throughly persuaded of it in our hart that is a very hard thing Therefore is it requisit in respect of such rudenes y t we should be cōdemned by Gods word to the end we may y e better consider of his hand power As for example if we had neuer read any whit of holy scripture yet notwithstanding god should haue deliuered vs frō some aduersitie to say y e truth our own naturall wit would put vs in mind to think our selues indetted to God for y e same But when we be exercised in the holy scriptures and haue seene there y t God reserueth to himself the issues of death that it is in him to succor vs yea euē after a strange fashion when al seemeth to be vtterly forlorne so as if we call vpon him he will heare our sighes the performance therfore maketh it the easier for vs to conceiue his goodnes bicause we be taught aforehand the same things which we come to find by experience For why The word y t went afore is as a lampe to giue vs light Of our owne nature we be as it were blind True it is that God inlighteneth vs by his holy spirit but yet are we still in darknes cannot see two fingers bredth afore vs. But whē God teacheth vs by his word y t is as a lampe to guide vs shew vs our way Therfore let vs marke well y t to profit our selues by the benefits y t God bestoweth vpō vs it is good yea nedful for vs to be put in mind of his promises to compare thē together God had promised it now he hath performed it here we see a testimony y t he is alwaies faithful in his sayings y t a man may safely rest vpō his truth That is y e thing which Moses sheweth vs in this text in that he speaketh not simply of the great multitude whereinto the people had bin increased but also saith y t God had multiplied them as the stars of the skie to the intent that euery mā should think vpon y e promise which was vniuersally knowen among them thereby confirme themselues inasmuch as God had so kept touch with his seruāt Abraham euery man consider thus in himself Indeed we ought to receiue gods simple single word although the effecte of it were not scene But now that Gods hande his mouth go iointly together so as he hath shewed a true proofe of his presēce before our eyes and that he meant not to disappoint the hope of his seruants we know y t our God hath a care of vs forgat vs not at such time as we were in the land of Egypt For y e time of the peoples abode there was as a kinde of buriall in their graues so as it might haue seemed y t all Gods promises had bin quite dashed Whē he drew Abraham out of the land y t he was borne in he said vnto him I giue thee al this land frō one side to another Gen. 12.7 to thee to thine ofspring for euer And yet for al this yee see howe Abraham did but soiourne there as a strāger he was hunted faine to fleet frō place to place he trotted vp and downe like a poore man that had not a corner to hide him in Hebr. 11.9 The like befel to his sonne Isaac Iacob was banished thence during al the flower of his youth when he returned thither againe hee was faine to remoue oftentimes in his old age and in the ende God conueied him away into Egypt Thus was y t house as it were broken vp cleane banished out of the countrie And where is the lande of Chanaan which was
let vs be throughly perswaded in our selues that if we will prosper the onely blessing of God must suffice vs though wee haue not all things at wil. When we haue taken neuer so much paines yet must we not trust in the strength of our owne hands nor bee so blinded with fonde presumption as to say I am an able man I am politike can take paines But let euerie man referre himselfe to God knowing that it is he which giueth him sustenance And although I take neuer so much paines to get my liuing yet must I haue it at his hand and when I haue asked my ordinarie breade to day I must doe the like to morrow too and yeeld my selfe to the wil of him that giueth it mee Thus much concerning the first point where mentioÌ„ is made of Gods blessing of the workes of mens hands And therewithall let vs call to minde what hath beene declared therof more at large heretofore where our Lorde willeth men to consider how it is onely hee that beareth the sway in making our labours to prosper Let that serue for one point And nowe let vs come to the seconde point which is that if wee desire to bee partakers of Gods blessing we must first yeeld him his right for if he be defrauded of it he wil reuenge it vpon vs. 〈◊〉 3.8 â—â— And that is the cause why hee saith by his Prophet Do ye complaine that ye be afflicted Consider the cause saith hee Yee haue defrauded mee Whereof Of my Tythes Firstfruites and all other thinges Yee beare your selues in hande that yee increase your selues greatly by robbing of mee and that ye gaine much by defrauding mee of my right The people of Israel were so wirlesse that they stole the tythes or if they tythed they did it but by halues and likewise of their firstfruits in steede of making good fulsome sheaues and bundels vnto God they gelded them and made them verie thinne and lanke and yet these miserable wretches bare themselues in hande that they benefited themselues greatly by laying vp some little quantitie more than they ought to haue done Contrariwise our Lorde saieth vnto them Goe to sirs shoulde yee haue either tithes or firstfruites or any croppe at all but by my blessing And think ye that your filching away of any of y e things that belong to me shall boote you No no ye must needes be wasted and dye for hunger by reason of your vnthankfulnesse Therefore let vs learne to yeelde God the things which he reserueth to himselfe and then will hee blesse vs. As howe When we bee to be sustained the firstfruits that God requireth of vs are that we should waite vpon him and sue to his meere gracious goodnesse for all thinges requisite to the maintenance of this flightfull life And afterward when he hath giuen vs whereon to liue we must vse the same soberly that our life being ruled after that fashion may be as another sacrifice to him and consequently that we giue our neighbours part with vs. Let such as haue wherewith imparte to the poore that want and let euerie man beware that he filch away none other mens goods and let vs bee contented with our competent foode and raiment as God listeth to bestowe vpoÌ„ vs and in so doing we shal be blessed at his hand But what Our distrustfulnesse our excesse and our vnsatiable lusts cause God to withdrawe his blessing from vs and that we are as it were dried vp Also it is seene that in steade of going forwarde we goe backeward and what doe wee thereupon Such as haue plentie can no skil to vse it according to Gods ordinance and to bee thankfull to him for the abundance which hee sendeth them but they woulde still haue more more O say they this is not ynough for me though it be ynough for me yet it is not inough for my children And so wee fall to gathering of more more But to consider how we come by it and whether it bee lawfull before God or no we neuer hearken after it we goe to it by hooke and by crooke and wee neuer thinke that wee shall come to a reckening for it before God To this point I say are we come nowadayes And therefore it is no wonder though wee feele no blessing of God but that wee bee faine to be set besides it Againe we may see hereby how colde and faint our prayers are for our asking of our daily breade at Gods hand is but from the teeth outwarde and therefore it is good reason that wee shoulde receiue as skant and slender frute as appeareth that we do Wherfore let vs mark that if wee intende to feele Gods blessing and that hee should continue the same towardes vs wee must offer vp our selues in sacrifice and all that euer hee giueth vs so as all may be wholly dedicated vnto him And when wee see the vse that he alloweth of let euery of vs behaue himselfe thereafter that God may be glorified by vs as his intent is to be Nowe let vs kneele downe in the presence of our good God with acknowledgement of our faultes praying him to graunt vs the grace to come to him with humilitie sorie for prouoking him so many wayes as wee doe without ceasing and to vouchsafe so to burie our offences as wee preace into the presence of his maiestie by meanes of our Lorde Iesus Christ to bee guided by his holy spirit and to be confirmed more and more in this that hee holdeth and auoweth vs for his children That it may please him to graunt this grace not onely to vs but also to all people and Nations of the earth c. On Fryday the xxv of October 1555. The XCiij Sermon which is the first vpon the fifteenth Chapter AT the terme of seuen yeares thou shalt make a yeare of Freedome 2 And the maner of the freedome shal be after this sort Euerie creditor shall release the debt of his hande which he hath lent vnto his neighbour and he shall not constreine his neighbour nor his brother for it is called the yeare of the Lords release 3 Thou maist compell a straunger but as for thy brother forgiue him 4 In any wise let there bee no poore bodie among you for the Lorde will blesse thee in the Lande which the Lorde thy God giueth thee for an heritage to possesse 5 Yea if thou obey the voice of the Lord thy God in keeping and performing all his commaundements which I commaunde thee this day 6 For the Lord thy God will blesse thee as he hath promised so as thou shalt lende vnto manie folke and not borrow of any Thou shalt reigne ouer many Nations and they shall not reigne ouer thee WE haue here a Lawe for the releasing of such as were indetted Now wee knowe that GOD gouerned y e Iewes according to their owne rudenes insomuch that he graunted them a tolleration in many thinges because they were a people
vs nowadays yet notwithstanding we may gather a very profitable lesson of that which is therin contained y t is to wit that he which hath any superioritie ouer others ought to forbeare all tyranny to be kyndharted towardes those whom God hath put in subiection to him so as he reigne not ouer them with crueltie ne inforce them to all that euer he may but deale gently with them as with his brethren And although wee bee not nowadays all of one linage as the Iewes were yet must it suffice vs that wee haue all one father one master in heauen Eph. 6.9 Col. 3.10 as is declared vnto vs. For by meanes of our Lord Iesus Christ wee be so vnited togither that there is such a brotherhood betwixt vs as cannot be broken without forsaking the adoption which God hath made of vs. And therfore as many as intend to be taken for Gods children must louingly beare with all those whō they may commaund Againe we must come to account so as if wee will obtaine mercie at the hand of God be borne withall by his gracious fauour wee must looke to doe the like to such as are in subiection to vs. But nowe Moses addeth an exception to the law wherby he had commanded to set seruants at libertie after sixe yeres seruice and he sayeth that if any seruant be so well contented with his state that when his master is readie to sende him away to giue him reward he will say vnto his master Nay sir I had leuer to tary still in thy house because I finde myselfe well at ease then shall his master take an Aule boare through his seruants eare in token that hee is his for euer Yet was not this done without consideration of the case as is written in the xxi of Exodus For there it is sayde expressely that the master shall call to the Iudges Exod. 21.6 that the matter may bee inquired of by them For otherwise euery master might haue made the worlde beeleeue that his seruaunt was desirous to bee his for euer Therefore it behoued the thing to bee prooued and then was his eare boared through at the doore to the ende that the matter might bee done openly to the sight of all men For in such cases there might haue beene much collusion yea and also compulsion and a man might haue beene so vrged by constraint of much beating that hee woulde haue consented to haue beene in perpetuall bondage But when the thing was done in open sight so as the Iudges were called to the matter then was there no deceite neither coulde they bee beguyled which did so yeelde themselues into bondage And as touching the marking of them it was a common thing in the East countryes And it is seene in other Coūtries also that such as were marked were of worse state and condition than other bondeseruauntes were but in this place there is no meaning of any harder bondage than the rest And because God had graunted that priuiledge among his people he addeth that if any man woulde needes be a bondeslaue of his own wil then he should beare some marke therof But yet was this marke made without any wounding as if the tip of a mans eare should bee boared with a pinne or with an awle that were sharpe it coulde put him to no payne and it was no more but to make the matter knowen And whereas God sayth that he should be so for euer Leui. 25.39 we must vnderstand that the yeere of Iubile was excepted as we may see in other places And in very deede the compasse of fiftie yeeres was called a worlde and the worde that Moses vseth is taken sometimes for the age of a man His meaning then is that he which consenteth to be a bondeslaue shall abide in that state for euer that is to say euen vntill the state of the countrie be renewed as well concerning mens Landes as their persons at which time euery man entered againe into his owne heritage that God might alwayes be knowen to be both souereigne Lord and as it were the onely Lorde of the soile that the inhabiters were not owners and freeholders Leui. 25.23 but onely as tennauntes at will or farmers for those are the verie termes that our Lorde vseth Therefore his will was that the parting of the Lande which was made by his commaundement shoulde bee kept the meane whereof was that euery man shoulde returne to his owne inheritaunce possession at the fiftith yeere at which time the whole state of the Realme was chaunged in all other thinges Thus see we now what was the effect of this Lawe And heere wee haue an example that masters ought to behaue themselues gently for or if hee serue mee amisse I can send him away and that were more for my profite And therefore it seemeth preiudiciall to my right to giue rewarde nowe to a slaue A man might alleage after that fashion as men are alwayes suttle in seeking of starting holes If the case concerne eyther their profite or their losse they can bee brought to no vprightnesse or reason For this cause our Lorde saith here Howe nowe Thinke yee not that a slaue doeth yea double the seruice of an hyred seruaunt Yes for if a man hyre a seruaunt for wages if hee finde him not meate and drinke hee must giue him so much the more money that hee may finde himselfe after his owne liking And againe if a man find him hee will looke for a large pittance and yet he will grudge at it and say this is no fare meete for a man that takes wages The man then that is hyred for wages must bee maintained after a more courteous and liberal fashion than a slaue Moreouer when the hyred man hath done his dayes worke hee is dispatched and he goes his way to bed till the next morning that hee come againe to his worke But the slaue is in a harder case For the similitude which our Lord Iesus maketh in Saint Luke Luk. 17.7.9 is taken of the cōmon fashion that reigned in those dayes True it is that hee treateth of a farre greater matter to shewe howe wee bee bounde vnto God But yet doeth hee alleage this similitude saying Behold if one of you haue a bondseruaunt whome you sende to labour in your vyneyarde or in your feelde when this seruaunt commeth home at night starke wearie of his labouring to doe you seruice I aske you whether his master will saye to him Come sit thou downe thy turne take here my place and I will serue thee Nay his master will say further to him Sirrha go fetch mee such a thing and goe doe such a thing And the seruaunt dares not bee so bolde as to replye why so I haue laboured in the feelde all day and must I nowe take paynes stil when I am come home at night Yee see then to what purpose it is sayde nowe that the rewarde of
e certainer And for the same cause he poynted out the moneth y t answereth to March or April Howbeit not to eyther of them but bicause wee cannot make a certaine report of y e monethes of the Iewes to cōpare them w t ours The reason wherof is for y t they had their moneths intermingled one with another bicause they tooke them according to y e Moone so as they were interlaced together This moneth therefore was sometime sooner and sometime later was named in hebrew Abib which signifieth an eare of corne when it beginneth to shoote foorth at the first Not when the eares of Corne are full ripe but when the corne beginneth newly to spindle In deede the time of it selfe importeth nothing but yet did it serue greatly to the instructing of the people bicause the setting of it down made them to behold the matter the more presently Gods putting of thē in remembrance of it was such as they could not but know y e meane wherby their fathers were brought out of the land of Egypt And the very night it selfe was marked to y e end they shold cōsider how god had deliuered them from the thraldom of Pharao On the other side had the moneth been marked at the pleasure of men they wold haue thought it might wel haue beene chaunged for the commoditie of the people But God commaunded it to be kept to the end they should know he would haue no part of his ordinance chaunged nor any man attempt to alter it in any wise And nowe we haue to marke in effect that by the ordeining of y e Passeouer day God ment to set downe a memorial of his doinges among his people that they might acknowledge his grace in deliuering them out of the Land of Egypt after that fashion and that their children myght know that that was the meanes whereby they were come into the inheritance that had beene promised them Neuerthelesse it was not Gods intent to be honoured and serued with a trifling Ceremonie but his mind was that there should be teaching that men might be edified by it and that the Iewes might know that Gods calling of them to him was to bee serued by them as their redeemer and father And therefore he would not haue the Pascall Lamb eaten by vnholy and vnbeleeuing folke but that it should bee giuen alonly to such as were circumcised and were already of the body of the Church And seeing it is so Let vs remember that in all signes which God giueth vs we must haue instructiō annexed to lead vs vnto him And for as much as we haue the true passeouer in our Lord Iesus Christ as shall bee declared to morrow wee must nowadayes step further And although we haue not the old Ceremonie yet let vs hold fast the truth therof which is brought vs by the sonne of God as it is declared vnto vs in these dayes by his Gospell Now let vs fall downe before the maiestie of our good God with acknowledgmēt of our sins praying him to make vs to perceiue in what state we were when he vouchsafed to call vs to him so as he hath plucked vs out of the gulfe of death in such sort as we haue now cause to glorifie him and to giue our selues ouer to his seruice all the time of our life And for as much as he not only sheweth himselfe to be our father and sauiour in this transitory life but also calleth vs to the euerlasting inheritance of heauen according as hee had chosen vs thereto before the creation of the world let vs tend alwayes thitherward and bee the more prouoked to labour to that end seeing we haue the helpes and Remedies which he giueth vs and that the badge is kept among vs as he hath commaunded vs by his word That it may please him to graunt this grace not only to vs but also to all people nations of y e earth c. On Wednesday the vj. of Nouember 1555. The XCviij Sermon which is the second vpon the sixteenth Chapter 2.3.4 And thou shalt sacrifice c. 5 Thou maist not sacrifice the Passeouer within any of y e gates which the Lord thy God giueth thee 6 But in the place which the Lord thy God wil choose to set his name in there shalt thou offer the Passeouer at euen about the going downe of the Sunne iust at the time that thou wentest out of Egypt 7 And thou shalt roast it and eate it in the place which the Lord thy God shall haue chosen for himselfe And the next morning thou shalt returne from thence and goe home to thy Tentes 8 Six dayes shalt thou eate vnleauened breade and on the seuenth day which is the solemne feast of the Lord thy God thou shalt doe no manner of worke IT was declared yesterday how y t by keeping y e feast of the passeouer the Iewes were put in minde of the deliueraunce of their forefathers made by God And I toulde you howe it was to double ende For GODS will was to put his people in rememberaunce of the fauour which he had shewed to them alreadie and againe he ment to leade them to the hope of our Lorde Iesus Christ. It was then but a temporall deliuerance which God had made of them out of the land of Egypt but when he sent his onely sonne thē deliuered he his people out of a farre worse bondage than that which we haue spoken of And therfore let vs mark y t the Pascall Lamb was a figure of our Lorde Iesus Christ which thing S. Paule witnesseth in expresse words saying Christ our Passeouer is offered vp 1. Cor. 〈…〉 Also we knowe the sentence that is alleaged out of the twelfth of Exodus by S. Iohn where it is said Iohn 〈…〉 Exod. ◠4◠Ye shal not breake a bone of him For there he declareth how they came to our Lord Iesus Christ to haue broken his bones after the accustomed manner and found him alreadie dead And that came to passe by the wonderfull prouidence of God whose will it was that the thing which had beene figured in the Pascall Lambe should bee layde open to mens eyes in Iesus Christ. And so Saint Iohn applyeth this sentence to the person of our Lorde Iesus Christ in saying it is written Yee shall not breake a bone of him Yet but God speaketh but onely of the Pascall Lambe which was offered in those dayes Yet notwithstanding his intent was to shew y t there was an agreement betweene Christ the Passeouer and that in that visible sacrament he ment to foreshewe the redemption that was not yet seene and that all this was fully accomplished in our Lord Iesus Christ. True it is that the Iewes haue not profited by this admonition for they were the more inhardened by it But let vs on our side learne to referre the thinges that were done by our Lord Iesus Christ to the things that were for figured in the lawe
that euery of vs did discharge himselfe of his duetie But forasmuch as men are so peruerse and wicked that the rich seeke nothing but to deceiue the poore to deuour their sustenance the labor of their hands it was needefull that he should prouide some remedie against them And this is the way for vs to fare the better by that which appertaineth to the ordering of our life Oftentimes when we reade of any admonition in the holy scripture we are of opinion that it is superfluous For why Wee haue no consideration of the cause which moued God to cōmand this or that to wit that forasmuch as he seeth y e vices which are lurking in vs he meaneth to correct them Wee must therefore examine ourselues and that will teach vs that God exhorteth vs not in vaine to do that which is our duetie For albeit we know well ynough what men say vnto vs and euery of vs can confesse that the things which are sayd are true yet is it not ynough for vs to haue the reasonablenes and rightfulnesse of y e thing proued vnto vs vnlesse wee be also inforced to followe that which we knowe to be iust and acceptable vnto God Nowe whereas it is sayde that a man shall not withholde the hyre of a poore man it is all one as if God in generall did shewe that men ought to deale vprightly by all kinde of curtisie with those which are poore and employ themselues to doe vs seruice And hee speaketh expresly of the poore because there is no pitie in this case towardes the rich man for if we owe him anie thing he may tarrie for it he is not so hastie to haue his monney payde him from day to day a man shal not be so soudainly pressed to giue him his payment In deede we ought not to tarry til we be plucked by the eares to pay that which we owe. That is alwaies to be condemned and we excuse ourselues vainely if we say this man is aforehande he hath no great neede I may therefore withholde that which is his But I speake of the precise houre of payment when a man is contented that I shall deferre the payment of my dette from this day vntil to morow If I offer to pay him he will aunswere me I shal haue it time ynough And why He knoweth that I am readie to paye him any day and as for himselfe hee hath no such hast but hee can well staye But a poore man hauing trauailed the whole day hath nothing to eate but what he getteth by his labor what crueltie then were it if I when I haue had a mans sweat and labour will for all that withholde from him his dayes hyre And therefore this reason is expresly added for he sustaineth his soule therwith or he easeth his soule thereby For y e word which Moses vseth may be so expounded that is that a poore man hath an eye alwayes vnto his labour Like as the rich man which is well furnished with al plentie and hath his garners and his sellars full resteth himselfe thereon so a poore man which hath neither reuenewes nor inheritaunce turneth his soule that is to say his heart vnto that which he maketh reckening to get and sayth wel I haue traiuailed I shall haue at leastwise asmuch as wil finde mee to day to morrowe I will returne againe to my labour and I will get more towards my meate and drinke The poore folke haue their minds set vpon that not that we must haue such an eye to our owne trauaile and labour as if it were that alone whereby wee are sustained and not rather the blessing of God for we haue seene what God hath sayde to the contrarie in the eight chapter of this booke Deut. 8.17 namely that we must take heede that wee darken not the grace and fauour of God by persuading ourselues that we haue done this or that Men therefore must attribute nothing vnto themselues Howebeit Moses in this place hath meant no other thing but that the meanes whereby poore folke are sustained in their trauaile all their goods rents and landes is the labour of their handes Seeing it is so that they haue no farther abundance and that God hath as it were locked them vp in such necessitie is it reason that a man shoulde depriue them of the fruite of their labour If one spoyle a mans corne fielde if hee mowe downe the grasse of his medowe or if hee make an hauocke of all the whole worlde will cry out vpon him for a murderer And yet it is a more hainous crime to haue deceiued a poore man of the labour of his handes For he hath as I tolde you no other landes nor inheritaunce and besides that he spareth neither his labor nor his bloud to get his liuing This reason therefore ought to wey well with vs in this case of rendring hire vnto them which haue serued vs. And let vs note by the way that God meant here to commaund generally all maner of kindnesse towardes poore folke For if I constraine a poore man to labour for me and I will pay him but by halfes doubtles I defraude him of his labour If I couenaunt with one to serue me well sayth he you shall pay me thus much for my dayes worke but in the ende I cutte his hyre so short that the poore man after he hath done all hee was able shall not haue wherewith to feede himselfe For why I wil see This man here must needes labour he hath not else whereon to liue and hee must needes passe through my handes therefore I will haue him for what I list After that maner do the rich behaue themselues often times in this behalfe they espie some occasions or other to the intent they may cut off the one halfe of the poore mans wages when he knoweth not what to set himselfe about The poore folke offer themselues to labour they desire but to get their liuing if they could tell where Hereupon ye shall haue a rich man say this fellowe is out of money and out of worke I may hire him now for a morsell of bread For he must yeelde vnto mee spyte of his teeth I will giue him but halfe wages and he shal be glad and fain of that therefore when we vse such rigour although we haue not withheld their hyre yet is it a point of crueltie and we haue defrauded the poore and this cloke of paying the money the same day wil stande vs in no steede before God For it is to be knowen whether the poore man be cōtented or no. When a rich man hath wares to sell and one comes vnto him for them he will say you shall not haue them for any lesse And why His wares diminish not in his shoppe But if there be a poore man which liueth frō hand to mouth and hath neither pennie nor halfe pennie in his purse he shal be forced to sel his ware for nought
If one buy them at that price and knoweth the necessitie which the poore man is driuen vnto he is a manifest oppressour and we can skill to say in common prouerbe It is a holding of our foote vpon a poore mans throate it is a kinde of robberie We haue skill I say to speake thus by them which buy such penie worthes of thē that are in neede and are so farre pinched that they can be at no other choyce but to doe what they will haue them Let vs note well then that God in this place not onely commaundeth vs to pay them without driuing off from day to day which haue laboured or taken paines for vs but also would haue vs to haue a dewe regarde of euerie mans neede and that when we set a poore man a worke about our businesse wee should pay him his dayes hyre yea and that euery man shoulde set a price of his owne wares so as if we come to driue a bargaine the seller should not be faine to say to vs make what price you yourselfe list And againe that when a poore man hath trauailed for vs wee should not deale so vnconscionably as to make no further account of him than to haue the fruit of his labour but rather enter into iust tryal with ourselues whether if we were in his case which pineth away hath no other meanes to sustain himselfe but this we ourselues would be contented to be so handled We would haue men to vse gentlenesse towardes vs and relieue and succour vs let vs therefore do the like or else we shal be accused before God For it is sayde That it shal be sinne vnto vs when a poore man shall so crie out against vs. And yet for all this wee heare euerie day the cries and clamours which the poore cease not in lamentable wise to make and thinke we that God is deafe all this while that he heareth not their complaintes I grant that the poore in deede are somtimes vnthankfull and spitefull so as there is no dealing with them and they would as it were rake vnto themselues other mens goods and when they are requested to lend their hande to some worke they would haue a double and treble recompence they will haue great wages Ye shall see some so stoute and presumptuous that they will not bestowe paines in any thing except they be greatly intreated and yet they are so lasie that they will scarcely put foorth one hande to doe their worke aright and for all this there is such a doe to please them that they will haue their full paiment yea and double the price of their dayes worke This is to be seene But yet for all that there are many as I tolde you which are pinched And therefore their cries must needes ascende vp into heauen and let vs not imagine that we shal be founde guiltlesse before God For whereas it is sayd that it shal be sin vnto vs it is to shew y t albeit men sue vs not ne cōmence any action against vs for it in this world yet notwithstanding we shall not faile to be culpable before God yea although the poore should not crye at all as it hath beene declared heeretofore The thing then in effect which wee haue to beare in minde is that we ought to haue an eye vnto euery mans neede and not to oppresse him which is in necessitie thinking that we haue an occasion of making our own profit by an other mans losse when we see that he can not be without vs. Let vs beware that we be not so cruell For although he make no complaint against vs in this world yet before God we are culpable and that ought to quicken vs vp so much the more in our duty considering that God reproueth vs of cruelty in such wise Nowe Moses addeth a seconde lawe That the fathers should not be put to death for the children nor the children for the fathers but that euery man should beare the punishment of his owne sinne This Lawe was ordained because of a wicked beastly custome which then raigned among the men of the East countrey who made it a matter of no conscience to put the children to death for the fathers offences and so to shed the bloud of the innocent God therefore meant to withhold his people from following such barbarous dealing of the Paynims and Infidels And it is a point which we must diligently note For wee might muse why it is sayde that the father shall not be killed for the childe nor the child for the father It seemeth that it is needelesse to forbid this thing because we knowe that where sinne is founde there the punishment ought to be layde without seeking any farther Nowe therefore forasmuch as we are giuen to vnderstande that men haue bin so blockish as to put him to death who was in no fault so as the father hath sometimes beene drawen to death with the child we perceiue thereby that God hath not without cause established this lawe It is true in deede that this is spoken vnto Iudges and vnto such as beare the sword in their hand that the children should not be put to death for the sinne of the fathers nor the fathers for the sinne of the children but yet notwithstanding God in generall warneth vs also that wee ought not to hate the children for their fathers sakes Whensoeuer we see a wicked man forasmuch as he is a reasonable creature we ought to pitie him and not to hate him although we must alwaies detest the vice and punishe the person for his misdeedes But if we hate the father for the sonnes sake or the sonne because of the father albeit wee haue not the sworde in our hande yet neuerthelesse this wicked affection which we haue is al one as if we did put the father to death for the childe And so let vs note well that this lawe appertayneth vnto vs all And although we be not armed with power and authoritie to punish whome we list Yet notwithstanding God putteth vs in mind not without iust cause that he which hath offended must beare his owne punishment and not any other guiltlesse person besides Heere a man might demand a question what is the cause then why God threatneth that hee wil punish the wickednesse of fathers vpon their children Ier. 32.18 and cast it as it were into their bosome This is sayd because that GOD is at libertie to curse not one man alone but his whole race and posteritie also For what are we if it please not him to beholde vs with pitie If he once turne his mercie from vs we can not but goe into vtter destruction And therefore let vs learne that when God leaueth vs such as we are it is a kind of punishment which he layeth vpon vs. Ye see then howe he punisheth the wickednesse of the fathers vpon the children and yet doth wrong vnto none Let vs mind that And in very deede
fantasies of vaine presumption come with lowlines to seek y e grace of my spirit and then ye shal be sure y t. I wil alwaies vphold you by my goodnes from day to day confirme you in my feare and make you to walke in my waies so as I wil not lay to your charge y e faults of your works they shal not hinder my blessing toward you not y t you should not confesse your transgressions alwaies acknowledge before me y t you are faultie but that your sins shal not bee laide to your charge although there be occasion why that they should bee called to reckoning and to be reptoued by me Loe there the second voice of God to the which we must hearken if wee desire to become partakers of the blessings y t be here conteined But by the way we haue to note for a conclusion y t although the faithful be exempted from the curse of God and that he wil not deale rigorously with them but rather vphold them and make them to inioy the blessings which he hath promised in his law as though they had fully accomplished y e same yet ceasse they not to suffer many stripes of his rods our Lorde chastiseth them continually exercising some after one maner and some after an other so y t al are smitten And al the chastisements which God sendeth vs bee curses euerychone of thē I meane as to outward apparance If we be sick if we be hungrie or thirstie if we be tormented in this present world if we be troubled and persecuted al these are y e curses of God Our enemies scoffe at vs we bee in reproche in pouertie in vexation in many anguishes one is troubled in his house by his wife an other by his children and an other by his neighbor finally the faithful be many waies depriued of y e blessings of God It is sure so Howbeit this letteth not but y t we be euermore blessed of him by reason y t we haue a continual tast of his goodnes to allure vs vnto him Let vs therefore note well y t when he cutteth off his blessings and giueth thē not as we do wish the same is for our profite because he seeth we haue need of some quickening vp to make vs to come vnto him And forasmuch as euery of vs do fal asleepe in our sinnes God is faine to waken vs and to make vs feele that so soone as we withdraw vs from his seruice he wil in likewise absent himselfe from vs and that his grace shal be taken away from vs and wee stand dispossessed of the same◠howbeit neuer so vtterly but y t the blessing of God shal alwais surmoūt so as we may ioy therein acknowledging him to be merciful wayting vpon his fatherly goodnes more amply to be shewed when he shal take vs hence againe to himselfe Thus ye see howe we may possesse and enioy the blessings of God which are set forth for vs in his lawe insomuch that although our Lord doth enterlace the same with many afflictions and many corrections as though he had cursed vs his so doing is but to prouoke vs day by day to repentance to keep vs from falling asleepe in this present worlde as we wel know y t our delightes make vs drunken vnmindful of God except hee constraine vs by pricking and spurring vs foreward Thus yee see how the thinges which at the first sight seemed contraries agree very wel And in y t respect doth Moses say y t these blessings shal light vpon vs encompasse vs round about as if hee had saide y t we shal alwaies be sure of Gods fauour yea euen so sure of it that it shal neuer faile vs if wee serue him For the word Encompasse or to light vpon vs doth import that y e grace of God is not fleeting as though it fel at al aduenture as though we could not catch it soone ynough No saith hee You shal be encompassed therewith And therefore let vs assure ourselues of the goodnes of our God and y t it shal neuer faile vs so that we for our part do come vnto him But let vs note well that wee can neuer come there vnlesse he drawe vs vnto him And that forsomuch as we bee subiect to so many infirmities and vices he by his bearing with vs sheweth vs y t we must haue our recourse to his free goodnesse for the forgiuenesse of our sinnes by the reconciliation that hee hath made in our Lorde Iesus Christ and that we in streyning ourselues to doe well shall perceiue that the goodnesse of God ceasseth not to bee free vnto vs without owing vs any thing at all Nowe let vs fall downe before the Maiestie of our good God with acknowledgement of our sinnes praying him to make vs feele them better than wee haue doone that beeing beaten downe yea and as it were drowned in despaire wee may bee drawen to the faith in our Lord Iesus Christ and knowing that wee bee altogether emptie and naked of al goodnesse let vs beseech him to renue vs by his holy spirit euen till wee be fully chaunged and that wee may bee more and more encreased in his graces so that wee may haue testimonie that GOD regardeth vs and is neere vnto vs yea and dwelleth in vs that we may bee so confirmed in his adoption that wee may alwaies waite for the heauenly inheritaunce and not be weary in this worlde to walke in his obedience That it may please him to bestowe this grace not only vpon vs but also vpon al people and nations of the earth c. On Wednesday the xj of March 1556. The CLIIII Sermon which is the second vpon the eight and twentith Chapter 2 And they shall come vpon thee c. 3 Thou shalt be blessed in the Towne and blessed in the fielde 4 The fruite of thy wombe shal be blessed and the fruite of thy grounde and the fruite of thy Cattell and the encrease of thy kine and of the flockes of thy Sheepe 5 Thy basket shall bee blessed and thy store 6 Thou shalt bee blessed at thy comming in and blessed at thy going foorth 7 The Lorde will make thine enemies to fall before thee which doe rise vp against thee if they come forth against thee one way they shall flee before thee seuen wayes 8 The Lorde will commaund his blessing to bee with thee in thy Cellers and in all that thou puttest thy hande vnto and he will blesse thee in the Land which the Lorde thy God giueth thee IT is to bee meruelled that men cannot bee persuaded that they shall prosper by well dooing But it proceedeth of vnbeleefe because they doe not acknowledge their life to be in the power and direction of GOD and that it is his peculiar office to gouerne vs. For if wee were well assured that all creatures bee in the hand of God and also that hee hath care of vs it is
too bolde to do thinges and to attempt more than is lawfull for them but they do euer go about it carelesly and without discretion And as a madde bedlem notwithstanding y t he bee brought lowe with his long sicknes feele not his own weakenesse yet is he much stronger and rageth in such wise as he cannot be ruled and worketh more trouble than if he were in perfect health euen so is it with men when they haue no promise of God but be chafed in their owne rashnesse and presumption They dare doe wonders but in respect to doe well we neuer take courage therin vnlesse we be assured of the will of God and to be short we can neuer build but vpon his promises We must therefore remember that Moses before he exhorteth the people to bee valiant to behaue themselues stoutly sayde vnto them Thy God wil be with thee feare them not And why so For thou art sure that thou canst not quaile because thy God gouerneth thee Howbeit forasmuch as wee doe not at the first take sure holde of the promises of God neither are they so certainely settled in our heartes as is to be wished Moses doth also adde a confirmation and sayth Nay the Lord thy God will not leaue thee neither shalt thou euer be forsaken of him It was ynough that he hadde sayde afore Thy God will goe before thee hee will giue thee victorie against all thine enemies thou hast alreadie had experience of his helpe It shal be alwayes the same this may seeme to haue beene ynough But yet that which Moses addeth vnto it is not superfluous because of the vnbeleefe of men who notwithstanding that God doe assure them doe yet still doubt and be wauering vnlesse they haue a newe confirmation Whereby we perceiue that it is no light matter to giue credit to the promises of God and to holde vs to them as many do suppose but that is because they neuer tryed it They that thinke themselues to bee most faithfull haue neuer tasted what faith is according as we see a great manie fooles which speake of warre and thinke to deuour all at one bitte whereas in deede they neither knowe nor haue seene any thing Euen so is it with theÌ„ that haue a speculatiue faith they make themselues y e ablest folk in the world they boast themselues to be as faithfull as any can be founde but they that knowe what faith is doe vnderstande that there is nothing more harde than for vs to stay ourselues vppon God and in that behalfe wee must bee faine to imprison our senses and to take the bit in our mouth as they say and to enforce our selues yea and that God also on his side doe worke in that behalfe as we doe see that he doeth For it is no superfluous talke when hee setteth his promises before vs and putteth vs so often in minde of them For it is a token that they beare no great sway with vs or rather that they enter not into our hearts to settle there as were meete they shoulde Thus yee see what Moses meant in saying That the Lorde will neuer forsake his people Moreouer vnder this worde he sheweth vnto vs that Gods offering of his grace vnto vs is not for a day but that hee will continue it vnto the end conditionally that we also do receiue it with the like condition In deede it is true that in this place he treateth but of the Land of Canaan but we knowe that it was a pleadge of the eternall life and of the inheritaunce that is prepared for vs in heauen Now he sayth expresly Thy God wil neuer leaue thee neither will he euer forsake thee Wee see therefore that our Lorde meaneth not to encourage vs for a day but he meaneth that we should depende vppon him to liue and to die and that we should be fully resolued that when he hath begonne he will performe his worke towarde vs and that he wil not leaue vs at the halfe way as they say And this is to bee well noted because that although men imbrace Gods promises yet are they sometimes or other in dout and wot not where to become and specially when any temptation commeth vpon them then be they so scarred that to their seeming God is loth to doe them good or elâ—e that he will not continue to doe them good Seeing then that we be thus tossed with doubtes and troubles we haue so much the more neede to remember the lesson that is here deliuered vnto vs namely y t God doth offer vs his grace with such condition as it shall neuer faile vs. But we see how this doctrine hath bin peruerted specially in the popedome They be not ashamed to say that we must stande alwayes in doubt of continuaunce to the end and that we wote not what God intendeth to doe heereafter insomuch that it is a principall article of their faith which they holde in the Popedome Neither meane I that it is the ignoraunt sort of the simple people only which do say so but that it is the resolution of all the Monks and Freers who affirm it to be the principal article of their faith that men must stande alwaies in doubt whether God wil saue them or not Seing then y t the deuil hath borne such a sway somuch the more ought we to be confirmed in this doctrine where it is sayde The Lord thy God will not leaue thee neither shalt thou euer be forsaken of him Now when Moses had thus spoken to the people then hee called also Iosuah and confirmed him And moreouer in the person of Iosuah we may perceiue the thing yet better which I haue sayd afore namely y t it sufficeth vs not to be once certified of the grace of God but that because of our weakenes we haue neede to be vpholden maintained least wee fall away or swarue aside For behold here is Iosuah whom God had chosen to be gouernor of his people to set them in y e possession of their promised inheritaunce And yet notwithstanding for all that he had hearde his duetie and office at the mouth of Moses yet was God fain to giue him new reuelations after the death of Moses to vse the like words vnto him againe And how so Was he so short witted that ere three dayes to an end he had quite forgotteÌ„ what had bin said vnto him before God and the sanctuarie He was there present and a solemne ceremonie was vsed thereabout was it because that Iosuah had forgotten his duetie No But he was a fraile man and God knowing him to be so did confirme him and encourage him And if this needed to bee done to Iosuah what needeth to be done to vs Therefore let vs beware of the presumption that blindeth vs in that we thinke we neede not to sette our mindes continually vppon the worde of God as there be many doe which hauing hearde some one sermon do suppose that they
pleasure in any sweete sents though mention bee made of his nosethrilles after that manner for wee knowe hee hath no bodie and therefore wee must not imagine him to bee like our selues but the holy scripture speaketh after that fashion because we comprehend him not in his maiestie As for the perfumes then which were vnder the lawe they signifie nothing else but the sauour that is in our prayers and petitions when wee come to offer our selues into the presence of our God True it is that all of vs both great and small may blesse the name of our God and yeelde him thankes Rom. 8.15 True it is that wee may with full libertie and open mouth call vppon him as our father because that in Iesus Christ hee auoweth vs for his children But howsoeuer the case stande yet was that charge committed specially to the ministers of Gods worde as is saide thereof in the sixth Chapter of the Actes of the Apostles Act. 6.4 It is saide that wee must giue our selues to preaching and praying And howe Belongs it not to the whole bodie to doe so too Yes verilie But as I haue saide it is requisite that those to whom GOD hath committed the charge of his Church and ought to watche ouer it shoulde bee carefull to praye as who shoulde say yea Lorde This is a charge which I were neuer able to beare except I were vphelde by thy power wherefore I pray thee vouchsafe to direct mee and strengthen mee and therewithall vouchsafe also to maintaine those who thou hast alreadie gathered together vnder thy banner and to drawe those thither which are away from it Yea and shewing other men the way to pray wee ought to frame our wordes after such a sort as other men may take them as at our mouth When the Minister is in the pulpit hee is to vtterfoorth the common prayer and all the residue are to say Amen accordingly as Sainct Paul speaking thereof in the fourteenth Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 14.16 saieth that when prayer is made in the name of the whole congregation there ought no moe but one to speake and all the rest ought to aunswere Amen because that they which ought to teach in Gods name ought also to rule the rest and to prouoke them to prayer and supplication by their example And therefore let vs marke that whereas heere is mention made of perfumes and sacrifises let vs say I mark the thing y t was peculiar to the Priests namely how God would haue thē to guide the people to hope that there should be a redemption wrought by the blessed seede of Abraham and that the people were to be inured thereunto As for vs we haue not that office y t is to wit to be as in y e person of our Lord Iesus Christ to make sacrifices But we haue the Sacramentes we haue Baptisme which serueth to shewe howe we be made cleane before God and wee haue the Lordes supper wherein it is shewed vs that wee bee nourished with the substance of our Lorde Iesus Christ. Nowe then let vs vnderstande that as the Priestes were ordeined to represent in the Temple the Mediator which was to come so we at this day doe represent him after another manner Not by doing as y e Papists do who haue plaid y e Apes For in their Masse say they they make a sacrifice but it is an abhomination which serueth to abolish the death and passion of our Lord Iesus Christ. Nowe the vse of the Sacramentes is cleane repugnant thereunto For they serue vs to shewe in the name of our Lorde Iesus Christ that we haue bin once washed made cleane and that by meanes thereof men are reconciled by the sacrifice of his death which was offered vp for them Also when wee minister the Lords supper we rehearse what was said by our Lorde Iesus Christ Math. 26.26 1. Cor. 11.24 This is my body which is deliuered for you this my bloude which is shed for the saluation of the world Seeing then that we nowadayes do minister the Sacraments after that manner we take not vpon vs the thing that belongeth to our Lorde Iesus Christ or to his office but rather we sende the people to the euerlasting sacrifice whereby we be reconcyled vnto God so as we neede not any other meane or helpe than that Moreouer in steede of the materiall perfumes which were in the Temple at this day wee offer vp prayers vnto God as thinges that cast a sweete smell vnto him Furthermore whereas it is saide that God blessed the substance of Leuie accepted the worke of his handes and that hee breaketh the backebones of all thē that set thēselues against him therby Moses doth vs to vnderstande that wee haue neede to pray our Lord Iesus Christ to maintaine those whom hee hath chosen and shouled out to preach his worde For all Satans seeking is to plucke vp all the seede as wee see is come to passe For the diuell hath founde out suttle shifts to make many sorts of shepeherds Churchmen and Clergimen Wee knowe that the number of the Popish Clergie is infinite There are such a sort of offices and so many liueries of men of the Church as they terme them that a man cannot tell at what point to bee If a man should recken vp the orders of Friers hee shoulde bee at his wittes end there is such a rabble of them as woulde amase a man Yee shall see their gray Fryers white Friers blacke Friers and Friers of all sortes Againe there is such a howge heape of states and offices in the Popedome as Patriarks Archbishoppes Bishops Archdeacons Deanes and other inferiour offices as woulde make a man to wonder Besides this there are a sort of Sacramentes to deceiue men the better and to giue a pompe and maiestie to al their gewgawes which are but slights to serue Satan withall For they bee all illusions framed in his workehouse And of all this rout there is not so much as any one taile that doth his duetie in teaching Gods worde Wee see then howe Satans wylynesse is such that hee will bring in masking toyes ynowe and iuggling-trickes ynowe to holde still the worlde in errour and superstition vnder pretence that they may say wee haue prelates wee haue men of the Church wee haue Clergimen And in the meane while the thinges which our Lorde Iesus Christ ordained are abolished For this cause Moses saieth That God maintaineth Leuies substance and that hee breaketh and crusheth all such as set themselues against him They that intende to serue God faithfully and to preach his worde shall neuer want enemies to make warre against them according as it is tolde vnto Ieremie Ier. 1.10 Goe thy wayes I haue appointed thee to fight Insomuch that the man which serueth God in bearing his worde abroade faithfully shall neuer haue peace nor goe vnpinched and vnuexed nor bee without good store of
they will behaue themselues as they ought 655. b 20 Why the Kings of Israel were forbidden to gather great numbers of horses to returne againe into Aegypt 651. a 60 The Kings of Israel forbidden to hoord vp much golde and siluer 652. a 10 20. c. Howe the hearts of Kings are in the hand of God Read notable doctrine 477. b 10 Kings and princes haue a verie harde account to make 2. b 10. Look Gouernors Iudges Princes Kingdome Of the Kingdome of our Lorde Iesus Christ that it shall seeme to be abolished out of the worlde 1196. a b all and that it shal be stablished by miracle 1197. a 10.20 b all 1198. a 10 646. a 60. b 10.537 a all b 10. The Kingdome of Iuda had that title after a speciall and holie maner and how 644. b 50.60.645 a 10.20 What is meant by these wordes that wee must first seeke the Kingdome of God so foorth 122â— a 30 With what difficultie impedimentes the Kingdome was established in the tribe of Iuda and what wee haue to learne hereof 1197. all Why the Kingdome was not established in the tribe of Ruben 1194. all but in the tribe of Iuda 1195. all 1196. a 30.40.50 Kingdomes What is the cause that wee see not Kingdomes altered daily 63. b 50.60 Kingdome of heauen What encounters we haue to make before wee can come to the Kingdome of heauen 12. a 10.20.30 The lande of Chanaan was but a figure thereof 27. a 20. We cannot perceiue that it is ours if wee beleeue our senses 28. b 20. It belonged not to vs c. 170. b 10. Wee haue greater cause to lift vp our harts to it than Abraham had 10. a 40. Moses an heire of it though hee were bereft of the outwarde signe thereof 50. b 60 The inconuenience that followeth vs if we haue not an eye vnto the Kingdome of heauen 36. b 10 Kinred How the Iewes were vexed of the Ammonites and Moabites their owne Kinred and what is thereof to be gathered for our learning 798. b all 799. all page 69. b 10.68 a 10.20.67 a 10 Howe euen in Gods matters wee preferre Kinred â— before God and his church 801.2 all What degrees of Kinred may not couple in marriage 794. b 40.50.60.795 a 10. c. Out of what fountaine all Kinred doeth issue 540. a 50.60 In what respectes the wicked can finde themselues to bee in Kinred 62. b 40.50 What wee haue to learne in that God alledgeth Kinred 62. b 10 The common Kinred of all men in generall what it is 62. a 30. c. The stocke and Kinred of our Lord Iesus Christ. 68. b 30 The chiefe stocke or Kinred of the Israelites was the tribe of Iuda 68. b 20. Looke Aliance Kinsfolkes Against excessiue moorning for our friends and Kinsfolkes 553. a and b all Kisse The meaning of these wordes Kisse the sonne c. 1137. b 10.20 Knowe The more we Knowe a wicked thing the more wee must eschewe it 1031 a all Why the Iewes are vnexcusable if they Knowe not God 165. b 50.60 and 166. a 10 Our negligence is partly the cause that wee Knowe not God 160. b 30.40.50 Wee must learne to Know nothing but that which wee receiue from aboue 112. a 40 To Knowe which is our true God is a continuall exercise for vs all our life long 171. b 30 Why the fathers did not Knowe God so familiarly as wee do 182. b 50 Howe wee may Knowe that the things which wee doe are acceptable vnto God 514. b 50 The meaning of these wordes Knowe thou that thy God is God 318. b 20 30.40 It is Gods pleasure wee should Knowe him and how 272. a 20 The meaning of these wordes Knowe thou in thy heart c. 356 a 40.50.60 b 10.20.30 Wee must Knowe God before wee can worship him Looke well vpon that doctrine 269. a 40.50 Wee may Knowe God generally euen by the order of nature Read lowe 357. a 10.20 Whether God doe not Knowe what wee be without triall 34â— b 30.40.50.60 Knowing In Knowing God we must consider his maiestie and how 137. a 10 The welspring of all euill is the not Knowing what god we should serue read that place 471. b 40 Of our Knowing of God and what the same must bring with it 446. a 50.60 Knowledge From whence the Knowledge to serue God aright dooth spring 269. a 60 b 10 Of the true Knowledge of God Read the place it is noteworthie 160. b 30.40.50.60 161. a 10. b 30 The ende why God hath called vs to his Knowledge 150. a 30.40 b 10 The Knowledge of our God is the final end of all our perfection 147. b 60 The Knowledge of God is not a dead vneffectuall thing 171. b 40.50 To what ende our Knowledge of God must serue 298. b 30 The profite and commoditie redounding vnto vs by the Knowledge of God 136. b 10 What Knowledge of God wee ought to conceiue 284. b 50.60 That men must punish euill â—eedes so soone as they come to Knowledge and howe the same is meant 633. a 20.30 How the worlde shifteth it selfe from taking any such Knowledge in the scripture as they ought to haue 1079. b 40.50.60 The fathers Knowledge of God ours compared 269. b 30.40.50.60 376. a 30.40 Of a necessarie kinde of Knowledge required in vs and of the vaine knowledge of man 1115. a 60. b all 486 a 20.30 What the true Knowledge of a mans owne selfe is 376. a 30.40 Of a slight Knowledge of God and a setled knowledge of him and the right vse of the same 184. b 10. 1020. a 10.20 Looke Vnderstanding L. Labour Of what thing men must be resolued though by Labour they get their liuing 280. a 40 Man was ordained to Labour euen before he had sinned 409. a 10.20 206. b 30. a 60 That men must Labour for their liuing and to whom the good successe of their labour is to be referred 570 b 30.40.50.60 What euerie man ought to think with himselfe since hee is created to Labour 878. a 30 b all Of the Labour of the poore and that it is to them as lands and liuing to the rich 860. a 10.20.30 A forme of calling vpon God when we applie our selues to any kind of Labour 959. a 20.30.40 958. b 60 A great difference betweene handie Labour and that which the faithfull do in endeuouring to doe well 959 b. 30 How Gods blessing and mens Labour go together 959. a 40.50 What care wee ought to haue ouer them that Labour and take paines for vs be they beastes or men 770 a. all The Labour that men take nowe is a chasticement for sinne 206. a 60 The six dayes Labour is not set downe as a commandement but as a grant c. 207. a 10. Looke Worke. Labours Of Gods blessing of the workes Labours of mens hands Read notable doctrine page 570. b
is as I saide afore that there is no ill in it for the Christians to haue a certaine daie wherein this historie shoulde bee declared vnto them For we must not tie our selues to so streit a precisenesse that it should not be lawfull for vs to vse that helpe for our infirmitie But to make a seruice of God thereof and to take example at the Iewes as though it behoued vs to fashion our selues like vnto them or as though the feast of Whitsontide ought to be obserued at this day by reason of the sending of the holy Ghost that were too grosse a fondnesse Let vs vnderstand then first that the Iewes had but a figure shadowe of the trueth and on our owne part wee may knowe in Iesus Christ that God hath not figured anie thing in vaine Col. 2.17 but that all the ceremonies of the Law tended to verie good purpose because the effect of them is shewed vs in him Therefore let vs holde vs contended therewith and now let vs learne to reioyce in the presence of our God and to make otherfolks partakers of our mirth The Iewes were commanded to resort to Ierusalem as soone as haruest was done not only to reioyce there but also to impart of their goods to their neighbors so as there might be a common gladnes among them and God might be glorified with one accord And now that these things are at this day accomplished what haue we to doe We must not run trotting to Ierusalē to worship God there and to doe him homage there 1. Tim. 2.8 For we must lift vp our hands eueriwhere howbeit so as they be cleane And moreouer for asmuch as GOD hath not only sent vs a haruest of corruptible fruits to nourish our bodies withal but also powred out y e infinite riches of his holy spirit and sent vs the liuing waters as is saide in Ezechiel Ezech. 47.9 let vs vnderstand that it is to y e end we should haue the mirth whereof S. Paul speaketh in the fourteenth to the Romanes Let vs now reioyce then seeing our Lord hath shewed himselfe so bountifull towards vs that hee hath not withhelde any of the cheefe good thinges which he had but hath powred vppon vs all the benefites that concerne the endles life and heauenly glorie Seeing then that we haue receiued the holy Ghost let vs also be ioyful in our harts As how By withdrawing ourselues from y e vanities of this world by holding our selues contēted with the fauor of our God praising him euen in the middes of our afflictions Albeit that wee haue not all things at wil in this world yet let vs not cease to hold on still assuring our selues that it ought to suffice vs that our God is fauourable to vs that he sheweth vs his loue When wee be at that point once then shall wee haue such peace and contentment in vs Phil. 4.7 as passeth all the ioyes of this world yea and putteth away all the sorrowes that may trouble vs. And when wee haue such gladnesse our selues wee must to the vttermost of our power make them partakers of it which haue need For if the Iewes were commanded to cal the widowes the fatherles and the strangers to make merie with them in spending of the goods which God had giuen them much more reason is it that seeing the spirituall giftes which God hath bestowed vppon vs belong to the common building vp of the Church as saith Saint Paul in the twelfth to the Romanes Rom. 12.6 1. Cor. 12 7. and also in the twelfth of the first to y e Corinthians we should take heed y t we defraude not our neighbours of the thing which GOD hath appointed for them Let vs marke also that as nowe there is no more any stranger as in respect of vs. For wheras God had separated the Iewes from the gentiles nowe it is his will to bee knowen through the whole worlde there is no more diuision of bodies the wall is broken downe as saith Saint Paul in an other place Eph. 2.14 Seeing then that God fully and thou must not tarie till there bee a solemne holy day to call thee to the Church there to keepe the feast of Trumpets but it must serue thee al thy life long for a spurre to make thee to return vnto God That is the thing say I which we haue to beare in mind And as much also is to be noted concerning sorrowing For it is not for one day onely that wee must be sorie in our heartes and bethinke vs of our sinnes But forasmuch as we fal to them incessantly there passeth not any day wherein we offend not GOD let vs match it with sorinesse and let vs mourne for it and not play the vnthriftes which make a skorne of all that euer a man can alleadge to them out of the worde of God but let vs bee afraide of his iudgementes and threats and yet therewithall let vs not doubt but he will giue vs whereof to reioyce and that although wee bee faine to passe through many sorrowes and hart-bitinges in this worlde yet in the ende he will deliuer vs from them to make vs partakers of the heauenly rest After this maner say I must wee put this doctrine in vre concerning the feastes which the Iewes had of old time in figure and whereof wee haue nowe the trueth substaunce as it is brought vnto vs by the sonne of God Now let vs kneele downe before the maiestie of our good God with acknowledgement of our sinnes praying him to make vs feele them better than we haue done so as wee may returne vnto him with true and vnfained repentaunce and bee stirred more and more to amende our faultes knowing that our good God is ready to receiue them all to mercie which come to him with lowlinesse And that for asmuch as he hath graunted vs the grace to haue nowe so full light of his Gospell as may wel inlighten vs throughly it may please him not to suffer our eyes to be blindfolded that wee should walke any more in darkenesse but to graunt that wee keepe y e right way and indeuer to bring others into the same so as God may be glorified with one common accorde of all men And that for the performance hereof it may please him to raise vp true and faithfull ministers of his word c. On Fryday the viij of Nouember 1555. The C. Sermon which is the fourth vpon the sixteenth Chapter 13 Thou shalt keepe the feast of Tabernacles seuen dayes after thou hast gathered in thy corne feeldes and thy vineyardes 14 And thou shalt reioyce in the feast thou thy sonne thy daughter thy man-seruant and thy woman seruant the Leuite the straunger the fatherles the widowe which are within thy gates 15 Seuen dayes shalt thou keepe the feast to the Lorde thy God in the place which the Lord shall haue chosen for the Lord thy God
will blesse thee in al thy fruites and in all the workes of thy handes and therefore shalt thou reioyce 16 Three times a yeare shall all thy males appeare before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord wil choose that is to wit in the feast of vnleauened bread in the feast of Weekes and in the feast of Tabernacles and none shall appeare emptie before the face of the Lord. 17 But euerie man shal giue according to his abilitie euen according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he shall haue giuen thee WE haue here to treate of the feast of Tabernacles which was a memoriall of Gods preseruing of the Iewes in the wildernesse where was no house For he had kept them by the space of fortie yeares vnder Tentes and small boothes the cause wherof was that he had so remoued them from place to place that they had no leasure to builde nor stuffe wherewith to builde Therefore it was meete that they should be put in remembrance of it that being come into the lande of Chanaan they should not giue themselues to iollitie and forget it when God had set them at rest For we see howe men are giuen to fall asleepe and to nestle themselues when our Lorde remooueth them not To auoide this danger it was Gods wil that y e Iewes shoulde yeare by yeare depart out of their houses and dwell in Tentes that is to say vnder the open skie in arbers made of boughes and for seauen dayes together minde that benefite For it was an incredible thing that God shoulde haue preserued so great a multitude of people with their yong children in boothes tentes w tout houses We knowe y t houses serue to keepe off both cold heat and al other discōmodities Needs therfore must it be y t god wrought after a wonderfull fashion and it was meete that his goodnes should be acknowledge in that behalf We see then nowe wherefore this feast was ordeyned vnder the lawe For the seruing of God cōsisted not in y e peoples shifting of their places for it had beene but a stage play to haue come to Ierusalem and there to pinch themselues to dwel a while in Cabanes vnlesse it had beene to some ende and that they had beene taught some thing whereby to magnifie Gods name to put their trust in him accordingly as I haue declared heretofore that all ceremonies must implie some learning and instruction or else they be but pelting baggage ye a it is but a mocking of God if the faithfull be not edified that they may alwayes liue in the feare of God to rest vppon him and to call vppon him with the better courage If it bee not so it is but superstition and the thinges are not onely vnprofitable but also abhominable before God Nowe then the feast of Tabernacles was a traynment to the people of Israell to shew them that if they were at rest and at their ease in the land of Chanaan they had not alwayes beene so but that God had led them after a straunge fashion through the wildernesse and that if they were contented with Cabanes and arbers it behoued them also to applie themselues to the praysing of God for his deliuering of them out of the Land of Egypt by so manie miracles The Iewes as foolkes that woulde faine discharge themselues to Godwarde by hypocrisie did indeede keepe the feast it selfe but they lefte the meaning of him that had commaunded it For euen at this day still they keepe the feast according to the letter and they haue a number of pretie apes toyes which they obserue diligently As that their Cabanes be not too close but made full of holes nor that the boughes bee not too thicke platted but so as a man may see the stars through them and that there bee Loopeholes to looke vpon the skie so as the skie may glimse vppon their eyes All of them I say doe vse such trifling toyes but in the meane while they consider not whereunto God meant to direct them By which example of theirs wee bee the better warned not to regarde the letter of the lawe but to seeke the ende which God pointeth vs too And seeing that the Iewes had such instruction let vs consider what fruit we ought to reape nowadayes of the feast of Tabernacles It is not nowe any more in vse that wee shoulde be bounde to the keeping thereof but yet the doctrine thereof continueth still and concerneth vs as much or more than the Iewes And our keeping of the feast of Tabernacles must not be for a weeke or twayne but for all our life long And why 〈…〉 16 For if wee be not straungers in this worlde we shall haue no part in the kingdome of heauen Will we haue God to auowe vs for his children Let vs keepe on our way here beneath assuring our selues that this life of ours is but as a iourney or rather but as a race And it is not enough for vs to goe but wee must also runne a pace holding on our way still to that ende and alwayes straining our selues to atteyne vnto it For except we streine and inforce our selues we shal neuer get one steppe forward but wee shall retyre fower backe for it Agayne we see howe slow we be and how manie meanes Satan hath to hinder vs and therefore we must euen fight against such impedimentes And so let vs marke that the thinges which wee reade here in Moses declare vnto vs that for asmuch as it was Gods will that the Iewes in the time of the lawe shoulde haue a weeke to put them in minde howe they had beene as pilgrims in the wildernesse and that he had maintayned them there after a straunge fashion we in these daies because the figure is abolished must repaire to the trueth that is to say wee must remember that God harboreth vs in such sort in this world as that he wil not haue vs to nestle here nor to be so intangled in it as to make it our euerlasting resting place but to stie vpward still and to bee here as birdes sitting vppon a bough True it is that God is so fauourable to a great number that they neuer remooue from home of all the time of their life and yet they be neuer the lesse Christians for all that but yet must not any man make him a nest vppon earth vppon imagination that he will rest here Where as Saint Paul saith that he had no rest 2. Cor. 7.5 he meant it specially of himselfe and of certaine others of the faithfull whome God tossed from post to piller But as for the meaning of the mind that must needes bee common to all the faithfull namely that they haue no restingplace in this worlde Although then that GOD do beare with some mens weakenesse so as they neuer remoue out of the place where they were borne but continue at home still in their owne houses yet must they