within them anie feare of God anie loue anie remorse of conscience any regard of the saluation of theyr bodies and soules in the life to come nowe at the last to rouse vp themselues out of the cradle of securitie and drousie lethargie of sin wherin they haue long slept and by the examples of bruit beasts to do the workes and offices of their vocation and calling Let vs cast off the workes of darknesse as the Apostle exhorteth vs that is the workes of sinne and put vpon vs the armor of light that is the workes of righteousnesse holynes and truth redeeming the time because the dayes are euill as the same Apostle in an other place willeth vs. Let vs consisider weigh that we are they vpō whom the endes of the worlde are come and that the bridegroome Christe Iesus standeth before the doores Let vs think that the iudge is at hand to sūmon vs to the dome who though he defer his cōming yet be sure he will come at the last and reward euery one according to his doings in this life whether they be good or bad Let vs thinke that he who hath committed his talents to vs wil one day demaund accompts of them Remember these things whilest thou hast time deare Christian do the workes of mercy Follow the councell of the holy Ghost by the mouth of Dauid Eschew euill and do good Seeke after peace and ensue it Oh let not bruite beasts and vnreasonable creatures goe before thee in the doing of their duties Think thus that hee to whome much is committed shall be accomptable for much then reason thus with thy selfe As the Lord hath bestowed many great blessings and graces vpon me far aboue many other of his creatures so will he require of me that I should loue honor obey magnify prayse and in all my actions glorify him more than any other creatures And knowe this whatsoeuer thou art high or lowe ritch or poore yong or olde that thy yeares nay that thy very dayes houres and minuts of hours which thou hast to liue are numbred with God and that thou canst not by any means possible passe the same no not the twinckling of an eye or the least period of time that may be therfore good Dauid prayed the Lord to teach him to number his dayes that he might know how long he had to liue But admit that thou liuest to 60.80 or 100. yeres alas yet are thy dayes full of miserie affliction calamitie vexacion trouble as good Iacob sayd vnto Pharao being demanded how old he was few and euill are the dayes of thy seruant But say that thou shouldst liue to hundreths of yeres as many of our forefathers did yet must thou needs die at the last Adā liued nine hundred yeres od he died saith the text Abraham so many yeres he died Isaac so many yeres and he died Iacob so many yeres and he died Dauid so many he died Salomon so many hee died Methusalē so many yeres yea the most of any that euer liued vpō the earth and yet saith the text he died so that the foot of the song is still and he died Irreuocable therfore is the sentence of God against al flesh Dust thou art and into dust thou shalt returne again The same thing witnesseth the Apostle Paul where he saith Destinatum est omni homini semel mori It is appointed to euery man to die once and then to come to iudgement Then seeing the case standeth thus that we must all die that we shal cary nothing with vs but our good works our bad as Iohn witnesseth in the 22. of the Reuelation saying Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their labour theyr workes follow them let vs I saie in the name of God resolue our selues to glorify our God by good works in this life that we may be glorified of him for euer in the life to come The second Section Wherein is shewed how necessarie good workes are Of the great Zeale of our forefathers in doing of good workes Of their simplicitie and plaine dealing and of our want of both NOtwithstanding al that hath or can be sayde to this purpose there are some Atheistes that hold and also teach that Christ being come hauing shed his bloud for vs hath heereby so satisfied his fathers iustice and paide the raunsome for sinne that now whatsoeuer we doe is no sinne Nay further they will not sticke to affirme that Christ hath taken awaie all sin out of the world and therefore we cannot sinne Another sort of Locustes they affirme that as a man cānot be saued by his good works so he cannot be condemned by his euill workes and therefore it maketh no matter saith these Libertines whether a man doth the one or the other But these bee all most execrable and damnable opinions inuented by the deuill and broched by his members to the vtter destruction and confusion of as many as follow them Let vs that be christians and hope to be saued by the merits of Christes bloud rather obey the counsell of the holy ghost who warneth vs to worke out our saluation in feare and trembling in another place make your saluation sure by good workes Let vs with the Apostle Iames shew forth our faith by our good workes beeing assured that that faith which bringeth not forth good workes in some measure is no true iustifieng faith but a dead faith such as the deuils haue who are sayde to beleeue tremble The tree is knowen saith our sauiour Christ by the fruit and a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit nor a bad tree good fruit To the same effect Christ telleth vs in another place that not euery one that saith vnto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heauen but he that doth the wil of my father which is in heauen he shall enter into the kingdome of heauen And the Apostle Iames telleth vs that not the hearers of the law but the doers shall be iustified And therefore let vs brag of a naked bare faith as long as we will I am fully perswaded by the spirite of God that if wee haue no other faith than such as bringeth foorth no good workes we can neuer bee saued by it For a true liuely and iustifying faith can no more bee without good works than the Sun without light or fire without heat And yet doe I not attribute iustification to good workes neither for that were to attribute that to the effect which is proper incident to the cause or efficient but to such a faith as bringeth foorth good workes to the praise and honor of God But of this heereafter in his due place now to returne to the matter in hand It was tolde Saint Paul how that some preached CHRIST vppon enuie some of mallice some of pride some of one affection and some of an other who
them they could haue none lest there were not inogh for them both Wherby wee see that as no man can buy the good workes of another so no man hath inough to saue himselfe The Apostle Peter saith There is no other name giuen vnder heauen whereby man can bee saued but onely Iesus Christ. And if good workes coulde saue vs as the same Apostle reasoneth then had Christ died in vaine For how vaine a thing had it ben for the maiesty of God to haue sent his owne sonne into this miserable worlde to take our nature vpon him to shed his most precious bloud for vs if wee coulde haue iustified our selues or purchased our saluation either through our inherent righteousnes as the papists most blasphemously affirme by our merits or by anie other means whatsoeuer And therefore Paul was bold to conclude that wee are iustified by faith only without the works of the law Being iustified sayth he by faith we haue peace with God thorough Iesus Christ. And to the Galath he sayth further that as many as do relye vpon the works of the lawe are vnder the curse and banished frō grace To which the Prophet Abacuc seemeth to agree saying the iust shall liue by faith But what shall we say then to the Apostle Iames who sayth we are iustified by works and not by faith only I answere There are two maner of iustifications one absolute before GOD the other demonstratiue before the world Paule writing that wee are iustifyed by fayth onely meaneth absolutely before God Iames saying wee are iustifyed by workes meaneth demonstratiuely before the worlde Agayne Paule wrighteth of the efficient cause of our iustification Iames of the effecte Paule had to do with them that contemned faith as the Heathen Iewes and Turks do now and therefore he attributed and that worthely iustification to faith only Iames he had to do with them that contemned good works as things of no value affirming that bare faith alone was sufficiēt to saluation therefore he attributeth the more to works therby to draw them to the practising of them Againe Paule speaketh of such works as goe before iustification Iames of such as followe after Paule meaneth not of a bare and naked faith without good works but of such a faith as can no more be without good workes than the sunne without light or the fire without heate Iames he meaneth of a bare naked and dead faith such as the very deuils haue as the very heathen infidels haue So that in substance matter they both meane and speake one and the same thing For truly as faith is the efficient cause of our iustification before God so our workes are the effects or fruits issuing thereout whereby wee are knowen to bee iustified before the world And therefore let vs brag of our faith as much as we will if it bee but such a faith as bringeth forth no good workes we can neuer be saued by it This is not that iustifieng faith which Paule speaketh of nor which the children of God haue but a dead faith a barren faith an historical faith which the deuills and all reprobates haue But here perchāce some captious sophister wil aske me if we cānot be iustified by good workes to ' what end then shoulde wee doo them To whom I answere We are to do good workes for sixe causes especially first for the loue obedience which wee owe vnto God secondly for the mutuall loue brotherly charity which wee beare one towardes an other thirdly to make our saluation sure certaine vnto vs as the Apostle saith Make your saluation sure by good workes fourthly for the zeale wee haue of the glorie of God fiftly to drawe others from sinne to the practife of godlinesse by our good example and sixtly for the increase of our owne rewarde in the life to come where no good worke such is the bountifull liberalitie and mercifull beneficence of our good GOD towards vs miserable sinners shall bee lefte vnrewarded And albeit that good workes are no causes of our iustification nor that thou canst not be iustified by them yet canst thou neuer be saued without thē And therefore woulde I wish euerie one that hath a care of his saluation to labor studie endeuor night day to do good workes Remember how notably our forefathers haue behaued thē selues heerein what monuments of charity and almes deedes haue they left behinde them to the posterities to come and yet liued in feare and trembling And doe wee thinke to come to heauen and leaue no good works behinde vs at all but rather infinite millions of wicked deedes and vngodly examples which cry for vengeance before the throne of God night and day incessantly Oh let vs remember and neuer forget if it be true which some do hould as I fully perswade my selfe it is that as our wicked deedes and euill examples which wee haue left behinde vs in this life do hurt vnto other and dishonor the Maiestie of God so shall our paine be increased augmented in hell for euermore world without end And againe as our good deeds and good examples which we haue left behind vs in this life do good to the Saints of God vppon earth and increase his glory so shall our glory and our ioy be increased from day to day to the end of the world in the kingdome of heauen Let either the feare of the one therfore deare christian or the loue of the other moue thee now at the last to this resolution of good works Let not the vayne-glory and deceiptfull honor of this world beguile thee let not couetousnes blinde thee nor any priuate affection else moue thee to do euill or to deceiue any more in bargaining selling or otherwise howsoeuer for the Lord as the Apostle witnesseth is the reuenger of all such wickednes and though thou escapest for a time the lawes of men yet canst thou not escape the iudgements of God but in his good time he wyll finde thee out and recompence thee according to thy deserts Remember that Salomon was rich and had as plenty of gould siluer as of stones iewells and ornaments great store with fish-pondes orchards gardens forrests parkes men-singers women singers musicke and all pleasures else vnder the Sunne and of them all he pronounced this sentence Vanitas vanitatis omnia vanitas Vanitie of vanities and all is but vanitie Consider with thy selfe and often reuolue in thy minde the wordes of our sauiour Heauen and earth shal passe but the word of God indureth for euer And againe in another place No mans life standeth in the abundance of those thinges which he possesseth And againe What will it preuaile a man to win the whole world loose his owne soule Remember the rich glutton though he fared dilitiouslie and ruffeled in his silkes and veluets euerie daie yet in one moment his soule was taken from him he lodged in hell Take example by the rich man in the gospell who flowed with such abundance of all things that he was forced to pull downe his olde barnes and to build new ones was it not saide to him Thou foole this night shall they fetch awaie thy soul and then whose shall those things be which thou hast gathered Oh what a vaine thing is it therfore for a man to rake into his handes fiue hundred or one thousand mens liuinges to leaue it to his children who for the the most parte spend it either in hauking hunting dicing carding or else in whooring gourmandizing and infinite the lyke vices for Malè parta malè dilabuntur Ill got ill spent whereas in the meane time thou must goe to the barre to aunswere for the getting of them peraduenture to euerlasting damnation both of bodie and soule Therefore haue a care whatsoeuer thou be that thou get thy goods in the feare of God with a good conscience so shall they prosper with thy children after thee and thou blessed eternally And when thou hast thus got them be carefull how thou bestowest them and to whome thou geuest them For it is not inough for thee to say I gaue so much and so much to my carnall kindred friends and aliance but if thou hast geuen so much and so much to the poore so much and so much to this good end and to that good end to this good worke and that good worke to remayne to the posterities after thee to the end of the world oh then well is thee and happy shalt thou be yea then shalt thou be sure to attayne to the end of thy hope that is euerlasting life To the which hee bring vs all that apperteyne to his kingdome that dyed for vs to whom with the Father the holy Ghost be all glory and prayse for euer Amen FINIS Heb. 1.14 Gen. 19.22 1. Reg. 19. Gen. 21. Gen. 16. Gen. 21. Dan. 3. 2. Reg. 5 Tobit 5 Dan. 6 Exo. 1◠2. Sam. 24 2. Chr. 12.21 Luke 1.26 27 28 Iude vers 6 Gen. 6. Psal. 51.5 Math. 5.28 Math. 15.18 19.20 Gen. 1 ◠Gen. 1 ◠Gen. 6. Esa. 1 Gen. 47 9◠Gen. 3. Reuel 22 Iudic. 20.35.46 Nu. 25.8 Gen. 18.1.2 Gen. 19.1.2 3. 1. Timot. 3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Cor. 14. Psal. 1.1.2 Deut. 6. Matth. 4. Rom. 13.8 3. 4. 6. 7. Tit. 3 Timoth. 2. Rom. 14◠1. Cor 13 Esay ◠Tim. 4◠Math. 5.33 34. 35. Iacob v. 12. 1. Cor. 13. 1. Pet. 4.8 1. Ioh. 4.16 Iob. 14. Luke 1.74.75 Matth. 25. Galath 5.
good works and the like it is vnpossible for thee to see the face of God to thy saluacion otherwise than the deuils and the reprobate who shall see the face of God I graunt but to their euerlasting condemnation So thou without good workes mayest see the face of God with thē but to thy vtter cōfusion destruction both of body soule for euer Be zealous therefore good Christian of good workes do good whilest thou hast time for the night of death will come when thou canst not work redeme the time with wel doing as the Apostle speaketh yea withdraw from thy sleepe from thy meate drink and frō thy necessary affaires to do good Remember thy yeres are few vpō earth thou hast but a short time to liue to work in Admit thou attainest to fortie fiftie sixtie or it may be eighty yeres wherto fewe doe come in comparison of those that die before alas that time is nothing neither in regard of the perpetuity eternity of the life to come Haue euer in thy minde that golden sentence of the Apostle He that soweth little shall reape little and he that soweth plentifully shall reape plentifully Let the words of our sauior neuer slip out of thy remembrance Beatius est dare potius quam accipere It is a thing more blessed to giue meaning to the poore than to receiue Giue therefore lend freely to them that haue need loking for nothing again and thy reward shall be great in heauen sayth our sauiour Christ. Consider it is sayde What is giuen to the poore is lent to the Lorde and looke what thou laiest out it shall bee paide thee again Distrust not Gods promises for he is yea and amen in all his sayings and faithfull and true in all his dooings Hee both can for that he is almightie and also will for that hee is mercifull most bountifully remunerate and most liberally rewarde them for whatsoeuer good thou dost in this life yea so precise is he herein that he hath bound himselfe with a promise that he wil not leaue so much as a cup of colde water giuen to anie in his name vnrewarded at that day The fifth Section Wherein is shewed the ends of good works and of our iustification by faith onely with a conclusion exhortatorie to good workes NOw as thou art to do good workes so thou must take heed that thou dost them not neither for desire of reward nor yet for feare of punishment but for the loue and obedience which thou bearest to thy God And so farre off oughtest thou to bee from thinking to be iustified or to merit any thing by thy workes as the blasphemous papistes doo contend that thou must both think saie as Christ teacheth thee to say When thou hast done all that is commaunded thee to doe thou art yet an vnprofitable seruant and hast done but thy dutie nay nor thy duetie neither no not in anie small measure No although thou were stable to do all the good workes in the world and all the good workes which the worde of God doth command thee yea and in that perfection which GOD doeth require of thee which thing neuer anie was nor euer shall be found able to performe Christ Iesus only excepted yet couldest thou neither bee iustified before God nor yet merite anie thing by them ex opere operato as the Papistes doo dreame But yet they are in deed notable seales and testimonies to thy conscience that thou art the childe of God and coheire with Christ Iesus of the kingdome of heauen And heereof is it that the Apostle biddeth vs make our saluation sure by good works not that good workes are any efficient cause of our saluation but doe assure confirme and seale vp vnto vs our saluation purchased by Christ. They are therefore most excellent fruites of our faith and infallible pledges of our election in Christe but no causes of our iustification before GOD. For euen as no fruit can make the tree good which by nature is naught so no good workes can make a man good before God who before was wicked euill for as the tree must of necessitie bee good before it canne bring foorth anie good fruite at all so a man must bee sanctified and regenerate by the spirit of God before he can doo anie good workes acceptable vnto God which once being accomplished thē follow good works as the effect from the cause And therefore I cannot but wonder at the more than palpable blindnes of these iusticiaries and merit-mongers the papists who beleeue that good workes can iustifie vs before God Our sauiour Christ sayth Without mee yee can doo nothing Whereto the Apostle seemeth to agree when he sayth It is God which geueth both the wil the deed euen of his good will and then alas what place of merit is there left for vs And whereas they obiect that God hath promised to reward our good works True it is hee giueth vs grace first to will then power to performe and put in practise euerie good worke that we doo and hath bound himselfe with a promise to reward these his own gifts in vs. But this reward standeth in the mercie of God not in the merit of the worke Let vs therefore abandoning our owne merits as filthie dong hold the mercies of God in Christ to bee our righteousnes beeing assured that if the Lord shoulde enter into iudgement with vs waying our verie righteousnes in the ballance of his iustice and rewarding vs according to our deserts we should be vtterly condemned and cast awaie for euer This the Prophet Esay confirmeth where hee saith That all our righteousnes is like a menstruous clout than the which there is nothing more filthy stinking or fulsome To which sentence Saint Barnard seemeth to allude saying Ve vniuersae iusticiae nostrae si remota miserecordia iudicetur Woe be to our righteousnesse if we should be iudged with out mercie And yet the papistes are perswaded that they are not onely iustified that is pronounced iust before God freed from sinne and all punishment due for sinne but also that they merite the kingdome of heauen and euerlasting life by their good workes Yea they haue not onely good works inough to saue themselues withall but others also and these they call works of supererogation that is whē they doe moe good workes and in greater perfection than God eyther can or will require of them as I haue noted before and therefore with the ouerplus of these forsooth they will helpe their fellowes if they will paie well for them else get they none for No pennie no Pater noster And is not this a pretie matter that they can not onely saue themselues but also others to by their workes of supererogation What should a man care for doing of good workes himself when for a little monie hee may buy inough of others The fiue foolish virgines would haue bought oile of the wise but it was answered
answered I am glad so that Christ be preached whether it be of enuie of malice of pride or of any affection else whatsoeuer and euen so say I I am glad that good workes are done whether it be of enuie of pride of vayne-glory or of any other affection else and I pray God to rayse vp moe good men to doe moe good workes for our great talking little walking our great prating and protesting and little or no working maketh our enemies the Papistes to open theyr mouthes so wyde agaynst vs and to slander both vs and our profession affirming that we teach nothing but carnall libertie and abandoning of all good workes But how false this theyr shameles slaunder is shal afterwards appeare Christ willing in his place And yet truly I must needes confesse that euen as the Apostle tould the Galathians the Gospell was euill spoken of and slaundered amongst the Heathen thorowe theyr wickednes so I say the Gospell and word of saluation is blasphemed and slaundered amongst the Papists who are not-only scandalized thereby but also in effect vtterly disswaded and drawne away both frō vs and our religion thorowe our inordinate licentious liues Yea and would God it were not true with grief of hart I speak it there are I feare me moe good works done daily by the Papists if they may be called good workes and not rather workes of ciuile office which the heathen the Turks or Iewes may doe than by the Protestants For he the Papist trusteth most blasphemously sacrilegiously to be saued by his works therfore he is carefull to do thē the other trusteth to be saued by a bare naked faith deceiuing him selfe without good works therfore eyther careth not for thē or at least setteth little by thē By which meanes it cōmeth to passe that many men had rather deale with him that is a palpable Papist than with him who is a precise Protestant And certainly to speak truth there is many times found plainer cōscionabler dealing among most of thē than among many Protestāts And if we looke narrowly into the former times and ages past wee shall finde more godlynes deuocion and zeale though it were but a blinde zeale more loue one towards an other more simplicitie in dealing more fidelitie and faythfulnes euery way to haue remayned in them than is now to be foūd amongst vs. A mās bare word or naked promise then was better than any bands bills or writings now They passed their conueighances and state of lands in those dayes by so slender words and in so fewe lynes as now it is sooner wondered at of all than followed of any They studyed not to coyne quirkes quiddities nor to hammer clauses and prouisoes to circumuent and deceyue one another But now adays we must haue if not so many skinnes of parchment yet so many lynes as they had wordes and a great sort moe and yet all will not serue neyther but mayster Lawyer forsooth will finde you a hundred holes in it And for good works who seeth not that herein they went farre beyond vs and wee farre inough behinde them For example What memorable famous buildings what stately edifices of sundrye kyndes and what ancient monuments haue they left to the world behinde them What Churches Chappells and other houses of prayer did they erect to the ende the religion and seruice of God might be continued amongst all posterities to the end of the world Yea what Monasteries Abbeys Priories and other religious houses to their infinite cost and charges albeit they were afterwards most horribly abused by Popish Locusts that came out of the bottomlesse pit as out of the Troian horsse to the destruction of the Church of God did they build and erect What number of goodly Bridges did they make What and how many almes houses hospitalls and spittles did they found for the reliefe of the poore and indowed them with cōpetent lands and liuelodes for mayntenance of them What high wayes what pauements and causies for the safe and easy passage of the people did they make In summe what famous Colledges Halles and Vniuersities for the cōseruatiō of learning did they found and edifye What Schooles free schooles as well in the Vniuersities as also in the cuntreys abroade did they erect indowed thē with wonderfull goodly reuenewes lands and rents for the maintenāce of poore schollers propagatiō of learning knowledge amongst all posterities to the end of the world For proofe whereof and to the end I may stir vp the minds of this frosen and key cold age of ours to the like practise of good works I will giue you a tast of certain notable personages men womē that were famus herein that as briefly as I cā It is recorded by ancient credible historians that one Cantabar a Spanyard before the incarnation of Christ 375 yeres not only built but also furnished with learned mē the thrise renowmed and famous Vniuersitie of Cambridge Afterwards being somwhat ruinate and decayed thorow the calamities of those times it was reedifyed and restored to his pristine state by Sebertus king of the East Angles in the yeare of our Lord 656. Hugh Balesham Bishop of Ely built the Colledge dedicate to S. Peter now called Peter house or Peter Colledge in the yere of Christ 1284. and indowed it with great reuenewes Richard Badewe then Chaunceler of Cambridge layd the first foundacion of Clare Hall now called the Vniuersitie Hall Afterwarde it was inlarged by Gualter Thacsted and lastly by Elizabeth Lady of Clare who called it after her owne name Clare Hall Pembroke Hall was founded by Marie of Valentia sometime wife to Adomare de Valentia Earle of Pembroke in the yeare of Christ 1343. and by her indowed with great possessions Corpus Christi Colledge was founded by the Aldermen brethren of Corpus Christi guilde with the helpe of the fraternitie of S. Maries guilde in the yeare of our redemption 1344. Trinitie Hall being first an hostell was purchased by Iohn Crandon prior of Ely for his brethrē the Monks of that house to study in which Hall afterwards by the industrie and good helpe of William Bateman Bishop of Norwich was conuerted into a Colledge and by him indowed with goodly reuenewes Gonuill and Caius Colledge was built by one Edmund Gonuill in the yeare of grace 1348. and one Caius a Phisition in the yeare of Christ 1557. and by them indowed with large possessions King Henry the syxt built a most famous Colledge now called by the name of Kings Colledge in the yeare of our Lord 1443. and adioyned to it a most sumptuous Chappell This Henry the syxt also built Aeton Colledge where are maynteined threescore schollers who in time as they rise in learning are promoted to Kings Colledge and gaue to them both goodly possessions Margaret Andegauensis wife to King Henry the syxt layde the foundation of Queenes Colledge in Cambridge in the yeare of Christ 1448.
also doth a good worke but yet against his will and by deuine impulsion is it therefore euill because he doth it hee confessed that Iesus was the sonne of God is it euill therefore to confesse Christ because he did so is good seed the worse though an euill mā sow it so a Papist may do good works and to a good end is it therefore euill because he doth it but if he do them to this end to be iustified to purchase heauen and to merite euerlasting life by them then in respect of the doers and in regard of the ends whereto they are done they are altogether vnlawfull and no good workes indeede but rather pledges seales of cōdemnation against the doers Yet notwithstanding in as much as the most of these works although they were afterwards horribly abused by others tended to the glory of God and benefite of the common wealth they were therefore good works and notable testimonies and demonstrations as wel of their great loue and zeale as also of their godlines For example Is not this a good worke to build Churches Chappels and other oratories and houses of religion wherin the preaching of the word of God and other exercises of true religion might bee practised amongst all posterities to the end of the world yea it is such a worke that I pray God sende vs moe of them For it is lamentable in some parishes the people are forced to goe three or foure nay fiue or sixe in some peraduenture eyght or ten miles to the Church for want of Churches neerer them Shall wee thinke to build Churches was no good worke because they were afterwards prophaned by Idolatrie and polluted by superstition What thing is there in this world but it hath beene is or may be abused And shall wee take away the thing it selfe because of the abuse Then farewell meate and drinke farewell apparrell yea farewell word of God and all for euery one of them hath beene is and will be continually abused to the end But in as much as the abuse is not of the substance of the thing but meerely accidentall take away the abuse and let the thyng remayne still There are in deede neotericall and phantasticall spirits start vp of late that would haue all Churches pulled downe and defaced to the ende that theyr priuate conuenticles and Iewish Synagogues myght take place And truely the world is nowe almost come to theyr humor for nowe euery one seeketh to pull from the Church to raze and deface it by all meanes possible accoumpting that well gotten what soeuer is extorted or purloyned from it quo iure quaue iniuria eyther by hooke or crooke as they vse to say And the same to be true in deede doth the present state of the most of our Churches in England verify For where I haue trauayled as I haue trauayled the whole realme ouer I haue found in most places nay almost in all the Churches to lye like barnes some thatched with strawe and which is worser some with broome bent loope reede and I cannot tell what rubbish els the windowes all to torne the wals cleft and rent asunder the roofes rayning in without measure and the chauncels as they call them eyther pulled quite downe I will not saye begged of some greedie puttocke or insaciable cormorant or other to build his owne house withall or else ready to fall vppon their heads euery day with euery little puffe of winde And as for the pues and seates they are such as would make a man to loath to come in them Their flowres or pauements are so farre from being tiled or paued that there is nothing to be seene but sand and dust a foote or two thicke so that if you stirre your feete neuer so little all the Church is full of dust enough to stifle or choke a man Agayne in othersome places I haue seene the Churches strawed ouer either with hay grasse strawe sedges bent loope or such other trash worser than I haue knowen many swyne to lye in Yea truly I haue seene some Churches as I haue sayde to lye farre worser than eyther barnes or stables God be mercifull to vs. For the one they will keepe well and repaire for the safegard of their corne the other for their beasts and cattell And is it not a lamentable case that the Church and house of prayer for so Christ calleth it My house shall be called the house of prayer but you haue made it a denne of the eues should lye so beastly our owne houses in the meane time being most stately sumptuous and gay Good King Dauid was of an other minde when hee sayde Shall my house be of Cedar and Cipres wood and the Arke of God to lye in Tents and therefore made he infinite prouision to build a Temple for it Is it nowe tyme to build your owne houses and is it not tyme to build the Lordes house sayth the Prophet Well I wyll say no more heereof but I pray God that the reuerend Byshops to whome God hath committed the dispensacion of his word and the scepter and rule of hys spouse vppon earth may looke better to the building repairing keeping of the Church of God and house of prayer Now to goe forward Is it not a good worke to build bridges to make causies pauements and high wayes that trauellers may paste safely frō one place to an other There are some not a few no doubt that think it no good deede whatsoeuer it be if a penny of money must goe from them therfore they care not if al good workes were buryed in the graue of obliuion that they might neuer see the light but as abortiues to be vtterly smothered for euer Hereof is it that we cānot so much as finde in our harts not only not to build but not so much as to maynteyne and repaire those bridges high wayes causies pauemēts and other ancient monuments of good works which our Ancestors haue left behind thē as to their inestimable charges so to their perpetuall praise renowne so far off are we frō doing any of our owne I my selfe hauing trauayled ouer and about the whole realme haue found diuerse Bridges yea and that ouer mighty waters eyther cleane broken downe without any great hope of building againe in haste or else so shaken rent and torne that it would feare a man eyther to goe or ryde ouer them I could name aboue an hundred such in Englande but for that I will offend no man by name I will ouerpasse them beseeching God to put into the harts of our Magistrates and Rulers that they may be amended For I am sure there are not a fewe both men and women in England drowned in a yeare by reason these Bridges are not maynteyned Our good Auncestors not onely built them but also left for the most of them both landes and rents to vphould them I pray God they be not imbezeled and purloyned from them and bestowed an
other way Good Lord I can not but wonder at the bountifull liberalitie of our predecessors they built all these edifices and buildings from the ground of theyr owne proper costs and charges without all contribucions or collections that we reade of and yet we can not so much as maynteyne and repayre them except we haue contributions collections and gatherings throughout the realme for euery little Bridge And if there be but a small Bridge to be built from the grounde Iesus what a peece of worke wee make of it yea wee must haue a licence to begge all ouer the land for it or else it will neuer be built So that I verely belieue if we should haue but euen one such a building to make as we haue some in England built by our ancestors Oh it would shake the verie foundations of the common wealth nay I thinke assuredly they would neuer be able to performe it not for that we are not able but for that we are wretched miserable for there is greater riches welth in Englād now Gods holy name be praysed for it than euer there was since the beginning of the world by many degrees and yet we will part with nothing to any good worke so couetous are we and so voyd of that holy zeale and burning charitie which our forefathers had To goe forward Is it not a good work to build Colledges and Vniuersities to erect free Schooles and houses of learning being indeede the very seminaries of all wisdome learning and knowledge for the better education of youth in good letters wheras otherwise ignorance and barbarisme would ouerflow vs And yet notwithstanding all this you shall haue some giddy heads that would haue all Vniuersities Colledges Schooles of learning to be vtterly supprest and ouerthrowne which were euen to pluck the Sunne out of the elemēt the starres out of the skye the Moone out of the heauens for as the world without the one would seeme as it were a confuse chaos palpable darknes so without the other should we be all as dizarts sots and peasants yea very buzzards blockheads little or nothing differing from bruite beasts Nay to wish the ouerthrow of them is to wish the subuersion of the word of God and of religion with a vniuersall confusion of all things For are not Vniuersities and Schooles the way to learning and knowledge Is not learning the way to wisedome and is not wisedome as it were the very fynewes and tendons that hold together the whole body both of the Churche and common-wealth Nay to say more is not wisedome the very life of them both and therefore they that desire the decay of the one doe wish the destruction of the other But yet to wade in this matter a little further Is it not a good worke to erect Hospitalls Spittles and Almes houses wherein all such as be eyther olde aged impotent blind lame halt or otherwise decrepite might be relieued yea I hould it to be one of the chiefest good workes that a man can doe in thys life For doth not Christ accoumpt it done to himselfe whatsoeuer is done to his poore members vpon earth And therefore I pray GOD to rayse vp more such men as may erect mo such houses yea if it were in euery Citie towne and village Then should we haue eyther none or at lest fewer beggers as we cal them amongst vs than we haue according to the cōmandement of God who sayth Let there bee no beggers in Israel that is amongest those that professe the Gospell and religion of GOD whilest those that were olde halt blind or lame should be there harboured and other lustie vagabonds who were able to worke and would not shuld be compelled to worke by seuerity of law And to this end as I would wish moe hospitalls for the reliefe of those that are not able to worke as I haue sayd so woulde I wishe that there were mo houses of correction in euerie shiere one at the least to punish and chase such lusty knaues and queans as goe roagueing about the Countries not laboring at all but liuing vpon filching stealing purloining and pilfering frō others I remember there were certaine motions of late for the erectiō of such houses in euery shire but there is nothing effected as yet Parturiunt montes nascitur ridiculus mus It was too good a work to take place with vs we haue many good motions but few good effects follow God be mercifull vnto vs. But here a question may be asked whether the building of monasteries priories other religious houses were good workes or no I aunswere that in deed they had a zeale in them but not as the Apostle saith secundum scientiam and they built thē to a good intēt as namely that the seruice and religion of God might bee maintained and continued in them for euer And therefore if they were afterwardes abused as they were in deed as is before remembred and peruerted to another end than was intendended by the first founders of them by a sorte of caterpillers and idolatrous locustes that conuersed in them and poisoned the whole world with the filthie dregges of theyr fornication the fault was in the abusers not in the founders And yet I will not iustifie the founders for their good intents sake neither For a good intent is no good intent excepte it haue his ground and warrant out of the worde of God It is not inough for a man to doo euill and then to saie hee dyd it to a good intent Saul for a good intent as he pretēded as namely to sacrifice to the Lorde kept aliue the best of the cattel cōtrarie to Gods cōmandement but notwithstanding his good intent God cast him of for it and deposed him from his royall dignity telling him that he delighted more in obedience than in sacrifice But howeuer they were built or to what end or purpose so euer sure I am they were pulled downe to a better purpose as beeing in deede the dens of theeues the neasts cels of vipers the dungeōs of dragons the harborows of cocatrices the cages of vncleane beasts And yet as I thank God for the ouerthrowe of them for that they had almost drowned and in short time would not almost but altogether haue drowned the whole world with the filthy puddle of superstition idolatry infidelitie buggerie and sodometrie so could I haue wished that the lands and reuenues of them had ben better imployed as namely to the mainteuaunce of Colledges and schooles of learning to the maintenance of preachers throghout the land to the reliefe and sustentation of the poore and defence of the common wealth and such other good purposes then shoulde not our land haue beene pestered with so many vpstart single-soled Gentlemen as it is But it was the will of God that those thinges which were the bane of his Church and the poison of his children and therefore stood as anathema and accursed before him shoulde
wee neuer fast and that our preachers doe preach against it as against a thing altogether vnlawfull But as they speake truth in this so let them be beleeued in euery thing else Indeede wee holde and that truely that all meates may bee eaten at all times and at all seasons of him that hath faith for so the Apostle teacheth saying Nowe the spirite speaketh euidently that in the later daies some shall depart from the faith and shall giue heede to spirites of error doctrine of deuils which speak lies thorough hypocrisie and haue theyr consciences burned with a hot yron forbidding to marry and commaunding to abstaine from meates which GOD hath created to be receiued wyth thankes-giuing of them which beleeue and knowe the truth And in another place hee sayeth Euerie creature of God is good and nothing ought to bee refused if it bee receiued with faith and thankesgiuing for it is sanctified by the worde of God and by praier So that wee holde it a matter meerely indifferent to eat or not to eate at all times Wee repose no religion in eating or drinking but hold it rather for a matter of pollicie than of diuinitie Our Sauiour Christ sayth there is nothing that entereth into man that defile the man but those things which come out of a man those defile a man It is sayd also in another place All things are cleane to those that be cleane And further we reade in the history of the Acts how the Apostle Paule himselfe was commanded in a vision as it were by oracle from heauen to eate of all meates conteyned in the sheete being also forbid to call that vncleane which God had sanctified made cleane And therefore I say we hould it lawfull by the word of God to eate all meates at all times yea though it were in Lent it selfe But yet if it please the Prince for pollicy sake and for a common wealth for that at that time of the yeare all creatures do breede and ingender together and therefore besides that they are not so wholesome as at other times of the yeare if they should then be killed and eaten as they are at other times there must needes growe great dearth scarsity of them to commaund vs to absteine from eating of flesh that time of the yeare only we willingly obey it as a matter of pollicy and not of diuinitie religion or conscience And albeit it be obiected that Christ fasted 40. dayes and 40. nightes yet it followeth not that of necessity we should absteyne from flesh only for so long no more than it followeth that we must absteyne from all other meates because Christ did so Wee haue no one sillable in the word of God for our warrant to do so Nay if we would imitate Christs example in this we are not able For can wee absteyne from all kind of sustenance whatsoeuer 40. dayes and 40. nights as Christ did And yet if wee wyll follow strictly hys example we must doe so Therefore it is true omnis Christi actio nostra est instructio non imitatio euery action of Christ is our instruction but not a president to follow in euery thing And doubtlesse if he would that we should haue absteyned from the eating of flesh in Lent only he would haue geuen vs some precept or other or at least some one word or other sounding that way To conclude therefore we hould that fasting from meates and drinkes is both good and godly and many times very necessary to tame the wanton affections of the flesh and to subdue them to the spirit And yet we looke not to merite by our fasts neyther yet doe wee fast in honor or worship to any dead Saints as the Papists most blasphemously doe And thus much of fasting Now to go forward It is a good worke in euery one to preuent and as much as lyeth in hys power to hynder and stay euery euill action or vngodlye deede which eyther hee knoweth of hys owne knowledge or else is informed and aduertised of by others is like to come to passe if he do not he is as guilty of the mischife whatsoeuer it be that hapneth as he that committed it And therefore it standeth euery one in hand to take heed to himselfe that he be not partaker of other mens sinnes for euery one hath inough and too many of his owne to answere for God be mercifull to vs. It is a good worke in euery one to practise sobrietie temperancie and frugalitie as well in his meates as also in his drinks to eschew all gluttony drunknes ryot excesse to vse such apparell and attyre as is decent and comely rather obeying necessity than seruing curious phantesie knowing that our apparell was geuen vs to couer our nakednes withall to hide our shamefull parts and not to puffe vs vp into a prowde humor or vayne conceipt of our selues And trust me truly I see no greater reason that we haue to be prowde of our apparell than the poore Lazar hath to be prowd of his rags clouts that wrap his sores It is a good worke in euery one to moderate his affections so as he neyther thinke meditate nor practise any euil against any man that he refrayne his tongue from all maner of swearing and blaspheming of Gods most holy name that he fall out with no man curse nor ban not any finally that he keepe his eyes from beholding of vanitie his eares from hearing of filthines or ribaldry and his hands feet from committing of euill Now if these be good works as they are indeede then most vnhappy are they that be so farre from doing any of them that they dayly and hourely practise the contrary and will iustifie themselues too by the word of God For sayth one is not swearing tollerable doth not God say thou shalt honor me and sweare by my name and therefore they conclude that God is rather honored than dishonored by swearing Othersome when a man reprooues them for it will aske hym why Is it not lawfull for a man to haue God in hys minde and to name hym often yea the oftner the betters Thus these reprobate miscreants iustifye themselues in theyr sinne and abuse the word of God to their owne destruction For answere to the first I graunt indeede that God is honored by swearing by his name in this sence when a matter or controuersie falleth out which can not otherwise be determined than by an oth then are we being called by the Magistrates and those that are in authority to depose the truth by the inuocation and calling to witnesse of the name of God or else in a priuate action betwixt party and party to end a controuersy we may lawfully take an oth for so the Apostle sayth let an oth make an end of all controuersies In these two respects it is lawfull to sweare as I haue sayd and God is honored thereby if we depose the truth as he is truth But as he