within them anie feare of God anie loue anie remorse of conscience any regard of the saluation of theyr bodies and soules in the life to come nowe at the last to rouse vp themselues out of the cradle of securitie and drousie lethargie of sin wherin they haue long slept and by the examples of bruit beasts to do the workes and offices of their vocation and calling Let vs cast off the workes of darknesse as the Apostle exhorteth vs that is the workes of sinne and put vpon vs the armor of light that is the workes of righteousnesse holynes and truth redeeming the time because the dayes are euill as the same Apostle in an other place willeth vs. Let vs consisider weigh that we are they vpō whom the endes of the worlde are come and that the bridegroome Christe Iesus standeth before the doores Let vs think that the iudge is at hand to sūmon vs to the dome who though he defer his cōming yet be sure he will come at the last and reward euery one according to his doings in this life whether they be good or bad Let vs thinke that he who hath committed his talents to vs wil one day demaund accompts of them Remember these things whilest thou hast time deare Christian do the workes of mercy Follow the councell of the holy Ghost by the mouth of Dauid Eschew euill and do good Seeke after peace and ensue it Oh let not bruite beasts and vnreasonable creatures goe before thee in the doing of their duties Think thus that hee to whome much is committed shall be accomptable for much then reason thus with thy selfe As the Lord hath bestowed many great blessings and graces vpon me far aboue many other of his creatures so will he require of me that I should loue honor obey magnify prayse and in all my actions glorify him more than any other creatures And knowe this whatsoeuer thou art high or lowe ritch or poore yong or olde that thy yeares nay that thy very dayes houres and minuts of hours which thou hast to liue are numbred with God and that thou canst not by any means possible passe the same no not the twinckling of an eye or the least period of time that may be therfore good Dauid prayed the Lord to teach him to number his dayes that he might know how long he had to liue But admit that thou liuest to 60.80 or 100. yeres alas yet are thy dayes full of miserie affliction calamitie vexacion trouble as good Iacob sayd vnto Pharao being demanded how old he was few and euill are the dayes of thy seruant But say that thou shouldst liue to hundreths of yeres as many of our forefathers did yet must thou needs die at the last Adā liued nine hundred yeres od he died saith the text Abraham so many yeres he died Isaac so many yeres and he died Iacob so many yeres and he died Dauid so many he died Salomon so many hee died Methusalē so many yeres yea the most of any that euer liued vpō the earth and yet saith the text he died so that the foot of the song is still and he died Irreuocable therfore is the sentence of God against al flesh Dust thou art and into dust thou shalt returne again The same thing witnesseth the Apostle Paul where he saith Destinatum est omni homini semel mori It is appointed to euery man to die once and then to come to iudgement Then seeing the case standeth thus that we must all die that we shal cary nothing with vs but our good works our bad as Iohn witnesseth in the 22. of the Reuelation saying Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their labour theyr workes follow them let vs I saie in the name of God resolue our selues to glorify our God by good works in this life that we may be glorified of him for euer in the life to come The second Section Wherein is shewed how necessarie good workes are Of the great Zeale of our forefathers in doing of good workes Of their simplicitie and plaine dealing and of our want of both NOtwithstanding al that hath or can be sayde to this purpose there are some Atheistes that hold and also teach that Christ being come hauing shed his bloud for vs hath heereby so satisfied his fathers iustice and paide the raunsome for sinne that now whatsoeuer we doe is no sinne Nay further they will not sticke to affirme that Christ hath taken awaie all sin out of the world and therefore we cannot sinne Another sort of Locustes they affirme that as a man cānot be saued by his good works so he cannot be condemned by his euill workes and therefore it maketh no matter saith these Libertines whether a man doth the one or the other But these bee all most execrable and damnable opinions inuented by the deuill and broched by his members to the vtter destruction and confusion of as many as follow them Let vs that be christians and hope to be saued by the merits of Christes bloud rather obey the counsell of the holy ghost who warneth vs to worke out our saluation in feare and trembling in another place make your saluation sure by good workes Let vs with the Apostle Iames shew forth our faith by our good workes beeing assured that that faith which bringeth not forth good workes in some measure is no true iustifieng faith but a dead faith such as the deuils haue who are sayde to beleeue tremble The tree is knowen saith our sauiour Christ by the fruit and a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit nor a bad tree good fruit To the same effect Christ telleth vs in another place that not euery one that saith vnto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heauen but he that doth the wil of my father which is in heauen he shall enter into the kingdome of heauen And the Apostle Iames telleth vs that not the hearers of the law but the doers shall be iustified And therefore let vs brag of a naked bare faith as long as we will I am fully perswaded by the spirite of God that if wee haue no other faith than such as bringeth foorth no good workes we can neuer bee saued by it For a true liuely and iustifying faith can no more bee without good works than the Sun without light or fire without heat And yet doe I not attribute iustification to good workes neither for that were to attribute that to the effect which is proper incident to the cause or efficient but to such a faith as bringeth foorth good workes to the praise and honor of God But of this heereafter in his due place now to returne to the matter in hand It was tolde Saint Paul how that some preached CHRIST vppon enuie some of mallice some of pride some of one affection and some of an other who
good works and the like it is vnpossible for thee to see the face of God to thy saluacion otherwise than the deuils and the reprobate who shall see the face of God I graunt but to their euerlasting condemnation So thou without good workes mayest see the face of God with thē but to thy vtter cōfusion destruction both of body soule for euer Be zealous therefore good Christian of good workes do good whilest thou hast time for the night of death will come when thou canst not work redeme the time with wel doing as the Apostle speaketh yea withdraw from thy sleepe from thy meate drink and frō thy necessary affaires to do good Remember thy yeres are few vpō earth thou hast but a short time to liue to work in Admit thou attainest to fortie fiftie sixtie or it may be eighty yeres wherto fewe doe come in comparison of those that die before alas that time is nothing neither in regard of the perpetuity eternity of the life to come Haue euer in thy minde that golden sentence of the Apostle He that soweth little shall reape little and he that soweth plentifully shall reape plentifully Let the words of our sauior neuer slip out of thy remembrance Beatius est dare potius quam accipere It is a thing more blessed to giue meaning to the poore than to receiue Giue therefore lend freely to them that haue need loking for nothing again and thy reward shall be great in heauen sayth our sauiour Christ. Consider it is sayde What is giuen to the poore is lent to the Lorde and looke what thou laiest out it shall bee paide thee again Distrust not Gods promises for he is yea and amen in all his sayings and faithfull and true in all his dooings Hee both can for that he is almightie and also will for that hee is mercifull most bountifully remunerate and most liberally rewarde them for whatsoeuer good thou dost in this life yea so precise is he herein that he hath bound himselfe with a promise that he wil not leaue so much as a cup of colde water giuen to anie in his name vnrewarded at that day The fifth Section Wherein is shewed the ends of good works and of our iustification by faith onely with a conclusion exhortatorie to good workes NOw as thou art to do good workes so thou must take heed that thou dost them not neither for desire of reward nor yet for feare of punishment but for the loue and obedience which thou bearest to thy God And so farre off oughtest thou to bee from thinking to be iustified or to merit any thing by thy workes as the blasphemous papistes doo contend that thou must both think saie as Christ teacheth thee to say When thou hast done all that is commaunded thee to doe thou art yet an vnprofitable seruant and hast done but thy dutie nay nor thy duetie neither no not in anie small measure No although thou were stable to do all the good workes in the world and all the good workes which the worde of God doth command thee yea and in that perfection which GOD doeth require of thee which thing neuer anie was nor euer shall be found able to performe Christ Iesus only excepted yet couldest thou neither bee iustified before God nor yet merite anie thing by them ex opere operato as the Papistes doo dreame But yet they are in deed notable seales and testimonies to thy conscience that thou art the childe of God and coheire with Christ Iesus of the kingdome of heauen And heereof is it that the Apostle biddeth vs make our saluation sure by good works not that good workes are any efficient cause of our saluation but doe assure confirme and seale vp vnto vs our saluation purchased by Christ. They are therefore most excellent fruites of our faith and infallible pledges of our election in Christe but no causes of our iustification before GOD. For euen as no fruit can make the tree good which by nature is naught so no good workes can make a man good before God who before was wicked euill for as the tree must of necessitie bee good before it canne bring foorth anie good fruite at all so a man must bee sanctified and regenerate by the spirit of God before he can doo anie good workes acceptable vnto God which once being accomplished thē follow good works as the effect from the cause And therefore I cannot but wonder at the more than palpable blindnes of these iusticiaries and merit-mongers the papists who beleeue that good workes can iustifie vs before God Our sauiour Christ sayth Without mee yee can doo nothing Whereto the Apostle seemeth to agree when he sayth It is God which geueth both the wil the deed euen of his good will and then alas what place of merit is there left for vs And whereas they obiect that God hath promised to reward our good works True it is hee giueth vs grace first to will then power to performe and put in practise euerie good worke that we doo and hath bound himselfe with a promise to reward these his own gifts in vs. But this reward standeth in the mercie of God not in the merit of the worke Let vs therefore abandoning our owne merits as filthie dong hold the mercies of God in Christ to bee our righteousnes beeing assured that if the Lord shoulde enter into iudgement with vs waying our verie righteousnes in the ballance of his iustice and rewarding vs according to our deserts we should be vtterly condemned and cast awaie for euer This the Prophet Esay confirmeth where hee saith That all our righteousnes is like a menstruous clout than the which there is nothing more filthy stinking or fulsome To which sentence Saint Barnard seemeth to allude saying Ve vniuersae iusticiae nostrae si remota miserecordia iudicetur Woe be to our righteousnesse if we should be iudged with out mercie And yet the papistes are perswaded that they are not onely iustified that is pronounced iust before God freed from sinne and all punishment due for sinne but also that they merite the kingdome of heauen and euerlasting life by their good workes Yea they haue not onely good works inough to saue themselues withall but others also and these they call works of supererogation that is whē they doe moe good workes and in greater perfection than God eyther can or will require of them as I haue noted before and therefore with the ouerplus of these forsooth they will helpe their fellowes if they will paie well for them else get they none for No pennie no Pater noster And is not this a pretie matter that they can not onely saue themselues but also others to by their workes of supererogation What should a man care for doing of good workes himself when for a little monie hee may buy inough of others The fiue foolish virgines would haue bought oile of the wise but it was answered
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
they may so still that hammer anie matter or contriue anie plots against the Lords annointed in anie country or nation of the worlde whatsoeuer It is a good worke also in subiects to loue one another to praie one for another and to doo to others as they woulde wish others shoulde doo to them for this is the whole lawe and the Prophets saith our Sauiour CHRIST that is hee that loueth God aboue all things and his neighbour as himselfe fulfilleth the whole lawe And truely not without cause is it sayde that loue fulfilleth the law for if I loue my neighbor as my selfe then will I doo him no wrong neyther in worde nor deed I will speake no euill of him I will not detracte him slaunder him nor anie kinde of waie hurt or annoy him This caused our sauiour Christ to saie By this shall all men knowe that you are my disciples if yee loue one another This caused the Apostle Saint Paul to crie out Owe nothing to any man but this that you loue one another This caused the same Apostle in an other place to saie Though I speake with the tongues of men and of Angelles and haue no loue I am as a sounding brasse and tinkling cimball And though sayth hee I had the gifte of prophesie and knew all secretes and acknowledge yea if I had all faith so that I coulde remoue mountaines and yet had no loue I were nothing And though I feede the poore with all my goods and though I giue my bodie to bee burned and haue no loue it profiteth me nothing sayth this Apostle Yea such a precious thing is this loue that in the last verse of the same Chapter he preferreth it before either faith or hope and that verie worthely for faith and hope shall both cease and haue an ende when wee shall haue attained the full fruition and possession of those thinges which wee looke for after this life but loue shall euer remaine and neuer haue ende amongest the Saintes of God in the kingdome of heauen when all things else shall bee vanished awaie lyke vnto a scumme Then if wee must loue all men wee must hate none no not our verie enemies but contrariwise loue them praie for them and euery kinde of waie seeke to doo them good for so our Sauiour byddeth vs If thine enemie hunger giue him bread if he thirst giue him drinke for in so dooing thou shalt heape coales of fire vpon his head as the Apostle speaketh And in another place Christ biddeth vs Loue your enemies blesse them that curse you doo good to them that hate you for sayth hee if you loue those that loue you what great thing doo you Doe not the verye publicanes and sinners the same Wee must neither curse nor banne them as they saie nor in anie sorte seeke to bee reuenged of them what wrong so euer they haue done to vs but referre the reuenge to him who sayeth Mihi vindicta ego retribuam Vengeance is mine and I wyll rewarde For to reuenge euerie wrong and to contende for euerie strawe one with another is euen as if one member of the bodie shoulde rise vp and rebell agaynst another Therefore euen as the members of our naturall bodyes doe agree together in a most pleasant harmonie and sweete consorte doe loue one an other suffer one with another reioyce and sorrowe one with another and one helpe another in case anie bee distressed So let vs agree together one amongest another one loue an other one helpe comfort and releeue another to the vttermost of our power Let the counsell of the Apostle sinke deepe into our hartes where hee sayth Weepe with them that weepe mourne wyth them that mourne and be of like affection one towardes another Let not bruite beastes and vnreasonable creatures teach vs wysedome who loue all other of the same kinde and doe willingly conuerse with them than with any other of a cōtrary kinde Let vs not fall out amongst our selues for euery trifle nor goe to law for euery light occasion or rather many times for no occasion at all Let not the greedy Puttocks the Lawyers make you beggers and thēselues Gentlemen with your goods Let your controuersies rather be decided at home by your honest neighbors friends rather be content to lose a peece than to go to law and spend all thou hast and in the end peraduenture lose all too It is a good worke if any be falne to extreme pouerty eyther by piracy on the seas or robbing on the land by fire by death of cattell by suretiship or any other like accidēt whatsoeuer to relieue such a one to help him to restore him again to the vttermost of thy power that afterward by gods good blessing thy good meanes he may do good in the common weale thanke God for thee all days of his life after It is a good worke in euery one that is able to lend either money or goods or whatsoeuer els his neybour stādeth in neede of without vsury interest or gaine according to the saying of our Sauiour Christ lend to him that would borow not loking for any thing againe and thy reward shall be great in heauen But some are of minde that vsury is nothing els but an eating a gnawing a cōsuming an vtter vndoing of my brother for so indeed the etymology of the word soundeth so that say they as long as we eate not gnawe not nor consume not our brother though in the meane time they take neuer so much interest of hym for their money it is no vsury But if this be not a eating a gnawing a cōsuming and an vtter vndoing of my brother to take after twenty pound yea thirtie pound in the hundred as many doo then I knowe not what is But if they woulde knowe what vsurie is in deede according to the sense of the worde of God I will tell them Vsurie is anie thing ouer and aboue the principall which was lent be it neuer so lyttle eyther in monie corne grasse groundes landes meat drinke clothes or anie thing else whatsoeuer But now a dayes there is no sinne so grosse which is not blanched and smeered ouer wyth such counterfait coulours that except a man haue an eye illuminate by Gods spirite hee shall take it eyther for a vertue or at least for no sinne at all But woe bee to them sayeth the Prophet which call euill good and good euill sweete sower and sower sweete light darknesse and darknesse light I doubt these excuses and gloses will not go for paiment at the day of iudgment let them flatter themselues as much as they will in theyr foolysh imaginations It is also a good worke in euerie one to fast from sinne as much as hee he can and from all excessiue vse of meates and drinkes which might anie waie moue or stirre vp the bodie to dissolutenes and wantonnes And therefore the Papists doo belie vs in that they affirme that
in God then those who dwell in hatred rancor and malice dwell in the deuill and the deuill in them Now then whether these men dwell in God and God in them or not rather in the deuill and the deuill in them let the world iudge Agayne the same Apostle Iohn in the same place aleaged sayth If any man affirme that hee loueth God and yet hateth his brother he is a lyer and the truth is not in hym Nowe then what kynde of people these are and how vnsufferable in a common wealth who delight in nothing so much as to broch lyes slaunders against their brethren and where they heare any thing against any man without examination of the quality and property of the party that told thē of the person whome they concerne or of the matter it selfe they presently spue out their mallice in libelling pamphletting agaynst him as though all were true that is reported of euerie man These kind of fellowes are worser than the caterpillers or locusts of Aegypt who deuoured but the fruits of the earth these the good names of men yea and of such men as in comparison of whome they are notworthie to be named the same daie the others are named in They are worser than rauens or kites who will not eat theyr praie before it bee dead but they will deuour the good names of theyr brethren beeing on liue Such curre dogges woulde bee hanged vp as will snappe euerie bodie by the shinnes liuing to the hurt of all and good of none And therefore I cannot a lyttle meruayle that our graue and reuerend Bishops and other inferiour magistrates and officers to whom the ouersight and charge of such thinges are committed will either lisence which I trust they do not for I wyll hope better of them or in anie sorte tollerate such railing libels slanderous pamphlets as haue beene of late published in print one man against another to the greate dishonour of God corruption of good manners breach of charitie and in a worde to the iust offence scandall of al good christians And truely to speake my conscience freely I thinke there cannot a greater mischiefe be suffered in a common wealth than for one man to write against another and to publish it in print to the viewe of the world I wis the noble science of printing was not giuen vs to that end being indeede one of the chiefest blessings that God hath giuen to the sons of men heere vppon earth For is not this the next way to broach rancor hatred malice emulacion enuie and the like amongst men nay is not this the next way to make bloudshed and murther to rayse vp mutenies insurrections commotions and rebellions in a christian common-wealth and therefore would I wish both the bookes and the authors of them to be vtterly suppressed for euer the one by fire the other by the halter or gallowes if nothing else will serue But what should I say I can not but lament the corruption of our time for alas now adayes it is growen to be a hard matter to get a good booke licensed without staying peraduenture a quarter of a yeare for it yea sometymes two or three yeares before he can haue it allowed and in the end happyly reiected too so that that which many a good man hath studyed sore for and traueyled long in perchance all dayes of his life shall be buryed in silence and smothered vp in forgetfulnes and neuer see the light whilest in the meane tyme other bookes full of all filthines scurrilitie baudry dissolutenes cosonage cony-catching and the lyke which all call for vengeance to heauen are eyther quickely licensed or at least easily tollerate without all denyall or contradiction whatsoeuer And albeit it may be answered that such filthy baudy bookes are not licensed by the Magistrates as I thinke in deede they are not for what man can with a good conscience licence those bookes to be printed which are seared with a hote iron and branded with the blacke cole of Gods cursse yet notwithstanding as long as they tollerate or suffer them eyther to bee printed or to bee soulde in theyr Shops they are as culpable and as guiltie before God for them as the authors of them and looke what euill commeth by them they shal one day aunswere for before the tribunall seate of God because it was in them to haue suppressed them and did not But I will leaue them to theyr iudge to whome they either stand or fall and who will one day reward euery one according to his dooings It is a good worke to meditate and to thinke that this lyfe is but momentarie short and transitorie no life indeed but a shadow of a life or rather a meditation of death for so good men haue called it a pilgrimage a thorough-fare an Inne or hostrie a place of trial of aduersitie calamitie a vale of woe a sea of all afflictions and miseries The consideration of this caused the holy Iob that mirror of patience to burst forth into these speeches Man that is borne of a woman hath but a short time to liue and is ful of misery he springeth vp as a flower and is cut downe he vanisheth also as a shadow cōtinueth not It is a good worke for the children of God to set their minds of heauen and heauenly thinges to meditate of the ioyes of heauen and of the glorie prepared for such as walke here with their God in all holy obedience and christian humilitie before him Finally last of all because I would draw towards an end though there bee no end indeede of good workes it is a good worke to mortifie our carnall lusts and to slay our inordinate affections to crucify the old man with the whole bodie of sinne and to put on the new man Christ Iesus walking going on from faith to faith frō hope to hope from repentaunce to repentance from holines to holines from grace to grace from perfectiō to perfection and from one good worke to another till wee attaine to the end of our hope which is euerlasting life in the kingdome of heauen These bee those good workes indeede which as the Apostle witnesseth Christ hath ordeyned that wee shoulde walke in them These bee those good workes which Zachary prooueth to bee the ends of our redemption that wee being deliuered out of the hands of our enimies myght serue hym without feare in holynes and righteousnes all the dayes of our lyfe These are the oyle which euery Christian is to haue in hys Lampe and whiche the foolish Virgins wanting were shut out and excluded the kingdome of God These bee they that I would councell euery Christian man and woman that haue any regard of their saluacion to practise in this life leauing the Antichristian workes of the Papists as abortiues and miscreants to their father the Diuell from whome they fyrst came For perswade thy selfe whosoeuer thou art that without these
Stone and Nantwich in Chesshire for horse and man to passe Hee caused the like causie to bee made betwixt Dunchurch and Brausen in Warwikshier well nere three miles in length Hee gaue twentie pounds in monie towards the making of Royton bridge he made also foure bridges two of stone and two of timber he built also a notable free schoole at DraitoÌ„ in Shrop-shier with lands sufficient for maister and vsher for euer Moreouer hee gaue in his life time fiue hundred poundes in monie to the hospitall of Christes Church in London and an hundred pounds at his death Sir William Peter knight besides that he gaue one hundred pounds a yeere in lands to Exeter colledge in Oxford builded also ten almes houses in Ingerstone for twentie poore people euerie one of them hauing two pence a daie a winter gowne and two loads of wood amongest them all keeping for sixe kine Winter and Summer for euer William Lambe Gentleman of the Chappell to king Henrie the eight made the great conduit nere Holborne bridge in London carrying the water by pipes of lead aboue two thousand yards and this he did of his owne proper cost and charges amounting by estimation to the summe of fifteene hundred poundes The same master Lambe gaue to the parish of Saint Faiths vnder Paules in London sixe poundes thirteene shillings and foure pence yeerely to be distributed equally amongst twelue pore people euerie fridaie twelue pence in monie and twelue pence in bread for euer He gaue also to Christs hospitall yerely for euer sixe pound and an hundred pound in monie to purchase lands to the same To Saint Thomas hospitall in Southwarke hee gaue 4. pound a yeere for euer To the hospitall called the Sauor hee gaue sometimes ten pounds at once towardes the buying of bedding for the poore He gaue to the Companie of the cloth workers in London foure poundes a yeere for euer He gaue to the same companie his dwelling house and other lands to the value of thirtie pounds a yeere to hire a Minister to saie seruice euerie wednesdaie fridaie and saterdaie to preach foure sermons euerie yeere after his decease in the Church called Saint Iamesses in the wall by Cripple gate in London and also to giue to xii poore men to euerie one a freeze gowne ready made a shirt of locoram and a new paire of shooes and to twelue pore women twelue gownes of freese twelue smockes and twelue payre of shooes for euer Hee also erected a free schoole and six almes houses at Sutton Valens in Kent with sufficient allowance mayntenance for them both Hee also gaue to the townes of Ludlow and Bridgenorth to either an hundred pounds a peece to set poore men on worke withall He gaue also towardes the setting of poore men on worke in Suffolke an hundred poundes I might heere recite many moe such lyke examples of our good forefathers if I feared not to bee tedious but I will wade no further heerein at this time hoping that those fewe except we haue shakeÌ„ hands with all godlynesse made a league with death a couenant with hell as the Prophet speaketh wil yet some what serue to the stirring vp of our drousie mindes to the exercise and practise of good workes and to leaue behinde vs to the posterityes to come some fruites of our faith some seales of our profession and some pledges of our christian loue and charitie as our good ancestors haue done before vs. For is it not a shame vnto vs that our forefathers liuing in the times of superstition when poperie and Idolatrie had ouerflowed almost the whole world and hauing but as it were a glimmering of the glorious lyght of the Gospell of Christe shoulde notwithstanding so farre passe vs in good workes as that we may not once be compared to them in anie small measure Oh what a condemnation will this be vnto vs It had bin better for vs a great deale we had neuer knowen the truth than knowing it not to follow it as Christ witneseth in a certayne place if I had not come vnto them and done those works which none else could do they should haue had no sinne yea I pray God that publicanes and sinners do not goe before many of vs Protestants into the kingdome of heauen for wee talke much but walke nothing after it And therfore now at the last euen in the name of God let vs contend and striue one with another in an holy zeale if not to excel yet to match or if not to match yet to come some-what neere our forefathers in doing of good works Let vs follow the councell of Christ who sayth Let your lightes so shine before men that they seeing your good works may glorify your father which is in heauen And doubtles God is glorified by vs in nothing more than in good works being done in faith according to the word of God and in leauing of monuments and remembraÌ„ces of our christian loue and godly zeale towards the brethren behind vs. And no maruaile for in the very actioÌ„ of good works we effect three most excellent vertues christian dutiess as first we glorify God in our selues and by our selues secondly we relieue sustaine and comfort our poore brethren and thirdly we moue theyr harts their soules spirits to thank God for vs to pray for vs and to praise the Lord for his blessings bestowed vpon them in the mouing of our harts to the succoring of theÌ„ For if the goods that wee bestowe be the Lordes and not ours as without all peraduenture they are the Psalmist bearing witnes where he sayth Domini est terra plenitudo eius The earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof and the Prophet affirming the same speaking in the person of God golde is mine siluer is mine and all the riches vpon the face of the earth is mine and haue not my handes made them all and if it be God that geueth both the will and the deede as the Apostle sayth it is then great cause haue the poore soules to prayse the goodnes of God for hys fatherly care and mercifull prouidence towardes them in succouring and relieuing theyr necessities by the hande or ministery of such and such hys seruants And vppon the other side happie and blessed art thou whome God thy creator doth vse as an instrumeÌ„t to do good and to relieue his Saints vppon the earth that haue neede It is a testimonie to thy conscience that thou art a childe of grace a vessell of saluation and feaâ—â—ed vp to the day of redemption But heere peraduenture it may be obiected that these men that did these workes were for the most part Papists and therfore their deedes were naught and no better than the workes of the Turkes Infidels or Pagans I graunt that the most part of them were indeede Papists but yet it followeth not therefore that they were absolutely euill because they were done by Papists The Deuill may doe and sometimes