But hearken O foole this night perhaps thy soule shalbe taken frō thee O foole thou heapest vp riches and canst not tell who shalbe thine heire O foole Solomon made shields of gold but Rehoboam his sonne made thē of brasse O foole in one day the Arabians tooke away Iobs oxen and his Asses the fire of God burnt vp his sheepe his seruants the Caldeans tooke away his cammelles and slew his men O foole it is more easie for a cammell to goe thorowe the eye of a needle then for one that trusteth in his riches to come to heauen O foole what shall it profit thee to win the whole world loose thine owne soule O foole what recompence canst thou make to redresse thy soule o foole thou art not assured whether thou shall liue one houre O foole where thy treasure is there will thy heart be also Goe to nowe yee riche men sayth S. Iames weepe and houle for the miseries that shall come vppon you your riches are corrupt your garments are motheaten your gold and siluer is cancred and the rust of them shalbe a witnes against you shall eate your flesh as it were fire you haue heaped vpp treasures for the last dayes Take heede O yee rich and mighty you see your calling howe that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called but God hath chosen the foolish of this world to ouerthrow the wise the weake too confounde the stronger Why that no flesh should reioyce in his presence What then that he that reioyceth should reioyce in the Lord. Whom did the Lord choose for a captaine No expert souldiour but Gedeon a thresher whō made he ruler ouer Pharaos house none of the nobles but Ioseph a bonde seruāt whō made hee the first king of Iuda not any of a great house but Saule of the little tribe of Gemini and of the least familie in the tribe Whom made hee to rule his people after Saule no Prince but Dauid a shephearde whom had he to be his Prophet None of their Doctors but Amos an heardman Whō had Christ to his disciples No scribes but simple fishers Many widowes were in Israel in the dayes of Elias to none of them was he sent but to a poore widowe in Sarepta To whom was the newes of Christ his birth first brought not to Herode not to Pilate not Annas or Caiphas but to shepheardes yea and very poore shepheards for they kept their sheepe in the field all night God woulde not haue his Altar made in a kinges court but in poore Oruan his threshing flowre the Lorde would not haue his temple in Euphrata a plentiful soyle but in the wood a barren wildernesse This was done that God might haue al the glory Of Sara being barren came Isaack of Annah whose wombe was dead came Samuel of Elizabeth with whom it had ceased to be after the maner of women came Iohn Baptist And this was done that GOD might haue all the glory The Lorde gate victories for his people with an Oxe goade with pitchers with Rāmes hornes with a iawe bone of an asse with one sword with a stone out of a sling and this was done that GOD might haue all the glorie Diseases were healed by spittle by touching the hemme of a garment by a napkin by a shadow and this was doone that GOD might haue all the glorie For there was no vertue in Shamgars oxe goade nor in Ionathans sworde nor in Sampsons Iawe bone nor in Dauids stone wherewith they ouercame the Philistines no vertue in Gedeons pitchers wherewith he ouercame Oreb and Zeb no power in the Trumpets of Rammes hornes wherewith the walles of Iericho fell downe there was no vertue eyther in the hem of Christes garment or in his spittle or in Paules napkin or in Peters shadowe wherewith diseases were cured no vertue in Aarons rod wherewith the dust of Egypt was turned into lice no power in Moses hand wherewith the red sea was deuided no vertue in the Priests feete or Elias his mantle wherewith Iordane was deuided yet all these thinges were done by such bare base weake simple meanes that no man should trust in the arme of flesh that no man should seeke for any meate that perisheth and that God in all things might only haue the glory Let vs now call to mind those excellent names and titles wherwith the holy Ghost in the holy bible doth name vs the remembrance and consideration whereof will somwhat withdrawe vs from labouring for that meate which perisheth Wee are called Angelles and Saintes Priestes and a kingely priesthoode Kinges and a royall nation seruauntes of GOD friendes of God sonnes of God heyres of GOD and fellowe heyres with Iesus Christ are wee Angelles and Saintes let vs then seeke the thinges that are aboue Are we Priestes and a kingly Priesthoode let vs then offer vp our bodyes a liuely sacrifice and not labour for the meat thereof Are we kinges and a royall nation let vs then lift vp our eyes to heauen and not cast our faces down to the earth lyke abiectes and bondeslaues Are we seruantes of God wee cannot serue God and riches Are wee friendes of God the friendshippe of this worlde is enmitie with God Are we sonnes of God heires of God and fellowe heires with Iesus Christ let vs then with our brother the prodigal son come home from feeding of swine that we may haue the best robe on our back a ring on our finger shooes on our feet the fatte calfe killed for vs to eate and drinke to singe daunce and be merye with our elder brother Iesus Christe who sitteth in that house which hath many mansions preparing roome for vs. We were chaf but now we are wheat we were drosse but now we are golde we were rauens but now we are doues wee were goates but now we are sheep we were thornes now we are grapes we were thistels now we are lillies we were straungers nowe are we citizens wee were harlots now are we virgins hell was our inheritaunce nowe heauen is our possession we were the children of wrath we are the sons of mercie Finally we were bondslaues to Satan but nowe we are heires of God and coheires with Iesus Christ We were once fet home from going astray let vs not agayne returne to the wildernesse the candel was once lighted for vs let vs not againe fall into darke holes wine oyle were once powred into our woundes let vs not by wandring fal again into hands of theeues We were once founde let vs not agayne loose our selues Wee were once made aliue let vs not againe kil our selues Christ was once crucified for vs that we should onely reioyce in the crosse of Iesus Christ whereby the worlde is crucified to vs and we to the world let vs not crucifie to our selues again the sonne of God make a mock of him The bodies of those beasts whose blood was brought into the
if a man be content with that hee hath Secondly wee brought nothing into this worlde neither shall wee cary any thing out Thirdly they that wilbe rich fal into temptation snares into many foolish noisome lusts which drown men in perditiō destruction 4. the desire of mony is the roote of al euil which while some lusted after they erred from the faith and pearced themselues thorough with many sorowes But I heare you say we labour for the meate of the soule we heare the word we loue the Gospel we imbrace the preachers thereof we haue forsaken the Popes yoke and cast of the whores marke I woulde to God many did not so euen for the meate that perisheth to keep their lāds houses liuings libertie countenance the Gospell hath peace quietnes fruition of goodes and lands I wil therfore be a Gospeller Satā was deceiued in Iob. I fear that if I shuld say as he saide I should not altogether erre I wold I might lord doth this people feare thee for nought hast not thou made an hedge about them made their house made their substance to increase in the land but stretch forth thine hand and trouble that they haue they will curse thee to thy face A man so God may haue many friends in time of peace prosperitie but in time of aduersitie persecutiō thē is a friend tried Wheat chaff wil go together vntil they come to the flayle golde and drosse will goe together vntill they come to the fire rust and yron will goe together vntill they come to the scourer but then farewell wheate and farewel chaffe farewel gold and farewel drosse farewell rust and farewell yron Are not now many zealous for the Gospell as Demetrius the siluer smith was hot in mainteining Diana was he so zealous because hee loued Diana or her religion No no but because as he confessed he had his liuing by making of shrines for the goddesse The young man wil folow Christ vntill he come to this fell thy goodes then farewell Christ take vp your crosses saieth Christ lay down your purses and folow me Why were the Priests of Babilon marke whether this bee not true in the priests of Rome so furious against Daniell speaking against Bell was it for loue and zeale they bare to Bell no no there was spent vpon Bell euery night 108. gallons of fine flowre 40. sheepe and 60. gallons of wine The Priestes should haue lost this if Bell had gone down This was the cause of their fury zeale They serued God Bell in the day but God belly in the night wee serue God belly day and night they sayde great art thou O Bell and with thee there is no deceite We cry great art thou O belly and with thee there is no deceite thou eatest vp all Philopenus is nowe euery where who desired hee might haue a necke as long as a Cranes necke But where is Peter Andrew Iames Iohn Mathew who forsooke all and followed Christ Yea but Zacheus gaue but halfe his goods to the poore why did he not geue al Because as Chrisostome noteth the other halfe he reserued to render foure folde if hee had defrauded any man as hee himselfe promised Nay Christ shalbee welcome among the Gergesens but if they loose an hogge I pray you sir departe your roome is better than your companie Great was the loue and zeale of Ornam who gaue bullockes to Dauid and made fire with his threshing instrumēts Great was the loue and zeale of Elizeus who when Elias called him slewe oxen did seeth them with the instrumentes of the oxen But we must doe more then this if our right hand or eye offend vs we must cut them off and pull them out What shall I say the end of the world must needs be at hand because that men doe so loue thēselues To heare of warres saith our Sauiour to haue pestilence famine earthquakes these are but the beginnings of sorowe but when besides these iniquitie shal haue the vpper hand and the loue of men shall fayle then behold he is at the doores In that the preachers of gods word are so neglected and so litle prouided for doth proue that the Lord is at hand and wil shortly take vengeance I would all Magistrates and Patrones of benefices would folow the example of good king Ezechias who in the first yeeare yea the first moneth of his reigne did command the people to giue a part to the Priestes Leuites that they might be encouraged in the lawe of the Lorde Liuinges are not geuen they are solde as common as oysters at Byllingesgate This is the cause that Ministers are not nor cannot be so liberal as their predecessors haue been yea this is the cause why doltes ignorant Asses idle idole Shepheardes haue the liuinges I call thē Idols I wil proue it They haue eyes and see not eares and heare not handes and minister not tongues and speake not I was about to say they haue mouthes eate not but then I shoulde haue slaundered them In this I confesse they are not Idols A good scholer and an honest godlie minister will rather beg then buy your liuinges O yee robbe Churches whose portion shalbe fire and brimstone too drinke for you are the causes why many thousands of soules haue perished of you O the benefice mongers shall be required not hand for hand or eye for eye but blood for blood life for life and soule for soule You make the ministers your seruing men you make them iourney men they haue the name you haue the profite they the straw but you haue the corne nay you haue some straw also I could somwhat beare this if here by they for whom Christ died were not famished therefore in bitternesse of spirite in griefe of hearte in vexation of conscience and in torment of my soule I speake it that euen nowe I doe see as it were Pharaoh king of Egypt rising vppe to condemne you Who when hee solde all the lande of Egypt gaue straight commaundement that no one foote of the Priestes landes shoulde bee solde Reade the hystorie Hadd hee suche care for Idolatrous Priestes and haue you no more care for the Ministers of Iesus Christ Are you Protestantes you Gospellers you Christians You are Athistes Epicures that say in your hearts there is no God But perhaps fewe are heere of whom I speake let me vtter a few words to you merchant men whom I see present and so I will end Although Mercurie who was supposed to bee the God of merchants had winges on his feet and had alwayes a cocke by his side to signifie that merchantes shoulde be swift in their businesse should be vigilant as the cock or rise at the cocke crowing yet labour not to greedily to carefully for this meat for as the good hath in one hand a scepter to giue kingdōs wealth riches so he is pictured to
A spirite hath not flesh bone as you see mee haue Somtime carnall lustes and affections as whatsoeuer is borne of fleshe is fleshe somtime it doth signifie the whole man body and soule as all fleshe shall see the saluation of GOD that is mankinde and againe I will powre out of my spirite vpon all fleshe that is men And so in this place the worde was made flesh that is man Damnable therefore is the heresie of the Maniches who helde that Christes bodye was brought from heauen and put into the virgins womb damnable also is the heresie of the Arrians who saide that his body was made of nothing and that he had not his flesh of the virgin Athanasius willeth Epictetus Bishop of Corinth to ioyne these wordes of the Angel in Matthewes gospell that which is conceaued in her is of the holy Ghost with these wordes of the Angell in Lukes Gospel that holy thing that shalbe born of thee shalbe called the sonne of God Christe was conceaued in her therefore his body came not from heauen Christe was borne of her therfore his body was not made of nothing Secondly he doth cal himselfe the sonne of mā signifiyng that he was subiect to al infirmitity that happē to man sin only excepted For he was hungry he was thirstie he was werie he sorowed he wept he did sweate water blood he suffered the most vile and approbrious death the death of the crosse Lastly hee calleth himselfe the sonne of man as though he were acounted the vilest man in the worlde Beholde I who was borne in a stall laide in a manger poore needy contemned whome they call the Carpenter and the Carpenters sonne beholde I the sonne of man will giue euerlasting life vnto you Nowe if the sonne of man doth giue euerlasting life howe is it that he made this answere to Iames and Iohn to sit at my right hande and at my left hande is not mine to giue but it shall bee giuen to them for whom it is prepared of my father Againe he shall say Come ye blessed of my father inioy you the kindome of my father He saith not my blessed nor my kingdome but blessed of my father and the kingdome of my father and in the fifth of Iohn hee saide I can doe nothing of my selfe Wherfore if he cannot giue to sit at his right or left hande if the kingdome bee not his if he can doe nothing of himselfe how doth he heare promise euerlasting life he saieth blessed of my father the kingdome of my Father I can doe nothing of my selfe because he woulde as man giue to the father all the glory My father hath appoynted these thinges to giue before the beginning of the world I am not now to bestow thē they shalbe giuen to them for whom it is prepared of my father But yet this is true as many as receiued him to them he gaue prerogatiue to be the sonnes of God euen to them that beleeue in his name We are sonnes by nature so we are the sonnes of Adam we are sonnes by discipline so we are the sonnes of Christ we are sonnes by adoption and so we are brothers to Christ and sonnes of God Heare doe the Papists gather that euerlasting life is due vnto vs by desert because by labouring or working for the meate of the soule we get euerlasting life I purpose not to entreat of the controuersie Christ doeth take away all doubt in these words following whē he saieth that hee will giue this life for whatsoeuer we haue of gift that is not of merit They are opposite as Paule saieth By grace you are saued through fayth and that not of your selues it is the gift of God yea by euill workes we deserue death and by good workes we deserue life according to the Maxima of the Logicians But if I followe Paule I must deny the argument for the wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is euerlasting lyfe through Iesus Christ our Lord. Moses did shewe vnto the Iewes the lande of promyse but hee could not bring them into it that was left for Ioshua euen so the law is a scholemaister to bring vs to christ it cannot purchase euerlasting lyfe that is left for Iesus whose office it is to giue euerlasting life and therfore he was sealed of the Father and this is the confirmation taken from the office and functiō of Iesus christ he saith of himself I came not into the world to iudge the world but to saue the world He came not as Herod thought to put him out of his kingdome not to giue Dukedomes and Lordshippes as Iames and Iohn thought not to restore the earthly kingdome to Israell as his Disciples thought not to be a King as the Iewes would haue made him not to call the righteous as the phariseies thought but sinners to repentaunce as we all beleeue For to this purpose hath his father giuen to him his seale he hath sealed him Hereby wee are able to answere all obiections that the deuil al the kingdome of hell is able to lay against vs and say if God be on our side who can be against vs it is christ that iustifieth who shall condemne vs. Hee hath the broad seale of his father to this purpose who can disanull it by this seale we are sealed also as the Apostle saieth grieue not the holy spirite of God by whome ye are sealed vnto the day of redemption by outward exercises we may doubt of others but by this seale the prynte whereof is in our hearts we may assure our selues of euerlasting lyfe Doest thou sacrifice thou doest well so did Abel and so did Cain doest thou prophecie so did Samuell and so did Saul art thou baptised so was christ and so was Simon Magus dost thou cōmunicate so did Simon and so did Iudas dost thou pray in the temple so did the Publican and so did the Pharisie therfore the holy Gost is a seale authentical in our own hearts wherby we may examine try and proue our selues whether we be the sonns of God or reprobates Caine had a marke to be known Esau being rough was known from Iacob being smoth the Lord hath a mark for his enemies and the Lord knoweth who are his The Gileadite by Shibboleth was knowne from the Ephraimite by Shibboleth the 500. valiant men by lapping water like dogges were known from the cowardes who kneeled lapped as Rahab was knowe by binding a red corde about her window as they were saued that had the letter tau on them as the Angell passed from them that had the blood sprinckled on their postes as they were not hurt that had the seale of God in their foreheades so we are known so we are saued so the Angell doth passe from vs so we are not hurt which haue the seale of the holy Gost in our hearts wherby we can