dead It is reported of the zealous and learned Martyr u Fox Mart. fol. 855. Ioannes Mollius that he neuer spake of the name Iesu but instantly teares dropt from his eyes And surely the due consideration of Christs all-sufficient oblation and sacrifice for all our sinnes on the Crosse should make vs abhorre those masse-mongers and to say with our x Psal 139.21 Prophet Doe not I hate them O Lord that hate thee and am not I grieued with those that rise vp against thee yea Lord I hate them right sore euen as though they were mine enemies But the maine poynt of their foolish wisedome is the prohibiting of the Scriptures in a vulgar and knowne tongue y Iohn 5.39 Christ saith expressely Search the Scriptures Antichrist on the contrary z Ex registro Ioh. Longland Episc Linc. fol. 85. apud Fox Mart. fol. 763. the reading of holy Scriptures is against the determination of the Church As long as Lay-men are kept from the light of the Gospell and Lanterne of the Lawe they cannot spiritually discerne their Priests erroneous doctrines and doings Herein the popish Clergy doth vse the foppish Laity like as the a Iudg. 16.25 Philistines handled Samson first they put out their eies and then being blind-fold they make pastime with all degrees of them euen with Emperours and Kings and b 2. Thes 2.3 all that is called God I haue heard often and read c Dr. Carleton directions to know the true Church pa. 40. also that Cardinall Caietan comming into Paris and seeing the blinde people very desirous of his blessing and therein vndoubtedly the Popes he turned to them and said Quandoquidem hic populus decipi vult decipiatur in nomine diaboli that is seeing this people will needs be deceiued let them be deceiued in the name of the diuell and so gaue them the Popes blessing In these poynts and many moe the Papists albeit neuer so learned haue bad vnderstanding and the reason hereof is plaine because they haue changed the rule of faith d Concil Tridēt idem Bell. lib. de verbo Dei non scripto cap. 3. §. contro cap. 4. § nunc vt 12 §. dico secundo adding to the Scriptures vnwritten traditions and honouring them with equall affection of deuotion and reuerence and so consequently worshiping God after their own inuentions and not according to the prescript of his holy faith and feare The praise of it endures for euer Or as other Translations his praise referring it e Bucer Agellius either to God or else to the man who feares God f Chrysost Euthym. Some Diuines ascribe this praise to God alone g Genebr in loc in Psal 148.13 because Tehilla properly signifieth onely that kinde of praise which is due to God and so they make this clause to containe both a h Melancth Mollerus precept and a promise Precept exhorting vs to praise God with all our heart both in the secret assemblies of the faithfull and in the publike congregation And so this Hymnes end doth answere the beginning and the Text in euery poynt the title Now lest any man in executing this office should be discouraged the Prophet addeth a promise Gods praise doth endure for euer as if he should haue said The Lord is i Psal 99.1 King be the people neuer so impatient the Lord is k Kings 18.31 God albeit the l Psal 2.1 Gentiles furiously rage together and the Iewes imagine a vaine thing the Kings of the earth stand vp and the Rulers combine themselues against him He that dwelleth in heauen hath all his enemies in derision and makes them all his footestoole his power is for euer and so consequently his praise shall endure for euer in the militant Church vnto the worlds end in the triumphant world without end Most interpretours haue referred this vnto the good man who feares the Lord yet diuersly m In loc Saint Augustine expoundeth it thus his praise that is his praising of the Lord shall endure for euermore because he shall bee one of them of whom it is said Psal 84.4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will be alwaies praising thee n Arnobius Dr. Incognitus Bellarmine R. Stephanus Tileman Other vnderstand by o His that is their praise who feare the Lord and doe thereafter the singular for the plurall Bucer his praise the commendation of the good man both in the life present and in that which is to come for his righteousenesse shall be had in an euer lasting remembrance Psal 112.6 Concerning the present howsoeuer the name of the wicked rot either in obliuion or in ignominie yet p Prou. 10.7 the memoriall of the iust is blessed it is like the composition of the perfume made by the skill of the Apothecary sweet as hony in all mouthes and as musicke at a banquet of wine r Buchanan Hunc ventura nepotum semper dicent secla Beatum Or as Beza Hic sapit hic demum mansura laude fruetur q Eccles 49.1 parere qui Deo studet In the world to come the Lord will say to such as louing his feare haue liued thereafter ſ Mat. 25.21 It is well done good seruant and faithfull enter into thy Masters ioy to become the peoples Saint and to be commended of the most is not alwaies honourable Non minus periculum ex magna fama said t In vita Agric. Tacitus quà m ex mala That commendation is onely true glory which as u Tusc quaest li. 3 Cicero speakes is Consentiens laus bonorum incorrupta vox bene Iudicantium And therefore to bee praised by the most worthy of all honor and praise the Lord most high and most holy surpasseth all the wickeds glozing all this worlds glory Now then I demaund of the worldling what is the most high and deepe poynt of wisedome is it to get an opulent fortune to be so wise as fiftie thousand pounds behold godlinesse is great gaine saith x 1 Tim. 6.6 Paul and the Christian onely rich quoth the renowned y Clem. Paedag. lib. 3. Catechist of Alexandria Is it to liue ioyfully or to vse the gallants phrase Iouially behold z Psal 97.11 there is ioyfull gladnesse for such as are true-hearted A wicked man in his madde-merry humor for a while may be Pomponius Laetus but a good man onely is Hilarius onely hee which is faithfull in a Psal 64.10 Prou. 13.9 heart is ioyfull in heart Is it to get honour the praise of Gods feare saith our Text endures for euer many worthies of the world are most vnhappy because they be commended where they be not and tormented where they be hell rings of their paines earth of their praise but b Psal 112.1 blessed is the man that feareth the Lord for his commendation is both here lasting and hereafter euerlasting in this world renowned amongst
AN EXPOSITION OF THE PROPER PSALMES VSED IN OVR English Liturgie TOGETHER WITH A REASON WHY THE CHVRCH did chuse the same By IOHN BOYS Doctor of Diuinitie The first part explaining the Psalmes appointed to be read on Christmas and Easter day PSALM 49.4 Aperiam in Psalterio propositionem meam AT LONDON Imprinted by FELIX KYNGSTON for VVilliam 〈…〉 TO THE RELIGIOVS AND EVERY WAY NOBLE KNIGHT SIR THOMAS WOTTON of Bocton Malherbe Sonne and heire to the right honourable EDVVARD Lord WOTTON Baron of Marleigh Comptroller of his Maiesties household Lord Lieutenant of the Countie of Kent and the Citie of Canterburie and one of the most Honorable Priuie Counsell SIR as the Scriptures excel other writings in veritie so the Psalmes other Scriptures in varietie for whereas some sacred bookes are legall as the Pentateuchue of Moses other historicall as the Kings Chronicles Acts a third kinde Propheticall as the Vision of Esay Sermons of Jeremie Reuelation of Saint John a fourth Euangelicall as the Gospels and Epistles the Psalter as a Prolog in lib. 3 Psalmorum Augustine b Hom. de laudibus virtute Psalm Basile c Praefat. in Psalm Euthymius and d Athanasius Chrysostom other ancient Doctors honour it is a common treasure-house of all good arguments and instructions and in this respect aptly tearmed e Caluin epist praefix Com. in Psalm The Soules Anatomie the f Tremel argument in Psalm Lawes Epitomie the g See Victorinus Strigellius epist Dedicat. Tilemanus Heshusius praefat in Psalm Gospels Jndex in one word The h Turrecremat prolog in Psalm Register i Io. Gaineius epist lect in od Dauid Enchiridion k Ex ceteris omnibus quasi Collectus Hen. Mollerus praefat in Psalm Summarie pith and as it were l Agellius prolog in Psalm Briefe of the whole Bible Vpon this ground the Church in m Preface Com. Booke old time diuiding the Psalmes into seuen portions inioyned that they should bee read in diuine seruice thorough once euery Weeke and in our time parting them into thirtie once euery Moneth where as other parts of holy writ are read thorough but once in the yeere And the Nouelists howsoeuer they mislike bare reading of Chapters approue notwithstanding by their positions and practise singing of Psalmes in the Congregation By which it doth appeare that nothing is esteemed generallie more necessarie for the worshippe of God then the word of God and no parcell of the word more full and fit then the Psalmes vnto which I will adde that no Psalmes are more profitable then the proper as vnfoulding the foure chiefe mysteries of holy beliefe namely Christs Jncarnation Passion Resurrection Ascension An exposition whereof I haue begun in the name of the Lord Iesus and that for his Sions sake the which I dedicate to your worthie selfe as being a noble Theophilus that is a true seruant of God and obseruant of his Church affected so right honestly which is right honorably to her doctrine and discipline that your humble Comportament in Gods house giueth vnto the world good hope that you will become an open booke of vnfained deuotion and pietie Now the God of all comfort according to the multitude of his mercies and riches of his glorie blesse you and your Honourable Familie that you may long enioy good dayes on earth and hereafter eternall happinesse in Heauen Yours in all good offices of dutie and loue IOHN BOYS Hollingbourn April 2. CHRISTMAS DAY Morning Prayer PSALME 19. The Heauens declare the glorie of God c. THE World resembleth a Diuinitie-Schoole saith a Com. de tranquil animi Plutarch and Christ as the b Matth. 23.8 Scripture telleth is our Doctor instructing vs by his workes and by his words For as c Tull. lib. 5. de finibus Aristotle had two sorts of writings one called Exoterical for his common auditors another Acroamatical for his priuate schollers and familiar acquaintance so God hath two sorts of books as Dauid intimates in this Psalm namely The Booke of his Creatures as a Common-place booke for all men in the world The heauens declare the glorie of God vers 1.2.3.4.5.6 The Booke of his Scriptures as a statute-booke for his domesticall auditorie the Church The law of the Lord is an vndefiled law v. 7 8 c. The great booke of the Creatures d Du Barias 1. day 1. weeke in folio may bee termed aptly the Sheepheards Kalender and the Ploughmans Alphabet in which euen the most ignorant may runne as the e Abacuc 2.2 Prophet speakes and reade It is a Letter Patent or open Epistle for all as Dauid in our text Their sound is gone out into all lands and their words into the ends of the world there is neither speech nor language but haue heard of their preaching For albeit heauen and the Sunne in heauen and the light in the Sunne are mute yet their f Non loquuntur quidem vt homines tamen velut loquentes à nobis intelligūtur Tremel in loc voyces are well vnderstood g Athenagoras orat pro Christianis Catechizing plainly the first elements of religion as namely h Thom. part 1. quaest 12. art 12. Caietan ibidem that there is a God and that this God is but one God and that this one God excelleth all other things infinitly both in might and maiestie Vniuersus mundus as i Cardinal Cusanus one pithily nihil aliud est quà m Deus explicatus The whole world is nothing else but God exprest So Saint Paul Rom. 1.20 Gods inuisible things as his eternall power and Godhead are cleerely seene by the creation of the world being vnderstood by the things that are made The heauens declare this and the firmament sheweth this and the day telleth this and the night certifieth this the sound of the thunder proclameth as it were this in all lands and the words of the whistling winde vnto the ends of the world More principally the Sunne which as a bridegrome commeth out of his chamber and reioyceth as a giant to runne his course The k Victorinus Strigel in loc Vide Bellar. de ascensione mentis in deum per scalas Creat grad 7. cap. 2. body thereof as Mathematicians haue confidently deliuered is 166. times bigger then the whole earth and yet it is euery day carried by the finger of God so great a iourney so long a course that if it were to be taken on the land it should runne euery seuerall houre of the day 225 Germane miles It is true that God is incapable to sense yet hee makes himselfe as it were visible in his workes as the diuine l Du Bartas vbi sup fol. 6. Poet sweetly Therein our fingers feele our nostrils smell Our palats taste his vertues that excell He shewes him to our eyes talkes to our eares In the ordered motions of the spangled spheares So the heauens declare m Placidus
Israelites are the land of the Lord and the captiuity here mentioned is bondage vnder sinne so Paul Rom. 7.23 I see another law in my members rebelling against the law of my minde and leading me captiue vnto the law of sinne which is in my members O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of this death In this captiuity Satan is the Iaylor the flesh is our prison vngodly lusts are the manicles a bad conscience the tormentor all of them against vs onely Christ is Emmanuel God with vs he turneth away the captiuity of Iacob in forgiuing all his offences and in couering all his sinnes For the blessed order of our redemption is x Bellarmin briefly this God out of his meere loue to the world quia bene voluit terrae gaue his sonne the sonne by his death appeased the wrath of his Father and abundantly satisfied the diuine iustice for the sinnes of the whole world God pleased in his sonne Iesu forgiueth all our offences and couereth all our sinnes and remission of sinne releaseth our captiuity Whosoeuer then is a true beleeuer in Christ is the Lords y 1. Cor. 7.22 free-man z See Aquin. lect 4. in Rom. 7. in this life so set at liberty that sinne shall not raigne in his mortall members Rom. 6.12 but in the world to come fully free from all corruption and concupiscence when as his vile body shall bee made like to Christs glorious body Philip. 3.21 the which is called by Paul the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God Rom. 8.21 Turne vs then O God our Sauiour Heere begins the a Bucer Bellarmin petition or b Genebrardus application of the former prophecy wherein the Church heartily desires the father of mercies that he would execute his holy promise concerning our deliuerance by sending his onely Sonne and our only Sauiour Christ Iesus into the world Where as it is said in the prophecie Thou hast turned away the captiuitie of Iacob it is said in the Prayer Turne vs then O God our Sauiour In the prophecie Thou hast taken away all thy displeasure and turned thy selfe from thy wrathfull indignation in the Prayer Let thine anger cease from vs wilt thou be displeased at vs for euer and wilt thou stretch out thy wrath from one generation to another In the prophecie Thou hast been fauourable to thy land thou hast for giuen the offences of thy people and couered all their sinnes in the Prayer Quicken vs O Lord that thy people may reioyce in thee shew vs thy mercie and grant vs thy saluation c Euthym. that is thy Sonne Iesus d Acts 4.12 by whom onely thou sauest The whole Prayer hath as e D. Incognitus one notes two parts 1. The Churches request vnto God that the Messias of the world may come and that for foure causes especially 1. For our reconciliation vnto God vers 4.5 2. For our iustification vers 6.7 3. For our illumination vers 8. 4. For our glorification vers 9. 2. Gods grant to the request of his Church in the fulnes of time Mercie and truth are met together c. I will hearken what the Lord will say The word of God is a lanterne vnto our feete and a light vnto our paths a trustie f Psal 119.24 counseller in all our affaires in our afflictions especially The Lord speakes peace vnto his people both in the bookes of his holy Scriptures and by the mouthes of his godly g Tileman in loc Preachers And therefore such as h 1. Thess 5.20 despise prophecying for some by-respects of tithes and other worldly toyes hate their learned and vigilant Pastors i Luke 19.42 vnderstand not these things which belong vnto their peace It was euer held commendable policie both among Christians and Heathens that a good thing for the Common-weale should be broached by the gratious lip of some man highly honoured in his countrie because his precept is vsually dis-respected whose person is despised And this among other is one cause why some men in Gods house during the time of praying and preaching prattle so much vnto their mates or if their pew-fellow be more deuout prate by nods and fleares and other secret signes vnto their lewd companions further off It is hard for any said Plutarch to change himselfe so much but that a man at one time or other may catch his heart at the tip of his tongue and so surely no hypocrite can so deeply dissemble but a man euer and anon may see his heart at his fingers end his wandring lookes and other irreuerent behauiour in the Temple bewray that his soule doth not magnifie the Lord nor his spirit reioyce in God his Sauiour When thou commest into the Sanctuary thou must either in thy deuotions speake vnto God or else heare what God by his ministrie speaketh vnto thee It is the fashion of worldlings to sue their neighbors for euery trifling trespasse but a true Christian is resolued here with our Prophet I will heare what the Lord God will say concerning me Now hee saith k 1. Cor. 6.5 Is it so that there is not a wise man among you no not one that can iudge betweene his brethren but a brother goeth to law with a brother and that vnder such aduocates and Iudges l Saluianus lib. 5 de gubernat dei qui hac lege defendunt miseros vt miseriores faciant defendendo like the thornie bush fleecing the poore sheepe which in a storme commeth vnto it for shelter It is the fashion of worldlings if they lose goods out of their closet or cattell out of their Close presently to rake hell for help consulting with abominable witches and other wicked agents of the diuell but a good Christian on the contrary saith I will heare what the Lord will say He saith in his law m Exod. 22.18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to liue Shall I then forsake God who n Deut. 33.26 rideth vpon the heauens for my helpe and the Magistrate Gods deputie to o Rom. 13.4 take vengeance on him that doth euil and seeke comfort at the hands of a Coniurer by blacke Arts and workes of darknesse No Satan if thou wouldest in consideration of my little losse giue me my house full of siluer and gold or couldest as once thou diddest impudently boast vnto my blessed Sauiour bestow on me p Matth. 4.9 all the kingdomes of the world q Numb 22.18 I cannot goe beyond the word of the Lord my God to doe lesse or more It is the fashion of worldlings when their consciences afflict them at any time for sinne to see merry plaies or reade merry bookes or heare merry tales or take merrie cups and so they make the remedie worse commonly then the disease But a good man and a true Christian heares what the Lord saith vnto him in his word and ministrie r Psal 50.15 Call vpon
the daughter of Sion in his wrath and cast downe from heauen vnto the earth Israels glory Lam. 2.1 that the barbarous ſ Apocal. 20.8 Gog and Magog are now lords of that somtime holy land Hierusalem in old time the City of God is now being possessed by the Turkes nothing else but a den of theeues Ergo Christ is that promised Messias it is t Mat. 11.3 he that should come neither need wee looke for another Be thou ruler in the midst among thine enemies By u Agellius Bellarmin rod is meant Christs scepter because strong rods are for the scepters of them that beare rule Ezech. 19.11 and Ier. 48.17 How is the strong staffe broken and the beautifull rod And by his scepter is meant his power and the word is that his power by which he rules in the middest of all his enemies conuerting such enemies as appertain to Gods election and confounding such enemies as are the sonnes of perdition his Gospell is vnto the one the sauour of life vnto life and to the other the sauour of death vnto death 2. Cor. 2.16 The blessed Apostles preached the Gospell in the middest of their enemies x Chrysost Euthym. as being sheepe in the middest of woolues Mat. 10.16 And y Lib. 1. cap. 2. 3. Irenaeus who liued in the next age witnesseth also that the Church encreased in Egypt Lybia France Spaine Germanie comparing the light of the Gospell vnto the Sun illuminating all men excepting such as are lost hauing their mindes blinded by the Prince of this world 2. Cor. 4.4 In all after times vnto this present day Christ ruled and his kingdome florished in despite of all his enemies in the middest of Atheists in the middest of Infidels in the middest of Heretikes in the middest of Hypocrits in the middest of Tyrants in the middest of Turkes in the middest of Anti-christs At the worlds end when our blessed Sauiour sitting at his Fathers right hand shall vtterly z 1. Cor. 15.19 put downe all things vnder his feete the good shall be separated from the bad as a shepheard separates the sheepe from the goates Matth. 25.32 But so long as the world that a 1. Iohn 5.19 lieth in wickednesse continueth the b Matth. 13.30 wheate groweth among tares and the Church is euer as a lilie among c Cant. 2.2 thornes assaulted on the one side by vnbeleeuers and on the other side by mis-beleeuers On the left hand by the blasphemous propositions of Heretikes on the right hand by the contentious oppositions of Schismatikes openly wronged by cut-throate tyrants and secretly wringed by backbyting hypocrites d Lib. de re rustica Varro writes that the Romanes in old time did ouercome their enemies sedendo but the Romanists in our time think to make their enemies as it were their footstoole caedendo by dagge and dagger by powder-plots and powder-shots by fire force furie Yet notwithstanding Christ is a Ruler and his subiects are e Rom. 8.37 more then Conquerours in the very middest of Anti-christianisme For the beheadding of Martyrs is like the f Iustin Mart. in dialog cum Tryphon cutting of vines the more they bee cut the more they prosper and fructifie The g Baro ius praefat tom 8. annal Church faith as Paul 2. Cor. 12.10 When I am weake then am I strong h Loc com tit de Luthero Martin Luther assisted doubtlesse by Gods owne spirit so little regarded the bloodie Papists in the quarrel of Christs Gospel as that he said peremptorily Contemptus est à me Romanus furor feruor And therfore being aduised by some good friends that he would not aduenture himselfe to be present at the meeting of the Germane Princes at Wormes he did answere them in this wise For as much as I am sent-for I am resolued and certainly determined to enter Wormes in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ although I knew there were so many diuels to resist me as there are tyles to couer all the houses in Wormes Fox Martyr fol. 776. And B. i Mr. Fox in his martyrdome Latymer being brought to the stake was so wel assured that Christ euen by his weakenesse should rule in the middest of his enemies as that vpon the kindling of the first fagot hee said to his fellow martyr Bishop Ridley Courage brother Ridley we shal by Gods grace this day light such a candle in England as I hope shall neuer be put out againe In the day of thy power shall the people offer thee freewill offrings Christ by the preaching of his word subdueth vnto himselfe a good and a great people Good They shall offer thee free-will offerings with an holie worship Great The dew of thy birth is of the wombe of the morning In the daies of thy power k Caluin that is in the daies of thy solemne assemblies in the daies of thy l Tremellius Gospell vntill thou shalt ouercome thine enemies with the m 2. Thess 2.8 spirit of thy mouth and abolish thē with the brightnes of thy cōming thy people shall offer free-will offerings vnto thee n Melanct. Mollerus Tileman not enforced by law but cōming out of loue not out of fashion or factiō but in pure deuotion and cheerefull obedience They shall appeare before thee with an holy worship or as our new translation in the beauties of holinesse that is in thy o Tremel Wilcox Temple which is a glorious Sanctuary Psal 29.2 p Agellius Or in a holinesse equalling the holinesse of thy Sanctuary for good Christians are the temples of God 1. Cor. 3.16 Or by beauties of holinesse he meaneth happily the q Tileman Melancthon Mollerus Priests garment insinuating that Christs elect people should be named r Esay 61.6 the Priests of the Lord a chosen generation a royall Priesthood an holy nation a peculiar people shewing foorth the vertues of him that hath called them out of darknesse into marueilous light 1. Pet. 2.9 The summe of all is that the subiects of his kingdome shall appeare before him in ſ Genebrard all kinde of sanctitie t Bellarm. resplendent in holinesse and shining in good workes as lights in the world Philip. 2.15 If all Christs people then offer him free-will offerings with an holy worship hee will not abide such as are hypocrites who serue the truth only to serue their turne u Psal 50.16 taking his couenant in their mouth yet hate to be reformed x Bradford in a letter to the City of London To the petition let thy kingdome come wee must adioyne thy will be done done on earth as it is in heauen Hee will as S. y Apoc. 3.16 Iohn telleth vs spue such out of his mouth as are neither hot nor cold mungrils in religion z 1. Kings 18.21 halting betweene God and Baal hauing as the a Hosea 10.2 Prophet speaks a diuided heart an heart and an
z Mat. 28.18 all power in heauen and earth he shall sit vpon the Throne of Dauid for euer and of his kingdome there is no end Luk. 1.33 2. Other Kings haue power onely ouer our bodies and goods but Christs authority reacheth vnto the soule Their sword is materiall able onely to kill the body but his sword is spirituall proceeding out of his a Apoc. 1.16 mouth able to destroy b Mat. 10.28 both soule and body in hell entring thorow euen vnto the diuiding asunder of the spirit and of the ioynts and the marrow a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Heb. 4.12 3. Other Kings deriue their authority from him Prouerb 8.15 By me Kings raigne by me Princes rule and stand accountable to him he standeth in the congregation of Princes and iudgeth among gods Psalm 82.1.2 But who shall say to the Lord of Lords Why doest thou so 4. Other Kings reward their fauourites and followers onely with a few titles of honour or with a few parcels of land which are holden of them in fee-farme frank-almoign Knights-seruice c. They make not their vassals heires apparant to their kingdomes but Christ our Lord maketh all his faithfull seruants no lesse then c Apoc. 1.6 Kings and d Rom. 8.17 heires of God euen heires annexed with himselfe If thy children will keepe my couenant Literally this may be construed of Dauids owne children according to the flesh e Mollerus who succeeded him in his Throne 1072. yeeres vntill the Messias borne of his posterity constituted an euerlasting kingdom without end f Caluin According to this sense the Lord saith Ezech. 21.26 I will take away the Diademe and take off the Crowne this shall be no more the same I will ouerturne ouerturne ouerturne it and it shall be no more vntill he come whose right it is and I will giue it him His promise here concerning Christ is absolute but his promise touching other of Dauids house conditionall If thy Children keepe my couenant and my testimonies that I shall learne them g 1. Chron. 28.9 If thou seeke the Lord said Dauid to his sonne Salomon he will bee found of thee but if thou forsake him hee will cast thee off for euer And therefore because Dauids posterity did not obserue his law but follow their owne inuentions hee made them as we reade in the Bibles history captiues of Captaines and gaue their kingdome to another people first vnto the bloodie Romans and now to the barbarous Turkes and so Hierusalem heretofore h Lament 1.1 great among the Nations and Princesse among the Prouinces is made tributarie shee dwelleth among the Heathen and findeth no rest among all her louers shee hath none to comfort her all her friends haue dealt vnfaithfully with her and are made her enemies Mystically the i Arnobius Cassiodorus Hugo Doctors applie this vnto the Children of Christ according to the spirit I will set vpon thy seate that is ordaine Pastors and teachers who shall sit in thy chaire k So that kind of Speech is vsed Mat. 23.2 that is preach thy word and doctrine for the l Ephes 4.11 gathering together of the Saints and edification of the Church euermore This was verified in the blessed Apostles as being made Princes in all lands Psalm 45.17 In one word m Hierome all true beleeuers in Christ are the sons of God and babes in Christ and hee hath as n Ephes 2.6 Paul speakes raised vs vp together and made vs sit together in heauenly places His Charter is faire Matth. 19.28 Verily I say vnto you that when the sonne of man shall sit in the Throne of his Maiesty ye which haue followed me in the regeneration shall also sit vpon twelue Thrones and iudge the twelue tribes of Israel And Apocal. 3.21 To him that ouercommeth will I grant to sit with mee in my Throne euen as I ouercome and sit with my Father in his Throne The o Luther in loc wicked abuse the promises of God applying them vnto themselues which onely belong to the true Church the seed of Dauid according to the spirit So the Papists abuse Christs promise for establishing of the Popes tyrannie p Matth. 16.18 the gates of hell shall not ouercome it and q Mat. 28.20 I will be with you alway till the worlds end Whence they conclude that Peters boat though it may be somtimes in danger shall neuer bee drowned and that the Pope being the Churches head cannot erre r Dr. Fulke in Matth. 16.18 Whereas these promises concerne onely that Church which is built vpon the Rocke Christ and continueth in Saint Peters faith obseruing all things our blessed Sauiour commanded as it is in our text If thy children will keepe my couenant and testimonies that I shall learne them But if the Bishop and Church of Rome dispense with Gods holy word and despise his truth and testimony teaching in stead of his infallible law ſ Mat. 15.9 precepts of men and doctrines of t 1. Tim. 4.1 diuels how shall this or any the like promise belong to them So the wicked in a reprobate sense who make their bellie their god and commit all vncleannesse euen with greedinesse abuse these sweet texts at what time soeuer a sinner c. and Come to me all ye that are wearie and laden and I will ease you c. For this promise concernes only such as are laden and feele the burthen of their iniquitie hauing both a sight and a sense thereof acknowledging that sinne is a u Euthym. in Matth. 11. labour in accomplishing and a load when it is accomplished It appertaineth onely to such as repent and that of all their sinne and that from the heart and bottome of the heart So the carnall Gospellers in comming irreuerently to the Lords Table without any deuotion or due respect to that holy Sacrament abuse the words of our blessed Sauiour This is my body For as the godly Martyr x In his last exam apud Fox fol. 1463. Iohn Bradford well obserued the clause take eate is a precept and the clause this is my body a promise the bread and wine then are not vnto any the body and blood of Christ except they first eate and take and none can take and eate but by y Confess Anglican art 28. faith A worthie receiuer therefore beggeth of God both a pardon of his faults and an encrease of his faith To conclude this point in the law the condition is do this and liue in the Gospell beleeue this and thou shalt be saued He that neglects the precept and yet will chalenge the promise deceiueth himselfe hee shall not rest on Gods holy hil and sit on his happie seat for euermore PSALM 2. Why doe the Heathen so furiously rage together c. This Ode may be diuided into 2. parts the 1. Describes the wickednesse and weaknes of such as bandie thēselues against the
to depend vpon the multitude for their number because the people mutinously rage together and imagine vaine things in their conuenticles nor vpon the mightie for their countenance because many Kings of the earth stand vp and Rulers take counsell together against the Lord and his Christ 2. We may know from hence c Bucer whether wee are the Lords annointed or no. The d John 15.19 world loueth his owne if then it hate Christ in vs it is an infallible signe that we are good e 2. Tim. 2.3 souldiers of the Lord and not seruants of the world f Bradford apud Fox Mart. fol. 1490. The way to heauen is to saile by hell if you will embrace Christ in his robes you must not thinke scorne of him in his ragges if you will sit at his table in his kingdome you must first abide with him in his tentations if you will drinke of his cup of glorie forsake not his cup of ignominie Can the head corner stone be reiected and the other more base stones in Gods building be set by You are one of Gods liuely stones and therefore be content to be hewen and snagged that you may be made more meete to be ioyned to your fellowes suffering the snatches of Satan and wounds of the world 3. From hence wee may be well assured that the sincere profession of the Gospell in reformed Churches is the most incorrupt and pure religion as being most opposite to the children of this world The Masse said holy g In a letter to his mother Bradford doth not bite them or make thē to blush as preaching And therefore the h Apoc. 17.2 Kings of the earth are drunken with the wine of the Babylonish whore's abominable fornication In i Relation of religion §. 13. Rome the humour of euery worldling is fitted and each appetite may finde what to feede on The mother of whoredomes is content to tolerate Iewes and other vngodly wretches of diuers and aduerse faiths in her Countrey but shee will not endure Lutherans All things are lawfull in great Babylon excepting this only to professe the Gospell after the manner of Protestants It is reported by reuerend k Martyr fol. 860. Fox that certain Lawyers and Aduocates in Prouince maintained openly that in a case of Lutheranisme the Iudges are not bound to obserue either right or reason order or ordinance for they cannot erre whatsoeuer iudgement they doe giue so that it tend to the ruine and extirpation of such as are suspected Lutherans Hitherto concerning the wickednesse of such as oppose themselues against the Lord and his annointed I am now to speake of their weakenesse implied in the word Why l Steuchus Genebrard for by this interrogation he doth admire their follie non enim tam interrogantis quà m deridentis as a learned m Agellius expositor vpon the place n Chrysost Placidus If they be derided as vnwise who shoote arrowes at the Sunne and barke at the Moone what errant fooles are they who fight against God dwelling in the heauen of heauens aboue Sunne and Moone o Acts 4.24 who made the heauen and earth and Sea and all things that are therein Alas all flesh is as the p Esay 40 7. grasse that withereth and God is a q Heb. 12.29 consuming fire readie to burne this stubble r Psal 144.4 Man is like a thing of nought but God is almightie measuring the waters in his fist and meating heauē with his spanne and weighing the mountaines in skales and the hils in a ballance Esay 40.12 Man is in the hāds of God his maker as the clay in the hands of the potter Ierem. 18.6 Now shall the thing formed saith ſ Rom. 11.20 S. Paul dispute with him who formed it or man imagine so vaine a thing as to stand vp and take counsell against his Creatour So that the Prophet here speakes as the t Virgil. Aenead lib. 10. Poet Quò moriture ruis maioraque viribus audes Quid tantum insano iuuat indulgere labori Or as u Epod. 7. Horace begins an Epod Quò quò scelestiruitis aut cur dexteris aptantur enses conditi He that dwelleth in heauen shall laugh them to scorne Note here the great oddes and difference between God and his enemies 1. He dwelleth in heauen x Caluin but his greatest opposites are Kings vpon earth vnsetled y 1. Pet. 2.11 pilgrimes in z 2. Cor. 5.1 earthly tabernacles and houses of a Iob. 4.19 clay 2. Whereas b Psal 39.7 man disquieteth himselfe in vaine raging running standing vp against the Lord and his annointed almightie God is said heere to sit in heauen at c Bucer rest and ease 3. Whereas men imagine vainly to breake his bonds and cast away his cords God in a moment is able to bruse them with a rod of iron and breake them in peeces like a potters vessell Albeit they fret and fume neuer so much he shall laugh them to scorne and haue them in derision As it is said of the monster d Job 41.18 Leuiathan He esteemeth iron as straw and brasse as rotten wood the archer cannot make him flee the stones of the sling are turned to stubble before him and hee laugheth at the shaking of the speare Now these things are said grossely for our capacitie because the Lord in deede can neither laugh nor crie yet the Scripture speaking after the manner of men affirmes plainly that God is grieued at our faults and that hee laugheth at our follies non secundum affectum as the Schoole distinguisheth aptly sed secundum effectum in that he carrieth himselfe toward his enemies as one that hath them in derision And this he doth in e Caluin two respects especially 1. For that he can at any time when he will as it were sportingly pull downe such as stand vp against him hee doth easily descrie their follie suppresse their furie 2. For that he suffereth his enemies in their rebelling and reuelling against his annointed only to play with his baite he hath as he told f 2. King 19.28 Esay 17.29 Senachorib an hooke in their nostrils and a bridle in their mouthes he can and he will at his good pleasure bring them back againe the same way they came g Psal 121.4 He that keepeth Israel howsoeuer hee seeme for a while to neglect his Church and kingdome of his Sonne shall neither slumber nor sleepe He will in his due time speake with al such as combine themselues against his annointed he will talke with them indeede h Bellarmine non verbis sed verberibus as it is in the text hee shall speake to them in his wrath and vexe them in his sore displeasure he shall bruse them with a rod of iron and breake them in peeces like a potters vessell and so shall hee make them a scorne to men and Angels hee derides them in that he sheweth
The Gospels of the foure Euangelists historically relate the birth life death resurrection and ascension of Christ The larger interpretation thereof is deliuered in the Apostles Canonicall Epistles and the practice of the Primitiue Church in their Acts and the Reuelation of Saint Iohn is a prophecie concerning the Church vniuersall vnto the worlds end In the foure Euangelists hee that hath eyes to see may reade the text of the Gospell intimating what Christ is in himselfe in the Acts Epistles Apocalyps as it were the Gospels golden glosse vnfolding more fully what Christ is in his members If any then haue a desire to kisse the sonne and to learne how to bee subiect vnto the bords and cords of his kingdome let him exactly i Iohn 5.39 search the Scriptures for they witnesse of him In the ceremonies and sacrifices of the law you may finde him obscurely shadowed in the Sermons and Sacraments of the Gospell openly declared to be the begotten sonne of God and annointed King set ouer his holy hill of Sion Serue the Lord Concerning the doing of our duty k Strigellius two things are required here more especially Feare serue the Lord in feare Faith reioyce vnto him and put your trust in him Faith is opposite to desperation and feare to securitie l Hierome Euthym. That we may not presume wee must serue God in feare that we may not despaire reioyce vnto him in faith and hope Feare may not bee without ioy nor ioy without feare Marke how cautionatly the spirit speakes here serue the Lord but in feare reioyce vnto the Lord but in trembling lest happily we should assume too much vnto our selues and so presumptuously sin he doth admonish vs of one thing m Caluin twice That wee may not be discouraged in seruing of God hee would haue vs to reioyce yet so that our ioy bee with reuerence The deuout women who came to visit Christs sepulchre were filled with feare and great ioy Matth. 28.8 and S. n 1. Cor. 10.12 Paul aduiseth euery man who thinkes he stands to take heede lest he fall and to o Philip. 2.12 worke out their saluation with feare and trembling God abhorreth hypocrites a people that honoureth him with their lips but their p Mark 7.6 heart is farre from him q Placidus his perfit seruice requireth outward obeisance of the body ioyned with inward obedience of the mind as Hierome glosseth our text the seruants of God ought to come into his courts cum tremore corporis timore animae with aufull hearts and trembling hands so r Psal 81.1 100.1 singing to the Lord in gladnes that they may reioyce in the Lord with reuerence This feare may not be seruile but ſ Lorin Turrecremat filiall as a father hee loueth vs and therefore wee must as deare children honour him obeying with a reuerend awe whatsoeuer hee would haue vs either to suffer or doe t Bellarmine Mire miscuit amorem cum timore ac si diceret timete cum amore amate cum timore The last obseruable point is why because hereby yee shall escape Gods heauie curse that falleth vpon such as resist his Christ and obtaine that happy blessing which is promised vnto such as put their trust in him u Agellius Vnderstand then O yee Kings and be no longer obstinate ye haue heretofore stood vp against the Lord his annointed Sonne but now serue the Lord and kisse his Sonne O yee Kings and Iudges of the earth acknowledge that Christ is the King of Kings euen the Lord of all things and Iudge of all men able to make you his footstoole as hauing the heathen for his inheritance the whole world for his possession and holding a rodde of iron in his hand to dash into peeces all such as take counsell together against him Hee is also readie to destroy you for his wrath is kindled and x Deut. 4.24 God is a cōsuming fire y Placidus The more fewel the greater flame Your offences make you the very fewell of his anger and therfore z Dan. 4.24 breake off your sinnes by righteousnesse embrace the bonds of his authoritie which you meant to breake for his a Matth. 11.30 yoke is easie Cast not his cords away for his burthen is light Euen now while you are in the way kick not against the Sonne but kisse the Sonne b See Hierome Steuchus Bucer Agellius in loc Bellarm. de verbo dei lib. 2. cap. 13. that is admit of his doctrine submit your selues to his discipline Christ is the truth and the way that therefore ye may not perish from the right way kisse him and keepe his Commandements as Hierome paraphraseth it pithely Kissing in old time was vsed in token of Deuotion for Idolaters are said to kisse their Idols Hosea 13.2 but Gods people refused to c 1. Kings 19.18 see Hierome in Iob. 31.27 in Hose 13.2 kisse the mouth of Baal From hence worshipping is in Latine called Adoratio Obedience so Samuel kissed Saul 1. Sam. 10.1 and Aaron kissed Moses Exod. 4.27 and it is the manner of subiects at this day to kisse the hands of their Kings Loue so d Gen. 45.15 Ioseph kissed his brethren so e Ruth 1.9 Naomi kissed her two daughters in law so the good old father kissed his dissolute sonne Luk. 15.20 All these kindes of kisses are due to Christ in our deuotion it is our dutie to f Psalm 95.6 fall downe before him and with g Matth. 28.9 Mary Magdalene to kisse his feete yea the feete of h Rom. 10.15 such as bring the glad tydings of his Gospell And in our whole conuersation it is our dutie to giue vnto him our King and Lord the kisses of honor homage seruing him in feare reioycing vnto him with reuerence We must heartily kisse him in faith and not hypocritically like Iudas in fashion only Wherefore i Placidus Steuchus some translations haue it thus adorate purè worship him in truth and puritie k Agellius cleaue to him and embrace his word with as l Bellarmine louing an affection as they doe that kisse one another m Io. Ganeius Parasinus Theologus in loc Atque vni totos ipsi vos dedite tota Mente animoque velut dominum amplexamini eique Figite amicitiae purissima basia sanctae The Sonne came into the world to n Ephes 2.16 reconcile vs vnto God his Father hee came not to kill vs hee came to kisse vs and that as the Church speaks in her o Cant. 1.1 loue-song with the kisses of his mouth His saying Come vnto me all ye that are wearie and laden and I will ease you is a p Melanct. in loc sweet kisse of his mouth His saying I am not come to call the righteous vnto repentance but sinners is another sweete kisse of his mouth His saying God so loued
gloss Wilcox storme that cōmeth goeth as it is not alway b Caluin faire weather with vs in this life so not alway foule c Psal 30.5 Heauinesse may cōtinue for a night but ioy commeth in the morning d 1. Cor. 10.13 God is faithful who will not suffer his children to be tempted aboue their ability but will euen giue the issue with the tentation e Apud Tileman in loc Athanasius said of Iulian furiously raging against the Lords annointed nubecula est cito transibit Man is borne to f Job 5.7 labour and g Iob. 14.1 dolour to trauaile and trouble To labour in his h Bernard actions to dolour in his passions And so i Psal 34.18 great are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord deliuereth him out of all If wee put our trust in him and cast all our care vpon him hee will in his good time bring it to passe that all our afflictions shall ouer passe hee will either take them from vs or vs from them and then wee shall assuredly know that the troubles of this life present are not k Rom. 8.18 worthie of the glorie which in the life to come shall bee shewed vnto vs. For as the globe of the earth which improperly for his shew of bignesse we terme the world and is after the Mathematicians account many thousand miles in compasse yet being compared vnto the greatnes of the starrie skies circumference is but a center or little pricke so the trauaile and affliction in this life temporall in respect of the ioyes eternall in the world to come beare not any proportion but are to bee reputed in comparison a very nothing as a darke cloud that commeth and goeth in a moment This as l Idem Strigellius in loc Melancthon here notably requires rather an application then an explication or large Commentarie Blessed is that man who can in al his affliction and trouble say with our Prophet O God be mercifull vnto me for my soule trusteth in thee vnder the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge till this tyrannie be ouer past Happie man is he who can in the middest of his crosses and losses affirme truly with holy m Iob. 1.21 Iob The Lord giueth and the Lord taketh away blessed bee the name of the Lord n Iob. 13.15 though he slay me yet will I trust in him o Iob. 5.18 as hee maketh the wound so will he binde it vp he smiteth and his hands make whole Happie man is he who can in the houre of tentation hide himselfe with the Church in the p Cant. 2.14 holes of the rocke that is in the wounds of Christ our rocke and refuge in the time of trouble Yea but where dwelleth our blessed Sauiour how shall I finde him Vnto this question himselfe answered Ioh. 1.39 Come and see The Church is his q Heb. 3.6 See Cyril Maldonat in Ioan. 1.39 house there he r Psal 135.21 dwelleth and there you may finde him alwaies at home not in his mothers armes or on a woodden Crucifix but in his holy word and Sacraments Natus est Christus de virgine num quid semper nascitur saith Augustine Hee was once borne of the Virgine shall hee be borne still of her Hee did once sucke her breasts is hee still an infant and a sucking babe Once he did hang on the Crosse doth he still hang on it haec transierunt these things are past and gone But seeke him in his word for that witnesseth of him and in his Sacraments for they represent liuely both his blood and bodie His word is an audible Sacrament and his Sacraments are visible words So long as the Church had golden Teachers she needed no woodden Images but when once golden Priests degenerated into woodden then both woodden and golden Images crept in If the Queene of ſ Matth. 12.42 Sheba condemned the men of Christs age much more the men of our time liuing in the Church of England She was a Queene we subiects she left her kingdome and countrey wee God be praised sit vnder our owne vines in our owne soyle she came from the furthest part of the world wee haue Christ among vs she was moued only with his t 1. Kings 10.1 fame we both heare Christ in his word and see him in his Sacraments she cōming to Salomon brought presents wee comming to Christ may receiue rewards she came to behold Salomon a meere man wee may behold Christ God and man a greater then Salomon greater in wisedom for u John 7.46 neuer any man spake as he did greater in might and mercie for neuer any man did as he did hee did all things x Mark 7.37 well y Matth. 11.5 hee made the deafe to heare the dumbe to speake the blinde to see the lame to goe he cured the sicke and raised the dead and that is more then euer King Salomon did Greater in maiestie for Salomon in all his royaltie was nothing else but a type of this our King of glorie So that if we doe not come to him in our tentations and troubles inuiting vs freely fully Come all yee that labour and are laden and I will ease you the Queene of the South assuredly shall arise in iudgement against vs and by her example condemne vs. When z Lucianus in Scytha Toxaris saw his countriman Anacharsis in Athens he said vnto him I will at once shew thee all the wonders of Greece Viso Solone vidisti omnia in seeing Solon thou seest all euen Athens it selfe and the whole glorie of the Greekes In like manner I may tell a Christian Hast thou faith and assured trust in the Lord then thou hast more then the wonders of Greece vpon the poynt all the wonderfull gifts of grace for faith is a mother vertue from which all other spring and without which our best actions are no better then sinne Rom. 14.23 Wherefore let vs alway labour for faith as for life because a Habacuc 2.4 the iust man liueth by his faith his soule trusteth in the Lord and vnder the shadow of his wings shall be his refuge till all the tyrannie both of Satan and sinne death and hell is ouer past My soule That is my life body person as the word soule is oft vsed elsewhere namely Genes 14.21 Numb 31.40 Ioh. 10.32 1. Sam. 22.22 Among lyons An vnregenerate man hauing Gods image defaced in him is but a little better then a very vermine b Boethius de consolat Philosophiae lib. 4. prosa 3. Auaritia feruit alienarum opum violentus ereptor similem lupo dixeris ferox atque inquietus linguam litigijs exercet Cani comparabilis Insidiator occultus surripuisse fraudibus gaudet vulpeculis exaequetur Irae intemperans fremit leonis animum gestare credatur Pauidus ac fugax non metuenda formidat ceruis similis habeatur Segnis ac stupidus torpet
how to swallow him vp his soule was among lyons all the daies of his life at the houre of his death especially The diuell in tempting and troubling him had laid a snare for his feet and death in digging a pit for him had thought to deuoure him As Dauid was in the caue so Christ the sonne of Dauid was in the graue But it was n Acts 2.24 impossible that the Lord of life should be holden of Death or that his flesh should see corruption he therfore rose againe from the dead on this day setting himselfe aboue the heauens and his glorie aboue all the earth In his anguish and agonie he did o Heb. 5.7 offer vp prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares vnto him that was able to saue him from death saying p Matth. 26.39 O my Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me neuerthelesse not as I will but as thou wilt And so Christ here called vpon his Father O God be mercifull vnto me c. But he speakes as man in the person of men q Hierome Vnus homo dicit sed vnus pro multis And S. r In loc Augustine sweetly Qui cum patre miseretur tui in te clamat miserere mei Christ according to his ſ See notes vpon Gospell 10. Sun after Trinit Thelesis and naturall will abhorred and feared death and therefore said O God be mercifull vnto me but according to his boulesis and rationall will he yeelded himselfe voluntarily to his persecutors and said Vnder the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge till this euill is ouer past And Psalm 16.9 as S. Peter applieth it Acts 2.25 I beheld God alway before me for he is at my right hand that I shall not fall Wherefore such as affirme that hee suffered the pangs of desperation and the very paines of the damned in hell erre foully not vnderstanding the Scriptures He saith here vers 5. according to the vulgar Latine Dormini conturbatus he was indeed grieuously troubled in his soule yet so that he slept t August in loc Consule Lorin in loc tam placatus erat iste turbatus vt quando vellet dormiret He feared his enemies tyrannie secundum propassionem as u Sent. lib. 3. dist 15. Lombard acutely non secundum passionem Or to speake in the words of x Epist 25. Bernard he was turbatus moued but not perturbatus remoued from his trust in God and resolution to worke our good And therefore y Hierom. in loc he said in another Psalme I will lay me downe in peace and take my rest as hauing z Ioh. 10.18 power to lay downe my life and power to take it vp again For as he dyed when he would euen so when he would he did arise from the dead setting himselfe aboue the heauens and his glorie aboue all the earth According to this exposition our Church allotted this Hymne to be read on this holy-day for in Christs resurrection all his enemies tyrannie was ouerpast in his resurrection his a Turrecremat glorie which heretofore was obscure did appeare aboue all the earth in his resurrection he did awake right early so the text in the b Luke 24.1 morning early whē it was c Ioh. 20.1 darke in his resurrection his lute and harpe did awake that is his flesh arose from the bed of his graue d Augustine Hierome Lorinus The strings of an Harpe are touched and sound vpward especially but the strings of a Lute from below Christs humane nature then in working diuine miracles which are from aboue was like the Harpe but in suffering our infirmities here below like a Lute The Harpe did sound when he made the blinde to see the deafe to heare the lame to goe c. but the Lute did sound when he was a thirst hungrie naked whipped when he cryed when he dyed when he was buffeted and when hee was buried After his resurrection all the miracles he did out of his power and all the miseries hee suffered out of his infirmitie were by the blessed Apostles instruments of his glorie preached first among the people then among all nations euery where singing that the greatnes of his mercie reacheth vnto the heauens and his truth vnto the cloudes This also may bee construed of the e Mollerus Strigellius Church and that both in respect of her spirituall enemies and temporall As for her ghostly foes the diuel is a roaring lyon 1. Pet. 5.8 and our sinnes are the f Nyssen apud Lorin in loc whelpes of lyons readie to deuoure vs. And concerning outward enemies the Church in this world is like Daniel in the lions denne or as the sucking childe playing vpon the hole of the Aspe Esay 11.8 she hath here no visible power or outward helpe to flie to for succour all her trust is in the Lord vnder the shadow of his wings is her refuge till this euill is ouer-past In old time Gods people were g Heb. 11.36 tried by mockings and scourgings by bonds and prisonment they were stoned hewen asunder they were tempted they were slaine with the sword they wandred vp and downe in wildernes and mountaines and caues of the earth clothed in sheep-skins and in goates-skinnes being destitute afflicted and tormented of whom the world was not worthie Since Christ it is well obserued by h Ser. 33. super Cant. Bernard of the Churches affliction Amara prius in nece martyrum amarior post in conflictu haereticorum amarissima nunc in moribus domesticorum Hot non fugare non fugere potest ita inualüerunt multiplicati sunt super numerum Her oppression in the beginning was great by the persecution of tyrants afterward greater by the conflict of heretikes but now greatest of all by the dangerous positions and practises of Anti-christs in the kingdome of poperie whose very Masses are sometime for massacres and their sacred sacrifices offerings of blood And surely beloued if the Church had not any other enemies but onely these monstrous Anti-christs of Rome yet she might truly complaine with our Prophet here my soule is among lyons Eleuen Popes had that name whereof all excepting two or three were roring lyons in their buls and rauening lyons in seeking after their pray Leo the tenth so pilled and polled the goodly nation of Germany with impardonable Pardons and mercilesse Indulgences as that his insupportable crueltie gaue the first occasion of the reformation of religion in that Countrey The foes of Dauid are said here to lay a net for his feete and to digge a pit before him and what are the Papists intricate distinctions of Schooles and Machiauelismes of State but snares and nets to catch our bodies and soules and so greedily to swallow vs vp as Saul here would haue done to Dauid These Scribes and Pharisies haue so great a swallow that they deuoure not only some few widowes houses as the i
hee was dead he conuaieth from himselfe to his members and thereby raiseth them vp from the death of sinne to newnes of life For the better vnderstanding of this point let vs examine the meanes and the measure of the spirituall life For the meanes if wee will haue common water we may goe to the common well and if we desire water of Life we must haue recourse vnto Christ who saith q Ioh. 7.37 If any man thirst let him come vnto me and drinke and r Ioh. 4.14 hee shall haue a well of water springing vp into euerlasting life Now this well as the woman of Samaria said of Iacobs well is very deepe and we haue nothing to draw with And therefore wee must haue pipes and conduits to conuay the same vnto vs and these pipes are the sincere preaching of the word and the right administration of the Sacraments As for the preaching of Gods holy Word Christ openly proclaimeth in the fifth of S. Iohns Gospell at the 25 Verse The dead shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God and they that heare it shall liue Å¿ August tract 22. in Ioan. IdeÌ„ Caluin alij in loc Where by dead is meant not the dead in the graue but the dead in sin For so the Scripture speaketh elsewhere t Matth. 8.22 Let the dead bury the dead and Ephes 5.14 Awake thou that sleepest and stand vp from the dead and 1. Tim. 5.6 A widow liuing in pleasure is dead while shee liueth He that hearts the word and abideth in vnbeliefe continueth among the dead but saith our Sauiour u Iohn 5.24 Verily verily I say vnto you he that heareth my word and beleeueth in him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death vnto life because the words that I speake vnto you are spirit and life Ioh. 6.63 that is conueying vnto your dead hearts spirit and life As Christ when he raised vp dead men only spake the word and they reuiued and at the last day when the x 1. Thessal 4.16 trumpet of God shall blow the dead shall rise againe so it is in the first resurrection they which are dead in their old sinnes are raised againe to newnes of life by his powerfull voyce vttered in the Gospels ministerie We reade of three that Christ raised from death y Matth. 9.25 Iairus daughter newly dead the z Luke 7.15 widowes sonne dead and wound vp and lying on the hearse and a John 11.44 Lazarus dead and buried and stinking in the graue Now these three sorts of Coarses as b Serm. 44. de verbis dom de hac allegoria vide eundem tract 49. in Ioan. Augustine notes are three sorts of sinners Iairus daughter lying dead in her fathers house resembleth those that sinne by inward consent the widowes sonne being carried out of the gate of the Citie those that sinne by outward act Lazarus hauing been dead and buried foure daies those that sinne by continuall habite The first day saith Augustine hee was dead by conceiuing sinne the second by consenting to sinne the third by committing sinne the fourth by continuing in sinne The young maiden lay in a bed the yong man in a coffin Lazarus in a graue The first was dead but an houre the second but a day the third foure daies After their raising vp Iairus daughter instantly walked because for her that had stept aside but by consenting to sinne it was easie to recouer and to walke foorth-with in the waies of Gods holie Commandements The widowes sonne sat vp began to speake was deliuered to his mother because for him which had actually transgressed it was a matter of greater difficultie to recouer and therefore by little and little hee came to it as c Con. de misericord Domini Erasmus obserueth excellently First sitting vp by raising vp himselfe to a purpose of amendment then beginning to speake by confessing his owne miserie and acknowledging Gods mercie lastly being deliuered to his mother by returning to the bosome of the holie Church and enioying the remission of his sinnes Lazarus came foorth of his graue bound hand and foote with bands because for him that had a d Moles imposita sepulchro ipsa est vis dura consuetudinis August ser 44. de verb. Dom. stone laid vpon him and had made his heart as hard as a graue-stone or as a e Iob. 41.15 nether milstone by making a custome and as it were a trade of sinne it was in the iudgement of man impossible to recouer And yet Christs omnipotent voyce brought him foorth bound hand and foote and brake these bands asunder and restored him againe to the libertie of the sonnes of God The f Confess Anglican art 25. Sacraments are conduit-pipes also whereby God inuisibly conueieth his vitall or sauing graces into the heart if they be rightly vsed that is if they be receiued in vnfained repentance for all our sinnes and with a liuely faith in Christ for the pardon of the same sinnes And in this respect aptly compared vnto g Cant. 2.5 flagons of wine which reuiue the Church being sicke and fallen into a swound As for the measure of spirituall life deriued from our head Christ it is but small in this world and giuen by little and little the which is figured in the h Ezech. 47.3.4.5 vision of water that ranne out of the Temple First a man must wade to the ancles then after to the knees so to the loynes and last of all the waters grow to a riuer that cannot be passed ouer euen so the Lord conueieth his gifts and graces by little and little till his children at the last attaine a large measure thereof and haue full growth in Christ The same wee may likewise see liuely described in the vision of drie bones Ezech. 37. The Prophet in a vision is carried into the middest of a field full of dead bones and the Lord commanded him to prophecie ouer them and to say to them O yee drie bones heare the word of the Lord. At the first there was a shaking and the bones came together bone to bone vers 7. then the sinewes and flesh grew vpon them and vpon the flesh a skinne couered them vers 8. â—â—en hee prophecied vnto the winde and they liued and stood vpon their feete for the breath came vpon them and they were an exceeding great armie of men vers 10. i These bones are the whole house of Israel vers 11. but the faithful are Gods Israel Hereby doubtlesse is signified not only the state of the Iewes after their captiuitie but in them the state of the whole Church in whose heart God almightie worketh his graces of regeneration by little and little First he giueth his children flesh and then a skinne to couer the flesh and afterward hee powreth vpon them further gifts of his spirit to quicken them and to make them aliue vnto God 3. The resurrection of Christ is a k Non modo per seipsum probauit resurrectionem Saducaeis sed in seipso omnibus Tertul. lib. de carnis resur demonstration of our resurrection according to that of S. Paul 1. Cor. 15.12 If it be preached that Christ is risen againe from the dead how say some among you that there is no resurrectioÌ„ of the dead Yea but ye will obiect what promotion is that vnto the godly seeing all men at the last day must of necessitie rise againe Answere is made that the wicked are raised by the power of Christ as a Iudge to condemne them on the contrarie the faithfull are raised by the power of Christ as a Iesus to saue them Almightie God said vnto Adam At what time he should eate of the forbidden fruite he should l Gen. 2.17 dye the death Hereby m August de Ciuitat dei lib. 13. cap. 12. Aquin. Dion Carthus in Gen. 2. meaning a double death as the Scripture speaks n Apoc. 20.6 elsewhere the first and the second death Naturall death is the dissolution of the bodie spirituall death is the destruction of the soule eternall death is both of body and soule Prima constat ex duabus secunda ex omnibus tota saith Augustine Now Christ as a Iudge raiseth againe the reprobate from the first death that hee may inflict vpon them all the punishments of the second death as a reward of sinne but hee raiseth his elect as their head and redeemer that they may bee partakers of the benefit of his death enioying both in bodie and soule the kingdome of glorie which hee hath so dearely bought for them Wherefore seeing on this day wee haue been deliuered from so much 〈…〉 promoted vnto so much good let vs o Chrysost Euthym. Placidus spirituallie reioyce being p Dr. Incognitus glad inwardly ioyfull outwardly q Colos 3.16 singing vnto the Lord with a grace in our hearts This is the day which the Lord hath made FINIS