the other by degrees and yet all tending one way all theyr faces bent vpon one place all moouing marching and turning together all endeuouring with alacritie towards the performance of one coÌ„mon seruice by mutuall assistance wythout discention discorde difference or clamour he that shoulde see this saith the Metaphysicke as he could not but imagine some generall high Captaine to bee among these souldiers whom all obeyed and from whose supreame commaundement and order thys most excellent subordination agreement vnion proceeded so much more vpon consideration of the former coherence consent and miraculous subordination of creatures among themselues in theyr operations must we inferre that they haue som general commaunder ouer them all by whose supreame disposition each creature hath his charge peculier taske appointed which hee must performe for the common and vniuersal seruice of the whole The fourth reason or argument alledged by the Supernaturall Phylosopher is of the meruailous prouidence arte and wisedome discouered in the making of euery least creature within the worlde For seeing there is nothing so little nothing so base or contemptible within the compasse of this heauen that couereth vs but if you consider it you finde both arte order proportion beautie excellencie in the same this cannot proceede of fortune as foolish Lucretius and some other would haue it for that fortune is casualtie without order rule or certaintie and therefore needes it must come from the wisdome and prouidence of some omnipotent Creator If you take a flye or a flea or a leafe from a tree or any other the least creature that is extant in the worlde and consider the same attentiuelie you shall finde more miracles then parts therein you shall find such proportion of members such varietie of colours such distinction of offices such correspondence of instruments and those so fit so wel framed so coherent and so subordinate as the more ye contemplate the more yee shall meruaile neyther is there any one thing in the world more effectuall to draw a man to the loue and admiration of his Creator then to exercise himselfe often in this contemplation for if his heart be not of stone thys will moue his affection We read of Galen a prophane very irreligious Phisitian who as himselfe coÌ„fesseth in a certaine place taking vpon him to consider of the parts of mans bodie and finding much wisedome in the order vse and disposition of the same sought first to gyue the prayse and glorie therof to nature or to some other cause then to God But in processe of tyme beeing oppressed as it were with the exceeding great wysedom cunning and prouidence which he discouered in euerie least parcell and particle of mans bodie wherein nothing was redundant nothing defectiue nothing possible to be added altered or better deuised he bâ—ake forth into these words Compono hic profecto canticum in Creatoris nostri laudem quod vltrares suas ornare voluit melius quam vlla arte possent Here truelie doe I make a song in the prayse of our Creator for that of his owne accorde it hath pleased him to adorne and beautifie his thinges better then by any arte possible it could be imagined Heereby then doth the Metaphysick gather and conclude most euidently that there is a GOD a Creator a most wise powrful artificer that made all things such a one as exceedeth all boundes of nature of humaine habilitie For if all the worlde shoulde ioyne together they coulde not make the least creature which wee see in this worlde He concludeth also that the fore-sight and prouidence of this Creator is infinite for things to come in all eternitie finally that his wysedome and cogitations are inscrutable And albeit sometime he reueale vnto vs some part thereof yet often againe wee erre therein For which cause a wyse Heathen Platonick concludeth thus after long search about these affayres I will prayse God saith he in those things I vnderstand and I wyll admyre him in those thinges which I vnderstand not For I see that my selfe oftentimes doe things wherein my seruaunts are blinde and conceiue no reason As also I haue seene little children cast into the fire Iewels of great price their fathers writings of great learning and wysedome for that they were not of capacitie to vnderstand the value and worthines of the thing One argument more will I alledge of the Metaphysicke grounded vpon the immortalitie of mans soule which immortalitie is proued with one consent of all learned men as Plato alledgeth for that it is a spirit and immateriall substance whose nature dependeth not of the state of our mortall bodie for so by experience wee see dailie that in olde men and wythered sickly bodies the minde and soule is more quicke cleere pregnant and liuely then it was in youth when the bodie was most lustie The same is also proued by the vnquenchable desire which our minde hath of learning knowledge wysedome and other such spirituall and immateriall things wherin her thyrst by nature is so great as it cannot be satis-fied in thys life neyther can the obiects of sence and bodily pleasures or any other coÌ„moditie or delight of this materiall world content or satiate the restlesse desire of thys immateriall creature Which is an euident argument to the Phylosopher that some other obiect contentation is prepared for her in another world and that of such excellencie and supereminent perfection as it shall haue in it all wisedome all learning all knowledge all beautie and all other causes of loue ioy and contentation wherein our soule may rest for euer Thys beeing so saith the Phylosopher that the soule and minde of man is immortall of necessitie it must insue that an immortall Creator sent the same into our bodies and that to him againe it must returne after her departure from this life here Thys was the true meaning indeed how soeuer some later interpreters haue mis-understood the same of that auncient doctrine of olde Phylosophers which Plutarch alledgeth out of Pythagoras and Plato affirming that all particuler soules of men came sent from one generall common soule of the whole worlde as sparcles from the fire and beames from the common Sunne and that after theyr seperation from their bodies they shal returne againe to that generall soule called anima mundi the soule of the worlde for that it giueth life and beeing to the worlde and so to remaine with that generall soule eternallie Thys was the doctrine of olde Phylosophers which seemeth indeed to haue beene nothing els though deliuered in other speeches but that which Salomon himselfe affirmeth in plainer wordes et spiritus redibit ad Deum qui dedit illum and our soule or spirit shall returne to God that gaue it vnto vs. And thys may suffise for a taste of that which the Metaphysicke or Supernaturall Phylosopher can say
within the compasse of one hundred yeeres had foretolde to be imminent vpon the worlde not onely to Samaria and the ten Trybes of Israell which were now alreadie carried into banishment to the furthest parts of the East but also to the states Countries that most florished at that time as by name to Babilon Egipt Damasco Tyrus Sidon Moab and finallie to Ierusalem and Iudea it selfe which he foresawe should soone after most pittifully be destroyed when hee sawe also by long experience that neither his words nor the wordes and cryes of the other forenamed Prophets could any thing moue the harts of wicked men hee brake foorth into this most lamentable complaint Desolatione desolata est omnis terra quia nullus est qui recogitet corde The whole earth falleth into extreame ruine and desolation for that there is no man which considereth deeplie in his hart This complaint made good Ieremie in his daies for compassion of his people that ran miserablie to perdition for want of consideration And the same complaint with much more reason may euery good Christian make at this time for the infinit soules of such as perish dailie by inconsideration Whereby as by a generall and remedilesse enchauntment many thousande soules are brought a sleepe and doe finde themselues within the gates of hell before they mysdoubt any such inconuenience beeing ledde through the vale of this present life as it were blindfolded with the veile of carelesse negligence like beastes to the slaughter house neuer permitted to see theyr owne danger vntill it be too late to remedie the same Propterea captiuus ductus est populus meus quia non habuit scientiam saith GOD by the mouth of Esay Therefore and for thys cause is my people ledde away captiue in al bondage and slauerie to perdition for that they haue no knowledge no vnderstanding of their own estate no foresight of the times to come no consideration of their danger Heerehence floweth all the miserie of my people and yet this is a misterie that all men will not know Will you see what a misterie and sealed secret this is harken then howe one describeth the same and with what circumstaunces Furthermore saith he a certain hidden word was spoken vnto me and mine eare as it were by stealth receiued the veines of his whyspering it was in the horror of a vision by night when deade sleepe is wont to possesse men Feare came vppon me and trembling and all my bones were extremelie terrified At length a spirit past by in my presence whereat the hayres of my flesh stoode vppe in horrour There stood before me one whose face I knew not His image was before mine eyes and I hearde his voice as the sound of a soft ayre Hetherto is described in what manner and order this secrete was reuealed but nowe what said this vision or spirit thinke you at the last truelie he made a short discourse to proue by the fall of the Angels for their sin that much more qui habitant domos luteas et terrenum habent fundamentum consumeÌ„tur velut atinea et de mane vsque ad vesperam succidentur They who dwel in houses of morter as all men doe whose bodies are of flesh and they which haue their â—oundation of earth as most folke of this world haue that put their confidence in things of this life they must all consume by little and little as the cloth doth by the Mothe and at length they must vpon the suddaine within lesse space perhaps then is from morning to night be cut downe and dispatched when they think least of it And to shewe that herein standeth a point of high secrecie I meane to consider ponder well this discourse hee maketh his conclusion in these words immediatly folowing et quia nullus intelligit in aeternum peribunt And for that fewe or none of these men before mentioned who haue such earthly foundations doe vnderstande this point aright I meane of their suddaine death cutting off froÌ„ this world therfore must they perish eternally and this is a secret which fewe men will beleeue Vir insipiens non cognoscet saith Dauid et stultus non intelliget haec an vnaduised man will not learne these thinges nor will a foole vnderstande them but what things it ensueth in the same place howe wonderfull the works of God how deepe his cogitations are about sinners who spring vp as grasse and florish in this world vt intereant in seculum seculi to the ende they may perish for euer and euer The Prophet Daniell had many visions and strange reuelations of great high misteries but one amongst all other and this the least of the most dreadfull iudgments of God vpon sinners in the ende of the world The vision was by the great riuer Tygris where as diuers Angels were attending about the bankes so vpon the water it selfe stood one in the likenes of a man of exceeding dreadfull maiestie his apparrel beeing onelie lynnen through which his body shyned like precious stone his eyes like burning lamps his face like flashing lightning his armes legges like brasse inflamed and his voyce as the shoute of a whole multitude of people that should speake together This was Christ by all interpretation at whose terrible presence when Daniell fell downe deade hee was erected againe by an Angell and made strong to abide the vision and so hauing heard seene the most wonderfull things that in his booke hee recounteth he was bold to aske a question or two for better vnderstanding therof and his first question was howe long it shoulde be ere these wonderfull things tooke their ende whereunto the man vppon the water aunswered by stretching out both his brasen armes to heauen and swearing strangly by him that liued for euer and euer that it shoulde be a time and times and halfe a time Which aunswere Daniell not vnderstanding began to question further but he was cut of with this dyspatch Goe thy way Daniell for these speeches are shut vp sealed vntil the time preordained And yet for his further instruction it was added in the same place Impie agent impii nec intelligent wicked men will alwaies doe wickedlie and will not vnderstande these misteries albeit we shold neuer so much expound them Whereby as by all the rest that hetherto hath beene alledged is made apparent that inconsideration negligence carelesse ignoraunce and lacke of vnderstanding in our owne estates and in Gods iudgments proceedings with iniquitie and sinne hath been a bane a common perdition of retchlesse men from time to time And if we will turne our eyes to thys our age much more shall we see the same to be true For what is the cause thinke you why at this day we haue so many of those people whom holy Iob doth call abhominable that drinke vp iniquitie as
Maiestie nothing so high that descendeth not to teach vs this veritie It were a labour without ende to goe about in this place to alledge what might be be said in the proofe of this principle that there is a GOD seeing there was neuer yet learned man in the world eyther Gentile or other that acknowledged and confirmed not the same beeing driuen thereunto by the manifest euidence of the trueth it selfe If you obiect against me Diagoras Protagoras Theodorus Cyrenensis Bion Borysthines Epicurus and some fewe others that were open Atheists denied God I aunswere that some of these were vtterly vnlearned and rather sensual beastes then reasonable men and consequently might denie any thing according to the saying of holie Dauid the foole saide in his hart there is no God Others that had some smack of learning rather iested at the falshoode of theyr owne Panisme idoles then denied the being of one true God But the most part of these men indeede and such others as in olde time were accounted Atheists denied not GOD so much in wordes as in life and facts such as S. Paule called Atheists in his daies that obeied their bellies and followed their pleasures in sinne and sensualitie not vouchsafing to think of God in this life such was the Epicure and manie other are at this day of his profession but yet as Lactantius well noteth when the same men came to be sober and speake of iudgment as at theyr death or other time of distresse and miserie they were as readie to confesse GOD as any other whatsoeuer But for learned men and people of dyscretion sobrietie and iudgement there was neuer yet any were he Iewe or Gentile that doubted in this veritie but had meanes of probations to confirme the same as more particulerlie in the rest of this Chapter shall be declared Howe the Heathen prooued there was a GOD. SECT 2. AMong the Gentiles or Heathen people those men were alwaies of most credite and estimation that professed the loue of wisedome for that respect were tearmed Phylosophers Who being deuided into diuers sorts sectes had foure principal sciences whereof they made profession each one of these hauing other lower scienâ—es comprehended vnder it The first of these foure is called Natural phylosophie the second Morral the third Supernatural or Metaphysick the fourth Mathematique And for the first three they haue each one theyr proper meanes and peculier proofes whereby to conuince that there is a GOD. The fourth which is the Mathematique for that it hath no consideration at all of the efficient or finall cause of thinges vnder which two respects and consideration onely God may be knowne declared to men in this world therefore this science hath no proper meane peculier to it selfe for prouing this veritie as the other sciences haue but receiueth the same as borrowed of the former THE NATVRAL PHYLOSOPHER THE Naturall Phylosopher among the Gentiles had infinite argumeÌ„ts to proue by the creatures that there was a God but all he reduced to three principall and general heads which he termed ex Motu ex Fine ex Causa efficiente That is arguments drawn from the Motions from the Endes and from the Cause efficient of creatures that wee behold which termes the examples folowing shall make cleere and manifest The argument of Motion standeth vpon this generall ground in phylosophie that what soeuer is mooued is mooued of another Wherein also is obserued that in the motions of creatures there is a subordination the one to the other As for example these inferiour bodies vpon earth are mooued and altered by the ayre and other elements and the elements are moued by the influence and motion of the Moone Sunne and other heauenly bodies these Plannets againe are mooued from the highest Orbe or Sphere of all that is called the first moueable aboue which wee can goe no further among creatures Nowe then asketh the Phylosopher here who moueth this first moueable for if you say that it mooueth it selfe it is against our former ground that nothing is mooued in nature but of another And if you say that some other thing mooueth it then is the question againe who mooueth that other and so from one to one vntill you come to some thing that moueth and is not mooued of an other and that must be God which is aboue all nature This was the common argument of Plato and of Aristotle and of all the best Phylosophers And they thought it a demoÌ„stration vnauoidable and it seemeth they were admonished of this argument by consideraon of the clock whose hammer when it striketh sheweth the next wheele whereby it is moued and that wheele sheweth to another wheele and so from one to one vntill you come to him that was the first cause of motion to all the wheeles that is to the Clock-maker himselfe Aristotle to King Alexander vseth this pretie similitude That as in a Quyar of singers when the fore-man hath giuen the first tune or note there insueth presently a sweet harmonie and consent of all other voices both great and small sharpe and meane so God in the creation of this worlde hauing giuen once the first pushe or motion to the highest heauen called Primum mobile there insueth vpon the same all other motions of heauens planets elements other bodies in most admirable order concorde and congruetie for conseruation and gouernment of the whole And thus is GOD prooued by the argument of motion The other two arguments of the End and of the Cause efficient of creatures are made euident in a certaine manner by this that hath beene spoken of motion For seeing by experience that euerie thing brought foorth in nature hath a peculier ende appointed whereto it is directed by the selfe same nature as we see the bird is directed to builde her nest by nature the Foxe to make his denne and so the like in all other creatures the Phylosopher asketh heere what thing is that which directeth nature her selfe seeing each thing must haue somewhat to direct it to his ende And no aunswere can be made but that the Director of Nature must bee some thing aboue nature which is God himselfe This argument of the finall Ende is most excellently handled by Philo Iudeus in his learned treatise of the worke-manship of the world From the Cause efficient the Phylosopher disputeth thus It is euident by all reason in respect of the corruptions alterations perpetuall motions of all creatures that thys worlde had a beginning and all excellent Phylosophers that euer were haue agreed thereupon except Aristotle for a time who held a fantasie that the world had no beginning but was from all eternitie albeit at last in his old age he confessed the contrarieâ— in his booke to King Alexander This then beeing so that this world had a beginning it must needes followe also
life of ours to be but a plai-game and therfore careth not how he liueth or wherein he spend and passe ouer the time And thys of the man whom the scripture calleth vaine But now for the sober wise and discreet of whom it is written The way of life is vpon the learned to the end he may decline from the lowest hell they are farre from so great folly as to imagine that no account shalbe demaūded of our beeing in thys worlde for that they haue read that God shall bring into iudgment whatsoeuer is doone for euerie faulte that is committed And the Christian man knoweth further by the mouth and asseueration of hys Sauiour and Redeemer that he shall be accountant for euery idle worde that hee mys-vttereth and finally there is no man that is eyther of reason or conuersant in the writings and Testament of his Creator but remembreth well that among all other irritations whereby the wicked man is saide to prouoke Gods patience to indignatiō none is more often repeated or more greeuously taken then that he said in his hart God will aske no account With these men then alone shall be my speech in thys present Chapter who haue a desire to discharge well thys account For attayning whereof truelie I can giue no better counsaile instruction or aduise then to doe in this case as a good Merchant-factor is wont to doe when he arriueth in forraine Countries or as a Souldiour or Captaine sent by his Prince to some great exployt is accustomed when he commeth to the place appointed that is to weigh consider deeplie for what cause he came thether why he was sent to what ende what to attempt what to prosecute what to performe what shall be expected and required at his hands vpon his returne by him that sent him thether For these cogitations no doubt shall styrre him vppe to attende to that for which he came and not to imploy hys tyme in impertinent affayres The like woulde I counsayle a Christian to put in vre concerning the case proposed and to demaunde of himselfe betweene God and his conscience why and wherefore and to what ende hee was created and sent hether into thys world what to doe wherein to bestowe hys daies c. And then shall he finde that for no other cause matter or end but only to serue God in thys life and by that seruice to enioy heauen and saluation in the life to come This was the condition of our creation as Moses well expresseth and this was the consideration of our redeeming fore-told by Zacharie before we were yet redeemed that wee beeing deliuered from the hands of our enemies should serue God in holines and righteousnesse all the daies of our liues Of thys consideration doe ensue two consequents to be obserued Whereof the fyrst is that seeing our ende and finall cause of being in thys worlde is to serue God and so to work our own saluation with feare trembling what soeuer thing we doe or bestow our time in which eyther is contrary or impertinent or not profitable to thys ende though it were to gaine kingdoms it is vanitie lost labour that will turne vs in time to greefe and repentaunce if we change not our course for that it is not the matter for which we came into thys life nor wherof we shall be demaunded an account except it be to receiue iudgment punishment for the same Secondly it followeth of the same consideration that seeing our onely businesse and affayre in thys world is to serue our Maker and saue our owne soules and that all other earthly creatures are put heere to serue our vses to that ende onely we shoulde for our parts be indifferent to all these creatures as to riches or pouertie to health or sicknesse to honour or contempt to little learning or much learning and we should desire onely so much or little of eyther of them as vvere best for vs to the attainement of our sayde ende and Butte pretended that is to the seruice of GOD and the weale of our soules For who soeuer desireth seeketh loueth or vseth these creatures more then for thys runneth from his end for which he came hether But thys then may a carefull Christian take some scantling of his owne estate with God and make a coniecture whether he be in the right way or no. For if hee attende onely or principallie to thys end for which hee vvas sent hether if his cares cogitations studies endeuours labours talke conuersation and other his actions doe runne vppon this matter and that he careth no more for other creatures as honours riches learning and the like then they are necessary vnto hym for thys end that he pretendeth if hys daies and life be spent in thys studie of the seruice of God and procuring his owne saluation in carefulnesse feare and trembling as the Apostle aduiseth him then is he doubtlesse a most happy man shall at length attaine to the kingdome which he expecteth But if he find himselfe in a contrary case and course that is not to attend indeede to thys matter for which onely he was sent hether nor to haue in hys hart and studie thys seruice of God and enioying of heauen but rather some other vanitie of the worlde as promotion wealth pleasure sumptuous apparrell gorgious buildings beautie fauour of Princes or any other thing els that appertaineth not vnto thys end If hee spende hys time about these trifles hauing his cares and cogitations his talke and delight more in these things then about the other great businesse of possessing Gods eternall kingdom for which hee was made and placed in thys world then is hee I assure him in a perrillous way leading directly to perdition except he alter and change his course For most certaine it is that whosoeuer shall not attend vnto the seruice he came for shall neuer attaine the rewarde assigned and promised to that seruice And for that the most parte of all thys worlde not onely of Infidels but also Christians doe runne amisse in this pointe and doe not take care of that affayre and busines for which alone they were created placed heere hence is it that Christ and his holie Saints both before and after his appearance in flesh haue spoken so hardly and seuerely of the very small number that shall be saued euen among Christians and haue vttered certain speeches which seeme very rigorous to flesh and bloode and to such as are most touched therein scarce credible albeit they must be fulfilled As among other thinges that a louer of thys worlde cannot be saued that rich men doe enter as hardly into heauen as a Camell through a needles eye and the like The reason of which manner of speeches doe stande in thys that a rich man or worldling attending with all his industrie to heape vppe riches as the fashion is can
present They called theyr Redeemer The expectation of Nations and we call him nowe The saluation of Nations And finally there was no other difference between the old fayth of good men from the beginning ours but onely in the circumstaunces of tyme cleerenes perticularitie and of the maner of protesting the same by outward signes and ceremonies For that in substaunce they beleeued the same Redeemer that we doe and were saued by the same beleefe in his merits as we are For which cause Eusebius well noteth that as we are called nowe Christians so they were called then Christi Psalm 104. that is annointed in prefiguration of the true Christ in whom they beleeued as the first and head of all other anointed and who was the cause and authour of theyr anoynting By thys then it is most manifest that not onely now to vs that be Christians but at all other tymes froÌ„ the beginning of the world and to all other persons and people what soeuer that desired to haue theyr soules saued it was necessary to beleeue and loue Christ and to professe in hart his Religion For which consideration I thought it not amisse in thys place after the former grounds laid that there is a God and that man was created and placed heere for his seruice to demonstrate and prooue also thys other principle that the onely seruice of thys God is by Christian Religion Wherein albeit I doe not doubt but that I shall seeme to many to take vpon me a superfluous labour in proouing a veritie which all men in Christendome doe confesse yet for the causes before alleaged in the second Chapter which mooued me in that place to prooue that there is a God that is to say first for the comfort strength and confirmation of such as eyther from the enemie may receiue temptations or of themselues may desire to see a reason of theyr beleefe and secondly for awaking stirring or stinging of others who eyther of malice carelesnes or sensualitie are fallen a sleepe and haue lost the feeling and sence of theyr beleefe for many such want not in these our myserable daies it shall not bee perhaps but to verie good purpose to laie together in thys place with the greatest breuitie that possibly may be the most sure grounds and inuincible euidences which we haue for declaration and confirmation of this matter For albeit the Apostle S. Paul declareth the things which we beleeue be not such in themselues as may be made apparent by reason of humaine arguments yet such is the goodnes and most sweete proceeding of our mercifull God toward vs as he wil not leaue himselfe without sufficient testimonie both inward and outward as the same Apostle in another place doth testifie For that inwardlie hee testifieth the trueth of such things as we beleeue by giuing vs light vnderstanding with internall ioy and consolation in beleeuing them And outwardly hee giueth testimonie to the same with so many conueniences probabilities and arguments of credibilitie as Diuines doe call them that albeit the very poynt of that which is beleeued remaine styll with some obscuritie yet are there so many circumstaunces of likelyhoods to induce a man to the beleefe thereof as in all reason it may seeme against reason to denie or mistrust them Thys shall easily appeare by the treatise following of Christ and Christianitie and of the foundations of our Religion which shall be confirmed by so many pregnant reasons and most manifest circumstaunces of euident probabilitie as I doubt not but the zealous Christian shal take exceeding comfort therein and esteeme himselfe happie to haue a lotte in that faith and Religion where he shall see and feele so much reason proofe and conueniencie to concurre and shewe it selfe for hys satis-faction And to thys effect it shall be of no mean moment that I haue prooued before the certaintie diuinitie and infallible trueth of the Iewes Scriptures or olde Testament which writings we haue receiued from that Nation that doth as it were professe enmity against vs and the same beeing written so many ages before the name of Christianitie vvas knowne in the worlde it cannot be but of singuler authoritie what soeuer shall be alleaged out of those records for our purpose And therefore as before in proouing our first principle That there is a God wee vsed onely the testimonie of such witnesses as coulde not be partiall so much more in this confirmation of Christian Religion shall we stand onely eyther vppon the confessions of such as are our enemies or vpon the records of others who must needes be indifferent in the cause for that they liued before eyther cause or controuersie in Christianitie vvas knowne or called in question My whole purpose shall be then to make manifest in thys Chapter that Iesus Christ was the Sauiour Redeemer of man-kind fore-promised and expected from the beginning of the worlde that he was the only sonne of God and God himselfe and consequently that what soeuer he hath left vs in hys doctrine and Religion is true sincere and the onely way of saluation vppon earth For cleerer proofe and declaration whereof I will reduce what soeuer I haue to say herein vnto three principall heads or braunches according to the order of three distinct times wherein they fell out That is to say in the first place shall be considered the things that passed before the Natiuitie or incarnation of Christ. In the second the things doone and verified from that time vnto hys ascention which is the space of hys abode vpon earth And in the thyrd place such euents shall be considered as ensued for confirmation of his Deitie after hys departure In declaration of which three generall points I hope by the assistance of him whose cause we handle that so many cleere demonstrations shall be dyscouered as shall greatlie confirme thy fayth gentle Reader and remooue all occasions of temptation to infidelitie Howe Christ was fore-tolde to Iewe and Gentile SECT I. FIrst then for such things as passed before Christ appeared in the flesh do make for proofe of our Christian Religion it is to be noted that they are of two sorts or at least wise they are to be taken fâ—om two kindes of people that is partly from the Iewes and partly from the Gentiles For seeing that Christ was appointed from the beginning yea before the world was created as Saint Paule affirmeth to worke the redemption both of Iewe and Gentile and to make them both one people in the seruice of his Father heere-hence it is that hee was foretolde and prefigured to both these Nations diuers fore-warninges were left among them both for styrring them vppe to expect his comming as by the considerations folowing shal most euidently appeare The first consideration AND to beginne wyth the Iewes no man can deny but that throughout the whole bodie and course of theyr Scriptures that
Salomon that was Dauids sonne and in some sense they may so be for that King Salomon was a figure of Christ to come yet properly these words and his kingdome shall stand for euer and for all eternitie which are so often repeated in this and other places of Scripture cannot be verified in Salomon whose earthly Kingdome was rent and torne in peeces straight way after his death by Ieroboam and not long after as it were extinguishedâ— but they must needes be vnderstoode of an â—ternall king which shold come of Dauids seede as must also these other words of God in the Psalmes Thou art my Sonne thys daie haue I begotten thee I wil giue vnto thee the Gentiles for thyne inheritaunce Which was neuer fulfilled in Salomon nor in any other temporall King in Iurie after hym And much lesse these wordes which follow He shall endure with the sunne and before the moone from generation to generation There shall rise vppe in his daies peace vntil the moone be taken awaie he shall raigne from Sea to Sea vnto the endes of the world All Kings shall adore him and all Nations shal serue him for that hee shall deliuer the poore man that had no helper he shall saue their soules and delyuer them from vsurie and from iniquitie all trybes of the earth shal be blâ—ssed in him and all Nations shall magnifie him These words of Chrisâ—es eternal kingdom of hys enduring to the worldes end of hys vniuersall raigne ouer Iewe and Gentile of hys adoration by all Nations of hys deliuery of soules from bondage of iniquitie and finally of hys making blessed all Trybes of the earth cannot possibly be applyed to any temporall King that euer was among the Iewes or euer shall be vnto the worldes end but onely Christ. IEREMIES PROPHECIE OF CHRIST THIS promise made vnto Dauid for Christ to come of hys seede is repeated after hys death by many Prophets and confirmed by God as in Ieremie vvhere God vseth these wordes Beholde the dayes come on and I will raise vppe to Dauid a iust seede and he shall raigne a King and shall be wise and shall doe iudgment and iustice vppon earth And in his daies shall Iuda be saued Israel shal dwel considently and this is the name that men shall call him OVR IVST GOD. All this was spokeÌ„ of Dauids seede aboue foure hundred yeeres after Dauid was dead Which proueth manifestly that the former promises speeches were not made to King Dauid for Salomon hys sonne or for any other temporall King of Dauids lyne but for Christ who was called so perticulerlie The sonne and seede of Dauid for that Dauid was the first King of the Trybe of Iuda and not onely was Christes Progenitour in the fleshe but also did beare his type and figure in many other things EZECHIELS PROPHECIE OF CHRIST FOR which cause likewise in the Prophet Ezechiell who liued about the same time that Ieremie did the Messias is called by the name of Dauid himselfe For thus God spake at that tyme vnto Ezechiell I will saue my flocke nor shall they be any longer left to the spoyle c. I wil raise ouer them ONE PASTOR which shall feede them my seruant DAVID he shall feede them and hee shall be theyr Sheepehearde and Prince and I will be their God and will make with them a couenaunt of peace c. In which words not onely we that are called Christians but the later Iewes also themselues doe confesse in their Thalmud that theyr Messias is called by the name of Dauid for that hee shall discend of the seede of Dauid as by reason also it must needes be so for that King Dauid beeing deade foure hundred yeeres before these wordes were spoken as hath beene noted coulde not now come againe to feede Gods people or gouerne them himselfe THE PROPHECIES OF ESAY TOVCHING CHRIST ESay the Prophet who liued about a hundred yeeres before Ieremie and Ezechiel had meruailous fore-knowledge of the Messias and hys affayres and describeth him verie perticulerly beginning in thys manner In the latter daies the HILL of Gods house shall be prepared vppon the toppe of mountaines and all Nations or Gentiles shall flowe vnto him And many people shall saie come and let vs ascende vnto the HILL of our Lorde and he shall teach vs his waies and we shall walk in his pathes he shall iudge Nations c. Which very words are also repeated in Micheas the Prophet are applyed there as also here vnto the Messias can haue no other meaning by the iudgment of the Iewes and Hebrues themselues And Esay doth prosecute the same matter afterwards in diuers Chapters As for example in the fourth talking of the same Messias which before he called the HIL of Gods house he addeth these words In that day shal the issue of the Lord be in magnificence and glorie and the fruite of the earth in sublimitie and exultation to all such as shall be saued of Israell In which words he calleth the Messias bothe the issue of God and the fruite of the earth for that he should be both God and man And in the ninth Chapter he calleth him by these termes Admirable Counsâ—llour God Strong Father of the future world and Prince of Peace In the eleuenth chapter he describeth him most wonderfully in these wordes There shall goe forth a braunche of the stocke of Iesse which Iesse was Dauids father and out of the roote of that braunch therâ— shall mount vppe a flower and the spirit of the Lord shall rest vppon him the spirit of wisedome and of vnderstanding the spirit of councell fortitude the spirit of knowledge and pietie he shall not iudge according to the sight of fleshly eyes nor yet condemne according to the hearing of fleshlie eares but hee shall iudge poore men in iustice and shall dispute in equitie for the mylde men of the earth He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the spirit of his lyps shall he sley the wicked man Iustice shal be the girdle of his loynes and faith shall be the bande of his reynes c. Hetherto are the wordes of the Prophet wherin truely nothing can be more plaine and euident then that by the rodde or branche of Iâ—sse is meant the Virgine Marie who directly discended of the linage of Iesse and by the flower ascending froÌ„ this branch must needes be vnderstood Christ that was borne of her and had all those excellencies and priuiledges aboue other men which Esay in thys place assigneth vnto him Whose further graces yet and speciall diuine properties the same Prophet expresseth more particulerly in the Chapters following where he sayth Hee shall for euer ouerthrowe and destroy death he shall open the eyes of the blynde and the eares of the deafe he shall not cry nor contâ—nde nor shall he accept the person of
of Israell or rather setting downe many thinges in more plaine euident speech then did the other the one of them beginning her Greek meeter in these very words Know thy God which is the sonne of God c. An other of them maketh a whole discourse of Christ in Greeke verses called Accrostichi for that the beginning of euerie verse is by some Letter appointed in order forth of some one sentence that runneth through the whole As for example the sentence that passed through the beginning of those verses which nowe vvee talke of was thys Iesus Christ Sonne of God Sauiour Crosse. And there were so many verses in the whole discourse as there are Letters in thys sentence The totall argument beeing of the incarnation life death glorie and iudgement of the Sonne of God And the last two verses of all the meeter are thus He that hath beene heere described by our Accrostike verses is an immortall Sauiour and a King that must suffer for our sinnes And for that these prophecies of the Sibylls are of meruailous importaunce to confirme the veritie of our Christian Religion and are alleaged often for that purpose by the most graue and learned Fathers of the primatiue Church as for example by Iustinê° the Martyr in hys Apologie for Christians by Origen against Celsus by Arnobius his Scholler Lactantius against Gentiles by S. Cyril against Iulian the Apostata by S. Augustine in hys Cittie of God by Eusebius and Constantine the Emperor and other I will say som-what in this place for the authoritie and credite of these verses least any man perhaps might imagine as some Gentiles in olde tyme would seeme to doe that they were deuised or inuented by Christians And the most of my proofes shal be out of a learned Oration written in Latine by the afore-said Emperour to a Councell of Prelates in his daies wherein hee endeuoureth to shew the vndoubted authoritie of these Sibyll prophecies which he esteemed so much after dilligent searche made for theyr credite sinceritie as they seeme to haue beene a great cause of hys constant zeale and feruour in Christianitie The first proofe for credite of the Sibylls verses FYrst then he sheweth that these predictions of the Sibylls could not be deuised or fayned by Christians or made after the tyme of Christes natiuitie for that Marcus Varro a most learned Romaine who lyued almost a hundred yeeres before Christ maketh mention at large of the Sibylls who in number he saith were ten and of theyr wrytings Countries ages as also of the wryters and Authors that before his tyme had left memory of them And both he and Fenestella an other Heathen doe affirme that the wrytinges of these Sibylls were gathered by the Romaines from all parts of the world where they might be heard of and layde vppe with dilligence and great reuerence in the Capitole vnder the charge and custodie of the High Priest other Officers in such sorte as no man might see or reade them but onely certaine Magistrates called the Fiftine and much lesse might any man come to falsifie or corrupt them The second proofe SEcondly he sheweth that Sibylla Erithraea who made the former Acrostike verses of Christ testifieth of her selfe that shee lyued about sixe hundred yeeres after the flud of Noe and her Countriman Apollidorus Erithraeus and Varro doe report that shee lyued before the warre of Troy and prophecied to the Grecians that went to that warre that Troy should be destroyed Which was more then a thousande yeeres before Christ was borne Cicero also that was slaine more then fortie yeeres before Christes natiuitie translated into Latine the former Acrostike verses as CoÌ„stantine saith which translation was to be seene in his workes when Constantine wrote thys Oration so that by no meanes they could be deuised or brought in by Christians The thyrde proofe THyrdlie he sheweth that the same Cicero in dyuers places of his works besides the mention of these Acrostike verses insinuateth also an other prophecie of Sibylla touching a Kyng that should ryse ouer al the world where-with hymselfe the Romans were greatly troubled and therefore in one place after a long inuectiue against his enemie Anthonie that wold seeme to giue credite to that Prophecie or rather as Cicero doth vrge against him would haue had the same fulfilled in Iulius Caesar he concludeth thus Let vs deale with the Prelates of our religion to alleage anie one thing rather out of the Bookes of Sibylla then a KING whom neyther the Gods nor yet men can suffer heereafter to be in Rome The like prophecie of Sibylla touching a King is insinuated by the same Cicero in hys first booke of Epistles to Lentulus to wit that when the Romans should restore a Kyng in Egypt by force then shoulde ensue the vniuersall Kyng that shold be Lorde ouer Romans and all other Which prophecie being much vrged by Cato the Tribune against the restoring of Ptolomaeus Auletes late King of Egypt that for hys euil gouernment was expulsed by hys subiects the matter was thought of such weight by al the Roman Senate â— meane the sequell of thys prophecie that whereas otherwise for manie respects they were greatly inclined to haue restored the sayde Ptolomie yet in regard of thys Religion as they called it they changed theyr mindes But what coulde they alter by thys the determination of God No truely for soone after Kyng Ptolomie perceiuing the Senatours mindes to be altered fled secretlie from Rome to one Gabiniê° that was Gouernour of Syria and for fyue Millions of Gold that he promised him he was by the force of Gabinius restored not long after was Christ borne according to the meaning of the Sibyll prophecie The fourth proofe FOurthly the sayd Emperour Constantine prooueth the authoritie of these Sibylls verses for that Augustus Caesar before our Sauiour Christ was borne had such regarde of them that hee layde them vppe in more straighter order then before according as Suetonius a Heathen in hys lyfe reporteth vnder the Aultar of Apollo in the hyll Palatine where no man might haue the sight of them but by speciall lycence which lycence Constantine prooueth that Virgill the Poet had for that he was in high fauour with Augustus And therefore in a certaine Eclogue or composition of verses that hee made in prayse of a young chylde named Saloninus newely borne to Asinius Pollio Augustus great freende or as other take it of Marcellus a little boy that was Nephew to Augustus by his sister Octauia or rather of theÌ„ both for adulation of Augustus hee applyeth I say to one or both of these young Infants the whole prophecie which hee had read in the verses of Sibylla touching the birth of Christ of the peace grace golden world that should come with him Vpon which subiect he beginneth thus Vltima Cumaei venit
The first what infinite multitudes of all states conditions sexe qualities and age did suffer dailie for testimonie of this trueth The second what intollerable and vnaccustomed torments not hearde of in the worlde before were deuised by Tyrants for afflicting thys kinde of people The thyrde what inuincible courage and vnspeakable alacritie the Christians shewed in bearing out these afflictions which the enemies theÌ„selues could not attribute but to some diuine power and supernaturall assistance And for thys later poynt of comfort in theyr sufferings I wil alleage onely this testimonie of Tertulian against the Gentiles who obiected that wicked men suffered also as well as Christians whereto thys learned Doctor made aunswere in these words Truth it is that many men are prone to ill and do suffer for the same but yet dare they not defende theyr euill to be good as Christians doe theyr cause For that euerie euill thing by nature dooth bring wyth it eyther feare or shame and therefore wee see that malefactors albeit they loue euill yet would they not appeare so to the world but desire rather to lye in couert They tremble when they are taken and when they are accused they denie all and doe scarse oftentimes confesse their dooings vpon torments And finally wheÌ„ they are condemned they lament mone and doe impute their hard fortune to destinie or to the Planets But the Christian what doth hee like to this is there any man ashamed or doth any man repent him wheÌ„ he is taken except it be for that hee was not taken rather If hee be noted by the enemie for a Christian hee glorieth in the same yf he be accused he defendeth not himselfe if hee be asked the question hee confesseth it willingly if he be condemned hee yeeldeth thanks What euill is there then in the Christian cause which lacketh the naturall sequel of euill I meane feare shame tergiuersation repentaunce sorrowe and deploration What euil I say can this be deemed whose guiltines is ioy whose accusation is desire whose punishment is happines Hetherto are the words of learned Tertulian who was an eye witnesse of that hee wrote and had no small part in the cause of those that â—uffered beeing himselfe in that place and state as daily he might expect to taste of the same affliction To which combat howe readie he was may appeare by diuers places of this his Apologie wherein hee vttereth besides hys zeale and feruour a most confident securitie and certaine assuraunce of Iesus assistaunce by that which hee had seene performed to infinite other in their greatest distresses from the same Lord before So that nothing doth more acertaine vs of the diuine power and omnipotencie of Iesus then the fortitude inuinsible which aboue all humane reason force and nature he imparted to his Martyrs The fift Consideration AFter which consideration there commeth to be weighed the fift poynt before mentioned which is of the same power and omnipotencie of Iesus declared and exercised vpon the spirits infernall Which thing partly may appeare by the Oracles alleaged in the ende of the former Section wherein those spirits fore-told that an Hebrue childe should be borne to the vtter subuersion and ruine of theyr tyrannicall dominion and much more at large the same might bee declared by other aunswers and Oracles vttered after Christes natiuitie and registred in the monuments euen of the Heathens themselues Whereof he that desireth to see more ample mention especially out of Porphyrie who then was liuing let him read Eusebius sixt booke De preparatione Euangelica wher he shall finde store and namely that Apollo many times exclaimed Hei mihi congemiscite Hei mihi hei mihi Oraculorum defecit me claritas Woe vnto me lament yee wyth me woe vnto me woe vnto me for that the honour of Oracles hath nowe forsaken mee Which complaints and lamentations are nothing els but a plaine confession that Iesus was he of whom a Prophet saide diuers ages before Attenuabit omnes Deos terrae hee shall weare out and bring to beggerie al the Gods or Idols of the earth Thys confessed also the wicked spirits themselues when aâ— Christes appearing in Iurie they came vnto him diuers times and besought him not to afflict or torment them nor commaund theÌ„ presently to returne to hell but rather to permitte them some little time of entertainement in the Sea or Mountaines or among heards of Swyne or the like Which confession they made in the sight of all the world and declared the same afterwards by theyr facts and deedes For presently vppon Iesus death vppon the preaching of hys name and Gospell throughout the worlde the Oracles which before were aboundant in euerie Prouince and Countrey were put to silence Whereof I might alleage the testimonies of very many Gentiles themselues as that of Iuuenall Cessant Oracula Delphis All Oracles at Delphos do now cease c. That also of another Poet Excessere omnes adytis arisque relictis Dii quibus imperium hoc steterat c. That is the Gods by whom this Empire stood are all departed from theyr Temples and haue abandoned theyr Altars and place of habitation Strabo hath also these expresse words The Oracle of Delphos at this day is to be seene in extreame beggerie and mendicitie And finally Plutarch that liued within one hundred yeeres after Christ made a speciall booke to search out the causes why the Oracles of the Goddes were ceassed in hys tyme. And after much turning and winding many wayes resolued vppon two principall points as causes thereof The first for that in his tyme there was more store of wise men then before whose aunswers might stand in steede of Oracles and the other that peraduenture the spirits which were accustomed to yeelde Oracles were by length of tyme growne olde and dead Both which reasons in the very common sence of all men must needes be false and by Plutarch himself can not stand wyth probabilitie For first in his Bookes which he wrote of the liues of auncient famous men he confesseth that in such kind of wisedome as he most esteemed they had not theyr equals among their posterity Secondly in his Treatises of Phylosophy he passeth it for a ground that spyrits nor depending of materiall bodies cannot dye or wexe olde and therefore of necessitie hee must conclude that some other cause is to be yeelded of the ceassing of these Oracles which cannot be but the presence and commaundement of some higher power according to the saying of S. Iohn To this end appeared the sonne of GOD that hee might dyssolue or ouerthrow the workes of the deuil Neyther did Iesus thys alone in his own person but gaue also power and authoritie to his dysciples and followers to do the like according to theyr commission in Saint Mathewes Gospell Super omnia Demonia et spiritus immundos c. You shall haue authoritie ouer all
deuils vncleane spirits Which commission howe they afterwarde put it in execution the whole worlde yeeldeth sufficient testimonie And for examples sake onlie I will alleage in this place an offer or challenge made for proofe thereof by Tertulian to the Heathen Magistrates and persecutors of hys time his words are these Let there bee brought heere in presence before your tribunall seates some person who is certainly knowne to be possessed with a wicked spirit and let that spirit be cōmaunded by a Christian to speake he shal as truelie confesse himselfe to be a deuill as at other tymes to you he wyll falsely say he is a God Again at the same time let there be brought foorth one of these your Priestes or Prophets that will seeme to be possessed with a diuine spirite I meane of those that speake gasping c. in whom you imagine your Gods to talke and except that spyrite also commaunded by vs doe confesse himselfe to be a deuill beeing affrayd indeede to lie vnto a Christian doe you shedde the blood of the Christians in that verie place c. None wyll lye to theyr owne shame but rather for honour or aduantage yet those spirits wyll not say to vs that Christ was a Magitian as you doe nor that he was of the cōmon condition of men They wyll not say he was stolne out of the Sepulcher but they wyll confesse that hee was the vertue wisedome and word of God that he is in heauen and that he shall come againe to be our Iudge c. Neither will these deuils in our presence denie themselues to be vncleane spirits and damned for theyr wickednes and that they expect his most horrible iudgement professing also that they doe feare Christ in God and God in Christ and that they are made subiect vnto hys seruaunts Hetherto are the wordes of Tertulian contayning as I haue sayd a most confident challenge and that vppon the liues blood of all Christians to make triall of their power in controling those spirits which the Romaines and other Gentiles adored as theyr Gods Which offer seeing it was made and exhibited to the persecutors thēselues then liuing in Rome well may we be assured that the enemie wold neuer haue omitted so notorious an aduauntage if by former experience hee had not beene perswaded that the ioyning heerein would haue turned and redounded to hys owne confusion And this puissant authoritie of Iesus imparted to Christians extended it selfe so far foorth that not onely their words and commaundements but euen their very presence did shutte the mouthes and driue into feare the miserable spirits So Lactantius sheweth that in his dayes among many other examples of thys thing a seelie seruing-man that was a Christian following hys Maister into a certaine Temple of Idoles the Gods cryed out that nothing could be well done as long as that Christian was in presence The like recordeth Eusebius of Dioclesian the Emperour who going to Apollo for an Oracle receiued aunswere That the iust men were the cause that hee coulde say nothing Which iust men Apollos Priestes interpreted to bee meant ironically of Christians and theruppon Dioclesian began hys most fearce and cruell persecution in Eusebius daies Sozomenus also writeth that Iulian the Apostata endeuouring with many sacrifices and coniurations to drawe an aunswer from Apollo Daphnaeus in a famous place called Daphne in the suburbes of Antioche vnderstood at last by the Oracle that the bones of Saint Babylas the Martyr that lay neere to the place were the impediment why that God could not speake And thereuppon Iulian caused the same body presently to be remoued And finally heereof it proceeded that in all sacrifices coniurations and other mysteries of the Gentiles there was brought in that phrase recorded by scoffing Lucian Extant Christiani let Christians depart for that while they were present nothing coulde be well accomplished To conclude the Pagan Porphyrie that of all other most earnestly endeuoured to impugne and dysgrace vs Christians and to hold vppe the honor of his enfeebled Idoles yet discoursing of the great plague that raigned most furiously in the Cittie of Messina in Cicilie where he dwelt yeeldeth this reason why AEsculapius the God of Physicke much adored in that place was not able to helpe them It is no meruaile saith he if this Cittie so many yeeres be vexed with the plague seeing that both AEsculapius and all other Gods be nowe departed from it by the comming of Christians For since that men haue begunne to worship thys Iesus we could neuer obtaine anie profite by our Gods Thus much confessed thys Patrone of Paganisme concerning the maime that hys Gods had receiued by Iesus honour Which albeit he spake with a malicious minde to bring Christians in hatred and persecution thereby yet is the confession notable confirmeth that Storie which Plutarch in hys fore-named booke dooth report that in the later yeeres of the raigne of the Emperour Tyberius a strange voyce and exceeding horrible clamour wyth hydeous cryes skriches and howlings were heard by many in the Graecian sea complaining that the great God Pan was nowe departed And this Plutarch that was a Gentile affirmeth to haue beene alleaged and approoued before the Emperour Tyberius who meruailed greatlie thereat and could not by all his Diuiners and Southsayers whom he called to that consultation gather out any reasonable meaning of thys wonderfull accident But we Christians comparing the time wherein it happened vnto the tyme of Iesus death passion and finding the same fully to agree may more thē probably perswade our selues that by the death of their great God Pan which signifieth all was imported the ruine and vtter ouerthrow of all the wicked spirits and Idoles vpon earth The sixt Consideration AND thus hath the Deitie of Iesus beene declared and prooued by hys omnipotent power in subduing infernall enemies Nowe resteth it for vs to make manifest the same by hys like power and diuine iustice shewed vpon diuers of hys enemies here on earth whose greatest punishment albeit for the most parte hee reserueth for the life to com yet som-times for manifestation of his omnipotencie as specially it was behouefull in those first dayes of hys appearaunce in the world he chasteneth them also euen here on earth in the eye and sight of all men So wee reade of the most infamous and miserable death of Herod the first surnamed Ascolonita who after hys persecution of Christ in hys infancie and the slaughter of the infants in Bethleem for hys sake was wearied out by a lothsome life in feare and horrour of hys owne wyfe and chyldren whom after he had most cruelly murthered was enforced also by desperation through his inspeakable greefes vexations and torments to offer hys owne hand to his owne destruction if hee had not beene stayed by hys freendes that stoode about him After him Archelaus his eldest Sonne that
was a terror to Iesus at hys returne from Egipt fell also by Gods iustice into meruailous calamities For first beeing left as king by hys father Augustus woulde not allowe or ratifie that succession but of a king made hym a Tetrarch assigning vnto hym onelie the fourth part of that dominion which hys Father had before And then again after nine yeeres space tooke that away in like maner wyth the greatest dishonour hee coulde deuise seazing vpon all hys treasure and riches by way of confiscation and condemning hys person to perpetuall banishment wherein he died most miserably in Vienna in France Not long after thys the seconde sonne of Herod the first named Herod Antipas Tetrarch of Galilie who put S. Iohn Baptist to death and scorned Iesus before hys passion whereat bothe hymselfe and Herodias hys Concubine were present was deposed also by Caius the Emperour beeing accused by Agrippa hys neerest kinseman most conâ—umeliously sent in exile first to Lyons in Fraunce and after that to the most deserte and inhabitable places in Spayne where he wyth Herodias wandered vppe and downe in extreame calamitie so long as they liued and finally ended theyr dayes abandoned of all men In which miserie also it is recorded that the dauncing Daughter of Herodias who had in her iolitie demaunded Iohn Baptists heade beeing on a certaine time enforced to passe ouer a frozen Riuer suddainely the Ise brake and shee in her fall had her heade cut off by the same Ise without hurting the rest of her bodie to the great admiration of all the lookers on The like euent had another of Herods familie named Herod Agrippa the accuser of the fore-named Herod the Tetrarch who in hys great glory and tryumph hauing put to death S. Iames the brother of S. Iohn Euangelist imprisoned S. Peter was soone after in a publique assembly of Princes and Nobles at Caesaria striken from heauen with a most horrible disease whereby hys bodie putrified and was eaten wyth vermine as both S. Luke recordeth and Iosephus affirmeth And the same Iosephus with no small meruaile in himselfe declareth that at the very same time when hee wrote hys storie which was about three-score and ten yeeres after the death of Herod the first the whole progenie and of-spring kindred and familie of the sayd Herod which he sayth was exceeding great by reason he had many wiues together wyth many children brothers and sisters besides Nephewes and kinse-folke were al extinguished in most miserable sort and gaue a testimonie saith Iosephus to the world of the most vain confidence that men doe put in humaine felicitie And as the punishments lighted openly vppon Iesus professed enemies in Iurie so escaped not all the Romaines theyr chastisement I meane such as especially had theyr hands in persecution of him or of his folowers after him For first of Pontius Pilate that gaue sentence of death against him we read that after great disgrace receiued in Iurie he was sent home into Italie and there by manifest dis-fauours shewed vnto him by the Emperour his Maister fell into such desperation as he slew himselfe with his owne hands And secondly of the very Emperours themselues who liued from Tyberius vnder whoÌ„ Iesus suâ—fered vnto Constantine the great vnder whom Christian Religion tooke dominion ouer the world which contained the space of three hundred yeeres very fewe or none escaped the manifest scourges of Gods dreadfull iustice shewed vpon them at the knytting vppe of theyr dayes For examples sake Tyberius that permitted Christians to liue freely and made a Lawe against theyr molestation as before hath beene shewed died peaceably in his bedde But Caligula that followed him for his contempt shewed against all diuine power in making himselfe a God was soone after murdered by the coÌ„sent of hys deerest freendes Nero also who first of all other beganne persecution against the Christians wythin few moneths after he had put S. Peter S. Paul to death in Rome hauing murthered in like manner his owne Mother Brother Wife and Maister was vpon the suddaine from his glorious estate and maiestie throwne downe into such horrible distresse and confusion in the sight of all men as being condemned by the Senate to haue hys head thrust into a Pyllerie and there most ignominiously to be whypped to death was constrained for auoyding the execution of that terrible sentence to massacre hymselfe with hys owne handes by the assistance of such as were dearest vnto him The like may be shewed in the tragicall endes of Galba Otho Vitellius Domitian Commodus Pertinax Iulian Marcinus Antoninus Alexander Decius Gallê° Volutianus AEmilianus Valerianus Galienus Caius Carinus Maximianus Maxentius Lucinius and others Whose miserable deathes a Noble man Councellour well neere one thousande yeeres past did gather against Zosimus a Heathen writer to shewe thereby the power-full hand of Iesus vpon hys enemies adding furthermore that since the time of Constantine whiles Emperours haue beene Christians fewe or no such examples can be shewed except it bee vppon Iulian the Apostata Valens the Arrian heretique or some other of like detestable and notorious wickednesse And thus much of particular men chastised by Iesus But if we desire to haue a full example of hys iustice vppon a whole Nation together let vs consider what befell Ierusalem and the people of Iurie for theyr barbarous crueltie practised vpon him in hys death passion And truely if we beleeue Iosephus Philo the Iewish Historiographers who lyued eyther wyth Christ or immediatly after hym it can hardly be expressed by the tongue or penne of man what insufferable calamities and miseries were inflicted to that people presently vpon the ascention of Iesus by Pilate theyr Gouernor vnder Tyberius the Emperour and then againe by Petronius vnder Caligula and after that by Cumanus vnder Claudius and lastlie by Festus and Albinus vnder Nero. Through whose cruelties that Nation was enforced finally to rebell and take Armes against the Romaine Empire which was the cause of theyr vtter ruine and extirpation by Tytus and Vespasian At what time besides the ouerthrow of their Cittie burning of theyr Temple and other infinite distresses which Iosephus an eye-witnes protesteth that no speeche or discourse humaine can declare The same Authour likewise recordeth eleuen hundred thousand persons to haue been slaine and foure-score and seauenteen thousande taken aliue who were eyther put to death afterward in publique tryumphes or sold openly for bond-slaues into all parts of the world And in thys vniuersall calamitie of the Iewish Nation beeing the most notorious and greeuous that euer happened to people or nation before or after them for the Romaines neuer practised the like vpon others it is singulerly to be obserued that in the same tyme and place in which they had put Iesus to death before that is in the feast of the Paschal when theyr whole Nation
of our Sauiour in the Gospell concerning the extraordinarie ioy feasting that the careful woman made when shee had found againe her grote that was lost and the good sheephearde when he brought backe the sheepe that was astray and the mercifull father when he receiued home his sonne that before had abandoned him And to the same purpose doth it also appertaine that in the Prophet Dauid God glorieth especially in the seruice of those people that before had not known him And this shal suffise for thys second poynt to shew what wonderfull meanes almightie God dooth vse in setting forth his mercie for allurement of sinners vnto repentaunce The third part what assurance God giueth to them that repent AND so hauing declared what exceeding great loue and mercie GOD beareth towards man how effectually he expresseth the same by his suing vnto sinners for their conuersion it followeth that we shold in this third place examine some what more in perticuler what certaine assuraunce hys diuine Maiestie giueth of vndoubted pardon and full remission of theyr sinnes to all such as vnfainedly shall resolue themselues to make their refuge vnto him Which thing albeit euery man by that which before hath beene treated may sufficiently conceiue yet for the importance of the matter it shall not be amisse in thys place also to adde a worde or two for more plaine and euident demonstration thereof And thys shall bee doone by setting downe both the wordes and deedes that is bothe the promisses and performance which almightie God hath vsed and exercised in this behalfe to all such as haue offended him whatsoeuer And for the first which are his promises most apparent it is as well by the thinges which before haue beene discussed as also by the whole course body and drift of holie scripture that the promises of mercy pardon which his diuine maiestie hath made to sinners whereunto by his sacred word he hath in a certain manner obliged himselfe are both manifold vehement absolute resolute and vniuersal Whosoeuer shall depart from his wicked waies and turne vnto me saith almightie GOD I will receiue him Beholde the vniuersalitie of all people and persons without excluding any And then further At what time soeuer an impious man shall returne vnto mee from his impietie his wickednes shall not hurt him saith the same Lorde God of hostes see the vniuersalitie of all tymes and seasons without exception But yet harken what God addeth besides Leaue of to do peruerselie saith he to the Iewes c. and then doe you come finde fault with me if you can For if your sinnes were as redde as skarlet they shall be made as white as snowe c. Consider the vniuersalitie of all kinde of sinnes be they neuer so greeuous so horrible or heynous And finally God talking to a soule that hath often times fallen and most infinitly offended him hee sayth thus It is a common receiued speech that if a woman depart frō her husband and doe ioyne herselfe to another man shee may not returne to her fyrst husband againe for that shee is defiled and made contaminate And yet whereas thou hast departed from me and hast committed fornication wyth many other louers doe thou returne vnto me againe and I wyll receiue thee saith almightie God By which words is expressed the fourth vniuersalitie contayning all states qualities and conditions of men how many waies or howe oftentimes or howe contemptuouslie soeuer they haue committed sinnes against hys diuine Maiestie And what may be added nowe more vnto thys was there euer Prince that made so large an offer to his subiects or was there euer father that gaue so ample and vniuersall promise of pardon vnto hys children Who can nowe mistrust himselfe to be excluded from this assurance of mercie wherein all sorts of people al kind of sinnes all times and seasons all states and qualities of sinners are comprehended O most miserable infortunate man that excludeth himselfe whom God excludeth not What is there in this generall and vniuersall promises whereof any man in the worlde shoulde haue pretence to make any leaste doubt or question Of the meaning perhaps and intent of him that promiseth O deere brother it is onely loue and charitie and consequently can not deciue vs. Of the trueth and suretie of his promises It is infallible and more certaine then heauen and earth put together Of the power that hee hath to performe his promisses It is infinit and not restrained by any bounds or limitation whereof then may wee doubt or in which of these three poynts may we not cōceiue most singuler consolation heare the comfortable meditation that blessed S. Bernard made vpō thes three particulers which we haue now mentioned Tria considero saith he in quibus tota spes mea consistit charitatem vocationis veritatem promissionis potestaetem redditionis c. That is I doe consider three things faith this holy man wherin all my hope consisteth wherby it is made inuinsible First the exceeding loue charitie of him that calleth me to him by repētance secondly the infallible truth and certainty of his promise which he maketh to me of pardon and mercie thirdly the endlesse power and abilitie he hath to performe whatsoeuer he promiseth This is that triple or threefold rope and chaine which holy scripture sayth is hardly broken for that by this rope lette downe vnto vs from heauen which is our Countrey into this world that is our prison we may ascend and mount vp if we wyll euen vnto the sight and possession of Gods eternall kingdome heauenly glorie Thus farre that blessed father But now to the second poynt if we consider howe faithfullie almightie God hath put in execution those promisses of his frō tyme to tyme and howe no one man vpon earth so many ages as the world hath continued was euer yet frustrate of his hope in making his conuersion vnto his Maiestie if he made it from his hart we shall finde further cause for vs to confide For so much as it is not probable or in reason to be imagined that he which neuer failed in times past will breake his promise for the time to com especially seeing now in Christianitie when we haue this aduantage aboue other former times as Saint Iohn doth also note that he who was and is our iudge is become also our aduocate to pleade our cause Cast backe thine eyes then my louing deere brother and take a viewe of all ages times and seasons past gone Begin from the first creation of the worlde and come downeward euen vnto this day examine indifferently whether in all this wyde compasse of times persons places and most greeuous offences cōmitted against hys diuine Maiestie there were euer yet any one sinner vpon earth that returned vnfainedly was not receiued The sinne of our first Parents was presently forgiuen vnto
time and euer since he hath made Heerehence it proceeded that all his delight and pleasure vpon earth was to conuerse with sinners to giue them comfort courage and confidence in him Which hee did so manifestly in the sight of al the world as hee became very scandalous offensiue thereby to the Scribes Pharisies other principall Rulers among the Iewish Nation Heere-hence also did proceede those his most meruailous speeches and strange inuitations of wicked men vnto him as for example at one tyme among other when hee cryed out in publique Come vnto mee all yee that doe labour and be heauie loden and I wyll refresh you And at another time going into the Temple of Ierusalem vpon a high festiuall day when all the people were gathered together he stoode vp in the midst of them all and brake forth into thys vehement inuitation wyth a loude voyce as S. Iohn Euangelist recordeth If any man among you bee thirstie let him come vnto me and he shal drink Heerby it came to passe that his diuine maiestie was termed commonly Publicanorum et pâ—ccatorum amicus the freende and familiar of wicked Publicans and sinners And heereof finally it did proceede that he receiued all embraced all and forgaue all that repaired vnto him were they Scribes Pharisies Souldiours Publicans Vsurers Harlots Theeues Persecutors or whatsoeuer most greeuous offenders besides whereof particuler examples in each kinde might be alleaged assuring vs furthermore that after hys resurrection and blessed aâ—cention to the right hande of hys father he woulde be more bountifull yet in thys manner of proceeding and drâ—w all men vnto him beeing at one tyme both our Iudge and Aduocate our King and Mediatour our God and Redeemer our Father and Brother our Priest and Sacrifice and he that both pleadeth and determineth our cause together What then shoulde not we hope at thys tyme deere Christian brother at the hands of this our Lorde and Maister which hath left vnto vs such wordes such deedes such assured euidences of hys infallible loue and aboundant mercies towards vs why shold not hys dealings wyth other men before vs giue vs hart and courage to trust assuredlie in him for the time present and to come why shoulde not his former most infinite mercies be vnto vs odoriferous alluring sauors oyntments to make vs as the spouse did in the Canticles follow and runne after him Heare what deuout S. Bernarde dooth meditate vppon this passage of Christes fragrant oyntments O sweete Iesus saith hee the fresh and odoriferous smell of thy wonderfull clemencie doth allure vs to runne after thee when we heare say that thou despisest not beggers nor abhorrest sinners Wee know right well ô Lord that thou diddest not reiect the theefe that confessed thee nor the sinfull woman that wept vnto thee nor the Chananaean that huÌ„bled herselfe before thee nor the wicked adultresse brought vnto thee nor the touller or tribute gatherer that followed thee nor the publican that repaired vnto thee nor the disciple that denied thee nor Saule that did persecute thee nor thy tormenters that did naile thy sacred bodie to the Crosse. O Lorde all these are fragrant smels and sauours of thy most sweet mercie and at the sente of these thy oyntments we doe followe and runne after thee Thus farre S. Bernard The fourth part The application of all that hath beene said AND so wyth this to come to the fourth and last part of thys Chapter and to apply all that hath beene said of Gods mercie to our present purpose What man is there liuing in the worlde that reading and beleeuing these things can doubt or mistrust to receiue pardon for hys sinnes If God be hee that iustifieth who is able to condemne vs saith the holy Apostle S Paul If God be minded to deliuer vs who can take vs out of his hands If God protest that he wyll pardon vs why should we make any doubt or question thereof at all Why shoulde wee not ioyne rather wyth that confident and faithful seruaunt of his S. Paul who saith vnto vs and to all other sinners liuing in his maisters name Let vs repaire vnto him with a true hart in fulnesse of faith hauing purged our harts from an euill conscience let vs hold fast an immouable confession of our hope seeing he is faithfull which hath giuen vnto vs his promise and let vs consider howe one of vs may prouoke another to charitie and good workes By which words the holy Apostle signifieth that what sinner soeuer shall resolue with himselfe to purge his conscience from wickednesse for the tyme to come and to employ the rest of his life in charitie and good works he may confidently boldly repayre vnto almightie God wyth most certaine assuraunce to receiue pardon remission And alas deere brother why then should any man despaire Wherefore shoulde any man cast awaie hys owne soule that GOD so much desireth to saue what a pittifull and lamentable case is it to behold so many Christians in the world to goe languishing in their sinnes to giue themselues ouer to all kind of carelesse and dissolute sensualitie which by God himselfe is called desperation vpon this conceit and wicked cogitation that nowe they are gone so farre and so deepely rooted and habituated in thys kinde of life as eyther it is impossible or in vaine for them now to thinke of change or amendment O deere brother let these men harken to thys excellent dyscourse of holy Chrisostome which ensueth If thou be a wicked man saith he thinke vpon the Publicane If thou be vncleane of lyfe consider the harlot If thou be a murderer remember the theefe If thou be a swearer call to minde the blasphemer Cast thyne eyes vpon Saul and Paul first a persecutour and then a preacher first a violent robber afterwarde a good steward and dyspenser First chaffe afterward corne first a woolfe afterward a sheepheard first lead afterward gold first a pirat afterwards a good pilot first a dispersor afterwarde a gatherer together first a breaker down of Gods vine yard afterwarde a planter first a destroyer afterward a builder Thou hast seene manifold wickednes but nowe behold vnspeakable mercie Thou hast heard the pride of the seruant consider now the loue and clemencie of the Maister I will not thou say to me I am a blasphemer I haue beene a persecutor I haue led an vncleane and abhominable life and therefore I doubt least I shal not be pardoned Say not so vnto me for here thou hast examples to the contrary in euery of these and many other sinnes Thou mayst safely flie to what port thou list and that eyther in the old or new Testament For in the old thou hast Dauid in the newe thou hast Paul I will not haue thee therefore alleage excuses vnto mee for couering thyne owne cowardnes Hast thou sinned repent hast thou sinned a