the forgiuenesse of their former sinnes may well receiue this sacrament of their regeneration So when they which heard Peter were pricked in their heartes and saide to Peter and the other Apostles Men and brethren what shal wee doe Peter said vnto theÌ„ Amend your liues and be baptized euery one of you in the Name of Iesus Christ for the remissioÌ„ of sinnes They were buried with Christ by Baptisme into his death and made partakers of his blood and continued in the Apostles doctrine and fellowshippe Christ saith the Apostle loued the Church and gaue himselfe for it that he might sanctifie it and clense it by the washing of water through the word Againe According to his mercie hee saued vs by the washing of the newe birth and the renewing of the holye Ghost For this cause is baptisme called saluation life regeneration the forgiuenes of sinnes the power of God to resurrection the Image and pledge of resurrection and the weede of immortalitie And yet are not these thinges wrought by the water for then what neede had wee of Christ what good did his passion what doeth the holie Ghost woorke in our heartes what power or force is lefte to the woorde of God Augustine saith Quare non ait mundi estis propter Baptismum quo loti estis nisi quia etiam in aqua verbum mundat detrahe verbum quid est aqua nisi aqua Why doth not Christ say nowe ye are cleane because of the Baptisme wherewith ye are washed sauing that because in the water it is the word that maketh cleane take away the worde and what is water more then water It is the couenant and promise and mercie of God which clotheth vs with immortalitie assureth our resurrectivn by whiche wee receiue regeneration forgiuenesse of sinnes life and saluation His woorde declareth his loue towardes vs and that woorde is sealed and made good by Baptisme Our faith which are baptized and our continuance in the profession whiche wee haue made establisheth in vs this grace which wee receiue As it is sayde Verus Baptismus constat non tam c. True Baptisme standeth not so much in washing of the bodie as in the faith of the heart As the Doctrine of the Apostles hath taught vs saying By Faith purifiyng their heartes And in another place Baptisme saueth vs not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the examining of a good conscience before God by the resurrection of Iesus Christ Therefore Hierom saith They that receiue not Baptism with perfect faith receiue the water but the holie Ghost they receiue not The water wherein wee are baptized doeth not clense the soule But the blood of Iesus Christ his sonne doth clense vs from al sinne Not the water but the blood of Christ reconcileth vs vnto GOD strengtheneth our conscience and worketh our redemption We must seeke saluation in Christ alone and not in any outwarde thing Hereof saith Cyprian Remissio peccatorum siue per Baptismum siue per alia Sacramenta donetur propriè spiritus sancti est Verborum solennitas c. The remission of sinnes whether it be giuen by baptisme or by anie other Sacraments do properly appertain to the holy ghost The solennitie of the words and the inuocation of Gods holy Name the outwarde signes appointed to the ministerie of the Priest by the institution of the Apostles worke the visible outward Sacrament But touching the substance therof it is the holy Ghost that worketh it Saint Ambrose also saith Vidisti fontem vidisti sacerdoteÌ„ c. Thou hast seene the water thou hast seen the Priest thou hast seen those things which thou mightest see with the eies of thy body and by such sight as man hath but those things which worke doe the deede of saluation which no eye can see thou hast not seene Such a change is made in the sacrament of baptisme Through y t power of Gods working the water is turned into blood They y t bee washed in it receiue the remission of sinnes their robes are made cleane in the blood of the lambe The water it selfe is nothing but by the working of Gods spirit the death and merits of our Lorde and Sauiour Christ are thereby assured vnto vs. A figure heereof was giuen at the redde Sea The children of Israel passed through in safetie but Pharao and his whole armie were drowned Another figure heereof was giuen in the Arke The whole worlde was drowned but Noah and his familie were saued aliue Euen so in the fountaine of Baptisme our spirituall Pharao the Deuill is choked his armie that is our sinnes are drowned and we saued The wicked of the worlde are swallowed in concupiscence and vanities and wee abide safe in the Arke GOD hath chosen vs to bee a peculiar people to himselfe wee walke not after the flesh but after the Spirite therefore wee are in Christe Iesus and there is nowe no condemnation vnto vs. Nowe touching the Minister of this Sacrament whether hee bee a good man or an euil man godly or godlesse an heretike or a Catholike an Idolater or a true worshipper of God the effect is all one the value or woorthinesse of the Sacrament dependeth not of man but of God Man pronounceth the worde but GOD setleth our heartes with grace man toucheth or washeth vs with water but God maketh vs cleane by the Crosse of Christ It is not the minister but Christ himselfe whiche is the Lambe of GOD that taketh away the sinnes of the worlde Againe whether the infant be signed with y t signe of the crosse or be put into the water once or thrise whether one or two or three or more be Godfathers or witnesses of the Baptisme it maketh nothing to the vertue of the sacrament they are no part thereof without these baptisme is whole and perfect Hereof Gregorie saith In vna fide nihil officit consuetudo Ecclesiae diuersa The Faith beeing one the diuersitie of customes hurteth nothing Christ left no order for the vse of these thinges neither did by his word or example require them The Church of God hath libertie to dispose herein as may bee most â—itting for decencie and godlines Some make doubt of those infantes the children of the faithfull which depart before baptisme whether they be saued or not What shal wee say that they are damned It is a hard matter and too curious for man to enter into the iudgements of God his mercie is infinite and his purpose secrete Hee sheweth mercie vnto those vpon whom hee will haue mercie Who can appoynt him or set him an order what hee shall do It is not good nor standeth with Christian reuerence to bee contentious and busie in searching out or reasoning of matters which the wisedome of God hath hid from our knowledge Yet if any would faine bee resolued hee may thus safely reason It is true that children are borne in sinne and
home from Obededom and set in the mount Sion when Religion reuiued which through the negligence and malice of Saul was forsaken when he saw his nobility his Bishoppes his Priestes and all his people willing and forward he could not refraine him selfe but brake out and song Haec est dies quam fecit Dominus exultemus laetemurin ea This is the day which y ◠Lord hath made let vs be glad and reioyce in it Let vs be merry ioye that euer we liued to see it Euen so Paul when in his time hee saw the Gospel take roote and prosper and that the sauour of life was powred abroade that the kingdome of God was enlarged and the kingdome of Satan shaking down his heart leaped and sprong within him Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile Behold now that acceptable time behold God hath looked downe mercifully vpon the world beholde the daye of saluation is come vpon vs. But the godly man as hee reioyceth at the beautie of Gods house so when contrariwise he seeth the same disordered filthily when he seeth the Sacraments of God abused the trueth troden vnder foote the people mocked the name of god dishonoured he cānot but lament mourn and finde himselfe wounded at heart When the good king Iosias saw the booke of god whiche was so long hid in y ◠wall out of remēbrance when he considered the blindenes in which they had liued the vnkindnes of their forfathers he could not forbeare but fell a weeping he feared least god would take vengeance vpō thē for so great cōtempt of his word Whē Ieremy saw the wilfulnes and frowardnesse of the people which would not submit themselues and be obedient vnto god he cryed Oh that my head were ful of water mine eyes a fountaine of teares that I might weepe day and hight c. Such care had they for Gods people thus the zeale of Gods house had eaten them vp Zeale if any man know not the nature of the word is an earnest affection and vehement loue as is the loue of a mother towards her children or of y e natural child towards his mother This zeale cannot abyde to see that thing which it loueth despised or hurt Such a zeale and care carieth God ouer his people hee loueth them as a mother loueth her little children he wil not suffer them to be hurt By y e Prophet Esai he saith Can a woman forget her childe not haue cōpassion on the sonne of her womb thogh they should forget yet wil I not forget thee Zachary also saith He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eie For God hath said they shalbe my people and I wil be their God Such care likewise heare al the godly towards their God they loue him with all their soule with al their heart with al their strength they reuerence him as their deare father they are grieued at anye blasphemy and with anye contempt of his holy name But as euery man be he neuer so wicked yea euen he that saieth in his heart there is no God which is become filthy abhominable in al his doings yet in his talke outwardly saith he hath a God and that hee beleeueth in him euen so there is none so wicked or so forsaken of God in his heart but he perswadeth himselfe hee hath the zeale of GOD and what he doth in selfe loue of his owne fantasie hee will beare in hand he doth it for the loue of God The ouerthrowers and wasters of the Churche will seeme to shew a speciall care for the Churche Dissemblers hypocrites despisers scorners euen suche as sinne agaynst the holye Ghost which denie the trueth of God after they haue knowen it which witting and knowing fight against the trueth which say of Christ we will not haue him to rule ouer vs which worke that sinne that shall neuer bee forgeuen in this worlde nor in the worlde to come yet notwithstanding wil pretend and seem to haue the zeale of God Thus the Scribes and Pharisies set vp their bristles against Christ thy Disciples keep not the common fast thou sufferest them to put and to eate the eares of corne thou sufferest them to eate with vnwashed handes thou breakest the tradition of the Elders thou breakest the Law of God which he gaue vs by Moses thou art a seditious teacher thou art a schismatike thou art an Heretike They sayde we fast twise in the Weeke wee haue Abraham to our father we are Moses Disciples Therfore when they hearde Stephen speaking those heauenly words Behold I see the heauens open and the Sonne of man standing at the right hand of God through zeale they gaue a shoute with a loud voyce stopped their eares and ran vpon him al at once When Christ had said Ye shall see the sonne of man sit at the right hād of God come in the clouds of heauē the hie priest through zeale rent his clothes sayd Ye haue heard the blasphemie This naughty man speaketh blasphemie against God He called a Councell the Scribes Pharisies met together not one man amongst them but of themselues they looked about them as if they only were the pillars and buttresses of the church and were only zealous and carefull for the house of God But their meeting was as Dauid forespake and as Peter declareth and as wee knowe against the Lorde and against annointed They were touched with zeale of their owne glory not with the zeale of Gods trueth They sought their owne praise but not the praise which is of God They made crakes that they knewe the scriptures that they were the Temple of God that they had the consent of al antiquitye as others haue done since that time and as wee see many do this day in very deed these men now haue euen as much as they had then as by proof and triall it wil appeare There are others which haue a feeling of God and a great care for his Church but such a feeling and care as commeth either of their owne fantasies or of some opinion and credite they haue in their Fathers which were before them not of the vnderstanding of Gods pleasure Such are they which offende God not of malice or wilfulnesse but onelye for lacke of teaching and vnderstanding Such were they whiche withstoode Saint Paule in all his preaching for that they tooke him for an Heretike and thought his preaching was against God I beare them witnesse saith he that they haue the zeale of GOD but not according to knowledge Such a zeale haue many who forbid that God commandeth and commande that which God forbiddeth Such a zeale had Paule himselfe I was a blasphemer a persecutor an oppressor but I was receiued to mercy for I did it ignorauntly without beliefe Such a zeale haue they who think they do God good seruice whē they kil murther the righteous good seruāts of God Such a
performance of the same The Quenes most honourable counsaile with the residue of the noblitie The miserable state of both the Uniuersities all other schooles of learning the onely nurceries of this Realme The Byshops and preachers that the number of them may bee encreased and that they may haue grace to set foorth the trueth of Gods Gospell as their dutie is diligentlye soberly sincerely truely and faithfully And the whole commons of this Realme especially such as speake yll or thinke ill of Gods holy word that they may haue grace to regarde the saluation of their soules to laye afide all blinde affection to heare the woorde of God and so to come to the knowledge of the trueth Who so list to peruse either the whole course of the Scriptures or other stories and recordes of antiquitie shall finde that the messengers of God such as haue bene sent of purpose to giue knowledge of his holy wyll haue at all tymes bene vnkindely receiued of the more parte and sclaunderously reported of and whatsoeuer they haue sayde or done hath bene falsly depraued turned to the worst Moses that godly Captayne notwithstandynge hee were purposely called and sent from God and in his name wrought many strange wonders befor the people yet were there some that saide hee was a Sorcerer and whatsoeuer he did he did by way of coniuration The Religion of the Jewes was the true worship of the onely God Yet Plinie sayth it was contemptus omnium numinum The despising of all the goddes The Jewes suffered no images to be in their Churches because God had forbiddē them Yet Cornelius Tacitus saith They worship their god in forme of an asse Others said they worship a god whome they call Sobaoth in the shape and fashion of a hogge and that therfore they were forbidden to eate swines flesh Others that they worship Saturnus because they were commaunded to keepe holy the Saturday The wicked and cruell Aman to bringe the people of God into hatred with the king Assuerus made his complaint of them in this wise May it please your Maiestie sayth he to vnderstande you haue a people here in your realme that vseth a new kinde of religion and wyll not be ordered by your graces lawes When the godly prynce Cyrus had giuen Esdras and Nehemias leaue to builde vp againe the Church of God at Hierusalem there came diuers to him and had him take good heede for that the Jewes were his enemies and euer had hene traitours to his crowne Lykewise after that Christ our Sauiour had ascended into heauen and the holy Ghoste was powred downe vpon the Apostles and they began to speake diuers tongues that they neuer had learned the enemies disdainefully scorned at the giftes of God and sayde Musto pleni sunt isti These men be drunken and full of newe wine And therfore they talke they knowe not what When Paul and the other Apostles taught free remission of sinnes without any goodnesse or desert of our partes onely of Gods mercye and in the blood of Christ the enemies iested at that kinde of learning and said faciamus mala vt veniant bona then if Gods mercie bee declared by forgiuenes of sinnes Let vs doo euill that good may come therof Let vs continue in sinne that grace may abound Because the Christians in the ministration of the holy Communion vsed bread and wine some saide they worshipped not Christ but Bacchus and Ceres goddes of the heathens Wheras the Christian men soone after the Apostles time vsed to resorte together in the night time or in the morning before daye into some priuate house there to call vpon the name of God and to receiue the sacrament together for feare of the crueltie of tyrantes the enemies reported that beinge thus together they killed a childe amongst them and so deuoured vp his flesh and dranke his blood and after put out the lights and so committed incest and adulterie one with another But what needeth moe examples Because wee saye that iustification standeth onely vpon the free grace and mercy of God the aduersaries report that we forbid good workes And because we speake against superstition vsed in fasting as before vs did Esay Paul and Christe himselfe they report that wee woulde haue no fasting And because we reproue the errours and abuses in the maner of prayer they say we would not haue the people to pray And because we restore the sacraments to the first institution of our Sauiour Christe and the example of the primatiue Church they say wee take away the Sacraments This is Gods holy wyl that for our exercise whatsoeuer we say or doe be it neuer so well it shall bee ill taken Iulian the apostata founde fault with the simplicitie and rudenes of Gods word Tertullian saith the heathens in the time of the primatiue Church were wont to painte out in mockery the God of the Christians with an asses head and a booke in his hand in token that the Christians professed learnynge but indeede were Asses rude and ignorant And do not out aduersaries the lyke this day agaynst all those that professe the Gospell of Jesus Christ O saye they who are they that fauour this way none but Shoomakers Taylours Weauers Prentises such as neuer were in the vniuersity but bee altogether ignoraunt and voyde of learning Thus haue you bene borne in hande that you might bee broughte to mistruste the Gospell And as the Pharises vpbrayded those that hearde the doctrine of Christe Dooth any of the rulers or of the Pharises beleue in him But this people which knowe not the law are cursed Euen so this day they say by you they vnderstand not their pater noster they knowe not their Creede yee bee ignorant O miserable men doe they aduance themselues of your ignoraunce If you knowe not your beleefe if you vnderstand not your Pater noster if you be so ignoraunt through whose fault are you so ignorant why were they your pastors why did they not teache you why take they from you the holy Scriptures why wyll they haue you be ignorant and vnlearned still This doe they that they may the more discredit and deface the Gospell which GOD of his mercie hath in our dayes restored vnto vs and caused the beames thereof to shine ouer all Countries in such sort that nowe the simple and vnlearned the rich the learned the worshipfull the honourable the states and Princes of the worlde be become professours and mainteyners of it as our eyes do see this day Blessed be his holy name therfore They say that the preachers of the same are vnlearned as men that read nothing but a fewe English books and neuer studied or saw the old Doctors Wee finde not such fault in their learninge neither do we speake those thinges by them that the most parte of you doeth knowe wee might iustly and truely speake For wee seeke not to confound them by such meanes it is not our profession
CERTAINE Sermons preached before the Queenes Maiestie and at Paules crosse by the reuerend father IOHN IEVVEL late Bishop of Salisburie Whereunto is added a short Treatise of the Sacraments gathered out of other his sermons made vpon that matter in his cathedrall Church at Salisburie Imprinted at London by Christopher Barker Printer to the Queenes most excellent Maiestie 1583 To the right honorable Sir William Cicil Knight Lorde high Treasorer of England and to the right honorable L. Robert Dudley Earle of Leicester two of her Maiesties most honorable priuie Counsaile most worthie Chauncelours of both the Vniuersities Oxforde and Cambridge VNtrue reportes and sclaunders can neither giue falsehoode any credite among the wise nor disgrace the due estimation of the trueth Howbeit it seemeth there are some which hope it will turne them to no small aduauntage if to other their secrete and wicked practises they ioyne a sleyght of ill speaking of sclaundering the writings the godly sayings the life and the death of those whome it hath pleased God to vse to the setting forth of his Gospel and thereby to the great comfort of his people Among others vpon whom this hath bene practised they haue made some especiall choice of the late Bishop of Salisburie a man of famous memorie whose life and death is truely and syncerely written by M. Doctour Humfrey Howsoeuer they dealt vncharitably with him in his life Christian and godly discretion would they should spare to reproche the dead Or if not so yet in wisedome they might foresee that when matters are called to tryall such things cannot passe for currant lawfull wherof some due proofe hath not bene yeelded Yet as though the discredit of that one man who in great humilitie did acknowledge himselfe inferiour to many godly fathers then liuing in this Church of England were ynough for them to ouerthrowe all that whole worke which the Almightie God hath by his right hand and strong arme established they deliuer by tradition certaine false obseruations of his either simple or negligent or wilfull and malicious gathering and abusing the holy Scriptures of God and the auncient writings of the Fathers It is a harde thing for him that speaketh much to speake nothing worthy iust reprehension But it is much harder to escape the reprehension of corrupt Iudges euen when he shal speake most vprightly His defence is abroade published by himselfe And notwithstanding the endeuour of a learned aduersarie was to empeache it yet by his last and a moderate answere he auouched it good and approued his plaine and syncere dealing to the consciences of all men Whom it may please to vnderstande after what sort he prepared himselfe to the accomplishment of those two notable bookes of the defence of the Apologie and the Replie which are as two double Canons prepared for the battery of errour and superstition must needes confesse his diligence and reuerent proceeding in such cause to haue bene such as for which he may well be compared with any whomsoeuer the former or this present age hath thought therefore worthie commendation For besides his aduised obseruation of all such things as in the aduersaries bookes deserued answere and besides that he disposed a summarie and full collection of such matter as he would vse for the disproofe of the same the which he conceiued in short notes this may be a notable testimonie that he had purpose to set downe the aucthorities out of the Fathers and the quotations truely and playnely whereas in times before hee had gathered sundrie bookes of common places out of the Greeke and Latine and later writers he did peruse a fresh the authors themselues and made euery where in them speciall markes for the difference of such places whereofhee made choyce Those were all drawen forth and layde to their themes by certeine scholers who wrote them out by such direction as he had giuen vnto them So reuerent regard had he to do the worke of the Lord and to defend the trueth faithfully With like reuerence also did he in all places where he was occasioned to preach handle the word of God Albeit his giftes of reading and vnderstanding memorie were great yet it appeareth he did seldome or neuer deliuer any exposition vpon any peece of scripture before any Congregation in the meanest parish of the countrie but vpon diligent studie and whereof he drewe his notes In this his care Gods prouidence wrought mercifully for his Church that so there might be some way to deliuer in common vnto all the fruites of those godly trauailes which he gaue forth to some one especiall part of the Church Hereby it is that these his Sermons preached before her Maiestie and at Paules crosse come nowe to the reading of all such before whome they were once spoken to seeke that of them in true practise of Christian religion for which they were in their times vttered Why I make choyce of these among so many so excellent his sermons pronounced in those places if any be curious to aske let him aduisedly consider the state of Gods Church amongst vs in these dayes and bestowe his paynes to reade these which are offered to his Christian iudgement and then make to himselfe a charitable answere And if at such seuerall times as that reuerende father in the feare of God moued his petitions before the conscience either of her highnesse or of your honors or of any others the good children and seruantes of God he were so well acquitted that he was thought to speake vprightly in true zeale for the aduauncement of Gods glorie and like a wise buylder of the house of God no doubt in this rehearsall of them altogether they shall worke that wholsome effect if through the assistance of Gods holy spirite they be considered now with as great diligence as hee was then heard with good attention Your honours haue wel declared that you measured not your louing affection to him by the short terme of his life which giueth great hope that his humble requestes so many as are to craue ayde and furtherance of aucthoritie shall in good time be preferred They are such as shew how desirous he was to see the peace and prosperitie of Ierusalem and that the kingdome of God might neuer againe be taken away from vs. He sheweth what thinges they are by which this may bee brought to passe that among all the meanes which mans wisedome can prouide next to the high meanes of princely authoritie the chiefest is that all particular Churches may bee furnished with sufficient learned and godly Ministers and therefore that tender due care be had to encrease the nomber of them Their seruice is most needeful in the ouerthrowe of Iericho the citie which God will haue destroyed and in the buylding vp vnto God his Temple at Ierusalem The care which Magistrates take hereof and that laborers may be sent into the Lordes haruest which may defende the cause of Christ against those which charge
lande whereof I sware to their fathers but their carcases shall fall in this wildernes they shal not enter into my rest with this blindnes god doth punish those which obey not his word The Lord shal smite thee sayth Moses with madnes blindnes w t astonyinge of heart thou shalt grope at noone daies as the blinde gropeth in darknesse I wil take my spirit frō thee I wyl command the cloudes that they shal not giue thee raine thou hast forsaken me I wyl forsake thee I wyll cause the sunne to go downe at noone I wyll darken the earth at cleare day saith the Lorde I will send a famine vpon the lande not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water but of hearing the word of the Lord thei shal seek the word of the Lord and shal not finde it Saint Paul tolde the Iewes at Antiochia Seeing you put the word from you and iudge your selues vnworththy of euerlasting life loe we turne to the Gentiles you shal be left in your filthines Now what shal be done to these hard hearted blind builders of y e spiritual Hiericho Christ telleth vs it shalbe easier in that day for thē of Sodom then for that citie which wil not receaue the Disciples And againe Except ye beleeue that I am hee you shall die in your sinnes The ende of such is worse then the beginning Al those plagues vtter destruction came vpon Hierusalem because shee knew not the time of her visitation euen the daye of Gods mercy as they were foretolde by the Prophet Ieremy Behold that which I haue built will I destroy that which I haue planted wyll I pluck vp euen this whole lande So dooth god plague one sinne with another letteth thē whiche are filthy grow in filthinesse because of the hardenes of their hart which can not repent wherby they heape vnto themselues vengeance against the day of the Lords wrath such are not worthy to see Hierusalem therefore are they left to perish in Hiericho As for the eloquence and deceitefull persuasion of the learned I wyll say nothing Notwithstanding it hath bene and is so vsed to the restoringe of Hierico that a blinde man may perceiue it and all the world may rue it One saide sometimes that were the matter neuer so false hee woulde prooue it by eloquence to bee true Another sayde the sunne and moone stand stil and the earth goeth about Another sayde that snow is blacke and that hee was able well to proue it and there were many whiche beleeued them Such were they of whom it is written in the Prophet Esay that spake good of euill euil of good which put darkenes for light and light for darkenesse and put bitter for sweete and sweet for sowre So they mocked the eyes of the ignoraunt and abused the giftes of God Thy wysedome and thy knowledge saith the Prophet they haue caused thee to rebel and thou hast sayde in thine heart I am and none els thou art wearyed in the multitude of thy Counsels let now the Astrologers the Starre gasers and Prognosticatours stande vp and saue thee from these thinges that shall come vpon thee We may answere such learned disputers as Dauid answered the proud Goliah thou com mest to me with a sword and with a speare and with a shield that is with great eloquence shew of learning but I come to thee in the Name of the Lord of hostes the god of the host of Israel whom thou hast rayled vpon By the Prophet Ieremie thus sayeth the Lord. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdome nor the strong mā glorie in his strength neither the rich mā glorie in his riches but let him that glorieth glory in this that he vnderstandeth and knoweth me Agayne it is written sayth the Apostle I wyll destroy the wisedome of the wise will cast away the vnderstanding of the prudent And Eliphaz saith He taketh the wise in their craftines the counsel of the wicked is made foolish he wyl open their errors he will bewray theyr craftinesse he will ouerthrow the cunning deuises of their wit these helps shal not suffice to builde vp cursed Hiericho Now to speak of the third help of the power of Princes whom the wicked builders of this spirituall Hiericho haue in all ages deceiued The authoritie of a prince is great he is the seruant of God he carieth y e sword for God to take vengeance on hym that dooth euill Salomon saith The wrath of a king is as messēgers of death Unto thē these builders haue recourse accuse the seruants of the lord which haue waited vpon Iosuah and haue done y e Lords wyll vpon this wilfull and rebellious citie The Heathen and Infidels vsed this helpe against the Christians they accused thē before Kinges that they were wicked that they worshipped strange gods that they liued in adulterie and incest that they killed theyr Children and dyd feede vpon mans flesh Before them they charged the Christians with diuisions and schismes sayinge You Christians agree not among your selues you haue so many sects and one sect is at defiance with another and condemneth one another therefore your religion is not true it is not of God Since the time wee forsooke our Gods these and these euils are come vpon vs. They charged Christians that they were stirrers vp of rebellion and that they disquieted the mindes of the people Let these Christians said they be cast to the Iyons Such complayntes were brought before Kinges and Princes againste the Christians of the Primitiue Church and these false charges haue bene thoughte true therefore were there sharpe lawes made agaynst them It was comaunded that no man shoulde speake in the Name of Christ and who did not obey this shoulde dye the death Who is able to expresse the miseries whiche followed in the execution of those Lawes There was no sworde nor weapen no racke nor torment no fire nor water but they were prepared for and stayned with Christian blood Souldiers were kept in whole garisons princes made Leagues kepte Councils deuised new and cruell lawes vsed conspiracies practised al kindes of strange and terrible deathes for the defence of Hiericho they kylled Christians by thousandes Maximianus burnt in one Temple twentie thousande assembled together to celebrate the memorie of the Natiuity of Christ Dioclesian made proclamation for the ouerthrowinge of the Christian Churches throughout all the Romane Empyre hee caused the Bookes of holy Scripture to bee burned in the open Market place and displaced with great ignomie suche Christians as were Magistrates and all other that bare any office These thought that heerby the gospel of Christ should be abolished and quite ouerthrowne But the Lorde which was mightie to saue Daniel in the middes of the lyons and Ionas in the whales bellye and his three seruantes in the flaming fire and Israel in the redde Seat whose
not according to this worde it is because there is no light in them Chrisostome saith Nullo modo cognoscitur quae sit vera Ecclesia Christi nisi tantummodo per Scripturas By no meanes may it by knowne whiche is the true Church of Christ but onely by the Scriptures Without them our faith is no faith without the helpe of them wee cannot knowe Christ from Antichriste wee cannot know the Church of Christ from the Sinagogue of Sathan Hereby let vs learne to knowe Hierusalem hereby let vs learne to knowe Hiericho Certainely if the woorde of GOD and the breathe of his mouthe bee not able to shewe this tradition and custome shall be much lesse able It is a good thinge to bee thankefull and to prayse the Name of the most high the seruants of God finde cause of thankfulnes in consideration of the great wonderful mercies continually powred vpō them Moses comanded Nisan to bee the firste moneth in the yeere because God had deliuered Israell from the hande of Pharao in that month In like sort Mardocheus the Iewe and Esther the Queene sent letters vnto al the Iewes that were through all the prouinces of the king Assuerus both nere farre enioying them that they shoulde kepe the fourteenth day of the month Adir with ioy and feasting for that vppon that daye God had deliuered them from the hande of Haman and that they woulde not fayle to obserue the fame euery yeare Upon this day euen vpon this day I say the xvii of this moneth God sent his handemaide and deliuered vs. Let vs be kinde and thankfull vnto God for so great blessing I say not let vs make it the first day of the yeere Yet this I say let vs haue it in remembrance let vs singe with the prophet When the Lord brought againe y e captiuitie of Sion we were like them that dreme thē was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with ioy The Lord hath done great things for vs wherof we reioyce Let no man be offended herewith it is onely a remembrance of the mercy of God it behoueth vs to remember it it is good to speake of it For if we haue eyes to see and neglect not our owne saluation wee haue nowe much greater cause to reioyce then Dauid had because the things which are this daye restored vnto vs by the goodnesse of our God are farre greater and worthyer then those which Dauid and the people of Israell receiued in their deliuerance out of the capitiuitie of Babylon For by howe much the heauens are greater then the earthe and God is more excellent then a creature so much doeth the knowledge of God and his true worshippe passe all worldly blessinge and all other felicitie that can bee deuised vnder the Sunne For what knoweth hee which knoweth not God Or what worshippeth he whiche worshippeth not God Hee that worshippeth not God hath not the comforte of GOD but hee that hath God and knoweth God and serueth God hath a sure helpe and defence in all assayes Let vs therefore bee glad and reioyce let vs witnesse our ioye and singe vnto the Lorde a new songe Let vs kindle in our heartes the fire of the loue of God and of our neighbour and let the flame thereof breake out to the glory of God Let vs decke the Altars of our heartes with the florishing branches of vertue and good woorkes let vs sacrifice and kill our lustes and affections In this maner if wee shewe our thankefulnesse towardes GOD wee shall hinder the wicked purpose of thē that wish the restoring of Hiericho we shal see the lande of Gods promise and enter into his rest The fourth stay to hinder this buyldinge is discipline whiche is so needefull that neyther without it shall yee be able throughly to discomfort those that seeke to build vp Iericho againe nor your selues happely and prosperously to goe on forward in setting foorth the glory and maiestie of our God and to passe safely to the countrie promised It is as the sinewes of the church to strengthen it and to ioyne and knit the parts thereof together But because the time is passed and this matter weightie and worthy of larger discourse I wyll leaue it to your godly considerations and for some other time And thou O mercifull father rise vp we beseeche thee to iudge thine owne cause stablishe the thinge thou hast begonne in vs guide our feete in the way of peace giue force vnto thy worde blesse thine inheritance blow downe the walles of Hiericho so shal Hierusalem prospet and her walles be made strong so shall the daye starre lighten our hartes so shall Israel reioyce and all the people truly know thee and prayse thy name for euer Amen Aggaeus 1. Thus speaketh the Lord of hostes saying This people say The time is not yet come that the Lords house should be builded Then came the word of the Lord by the ministery of the prophet Hagge saying Is it time for your selues to dwell in your seiled houses and this house lie waste THese words be written in the first Chapter of the Prophet Aggaeus For better vnderstandyng wherof I must call to your remembrance the storie of that time vpon occasion wherof these words were spoken Almighty God beinge for many and sundrye causes highly displeased with his people the Iewes after he had chastened thē many wayes and sawe none amendement at the laste gaue them ouer into the handes of their enemies and suffered both the kinge and all the people of the countrie to be carryed away prisoners into Babylon where they continued in miserie the space of seuentie yeeres In the meane season their countrey partly lay waste and grewe full of wylde beastes partly was inhabited by foreyners the temple that Salomon had built them the stateliest richest work of the whole world was burnt to the grounde and all the ornaments therof rauened vp and caried into Babylon After fiftie yeres king Cyrus shewed fauour towardes his people did lycence them to depart home agayne But as they were aboute the building vpon occasion of cōplaint of their enemies the whole worke was stayed At y ◠length after 70. yeeres God remembred his promise and mercy and stirred vp the heart of king Darius king of Persia who had then conquered the Chaldees to lycence the Iewes to depart home agayne into their countrie and to reedifie theyr Citie and Temple This king Darius as the Rabbines or Doctors of the Iewes and most parte of learned men coniecture was sonne vnto the king Assuerus begotten of the good Ladie Queene Hester which Ladie Hester he maried after he had imbased diuorced from hym the prowd and stubborne Queene Vasthi This was Gods marueylous prouidence by that meanes twice to deliuer his people Fyrst by the good Lady Hester from the tyranny of Hamā as it appeareth by the storye and after by her child Darius cleerely to delyuer them and
to discharge them out of their enemies handes for euer The Iewes notwithstanding they had so gracious a graunt of their king yet many of them would not returne home but made their aboade euen there among their enemies in Babylon and the most part of them that were returned fell to building of their owne houses and left the house of God vnbuilded so soone they had forgotten Gods mercy towardes them In the time of their trouble they cryed out If I shrinke from God I pray God shrinke from me But beinge restored home and at libertie they sayde as the Prophet heere reporteth Nondum uenit tempus c. The time is not yet come that the Lords house should be builded They saw they had many enemies on euerie side the matter it selfe was marueylous weightie and to their iudgementes almost impossible They had begunne before vnder kynge Cyrus and because the matter was then dashe and their enimies preuayled against them they were vtterly discouraged and cast into dispayre Wherefore god spake to them by the Prophet Aggaeus Is it time for your selues to dwel in your seeled houses and this house lye wast Haue you found le asure to set vp furnish your owne house can you neglect the restoring of my house My house I say in which my Lawe hath bene read and preached to you where your Fathers haue made mee sacrifices towardes which house you turned your faces whensoeuer you prayed vnto me in Babylon and were heard Therfore sayth the Lord. Ye haue sowen much bring in litle ye eate but yet haue not ynough ye looked for much loe it came to litle and when you brought it home I dyd blow it out You set your ioye vppon vaine things and the same shal deceiue you This place of the Prophet Aggaeus I haue thought good to apply to the present state of our time For as then the citie of Hierusalem was miserably rased and the Temple of god burnt downe by heathens euen so hath it fared in time lately past with the Churche of Christe here amonge vs. And as then God mollified softened the heart of the king Darius for the deliuery of his people euen so of his great mercie hath he nowe stirred vp a most noble vertuous Ladie our soueraigne Queene Elizabeth for the same purpose And as then there were many that set light by Gods benefites and thought it meete ynough for him to waite vpon their leisure euen so I pray God the same securitie be not founde in vs at this time I pray God there be none of vs that make light of Gods grace and say in our heartes Nondum venit tempus c. The time is not yet come that the Lords house should be builded 1 Wherfore first I wil proue by Gods grace that our Churche hath bene ouergrowne with errours and abuses as then the temple of Hierusalem was defaced by the Caldees 2 Secondly I will shewe what thinges they be that doo stay men from reedifying of this Temple 3 Last of all after what sorte this Churche ought to be builded and so I wyl leaue you to God Prayers Touching the first parte I shall not neede many wordes for God hath in our dayes sufficiently reuealed and we haue seene the state of the Church in time past And indeed the errors abuses haue bene so grosse that who so cānot see them with his eyes yet may feele and grope them with his fingers Yet because I knowe some are not throughly perswaded heerein but thinke that the church of Rome hath euermore bene pure and without spot and some others in their writinges call it the rule of the trueth that whatsoeuer that Church sayth whatsouer it be must needs be true as Siluester sayth it is Infallibilis regula a rule that neuer deceiueth Some set it aboue the word of god as the same Syluester A doctrina Ecclesiae Romanae Romani Pontificis sacra scriptura robur trahit authoritatē The holy scripture taketh force authority of y t doctrin of the church Bishop of Rome And as Cusanus Sequuntur Scripturae Ecclesiā non è conuerso The scriptures follow the church not on the contrary part y t church followeth y ◠scriptures Others say Impossibile haereticari c. It is not possible he should fall into heresies whiche foloweth the church of Rome some others sai y t if christ his Apostles were aliue they were not able to rule the church in better sort then it is now ruled by the Pope and his Cardinalles Thus some schoole doctors haue written I am able to aleadge mine authors Therfore I must of force stād vpō this matter a litle not because I think it needfull but y ◠al men may be satisfied First Christ our sauiour as he foreshewed the prosperous course of the gospell y t it should bee preached throughout y e world y t the gates of hel should not be able to withstand it so he his Apostles forwarned also the ruine decay of y ◠Church y t in so many places and in so plaine wordes that no man can doubt of it or deny it For Christ alleadging the prophet Daniel sayth that abomination should sitte in the holy place and that there shoulde be such confusion and disorder that if it were possible the very elect should be peruerted He sayth that when he shall come to iudge there shal scarsely be found faith in the world Paul likewise sayth that the man of sinne that is such a one as in all thinges should be contrary to Christe and is called Antichrist shoulde sitte in the temple of God and beare hymselfe as if hee were God in deede Daniel sayth The trueth shal be cast downe to the grounde And to Timothie Paul sayeth In the latter times some shall depart frō the faith and shall giue heede to spirites of error doctrins of deuils S. Peter saith Ther shal be false teachers among you And where saith Christ I beseech you consider where saith Christ this horrible desolation should be among y ◠turks or Iewes no but in the holy place Wher shal y e son of man scarsely finde faith wher shall the very elect stande in doubt what they may beleeue amōg y e heathēs or infidels No but in the church Wher saith S. Peter shalbe y e masters of lies wher saith Daniel shall the truth be troden downe where sayth S. Paul shal y e mā of sin perch settel behaue himself as if he were very god among the heathen No no good brethren but in templo Dei In the Temple of God in the very Church among thē that should beare the name of Christ But forasmuch as it cannot be doubted among christian men that Christ his Apostles appointed y e church in their time in such sort as no better could be deuised let vs cōpare the church of late time
to y t original as the vse is in trying of mesures where in tryal whether is true or fals ye haue euermore recourse to the standard For if ther be any falt whatsoeuer it be the standerd wil bewray it This order Christ himselfe vsed with the priests Pharises saying Domus mea domus orationis vocabitur My house shall bee caled the house of praier But you haue gone froÌ„ the paterne or original you haue made it a harbour for theeues And whereas the contention stoode vpon diuorse Christ called them to y e first original A principio non fuit sic From the beginning it was not so they twayne shall be one flesh And S. Paul when the holy mysterie of the Lordes Supper was abused called theÌ„ home to the first institutioÌ„ I haue receiued of the Lorde that which I also haue deliuered vnto you By this standerde Christ reproued the Sadduces Erratis nescientes Scripturas You erre not knowing the Scriptures And by the same hee confuted the Deuil when hee came to tempt him Soriptum est It is written This standerd shall bee able to warrant vs if we can saye truely Scriptum est For as the learned father Irenaeus sayth Scriptura est basis fundamentum fidei nostrae The Scripture is the pillar foundation of our faith It is rashnesse to beleeue without the warrant or direction of the Scriptures It is not deuotion nor catholique faithe but foolish rashnesse Now howe many wayes and in howe many poyntes the Church of late dayes hath dissented from the Churche of Christe and of the Apostles which no doubt was the Catholique Church it were almost an infinite worke to recken vp For they disagree in so many things y t in maner they agree in nothinge Notwithstanding I wil lay out one or two things before you and by them your wisedomes shall ghesse the rest Christ gaue the Sacrament of his body and blood to bee frequented in the Congregation that all shoulde bee partakers thereof in remembrance of his death and sayde Hoc facite in meam commemorationem Do yee this in remembrance of mee Thus Christ hymself ordayned and commanded thus the Apostles and the catholique fathers in the primatiue Church vsed it and there can no commandement nor example be shewed forth to the contrary Yet our later fathers agaynst Christ agaynst the Apostles against the primitiue church haue thought it sufficient that one priest alone should communicate for all the rest Christ deliuered the holy Communion vnder both kindes and so was it vsed in the Primitiue Church and in the times of the doctors Chrysostome Ambrose Gregorie Augustine and Hierome But our fathers in the Councill holden at Constance of late yeares haue gone from the originall and haue decreed against Christ himselfe against his Apostles and Doctours that to minister the Communion to a lay man vnder both kinds is an open heresie Alas good brethren I beseeche you consider by the way in what state was the Church of Christe then when Christes owne institution and the Apostles doctrine was called heresie Christ his Apostles the catholque fathers vsed their praiers in a common tongue that the people might perceiue what was saide in the Church say Amen But how neere our later fathers come to that originall it needeth no rehearsal For you haue heard it taught you as a necessary doctrine that your prayers should be in the Latine tongue although you did not vnderstand what ye prayed for and that kinde of prayer hath bene called deuotion God left order to his Church Non facies tibi sculptile thou shalt not make thee any graueÌ„ image From Christs time for the space of 500 yeres there was no allowance of images in the Catholique Church but our later fathers caÌ„not take it for a Church vnlesse it be decked set about with images The Apostles were maried as Ignatius and Ambrose witnes so were others y e ministers of the Church after them as it is wel knowne for 1000. yeres after Christ To hold good this originall there haue bene certayne Canons set downe Si quis doâ—uerit sacerdotem sub obtentu religionis propriaÌ„ vxorem coÌ„temnere anathema sit If any man teach y t a priest for color of religioÌ„ should conteÌ„nâ— his wife let him be accursed And y e general couÌ„cel holden at GaÌ„gra as it is set downe also by Gratian If any put differeÌ„ce betwene the priest that is maryed by reson of his mariage that he should not offer for that cause coÌ„meth not to his offring he is accursed yet pope Hildebrand one of the later fathers decreed coÌ„manded that no man should heare such priests Masse that had a wife but caused their tenth to bee burnt their prayers blessings to be holden as curses and the sacrament which they had consecrate to be spit at and troden vnder mens feete You wyll saye These be but smal matters and may be borne withal for decencie and good order But you shal vnderstand that the canons of the Apostles and diuers of the first Bishops of Rome and other holy Fathers required that all such as were present at the ministration of the Communion shoulde also bee patakers of the Sacrament accounted worthy to be put out af the Church whosoeuer would not communicate with the Minister And Chrisostome calleth such a one impudent malepert Quisquis mysteriorum coÌ„sors nonest c. whosoeuer saith he doth not communicate standeth by he is shameles malepert CoÌ„munioÌ„ vnder one kinde is no smal matter but such a matter of such weight that Gelasius calleth it opeÌ„ sacrilege to minister y e sacrament in one kinde Common prayer in a straunge tongue is such a matter that it taketh away the very vse of coÌ„mon prayer For the people as Paul saith cannot say Amen nor be edified nor giue God thankes And the Emperour Iustinian in a law that he maketh touching the publike prayers of the Church saith thus we coÌ„mand al Bishops priests to minister the holy oblatioÌ„ the prayer at y e holy Baptism not vnder sileÌ„ce but with such voice as may bee hard of the faithful people to the intent that the harts of the hearers may be stirred vp to more deuotion c. And let the holy priests vnderstand that if thei neglect ani of these things they shal make answer therfore at the dreadful iudgment of the great God our sauiour Iesus Christ And yet neuerthelesse wee our selues vnderstanding the same wyll not passe it ouer nor leaue it vnpunished To haue images in the church of God is no smal matter It is forbidden by a general councel called EliberinuÌ„ Epiphanius a catholique father calleth it abhomination The violent inforcing of sole life is such a matter that S. Paul calleth it doctrinaÌ„ daemoniorum the doctrin of deuils And Daniel saith it is one of the marks of Antichrist Neither
shal he regard the desires of women Which place S. Hierome exê‘oundeth Ideo Antichristus simulat cactitatem vt plurimos decipiat Therefore dooth Antichrist faine or pretend chastity that he may deceiue many Thus farre they disagree from the originall of Gods worde But they vse commonly to saye the Churche was then in her minoritie and infancie afterwarde she was better informed So when Christ and the Apostles and the Doctours please them they shall rule the matters they shall be holy Doctours and holy Fathers if not they shall not bee paternes to folow but children infants They vse them as marchants vse their counters for that counter which now standeth for a pound anon after shal be remoued and made a simple halfpenny Yet notwithstanding they cry Fathers Doctours Church and yet indeede do al things contrary to the Church of Christe contrary to the Doctours and fathers of the Church Two principall thinges there be that seeme to beare vp the whole brunt of the religion that hath bene in the world of late time the one is the Masse and thinges thereunto belonginge the other is the authoritie of the Pope These two I wyll breefely compare to the first originall onely running ouer certaine special branches of them both in as few wordes as I can deuise And as touching the Masse if there be any man here that hath any good opinion of it and is also learned and able to iudge let him thinke with himselfe what Doctour or father in the Primitiue Churche euer vsed or taught vs to vse a priuate Masse what Doctour or Father euer hearde of 10. 20. or 30. Masses in one Church said at one time what Father or doctor euer taught the Priest to communicate for other Chrisostome noteth it is an errour to say y â— SacrameÌ„ts receiued of one may do good to others that receiue them not What Father or Doctor euer taught that hoc facite was hoc sacrificate What Doctour or Father euer taught vs that the bread is transubstaÌ„tiate into Christes bodie I assure you that worde was neuer hearde of vntill nowe within litle more then 300. yeeres vnder Innocentius the thirde What Father or Doctor taught vs that there remaine accidentiasine subiecto that Christes body is in a C. thousand places at once that the Priest should holde the bread ouer his head and turne his backe to the people that the Sacrament shoulde bee hanged vp in a canopie for the people to adore What father euer taught vs that their communion bread shoulde be rounde because the earth is rounde That the Priest shoulde kisse the Altar because Iudas kissed Christ that he should wash his fingers because Pilate washed his handes That hee shoulde knocke his breast iu token of the theeues repentance vpon the Crosse Those thinges haue bene written by Durande Bonaâ—enture and Innocentius and others like of late time but the Fathers in the Primitiue Church neuer heard of them Yet some men of late time haue beaten into your heades y â— these many other like thinges haue come by succession euen froÌ„ the primatiue Churche and from the Apostles But so the coniurers and Sorcerers saye that their books of coniuration and sorcerie came from Moses from Enoch and from Abel Plutarche writeth that Theseus Romulus Hercules and other like Princely gentlemen indeede were Bastardes and were be gotten of fathers of very lowe degree but after they came into honour and estimation the people because they knew not whose soÌ„nes they were thought they had come from heauen and therfore they called them the sonnes of the gods Euen so these thinges that I haue here reported nowithstandynge in deede they are base borne yet because they haue stollen into the Churche and haue bene had in honour some men haue taughte you they haue come euen from heauen and therefore they haue fathered them vpon Christe and his Apostles But in the meane season they haue not dealte iustlye with you but haue done wronge both to Christ and to his Apostles Hierome writinge vpon Aggeus sayeth Quae absque authoritate testimoniis Scripturarum quasi traditione Apostolica sponte reperiunt at qué confingunt percutit gladius Dei The Sworde of God stricketh those thinges which men fynde out and deuise of them selues without the authoritie testimonies of the scriptures and deliuer foorthe as if they came by the tradition of the Apostles Againe what Catholique Father taught vs that the Pope is the head of the Church aboue kings aboue Councils aboue the word of god greater and of more authoritie then the Apostles that he cannot erre that the whole world is his diocesse that he may not be iudged what soeuer hee doe although he drawe a thousande soules downe into hell that he is neyther man nor God but a mixture medled together of God and man Al these thinges our later Fathers haue written of the Pope and yet I leaue a hundred things vntouched Thus farre haue they gone from their originall and paterne But what greater disorver can there bee in the Church of God then when Antichrist shall come and sit in the place of God There is an olde fable of Antichrist that when he commeth he would turne trees vpside downe and do such like wonders But the markes whereby Antichrist shall be knowne indeede are otherwise set downe in the holy Scriptures In his comming abhomination shall stand in the holy place and trueth shall be throwne downe in the earth I knowe many men are offended to heare the Pope pointed out for Antichrist and thinke it an vncharitable kinde of doctrine therefore I refraine to vse any such names and only wyl reporte to you of other by what tokens Antichrist when he commeth may bee knowne Gregorie as it were in the spirit of prophesie writing against Iohn bishop of Constantinople saith Rex superbiae propè est quod dici nefas est Sa cerdotum est praeparatus exercitus The king of pride is at hand which is vnlawful to be said an army of priests is prepared By these tokens saith Gregorie you may know him hee shalbe the prince of pride and he shal haue an army of priestes to wayte vpon him In another place he saith Quisquis se vniuersalem sacerdotem vocat vel vocari desiderat in elatione sua Antichristum praecurrit Whosoeuer calleth himself the vniuersal priest or desireth so to be called in the pride of his hart is the forerunner of Antichrist These words were written by Gregorie more then 900. yeeres since If there were euer any that might be knowne by these tokens which was or is the prince of pride is called or desireth to be called y e Vniuersal priest or B. or hath an army of priests I leaue y t to your iudgemeÌ„t whether the same be he whom Gregorie describeth or some other I pray God to lighten the eyes of al the world that all the world may spie him and the man
his word is heauy in vs through our heauines Orig. sheweth how dangerous y e state of theÌ„ is where the Gospel is not preached Such a Church can not stand before the abominatioÌ„ of desolation stedfast or without danger of seducing And therfore Christ compareth his church to the weakest things that be Sometimes hee calleth it a vine which vnies it euermore be propte and borne vp looked vnto pruned of it selfe is not able to stande but falleth to the ground groweth wilde Sometimes he likeneth it to a flocke of sheepe which without attendance is ready to take infinite maladies Sometime to a shippe which if it be not wel prouided on euery side if it be destitute of light of sunne starres is in daunger of the rocke and windes surges of the sea Sometimes to the moone which hath no light but from the sunne What needeth more proofe in a matter being of it selfe so cleere Christ himselfe Daniel Peter and Paul gaue vs warning that this confusion should come to passe in y e church of God We see with our eyes how farre we are straâ—ed from the original We see what darknesse and blindnesse hath beene euen in them that shoulde haue ruled the sterne Good men haue had their eyes opened and haue poynted to vs that the pâ—lâ—te of the shippe a long time hath beene Antichrist The auncient and olde Doctours in their time foresawe that this great captiuitye and confusion was comming euen vpon them Our fathers of later yeeres though our Aduersaries and Patrones of the contrary cause yea the Bishopyes of Rome and their chiefe pillars doe coufesse that the patterne and original hath not beene kept Discipline whiche is the greatest bond of the church hath beene broken I pray God it may now bee restored The Sacraments that Christ left for our most comfort haue byn miserably mangled and defaced Our prayers haue been without spirite and veritye and so abused that indeede they were no prayers What greater proofes or authorities doe we looke for Now then can there bee anye man so wilfull that will say there hath been no disorder in the churche or that Christ himselfe and his Apostles if they were aliue coulde rule the church in no better sort then it hath beene and is by the Pope and his Cardinals But me thinke I heare some say The church cannot bee so forsaken it is the house and temple of God it is the spouse of Christe Christ made her a sure promise that he woulde neuer forsake her Ero vobiscum vsque ad consummationem soeculi I will bee with you to the end of the worlde All this is true yet is it not true that euery particular churche of the worlde shal be established for euer For was not this temple that Salomon built the temple of God yet was it ouer throwen and burnt down to the grounde by y â— Chaldees Iupiters image was set vp in it by Antiochus It was afterward ouerthrowen by the Emperour Titus yet was it the temple of God Gods house is a house of prayer yet Christ saith Vos fecistis speluncam latronum You haue made it a denne of theeues The Lord made choise of his Uine he loued it it was a chosen heritage yet Ieremie saith Many pastours haue destroyed my Vineyard troden my portion vnder foote of my chosen place they haue made a desolate wildernes Hierusalem was called the holy city yet is shee charged that shee hath played the harlot and done shamefully The Iewes called themselues the people of God but Christe calleth them the Synagogue of Satan The Church of God is called the holy place yet Christ saith the abhomination of desolation and S. Paule saieth the man of sinne shal stand in the holy place If we beleeue Christ and his Apostles that forewarned vs hereof if we beleeue the old doctours if we beleeue the writers of later yeeres if we beleeue such as God hath stirred vp in our time to reuiue his Gospel if we beleeue our aduersaries if we beleeue our owne senses anâ— experience let vs confesse that the Church hath byn defaced with abuses let vs giue God thaÌ„ks that of his great mercies hath restored it and lee vs euery man endeuour to reediffe it God had mollified the Kings hearte to bee gracious towards them he had deliuered them he had restored them home to their countrie hee gaue them Prophetes to call vppon them and a godly Prince to rule ouer them but the people cried out The time is not yet come that the Lordes house shoulde be buylded Here must I touche the causes that withholde men from the buylding vp of Gods Temple not al that may be reckoned For that wold require more time but onely the chiefest that shall come to hand The first seemed to be dispaire of the cause For they sawe it was a long trauayle from Babylon to Hierusalem They had beene spoiled of all they had and were poore and the greatest part euen of their owne people forsooke them and would not returne home with them Theyr enemies were strong and laughed them to scorne and hindered their buildinges Others charged them with sedition and sayde if these men may once recouer their city they will paye no more tribute they will be no longer in subiection and this matter at length shall redound to the kings dammage Looke in your Chronicles and you shal find that the Iewes haue euer byn traytours Euen so when the man of God Luther was raysed vp by God to reforme the church a friend of his said vnto him O father Luther you shal neuer be able to preuayle the Pope princes and al the world are against you The matter is past recouery goe into your study say Deus miscreatur nostri EueÌ„ so wheÌ„soeuer it pleaseth God to build vp the walles of his teÌ„ple he chooseth out such y â— for their owne infirmities for the force strength of their enimies they might be discouraged and despaire Euen now that it hath pleased God to restore his gospel they that are of the contrary part crie out These men be rebels they woulde haue no magistrate they would haue al things in common Behold what they haue done in Heluetia beholde what they haue done in Germanie Looke out your Chronicles you shal finde that al the vproares and seditions which haue been these forty yeeres haue byn stirred vp by some of them But all this discouraged not the good Prince Zorobabel hee armed himselfe with Gods promise against all impossibilities and so called the people to the huylding of the temple And therefore GOD prospered him and moued the king Darius hearte to make proclamation that whosoeuer would withstand Zoroâ—abel in his doinges tymber shoulde bee taken out of his owne house and a gallowes made and he thereon hanged without redemption Euen so that man of GOD despayred not though hee same all the worlde against him but gaue the glory
spiritualtie the other for the laitie For S. Paul saith Omnis anima superioribus potestatibus subdita sit Let euery soule bee subiect to the higher powers Euery soule whether he be bishop Cardinal or Pope al are subiect to their Prince And Chrisostome vpon that place saith Etiam si Apostolus sis si Euangelista siue Propheta siue quisquis tandem fueris neque enim pietatē subuertit ista subiectio Yea if thou be an Apostle if thou be an Euāgelist if thou be a Prophet or of what state soeuer thou be for this subiection is no hinderāce to godlines And of the superiority of Princes power Tertullian speaketh thus Colimus imperatorem vt hominē à Deo secundum solo Deo minorem We woorshippe the Emperour as a man nexte vnto God and inferiour onely vnto God Some other there be that see and knowe that the Church of God is nowe a building and yet not onely refraine themselues from the worke but also spurne down that other men haue built vp that see wee teach nothing but the word of God and the doctrine of the primitiue church yet least they should seeme to receiue the doctrine which they haue persecuted inforce them selues to be constant and lay violent hands vpō their owne conscience and saye Non regnabit super nos He shal not beare rule ouer vs and as Pharao said in the hardnes of his heart Nescio Dominum I know not the Lord. I take not here vpon me to iudge other mens consciences but such men there haue byn as we may know by reading as God hath opened by notable iudgement I pray God there be none such now I pray God there be none that offend against their own conscience and knowledge and against the holy spirit of God But alas I speake not now of the ignorant and vnlearned sort of people that offend of simplicity and haue a zeale of God although it be not according to knowledge but I speake of them that be learned that knowe well that wee teach you nothing this day but that Christ and his Apostles taught before vs was euermore frequēted throughout the church vntil al things grew to corruption And of the contrary parte they doe know and their consciences doe testifie vnto them that their doctrine for the most parte is contrary to the vse of the primitiue churche contrary to the Apostles contrary to Christe himselfe Yet wil these men sooner leaue their liuing then bee present at the hearing of an Englishe prayer or communicate with the people vnder both kyndes They call it a schisme to haue the common prayers in a tongue that the people may vnderstande To communicate vnder both kindes they call it a schisme For the Ministers to be maried they cal it a schisme And other like things which were tedious to rehear se at length Those thinges which were ordeyned by Christ and his Apostles vsed throughout the whole Catholique primitiue Churche without question they cal schismaticall O mercifull God shall wee saye that all the whole world of the Christians euer from Christes time vntil the late time of these later Fathers was in a continual schisme Shal we say that S. Augustine S. Ambrose and other old fathers were schismatiques Shall wee say that Christ and his Apostles taught vs schismes or that was once true and Christian doctrine-is it nowe become a schisme Is the Churche nowe within fiue hundreth yeeres become Catholike and was Christes church and the Apostles churche and the Doctours church not Catholike O Lord if we be deceiued thou hast deceiued vs for if in these doings we be schismatikes for hauing prayer in a knowen tongue or for communion vnder both kindes or for the mariage of Priestes and Ministers where as thou gauest thy communion vnder both kindes and didst choose such as were married to be thy Apostles and didst pray in the common and vulgar tongue as also thy Apostle Paule taught vs to do If this be schisme we are become schismatiques for folowing thine example and that ordinance which thou hast left vnto thy Church But S. Hillarie sheweth how we shalbee sure to know an heresie or a schisme Hee est regula fidei Christus dixit Apostolus dixit This is a rule of faith to say Christ hath said it the Apostle hath said it Christ saith Bibite ex hoc omnes Drinke ye al of this without exception Paul biddeth vs to pray so that the people may say Amen And sayeth Honorabile coniugium in omnibus Mariage is honorable in al men Then is this by Hylaries rule the Catholique faith the contrary is Schismaticall for our faith is buylded vppon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets S. Cyprian saith Non pax est sed bellum nec Ecclesiae iungitur qui ab Euangelio separatur It is no peace but war no Catholike peace or vnity but opē war schisme neither can he say I am of the Church that is diuided from the gospel Iustinus martyr as it is reported by Eusebius saide Ipsi Domino non acquiescerem si alium Deum diceret praeter omnium Creatorem I would not beleue Christ himself if he should say there were another God then the creator of al things If he would not beleeue God himselfe teaching otherwise then is sette downe by the woorde of God much lesse would he beleeue the Churche teaching contrary to the Gospel God of his mercy graunt that al our controuersies that we now stand vpon may be hearde and determined by Gods Gospel and open the eyes of our aduersaries that they may see the hope whereunto they are called In the meane season let not vs shunne or refraine them but exhort and counsel them with al sobrietie in the spirite of meekenesse as our brethren Who knoweth whether God of his mercie will call them to repentaunce As God sayde to Saynt Paule by Reuelation Populus mihi multus est in hac ciuitate I haue much people in this citie So I trust I may say at least I doubt not but wee may charitably hope God hath a great number euen among them that runne to the Masse that will yet heare no reason but are stubborne and wilfull Their hearts are in the handes of God and he is able and will mollifie them and of stony wil make them fleshy and of stones make them the children of Abraham and the principall corner stones in the building of his Church Other impedimentes there bee that keepe men from the buylding of Gods house But that which GOD complayneth of by the Prophet is that euery man fell to builde his owne house and lefte the house of God vnbuilded This is the corruption of our nature Such thinges as we shoulde glorifie God withall we abuse moste to the dishonour of God Therefore Christe calleth them thornes and the Mammon of wickednesse not because they are so of themselues for they are the giftes of God but
saieth the Lord. There be certain bookes of our Lord vnto the authority whereof eche parte agreeth eche part beleeueth eche part yeeldeth there let vs seeke for the Churche thereby let vs examine and trye our matters This is the Rocke vppon whiche Christ hath builte his Churche against this Rocke the gates of Hell shall not preuayle Augustine speaketh this in a prety allusion Non me aedificabo super te sed te aedificabo super me I will not builde my selfe vppon thee but I wil builde thee vppon mee The same affirmeth Hierome Basil Cyril Hillarius and other the auncient writers It woulde bee too long to alleage any more onely I will recite vnto you Lyraes iudgement of these woordes more for that hee was one that fauoured our Aduersaries then for the weight of his authoritie Super hanc petram sayeth hee id est super Christum Vpon this rock that is vpō Christ ex quo patet quod Ecclesia non consistit in hominibus ratione potestatis c. Wherby it is manifest that the Church is not among men by reason of any Ecclesiasticall or Seculare authoritie or dignitie because many Princes and chiefest Bishoppes haue forsaken the faith therefore the Church resteth in those persons in whō are to be found true knowledge the confession of faith acknowledging of the trueth Wherefore the foundation of this building wherupon all the whole worke must rest must be Christ and his holy word for as Saint Paul saith No man can lay an other foundation then that which is layde already Iesus Christ The Emperour Domitian pretending a refourming of the Empire which afore his time Tyberius Caligula Nero and other wicked Emperours had spoyled and defaced asked a Philosopher one Apollonius Tyanaeus what order were best to be taken therein Apollonius made him aunsweare Sir if it please your Maiestie you must doe as the Musition had his Schollers doe Howe is that sayde Domitian Marye Sir quoth Apollonius there was a cunning Musition that set his Schollers to an ignoraunte and homelye minstrell to learne musicke of him but before hee sent them out hee gaue them this Lesson whatsoeuer you see your Maister doe see that you auoyde it he is vnlearned and his Lessons and manner of fingering nought therefore see you doe the contrary Euen so may I say whatsoeuer we see that they haue done that were our later fathers before vs that haue destroyed Christes Church let vs remember to doe the contrary Their foundation as you know and as they themselues confesse is ignoraunce let our foundation be Christ and knowledge of Gods word They haue pulled the Scriptures out of the peoples heades and handes that no man might see their doings Let vs exhort all men as S. Chrysostome Origen and other holy fathers did to reade the Scriptures that all the worlde may see our doings They buyld Gods worde vpon the Church let vs as Paule doth teach vs buyld the Church vppon Gods word They contrary to God contrary to his word haue made the Bishop of Rome supreame head of the Church contrary I say to the worde of God haue they made him supreme head of al the Church These are not my wordes but S. Gregorie who was himselfe a bishop of Rome saith of them Piae leges venerandae Sinodi ipsa Domini nostri Iesu mandata superbi atque pompatici cuiusdam sermonis inuentione turbantur The godly lawes the reuerend Synodes and the very commandements of our Lord Iesu are broken by the inuention of a certain proud and pompous name And thereof as Gregorie himselfe testifieth hath ensued Vniuersa pernicies An vniuersal destruction Marke I beseeche you and let it not out of your remembrance They say this is the key of the Church that one be the head of it to rule it and to gouerne and keepe in vnity all the rest But Gregorie which was himselfe a Bishoppe of Rome saith it is Vniuersa pernicies A generall corruption and plague of the Church Let vs according to Gods woorde according to the Canons knowe that as Cyprian saith Vnus est Episcopatus cuius a singulis in solidum pars tenetur There is but one Byshopricke part wherof is holden in whole of euery seueral Bishoppe And as Hierome saith Vbicunque fuerit Episcopus siue Romae siue Engubij fiue Constantinopoli siue Rhegij siue Alexandriae siue Tanais eiusdem meriti eiusdem est sacerdotij Whersoeuer there be a Bishop be it at Rome be it at Eugubium be it at Constantinople be it at Rhegium be it at Alexandria be it at Tanais they are al of one worthines they are al of one priesthood They set the Pope aboue kings princes against Gods word Let vs know that according to Gods worde euery soule must be subiect to y ◠higher powers In these things in al other the like in which they forsake y e paterne original in which they doe cōtrary to the scriptures to Christ and his Apostles contrary to the practise of the Primitiue Church and contrary to the sound iudgement of the auncient Catholike fathers grounded vpon the worde of God let vs remember whatsoeuer they do or haue done to doe the contrary For it is not possible by what meanes things haue growen to corruption that by the same meanes they shall euer bee wel restored againe After the Temple was builded or was in building and rearing Esdras the Prophete read the Lawe of GOD and sacrificed Oxen sheepe and Lambes and the people wepte in consider action that they and their fathers had so vnkindly offended God and deserued so extreamely to be punished at his hande So the good king Iosias after he had founde the booke of the Lawe and sawe howe highly both he and his fathers had offended God hee fell a weeping for the consideration of Gods greate benefites and our owne vnwoorthinesse canseth vs to mourne at the sight of our owne vnkindenesse Then they turned 〈◊〉 GOD repented themselues of their wickednesse and left suche vanities as they had walked in before So Christ our Sauiour when he began to preache the Gospell and to spreade abroade the vnspeakeable treasure of our saluation called vs first to repentance and said Poenitentiam agite appropinquauit enim regnum coelorum Repentye for the kingdō of God is at hād Zachaeus when he had receiued Christ to his table repented him of his excortion and made restitution Then Iesus sayd vnto him This day is saluatiō come vnto this house forasmuch as he is also become the sonne of Abraham So the Christian men in the beginning repented themselues and changed their whole life therfore were called Saintes as S. Paul vseth in many places to name them Vocatis Sanctis to those which are called Saints And sanctis qui sunt Corinthi To the Saintes which are at Corinth Plinie being a heathen and set by the Emperour to enquire of Christian men made report in
despise his calling let him not speake to vs in vain let vs no longer say it is not yet time to build vp the Lords house God hath raised vp vnto vs a most vertuous noble Lady that hath already set labourers a woorke begun the building Let vs remember that the Chaldees when they came to Ierusalem neuer strayned curtesie or sayde It is not yet time to pul down the house of God they layd handes on it spoyled it they burnt it without mercy euen vnto the grounde Let vs not in Gods cause bee more negligent then our enemies were against God Let euery man say with himselfe It is Gods temple that must be built vp it is the heauenly Hierusalem it is the arke of the Lord it is the Lords busines that I haue in hand accursed be he that doth the Lordes busines vnfaithfully And you my Lordes forasmuch as God hath planted you in chiefest honour and made you the greatest ouerseers of his worke I beseech you euen for his sake when you see your owne houses so furnished as is meete for your estates remember the poore house of God When you see your men waiting attending at your Tables remember howe fewe there bee to wayte vppon Christ at his table When you coÌ„sider that your owne houses cannot bee mainteyned without prouision remember there bee prouision made for the house of God Let y e zeale of Gods owne house rauish and deuour our hearts let vs build vp the cabernacle of the most holy and dreadful and euer liuing God so will God dwell and abide with vs and be glorified in the middest amongst vs. And thou most mercifull father deale fauourably with Sion that wee may see the walles of thy Hierusalem restored For now is the time of thy mercy come vpon vs now is the time And as thou hast begun this worke in vs in these our daies so vouchsafe to blesse the same that it may endure and continue for euer that al the world may know thee the onely true and liuing God and thy Sonne Iesus Christe whose Gospell thou hast reuiued amongst vs. To whom with thee and the holy Ghost be al honour and glory world without end Amen Psalme 69. The zeale of thine house hath eaten me CErtaine learned wise men of old time that had no vnderstaÌ„ding or sauour of god when they considered with themselues to what end and purpose mankinde was create set in this worlde after they had driuen the matter as farre as they might by naturall knowledge at length they concluded some that man was made to knowe the properties and qualities the conuenience or difference of natural thinges either in the aire or in the water or in the earth or vnder y e earth Some other that man was made to consider and behold the Sunne and Moone the starres the course and reuolutions of the Heauens And so they iudged that man which eyther had most aboundance of naturall reason or behelde and considered the heauens best to be most perfect of all others and that he came neerest to the end of his creation Thus sayde they as men without feeling of God onely endued with the light of nature But as God himselfe declareth who fashioned vs and made vs and knoweth vs best the very true ende why man was made was to knowe and to honour God Therefore who so knoweth him best honoreth him with most reuerence he is most perfect hee commeth neerest the end of his creation When Salomon had described the deceyuable vanities of the worlde and saide Vanity of vanities vanitie of vanities al is vanity wheÌ„ hee had concluded by longe discourse that riches empire honour pleasures knowledge and whatsoeuer els vnder the Sunne is but vanitie hee knieteth vp the matter with these woordes Feare GOD and keepe his commaundementes for this is the whole duetie of men That is this is trueth and no vanity this is our perfection to this ende are wee made not to liue in eating and drinking not to passe our time in pleasure follies not to heape vp those thinges which are daylye taken from vs or from whiche wee are daylye taken awaye but that in our woordes in our life in our bodye and in our soule wee doe seruice vnto God that wee looke aboue the Sunne and Moone and all the Heauens that we become the Temples of the holye Ghoste that the holy spirite of GOD may dwell in vs and make vs fitte instrumentes of the glorye of God Therfore God gaue vs his holy word hath continued it from the beginning of the worlde vntill this daye notwithstanding the Philosophers and learned men in all ages who scorned it out as the worde of fâ—llie for so it seemeth to them that perish Notwithstanding the wicked Princes and Tyrants and high â—omers of the worlde who consumed and burnt it as false and wicked or seâ—â—tious doctrine notwithstanding the whole worlde and 〈◊〉 of darkenes 〈◊〉 euer bent against it yet hath he wonderfully coÌ„tinued and perserued it without losse of one letter vntil this day that we might haue whereby truly to know him the true and onely God and his sonne Iesus Christ whom he sent Therfore haue we Temples and Churches places to resorte vnto altogether to honour to worship and to acknowledge him to be our god to ioyne our hearts and voyces together and to call vpon his holy name In suche places God hath at all times vsed to open his maiesty and to shew his power In such places God hath made vs a special promise to heare our prayer when soeuer we call vpon him Therefore are they called the dwelling place and house of GOD. In such places al godly men euermore set their greatest pleasure and thought themselues miserable when they were seciuded or put off from the same as the Prophete and â—oiy prince Dauid Laetatus sum in his quae â—icta sunt 〈◊〉 in domum Domini ibimus O saith that holye man my hart reioyced within my body wheÌ„ my fellowes called vpon me and said Let vs go into the house of the Lord. Againe I am in loue with the beauty of thy house And again O how beautiful is thy tabernacle O Lord O thou y â— God of hosts my heart longeth fainteth to come within thy courts His spirits were rauished with the sight maiesty of the tabernacle not for y â— the place it selfe at y â— time was so beautiful for in Dauids time it was almost rotten ruinous a homely thing to behold nothing in comparison to that teÌ„ple that afterward was built by Salomon But therein stood the shew worthines of that holy place y â— Gods trueth and lawe was opened and proclaimed in it and the sacraments and ceremonies so vsed in such forme and order as God had commanded them to be vsed the people receiued them obediently and liued thereafter Therfore when the tabernacle was restored when the Arke was fet
it is Gods cause The liuings of such as are in the ministery are not in their handes to whom they are due Al other labourers and artificers haue their hire increased double as much as it was wont to be Onely the poore man that laboureth sweateth in the vineyard of the Lorde of hostes hath his hire abridged abated I speak not of the Curats but of Personages Uicarages that is of the places which are the castles towers of fence for the Lordes temple They seldome passe now a dayes from the patrone if he be no better then a gentleman but either for the lease or for present money Such marchaÌ„ts are brokeÌ„ into y â— church of God a great deale more intolerable theÌ„ were they whoÌ„ Christ chased whipt out of y â— teÌ„ple Thus they y â— should be careful for Gods church that should be patrones to prouide for y â— conscieÌ„ces of the people to place amoÌ„g theÌ„ a learned Minister who might bee able to preach y â— worde vnto theÌ„ out of season in season to fulfil his ministerie seeke their own not y â— which is Iesus Christs They serue not Iesus Christ but their bellie And this is done not in one place or in one countrie but throughout England A gentlemaÌ„ cannot keepe his house vnles he haue a Parsonage or two in ferme for his prouision O mercifull God wherto will this growe at last If the miserie which this plague worketh would reache but to one age it were tolerable But it wil be a plague to the posteritie it wilbe the decay desolation of Gods Church Yong men which are toward learned see this They see that he whiche feedeth the flocke hath least part of the milke hee which goeth a warfare hath not halfe his wages Therefore they are weary and discouraged they chaunge their studies some become prentises some turne to phisick some to lawe all shun and flee the Ministerie And besides the hinderance that thus groweth by wicked dealing of patrons by reason of the impropriations the Uicarages in many places in the properest market townes are so simple that no man can liue vpon them and therefore no man wyll take them They were wont to saye Beneficia sine cura Benenefices without charge but now may be said Cura sine beneficio Charge or cure without benefice I speake not this of my selfe many here present know I speake the trueth And my selfe know the places which haue continued styll these many yeares without a Minister resident amonge them and haue prouided them selues as they might with their owne mony Your Graces subiects had hope of amendement in your graces late visitation But yet it standeth stil in case as miserable as it did before I know your grace heareth not of these matters And I hope God wyll worke in your gracious heart to prouide some remedy agaynste them For otherwise the scholes wil be forsakeÌ„ the Church desolate the people wylde and dismayed the Gospel discredited otherwise wee shal see that wrought against the house of God that neuer any Ieroboam or Iulian or Licinius could haue brought to passe against vs. This noble Realme which euer was famous for the name of learninge is like thereby to come to such ignorance and barbarie as hath not beene heard of in any memorie before our time I knowe that there are grieuous complaintes made that the Bishops appoint Priests and Ministers that are ignoraunt and haue no vnderstanding in the latine tongue Woulde God it were not true Or would God that they which be the causers hereof woulde somewhat helpe to ameÌ„d it But alas are we able to make learned men vpon the sudden Or can we make others then come vnto vs or wyll come to liue in miserie But there are many which can say such as bee ministers in the Churche shoulde teache freely without hope of recompence or hire for their labour Our preachers are no better then Peter Paul the other Apostles They are no better then the holy prophets who liued poorely Pouertie is a coÌ„mendable estate So say some in lyke deuotion as did Iudas What needed this wast this might haue bene sold for much giuen to the pore not that he cared for the pore but because he was a thiefe had the bag bare y t which was giuen I doubt not there are many which teach Christ for Christes sake which say in their soule y e Lord is my portion who in that heauy time from which God deliuered theÌ„ if they might haue receiued theyr life only for a recoÌ„pence would haue bin glad to take the paines who seeke you and not yours which haue forsaken all they had to followe Christ I doubt not there are such But for y t hope of posteritie I report me to al you which are fathers haue childreÌ„ for whom you are carefull Although your selues haue a zeale a care for the house of god yet wil you breed them vp keepe them at schoole vntil 24. yeeres old to your charges that in the ende they may liue in glorious pouertie y t they may liue poorely naked like the Prophets Apostles Our posteritie shall rue that euer such fathers went before them And Chronicles shal report this contempt of learning amonge the punishments and murraines and other plagues of God They shall leaue it written in what time and vnder whose raygne this was done Or if we growe so barbarous that wee consider not this or bee not able to drawe it into Chronicle yet forraine nations wyl not spare to write this and publish it to our euerlastinge reproche and shame In the meane time what may bee ghessed of their meaning which thus rauine and spoyle the house of God which decay the prouision therof and so basely esteeme the Ministers of his Gospel They can not say to God the zeale of thy house hath eaten me vp Howsoeuer in other thinges they doe wel howsoeuer they seeme to reioyce at the prosperitie of Sion and to seeke the safetie and preseruation of the Lordes anoyâ—ted yet needes must it bee that by these meanes forraine power of which this realme by the mercie of God is happely delyuered shall agayne be brought in vpon vs. Suche thinges shalbe done vnto vs as we before suffered the truth of God shalbe taken away the holy scriptures burnt and consumed in fire A marueilous darknesse and calamitie must needes ensue For if the tempest be so darke in the sea that the load starre lose her light and the needle fayle to giue token of the North Pole no marueile though the Ship lose her course and be swallowed vp in the sandes The Gospell of Christe is the fountaine of light and of knowledge It cannot be mainteined by ignorance and darknes These bee the proppes of their kingdome which take away y e scriptures which hold the people in blindenes which flie the light whiche haue their common prayers minister
a potion shewed him not what was in it began to chafe and take on with him why said he heale not me as thou wouldest heale an oxe or a horse but shew me what thou giuest me what are the ingredients and wherefore thou giuest it me Euen so must the people bee healed of their errours they must know what is giuen them and wherefore Fides saith Bernard suadenda est non imponēda Faith may not be compulsed by force or rigour but gently brought in by perswasiō For forced faith is no faith Saint Paule saieth Faith commeth by hearing hearing by the word of God And therefore it is wel obserued by the wise politike father S. Ambrose that the church of Christ was not gathered by the law but by faith Basil saith If you wil haue Gods wisedō take place al your worldly wisedome must be set a parte And in like sort Hillarius Humanis operib extructa nō permanent aliter aedificanda Ecclesia aliter custodienda est c. Things that be set vp with mans workmanship saith Hillary will not endure the church of God must otherwise be buylded and preserued for the foundation of it must be layde vppon the Apostles and Prophets The church being thus built by God that is to say by the doctrine of God shall neuer fall I speake not this against all ciuil and honest lawful policie for I know it is the gift of God without the which nor common state nor the Church can be mainteined But this seemeth to haue byn the meaning of these olde Fathers that in the building of Gods church y e preaching of Gods worde must goe before to quiet mens consciences and wisedome pollicie like handmaides must follow after For this honor prerogatiue God claimeth onely to himselfe that his Church must bee built vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Which if it be otherwise built Nisi dominus aedificauerit domū in vanum laborauerunt qui aedificant eam Vnlesse God himselfe build vp the house they sweat and labour but in vain that set it vp Thus Christ at the beginning gathered his Church not by lawes of men but against all law policy by the preaching of his word God might haue instructed Cornelius by the Angell that appeared to him as it appeareth in y e Acts of the Apostles but he woulde not so but sent Peter to him that he might be instructed by the mouth of a Preacher Hee might haue taught Paul after he had striken him downe from his horse when he appeared to him said Ego sum Iesus quē tu persequeris I am Iesus whō thou persecutest But he would not so but rather left him to be taught by Ananias And as it appeareth in the Actes of the Apostles at the preaching of Peter 3000. people were conuerted wonn in one day that it might appeare by what tooles and with what workemen God woulde haue his haruest set forward Nowe let vs beholde the present state of our countrey These wordes of Christ our Sauiour were neuer more true then we find them now in these our dayes The haruest is great the labourers very fewe the poore people lyeth forsaken and left as it were sheepe without a guide the afflicted in conscience haue no man to quiet them they growe wilde and sauadge as it were a people that had no God they are commaunded to change their religion and forlacke of instruction they know not whither to turne them they knowe not neither what they leaue nor what they should receiue Some other defie and spit at the holy gospel of our Sauiour Christ and refuse the Couenāt of euerlasting life Some other for lacke of knowledge followe after wilfull blinde maisters and become Arrians or Pelagians and thus they blaspheme the sonne of God Some other giue themselues ouer to their owne affections and as he saith reioyce and triumph in their filthinesse without feare of God without conscience of sinne and so treade downe the blood of the testament vnder their feete and this do they for lacke of teaching because they haue not learned men and preachers to shew them what they should doe O saith our Sauiour Christ the good shepheard and Bishop of our soules my haruest is beaten down and lost and there is none that wil goe abroade and saue it My people run headlong to their own destruction not of malice but of verye simplicity onely because they are not taught because they know not my father nor me Alas it is not my fathers will that anye of them should be lost They be our brethren they be the flocke of God they be the haruest they are bought with great price I beseeche you euen for that blood that was shed and spent for them and vs al let vs not despise them If the kingdome of God be not worthy to be promoted yet the kingdome of Satan is worthye to be ouerthrowne Now is that acceptable and ioyfull time come amongst vs euen nowe God hath visited his people now the haruest is greate and plentious Al the world this day longeth and groneth after the Gospell Let vs therefore altogether directe our prayers to the Lord and master of the haruest Wee beseeche thee most mercifull father for thy sonne Iesus Christes sake as thou hast plentifully encreased thy haruest brought it to a ripenes in these our dayes so sende out labourers to get it in that it be not spilt Gather in al thy sheepe that lie straying w tout a heard Lighten the heartes of thine aduersaries that they may know the time of their visitation and see that blessed hope whereunto thou haste called them That all the worlde with one mouth and one minde may know and gloryfie thee the onely true and lyuinge God and thy sonne Iesus Christ to whom with thee and the holy Ghost be al honour and glorye Amen Luke 11. vers 15. But some of them saide he casteth out deuils through Beelzebub the chiefe of deuils c. THat it may please God so to order both my vtterance and your vnderstāding that whatsoeuer shalbe spoken or heard may turne to the glory of his holy name and to the profite and comfort of his Church before I enter into the exposition of these wordes I desire you to call vpon our gracious God with your earnest and harty prayer And heere I commende vnto you the good estate of Gods holy and catholique Church and therein the Queenes most excellent maiesty by the especial grace of God Queene of England Fraunce and Irelande defender of the true ancient and Apostolique faith and the highest gouernour next vnder God of this Churche of England c. That as God of his mercie hath marueilously preserued her to the possession of her righte to the great comforte of all our her subiects heartes and to the reformation of the Church so it may please him to ayde and encrease her with his holy spirite to the continuance
of al them that speak agaynst vs that touchinge the very substance of religion wee teache nothinge this day but that hath bene taught before by Christ him selfe set abroade by his Apostles continued in the Primitiue Church and maintained by the olde and ancient Doctors And in one or two wordes onely to giue a taste of the same that thereby ye may the better iudge of the rest Wee saye that in the Sacrament after the consecration remaineth the substance nature of bread and wine The same saith S. Augustine S. Chrysostome Theodoretus Gelasius others Gelasius wordes are so plaine as no man can denie them Non desinit esse substantia panis vini There leaueth not to be the substance of bread and wine Thus wrote they and were Catholiques We say that Christes last Supper must be vsed as a communion frequented with more then one So Christ ordeined it so y ◠Apostles the Primitiue Church and all the olde Doctors practised it and neuer was there any of them that euer made mētion of a priuate Masse Thus did they and yet were they Catholiques We say the holy Communion or sacrament of the breaking shedding of the body and blood of Christe ought of necessitie to bee vsed vnder both kindes Thus did all the Doctors vse it And Gelasius an old father saith that otherwise to vse it is open sacriledge And for y ◠space of 1000. yeeres after Christ there can no example be found to the contrary Thus did they and yet were Catholiques We say the publique prayers ought to be in the common tongue that the Bishop of Rome ought not to take vpon him to be the head of the vniuersal Church that the prince is of right by the authority that god hath giuen hym the hiest ruler of his Church and Realme as well of the ecclesiasticall officers as of the temporall And all these thinges bee aduouched confirmed by y e examples of the primatiue Church by the olde general Councels and by the Doctors And the contray here of shall neuer be proued nor by old father or Doctor nor by aucient councel nor by example of y ◠primatiue Church nor by any sufficient authoritie of the Scriptures I leaue the rest for it were an infinite labour to say as much as might be saide Thus they taught thus dyd they were catholikes alas are we sayinge the same onely because we say y e same become heretiques that was once true is it now become false that was once Catholique doctrine is it now at last become heresie O mercifull God was it thy wil y t thy trueth should be true but for a season vntil there should come men to decree the contrary If we be heretiques that teach the same that the olde Doctours of the Church taught what then are they that teach contrary to the Doctours Christ our Sauiour to reproue the Pharises thought it sufficient to say to them Hoc Abraham non fecit This thing Abrahā neuer did Therefore are you not the children of Abraham Euen so may we truely say to such as holde not themselues contented with this doctrine these things that you do Saint Augustine neuer did Saint Hierome neuer did none of the ancient fathers euer did the Apostles in the Catholike primatiue Church neuer did therefore yee are not the children of S. Augustine ye are not the children of S. Hierome ye are not the children of any of the olde catholique doctors ye are not the children of Christes primatiue Catholyke and vuiuersal Church It may not become me to sette order in these thinges yet if it were lawfull I woulde wysh that once agayne as time shoulde serue there might be had a quiet and a sober disputation that eche parte might be required to shew their groundes without selfe wyll and without affection not to mayntayne or breede contention for I trust it should be the way to take away al contention but onely that the trueth may bee knowen many consciences quieted and the right stone tryed by comparison of the counterfaite For at the last disputation that should haue bene you know whiche partie gaue ouer and would not meddle Some will saye the Iudges wyll not be indifferent And alas what man that doubteth his owne matter wyll euer think the Iudges indifferent Let the whole worlde let our our aduersaries them selues bee Iudges heerm affection put apart let our aduersaries themselues be Iudges What can wee offer more if this bee not sufficient what can there be sufficient Pompeius a noble Gentleman of Rome at what time he shoulde goe into the fielde against Caesar that then was his enemie and some of his counsell told him he lacked men and should neuer be able with so small a number to stande in fielde agaynst Caesar beinge well furnished Tushe quoth hee when so euer I shall but beate the ground with my foote I shall by and by rayse vp a swarme of souldiers Afterward it befell that Pompey was vanquished and glad to flee Then Marcus Cato an old gentleman and one of his army sayd to hym O sir remember your promise you lacke men now let vs see your swarme of Souldiers It is wel knowne that it hath bene spoken both in this place and in other lyke that al the Doctours and al the general councels were against vs. Nowe the armie is discomstted nowe they stande in neede of men nowe let them call for their Doctours and Councels if they come but with one sufficient Doctour or Councell they may haue the field I speake not this to boast my self of any learning but the goodnes of the cause maketh me y e holder Neither woulde I haue in this behalfe said so much as I haue sauing that the matter it selfe very necessitie inforced me so to doe Alas it were great pitie that Gods trueth shoulde be defaced w t priuy whisperings It were great pitie that whole houses shoulde be ouerthrowen mēs consciences wounded the people deceiued Gods trueth and the loue thereof pulled from your heartes his woorke blasphemed as if it came from Beelzebub w tout any good ground without any authorytie of the Scripture without any example of the Primatiue Churche without Counsell without any auncient Doctour or father But they haue another kinde of learuynge which because wee haue not therefore they say we are vnlearned For if controuersies might haue bene tryed by learnyng you shoulde neuer haue seene the Masse agayne after it was once downe If there euer come another change as I pray God wee may neuer see nor surely euer shall wee vnlesse our vnkindnesse pull downe Gods plague vppon vs but if a change come suche a one as they looke for you shall see with what argument they wyll proue their Masse We reade that Christ dyd put the Pharises to silence yet afterwarde when their tyme came they sayde We haue a lawe and by our law he must die But Gods name be praysed no persecutions no
torments no fire no fagot haue euer weakened the cause of the Gospel Tertullian saith Plures effiâ—imur quoties metimur the more we be cut downe the more we encrease These be their arguments this is their logique they haue no liking to trie the matter by Scripture by doctours by Councel or by the practise of the most ancient Churches and if they make any pretense of likinge such tryall they doe it for some other hidden purpose to moue mutinies and disquiet that they may woorke their practises whiles mens heades are occupied and busied with talke of such matters Pirrhus a lustie gentleman and Kinge of Epyrus when he first tooke Counsell with hys Nobles to wage warre against the Romanes heard saye hee might soone conquere them for that they were nothinge else but a sorte of wilde and harbarours people but afterward when he came to the view of the Romanes army indeed and sawe their Captaines and Souldiers wel appoynted and their flagges and standardes in good order mary quoth he whether these men be barbarous or no I cannot tel but wel I wot their behauiour and the order of their campe is not barbarous So what accompt soeuer men make of this doctrine that god be thanked is taught this day yet whosoeuer shall come neere view it well and try it to the vttermost and shall finde that al thinges are done seemely and orderly according to the olde doctours to the Apostles and to the primatiue Church of Christ shall fall downe to the grounde and confesse that the order and maner therof or any thing that is taught therein is not hereticall Saint Iohn Baptist sent his disciples to Christ to knowe whether hee were the true Messias or no or els whether they should looke for another Christ made them answer Go and shewe Iohn what thinges ye haue hard and seene the blinde receiue sight the halte goe the lepers are clensed the deafe heare y e dead are raised vp y e poore receiue the Gospel For these tokens were sufficient to make Iohn vnderstande that Christ was the true Messias Euen so if a man stande in doubte of this Religion whether it bee of God or no let hym but consider think with himselfe thus a great number of errours are now reuealed superstition is remoued idolatrie is taken away the Sacramentes are rightlye and duly vsed the dombe speake the blinde see the poore afflicted mindes receiue the Gospell the prayers are in such sort as the people may take profit and comfort by them God giue vs grace to know how great neede we haue to pray that in all places we may lift vp cleane handes and heartes vnto God and cal vpon him in spirit and truth If this be heresie then alas what is true religion Can these bee done by the power of Beelzebub Can the deuil reforme errours remoue superstion take away idolatrie cause the Sacramentes to be directly vsed the dombe to speake the blinde to see the poore to receiue the Gospel the people to take fruite and comfort by their prayers O good brethen this is the worke of Gods right hande the kingdome of God doubtlesse is come vppon vs the prince of errour is put to silence the readinesse of the people vniuersally in al places is marueilous kinges and princes suffer themselues to be led captiues to the obedience of Christ They that before were enemies and persecutours of this doctrine are nowe contented to yeeld their bodies liues for y t defence of the same and to be short al the world this day cryeth and groneth after the Gospel And al these things are come to passe at such time as to any mans reason it might seeme impossible when al the world the people priests princes were ouerwhelmed with ignoraÌ„ce wheÌ„ the word of God was put out of sight when he that tooke vpon him the generall rule of altogether was crept into y e holy place had possessed the coÌ„science of man as if he had bene God and had set himselfe aboue the scriptures of God gaue out decrees that whatsoeuer he should do no man shoulde finde fault with him when all schooles priests bishops kings of the worlde were sworne to hym that whatsoeuer he tooke in hand they should vphold it when he had chosen kings sonnes brothers to be his Cardinales when his Legats espies were in euery kings councel when nothing could be attempted any where but he by by must haue knowledge of it wheÌ„ whosoeuer had but muttered against his doinges must straight waies haue bene excoÌ„municate put to most cruel death as Gods enemie when no man could haue thought there had bene any hope that euer these dayes should haue bene seene that God of his mercy hath giuen vs to see when al things were voide of al hope and full of desperation Euen then I say euen then contrarye to all mans reason God brought all these thinges to passe Euen then God defeited their policies not with shielde or Speare but only with the spirit of his mouthe that is with preachinge of the Gospel There is no counsel agaynst the Lorde the deuils were cast out by the powre of God This is the day which y e Lord hath wrought to thee o Lord y e prayse hereof is due thou hast turned our mourning into ioy thou hast put to sileÌ„ce y e spirit of error thou hast inflamed y t hearts of thy people thou hast brought princes kings to the obedience of thy sonne Iesus Christ thou hast opened the eyes of y e world to espy out to cry for y e coÌ„fort of y e gospel WheÌ„ al things were in dispaire yet thou didst reserue vnto thy selfe one litle sparkle y t should inkindle agayne light in thy church y t shoulde remoue rubbish fylth out of thy teÌ„ple whose hart should euer be in thy haÌ„d who should do that that good is in thy sight should walke in y â— wayes of her father Dauid This is the hand power of God this is the Lordes doing and it is marueilous in our eyes God giue vs grace to haue these things euer before our eyes that we neuer be vnthankfull Now for al these graces y t God hath so plentifully powred vpoÌ„ vs let vs coÌ„sider what kindnes ought to be rendred on our part O Israel O my people saith almighty God what thing is it y t I require of thee but onely that thou loue me walk in my wayes this is our homage this is our dutie this shalbe loked for at our hands The grace of god saith Paul y t bringeth saluation vnto al meÌ„ hath appered techeth vs y t we shold liue soberly righteusly in this preseÌ„t worlde looking for the blessed hope appearing of the glory of the mighty god and of our sauiour Iesus Christ Such in olde times was the life of all them that professed the name of Christ Tertullian of his
and shee shall call his name Emanuell In him shall all Israel bee saued hee is the light to lighten the Gentiles his name shall be called wonderfull counseller the mightie God the euerlasting father the Prince of peace in him shal al the endes of the worlde bee blessed This light they behelde when it was not cleerely opened vnto them they did see it comming and reioyced in it they were vnder a Schoolemaister and had not the perfect knowledge of this light But nowe God hath scattered all these Cloudes and wee beholde as in a mirrour the glorye of the Lorde with open face Our elder Fathers in the olde Testament had onely a dimme candle to guide their Feete we haue the bright Sunne beames They had onelye the greene blade of the Corne wee haue the plentifull encrease euen as in the time of haruest they had the shadowe we haue the light they had onely a droppe to refreshe themselues wee haue the whole streame of Gods mercie powred out vppon vs. Nowe hath God remembred his holie couenaunt and the othe whiche hee sware to our father Abraham nowe the woorde was made fleshe and dwelt with vs. The day starre is sprong vp in our heartes the Spirite of God hath filled the whole world the earth is full of his glorye The Idols of the Heathen are fallen and are put to silence their greatest mysteries appeare to bee follies and are laught to scorne the children make games of them in their streetes Sathan the Prince of this worlde which is the accuser of our brethren is now cast foorth Nowe is it knowen that saluation and power and glory belongeth to our God Hee hath raysed his Christe and hath established his kingdome the kings and nations of the worlde shall walke in his light and his light shall not bee put out and his kingdome shall haue no ende Nowe is that newe Hierusalem the glorious Citie of our God reuealed from on high nowe hath God made the Heauens newe and a newe earth and hath fixed his Tabernacle and dwelling place among men The fulnesse of time is come the sounde of the Apostles is gone through all the earth the Sunne of righteousnesse hath appeared he is the light and comfort of the whole worlde This is the gracious yeere of mercye this is the daye whiche the Lorde hath made Nowe is the mercy of the Lorde shewed more and more towardes vs and his trueth endureth for euer When Balaam the false Prophete beholde the glorye of this time hee brake out and sayde Who shall liue when GOD doeth this Who shall liue and see and enioy these thinges Awake therefore or arise from sleepe the time so requireth For nowe is our Saluation neerer then when we beleeued it Of those few words haue growen diuers senses al good and godly yet in my iudgement the simplest and playnest sense is this When we were heathen and sate in darknesse we thought we did well and that wee shoulde be saued in that way in whiche wee walked and that there was no hope of saluation but onelie in that and wee had a great liking in our doinges This is the vanitie and miserie of man oftetimes where he thinketh himselfe most sure he is deepely deceyued The Turks the Iewes at this day others the enemies of the crosse of Christ thinke there is no other true religion but theirs in y t they are woonderfull zealous and stande in it vnto death no perswasion nor force can remooue them When the people of Ephesus heard of the preaching of Paul they raysed vproare and filled the Citie full of tumult they caught Gaius and Aristarchus men of Macedonia and Pauls companions in his iourney and woulde haue slayne them they made an outcrie saying Great is Diana of the Ephesians she is a goddesse she hath made Heauen and Earth we haue put our trust in her we will call vpon her and she will heare vs. Christ she weth his Disciples The brother shal betray the brother to death the father the sonne the childrē shal rise against their parents and shall cause them to die and ye shal be hated of al men for my Name For zeale to their GOD the Priestes of Baal cut themselues with kniues and launcers Through zeale manie fathers slewe their owne children and burnte them quicke in fire in the honour of the Idol Moloch Circumcelliones which were a sorte of Heretikes sprong out of the Donatistes about 420. yeeres after Christ through zeale murthered one another they threwe them selues downe from high rockes and destroyed them selues and thought that the onely way to please God so hot and feruent was their deuotion The children of light haue seldome suffered more or more willingly or with more affiance then the children of darkenesse so striued they for God but against God and abused his name agaynst him selfe and wittingly and willingly went downe to Hell They haue great zeale and earnest desire of the glorye of GOD but not according to knowledge They contented them selues with that they had receiued of their Fathers would seeke no further they thought they did serue GOD but they blasphemed the Name of the Sonne of GOD. In suche sorte did God suffer them to walke in the blindenesse of their heart In the latter day many shall say vnto Christ Lorde Lorde haue wee not by thy Name prophecied and by thy Name cast out Diuels by thy Name done many greate workes Wee haue prayed and giuen almes for thy sake was it not done of zeale deuotion towardes thee So well shall they be perswaded of their doinges they shall presse boldely to the throne of Gods Maiesty and require their meede But Christ shall aunsweare them I neuer knewe you you serued your fancie you serued not mee your almes and miracles and your prayers shall condemne you Therfore Christe sayde to the Woman of Samaria Yee worshippe that which you knowe not You are ledde with a zeale and followe your Fathers but are deceiued Euen so hee prayed his father for them that crucified him and stood by and reuiled him O Father thou art full of mercie forgiue them they are moued of zeale and thinke they please thee they knowe not what they doe they knowe not thee nor mee thy Sonne whom thou hast sent Saint Hierome saith Nomine vnitatis fidei infidelitas scriptae est Infidelitie hath bin written vnder the name of faith and vnitie For herein they thought them selues good and holie and Catholike if they departed not from the vnitie of the world Therfore they followed the generall consent of others they thought them selues saieth hee the true Church and seemed to follow vnitie though in deede they fell to infidelitie Whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne whatsoeuer it be be it neuer so holy neuer so glorious it is sinne it displeaseth God the ende thereof is destruction Therefore Christ sayeth I am the light of the worlde hee
wee pray together and vnderstande what we pray This was the order of the Primitiue Churche this was the order of the Apostles of Christe If wee compare this with the former wee shall soone see the difference betweene light and darknesse The kingdome of God nowe suffereth violence The sounde of the Gospell hath gone ouer all the worlde and the whole worlde is awaked therewith and draweth to it The sunne is risen the day is open God hath made his kingdome woonderfull among vs. It is nowe time nowe is it time that wee shoulde arise from sleepe for nowe is our saluation neere Nowe it is in our mouth wee can speake of it GOD graunt it may bee neerer vs euen in our heartes The night is past GOD graunt it be past for euer that we be neuer againe throwen into the darkenesse of death that the worde of life the trueth of Christ be neuer againe taken from vs. And it shall neuer be taken away if wee bee thankefull Unkindenesse can neuer scape vnplagued Let vs wake let vs wake our sleepe is deadly Let vs pray to GOD to awake vs hee is able to rayse the dead Our Sauiour saith The houre shall come when the dead shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God and they that heare it shall liue Lazarus was dead yet hee hearde the voyce of Christe and rose vp agayne and came abroade Let vs put on Iesus Christ let it appeare vpon vs that we weare him let vs not be ashamed of his Gospell it is the power of God to saluation If we be ashamed of him and of his wordes hee will be also ashamed of vs when he commeth in the glorie of his father with the holy Angels Let vs cast away the workes of darkenesse and all doctrines of superstition and ignorance Let vs beholde the troubles and miseries of other countries Heauen and earth our brethren the care of our saluation the Sonne of God himselfe put vs in minde that it is nowe time Whiles we haue time let vs doe good let vs seeke God whiles hee may bee founde The Lorde wayteth when hee may shewe his mercies Let vs turne vnto him with an vpright heart So shall he turne to vs so shal we walke as the children of light so shall wee shine as the sunne in the kingdome of our Father so shall God bee our God and will abide with vs for euer And thou O most mercifull Father wee beseeche thee for thy mercie sake continue thy grace and fauour towardes vs let the sunne of thy Gospell neuer goe downe out of our heartes let thy trueth abide and be stablished among vs for euer Helpe our vnbeliefe encreace our faith giue vs heartes to consider the time of our visitation Apparrell vs throughly with Christ that hee may liue in vs and so thy Name may bee glorified in vs in the sight of al the world Amen FINIS ¶ Ornatissimo viro Thomae Randolpho armigero serenissimo ad Scotos Legato integerrimo QVis te iunxit amor docto Randolphe Iuello Oxonia exilium musa laborque notant Et quod ad exequias defuncti ducere plectrum Triste Buchananos Patritiosque facis Quis tibi gratus erit pro tali munere certè Auctior hoc studio gratia facta tua est Nec nihil ex illo referes Sacra signa redemptor Essent vt fidei tessera fida dedit Haec tuus exposuit sanctè tibi dedico ne sit Tam rarae fidei tessera nulla piae Tuae dignitatis studiosus Iohan. Garbrandus ⧠A treatise of the Sacraments gathered out of certaine Sermons which the Reuerend Father in God Bishop Iewel preached at Salisburie I Haue opened vnto you y â— contents of the Lordes prayer shewed you vpon whom wee ought to call what to aske and y â— articles of our ChristiaÌ„ faith in God y e father y â— sonn the holy Ghost of y e church of remission of sins of the resurrection of life euerlasting c. And I haue opened vnto you the ten commandements in them what our duetie is towards God towards our Prince and magistrates towards our pareÌ„ts towards our neighbour towards our selues Al this haue I done simply plainly without al shewe of learning that it might the better sinke into our heartes Nowe I thinke good to speake of the Sacraments of the Church that al you may know what they are because you are all partakers of the holy sacraments Christ hath ordeined them that by them hee might set before our eyes the mysteries of our saluation and might more strongly confirme the faith which wee haue in his blood might seale his grace in our hearts As Princes seales confirme and warrant their deedes and charâ—ers so doe the Sacramentes witnesse vnto our conscience that Gods promises are true and shall continue for euer Thus doeth God make knowen his secret purpose to his Church first he declareth his mercie by his worde then he sealeth it and assureth it by his sacraments In the word we haue his promises in the sacraments we see them It woulde require a long time if I should vtter that might be saide in this matter especially in laying open such errours and abuses as haue crept into the Church But I wil haue regard to this place and so frame my speech that the meanest simplest may reape profite thereby That you may the better remember it I wil keepe this order I wil shewe you what a Sacrament is Secondly who hath ordained them thirdly wherfore they were ordained and what they worke in vs fourthly how many there are and then I will briefly speake of euery of them A Sacrament is an outwarde and visible signe whereby GOD sealeth vp his grace in our heartes to the confirmation of our Faith Saint Augustine saith Sacramentum est inuisibilis gratiae visibile signum A SacrameÌ„t is a visible signe of grace inuisible And y t wee may the better vnderstand him hee telleth vs what thing we should call a signe A signe is a thing that besides the sight itself which it offreth to the seÌ„ses causeth of itself some other certaine thing to come to knowledge In Baptisme the water is the signe and the thing signified is the grace of God Wee see the water but the grace of God is inuisible we cannot see it Moreouer he saith Signa cum ad res diuinas adhibentur Sacramenta vocantur Signes wheÌ„ thei be applied to godly things be called sacramentes The signification and substance of the sacrament is to shew vs how we are washed with the passion of Christ and how we are fedde with the body of Christ And againe If Sacraments had not a certain likenes and representatioÌ„ of the things wherof they be sacraments then indeed they were no sacrameÌ„ts And because of this likenesse whiche they haue with the things they represent they be ofttimes termed by the names of the things themselues Therefore after a
And againe In Christ ye are circūcised with circūcision made without hands by putting off the sinfull body of the fleshe through the circumcision of Christ Euen so is not Baptisme ante bare signe Baptisma eius saith Chrisostome etiam passio eius est Christes baptisme is Christes passion They are not bare signes it were blasphemie so to say The grace of God doeth alwayes woorke with his Sacramentes but wee are taught not to seeke that grace in the signe but to assure our selues by receiuing the signe that it is giuen vs by the thing signified We are not washed from our sinnes by the water we are not fed to eternall life by the bread and wine but by the precious blood of our sauiour Christ that lieth hid in these Sacraments Bernard saith Datur annulus ad inuestiendū c. The fashiō is to deliuer a ring when seisin and possession of inheritance is giuē the ring is a signe of the possession So that hee which hath taken it may say the ring is nothing I care not for it it is the inheritance which I sought for In like maner whē christ our Lorde drewe nigh to his passion hee thought good to giue seisin possession of his grace to his disciples y ◠they might receiue his inuisible grace by som visible signe Chrisost saith In nobis non simplex aqua operatur sed cū accepit gratiam spiritus abluit omnia peccata Plaine or bare water worketh not in vs but when it hath receiued the grace of the holy Ghost it washeth away all our sins So saith Ambrose also Spiritus sanctus descendit consecrat aquā The holy Ghost cōmeth down halloweth the water And Praesentia Trinitatis adest There is the presence of the Trinitie So saith Ciril Quemadmodū viribus ignis aqua c. As water throughly heat with fire burneth as well as the fire so the waters whiche washe the bodie of him that is baptized are changed into diuine power by the working of y ◠holy ghost So said Leo sometimes a bishop of Rome Dedit aquae quod dedit matri Virtus enim altissimi obūbratio Spiritus sancti quae fecit vt Maria pareret saluatorem eadē fecit vt regeneret vnda credentē Christ hath giuen like preeminence to the water of Baptism as he gaue to his mother For that power of the highest and that ouershadowing of the holye Ghoste whiche brought to passe y ◠Mary should bring forth the sauiour of the world hath also brought to passe that the water should beare a new or regenerate him that beleeueth Suche opinion had the auncient learned fathers and such reuerent wordes they vsed when they entreated of the Sacraments For it is not man but God which worketh by them yet is it not the creature of bread or water but the soule of man that receiueth the grace of God These corruptible creatures neede it not we haue need of Gods grace But this is a phrase of speaking For the power of God the grace of GOD the presence of the Trinitie the holy Ghost the gift of God are not in the water but in vs. And wee were not made because of the sacramentes but the sacraments were ordeined for our sake Now for the number of Sacraments howe many there be it may seeme somewhat hard to say that it cannot be spoken without offence For mens iudgments herein haue swarued very much some haue said there are two others three others foure and others that there are seuen Sacramentes This difference of opinions standeth rather in tearmes then in the matter For a Sacramēt in y e maner of speaking which the Church vseth in the writings of the holy scripture of auncient fathers sometimes signifieth properly euery such Sacrament which Christ hath ordayned in the newe Testament for which he hath chosen some certain element and spoken speciall wordes to make it a Sacrament and hath annexed thereto the promise of grace sometimes it is vsed in a generall kinde of taking and so euery mysterie set downe to teach the people and many thinges that indeed and by speciall propertie be no sacraments may neuerthelesse passe vnder the generall name of a Sacrament The sacraments instituted by Christ are only two the sacrament of Baptisme of our Lords Supper as the auncient learned fathers haue made acompt of them S. Ambrose haueing occasion of purpose to entreate of y e Sacraments speaketh but of two De Sacramentis saith he quae accepistis sermonē adorior I begin to speak of the Sacramēts which you haue receiued And yet in his whole treatise deuided into sixe bookes he writeth but of two his booke is extāt if any man doubt this he may see it S. Augustine reckoneth them to be but two Haec sunt ecclesiae gemina Sacramenta These be the two Sacraments of the church Again he saith Quaedam pauca pro multis eademque factu facilima c. Our Lord his Apostles haue deliuered vnto vs a few sacraments in steede of many the same in doing most easie in signification most excellent in obseruation most reuerend as is the Sacrament of Baptisme and the celebration of the bodie and blood of our Lord. Thus Augustine and Ambrose vnto whom I might also ioyne other auncient fathers recken but two Sacramentes Let no man then be offended with vs for so doing wee doe no newe thing but restore the ordinance of Christ and keepe the example of the holy fathers What then Doe we refuse confirmation penance orders and matrimonie Is there no vse of these among vs doe we not allow them yes For we doe confirme and teache repentance minister holy orders and account matrimonie so vse it as an honorable state of life We visit y e sicke among vs and anoynt them with the precious oyle of the mercy of God But we cal not these sacraments because they haue not the like institution Confirmation was not ordeyned by Christ penance hath not any outward element ioyned to the worde the same may be sayd of orders And matrimony was not first instituted by Christ for God ordeined it in paradise long before But in these two we haue both the element and the institution In Baptisme the element is water in the Lords Supper bread and wine Baptisme hath the word of institution Teache al nations baptizing them in the name of y ◠Father and the Sonne and the holy Ghost The Lords supper in like maner hath the worde of institution Doe this in remēbrance of me Therfore these two are properly and truly called the Sacraments of the Churche because in them the element is ioyned to the word and they take their ordinance of Christe and be visible signes of inuisible grace Nowe whatsoeuer lacketh eyther of these it is no Sacrament Therefore are not the other fiue which are so reckoned and make vp the number of
who haue bin constant in y ◠faith haue suffred death for Christs sake That so they may be taught by their name to remēber whose name they beare y t they neither speake nor doe anie thing vnworthy of their name As if any bee called Iohn that hee praye for grace and desire to be filled with grace that he giue witnesse of Christ that hee is the Lambe of GOD which taketh away the sinnes of the worlde that hee rebuke vice boldelie as Iohn did in Herode though hee were a mightie Prince Or if he be called Paule that hee so become a follower of Paule as Paule was of Christe and saye with Paul That I might liue vnto God I am crucified with Christ Thus I liue yet not I now but Christ liueth in mee and heare Christ speaking vnto him as did Paul fal down say Lorde what wilt thou that I doe So let him that is called Thomas touche the bosome of Christ and handle his woundes and make a good confession as Thomas did and say My Lord and my God Let Matthew forsake his custome euen the deceitful gaines of y ◠world and followe Christ Let Daniel remember Daniel and though he should be throwen in to the denne of Lions or be burnt in the fire or suffer any cruell tormentes yet let him not therfore forsake God but put his whole trust in him Thus should our names teach vs that whether we write them or vtter them or heare them spoken they may put vs in minde of christian duetie and Godlines The other Sacrament of Christes Church is the sacrament of the Lordes Supper whiche some haue called the Sacrament of the Altar some the Sacrament of the holie table some the Sacrament of bread and wine but wee most properly may call it the sacrament of the bodie and blood of Christ And that we wander not at large but may stande in certaine ground I wil expounde those words of our Sauiour This is my bodie and this is my blood of the newe testament that is shed for manie for the remission of sinnes This matter these two or three hundreth yeeres late past hath beene encumbred with manie questions and much controuersie Some saie the woordes are plaine Christe him selfe spake them hee is almightte and can doe what soeuer hee will hee hath not spoken otherwise then hee meant If wee expounde them by signes and figures wee take away the force of the holy mysterie and make nothing of it the woordes muste bee taken euen as they lye they must not haue any other construction Therefore at this day many wise men which yeelde from other pointes of superstition and in many other thinges receiue the truth stand here and sticke at this and cannot yeeld I will declare the whole matter simplye and plainely and submit my selfe to the vnderstanding and capacitie of all men That which I will vtter heerein shall not be of my selfe but of the Fathers of the Churche not of those whiche haue beene of later yeeres but of the most auncient not of the Heretiques◠but of the most Catholique which euer haue beene the enemies and confounders of Heretiques I wil shewe the vse and order and faith of the Primitiue Churche whiche was in the times of the Apostles and of Tertullian Ciprian Basill Nazianzene Hierome Augustine Chrysostome and others Catholique and godly learned Fathers Let no man regarde mee or my speeche I am onely a finger these are cleare and bright starres I doe but shewe them vnto you and poynt them that you maye beholde them God giue vs grace that wee may see them truely and by them bee able to guyde and to direct our waye let vs laie aside all contention and quietly heare that shall bee spoken Whatsoeuer shall bee saide if it bee true if it bee auncient if it be Catholique if it bee so cleere as the sunne beames let vs humble our heartes and beleeue it There is no trueth but of God Whosoeuer resisteth the truth resisteth God First I will shewe you that we doe truelie and indeede eate the bodie of Christ and drinke his blood And this shall be the foundation and key of entraunce into all the rest Secondely I will open these woordes This is my body and there howe by what sort in what sense and meaning the bread is the body of Christ Thirdly that the bread abideth still in former nature and substance as before euen as the nature and substance of water remayneth in Baptisme Fourthly how the body of Christ is eaten whether by faith or with the mouth of our bodie and how the body of Christ is present in the Sacrament Fiftly What difference is betweene the body of Christ and the Sacrament of the body of Christ Sixtly howe wee ought to prepare our mindes and with what faith and deuotion wee must come to the receiuing thereof Wee saie and beleeue that wee receiue the body and blood of Christ truelie and not a figure or signe but euen that bodie whiche suffered death on the crosse and that blood which was shed for the forgiuenes of sinnes So saieth Christ My fleshe is meate in deede and my blood is drinke indeede And againe Except yee eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drink his blood ye haue no life in you And againe He that eateth me euen he shall liue by me Wee say there is no other substantiall foode of our soules and that hee is diuided among all the faithfull and that hee is voyde of saluation and the grace of Christ whosoeuer is not partaker of his body and blood This we say and may not flee from it hereafter Yet least happily any should be deceiued we say this meate is spirituall and therefore it must be eaten by faith and not with the mouth of our bodie Augustine saith Vt quid paras dentes ventrem crede manducasti Why preparest thou thy teeth and thy bellie beleeue and thou hast eaten And againe Nolite fauces parare sed cor Prepare not your iawes but your heart As material bread nourisheth our bodie so doeth the bodie of Christ nourishe our soule and is therefore called bread Deus panis intus est animae meae saith Augustine God is the inward bread of my soule For wee receiue him and eate him and liue by him But heereof hereafter more at large Nowe let vs consider the wordes of Christ This is my body this is my blood These woordes you say are plaine open easie and manifest So are they yet albeit they are plaine they must haue a right construction The plainest woordes that bee vnlesse they bee duelie expounded may breede errour S. Iohn saith The word was made flesh These words are plaine yet of these plaine wordes Apollinaris did breede an heresie Christ saith My father is greater then I. His woordes are playne yet did the Arrians gather thereof an heresie that Christe is not equall with his
the receiuing of this Sacrament If any bee such a one I require hym by the body blood of Iesus Christ and by the iudge of the quicke and the dead that he come not to the Lordes table that he betraie not the sonne of God It were better he had neuer bene borne and that a milstone were hanged about his necke he throwne into y e sea Let vs not deceiue our selues God wil not be mocked He receiueth dānation y t receiueth vnworthely Let vs fall downe before our Lorde and giue thankes vnto hym Let vs say what shall I giue vnto the Lord for al that he hath giuen vnto me I wyl take the cup of saluation call vpon the name of the Lord. Let vs say O Lord our Lord how wonderful is thy name in all the world Let vs say prayse the Lord O my soule and all that is within me prayse his holy name Let vs purpose and promise amendement of our lyfe let vs goe out with Peter and weepe let vs fall at Christes feete with Marie Magdalene and with our teares washe his feete Let vs saye with Dauid I haue sinned to the Lorde Let vs saye with the Prodigal sonne father I haue sinned agaynst heauen and against thee I am no more worthy to bee called thy sonne Let vs saye haue mercy on mee O God accordyng to thy great mercie thou art my God I am thy seruāt O saue me for thy mercies sake Let vs offer vp our bodies a liuing pure holy and acceptable sacrifice to God So shall we be partakers of the death of Christ and of his resurrection Thus haue we briefly gone through the whole matter of the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ and followed the same order which was set down First that we do in the Sacramente truely eate the bodie of Christ Secondly what is the meaning of the wordes Hoc est corpus meum Thirdely whether y ◠bread remeaine in nature substance Fourthly whether it be eaten with the mouth of the bodie or by faith onely Fiftly what difference is betweene the bodie of Christ and the mysticall signes Sixtly howe we must be prepared and with what deuotiō we ought to come to receiue this Sacrament Hauing thus treated of the Sacramentes of the newe testament and said so much as is needfull for you to knowe of them both as well of Baptisme which is the sacrament of our regeneration as of our Lordes supper which is the sacrament of our refection or nourishment I will now in fewe wordes speake something of confirmation of matrimony of ecclesiastical ministerie which some call holy orders of repentance or penance and of extreme vnctiō which some of late yeeres haue called Sacraments and by ioyning these to the other haue made vp the nomber of seuen Sacramentes so haue charged the Church with fiue sacramēts more then Christ did euer ordaine For these fiue wante either the worde or the element or both and therefore may not bee taken for true sacraments Such as haue with all their skil shewed them selues helpers and furtherers of our aduersaries yet haue plainely cōfessed that they are not sacraments of Christes institution Alexander of Hales saith of confirmation The sacrament of confirmation as it is a Sacrament was not ordained either by Christ or by the Apostles but afterwarde in the Counsel of Melda Which Counsel was kept many yeres after Christ And Durandus saith of matrimonie Matrimonie in due and proper kinde of speach is no Sacramēt And Bessarion a Cardinal cōfesseth as it was shewed before that in due and right consideration none of these fiue may be called Sacramentes We reade saith he that these two onely Sacramentes were deliuered vs plainely in the Gospel First of Confirmation which is so called because that which was done on our behalfe in baptisme is ratified and confirmed many parentes had not such due care as they ought in the godly bringing vp of their childrē so that many children knew not whether they were baptized or no many were neuer taught what couenant was made betweene them God in their baptisme many swarued away from Christian profession and caried them selues to the fellowship of the heathens and of the sonnes of God became the sonnes of the deuel Upon this occasion the Churche of God laieth charge vpon the parentes and the witnesses of the baptizing of younge children that they teach thē the waies of the Lorde to know y e holy mystery that they haue receiued and what they haue promised and professed in baptisme that they put them in minde howe God hath called them out of the kingdome of darknes vnto his wonderfull light and to the fellowship of the saintes in light When the children of the Christiās were thus brought vp had learned the religyō of Christ and to walke in the waies of Godlines they were brought to the church by their parents presented vnto the Bishop and yeeled a reason of their faith openly before the whole congregation they professed they would so beleue that they would liue and die in that faith Then the Bishop and all the people fell downe on their knees and prayed vnto God that he would continue the good thing hee had begonne and the bishop laying his hande vpon them cōmended them vnto God This was the ratifying of the professiō which they made by others at their baptisme and for that cause called Confirmation Now whether it be a sacrament and when I say a sacrament I meane a ceremonie commanded by God in expresse wordes For God onely hath the authorytie to institute a Sacrament Sacraments are confirmations seales of the promises of God and are not of the earth but from heauen As Christ saith The babtisme of Iohn Whence was it from heauen or of men Chrysostome saith The misterie were not of God nor perfect if thou shouldest put any thing to it Marke and iudge your selues shal see whether this were a sacrament instituted by Christ Augustine said Accedat verbum ad elementum fit sacramentum Ioine the worde to the creature it is made a sacrament This creature or element is visible as are water bread wine The word which must be ioyned is the commandemēt institution of christ without the word and the commandement and institution it is no sacrament I protest y t the vse and order of confirmation rightly vsed is profitable and necessarie in the Church no way to be broken But all y t is profitable necessarie is not a sacramēt Christ did not commāde it he spake no word of it Looke and reade if you doubt it Christes wordes are written and may be seene You shal neuer finde that hee commanded Confirmation or that hee euer made any special promise to it Therefore may you conclude that it is no sacrament Otherwise being rightly vsed it is a good ceremonie wel ordeined of our auncient fathers The Apostles layde their handes on
them and confirmed them which were baptized of Iohn But that proueth not this confirmation that was extraordinarie it was a miracle The holy Ghost came downe vpon them and lightened their hearts by this laying on of the Apostles handes But it is not so nowe the holy Ghost doth not now descende in visible forme vpon those which are confirmed there is no such miracle wrought There is no neede that it should so be There was no commandement either to appoint it vnto the Church or to continue it vntyl the comming of Christ and the end of the worlde Therefore it is no Sacrament by the institution of Christ Hitherto of the vse Now somewhat of the abuse Nothing so good and holy but it may be abused The worde of God hath bene abused to Heresies to Necromancie to Charmes and Sorcerie and Witchcrafte The supper of the Lord was abused in y â— time of S. Paul He telleth the Corinthians This is not to eate the Lords Supper Lesse marueile then if this happen to a ceremonie Time rusteth and consumeth all things maketh many a thing to proue naught in the ende which was first deuised for good The brasen Serpent at the first was made by Moses and set it vp for good purpose But after warde it was abused The children of Israel did burne incense vnto it and therefore Ezechias brake it in pieces The first abuse in confirmation was that it was done in a strange tongue y â— no man might vnderstand what was ment Then that they receiued to confirmation such children and so young as were not able to make profession of their faith so that the infant promised he knew not what and the Bishop ratified and confirmed where there was nothing to be confirmed he set to his seale where there was nothing to be sealed These abuses were farre vnmeete for the Church of God Besides these ther was great abuse in the manner of doing For thus the Bishop said Consigno te signo crucis confirmo te chrismate salutis I signe thee with the signe of the crosse and coÌ„firme thee with the oyle of saluation Thus they vsed to doe these were their words with the oyle of saluatioÌ„ They tooke not this of Christ nor of his Apostles nor of the holy auncient fathers It agreeth not with our Christian faith to giue the power of saluation vnto oyle He that sâ—eketh saluation in oyle looseth his saluation in Christ and hath no parte in the kingdome of God Oyle for the bellie and for necessarie vses of life It is no fit instrument without commaundement or promise by the worde to worke saluation More they said he was no perfect ChristiaÌ„ that was not anointed by the Bishop with this holy oile This was another abuse For whosoeuer is baptized receiueth thereby the full name of a perfect Christian and hath the full and perfice couenaÌ„t and assurance of saluation he is perfitely buried with Christ doth perfitely put on Christ and is perfitely made partaker of his resurrection Therefore they are deceiued that say no man is a perfite Christian that is not marked with this oyle Els the Apostles and holie Martyrs were but halfe Christians because the lacked this oyle Els what hope and comfort might the pore fathers haue In what state shall he thinke to finde his childe if he die before confirmation passe without perfite Christendome verely they write thus Sine oleo Chrismatis nemo potest sisti ante tribunal christi Without y e oyle of chrisme no maÌ„ can appeare before the Iudgment seat of Christ Againe they say confirmation is more honorable then baptisme because any priest may baptize but confirmation is giuen onely by a Bishop or a suffragain So doe they giue a greater preeminence to confirmation which is diuised by man then to the holy sacrament of baptisme which Christ him selfe ordained I neede not speake more hereof the errour is so grosse so thicke so sensible and palpable Againe when they blessed or halowed their oyle they vsed these wordes Fiat domine hoc oleum te benedicente vnctio spiritualis ad purificationem meÌ„tis corporis O Lord let this oile by thy blessing be made a spritual ointmeÌ„t to purifie both soule body O Christ Iesu where was thy crosse where was thy blood and the price of thy death and passion when a drop of oyle was of power to worke remission of all sinnes to saue and defende against al the dartes of the wicked spirites and to refresh both bodie and soule Yet so were we taught so were wee lead I faine not these things The words may be seene Neither do I speake this to bring you to a misliking or loathing of our latter fathers but onely that wee may humble our heartes and giue thankes to GOD that hath brought vs out of that darkenes and giuen vs better knowledge Nowe a worde or two of the bringing vp of children and preparing them to confirmation Wherein I woulde God the olde order were duely obserued that they were instructed perfitly to know relygion theyr duetie to God and so might be brought before the Congregation and make an open profession of their faith with promise that neither tribulation nor anguish nor persecution nor famine nor nakednes nor fire nor sword nor life nor death shall euer make them denie their faith Hereof might much be spoken but I will be short The whole standeth in knowledge and in the feare of God that they may knowe God walke before him in reuerence and in feare and serue him in holines and righteousnes al the dayes of their life The Iewes are a miserable people they liue in errour they die in their owne blood yet haue they so much vnderstanding that they bringe vp their children in the knowledge of God and that knowledge they teach out of the worde of God They remember what charge God gaue them Thou shalt teach them thy sonnes and thy sonnes sonnes Therefore a father must teache his childe what God is That he is our father that he hath made vs and doeth feede vs and geueth vs all thinges needefull both for body and soule that he is our Lord and therefore we must serue him and obey him and do nothinge whereby he may be displeased that hee is our iudge and shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead and that all men shall come before him to receiue according as they haue done in the flesh He must put his childe in minde of his baptisine and teach him that it is a couenent of Gods mercie to vs and of our duetie to God that it is a misterie of our saluation that our soule is so washed with the blood of Christ as the water of baptisme washeth our bodie So must he also teach his childe the misterie of the Lordes supper what and how he receiueth there to his comfort that as the bread is broken and the wine poured out so the bodie of Christ was
darknesse their worme shall neuer die their fire shall neuer bee quenched they shall goe downe headlong into the fire that is prepared for the deuill and his angels Be not deceiued saith Saint Paul neither fornicatours nor adulterers nor wantōs nor bouggerers shal inherit the kingdome of God Now are wee to speake in the next place of the ministerie of the Church which some haue called holy orders Shall wee accompte it a Sacrament there is no reason so to doe It is a heauenly office a holy ministerie or Seruice By suche as haue this office God lighteneth our darkenesse hee declareth his minde to vs hee gathereth together his scattered sheepe and publisheth vnto the worlde the glad ridings of saluation The Patriarkes dyd beare this office This was the office of the prophets God saith I haue sent vnto you al my seruants the prophets rising vp eueri day sending thē Agayne he saith I haue put my wordes in thy mouth Therefore when they taught the people of God the Prophetes signed their speache thus The mouth of the Lorde hath spoken it The Lorde hath saide The voyce and y e worde of the Lord Heare the word of the Lorde But when the fulnesse of the time came God sent his Sonne and hath spoken vnto vs by hym He became our Prophet to shew vs the wyll of his father He saieth I haue not spoken of my selfe but the Father whiche sent mee he gaue mee a commandement what I should say and what I should speake Hereof Saint Iohn sayth No man hath seene God at any time He is inuisible he is incomprehensible no minde can conceiue hym no eye can see hym but the onely begotten Sonne which is in the bosom of y e Father hee hath declared him Of hym the father sayde This is my beloued Sonne in whome I am well pleased heare hym Hearken vnto hym receiue hys woorde credite hym beleeue hym No doubte the Ministerie of the Gospell is hyghlye to bee esteemed seeinge our Sauiour was not ashamed to publish the wyll of his Father in his owne person yet it appeareth not where euer hee dyd ordeine it to be a Sacrament Hee appointed that the comforte thereof shoulde bee carried into all nations and gaue that charge vnto hys Apostles Goe teache all nations Agayne What I tell you in darkenesse that speake you in light and what you heare in the eare y e preache you on the houses Hee sawe the people and had compassion on them hee saw they were dispearsed and scattered abroade lyke sheepe without a shepheard and that they perished because they had no knowledge of the wyll of God Therefore he sayeth Pray the Lord of the haruest that he woulde sende labourers into the haruest Therefore he ordayneth them to this ministery I wyll make you fishers of men And sendeth them foorth as my father sent mee so sende I you And Goe to the lost sheepe of the house of Israel Hee wylled them to call the people to repentaunce and to preache the kingdome of God By this ministerie God hath gathered to hymselfe an acceptable people and hath brought them to the obedience of the Gospell of Christ and hath turned the hartes of the Fathers vnto their children and so made it to be the foundation of religion They that exercise this ministerie are y e eyes of Christ the pillers of y e Church the interpreters of Gods will the watchmen of the Lordes tower the leaders of Christes sheep the salte of the earth the light of the world Daniel saith They that turne many to righteousnes shal shine as the starres for euer euer Not that there is any so great wisdome or eloquence in men they are but weake they are vnfit to do this seruice Esay saith of himselfe I am a man of polluted lippes And Ieremie saith O Lord god behold I cannot speake for I am a child So saith S. Paul I haue planted Apollos watered but God gaue the increase So thē nether is he that planteth any thing nether he that watereth but God y t giueth the increase So said Saint Iohn that he was not Christe nor that Prophet but the voyce of hym that crieth in the wildernesse and not worthy to vnloose the latchet of his shooe that should come after him The power whereby they dyd conquere the worlde was not in them but in the woorde which they preached It is the power of God to saluation to euery one that beleueth It is like a fire lyke a hammer that breaketh a stone When ye receiued of vs y e word of the preaching of god saith S. Paul to the Thessalonians ye receaued it not as the worde of men but as it is indeede the woorde of god which also worketh in you that beleue The power of an earthly Prince is great The wyse man sayeth The feare of a King is lyke the roaring of a Lyon Yet is a Prince but mortall and the Law of a Prince is but mortall it hath no power to force the conscience But the woorde of God dooth breake into the heart it forceth a way into the Conscience it is sharper then any two edged sworde it entreth through euen to the deuidinge a sunder of the soule and the spirit because it is the word of God For it is not man but God that speaketh as Christ telleth the Apostles It is not yee that speake but the spirit of your father whiche speaketh in you So saith the Prophet Zacharie Hee spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which haue bene since the worlde beganne The Prophets and Apostles and holy men of God were but instruments It was God which gaue his holy spirite whiche gaue them tongues to speake and wordes to vtter Therfore said Christ I wil giue you a mouth and wisedome where against al your aduersaries shall not be able to speake nor resist Though men be but simple yet the worde they deliuer is mighty though they be mortall the worde of the Lord endureth for euer Where this worde is receiued it is fire and burneth it is a hammer and breaketh the hardnesse of the heart it is mightie in operation it cleanseth the inner man it openeth the consctence it is a sauour of life vnto lyfe it is the meanes of saluation Hee that receiueth this worde and beleeueth shal be saued This is the worde of reconciliation God hath committed it vnto vs. If any hide this worde he slayeth the people He is a dombe dogge Of such God saieth Beholde I wil come against the Prophets that steale my word euerione frō his neighbour They are thieues and robbers Woe be vnto you interpreters of the law for yee haue taken away the key of knowledge saith Christ ye entred not in your selues and them that came in yee forbad And agayne Woe bee vnto you Scribes and Pharises hypocrites because ye shut vp the kingdome of
heauen before men for ye your selues go not in nether suffer ye theÌ„ that would enter to come in Of these and against them God speaketh by the Prophet Ieremie Wo be vnto the pastors that destroy scatter the sheepe of my pasture And by the Prophete Zacharie O Idol-shepherd that leaueth the flocke Thou hast eares and hearest not thou hast eyes and seest not thou hast a tongue and speakest not and a heart but vnderstandest not thou art an idole Christ sayde to thee feede my lambes feede my sheepe but thou carest not for them Thou hast the roume of an Euangelist and Pastour and Teacher but thou gatherest not the saintes together thou doest not the worke of the ministerie thou buildest not vp the bodie of Christe They shall perish in their wickednesse but their blood wyll I require at thy handes Here note this ministerie of the Churche was not ordeined to offer sacrifice for forgiuenesse of sinnes Whosoeuer taketh that office vpon hym be doeth wrong iniurie to the death and passion of Christ He only is called of god an high Priest after y e order of Melchisedec He onely by his owne blood entred in once into the holy place obtained eternall redemption for vs. He only with one offeringe hath consecrated for euer them y t are sanctified He only hath said Consummatum est It is finished The ransome or price for mans saluation and for forgiuenesse of the sinnes of the worlde is payde in mee in my death vpon the Crosse Of hym alone and onely of hym hath it bene spoken This is my well beloued Sonne in whom I am well pleased And by Esay With his stripes only we are healed It is he only which hath made of both one It is he only which did put out y â— hande writing of ordinaÌ„ces y â— was against vs he euen tooke it out of the way and fastened it vppon the Crosse He alone is our hye Priest the Lambe of God the Sacrifice for sinnes the Altar the Propitiation for sinners and redeemer of the world He only hath appeased the wrath of god He onely appeareth in the sight of GOD to make intercession for our sinnes All others whatsoeuer Apostles Prophetes Teachers and Pastours are not in office to offer any propitiatorie sacrifice but are called to the ministerie of the Saintes to the edification of the bodye of Christe and to the repayringe of the Church of God Thus muche of the holy ministerie of the Church which standeth in the setting foorth of the mysterie of our saluation both by the Preachinge of the woorde of GOD and by the due and reuerent ministration of the Sacramentes The principallest parte of this office is to preache repentance that so wee may amende our lyues and bee conuerted vnto GOD. So Ioel the Prophet followed hys ministerie sayinge Rent your heartes and not your garmentes and turne to the Lorde your God for he is gracious merciful So S. Paul teacheth that true circumcision is by putting off the sinnefull body of the fleesh that it is in mortifying our members that bee on the earth Fornication vncleanesse the inordinate affections euil concupiscence couetousnes which is idolatrie y â— it is in putting away al these thinges wrath anger maliciousnes cursed speakinge filthy speakinge out of your mouth in putting of the old maÌ„ with his works and putting on the new which is renewed in knowledge after y e image of him that created him So Iohn Baptist said Repent for the kingdome of God is at hand Prepare ye y â— waies of the Lord make his pathes straight So our Sauiour Christ when he began to preache said Am end your liues for the kingdome of God is at hand Therfore it wil not bee amisse now to speake of repentaunce which some of late yeares haue chaunged into pennaunce and there of haue also made a Sacrament Here it behoueth to rippe vp the whole lyfe of man There is not any man that liueth and sinneth not God sayeth The imagination of mans heart is euyll from his youth The Prophet Ieremie saith The heart is deceitful and wicked aboue all things who can know it Saint Iohn therefore saith If wee say that we haue no sinne wee deceiue our selues trueth is not in vs. Of hymselfe Saint Paul saith I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing Of hymselfe the Prophet Dauid sayeth There is nothiÌ„g sound in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there rest in my bones because of my sinnes For mine iniquities are gone ouer mine head as a weighti burtheÌ„ they ar to heauy for me He saith If thou O Lord straightly markest iniquities O Lord who shal abide it So sayth the Wise man A iustman falleth seuen times God is a righteous God and the auenger of all them that offendeâ—â— Saint Paul saith The wages of sinne is death And the Prophet Ezechiel The soule that sinneth shall dye For this cause then God ordayned the ministerie of his worde and appoynted certayne to this office that they shoulde warne his people of theyr sinnes and feare them by the terrour of Gods assured displeasure and heauy wrath As is seene by y t to Esay Cry aloude spare not lift vp thy voyce lyke a trumpet and shewe my people their transgressions the house of Iacob their sins So Saint Paul vnto Timothie I charge thee before God the Lorde Iesus Christ which shal iudge the quick and dead at his appearing in his kyngdome preach the word be instant in season out of season improue rebuke exhort with all long suffering and doctrine So woulde God haue our filth layde open before our eyes that wee might weigh and iudge our owne heartes that euery man might make charge vppon him selfe and saye I am an vnprofitable seruant my righteousnesse is as a foule and steined cloth My soule hath sinned and hath deserued to dye the death In this case some fall into desperation and saye as sometimes dyd Caine My sinne is greater then can be pardoned God withdraweth his mercie from mee I am vnworthie of it I haue offended against the holy spirit of GOD mine owne conscience accuseth me I haue no parte in the kingdome of GOD and of Christe there is no sacrifice left for my sinnes Thus the wicked liue in trembling and agony as dyd Cain thus they leaue their lyfe with horrour and miserie so haue they no grace to repent no taste nor feelyng of the mercie of God But the children of God though they bee wounded yet they finde reliefe in the certayne hope of Gods mercie Though they say I am a sinner my sinnes are more in number then the heares of my head I haue offended against heauen and earth Yet they know that Christ came to call sinuers to repentance that hee healeth those that are