and he that sitteth on the throne vvill dwell among them They shall hunger no more nor thirst any more neither shall the Sunne light on them nor any heate For the Lambe vvhich is in the middle of the throne shall gouerne them and shall leade them vnto the liuely fountaines of vvater and God shall vvipe avvay all teares from their eyes These thinges enforced saynt Paul to saye I desire to be loosed and to be vvith Christ and Christ is vnto me both in life and death an aduantage This you sée for what causes God suffereth some perticuler souldiers in this spirituall warrefare to fall in the forefrunt of the armie and yet keepeth his mayne battaile without disorder or discomfeture and there withall what causes ought to moue aminate these witnesses and Martirs to perseuer and indure most valiantlie Nowe although God suffereth some of his seruants to perishe and fall in this conflict yet his promises remayne sure and inuiolable towarde the whole Church which abideth much lyke vnto the body of the trée or mayne battel firme and constante although some branches and members be cutte of and decay And yet those that fall and perish doo procure great profit and commodity to them that suruiue in this warrefare and battell whereof Theodorete writeth excelently as followeth As Moyses sawe in times paste the bushe redde with fyre and yet not consumed euen so the crewell torments and executions of Chrystians by Tirantes did not consume them but rather as wee see it come to passe when men cutte downe woode moo twigges and braunches budde and spring from the roote then were the boughes that were lopped downe euen so when many were murdered for the profession of the gospell moo came vnto the Church for the bloode of those Saynctes dyd as it were water the young and tender plants in the Church of god It is truly therefore sayde of Saint Ambrose A martyr doth not suffer for himselfe onely but for other He suffereth for himselfe to obtayne a Crowne to others for theyr example for himselfe to purchase reste for others to procure them comforte And that Christe assisteth and deliuereth his Church in perrilles and daungers and wyll conserue the same vntyll the ende of the worlde wee are not onely taught by many promises in the scripture but also assured and confyrmed by examples throughout all times and ages Heare ve mee sayth God by the mouth of his Prophet O house of Iaeob and all that remaine of the house of Israell vvhich are borne of mee from the vvombe and brought vp of me from the byrth Therefore vnto olde age I the same euen I vvill beare you vntill the horie haires I haue made you I will also beare you and I vvill carie you and I vvill deliuer you Christ him selfe doth not ouelie promise that he wyll be with vs vntill the ende of the vvorlde but also that he and his Father vvyll come and dwell vvith vs. And in another hee speaketh of his sheepe most comfortablie There shall none be able to pull them out of my hande In the which wordes hee signifieth that hee wyll not be an ydle gaser or looker vpon vs for although worlde and deuyll bende their power to displace the Churche and to dysturbe Common wealthes that confustons and Athisme mighte followe Yet the some of God holdeth as it were in his handes that little flocke whiche calleth vpon him hee represseth the rage of Sathan hee putteth him to flyght and wyll at the last inclose him in the huge and horrible prison of hell eternall Examples also throughout the whole scripture doo ratifie as it were and confirme with perpetuall testimonies that God delyuereth his Churche out of all perilles and daungers But especially that memorable Historie of the people of Israell rydde from thraldome bondage in the Lande of Egipt lyuelie painteth out the same and is of all other Histories from the beginning of the worlde vnto the ende thereof most notable the misterie of our redemption alwayes excepted For it is an Image and liuelie pycture of all ages full of straunge wonders which wytnesse and preache vnto all posterities that God exerciseth his Churche with many calamities and in the ende without mannes helpe deliuereth the same Howe horrible a thing is it in this company of Israelites bearing the name of the Church of God and tasting sensiblie his myghtie working in mercie with them that many of the Princes nobylitie are punished and the whole multitude so often chastised vntyll all those were almost consumed that came out of the Lande of Egipt Yet some small remnaunt of the people were preserued that reuerentlie remembred Gods woonders and kepte his commaundementes with all theyr hartes They had Manna and Quales giuen vnto them and the stonie rocke stryken with the rodde of Moises gaue out large streames of water The whole armie was couered with a clowde in the daye tyme and was guyded with a pyller of fyre in the night season in these battayles God shewed manifest signes of his presence And to conclude the glory of this people was more excellent in the wyldernesse then at any tyme after in the fruitfull Lande of Canaan But it woulde bee too tedious a matter to prosecute all syrcumstaunces particularly I wyll therfore adde one onely example wherein we maye cléerely beholde as it were in a glasse Gods maruaylous regement and reléefe of his Churche There is scarcelie to be founde any more maruaylous Reuelation then that which was exhibited to Moises Exod. 33. Where he is called for to come and speake with God and it is sayde in that place That God communed vvith Moyses face to face as one friende is vvoont to talke vvith another In the which communication Moyses first desyreth of God that hee woulde bee a gouernour and Captaine ouer that people vnto whome hee had giuen his worde and promise For dayly experience had sufficientlie taught him that it was to busie harde a matter for him to guide and dyrect so wylfull and stubborne a multytude whome he sawe for their Idolatrous inclynation to sustaine from tyme to tyme greeuous punishmentes and yet immediatlie to inclyne to theyr former wickednesse againe He sawe the intollerable daungers hanging ouer the Churche and that in a moment pure doctrine and sincere seruing of God was depraued with mans carnall opinions He therefore feared least in that company the ryght reuerence of God woulde be forgotten and that the Church woulde be subuerted especiallie for that hee had hearde Gods terrible threates against the people And thus musing with him selfe of the remnaunts of this Church he could finde nothing wherwithall he might be stayed and comforted but those promyses onelie giuen to the people of Israell concerning Christe the Messias and sauiour And for that he perceyued well that no Regyment can be happie without God Hee sayde Vnlesse thou O Lord doo go before vs
former sort annoy but a fewe and that in the present time and commonly their althy flattery espied purchaseth nothing but shame and hatered in the worlde 〈◊〉 it is euidently by the examples of Doctor Shaa and Frear Pinke For this man in his flatteryng sermon lost his voyes and was fayne to â—ume downe in the myddle of his matter And the other after his sermon gatte him home and durst neuer after looke out for shame but kept him out of sight us an Dwell and his owne Conscience did so vere him that within fewe dayes after hée withered and consumed away But the ministers that are both vnlearned them selues detest learning are commonly the onely or chéefe occasion of beastly barbarousnesse Whereof there springeth confussion of lawes in the common wealth and in the Churche of God ignoraunce of true relygion with â—â—armes of straunge hereticall opinions which are hardly in many yeares after quenched and extinguished with the great learning and labour of the godly Preacher and cyuile â—agistrate Nows let vs come vnto the peruerse hearers and learners of Gods worde from whome there yssueth many myseries and calamities into the Church of God as dayly experience and the Histories of all tymes doo declare But it is to be obserued that hearers are of two fortes to wyt the man of might and the meane or simple man These greate worldlinges can not awaye with long sermons especially such as reprehende vice and manners they woulde haue pleasant and straunge doctrine delyuered onely but if their faultes bée tould them and they exhorted to amend their lyues they fret and fume against the Preacher yea and agaynst God himselfe And if power doo serue them to their wyll they eyther banish such godlie Preachers or imprison them or kyl them Decius the Emperour cruelly murdered those godlye Ministers and Bishoppes of Christes church Fabianus of Rome Alexander of Ierusalem and Babilas of Antioche Herode kylled Iohn Baptiste reprehending his adulterous incest out of Gods worde So dealt Nero with Saint Paul. Apryes with Hieremy Mannasses with Iesa and so vpwarde vnto Caine who slewe his owne brother Abel because he was so dearely beloued of God. Amongst this route there are many Churchrobbers who eyther by force or fraude doo hale and pull vnto them the goodes of the Churche vsing some colerable shew and pretence of good intent and meaning Which when they haue once seasoned vpon they spende and waste in bellye chéere in costly apparell in sumptuous building and in all ryotte and prodigallitie mayntaine faukenners horsekéepers and doggedryuers with the porcion due to learned Pastors and Preachers and content them selues with simple syr Iohn that will gladly kéepe their gardens for meate and drinke and a blewe or redde cloake These men are not carefull for the instruction of theyr people But tyrannically doo drawe theyr Tenaunts chyldren from learning honest artes vnto the which they are commonly wel bent and inclyned to druggerie and slauerie workes For such men had rather haue roysters then Scholers clownes then CouÌ„sellors kéepers of brute beasts then of reasonable men These peruerse and Godlesse manners of wicked worldlinges are imitated and practised of wealthie men in many Townes Corporate where the whole fellowshippe of the corporation is mayntained with Ecclesiasticall lyuings for commonly no other receytes haue they And if happily the lyuing be woorth yéerely two huÌ„dred Marks they alotte out for theyr Preacher twentie pounde for their Curate tenne pounde and for theyr Scolemaster ten pounde The residue is bestowed by the discretion of maister Stewarde or maister Receyuer vppon theyr Guylde hawsse theyr counsell chamber Counter and in theyr Sergiaunts wages Of the which great disorders I writte something in my discourse of the Conscience procured displeasure of those men whose soores I endeuored to cure heale My faulte was blame worthy for y I launced not the impostume déepe enough But if God graunt mée lyfe and health I shall shortly amende that error in my seconde parte of the Christian Manuell Presentlye my purpose is onely to put all good men in minde of the great myseries and calamities that arise by such polling and pylling of Ecclesiasticall lyuings whereby Borrowes and Corporations are enriched the poore church of Christ dayly impouerished Many of the inferior or meaner sorte of hearers not being able to take away the stypendes and lyuings due to the Mynisters doo yet many other wayes molest and vnquiet their Pastors For when they should repayre to the Tiple vppon the Sabboth dayes to heare sermons and be partakers of sacraments they walke abroade into the fieldes or into some other place to prouide for teÌ„porall and worldly thinges or else doo conteine them selues at home occupyed in ydle sportes and pastimes For they wyll not stycke to saye that they can sowe and plowe their grounde know their reuell daies and lyue under lawes in the common wealth without hearing any Preacher And if for good order and confirmitie sake it happen they come to the Churche and make vp a number amongst the rest and heare sermons yet they applie them not to edification they amende not their wicked manners accusations reprehentions institutions and consolations Many also absent them selues a yéere two or thrée yea sometimes whole ten yeares from the Lordes supper they releeue not the Ministerie nor helpe the poore But commonlie if graue and whyteheadde Fathers or seelie young children do begge but a morsel of bread it is lamentable to heare with what reprochefull woordes they driue them awaye from their doores Some there be amongst a great number who loue Mynisters but such as are good felowes and companions espetially they are delighted with those that impudentlie inueigh againste men in aucthoritie whome the inferiours commonlie hate and abhorre And the Preaching or rather rude rayling of these the vulgar embrace and receyue as Oracles for men gladly heare such things as tyckle and delight their appetite and affection But such Preachers as are neither populer in speache nor delighted with roysting company and iolly cheare albeit they deliuer soundly and conuenientlie the Lawe and Gospell vnto their flocke yet they make no more accompt of them then of a common shephearde and amongst their Alepottes they vtter all scoffes and by words against them Thus you maye beholde what a Sea of many mischiefes doeth inuade and as it were ouerflow these three estates and callings in humaine societie And yet if you wyll againe examine more perticularlie euerie singular mans miserie and dauÌ„ger this yoake wyll seeme more intollerable Wherof there and many testimonies in the holy scriptural There are some that meeting a man do she â—â—â— him outwardlie a louingled untenaunte salute him yea â— imbrace him but in such lesture was 〈◊〉 deceyued and inurbred by 〈◊〉 and Christ our Lorde maister was trayterouslie deliuered by Iudas into the handes of his enemies Wee are desirous sometime to walke
prisoner hee sent her home vntouched vnto her owne hushande But in trate of tyme he became eruell and prowde and wher the Gretians wonne Bizantius he viol ently tooke an honaurable Cattizens Daughter and being awaked soddainlye with some feare out of his vnquiet dreame he murdred the séely woman souÌ„dly sléeping by t is side And also after warde moued with Ambicion hee attempted a secréete league with the Persians wherein it was concluded the he shoulde take Xeixes daughter to wyfe that being â—yded by the Persians hee myght obtayne the kingdome of Greece and vnite the same to the Monarchie of the Persians Wherof when the Senate at Tâ—ebes had intellygence they called him home from Bizantium and when as in the first examination he sawe all the matter dysclosed he brake from them and fledde into the Temple as a sanctuarie Wher he also confessed his faulte and was adiudged to be shutte vp there to perishe with famine and hunger And his Mother Alâ—ithea brought the first stone to wall vp the gates of the Temple And in lyke manner this Hunter caught Alexander the great endewed with many excellent vertues especially valiaunt in the fielde and mercyfull in victorie For he being inuincible in so many battayles was at the last himself vanquished with women and veine euen as the Prophete Daniell foretolde that the Macedonian King shoulde bee lyke a Leoparde whithe is not commonly taken with the snares and arrowes of hunters for by meanes of his greate swiftnesse he escapeth them all but only with wyne and venery The miserable ende of such worthy wyghtes is so much more pittâ—full because it sheweth the unbeeillitie of mannes nature and that not onely good Fortune as they call it is vnstable but also vertue it selfe not to be dnrable in heroicall natures but oftentymes soddainly and in the myddle of their course forsaketh them Let all men therefore that be in office and aucthoritie beséeche God continually to direct and gouerne their enterprises and let them alwaies thinke that soddaine conuersions and mutations maye followe according to that saying Great estates sall in a moment and God punisheth mischiefe and wickednesse Thirdlie this Author of so many euylles and mischiefes euen sathan the deuyll is named by a metaphor in the holy scripture a Fowler For when he séeth his sleightes in hunting not to preuayle he applyeth him selfe so to fowling Which although it be a laborious and an ydle practise oftentymes yet this fellowe contempneth all diffycultie and approueth the matter Hée prepareth him a fayre floure and oftentimes casteth corne there that the birds may accustome themselues to the place Hee forceth not much for the losse of some labour and charges For according to the saying He that wyll gayne haue may not seeke al cost to saue The byrds happely flye away now and then with the corne but if they once be taken in the snare they acquyte the Fowlers charges He vseth diuerse meanes and wayes to take the simple byrdes For he eyther casteth corne vppon his floore or layeth nettes or setteth lymetwygges or else geeth a byrdebattyng Besides these he somtime setteth same birdes in cages who with their sweete singing allure the birdes in the bushes to approche nighe vnto them whereby they are easily deceyued and taken And sometyme the Fowler him selfe vseth an instrument and whyslleth swéetely expressing the noyse chirping of birds wherewith they are beguyled and intangled in the lyme twigges In all these feates the deuyll is verie skylfull but his chiefe pollycie in fowling is to take birds with those that be tame and sing pleasauntly With the swéete singing of such a birde mamed Berseba this fowler tooke that bewtyfull birde Dauid endewed with wisedome fortitude and many other excellent vertues whose winges were so fastened in his lymetwigges that he defyled another mannes wyfe and procured her husbande to bee murdered By that birde Pharaos daughter and other straunge women he tooke Salomon the wyse euen in his olde age who was so entangled and wrapped in the lymetwigges that vnto filthy pleasures he added the worshipping of Idolles And by the birde Dalila he caught an Eagle that sometyme dyd flye verie hyghe and had often broken the fowlers netie Sampson I meane that strong and couragious wight If any man lust to see the lyke dealings of the deuyll with Kinges and Princes of our owne Countrey let him peruse the Mirrour of Magistrates which wyll yeelde plentie of examples in that behalfe Since the Conquest the deuyll hath preuailed mightily against the mighty that waye and amongst the rest call to minde that bewtisull birde King Edwarde the fowrth taken with three Concubines who were lyuely and in their collours set out by the King him selfe to wyt one of them for her myrth the other for her crafte the thirde for the holyest harlotte within his Realm as one whome no man coulde gette out of the Churche to any place sauing to his bedde Was it not lamentable that the King was so cleare eyed to sée them and so blinde to discerne him selfe for if they were his whores what coulde he be but a whoremonger but this carnall iest was turned into weeping vppon his seelye Children who tasted of the whyp sor their Fathers wickednesse Howe much more laudablie dyd King Henrie the fifte behaue him selfe of whome it is written that as soone as he came to his kingdome he called his Counsaylers togeather and commaunded the Clergie sincerelie and truely to preache the worde of God and to liue accordingly The laye men he wylled to serue God and obey their Prince and aboue all thinges to auoyde the breache of Matrimonie the vaine vse of swearing and wylful periurie for the which his vertuous inclination God gaue him a happie and vyctorious raigne whose blessings ought to moue al English men in dignitie and aucthoritie to followe his vertues as the plagues and curses which fell vpon king Edwards dyscent ought to diswade them from expressing his vices Fowrthlie this enemie of mankinde Sathan the deuyil is called in the holie scripture a Gleade or Kyte who hath long clawes tallauntes wherewithall seasoning vpon his praye he so presseth and peerceth it that it dyeth in a moment And with his long beake and crooked byll all to renteth the flesh and â—hopping the same vp doeth by meanes of his hote stomacke digest by and by euen the rawest morsell Aristotle wryteth that there is a naturall enimitie betweene the Kite and Rauen and that the Kyte is both stronger and swyfter and therefore commonlie spoyleth the Rauen of his praye Euen so this infernall kyte fyghteth oftentimes with blacke Rauens euen cruell Tiraunts taketh from them all that they haue So he spoyled Pharao Caligula Nero Sinnacherib king Richarde the thirde of all their force and power wherein they hauinge affiauhoe dyd commytte many things most vngodly And as the Kyte houereth too and frâ—â— in the ayre
mercy of our heauenly Captaine toward his faythful seraunts and souldiours Philosophie is mute and dumme in these matters and if at an aduenture it happen to vtter some golden sentence of Gods mercy loue toward mākind yet it kéepe not holde handfast constantlie but in the ende declineth to a dubitation or an vtter deniall of the same Antilochus wylled menne to ascribe al thing to Gods prouidence VVho oftentimes aduaunceth poore to their deserued degree of dignitie honor and throweth down the high and mightie These such lyke sentēces of Gods prouidēce are scattered in the writings of Ethnicks which for a tyme delight mens mindes but they are not built vpon any sure foundation For they neuer knew God as he hath reueled him selfe in his sonne by his worde they doubte in their prayers whether God heareth them as Euripides in the person of Hecuba cryeth out and sayth O you Gods I call vppon impotent and slouthfull helpers But the worde of God conteyned in the olde and newe testament doth effectuallie and truly describe vnto vs the liuing God reueled in his onely sonne Iesus Christe who commaundeth vs to call vppon the heauenly Father in his name with boldnesse and trust without any trembling or doubting for that through him his heauenly Father is wel pleased with vs we may then speak thus vnto him Thou O God art the Creator and conseruor of heauen and earth thou art also the Father of our Lorde Iesus Christe who was borne suffered dyed and rose againe for the iustification of mankinde Thou sendest thy holy ghost into our harts who kindleth in vs by the sounde of thy holye worde true fayth and spirituall motions agreeable to thy holy wyll thou art my hope and strength thou doest couer mee vnder thy winges thou doest keepe mee with thy holy Angelles thou dost heare mee and deliuer mee thou art with mee in this my tribulation out of the which in thy mercie thou wylt delyuer mee yea and glorifie mee thou wylt aduaunce mee from aduersitie to prosperitie thou wylt satisfie mee with long lyfe If the same maye tender to the setting foorth of thy honour and glorie and to the profite and furtheraunce of thy holy Church This confidence and liberty of spéech wee maye vse with our Captaine but not in respect of our owne worthinesse for this cheerefulnesse and courage of minde wee maye conceaue through our raunsome once satisfied and through the continuall intercession of the Sonne of God who dyed and rose againe for all penitent sinners We our selues bring nothing for fayth is also the gyfte of God kyndeled in our hartes by the holie ghoste through the preaching of the gospell Let vs then place and oppose this promise of GOD togeather with the death and intercession of his sonne Christe through fayth and true repentaunce against all doubting and vnworthinesse of our selues and let vs flee awaye and appeale from God being angrie with vs for our many and greeuous offences vnto God most louing and mercifull turned and reconcyled vnto vs through the passion resurrection and intercession of his deare and onely sonne Iesus Hereof commeth that stoute and valyaunt harte of Christians that they feare not although the earth gape and open her mouth the Element doo fall vppon them and the waues of the Sea woulde seeme to ouerflowe them according as Dauid wytnesseth The sound of many waters and of the waues of the Sea are strong and mighty but the Lord aboue is stronger and mightier Iulian the Reneger was for a time of great power and strength but hee being vanquished at a fielde foughten in Persia was enforced to yéelde the honour of the victorie to this Captayne and with a lowde voyce sayde Thou hast gotten the victorie of mee O thou Galilaean Apries King of Egipt who put the Prophete Ieremie to death said That no power neyther of God nor man was able to take his kingdom from him hee had so firmelie established his Scepter and Crowne But our myghtie Captaine who hath power ouer all kingdomes of the worlde spoyled him of his kingdome and strangled him by the handes of Amasis his Courtyer Neoptelemus the player of Tragedies being demaunded what sentence hee had obserued as most notable in Aeschilus Sophocles and Euripides aunswered that he founde in them nothing woorthye so great admiration But hee rather accoumpted it a thinge memorable that hee sawe with his owne eyes King Phillippe of Macedon at the mariage of his daughter Cleopatra in the most noble assemble of the world honoured as a great God and the next day after ryding in the Tylte or Theatre miserably murdred and contempned And Herodus Agrippa who stopped not the flattring mouthes of such as named him a God but fedde and delighted him selfe with the same perished immediatly with corrosion of his Intralles and lowsie sicknes Surely all humaine power is no better then glasse whiche whē it is most bright and cleare is then the soonest brokē for rashnesse procureth speedy spoyle God alwaies resisteth the prowde Let vs not then feare mans power which when it is at the highest and in his pride then is God able yea and often indeede ouer turneth the same with the leaste blast of winde ⧠The sixt Chapter describeth the Armie and warlyke power of our heauenlie Captaine in this conflicte and battayle The. 6. Chap. THIS our Heauenly Captaine hath many glorious names in the holye Scripture but amongst other he is named the Lorde of Hostes Which tytle albeit it be common to the thrée personnes in Trinitie yet because the Sonne of God was sent to vanquishe and breake the power of the deuyll and to redeeme mankinde this honourable name is properlie and for the most part geuen vnto him as in that Psalme VVho is this King of glorie the Lorde God of Hostes is the king of glorie In the which place without all doubte Christe the King of glorie was signified whereof the Arke of Couenaunt was a testimonie and witnesse And the Prophete Esay sayth That the Lorde God of hostes dwelleth in Syon which sentence is to bee vnderstoode of our sauiour Christ This most noble tytle is geuen vnto him because hee is the cheefe Emperour and Captaine in the Cittie of God againste the Cittie of the Deuil For he is the onely head of all celestiall and terrestriall powers the moste strong and mighty defendor and is therefore named in the Psalme A God that is strong and mighty in battale He is not ydle then but fighteth valyantlie hee is neuer ouercome but but alwayes ouercommeth he neuer flyeth but euer tryumpheth and that not so muche for his owne cause as for the Cittie and Church of God and therfore the Prophet ascribeth vnto him the chéefe souerainty saying Blessed be the name of his glorie for euer and let the whole earth be filled with his maiesty Nowe although this our Captaine
bring vs not out of this place And afterwarde desiring to see Gods glorie to this God answereth Thou canst not see my face for there shal no man see me an liue but behold there is a place by me where thou shalt stande vpon the rocke And whyle my glory passeth by I wyll put thee in a cleft of the rocke and wyll couer thee with my hand vvhyles I passe by After I vvyll take away mine hande and thou shalt see my back parts but my face shall not be seene This is a harde and obscure history which although I cannot open handle according to the worthynesse thereof and if I coulde this place doeth not requyre it yet I wyll briefely touch it for it comprehendeth most graue comfortable consolation concerning the church of Christ which this scripture testifieth to bee couered in this worlde with the hand of God and that it shal be glorified here after And herein I folow the plaine and vsuall exposition which is That Moises beseecheth God to open and reueale vnto him the ende of that people which was then the Church of god Wherevnto God answereth That he vvill not haue his face seeneâ— vvhich is that he vvill not haue his secreete counsailes knowne before the ende of the Church consuÌ„mate and perfitted But he sheweth his backe parts VVhich is that in the ende vve shall see his glorie In the meane season the people lyeth hydde in the clefte of the rocke that is in this present Church which is often tymes pressed with persecution But it standeth vpon the Rocke Christ and is couered with the hande of God whiles he passed that is vntyll the Churche bee consummate and finished Wherein God signifieth that hee passeth by at all tymes in this worlde in the which passage he gathereth his Church wherein both him selfe is glorifyed and the same by him also glorifyed in the life to come And that this his Church is gouerned not by mans counsaile and pollycie but by the voyce and sounde of his woorde giuen from Heauen and that it is defended not with the strength of carnall man but with the onelie hande of the lyuing God. So this text doth propose vnto vs a pleasaunt pycture of Christes Churche besydes the consyderation of a greate poynt of doctrine of the sight and perfite knowledge of God whereby Gods face is seene As our sauiour answered Phillippe desyring to haue the heauenlie Father shewed vnto him Phillippe he that seeth me seeth the Father Euen so Moises desiring a deeper and clearer in sight of almightie GOD is deduced to the worde touching Messias reuealed vnto the Churche and it is also shewed howe GOD woulde be knowne vntyll the seconde comming of Christe when it is sayde Thou canst not see my face but thou shalt stand in the cleft of the Rocke That is thou shalt stande vpon Christe and his gospell vntyll I passe and so thou shalt see my hynder partes For the Churche doeth not perfitlie see God in this lyfe neyther enioyeth the glorie promysed but standeth yet vpon the Rock Christ by fayth and being in the cleft of the Rocke subiect to persecution looketh and awayteth for glorie whyles God passeth euen when the Church is consumate and finished For after this passage there is eternall glorie wherein wee shall beholde God perfitlie and as hee is Whereas nowe we onelie see his backe partes But I omitte the deepe mysteries of this peece of scripture I onelie propose the storie to bee considered of my godly Reader that he might obserue howe this sentence serueth all times of the Church to the ende he may reape such effectuall consolations that hell gates shall not preuayle against him We ought to know therfore that the Church shal coÌ„tinue alwayes amongst the raginge stormes and tempests of the world and that by the maruailous and mighty protection of God whyles God passeth by euen vntyll the tyme of glorifycation Surelie the Church of God in these latter tymes wandereth as it were in the wyldernesse almost without any certaine seate or defence sauing it hath his Halcions dayes presenteth in this Ilande In the meane season as amongst the people of Israell a great multitude forsooke God and so fell into Gods wrath and vengeaunce euen so nowe a dayes we maye beholde Kings and Princes and a great multitude to contempne the gospell and so to procure vnto them selues euerlasting maladiction and destruction On the other syde that lyttle flocke which professeth the gospell to bee depriued of all humaine helpe to wraffle daylye with miseries and callamities But let vs beholde the Image proposed in the hystories of the Israelytes and assure our selues that although the Church seeme nowe to bee as an exyle and banished person vpon earth yet that it is couered with Gods hande and with a heauenlie pyller of fire and that Christ her captaine is present with her Who wyll as the Psalmist sayth Appeare to be a God in Sion For albeit God appeareth sheweth his presence throughout the rounde worlde by his prouidence regiment and conseruation of all things yet he manifest his presence in the Church by more peculyar and speciall meanes Namelie by preseruing and maintayning the Ministerie and sacramentes by his dwelling in the Saintes through fayth by his internall consolation in the holy Martyrs and to conclude in defending his congregation myraculouslie against the raging furors of diuelles worldlings Whereof Moises speaketh thus They haue heard that thou Lorde art amongst this people and that thou art seene face to face And Iosua You shall knowe that the Lorde God is in the middle of you And againe That all the inhabitaunts of the earth maye know that God is in Israell This presence and protection of God ouer his Church hath two endes wherof the one appertayneth to such as are without and as yet prophane persons the other vnto those that be of the housholde of fayth and Cittie of god And as touching the vngodlie this is the ende of Gods presence in the Church that they either conioyne them vnto the congregation of the faithfull through true repentance renouncing aâ—â— impietie and wickednesse or else being obstinate maye haue their owne consciences as wytnesses of their iust condempnation For it shall come to passe according to that sentence of the Psalme All mine enimies shal be confounded and sore vexed they shal be turned backe and put to shame sodainlie And againe God shall destroy thee for euer he shall take thee and plucke thee out of thy tabernacle and roote thee out of the lande of the liuing The righteous also shall see it and shall feare and shall laugh at him saying Behold the man that tooke not God for his strength but trusted vnto the multitude of his ritches and put his strength in his malice c. There can therefore be no greater plague then by sinne to be separated from God to