and how many pointes to marke for our instruction be in it There are three things in this article first his ascension secondly to what ende he is ascended lastly the benefites that come to vs by this his ascension into heauen These things well marked will be for our consolation and comfort against many temptations and troubles in this life which the deuill assaulteth vs with that we should despaire of the mercie of God in Iesus Christ But this will be a remedy for them all euen his ascension into heauen and that for vs. Christes ascending into heauen is manifestly proued vnto vs in the holy scriptures not in one or two places but in many that we may be the better confirmed in this behalfe either against thē that doubt of it or beleeue it not yea or against Satan that wil go about to perswade vs that he is not there S. Marke doth shew vs that after the Lord had spokē certaine things vnto his disciples in Bethanie he was receiued into heauen and sate at the right hand of God Mark 16. 19. for those are his very words in the place Likewise S. Luke saith And it came to passe that as he blessed thē he departed from thē was caried vp into heauen Neither do the Euangelists Apostles of Christ proue this only vnto vs which were after him had familiarity with him but the Prophet Dauid to make it the more euident to all the world long before the cōming of Christ in the flesh spake of it by the spirit of prophecie moued by the direction of the holy ghost saying God is gone vp with triumph euē the Lorde with the sound of the trumpet alluding in this ascension of Christ for the glory ioyfulnes of it vnto the trūpets the were blowē at the solēne feasts of the Iewes Psal 47. Also in the 68. Psal Thou art gone vp on hie thou hast led captiuitie captiue We see then the in the mouth of two or three witnesses this matter is proued vnto vs ought therfore to be beleeued of vs fully established But because no man doth as I thinde the is a Christiā doubt of this neither is it in controuersie betweene the Papists vs as cōcerning his ascensiō although in the maner of it there be cōtention I wil therefore come to the second point which is to consider how after what sorte he is ascended and remaineth in heauen and to what ende signified in these words and sitteth at the right hād of God the father almighty To sit at Gods right hande is to haue and to be aboue all rule power might and dominion euery name that is named not onely in this world but also in the worlde to come Ephe. 1. It is then as our sauiour Christ saith Matt. 11. and 28. To haue all things giuē vnto him al authoritie both in heauen and in earth For the right hand of God signifieth the euerlasting and infinite power of God Wee must not thinke that God being an infinite most blessed spirit and not a body hath either right hand or lefte eyes or armes or such like partes and members of a mās body but when the scripture giueth these properties speaches vnto God as it doth often it is for our weaknes and capacitie which are children and babes in Gods matters therfore can not vnderstand him in his maiestie speaking to mā vnles he lispe as it were vnto vs like a nurce vnto her young children For we are so grosse that we vnderstād not how greatly the Lord is angry with mā for his sinne wickednes vnles he speake after the maner of men say he repenteth that euer he made man Againe we vnderstād not or conceiue his wonderfull power and strength except it be by a great and mighty and stretched out arme or hande So by the eyes of the Lord is meant his carefull vigilant prouidence foresight ouer all his creatures and by his countenance is most commonly meant his terrible wrath and anger When the scripture giueth an eare to God whē the preachers saye in their Sermons that he hath an eare you must vnderstand that he heareth all things bee they neuer so secretly spoken of any man as by his eye hee seeth al things in this world although they be neuer so much hid and done in darke secret places as the wicked doe their euill workes As we see then that kings and noble men do place at their right hande such as are either their betters or equals or doe gouerne in their steade so is it here Christ is exalted and placed in that dignitie honour that his father is because he is equall vnto him And this latter part of the article to sit at Gods right hand being in the last chapter of Marke from whence it seemeth this was taken S. Paul doth expounde very well in the 1. Ephes that God hath set him farre aboue all principalitie and power might and domination And in an other place Philip. 2. hath highly exalted him and giuē him a name aboue euery name that at the name of Iesus shoulde euery knee bowe both of things in heauē and things in earth things vnder the earth and that euery tongue shoulde confesse that Iesus Christ is the Lorde vnto the glory of God the father This is the meaning of these words he sitteth at the right hand of God It is not of any corporall sitting for it may as wel be sayd that he stādeth at the right hand of God For so did Saint Stephen see him Actes 7. Therefore both by sitting and standing there is meant that he is aduaunced to great glorie as hath bene sayde already And here in this his ascension so glorious is his kingdome to be seene which hee did not take vpon him here in the earth So that although Christ did shewe great glorie in his resurrection all mortalitie being layde away yet by his ascension into heauen hee hath more notably declared his power for now he gouerneth all things and ruleth as a king ouer all the earth And this doeth the Apostle teache vs that he ascended farre aboue all heauens to fulfill all things For we see and reade how aboundantly and most miraculously he powred downe his holy spirit vpō his Apostles Act. 2. howe he hath increased his church and kingdome in euery part of the earth how he hath euer since his ascension mightily defended his sharply punished his enemies So that although he be in heauen according to his bodily presence and not in earth as the Lutheranes Papistes do imagine him to be in the communion contrary to this article he ascended which is to be meant only of his body not of his diuine nature which doeth fill all things needeth not to descend or ascend yet I say Christ is with vs as hee him selfe saith euen vnto the end of the world Mat. 28. 19. by his power
heauenly thinges and not earthly for wee are dead and our life is hidde with Christ in God Colossians 3. vers 1. and so let vs altogether mortifie our earthly members and fleshly lustes fornication euil concupiscēce vncleannes inordinate affectiō and couetousnes which is of all vices the worst called Idolatrie doing these things in the first resurrection when Christ which is our life shal appeare then shall we also in the seconde resurrection appeare with him in glory The which assurance of our resurrection is the thirde benefite we haue to note in this resurrection of Christ for by it we are made surc and certaine of the rysing againe of our bodies at the last and generall day of iudgement when Christ shal come to iudge all the worlde in righteousnes I say that his rising is the earnest of our immortalitie not onely in our soules but also in our bodyes He is become the first fruits of thē that sleepe and as in Adam we al die so again by Christ and his resurrection we shal al be made aliue at the great and last day in as much as he is the resurrectiō the life and he that beleeueth in him although he were dead yet shal hee liue Iohn 11. And hee is the head that is risen therefore the body and all the members of the same shal followe in due time For as when a man hath fallen into some deepe and dangerous riuer and hath nowe recouered his head from vnder the water and swimmeth aboue out of danger with his head although his other parts members of his body be not yet seene discouered yet wil al mē say he is escaped from death already so is it with our head Iesus Christ and with vs his body Seeing he is escaped and tisē from the deepe gulfe of death notwithstanding wee seeme as yet to be couered therein in this our mortall state why may it not be iustly saide that we are risen with him being so neerely ioyned and vnited vnto him vnlesse we will denie him to bee our head Wherefore if wee professe our selues to be his wee must lykewise acknowledge that our resurrection is already begun in his that we do by hope which neuer maketh ashamed in this life retaine the assurance of that state which hereafter wee shall with ful possession accomplishmēt in heauen with him enioy for euer This can not bee but a great and singular comfort to al the faithfull seruauntes of Iesus Christ to consider that their bodyes shal not lie for euer in the graues as the bodyes of beastes do but that they shall rise againe with Christ which is before entred into heauen to prepare a place there for vs that hee may come againe at the last day to receiue vs wholy vnto him selfe If wee were by the death of any friende of ours made sure by good and sufficient warrant of an hundred pounde lande a yeere howe greatly woulde wee reioyce thereof both night and day And how ought we to reioyce continually beyng put in assurance by Christes death and resurrection not of landes and goodes here which are but short and transitorie but of the possession of the euerlasting and immortall kingdome of God where are pleasures without ende and ioyes without any wearinesse O howe ought this to stirre vs vp to be in loue with that life but especially and aboue all things to loue him that was the authour and purchaser of these things vnto vs euen Iesus Christ the sonne of God both God and man I woulde to God we did thinke of these thinges and consider deepely with our selues what is prepared for vs by his resurrection surely then wee woulde not sinne at the least we would not wallo we with the sowe and delite in our sinnes as many men do the more is the pitie Wel this is the greatest benefite we obteine by this resurrection euen our owne rising if it were not for this we were not better thē bruite beastes yea farre worse especially the godly who suffer many iniuries and tauntes with mockings and paynes of the wicked if they shoulde not be assured of this grace and happinesse their life were very miserable they surely would despaire But of these things which are very incident to the article of our resurrection mo things by Gods grace shal be spokē whē we come to that point In the meane season dearely beloued let vs giue to Iesus Christ most humble and heartie thankes for the benefits that we receiue of his gratious goodnes by his victorious resurrection in that hee hath gotten to vs life and opened the gates of paradise vnto vs which were shutte before And with all because we neede continually to craue many thinges at his handes let vs meekely pray vnto him that hee woulde vouchsafe to woorke so in our harde heartes by his holy spirit that we may by his resurrection mortifie and kil all the wicked vnruly desires of the flesh other sinnes which are crept into vs and beg we of him that we may all of vs leaue the olde finfull life of Adam and walke in a newe life and put on the newe man Iesus Christ and to make no prouision for the vnbrydled flesh to fulfil the lustes of it that we may walke before him and serue him not for a day or weeke or moneth or yere but as the holy ghost saith al the dayes times of our life in holinesse and true righteousnesse to his honour and glorie to the profite and commoditie of his Church our brethren and in the ende to the consolation and comfort of our own soules which God graunt vs for his sonnes sake to whom with the holy spirit be rendred all praise and glory and wisedome and thanks and honour and power and might for euermore Amen The sixt Lecture vpon the sixt article of our Christian fayth He ascended into heauen and sitteth on the right hand of God the father almighty THis is the sixt Article of our Christian faith yet but the fift of thē that appertaine to Christ his benefites from his conception to this his ascension into heauen and it followeth consequently in order after his resurrection not but that there was some time and space betweene for Luke doeth recken fourty dayes to this ende that hee might instruct and confirme his disciples in the veritie of his resurrection to the which ende he did eate and drinke with thē after he was risen Nowe the meaning of this article in mo wordes for the capacitie and vnderstanding of the simple and vnlearned is this I that am a Christian doe beleeue according to the scriptures that Iesus Christ in the same body that he rose is ascended into heauen for to prepare a place for me and to pray continually vnto God his father for vs to bee mercifull vnto our sinnes This is the true sense and meaning of this article Now let vs consider what things wee haue to learne out of it
the ground then is hee subiect to gunshatte or other snares and daungers So it is with vs if our mindes were fixed aboue vpon heauenly things Satan coulde not take vs in his trappes but when they are altogether cast downewarde vpon the earth and earthly pleasures then we fall into his baytes and are entangled in his grennes Therefore as Christ is ascended so let vs also ascende in minde cogitation vnto him for Christ doeth bidde vs tome vnto him and this saying standeth in his full force nowe as it did when â—e spake it here with vs vpon the earth and we must come vnto him nowe Let vs then come and resorte vnto him by our earnest and heartie prayer for then wee talke with him For prayer is sayd to be a speach and communication with God and a lifting vp of our heartes vnto him in heauen We shoulde remember then that as often as we pray we speake to the maiestie of God and therefore shoulde come with feare and reuerence Let vs also come to Christ to heare hâ—â— comfortable worde and Gospel For when we heare his worde preached vnto vs or reade it our selues we must consider that God speaketh vnto vs and therefore giue diligent and attentiue heede to the things thou hearest lest they slip out of thy minde Againe let vs also ascend and come to him by heartie thanke sgiuing for al benefits receyued in our body and soule both temporall and spirituall This is to ascende vnto Christ in this life Seeing therefore that by the blood of Iesus we may be bold to enter into the holy place by the new liuing way which he hath prepared for vs through the vaile that is his flesh seeing also we haue an high Priest which is ouer the house of God let vs all draw neere with a true heart in assurance of fayth our hearts being pure from an euill conscience and washed in our bodies with pure water Let vs keepe the profession of our hope without wauering and let vs ascende whither our forerunner Iesus Christ is entred and ascended for vs already euen into the heauen of heauens Another singular coÌ„â—ort â—or to â—ead our faith vpon by Christs ascension is his power to strengthen our weakenesse for we beleeue nowe that Christ hath taken full possession of his most glorious kingdome is entred into glory to whom as Saint Peter sayth The angels and powers and myght are subiect and whatsoeuer else For God hath sayde vnto him Sit thou at my right hande vntill I make thine enemies thy footestoole the Lord shall send the â—odde of thy power out of Sion be thou buler in the middest of thine enemies Psal 110. So that wee may boldly saye as Dauid sayde sometime The Lorde is our shephearde yea the Lorde Iesus is our King therefore shall wee lacke nothing For tel me I pray you what good thing can we want Christ being our heauenly King and hauing nowe all power and authoritie giuen vnto him and sitting at the ryght hand of the almightie Father Surely his seruantes shall enioy all things as he sayeth He that ouercommeth shall inherit all things and who is he that ouercommeth but Iesus Christ in whome we by his power and vertue ouercome also that as hee is made heyre of all things so myght wee also bee made ioynt heyres with him Wherefore wee knowe Christ no more in his mortalitie and humilitie Yea although wee had knowen Christ after the flesh yet hence foorth knowe we him no more after the flesh but after the woorking of his myghtie Spirite whereby hee is able to subdue all things to him selfe Philip. 3. For here we must consider that Christ hath thus ascended into glorie for vs and hath receyued giftes for men euen great spoyles of the enemies to enrich his Church This is our reioycing which wee haue dayly in Christ Iesus here is the ioy patience and victorie of the Saints of God for he must reigne vntill hee hath put all his enemies vnder his feete Who then can he discouraged with any thing that befalleth vnto him eyther of bodie or griefe of minde or losse of goods and friends Is it not Christ that dyed for vs and which is rysen againe who is also at the ryght hande of God and maketh request for vs Who shall say any thing vnto our charge who shal condemne vs If Christ be on our side as hee is most certaynely being our head who then can bee agaynst vs howe can wee sacke any thing in this lyfe when God hath giuen his Sonne for vs What man or woman woulde thinke to lacke any thing earthly that had a King to his Father or a Prince to bee his brother and shall wee bee of so litle fayth to thinke that wee can lacke ought hauing GOD the great King ouer al the world to be our louing Father and Iesus Christ his Sonne the Prince of all princes to bee our owne brother This were madnesse to thinke or conceiue but yet if wee bee wauering through incredulitie let vs saye and waye with the man in the Gospel Lorde helpe my vnbeliefe and with the Apostles let vs saye Lorde increase our fayth in vs and make it strong agaynst all tentations of Satan Seeing then that Iesus Christ is of that power that he is able to bring to passe all thinges Gods children may assure them selues of a singular defence agaynst all their enemies For who shall separate vs from the loue of Christ Shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednesse or peryll or sworde Nay dearely beloued I am certaynely perswaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor thinges present nor thinges to come nor heyght nor depth nor any other creature shall bee able to separate vs from the loue of GOD which is in Christ Iesus our Lorde for in all these thinges wee are more then conquerours through him that loued vs and this is our Christ that sitteth in the heauens for vs. By this his glorie and power euer since his ascending hee hath mayntayned the estate and welfare of his Congregation and will doe to the ende of the worlde The last thing wee learne by Christes ascension is this that he is also ascended to leade captiuitie captiue that is to say to beate downe and ouerthrowe all his foes and such as ryse vp heere agaynst him so that as his power is a great comfort to his spouse so it is as great a terrour and griefe to the wicked reprobates to thinke or to consider of it For it maketh them to frette and fume and to bee euer at their wittes ende for sorowe and griefe that hee must ouercome in spite of their teeth Then wee learne that our enemies shall not alway tryumph ouer vs they shall not still haue vs in their bandes in pryson and thraldome but one day they surely them selues shall come to confusion and shame The Scriptures when they will paynt out Christ vnto vs
in mercie towarde his Church they giue him the name of a meeke and gentle Lambe apparelled in white making no sturre or cry in the streetes not breaking a brused reede nor quenching a smoking flaâ—e Matthewe 12. But when the Prophets will sette foorth Christ in his maiestie and glorie after his ascension they giue him the name and propertie of a fierce Lion all apparelled in redde and bloody garmentes with a rodde and scepter of iron in his hande to rule and gouerne all nations And this no doubt is to cause make the enemies of his Church to quake euen as hee shewed him selfe in a vision to Saint Iohn his beloued disciple to comfort him no doubt but to terrifie the enemies which were shortly to goe about to destroy the Church of God Wee reade in the Reuelation 1. cha that as Iohn turned backe to heare the voyce that spake with him Christ shewed him selfe vnto him in his maiestie as he was able to conceiue for he saw seuen goldeÌ„ candlesticks in the midst of the seuen golden candlesticks one like vnto the sonne of maÌ„ clothed with a garmeÌ„t downe to the feete and girded about the pappes with a golden girdle his head and heares were white as white wooll and as snowe and his eyes were as a flame of fire and his feete lyke vnto fine brasse burning as in a furnace and his voyce as the sound of many waters and he had in his ryght hand seuen starres and out of his mouth went a sharpe two edged swoorde and his face shone as the Sunne shyneth in his strength This vision of Christ in his glorie was so fearefull that it made Iohn him selfe afrayde but the Lorde dyd shewe him selfe so to comforte his seruauntes which should suffer persecution a litle after but to threaten the enemies by his mightie power This is that which the holy Ghost spake long since by Dauid The Lorde reigneth let the people tremble hee fitteth betweene the Cherubims let the earth be mooued the Lorde is great in Zion and he is hie aboue all people The Lorde that is at thy ryght hande shall wounde Kings in the day of his wrath he shall bee iudge among the heathen he shall fill all with dead bodyes and smite the heades ouer great countreys Here wee see howe Dauid speaketh most magnificently of this glorious kingdome of Christ beyng nowe exalted aboue the heauens by his ascension howe hee assureth the enemies of destruction but promiseth deliuÌ„erie to the godly in the Church As Christ did alwayes deliuer his Church euen from the beginning Noah from the flood drowning the rest Lot from Sodome when hee consumed the remnant with fire the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt and the tyranny of king Pharao ouerthrowing his euennes in the redde sea for Christ was that great Angel that went before them likewise in destroying the Assyrians so many thousandes in one nyght and sauing good king Hezekia and the rest so did hee most wonderfully destroy great Babylon and ransome thence his owne prisoners finally howe he destroyed the Edomites the Ammonites the Moabites the Philistims and the Canaanites they that reade the hystories of the Bible shal wel perceiue as I say Christ hath done these thinges to his enemies before his incarnation so especially after hee was receyued vp in glorie hee hath done the like Howe mightily did hee suppresse and beate downe the great rage and furie of Saul beyng armed and sette as a fierce Tyger or Lion to destroy both man woman and childe of Christs flocke But the Lorde Iesus from heauen subdued him and made him as tame as a Lambe Actes 9. Did hee not cutte off inlyke sort that cruell tyraunt Herode that killed Iames had also taken Peter It is sayd that in his pryde he gaue not GOD the honour and glorye and therefore was immediatly strooken of the angel and most shamefully eaten vp of wormes Actes 12. Howe Iulian the Emperour that wicked forsaker and persecutour of the Christians was handled by the iustice of God and ended his life miserably So Zomenus in in his sixt booke of his storie the seconde Chapter doeth sufficiently declare that he was not killed by any of his enemies but by one of his owne souldyers And when he was strooken with the darte and wounded to death hee vnderstoode well the cause of it to bee for persecuting Christ and the Christians for hee tooke the blood out of his wounde and flang it vp into the ayre as if hee had seene Christ and accused him of his death as in deede hee was the chiefe authour of it to punishe that wicked reprobate which had so before contemned and mocked his worde and Gospel They that list to reade histories either prophane or diuine shall see howe the tyrantes and murdering Emperours of Christes Church haue bene by Iesus Christ in his glory taken miserably out of this life Consider all the Emperours of Rome that persecuted the Church what became of them and howe they dyed Was not Nero that monster partly by himselfe and partly by one of his owne men thrust through with a dagger as Suetonius and others do report Galba Otho and Vitellius did they not suffer the like Did not Domitian destroy his owne brother Titus and poisoned him and was not Titus a persecuter of the Iewes Domitian was miserably kylled by one Stephanus his man Maximinus slayne by his owne armye Commodus kylled of Narcissus Macrinus thrust thorowe by his souldiers Decius killed by his enemies Valerianus pearsed with a speare of the Persians Pilate after hee had crucified our Sauiour Christ within fewe yeeres after was hee not dryuen to hang him selfe for sorowe as Iudas did before him Dioclesian and Maximinian which were the authours of the tenth and last persecution agaynst the Christians deposed them selues of their imperial function by the secrete iudgement of God Maxentius the sonne of Maximinian dranke of the same cuppe with Pharao being both like enemies against Christ and his Church for Maxentius was drowned in the water with his harnesse vpon his backe The Popes of Rome being as great persecutours as euer were any of Christ and his Church many of them haue had very wretched and shamefull endes Alexander the sixt was taken away with the deuill by whome he aspyred to the papacie Looke vpon our papistes in Queene Maries dayes and see howe a great many of them dyed Wee â—acke not examples among vs euen fresh in memorie in those dayes Let a men consider with himselfe the vnhappie and vnfortunate endes of the last race of the kinges in Fraunce and he shall say that Christ euen in his glory doth marueilously defende his Gospel with the professours thereof rewardeth their enemies according to their desertes So that a man may iustly say and confesse with Dauid Doubtees there is a God that iudgeth in the earth surely there is a Christ that defendeth his Church for hee shall treade downe our enemies vnder vs
and destroy them that rise vp against vs Psalme 60. By these examples then we may haue comfort perswade our selues that are the litle stocke of Christ yâ— as he hath done already so he will doe alway for his for he is able still and his hande is not shortned but as long as it was neyther is he chaunged And let vs with Peter say and beleeue that the Lorde knoweth to deliuer the godly out of tentation and to reserue the vniust vnto the day of iudgement vnder punishment I woulde admonish therefore the wicked and the obstinate and persecuting Papistes of Christes Gospel to learne to take heede by these lessons aboue rehearsed and not to goe on stil to prouoke and kindle the great wrath and anger of Christ against them seeing hee is armed with vengeance and teâ—â—our agaynst them and nowe sitteth in his throne of maiestie These are the thinges that wee haue to beare in minde vpon this article of our faith concerning Christ his ascension The first poynt was of the ascension it selfe not into the ayre or cloudes but into heauen proued by the manifest woorde of God the holy scriptures the seconde the glory and power of it shewing the ende of it which was to sitte at Gods right hande to gouerne all things the thirde poynt was the great assurance of fayth that commeth to vs by it and the comfort that we conceiue by his so glorious ascension into heauen for vs. Nowe let vs humble our selues before this Lorde Iesus Christ in giuing him first most heartie and intire thankes for all his benefites bestowed vpon vs especially for this that hee hath ascended into heauen as a conquerour and taken possession of heauen for vs alreadie and let vs pray vnto him that as hee is ascended alreadie in body so we in the meane while may thither ascende in minde and heart where true ioyes are only to be found And seeing he is made gouernour of heaueÌ„ and earth and al pray we him that he would gouerne and defende vs here in earth by the assistaunce of his holy spirite tyll wee all meeâ—e together at our generall ascension in the vnitie of faith and acknowledging of the Sonne of GOD vnto a perfect man vnto the measure of the age of the fulnesse of him And because hee is of power sufficient let vs beseeche him to brydle and stoppe the mouthes of 〈◊〉 to confounde Antichrist which seeketh by al meanes to extinguish his trueth that hee would also hasten his 〈◊〉 vnto iudgement for his elects sake which grone vnder the crosse These things he graunt vnto vs which is able euen Iesus Christ the onely wise mighty and immortall God to whom with his father and his holy spirite be rendred all prayse and glory and dominion for euer and euer so be it The seuenth Lecture vpon the seuenth article of our Christian faith From thence shall he come to iudge both the quicke and the dead THis is the seuenth article of our beliefe but the sixt and last of theÌ„ that coÌ„cerne the person of Christ and onely of all the rest of the fiue going before remaineth to be fulfilled and in his time accomplished For as concerning the other articles of our sauiour Christes person which are the fiue former we beleeue most constantly that they are al already perfourmed and verified namely first that he hath bene conceiued secondly borne thirdly died fourthly risen againe fifthly and ascended into heauen Onely this we beleeue yet to be to come that is to iudge the quicke and the dead The meaning of this article is this I that am a Christian man womaÌ„ or childe do beleeue assuredly that Christ shall come againe visibly in the great and latter daye of iudgement with glorie and power from heauen as he was seene to go vp accompanied with his holy angels to iudge al the world most iustly both those that are already dead and those that he shal finde aliue at his coÌ„ming and that none shall escape his iudgement seate 2. Cor. 5. to this ende that the good may be rewarded with euerlasting life and immortalitie the wicked punished with euerlasting death and destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power 2. Thes 1. The Lord Iesus euen in this life doeth shewe and set foorth vnto all the worlde most wonderfull signes and tokens both of his mercy to the elect and iustice to the reprobate but because his kingdome is not of this worlde therefore our faith must amount hier to consider of his last comming wherein hee shall shewe as great glorie and maiestie as he did humilitie and meekenes in his first comming in the flesh For as we doe beleeue that he is appointed of his father to bee the sauiour and redeemer of mankinde so doe we also confesse him to be ordeined the great iudge of the vniuersall world that it is he alone that shall iudge with vnspeakeable glory both great and small at his appearance so that although many men thinke that there is no generall iudgement yet at the last they shall feele that this iudge shal summoÌ„ them all to appeare most fearefully before his imperiall throne of maiestie And this iudgement of Christ standeth with good reason and iustice that it should be openly seene and perceiued of all men at the last lest either the wisedome of the flesh or maÌ„s reason or the multitude of the wicked should be able iustly to charge vs as they do most vniustly that we faine to our selues a God a Lord a Christ and such an head as neuer sheweth him selfe nor was seene of men Wherefore to auoyde this slander and reproche of the blasphemous mouthes which say Where is now your God let him shew him selfe we I say doe beleeue that one daye hee shall come to iudge the whole earth For this is that that Saint Iohn sayeth in his Reuelation 1. 7. Beholde he commeth with cloudes and euery eye shal see him euen they which pearced him through and all kinreds of the earth shall wayle before him euen so Amen Let the wicked men therefore and the mockers of this iudgement triumphe neuer so much yet shall they not be able to hinder or disanull the deuice and purpose of the Lorde They doe in deede bende their tongues like bowes to shoote out blasphemies against the Lord saying Where is the promise of his comming But let those men vnderstande that as the Lorde Iesus was seene to goe vp into heauen so shall hee come downe agayne from heauen as the Angels of God reported Actes 1. 11. And albeit they will not beleeue it but make a iest of it yet they shall feele it one daye to their great payne and sorowe It is meete then and requisite that he that was for our saluation before the iudgement seat of maÌ„ vniustly condemned shoulde shewe in the ende howe great his iurisdictioÌ„ and authoritie ouer al flesh is and what his iustice requireth Seeing then
Adam or shal be to the last man that shal be borne here vpon the earth None can escape this iudge or hide himselfe away from his sight which seeth into the bottome of the sea euen into the middest of the earth and hell none shal be forgotten not the lest childe that is for he hath all written in his bookes both good and bad great and small for these are the wordes of the holy Ghost We must all appeare before the iudgement seate of Christ And againe As I liue saith the Lord euery knee shall bowe to me and euery tongue confesse to me None then shal be missing no not the great Monarches Emperours and Kings of the earth shall helpe theÌ„selues here or flee away but they shal be brought to iudgement and stand at the barre as others do be brought as lowe as the lowest Wel let vs apply this doctrine for our vse to profit by it Of this doctrine that we must al come to iudgement and none escape Paul gathereth this argument and lesson that knowing the terrour of the Lorde we should doe our duety that both dwelling at home and remouing from home wee may be acceptable vnto him For it made Paul the more rouÌ„dlie to doe his office and function in preaching saying We knowing this perswade men and are made manifest vnto God and I trust also that we are made manifest vnto your consciences 2. Corin. 5. Fourthly let vs see the maner and order of this generall iudgement Our Sauiour Christ doeth most liuely describe it in the 25. of Matthewes Gospel saying When the Sonne of man commeth in his glory and all the holy angels with him then shall he sit vpon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shephearde separateth the sheepe from the goates and he shal set the sheepe on his right hand and the goates on his left then shall the king say to them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father take the inheritance of the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world For I was hungry and ye gaue me meate I was thirstie and ye gaue mee drinke I was a stranger and ye tooke me in vnto you I was naked and ye clothed me I was sicke and ye visited me I was in prison and ye came vnto me and so forth Then shal he say to them on his left hand Depart froÌ„ mee ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the deuill and his angels For I was an hungred and yee gaue mee no meate I thirsted and yee gaue me no drinke c. And these shall goe into euerlasting payne and the righteous into life eternall Here wee see the fourme and order of this iudgement described most liuely vnto vs in the person of Christ a King putting some on the ryght hande and some on the left hande S. Paul also doth set it out vnto vs most excelleÌ„tly that the Lord Iesus shall descend froÌ„ heauen with a shoute and with the voyce of the Archangel and Trumpet of God and the dead in Christ shall ryse first and wee which remayne aliue shall bee caught vp with them also into the cloudes to meete the Lorde in the ayre and so shall we bee euer with the Lorde Where note that he â—etteth it out onely for the comfort of the godly making no mention in this place of the wicked Saint Peter saith It shall be as a thiefe in the nyght in the which the heauens shall passe away with a noyse and the elementes shall melt with heate and the earth with the woorkes that are therein shal be burnt vp 2. Pet. 3. S. Iohn in the Reuelation doeth very effectually expresse this thing in like maner for he saieth that a great white throne was set which he saw and one that sate vpon it and the dead stood both great smal before God the bookes were opened the sea and death and hel gaue vp their dead and euery man was iudged according to the things written in the bookes Reuel 20. Wee learne this good lesson by it as Peter doeth teach vs that seeing the maner of this great and last day of iudgement by Christ shall be so terrible in respect of the alteration of the creatures wee ought to be holy in all conuersation and godlinesse looking and hasting for the comming of that day of the Lord Iesus to iudgement And here furthermore wee gather that heauen and earth shall be dissolued and made newe that this worlde nowe shall haue an ende as it had a beginning contrary to the false opinion of the Philosophers and wicked Atheistes of our time which thinke that all things shall continue as they doe for euer Thus much for the maner of the iudgement Nowe as concerning the time our Sauiour Christ hath forewarned vs that it is not for vs to knowe the times and seasons which the father hath put in his owne power Act. 1. For of that daye and houre knoweth no man no not the angels which are in heauen neyther the Sonne him selfe but my Father onely saith Christ Which is to be vnderstoode that Christ knoweth not the latter day as hee is man but as he is the eternall God and one with his Father euen his wisedome he knoweth it and al things else We see then that the day and houre is most vncertaine and yet the thing it selfe most certaine that it shall be But although this day and houre be vnknowen yet notwithstanding our Sauiour Christ hath giuen vs signes and tokens of his comming which may sturre vs vp the more warily to waite for his comming These things our Sauiour sayd shoulde come to passe before he came we see they are fulfilled already many shall come in his name to deceiue vs saying I am Christ shall deceyue many we shall heare of warres nation shall rise against nation realme against realme there shall be famine earthquakes and pestilence in diuers places the godly shal be afflicted killed and hated of al men for Christs sake many shall bee offended at the Gospel and betray one another the father the sonne and the sonne the father the brother against the brother shall rise and put him to death false prophets shall aryse and deceiue many iniquitie shal be increased and the loue of many shall bee colde and the Gospel shall bee preached vnto all nations and then shall the end come Furthermore there shal be signes in the sunne and in the moone and in the starres the sunne shal be darkened the moone shall not giue her lyght and the starres of heauen shall fall which things haue come to passe whither you take them litterally or allegorically for both the sunne and moone hath beene eclipsed and signes and wonders haue appeared in the starres and if ye take the sonne for the worde of God and Gospel we see it hath bene darkened and abused by the Papistes The
also that hee is ascended into heauen to bee our Patrone intercessour mediatour and aduocate and that hee nowe appeareth for vs before the face of the father obtayning for vs grace and abundance of all good thinges in such sorte that I neither knowledge nor receiue anye other mediatour betwixt GOD and man neyther any other aduocate or intercessour before GOD the father then his onely sonne Iesus Christe our Lorde To him doe I resorte with him doe I holde my selfe contented and none other doe I search for neyther will I fearyng to blaspheme the name of GOD by giuyng that vnto the creature that appertayneth onely to the Creator and to the seruant that which onely apperteyneth vnto the master The xxxv Article I beleeue that all they which demaunde seeke for or receyue any other mediator intercessour or aduocate towardes GOD the father then Iesus Christ his Sonne the same blasphemeth agaynst God and doeth dishonour vnto Iesus Christ and vnto the saintes by whom he prayeth For as God the father wil bee knowen serued loued feared and honoured in his Sonne and by his onely sonne Iesus Christ and not by any other meanes euen so will hee be prayed vnto and called vpon in his and by his onely Sonne Iesus Christ and none other wise In this I will neither dispraise nor thinke or speake euil of the blessed Saintes which are in heauen with the Lord but I wil haue them in honour and reuerence them as the faythfull saints of the Lord as the Temple of the holy Ghost as the true members of Christ and haue them as glasses paterns before myne eyes to followe them aswel in their honest life good conuersation as also in their faythfull and holy doctrine And as concerning them or by thē I do vnderstand none other thing knowing that al my good my helpe and succour proceedeth of God onely by the meane of Iesus Christ alone which hath made the Saintes worthie of his glorie by his onely grace by the which also I beleeue hee will make mee worthie with them to bee their companion in glory that wee all together shoulde giue vnto him onelyall honour prayse and glorie for euermore The xxxvi Article I beleeue that the same Iesus Christ is set on the right hande of God the father almightie that is to say that he reigneth in one and the same maiestie and equall power with God his father by the which hee so gouerneth his owne vnto the worldes ende that the power of none aduersarie can annoye them without his permission and will I beleeue also that the Father hath made him Lorde and ruler ouer all creatures as well heauenly as earthly giuing vnto him all power ouer heauen and earth and that he hath lift him vp aboue all rule power and Lordship and aboue euery name that is named not onlie in this worlde but also in the worlde to come and hath made all thinges subiect vnder his feete and hath appointed him ouer all thinges to bee the head of his Church which is his body Ephe. 1. 21. And therfore I neither receiue neither acknowledge any other Head of the Church but onely Iesus Christ which hath giuen his blood to wash away the filthines and to heale the woundes thereof and the same to preserue nourish defende and gouerne by his holy spirite The same is the onely Head and foundation of the Church whereon euery one ought to builde according to his vocacion The xxxvii Article I beleeue that Iesus Christ is ascended into heauen and that hee is there corporally that is to say in fleshe in body and in soule after such sorte that hee neither is nor can after the same meane and fashion be here beneath on earth with vs for as much as his body although it bee glorious can not bee in diuers and many places at one time but be so in one place after the nature of a glorified bodie that it can not bee in an other otherwise it shoulde not bee a true and naturall bodie but phantasticall that is to say a thing apparant and not in deede which is false and wholye agaynst our faith And therefore doe I saye and confesse that the true and naturall bodye of Christe is in heauen and that from thence hee shall not come vntyll hee hath made all his enemies his footestoole and then shall hee come to iudge the quicke and dead The xxxviii Article I beleeue that when the number of the electe children of GOD shall bee accomplished the Lorde Iesus in the selfe same bodie in the which hee suffered and was crucified with the which hee rose and ascended into heauen in the selfe same shall hee come with great power and Maiestie visiblye in a cloude euen as hee ascended and that to iudge both the quicke and the dead and shall render vnto euery one according to iustice vnto the good that hee shall finde amongst them according to their goodnesse and vnto the euill according to their wickednesse This iudgement shall bee general that is to saye all shall bee called and personally summoned therevnto by the voyce of an Angell at the which all shall appeare as well the good as the euyll the electe as the reprooued to the ende that euery one maye render an accompt and reckonyng before the iudgement seate of Christe of all that hath beene done by them in this worlde whether it be good or euill yea euen of their idle woordes the which they esteeme no sinne Then shal be saued all those that are founde written in the booke of life The xxxix Article A beleeue that then shal be made the total and last separation of the good from the euill of the elect from the reprobate the which now are all mingled together as the good and the euil fish in one nette the chaffe and the corne the cockle with the wheate but when the haruest commeth hee which hath the fanne in his hand shal make a separation and shall gather the corne into his garner but the chaffe and cockle he shal cast into the fire to burne eternally Then shall perfitly be declared and knowen the iustice and mercy of the Lorde and likewise the fruite of the crosse blood of Iesus Christ the which thing nowe we knowe onely but in parte but then the good and elect shall knowe the Father vpon whome they haue buylded their hope and shal not be confounded in like maner the wicked shal knowe the Father against whome they haue stumbled whom they haue refused contemned and despised and shal be confounded Then shall the Lorde make an ende of his office and ministerie for his mysticall body shall then be wholly finished and accomplished with all his members and he shal render vp his kingdome and his espouse which is the Church vnto God his Father altogether glorious irreprehensible and acceptable without spotte or wrinkle Then shall perfectly be ouercome destroyed and confounded Satan and hell sinne and death and all
Lectures of I. B. vpon the xii Articles of our Christian faith briefely set forth for the comfort of the godly and the better instruction of the simple and ignorant ¶ Also hereunto is annexed a briefe and cleare Confession of the Christian faith conteining an hundreth articles according to the order of the Créede of the Apostles Written by that learned godly martyr I. H. sometime Bishop of Glocester in his life time 1. Pet. 3. vers 15. Be ready alwayes to giue an answere to euery man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meeknesse and reuerence Imprinted at London by C. Barker ⧠To the right honorable Sir Francis Walsingham Knight principal Secretarie to her Maiestie and one of her Highnesse most honorable priuie Counsell Io. Ba. wisheth in this life the feare of God and in the life to come euerlasting rest with Iesus Christ. COnsidering right honorable that diuers both of our countrymen and others haue very paynefully and fruitefully laboured to set forth the exposition and meaning both of the ten Commandements also of the Lordes prayer and that in the English tongue I thought good not to meddle any further that waye seeing so good an entrance was made vnto it But neither seeing nor hearing of any that had giuen forth any sermons or lectures vpon the articles of our Christian faith a thing as necessarie as the other I was the more emboldened to set this treatise forth that the simple and ignorant which can but only reade and haue this benefite to profite themselues withall might haue the true and playne meaning of euery article of their faith as they haue the exposition of the Lordes prayer and ten Commandements For if this Creede commonly called the Creede of the Apostles shall onely be sayde without booke and rehearsed of the people without the meaning of it in more words then they can not take such cōfort out of these articles as were requisite because they do not vnderstande them And so great and excellent mysteries lying hid shal do no good because they are not opened and reuealed to the simpler sort The cause that moued me to present these my first fruits vnto your Honour was That partly you had heard them read vnto you your Honors accepting of them as fauoring the trueth shall incourage others to doe the like and reade them more diligently I haue not laboured to be curious in this matter but so plaine as the weakest of capacitie might easely vnderstande for whose sake and not for the learned I was willing to publish this worke according to that talent that the Lorde in mercy hath committed vnto me his seruant for the building vp of his spirituall temple I doubt not but by the working of Gods holy spirit in you in reading of these articles nowe and then your Honour being voyde of waightier matters and affayres when leasure shall serue you shall finde some comfort and consolation in them Although they be playne yet are they true neede no eloquence to set them forth for trueth seeketh no corners to hide her selfe in Onely her feare is least she should be hid I graunt it might seeme a needlesse and fruitlesse thing to write bookes and publishe them in these dayes wherein are such store that nowe bookes lacke readers rather then readers want bookes but if a man consider well with him selfe he shall finde that a great many of them tende not so much to set forth godlines as wantonnes neither do they profit the Church and common wealth but rather hurt and hinder it as much as in them lyeth so that it had bene better that a great many of them had bene suppressed and neuer bene written They hurt many for they leade yong men vnlesse Gods spirit guide them the better to vtter destruction These are not the bookes that teach young men which are by nature wanton and wilde and giuen to lustes to refraine from libertie of the flesh but rather giue them the bridle to these wanton lustes and appetites and pitie it is they should bee suffered in a Christian cōmon wealth These idle bookes teach not a man to amende and correct his wayes but vtterly to peruert them A young man therefore shall clense his wayes not by these meanes but by ruling himself according to the word of the Lord as the Prophet Dauid hath forewarned Psal 119. so then although the store of bookes in our dayes is great yet the number of them that encrease true godlinesse is not so great but that it may be augmēted And albeit some one booke please not euery man yet another may seeing there are diuers and diuers giftes giuen to edifie that all men may be without excuse before the Lorde If any find fault and say This writer is too hard and hye for my capacity he may haue an easier if this man bee too eloquent and fine he may haue another that is more simple and playne for God be thanked there is great varietye of giftes in the Church of Christ and as it is in the body naturall of men that al members are not alike nor haue the same function yet all are necessary and although the foote be not so excellent a member as the hand or the eye yet for the vse of the body it is as necessary profitable neither can the head say to the foote I haue no neede of thee but one hath neede of the helpe of another for the maintenance of the whole So it is in the mystical body of the Church some haue more excellent giftes then others and some may be likened to the head some to the eye and some to the hand other of inferiour giftes to the foote and to the legge which yet surely can not be despised or lightly set by considering the body can not want them neither is this onely to be seene in the mysticall body of the Church wherein some are pastors some doctors some Deacons and some haue the gift of eloquence some of knowledge some of vtterance some of tongues But this may be perceiued in the body of the common wealth wherein some are kinges and rulers appoynted of God to bee heades ouer others and some are craftesmen and artificers some husbandmen and plowmen farre inferiour to the other and yet notwithstanding as necessary is the poore labouring man for the ciuil body as is the magistrate and superiour for if all should rule who shoulde obey if all againe should obey who should rule or gouerne but nowe the Lorde hath so tempered and disposed these thinges in his infinite wisedome that there should be no disorder and that euery one should be indetted and bounde to another that so loue and vnity might be kept and maynteyned in al. For no one man hath all giftes giuen vnto him that hee might stande in neede of his neighbour and loue him the better hauing that gift which hee seeth him selfe to be destitute of Thus being willing
The meaning of these wordes is this I the seruant and childe of God I I say not another for me doe beleeue hope and trust in one almightie eternall euerliuing God which is not only a God of might vnto me to be able to do all thinges but a most mercifull father in Iesus Christ most willing and ready to helpe me in al troubles and aduersities of this life when I shall cry call vnto him First therefore we learne here to beleeue trust in God only and not in any creature whatsoeuer for they cannot helpe vs as Dauid sayeth in his Psalmes Vaine is the helpe of man It is thou that sauest me from mine aduersaries And here note that there is a great differēce betwene these three to beleeue God to beleeue there is a God to beleeue in God the deuils beleue the first the second that God is true of his word and promise which is to beleeue God they also beleeue there is one God and no moe and tremble as S. Iames the Apostle sayth Chap. 2. 19. but they beleeue not the third that is in God which is as much as to embrace acknowledge him for our good God and to sticke to him and to his worde only This is proper to the Elect children of God not to the deuils and reprobates which doe not trust in him For they lacke a true iustifying faith which is defined to be a sure trust in the mercies of God his promises made vnto vs in Iesus Christ his Sonne by whom he hath adopted vs that he wil be mercifull vnto vs forgiue vs all our sinnes This is faith this is it that we must haue when we say I beleeue in God For faith must looke vnto God not to any man or angel or saint in heauen Therefore Paul said to the iayler asking howe he might be saued when he had abused cruelly handled the Apostles Beleeue saieth he in the Lorde Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saued Surely he could not haue sayde Beleeue in Christ vnlesse he had bene very God and marke howe he sayeth not Beleeue Iesus Christ but Beleeue in the Lord Iesus and thou shalt be saued as it is sayde here in our Creede I beleeue in God This that we must beleeue in God is warranted by our sauiour Christ saying to his disciples Beleeue in God let not your heartes be troubled Iohn 14. So that this doctrine to beleeue in God in no other is a doctrine of comfort to al the godly and to settle their hearts that they be not troubled or caried away with vaine persuasions of men and of Angels which Paul forbiddeth Colos 2. But here may a question be made why we say not as in the Lordes prayer in the plurall number Our Father and forgiue vs our trespasses so here also in like sort why say we not We beleeue in God First I answere that is a prayer to God this is a confession of our faith Then I say the case is not all one or alike For I may pray for another man and am commanded so to doe because we are al members of the same body of Christ so that my prayer may helpe and profit him But I can not beleeue for another man neither shal my faith and beliefe profit another man except he beleeue him selfe the promises of Christ for euery man shall be saued by his owne faith as the Prophet Habakuk saith Chap. 2. The iust man shal liue by his own faith And this notably confoundeth reproueth that fond and false opinion of the papistes which say that it is inough to beleeue generally as the church beleeueth not knowing how or what to beleeue This sentēce also reproueth and conuinceth another heresie of theirs which say that a man may be iustified by his owne works Here it is sayd The iust shall liue by his faith and not by his good workes or deedes And when Habacuk saith his faith he meaneth not that faith is of our selues but that faith which doth saue vs is within vs in our hearts not without vs in other men meaning neuerthelesse that faith commeth from God aboue and not of vs. As Iames chap. 1. And this doth teach vs to apply the mercies of God vnto our selues saying I beleeue as well as other men that God wil help me be my father This is a great cōfort which the godly only haue and not the wicked as Dauid saith The Lorde is his Lorde as wel as he is a lord to other Thus much on whō we must beleeue that is in God only Now secōdly consider with your selues in what maner of god you doe beleeue and trust not in such a one as the Paynims did that could not help them as Iupiter Apollo Diana and such like which did appoint a multitude of them to gouerne and guyde the worlde because they thought that one was not able ynough of himselfe and therefore made one for heauen as Iupiter another for the sea as Neptune One for hell as Pluto One for the fire as Vulcan Neither are wee taught here to beleeue in such a god as the wicked Israelites did called Baal which could not heare them when they cryed vnto him as it is in the booke of the Kings whō Elias reproueth 3. Kings 18. Chap. Of such Idols and gods the Prophet Dauid speaketh and derideth them their worshippers Psal 115. Saying they haue mouthes and speake not eares and heare not eyes see not noses and smell not hands and handle not feete and walke not neither make they a sound with their throte Neither haue we such pety gods of stone and wood as the papists haue their Images But our God in whō we do confesse that we beleeue is such a one as is a father for his goodnes and mercie and almightie for his strength and power This doth Dauid meane when hee doeth speake of his great God and setteth him against al other false gods of the idolaters saying as for our God he is in heauē As if he would say he is a most mightie God and both what soeuer hee will no man can hinder or let his power This as it is a great comfort to all the godly to haue such a God to ayde them at all neede so it is a terror to the wicked to consider that they haue to doe with such a God as is omnipotent able to beate them to peeces and powder when they resist him As hee did mightily destroy Pharao so did hee wonderfully deliuer his people and children the Israelites out of his handes from the read sea So he declared him selfe an omnipotent father We see then here as in other places how God ioyneth his power and iustice to terrifie and also his mercie and clemency to comfort I say they are put both together euen to terrifie the godly also that they should not commit sinne but feare to offende such a
led away to Annas and Caiaphas and then posted ouer to Pilate Pilate sent him to Herode and Herode sent him back againe with mockes and tauntes in a purple robe in mockage derision of him And all this did our sauiour Christ for vs. This was much that I haue rehearsed already but yet nothing to the death of the crosse for the crosse was as odious shameful to them as the gallowes is to vs yet Christ was wel contented with it so wee might bee redeemed This is that Paul speaketh of to the Heb. 12. willing vs to follow the great humilitie of Christ in his suffering of shame saith Let vs also seeing that we are compassed with so great a cloude of witnesses cast away euery thing that presseth down and sinne that hangeth so fast on let vs runne with patience the race that is set before vs looking vnto Iesus the author finisher of our faith who for the ioy that was set before him endured the crosse despised the shame and is set at the right hand of the throne of God Consider therfore him that endured such speaking agaīst of sinners lest ye should be wearied and faint in your mindes We see many men can abide to suffer paine and griefe which yet notwithstanding are ouercome with shame and reproche and can hardly abide it One peraduenture could bee contented to suffer some trouble for his deare friende but who will bee hanged for his friende Let the same minde therefore dearely beloued be in you that was euen in Christ Iesus who being in the forme of God thought it no robberie to be equal with God but hee made himselfe of no reputation and tooke on him the shape of a seruant and was made like vnto men and was found in shape as a man he humbled himselfe and became obedient vnto the death euen the death of the crosse You see out of this place howe Christ for our sakes abased himselfe to shame which consisteth in foure poyntes It was much for him being God to become man whether it had bene King or Prince or Lorde but it was more to become a miserable man a seruant vnto men more then that it was to die but most of all was it worthy prayse and commendation that he died the death of the crosse not for his friendes but for his foes Many other thinges did our sauiour suffer of the people the Scribes the Pharises the Iewes as reuilings blasphemies bitter nippes and tauntes but al was nothing to this crosse it surmounteth all yet for all this we must not be ashamed of him for hee is our glory Galat. 6. 1. Corinth 2. they that are ashamed of him here in earth before men he wil be ashamed of thē in heauē before his father his Angels Let vs therfore confesse and acknowledge Christ crucified for vs and let vs neuer be ashamed of him when hee commeth with his crosse for he that taketh not vp his crosse dayly followeth him is not worthy to be his disciple Luke 9. He might rather haue bene ashamed of vs to see vs in that case we were worser then wee can see any poore miserable begger amongst vs here in earth We see then that by Christ crucified the blessing of Abraham is come vpon vs that were Gentiles Galat. 3. and the the serpents head is broken he being y◠true serpēt lifted vp vpon the crosse to saue al those that hope vpon him by fayth as the other brasen serpent lyfted vp by Moses in the wildernes saued all those Israelites the were stong looked vp vnto it Numb 21. verse 9. Furthermore by this crosse the hande writing of ordinances which was against vs which was cōtrary to vs he euē he tooke it out of the way fastened it vpon the crosse hath spoyled the principalities powers hath made a shew of thē opēly hath triūphed ouer thē in the same crosse Col. 2. Of this crucifying lifting vp vpō the crosse was Isaac a figure who was boūd laid vpō the altar ready to be offered And so were al the sinne offerings layde vpon the altar for he was made of God his father sinne for vs that wee might he made the righteousnes of God in him which knewe no sinne 2. Corinth 5. But of all other types and shadowes of the ceremonial lawe this taking away of sinne by Christ in his crosse was most liuely set forth and represented vnto vs as in a glasse in the scaps goate For the Lord commanded Aaron Leuit. 16. that he should take a liue hee goate and present him quicke before the Lorde to make reconciliation by him and that he should put his handes vpon the head of the goate and confesse ouer him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their trespasses all their sinnes putting them vpon the head of the goate should send him away by the hande of a man appointed into the wildernes so the goate shall beare vpon him all their iniquities into the lande that is not inhabited Here was our sauiour Christ figured which bare in his body vpō the crosse the iniquities of vs al Esai 53. 1. Pet. 2. and was wounded for our transgressions and caried away al our sorowes for by his stripes are wee healed Esay 53. Furthermore this betraying and crucifying of Christ and selling of him for thirty pence was also forefigured in Ioseph For as Ioseph was solde of his owne brethren into the handes of strangers so was Christ betrayed and sold of his owne disciple anddeliuered of his owne nation into the handes of Pilate and the Heathen The third thing that followeth in this article is his death He was dead in deede as the Euangelistes doe report for Luke sayth of him that he cryed with a loude voyce and sayde Father into thy hands I commend my spirit And when he had thus sayd he gaue vp the ghost Luk 23. So for the certaintie of it it is not onely said that he was crucified but also that he died for otherwise nothing had bene wrought for vs. God sayde to Adam In what day soeuer thou shalt eate of the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and euill thou shalt die the death Adam offended and brake this commandement hee was not able to make satisfaction for it to die the death of body and soule therfore the second Adam Iesus Christ died the death of body suffered the death in soule to redeeme vs and to satisfie Gods wrath displeasure conceiued most iustly against our sinne in Adam This death was signified in euery sacrifice of beastes in the olde lawe of Moses in the killing of bullockes of calues of sheepe of goates and such other things For as the Apostle sayth without shedding of blood was no remission of sinnes This was verified in Christes blood shed for vs in his death Neither was this death of Christ to be seene onely shadowed in the ceremonies
from thence which dyed in his faith before his comming in the flesh for they were in heauen already as concerning the soule for the soules of the righteous are in the hands of God and no torment shall touch them Wisd 3. Here then seeing Christ hath suffered and fulfilled all things for vs we may saye to God as concerning his iustice O righteous God if shame confusion and ignominie bee due to sinners for their euill desertes if death bee the stipende and reward of sinne Rom. 6. 23. If it deserue thy wrath and indignation most seuere If it be worthy to be punished not onely with most sharpe paynes of body but also extreeme torments of mynd and conscience briefely if it deserue hell and damnation for the vilenesse and filthinesse of it Then O most iust Father and God Christ thy Sonne hath suffered all these thinges to the vtmost hee hath paide al whatsoeuer thou canst require of mee for sinne he hath perfourmed thy bande and obligation and hath clearely canceled the handwriting that was against me For can there bee a greater burden with measure more heaped and full and pressed downe appoynted for sinne and iniquitie then this was which Christ Iesus thy beloued only Sonne which was in thy bosome hath borne already for me Therefore I beseeche thee most deare and tender Father whensoeuer my sinnes shall come into thy sight or question with thee which my aduersarie the deuill layeth before thee and me that then thou wouldest looke vpon Christ thy Sonne which is thy true looking glasse in whom thou shalt finde me to be most pure and innocent and to be of the same white colour with him and to shine most bryght in his righteousnesse which he giueth vnto me by faith if I beleeue in him as I can perswade my selfe most certainely and vnfaynedly that I doe Good Father for his sake receiue me into mercie and bestowe thy heauenly blessings vpon me because hee hath deserued them well at thy handes This prayer with boldnesse and confidence in Christes blood may a true Christian man make to God the Father when his sinnes shall begin to accuse him and herein may he finde comfort otherwise none at all For God is not pleased but in Christ and in his doings as he saith This is my welbeloued Sonne heare him Matt. 3. and 17. Where we note that Christ is our onely reconciler to God and our onely scholemaster to teach vs the trueth of Gods worde Thus haue we heard in this article the death of Christ a wonderfull and vnspeakable mysterie the circumstances of it the cause of the same the paines he suffered and what comfort we haue and enioy by it Nowe let vs giue to our heauenly Father most heartie earnest and continuall thankes for it and likewise to Iesus Christ that woulde vouchsafe to take it vpon him for our sakes such poore and miserable wretches as wee were It is the greatest and most precious Iewel and Diamonde that God coulde bestowe vpon vs. Let vs therefore pray vnto him to make vs deepely consider of the valewe of it in our hearts and mindes that we slightly esteeme not of so excellent a treasure but that wee may sell all and buy it Let vs furthermore desire of him that by the death of his Sonne hee woulde kill in vs all carnall and worldly lustes and mortifie our earthly members pride concupiscence ambition hatred couetousnesse and such lyke sinnes that wee walke in them no more Nowe seeing Christ hath dyed for them to put them all away and hath fastned and nayled them to his Crosse that we shoulde serue him being deliuered from the handes of our enemies without feare all the dayes of our life in holinesse and true righteousnesse before him This God graunt vnto vs for Christs sake to whome with the holy Ghost one blessed God be rendred all prayse and glory and thankes giuing for euer and euer Amen The fifth Lecture vpon the fifth article The third day he rose againe from the dead WE haue seene before three articles concerning the person of our sauiour Christ as his conception his birth his death which we haue expounded as God hath giuē vs ability by his grace Now foloweth the fift article concerning his resurrection from the dead And this doth folowe orderly in the beliefe after his death passion for so did Christ alwaies ioyne these two together his death and rising againe saying to his disciples Mat. 26. 21. Behold we goe vp to Ierusalem and the sonne of mā shal be deliuered vnto the chiefe priests and scribes and they shall condemne him to death shal deliuer him to the Gētiles to mocke to scourge to crucifie but the third day he shal rise again This was spoken to comfort them that although they cōceyued great care sorow in hearīg that he should be killed yet they might take as great comfort againe to heare that hee was risen from the dead Christes enemies did in deede what they might and coulde to keep him downe still they layd a great stone and heauie vpon his graue they sealed the stone they made the sepulchre sure with a watch of souldiers Matth. 27. 66. But all was in vayne for Christ must needes be true of his worde and promise to arise againe the third day as he had often foretolde and prophecied of to his Apostles and of the which they were al witnesses and as S. Paul saith moe then fiue hūdred brethrē at once did see him If any require testimonies of his resurrection out of scripture let him read the 28. of Matth. the 16 of Mar. the 24. of Luke the 20. 21. of Iohn the 1. Cor. 15. with many other places of scripture Wherefore no man can doubt of the trueth of this article being confirmed by so many places of the word of God This resurrectiō was very necessary for vnlesse it had folowed and Christ risen again nothing had bene wrought concerning our saluation neither had death bene conquered nor satā destroied nor we redeemed perfectly from the dolours of death Therefore S. Peter saith that God hath raised him vp loosed the sorowes of death because it was vnpossible that he shoulde be holden of it Acts 2. 24. as Dauid also proueth Psa 16. Thou shalt not leaue my soule in the graue neither shalt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption This article doth proue vnto vs that Christ is both man and God man in that he did rise with his body in the which he fell and died before for it is vnproper to say that God doth rise againe for he doth neuer fall His resurrection doth proue him to be God also because he raysed vp himselfe the third day as he testifieth Destroy this temple meaning of his body and in three daies I wil reare it vp agayne Ioh. 2. 20. It is also saide that he was raysed vp by the glorie of his father but that is spokē as concerning his humanity
wherin he is inferior to his father Seeing then that in the crosse death buriall of Christ doth appeare a kinde of infirmitie and weakenes in respect of the world because these things in Christ seeme base to many wee haue to goe further for the full strengthening of our faith to his most glorious victorious resurrection ouer al his enemies for although we haue a ful accomplishment of our saluation in his death because that by it wee are reconciled to God and satisfactiō is made to his iustice for our sinnes so that the curse is taken away frō vs the punishmēt paid for our offēces yet for al this we are said to be begottē not by his death but by his resurrection into a liuely hope for these are the words of Saint Peter 1. Epist 1. Chap. Blessed be God euen the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ which according to his abūdant mercy hath begotten vs againe vnto a liuely hope by the resurrection of Iesus Christ frō the dead to an inheritance immortall vndefiled that withereth not reserued in heauen for vs which are kept by the power of God thorow faith vnto saluation which is prepared to be shewed in the last time meaning whē Christ shal come to iudgement and we shal rise in our bodies Wherefore as Christ by rising so triumphātly became cōquerour of death so the victory of our faith doeth consist especially in his resurrection euē as the holy Apostle doth plainly expresse it Rom. 4. 25. for he saith that Christ was deliuered from our sinnes but is risen againe for our iustificatiō as if he should say By his death was sinne takē away abolished but iustice and righteousnesse was restored renewed vnto vs by his resurrection from death For otherwise how could he haue deliuered vs from death by dying if he himself had bin swallowed vp of death or howe should he haue gotten vs the victorie that had lost it himself This thing the Prophete Osee foreseeing by the spirite of God spake prophetically as Dauid and other Prophets did of this resurrection of our sauiour saying O death I wil be thy death O graue I wil be thy destruction Osee Chap. 13. verse 14. Wherfore we do in this sort distinguish the benefites of his death from the benefites of his resurrectiō By his death sinne is abolished by his resurrectiō righteousnes is restored by his death is death extinguished by his resurrection is life repayred to conclude by the one hel gates are brokē vp vāquished by the other the dores of heauē are vnshut opened vnto vs. These are the proper differences betweene his death resurrection although the one sometime is takē for the other al things are giuen and applied to his death whatsoeuer we inioy Here may be a question why Christ was three dayes in the sepulchre First I may say It was to fulfill the scriptures for Ionas was a figure signe of his resurrection now as Ionas was three daies and three nightes in the fishes belly so was Christ in the graue Agayne hee was there three dayes and did not rise by by immediatly after his death to confirme the certaintie of his death that he was dead in deede for if he should haue risen straight way mē might haue thought with thēselues that he had not bin throughly dead Againe although it be said that he was three dayes and three nights in the heart of the earth yet was he there but part of thē for the scripture doth take a part halfe of a day for a whole day as also part of a mā for the whole mā Wheras it is saide there were so many soules in the ship with Paul it is meant so many men in al with bodies soules but the better greater excellenter part is vsually taken for the whole as in this place of three daies This article hath two principall poynts to be considered in it first the resurrectiō it self of Christ secondly the benefites that come vnto vs by it which are three in nūber First life righteousnes is restored vnto vs by his rising thē mortification newnes of life here amōg men is taught vnto vs by this resurrection lastly we are assured perswaded of our resurrectiō In that that Christ our head is risen again we also the members shall rise with him as Paul saith Whēsoeuer Christ which is our head shal appeare thē shal we also appeare that is rise with him in glorie that is a glorified body as his is Phil. 3. Colos 3. This can not be but great comfort vnto vs. As cōcerning his resurrection partly some thing was alledged before testimonies brought to confirme it but this may be saide more of it that it is so necessarie to be beleeued vnto saluation that without it no life can be had for how can he haue life that doth not or wil not beleeue the author giuer of life Iesus Christ to be aliue risen but dead how I say cā such an one haue any life in him at al Therefore our Sauiour willing to leaue a perpetuall memorie of this article to his Church seeing it was of such great waight importance after that he had suffered presented him selfe aliue to his Apostles disciples to the women also by many infallible tokens being seene of them by the space of fourtie dayes speaking of those things which appertayne to the kingdome of God To this ende that he might cōfirme strengthen thē in this true resurrection he did eate drinke with them after he rose Acts. 10. shewed thē his hands his feete bid them handle him see that it was euen he and none other Luk. 24. 39. Yea this point is so necessarie to obteyne euerlasting saluation that the Apostle S. Paul doth affirme that if Christ be not risen againe then is our preaching in vayne then is our faith in vayne then are we false witnesses of God thē are we yet in our sinnes and they that are fallē asleepe in Christ are perished and we of al men are most miserable All these absurdities and inconueniences do follow if we or any other beleeue not stedfastly that Christ is risen againe But dearly beloued Christ is risen againe as the Angel said to the women He is risen he is not here when they thought hee had not bene risen but there in the graue as hee was layde The Pharisees thought that if they could perswade the people from the beliefe of this his resurrection they should do well ynough with them and therfore they gaue large money to the souldiers to say that he was stollen away by his disciples by night They wel knew that if the people of the Iewes did beleeue this his rysing frō the dead they would easely beleeue all other mysteries of his death and passion with the articles going before The Euangelists al of them do inculcate make mentiō of no one
moone which doth represent the Church which taketh her light from the sunne Iesus Christ hath byn persecuted turned into blood and not giuen her light by reason of troubles and the starres which are likened to the preachers haue fallen away and otherwise stept aside These things and the lyke may put vs in minde that the cōming of Christ is not far off euen as when we see the trees begin to budde we know then that the spring time is neere We know furthermore that the time of this iudgement shal be very sudden as the lightnings or as the cōming of a thiefe and as the sudden crying out of a woman with childe For as it was in the dayes of the floud in Noes time the waters came and tooke them all away so shall the comming of the sonne of man be Likewise also as it was in the dayes of Lot they ate they dranke they bought they solde they planted they buylt they gaue in marriage and married wiues but in the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rayned fire brimstone from heauen and destroyed them all After these ensamples shall it be in the day whē the Sonne of man is reuealed And surely this day is hid from our eyes that we shoulde be prepared euery day not be secure or careles to differre repentance and put it off from day to day as a great many do among vs. Seeing then the time is at hand and yet vnknowē we ought to be prepared and be in a readines to follow our Masters counsel for he saith Take heed to your selues least at any time your hearts be oppressed with surfeting drunkennes and cares of this life and least that day come on you at vnwares for as a snare shall it come vpon all them that dwell vpon the face of the whole earth Watch therefore and pray continually that ye may be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to passe that ye may stande before the Sonne of man This daye is as the day and time of our death as we knowe not when we shall die and yet it is most certaine that we shall die so it is with this day And whether a man shoulde looke for the day of his death or this day of iudgement first truely I can not tell they are both so vncertaine neither haue we longer warrant of time prescribed vnto vs in the scriptures of the one then of the other I praye God the Lord Iesus may finde vs as good seruants doing his will and woorke at his comming that wee may haue our candles burning in our handes with oyle in our lampes and the marriage garment on our backes ready to open the doore when he cōmeth and knocketh for vs. Happy shal we be if the Lord find vs so doing otherwise if he finde vs smiting our felow seruants eating and drinking being drunken he shal come vpon vs at vnwares and cut vs in pieces giue vs our portion with the vnbelieuers hypocrites where shal be weeping and gnashing of teeth Let vs therefore I beseeche you brethren by the Lorde Iesus knowing the time is short and at hande euen in the doores gird vp the loines of our minde that when our Sauiour knocketh we may open vnto him immediatly Thus wee see what we haue to note and learne vpon the time of the comming of Christ vnto iudgement The place also is to be considered the nations and kinreds of the people that shall appeare that day are so many and innumerable that the earth shall not bee able to conteyne them all therefore Saint Paul saith that we shall be caught vp in the cloudes to meete the Lord in the ayre So that all shall bee taken vp into the ayre as the place of iudgement But I come to the last poynt which is more materiall to our purpose for what ende this great and last day is reserued and kept in store It hath two endes or causes why it is ordayned of the Lorde the one is that the godly may be deliuered out of their miseries and troubles which they haue here stoutly endured for Christes sake and be receyued into euerlasting life The other is that the wicked reprobate and all the companie of infidels which haue herecontemned the Lord liued in pleasure and delites of the fleshe may be iustly punished as they haue well deserued with euerlasting fire brimstone which is the second death For it might seeme if there were no iudgement or life after this that the Lord were notiust in his doings for neither are the godly and ryghteous rewarded many times in this life neyther are the vngodly punished for their offences while they liue here for the most part Now God is most iust which will rewarde all godlines and vertue and seuerely punish vice and wickednes These two endes doth our Sauiour mention in the general iudgement the one sort saith he shall goe into euerlasting life and the other sort into euerlasting fire Matth. 25. Saint Paul likewise doth make mention of these causes in the second epist of the Thessalonians the first chapter shewing as well what the good shall haue as the bad saying on this wise It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you and to you which are troubled rest with vs when the Lord Iesus shall shewe him selfe from heauen with his mighty angels in flaming fire rendring vengeance vnto them that do not knowe GOD and which obey not the Gospel of our Lorde Iesus Christ which shal be punished with euerlasting perdition from the presence of the Lord and from the glorie of his power thus much for the wicked Now foloweth rewarde for the good when hee shall come the bee glorified in his saintes and to bee made marueylous in all them that beleeue in that day Here wee may haue a notable discourse as is in any place of scripture why our sauiour Christ shal come to iudgement both in respect of the good and bad yea the wicked angels and spirites them selues as Iude saith hee hath reserued in euerlasting chaines of darkenesse vnto the iudgement of the great day This day is greatly desired and longed for of the godly and especially of the true ministers of Christes Gospell that their cause may bee knowen to bee good agaynst the wicked and their sayings veryfied concerning this iudgement for surely there is nothing almost seene of God or beleeued of the wicked vntyll that day Tell them of this day and terrifie them with it they make a mocke at it they count them for fooles and simple persons that liue a godly and Christian life but when this day commeth as it will come certainly it will make a recompence for all and they shall finde all our sayings threatnings to be most true Therefore the godly desire it in respect of Gods glorie chiefly which the wicked haue defaced A great many of them thinke that there
church may and hath erred as euery member particularly may erre as Peter did in the vocation of the Gentiles Act. 10. and in dissimulation in eating with the Gentiles withdrawing himself from them againe when Iames came to him and was iustly therefore reprehended of Saint Paul Gal. 2. Then if Peter erred so notable singular an Apostle others may erre also but yet returne with Peter yea the whole church at some time haue erred as al the Apostles doubted of Christes resurrection and yet they were the Church of Christ and the best men and most perfite that were then aliue Mark 16. verse 14. This I say to that ende that none should imagine such a perfection in the church as the Anabaptists doe and others which can not be attayned vnto in this life And therefore because they see some abuses some dissolute persons and some errors in the Church which is like a field that hath corne and tares in it they by and by depart from it and break and diuide the vnitie of the Church by their ignorance and frowardnesse not knowing that the kingdome of heauen which is the Church is cōpared of Christ himself to a net cast into the Sea that taketh both good and bad fyshes together in it Mat. 13. I speake not this to mayntayne any thing that is amisse if it may be reformed by order For I wish all thinges to be wel which are out of order in our church and I hope God will in his time cut off all disorders but I speake it to this ende that none should separate himself from hearing the woorde and receauing the Sacraments and from publicke prayers in the congregation If al things in the ministery be not so perfect as euery goodman would desire and as the word of God requireth it should bee we must in deede contend and indeuour for a perfection as much as lyeth in vs which I pray God may be earnestly sought for of euery one in his vocation But they that are priuate men must helpe with their prayers their teares and groninges and must seeke to further this woorke by continuall intercession to the Lorde and neuer to leaue off neyther to giue him any rest vntill he repayre and vntill hee set vp Ierusalem the prayse of the worlde And so for Sions sake they must not holde their tongue vntil the righteousnesse therof breake foorth as a light and the saluation thereof vs a burning lampe Which God put into the heartes and mindes of them that haue authoritie in the buylding and repairing of this spiritual Church vnto the Lord. For Christ himselfe frequented the temple at Hierusalem and there taught the people his fathers wil although the hie Priests the Scribes and Pharises had made it a dēne of theeues and wonderfully corrupted all things in it both by their doctrine and also by their manners neither did Paul separate himselfe from the church of the Corinthians although many abuses had crept in among them in so much that some denied the resurrection the chiefest poynt one of them in Christianitie yet notwithstanding all this hee called it a Church and the Corinthians sanctifyed in Iesus Christ And so wee see he did not withdrawe himselfe from them but vouchsafed thē the name of the church and goeth about as wee should all doe to bring them to the purity of the Gospel againe Thus much for this poynt let vs returne to our purpose Christ being the head of this church it shall not be hard for vs to discerne who are the members of it and who appertayne vnto the same This church is said to be holy and the communion of sayntes then all they that are holy sāctified by the spirit of Iesus Christ are of the nūber of this cōgregation for if they wil be of his body they must haue frō him holinesse which hath said Be ye holy for I am holy they ought to resēble him in their life cōuersatiō in godlines in integrity in innocēcie al other christiā vertues We see then howe we onght to endeuour to be like him these are the words of S. Iohn where that he sayth He that remayneth in him ought euen so to walke as hee hath walked That is he must be incorporated ingrafted to the body of Christ otherwise there is no saluation for him He is the true vine and we are the branches if we abide in him we bring forth much fruite wee shal be purged to bring forth more fruite but as the branche except it abide in the vine dieth withereth away without any fruit and is cast into the fire so is euery one that is not of the body of Iesus Christ Let vs therefore indeuour to be of this body for without the Church is no saluation as all perished by the waters which were not in the arke of Noe which was a true signe and figure of the church 1. Pet. 3. And as the hand cut off frō the body dieth and lacketh life so it is in the mysticall body of the Church no lyfe without the body of Christ and that is the thing that is meant in these places of holy scripture In the thirteenth chapter of Ezechiel the Lord threatneth the false prophets that his hand shal be vpon them that see vanity deuine lyes saying They shall not be in the assembly of my people neither shal they be written in the writing of the house of Israel neither shal they enter into the land of Israel Wherby he excludeth them frō his church So it is said in Ioel the second In mount Sion and Ierusalem shal be deliuerance as the Lord hath sayde The like is in Abdie but most notable is that place in the second of the Acts where it is sayd that the Lorde added to the church from day to day such as shoulde be saued giuing vs thus much to vnderstād that vnles they be in the church there is no saluation for them By this then we gather that if they only be mēbers of this church which beleeue in Christ and are holy then the Turkes Iewes which beleeue not in Christ but persecute him most deadly are not of the church because they are not vnited ioyned to this body Likewise all the Heretikes which haue broken the vnity peace of this Church some by denying the humanitie of Christ and some his diuinitie are not to be counted members of Christ neither they that haue departed from the felowship of the godly and sayntes of God to Antichrist can haue any part in this congregation or be heyres of life vnles they returne againe with speede to the Church Here likewise are all Atheists and vngodly liuers shut out from this church For they communicate not with the saintes either in life or doctrine neither doe they relieue the poore and afflicted members of Iesus Christ with the blessings which God hath bestowed vpon them so that there is no communion of brotherly loue among
little flocke for it is your fathers pleasure to giue vnto you the kingdome Luke 12. He shoulde haue sayde great flocke according to the Papistes opinion Againe when one asked our sauiour Christ whether there were fewe that shoulde be saued hee answered in effect that it was so saying Striue to enter in at the strayte gate for many I saye vnto you will seeke to enter in and shall not be able Luke 13. Here Christ sayeth flatly that many that is the multitude shall not enter in at heauen gates which yet notwithstanding must bee saued if the Church as the aduersaries saye consist of multitude for the Church shall bee saued Here Christ excludeth multitude from his Church and kingdome and in the 7. of Matthewe wee shall see that hee maketh paucitie and the small number to bee an argument of his Church quite contrarie vnto the blinde Papistes saying Strayte is the gate and narrowe is the way that leadeth vnto life and fewe there be that finde it Are there fewe that finde this gate then are there but fewe of this Church of Christ Wherefore wee haue the more neede to watche to striue and to contende to be of this small companie for surely many are called to the Gospell but fewe and very fewe are chosen But let vs see the examples of the holy Scripture Was not Noah onely founde righteous with his housholde before the Lorde when the flood was brought in vpon the wicked worlde For all flesh had corrupted his way before God Genes 6. Was the greatest multitude in Sodome founde to be of this Church of God Surely if it had bene so Sodome had not bene destroyed But there were not ten righteous men to bee founde within it onely Lot with his wife and two daughters escaped the fire all the rest were wicked and therefore most fearefully cōsumed with fire and brimstone from heauen to make others to feare th◠like sinnes as Saint Peter sayeth Gen. 19. 2. Peter 2. There came but two into the promised lande of Canaan of all the sixe hundred thousande men beside women and children that came out of the lande of Egypt and they were Iosua and Caleb the rest iustly perished in the wildernesse for their vnbeliefe and disobedience But let vs see further when this Church was more increased in the times that followed Was not Elias onely against the foure hundred false prophetes of Achab and Iezabel 3. Reg. 18. And did not he thinke that there had bene none aliue that appertayned vnto the Lorde but he onely And although the Lorde sayd vnto him that he had reserued vnto himselfe seuen thousand that had not bowed the knee to the idole Baal yet was that to the multitude and number of y◠wicked that were then in Israel Againe was not the kingdom of Israel farre greater then the kingdome of Iuda and yet was the true worshippe and seruice of the Lorde onely with the Iewes in Ierusalem and not in Dan or Bethel where were the golden calues of Ieroboam Was not Micheas in his time onely one Prophete that was good against foure hundred lying prophetes of Achab He was ouercome there by multitude and yet hee had onely the trueth and worde of the Lorde on his side 3. Reg. 22. If wee list to come neerer the time of Christ vnder the Gospell we shall see the fewest to holde with him Was not the whole multitude of the Iewes with the chiefe Scribes and Pharises and hye Priestes against Christ and condemned him to death crying Crucifie him crucifie him Iohn 19. Afterwarde in the succession of the Church wee shall see the Christians to bee the smallest number Vniuersalitie then and multitude is no argument of the Catholike Church of Christ but rather the contrarie may bee affirmed the least number to be his Secondly they will haue Antiquitie to bee a note and token of this Church If they will stande to Antiquitie and long prescript and continuance of time euen here also must they needes fall For their Masse with her reliques was neuer heard of within the space of fiue hundred yeeres at the least after Christ as a godly and learned man doeth auouche vnto them which if they coulde prooue he woulde haue subscribed vnto them and their transsubstantiation was neuer spoken of before the Council of Lateran and so all their trumpery hath bene patched together by Popes and Councils at diuers times Whereas wee can prooue our holy Communion euen from Christ and his Apostles vsing it in the same order with bread and wine in a knowen tongue as he did to his Apostles If their Masse be of such great antiquitie as they beare vs in hande it is great maruayle that the very name of it can not once be founde or read of in the Scriptures but it is an vnknowen name for an vnknowen thing Here we see antiquitie doeth confute them although antiquitie be not alwayes a good argument to prooue a matter by For if it were then murder shoulde be good which is as auncient as Cain the seconde man that was here vpon the earth Gen. 4. From the first king of Israel which was Ieroboam after that the kingdome was deuided in Solomons time vntill the last king of the same kingdome which was Hoshea the golden calues were still mainteyned which were erected first of all by Ieroboam and continued for the space of three hundred yeeres or there about And yet for all this was not their religion good although they receyued it still by tradition custome from their fathers by the prescript of so many yeeres For the Prophetes notwithstanding did still reprehende the idolatrous and wicked kinges for their superstitious worshipping of these calues which they shoulde not haue done if the argument of our Papistes bee good to bring and alleadge their forefathers custome traditions Councils and antiquitie for then Achab might haue sayde vnto Elias if this be true why doest thou reprehende me for this worshippe I haue receyued it from the first king Ieroboam and my fathers haue liued and dyed in it and I haue antiquitie to pleade for mee But Elias knewe well ynough that this was no argument and therefore tooke him vp sharpely as we may our Papistes although they haue had their Masses these seuen or eyght hundred yeeres Agayne if antiquitie or custome bee a generall rule to confirme a doctrine in religion then myght the Pagans and Ethnikes haue alleadged agaynst the Apostles these thinges when they came to preache Christ Iesus crucified vnto them and to alter their olde religion wherein they had continued so long Wee see then that antiquitie fauoureth them not at all neither yet can they father their Church and religion which they haue at Rome vpon the succession ordinarie descent of their Bishops and Popes seeing trueth goeth not by succession inheritance but by the grace and mercy of God But if succession of bishops and hie Priestes as they fayne from Peter to this time doeth prooue
the Church by a lineall descent to be with them why then should not the hye Priests in Christes time as Annas and Caiaphas Ananias in the time of the Apostles be the true Church for they had their succession from Aaron the first hie Priest ordayned by God himselfe and might haue obiected this to Christ and did also their lineall desceÌ„t from Abraham and yet they were of the synagogue of Satan Christ doeth call them blinde guides generation of vipers hypocrites fooles and doeth not take them for his Church but whippeth them all out of it rather We see then that succession is nothing to prooue the Church by for then the Scribes Pharises and hye Priestes shoulde haue bene of the Church in Christes time They obiect furthermore a generall consent and agreement to prooue the Church vnto vs but we know that a consent and agreemeÌ„t without God and this worde is rather a conspiracy then a consent But to cut off this visour also in a worde was not there a general coÌ„sent of al the people of yâ— Iewes with the chiefe elders also the Scribes the Pharisees the hie priests with Herode and Pilate in the time of Christ to condemne him to crucifie him For Luke reporteth saying TheÌ„ al the multitude cried at once saying away with him and deliuer to vs Barabbas and the voices of them and of the hie priestes preuailed Luk. 23. Behold here was a whole and vniuersall consent agreement and yet for all that it was against the trueth euen Iesus Christ the author of al trueth But do they agree among them selues are they not at variance yet what purgatorie should be some appointing it to be fire some water some I se and snowe Were not the Dominican friers against the Franciscans about the conceptioÌ„ of the virgin Marie deuided Are they agreed about the matter of the sacrament some holding that he is there onely in qualitie some in qualitie quantitie too Doe they agree in the number order of their Popes and bishops Platina differing froÌ„ Eusebius some appointing mo and some lesse Are not fathers against fathers and councils against councils Popes against Popes aâ—â— regorie against them all in the name of the vniuer sall bishop which he iustly thinketh to be the name of Antichrist And yet shall we thinke they doe agree or that they can not erre or that these things aboue rehearsed as multitude antiquitie with custome consent traditions succession ancient fathers generall councils are sufficient proofes of the church to bee with them Councils haue erred and bene contrary one to an other for the couÌ„cil of CoÌ„stantinople ordained that images should not be had in the church after that the couÌ„cill of Nice the second erected them and decreed that they shoulde bee had and worshipped They also go about to proue their church by the authoritie of Doctors of the Churche but it is manifest that they haue all erred bin deceiued in some point or other yea euen of doctrine so that they are not to be rules notes to knowe this church by for they are but men haue now or theÌ„ in doctrine not only in maners slipped from the truth Ireneus Victorinus Lactantius subscribed to the opinion of the Millinaries which thought that Christ after the day of iudgement should raigne with his for a thousand yeeres here vpon earth being deceiued with the place of Iohn Reuel 20. not wel vnderstoode where as hee doth interprete that M. yeere in another place for euer Reue. 22. Augustine thought that all children dying without baptisme were damned which is an heresie Epiphanius defendeth that it was a tradition of the Apostles six dayes before Easter to eate nothing but bread and salt Ierom condemned the second mariages of men and counted them al a thing most absurde and erronious no better then fornication By these things then the church is not discerned neither is glorie pompe honor riches externall beauty and outward successe and happines any note of this church of Christ as the Papistes will beare vs in hande by reason of their glistering and glorious church of Rome The contrary thinges are markes of Christs Churche as pouertie affliction no shewe to the eye or any externall felicitie For Christ hath sayde his churche shall be vnder the crosse and not in any beauty or gorgeousnes to the outward eye of the worlde The harlot strumpet goeth most commonly better trimmed and decked in apparell then the honest woman and matrone of an house so is the whorish church of Rome it hath all things for to please well the outward senses to allure men vnto her It hath for the eare her delicate musicke singing piping organs and ringing of bels and this in excesse also It hath for the nose sweet smels frankinsense and such like For the eyes it hath to please them goodly copes crosses of siluer and golde pictures of Christ and many images of saintes with such like baggage and foolish trashe and for the belly to delite idle lubbers and loyterers there was good chere kept in abbeyes and monasteries but in the meane season what was all this to feede the hungry soules surely nothing The worde of Christ was then gone from them yea Christ him selfe was shut out with them and his mother Marie more sought to more prayed to and more esteemed then he him selfe Here were al things for the body and by this they would proue vnto vs that they were yâ— true church Wel if we would know the church let vs thinke it to be there where two or three are gathered together in Christes name and howe should they bee gathered together without his word and commandement And this agreeth to yâ— saying of S. Augustine If they will here admit him He that will knowe saith he which is the true church of Christ he can not know it by any other meanes then onely by the scriptures We see here how resolute he is in this case Ex homilia 49. operis imperfecti in Matth. And againe he saith Christians willing to receiue the stedfastnes of a true faith let theÌ„ fly to nothing but to the scriptures Otherwise if they looke vnto other things they shal be offended and perishe not vnderstanding which is the true church and so they shall fall into the abomination of desolation which standeth in the holy places of the church How we may plainely vnderstand what are the signes of the true church and what also are the bodies of the church of Antichrist at Rome euen murdering of the saints of Christ contempt of the word and sacrameÌ„ts worldly prosperitie with a multitude of ill men with sworde to defend it Furthermore this church that it may be the better knowen of vs therfore hath it diuers and sundry names in the scriptures lest we should be deceiued by yâ— false church It is called yâ— sheepfold of Christ doing vs to vnderstand that those yâ— belong