of the highest wherein they shaldwell this is the holie mountaine wherein they shall rest that walke vprightly and worke righteousnesse and speake the truth in their heart Here lette vs consider the rages and tempests of a troubled minde and of an vnquiet conscience which knoweth that GOD is an auenger of all wickednesse and that death is the due rewarde of sinne which acknowledgeth him selfe to be a sinner and findeth no way howe he shall escape Hell fire This man when he thinketh with him selfe of these things hée can not but be amazed and disquieted aboue measure The sounde of the Trumpet is euer in his eares he heareth the voice of the Judge saying stand foorth sinner now declare how thou hast vsed thy bodie giue a reckoning of thy whole life Then his conscience beginneth to quake and tremble Then he néedeth no witnesse to accuse him nor iudge to condemn him Hée is both witnesse and iudge against himselfe The daunger hereof maie somewhat appeare in those which are taken and prisoned and arraigned before a Judge When hée knoweth him selfe guiltie heareth the euidence prwued against him séeth the Judge seuere to deale iustice without mercie and therfore is assured of death what griefe and torment féeleth he at heart what would he not giue what would he not doe to scape the danger But the danger whereunâ—… God iudgeth vs is greater And the maner of his iudgement is straighter Here the Judge maie be deceiued he is but a man but there GOD is the Judge who is the searcher of the heart and raines and no man shall be hidde from his heate Here nothing can be done without euidence without witnesses and proofe before God he that hath offended shall accuse himselfe This is the case of conscience It selfe is witnesse it selfe caâ—…eth for iudgement to condemnation His conscience shall make the sinner say I haue offended against God I haue despised his word would not giue care to learne it I would not knowe the time of Gods mercie and of my visitation I liued in fornication and committed theft and kept wrongfully other mens goods I was disobedient to parents nourtered not my children in the feare of God kept not my heart from doing iniquitie I abused my goods my wits my senses and the good grace of God I haue sinned against heauen and against God and am not worthie to be called his sonne the wrath of God is worthily fallen vpon me hel fire is my méede the mercie of God can not saue me for my sinne is greater than that it can be forgiuen Mine owne hart conscience heauen and earth the angels and archangels God himselfe and Christ the redéemer of them that beléeue in him are against me I can not cast mine eyes to any place but euer I sée my damnation before me Then doth he tremble with agony and stande in feare His hart dasheth and beateth as the waues of the sea He sâ—…leth vprore warre lightning thoÌ„der death and hel in his heart hée shal flée when no man followeth him He shal sayâ—… to the hilles and rockes fal on me and hide me from the presence of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lambe Such is the terrour of an vnquiet mindâ—… Though al the princes in the world would ioyne themselues to do it The wicked can neuer enioy peace God kéepe vs far from such agonies and giue vs pure hearts and cleare consciences CHAP. 4. ANd furthermore wee beseech you bretheren and exhort you in the Lord lesus that ye increase more and more as yee haue receiued of vs how ye ought to walke and to please God 2. For ye knowe what commaundementes we gaue you by the Lord Iesus WE commaunde you not nor vse any force but entreat you with all pacience and méekenesse that yée wil loue your owne soules and thinke and doe those thinges which please God You are they to whom the promise was made God hath called you out of darkenesse into his maruailous light He hath not dealt so with euery nation neither haue they knowen his iudgementes Wee come not to you in our owne name We haue charge to preach y e gospell to al nations Therefore we speake vnto you in y e name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We shewe you the way that you may walke in it we declare vnto you the wil of God that you may be saued For yet wil the Lorde waite that he may haue mercie vpon you and therefore wil he be exalted that he may haue compassion vpon you sayeth the Prophet Esay Wee haue opened vnto you that whole treasure of Gods mercie We haue lead you to the throne of grace and made you sée the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the worlde We haue preached vnto you remission and forgiuenesse of your sinnes through his name If you haue hearde vs and beléeue you shal be saued If any man preach vnto you otherwise than that you haue receiued let him be accursed How ye ought to walke and please God It is not ynough that ye beléeue Ye must also walke and liue according to knowledge This is the wil of God For we are his workemanship created in Christ Iesus vnto good workes which GOD hath ordained that wee should walke in them For the grace of God hath appeared that bringeth saluation vnto al men teacheth vs that wee should liue soberly and righteously and godly in this life Looking for the blessed hope appearing of the glorie of the mighty God of our Sauiour Iesus Christ. In this sort hath our teaching béene among you That you might shewe foorth your faith by your works That it auaileth you nothing to say you haue faith if you haue no workes because the faith that hath no workes is dead This we are taught by the words of our Lord Iesus he sayth Not euery one that sayeth vnto me Lorde Lorde shal enter into the kingdome of heauen but he that doeth my fathers wil that is in heauen Againe Euerie tree that bringeth not foorth good fruite is hewen downe and cast into the fire The seruaunt that knoweth his maisters wil and doeth it not shal be beaten with manie stripes Thus hath our Lorde commaunded vs to be like our father which is in heauen to let our light so shine before men that they may sée our good workes Thus the Apostle taught Thus the church of God this day teacheth It requireth faith as the instrument and meanes to apply the merites and passion of Iesus Christ for our saluation and good workes as fruits and witnesses of our faith Whosoeuer learneth aright and beléeneth the gospell as he ought groweth and goeth forwarde from vertue to vertue If be were ignorant before he commeth thereby to knowledge If hee were weake he groweth in strength If hée were wicked he turneth vnto gedlinesse V. 3. For this is the wil of God euen your holinesse and that yee should
is a doctrine of Diuelles not of Christ or of God but of diuels It is a gulfe it is a sea it is a world it is a hel of iniquitie and the vilest vilanie that euer crept into the Church of GOD. Hierome expounding the wordes of Daniel Hee shall haue no regarde to the desires of women saith Faciliâ—… interpretatio est de Antichristo quodideo simulâ—… castitatem vt plurimos decipiat The better exposition here of is to applie these words to Antichrist for that he shal pretend chastitie that he may deceiue manie This is the mysterie of iniquitie This is the practise of Antichrist Heshall come with a cloake of counterfaited chastitie not with true chastitie hath in bodie and also in spirite but with counterseit chastitie and so shall deceiue the hearts of manie Who would thinke there were any euil in single communisn Dâ—… why maie not euerie bodie folow his own deuotion and receiue the sacrament when he wil what harme is herein It may séeme to be done for the reuerence vnto the sacrament least it shoulde growe in contempt if it were vsed often These reasons are faire and fresh but this is a mysterie and a practise of Antichrist For by this meanes haue they shut out the faithfull people of God and made them negligent carlesse for the receiuing of the Lords supper they abused the Church of the liuing God they turned the remembrance of the death of Christ into a Maigame they made the people commit horrible and open idolatrie to worship the creature in stead of the Creator which is God blessed for euer Who would thinke there were anie euil in the keies of the Church They are the expounding of the law and the disclosing of the wil of God They are the chiefest comfort of our conscience But Antichrist shall take those keies vnto himselfe and shall build vppe his owne kingdome with them He shall shut that God hath opened and shal open that God hath shut This is also the mysterie of iniquitie Who would thinke there were any euil in godlie praiers of the Church Christ saieth Watch and praie for you knowe not in what houre your Maister wil come And againe Praie thou to thy father which is in secrete and thy father which seeth thee in secrete shall rewarde thee openly And againe Aske and ye shall receiue seeke and ye shall find knocke and it shall be opened vnto you Saint Paule saith Praie without ceasing The Prophet Dauid saith The Lord is nigh vnto al them that call vpon him to al that call vpon him faithfully For the Lord will heare the praiers of his Saints and deliuer them when they call vpon him These praiers shall Antichrist take to worke his iniquitie And vnder pretence of them shall deuour widowes houses and shal make a net of them to fish and drag for al the riches of the world This is also the mysterie of iniquitie Who would think there were so great euil in the doctrine of Purgatorie What if one thought that his father or friend died in some beniall sinne and were chastised somewhile in purgatorie â—…ire and that he might be reléeued by praiers For this iolie pretence and imagination haue they thereof What if one should so thinke what hurt were it Brethren this is the mysterie of al mysteries the secrete of al secrets In this standeth the countenance and al the welfare of Antichrist He hath impropried the whole kingdome of Purgatorie to himselfe and hath made it more gainefull than heauen and earth There he selleth praiers there he maketh port sale of buls and pardons there he selleth forgiuenesse of sinnes à culpa poena He selleth the mercies of GOD the bloud of the Martyres the workes of supererogation the merits of his fratries the bloud of Christ. There he selleth paradise deliuerance or assurance from hel and entrance into heauen he maketh marchandise of the soules of the people This is the alonelie mysterie aboue al other mysteries Who would thinke there were anie euill in the name of the Church It is the witnesse bearer vnto the gospel It is the pillar of truth It is the spouse of Christ. Yet saith Christ Antichrist shall come in my name He shall séems holie he shall talke of the gospel he shall carie the face of the church and deceiue many This is a mysterie Who would thinke it a matter of so great inconuenience for a man to call the Bishop of Rome the greatest Bishop or the chiefest Patriarke and the highest Iudge and to say that al appeales lie vnto him what hurt may this be It séemeth a small matter a matter of nothing But it is a practise it is a secret and a mysterie Hence flowed al the streames of vanitie and presumption wherein he aduaunceth himselfe Hence it is that he saith I am aboue Kings and Emperours I am aboue generall counsels I am aboue the whole Church of Christ. I am aboue the Angels of God I haue power to commaunde and to countermaunde them at my pleasure I am the succssour of Peter I am the vicar of Christ. No man may iudge me whatsoeuer I doe I can not erre General councels might erre the Apostles might erre the Angels of God might erre but I can not erre I haue the fulnesse of power The whole worlde is my dioresse Whosoeuer is saued is vnder me Who so euer is not vnder me is cursed of God I am the light of the worlde I can in a manner doe whatsoeuer God can doe Al these spéeches are writen are printed are published and proclaimed abroade This is a mysterie of iniquitie this is a déepe secrete These are the verie waies and steppes of Antichrist God giue vs eyes to see them and heartes that we may discerne them Paule did sée this mysterie working euen in that time hee liued Iohn sayeth Diotrephes loueth to haue the preeminence To lift vp himselfe aboue his brethren to be the head of the Church and to beare a maisterie So Paule espied contentions in Corinth Euerie one of you saith I am Paules and I am Apollos and I am Cephas and I am Christs These were the beginnings of Antichrist But Paule sayeth Wee preach not our selues but Christ Iesus the Lorde and our selues your seruantes for Iesus sake So the true Disciples of Christ recken not themselues any thing but the meÌ„bers one of an other but the ministers by whoÌ„ the people beléeue but witnesses chosen before of God but such as are commanded to preach but Gods labourers Nowe let vs consider these markes of Antichrist Was there euer any which hath forbidden laweful marriage and accounted it a state of life which is vncleane and not méete for his holinesse and deceiued the world with counterfaite chastitie the same is Antichrist For Hierome telleth vs Antichrist shal pretend chastitie that he may deceiue manie and Paule calleth forbidding of Marriage the doctrine of Diuels Was there euer any
mightie Kinges and Princes and powers and states of the worlde as S. Iohn hath sayde And Gregorie hath sayde An armie of Priestes is prepared to waite vpon the king of pride And here by may you knowe him What armour shal they haue and with what weapon shal they fight Antichrist shall furnish his men with speare and sworde and fire He shal reioyce in killing in burning and in shedding of bloâ—…d Christ shal send his men into the field naked and armed with pacience They shal take vppe their crosse and followe him readie to suffer whatsoeuer shal be layde vppon them Their weapons shal be prayers and wéeping What shal be the pretense of this fight Antichrist shal come in his owne name to maintaine and exalt himselfe Christ shal come in his fathers name to mainetaine the glorie of his father What shal they séeke wherefore fight they what is it they shal desire to mainetaine Antichrist shall desire to mainetaine his owne traditions Christ shal maintaine the holy worde of God Christ shal procure the glory of his father Antichrist shal maintaine his owne glory In what place shal this battaile be vpon what downes or plaine or in what countrey Neither in hill nor in anie plaine but in the hearts of the people There shall the warre be There shall it be fought If it were possible the elect should be confounded His assault shall be so terrible that manie shall be offended in Christ manie shall denie Christ manie shall be ashamed of him and the loue of manie shall waxe colde But blessed is he which continueth to the end We haue heard briefly of Christ and Antichrist their estates their seuerall cognisance what bands of meÌ„ they shall haue what armor they shal beare by what title they shall claime what they shal séeke where the fight shal be that it shalbe made in the consciences of y e people There shall Antichrist sit there shall he be worshipped as God there they shall call him the holie and most holie father there shalbe giuen to him the power of heauen and earth there he himselfe shall rouze himselfe and be setled and shal say I sit as a Prince I shal neuer be remooued I cannot fall But Christ shal blow him down with the breath of his mouth and shal abolish him with the brightnesse of his comming Christ shall haue the vpper haÌ„d and destroy him Euen that Christ whome they made the reproch scorne of the people whom they reuiled calling him drunkard and companion vnto Publicans harlots which was so poore simple which was oppressed and afflicted and yet opened not his mouth which was brought as a shéep to y e slaughter was killed S. Iohn had a reuelation and did sée Iesus Christ the sonne of God And Hee had in his right hand seauen starres and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword It was sharpe and mightie it entreth thorow euen to the diuiding asunder of the soule and the spirite and of the ioints and the marow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart So we sée the breath of the mouth of Christ is a sword This sword shal ouerthrow Antichrist RemeÌ„ber how Dagon sell on his face vpon the ground before the Arke of the Lord how hée could not stand how at that presence the head and the two palmes of his hands were cut off vpon the threshold with a fall So shall Antichrist fall at the presence of Christ. His armes and his head shal be broken off and he shal not stand Remember that Aaron cast forth his rod before Pharao and his seruaÌ„ts and it was turned into a serpent so did the charmers of Aegypt They cast down euerie man his rod and they were also turned into serpents But Aarons rod deuoured their rods consumed them to nothing Euen so shall the truth of Christ consume and bring to nothing the falshood of Antichrist Al his glorie shall be scattered as the chaffe which the wind driueth awaie as a thinne some is scattered away with a storme and as the smoke which is dispersed with the wind and as the darknes which can not abide in the sight of the sunne it shal be consumed it shal be defaced it shall not stand At the name of Iesus euerie knée shall how euery tongue shall confesse that Iesus Christ is mightie to the glorie of God the father that he is worthy to receiue glorie and honor and power But who may better disclose this mysterie and the fall of Antichrist than Iohn the Euangelist which leaned on Iesus bosome whome Iesus loued and which was indued with wisdome from aboue Let vs heare him I saw saith he an Angel slie in the midst of heauen hauing an euerlasting gospell to preach vnto them that dwell on the earth and to euery nation and kinred and tongue and people saying with a loud voice Feare God giue glorie to him for the houre of his iudgement is come worship him that made heauen earth and the sea the fountains of waters And there folowed another Angell saying It is fallen it is fallen Babilon y e great city for she made al nations to drinke of the wine of the wrath of her fornication And the third Angel folowing theÌ„ said with a loud voice If any man worship the beast and his image and receiue his marke in his forehead or on his hand the same shall drinke the wine of the wrath of God and shall be tormented in fire and brimstone before the holie Angels and before the holie Lamb they shall haue no rest daie nor night Againe the seauenth Angel poured out his viall into the aire and there came a loud voice out of the Temple of heauen from the throne saying It is done That is it is concluded iudgement is giuen it shall stande for euer And there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and there was a great earthquake and the great citie was rent into thrée partes and great Babylon came in remembrance before God to giue vnto her the cup of the wine of the fiercenesse of his wrath Then one of the Angels talked with me saying Come I wil shewe thée the damnation of the great whore that sitteth vppon manie waters with whom haue committed fornication the Kings of the earth the inhabitants of the earth are drunken with the wine of her fornication And in the same Chapter he saith These haue al one mind shal giue their power and authoritie to the beast that is to Antichrist Thus the kings al princes as squiers to his bodie shall fight against the lamb But the lamb shal ouercome them for he is lord of lords and king of kings I saw an other Angel comming down from heauen hauing great power so that the earth was lightned with his glorie and he cried out mightily with a loud voice saying It is fallen it is fallen Babylon
your sakes What coulde you aske of me moreâ—… what greater gift coulde I bestowe vppon you V. 11. And ye know how that we exhorted you and comforted and besought euerie one of you as a father his children 12. That ye would walke worthie of God who hath called you to his kingdome and glorie I tooke care of you as of mine owne soule and dealt with you by alwayes of comfort and erhortation that you would take héede vnto your selues and your calling I did put you in minde that you were placed in the middest of the vnfaithfull people which knewe not God and that they watched you and your doing that their eye was vpon your housholde your wiues your seruauntes and your children vpon your selues and your words to espie if they might finde any occasion to speake euil of you I did beséech you by the glorious comming of our Lorde and sauiour Jesus Christ that the name of God might not be il spoken of through you You can not denie this You must néedes confesse you haue thus béene taught Ignorance can not be your excuse What remaineth then but that you performe it For the seruaunt that knoweth his maisters wil and doth it not shal be beaten with many stripes As a father his children What maner care is it that the father taketh of his children Many men are fathers of children but what man taketh the care he ought to take for them pastours or teachers of the people should be affected towardes their people as fathers are to their natural children Let such as are fathers and haue children knowe in what sort they must be careful Your children are a good blessing of God they bée members of the bodie of Christ the sonnes of God The kingdome of heauen belongeth to them God hath appointed his Angels to guide and leade them and to â—…ield them from euil and their Angels be in the presence of God and doe beholde the face of their father which is in heauen They be fresh plantes of the Church Who knoweth what necessarie instruments they may be in the common wealth and in the house of God It is not ynough to féede them and to nourish theyr bodies with necessarie sustenaunce For this do the heathen that knowe not God and the sauage and brute beastes and the birdes which haue no vnderstanding They bréede vp their young ones and are tender and paineful to prouide for them The asse though she be dul the Beare and Lion though they be wilde and cruel yet séeke they farre and néere to get wherewith to helpe their young Therefore if there be anie or can bee any which doeth forsake and leaue his owne he is more beastly than the foolish Asse and more vnnatural than most cruel Beares and Lions and Tigres But in this part men are for the most part ouer careful For this cause many build their houses with bloud and séeke possessions by iniquitie they ioyne house to house and fielde to fielde and wil dwel alone vpon the earth they oppresse the poore and néedie and doe wrong to the widowe and the fatherlesse they make money their God and spoyle one an other and al to prouide for their children This is the couer and cloake for al their misthiefe they may not leaue their children vnprouided Unhappie are the fathers which in this sort care for their children by the ruine spoyle of the néedy and innocent and so breake the commandement of God because their portion shal be with the wicked in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone And vnhappie are their children because they are partakers of their fathers wickednesse and therefore shal also be partakers of punishment with them The Prophet Dauid sayth I haue seene the wicked strong and spreading himselfe like a greene Bay tree Yet hee passed away and loe he was gone and I sought him but hee could not be found His roote was déepe his stocke strong his braunches broade he spread ouer and shadowed the whole countrey yet he passed away He departed his sonnes died his house soone decayed and his name was in little time quite forgotten Oh howe much better then is it to furnish the mindes of your children and to instruct them in godlinesse to teach them to knowe God to leade their life vertuously and to rebuke them and correct them for dealing il The beginning of wisedome is the feare of God Let them then learne what that good and acceptable wil of God is Shewe them the way in which they should walke that they goe neither to the right hande nor to the left The worde of God is pure and giueth vnderstanding to the simple it is a light to their footesteps it teacheth those that are young to amende their wayes When Christ came into Ierusalem the young children receiued him They cryed Ozanna to the sonne of Dauid Blessed is he that commeth in the name of the Lorde Christ giâ—…eth witnesse of them By the mouth of babes and sucklinges hast thou set foorth thy praise The wordes of the little and simple children were able to confounde the wisedome of the Pharise is Thus were they taught from their cradle so careful were their godly parents for them Contrariwise they can not haue any wisedome that despise the lawe of the Lord. They become blinde and wicked abhominable in al their waies They haue no sense nor féeling of the wil of God They cannot know light froÌ„ darkenesse nor God from Belial Such were the little children that mocked the Prophet Elizeus and said to him Come vp thou baulde head come vp thou bauld head Their bringing vp was no better Their wicked fathers had taught theÌ„ nothing elâ—… but waÌ„tonnes But the wrath of God fel vppon them and there were destroyed by two Beares two and fortie of them An other care which a father ought to haue of his children is to leade them vp in the studie of vertue and of godly life Blessed are the pure in heart for they shal see God They which kéepe not this way are the children of wrath Herein standeth the whole profession of a Christian life For God hath not called vs to vncleanesse but vnto holinesse This is the wil of God and this is our promise made vnto him that wee serue him in holynesse and righteousnesse al the dayes of our life that we encrease in vertue and growe from grace to grace A good and louing father which sendeth his sonne to a daungerous iourney either by sea or lande first instructeth him with aduise and telleth him in what sort hée shal auoyde perils Take héede sayth he the way is perilous which thou must passe The sea is terrible The waues rise vp as high as heauen and by and by thou shalt sée a pit as lowe as hel The sandes may swallowe thée the rockes may destroy thée Thou shalt passe by huge mountaines and through wildernesse where théeues wil assault thée Thy heart wil quake
vnto the resurrection of life but they that haue doone euill vnto the resurrection of condemnation And againe I am the resurrection and the life hee that beleeueth in mee though hee were dead shal liue and whosoeuer liueth and beleeueth in me shall neuer die For if wee beleeue that Iesus is dead and is risen that he was deliuered to death for our sinnes and is risen againe for our iustification if we beléeue that he is ascended vp into heauen and sitteth at the right hand of GOD his father he will also raise vp our mortall bodies and bring vs with him Nowe Christ is risen from the dead and was made the firste fruites of them that sleepe He is our head wée are his bodie Wee are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone Hée hath giuen vs his Spirite to dwell in vs. But if anie man hath not the Spirite of Christ the same is not his Christ our head liueth His bodie then can not he dead Where I am sayeth he there shall also my seruaunt be Wherefore if we be dead with Christ we beleeue that wee shal liue also with him What then shal become of the infidelles which haue no faith which haue not the spirit of God Shal not they rise againe Yes verily They shal rise but not with Christ. They shal not rise the resurrection of the iust Some shal rise vnto life some vnto death some to saluation others to damnation some to glory others to shame Wee must al appeare before the iudgement seate of Christ that euerie man may receiue the thinges which are doone in his bodie according to that he hath doone whether it be good or euil The wicked shal rise vp again with their bodies and their portion shal be with the Diuel and his Angels they shal come foorth of their graues to the resurrection of condemnation their bodie and soule shal be cast into hel fire Their worme shal neuer die their fire shal not be quenched It had béen better for them they had neuer béene borne V. 15. For this say we vnto you by the word of the Lord that we which liue and are remaining in the comming of the Lorde shal not preuent them that sleepe 16. For the Lorde himselfe shal descende from heauen with a shout and with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ shal rise first This that we declare vnto you is not of our selues It is the truth of God it shal stand good be found true for euer God wil raise our bodies out of the graue 〈◊〉 restore theÌ„ from death to life You may not reason howe or in what order this shal be doone or who shal be the first or the seconde or the third that shal rise vp in the resurrection Such questions are unfit and not to be moued We shal al be chaunged in a moment in the twinckling of an eye At that houre some shalve aliue and some shal be dead For he shal come to iudge both the quicke and the dead We that are remaining in the comming of the Lorde shal not preuent them that sleepe Neither is their part better in the resurrection that shal then be founde aliue nor their part worse that haue béene dead manis yeares before For they which were dead shal as soone be partakers of the glory of the sonnes of God as the other Touching the state of men that shal liue in the end of the world Christ sayth As the daies of Noe so likewise shal the comming of the sonne of man be I doubt not but you remeÌ„ber the storie what dreadful plague of rain tempest fel when al the world was drowned and destroyd with water Vice and vngodlines encreased and al flesh had corrupt his way vpon earth They had no shame there was no feare of God before their eyes Gods wrath was kindled against them He sent Noah a preacher of righteousnes to reforme them to tel them of the destructioÌ„ at hand that they might repent and be saued But they regarded it not They laught Noah to scorne grewe desperate and continued in sinne Sodenly al the fountaines of the great déepe were broken vp the windowes of heauen were opened As they were eating drinking buying selling building purchasing stirring and trauailing as they were in the middest of their ioyes trauailes and pleasures the raine came vpon them and the flouds grewe so great that it destroyed the whole worlde except Noah and a fewe of his companie Their landes their goods Cities Castles nor any other their pleasure or wealth could saue them so shal it be in the comming of Christ. As it was in the daies of Lot and as it betel to Sodome and Gomortha they liued and increased in filthinesse Their heartes were blind and regarded no counsel Their bodies were filthie their soules their liues their houses cities were ful of filthinesse The Angel of God departed from them Loth went out from among them and fire came downe from heauen and consumed them to ashes and caried them downe quick into hel There was no father left to lament his child no child left to lament his father So shal it be at the comming of Christ. He shal come as a théefe sodenly when no man looketh for his comming he shal come at such season when mens harts wil be asléepe and thinke not of him S. Peter sayeth There shal come in the last dayes mockers which will walke after their lustes and say where is the promise of his comming for since the fathers dyed al things continue alike from the beginning of the creation They skorne the threatninges of Gods indgement When shal the world come to an ende We haue winter and sommer raine snow day and night as before The sonne kéepeth his course the fioudes runne the frâ—… beare fruit al things are as they haue béene O sayth Peter know this that god hath made the heauen and earth and al the furniture in them They are his creatures he doth holde theÌ„ vp and preserue them by the power of his word When God shal withdrawe his word they shal decay and haue an ende As for our Lorde he shal come and not tarie at his comming heauen shal depart away as a scrol that is rold the element shal melt with heat and the earth with the works that are therin shal be burnt vp and consumed before his face Deceiue not your selues with lying wordes For when you say peace peace and al thinges are safe then shal sodaine destruction come vpon you Then two men shal be in the fieldes the one shal bee receiued and the other refused Two women shal be grinding at the mil the one shall be receiued and the other refused So shal also the comming of the sonne of man â—…ée The number of the faithful that shal remain at his comming shal not be many So sayth Christ When the sonne
of man commeth shal he finde faith on the earth S. Iohn prophecying of that day sayth The sunne was as blacke as sackecloath of hayre and the Moone was like bloud The beautie of the Church shal be defaced the light of the Gospel shal be put out Then shal few be left of those that shal behold the glory of God These shal giue witnesse vnto the truth And albeit they be but few yet are they ynough to condemne the vngodlinesse of the wicked We shal not go in rowtes for we shal be but few we shal then be in the bodie and liue in this world and looke vp and sée these things yet when the Lord shal come we shal not preuent them that sléepe Although we liue and they were dead yet shal they be as readie as we Why For the Lord himselfe shal descend with a shout c. Here is laide before vs the true maner of the terrible iudgement of God For our better vnderstanding let vs compare heauen with earth and the iudgement of God with the iudgement of men The Judges sitte on high accōpanied with noble men and Justices attended on with Constables and baylifes and the state presence of the countrey the théefe is brought foorth piniond and bound in chaines and fetters The poore wretch standeth in great feare his conscience accuseth him and sayth thou didst steale thou art worthie to die The boyce of the Judge is as a blast of thunder the face of the Judge terrible to him as hel fire But the innocent that is wrongfully imprisoned and hath not offended he séeth himselfe cleare his conscience ercuseth him and therefore reioyceth at the comming of the Judges He thought it long before they came These saith he wil strike off my shackles and set me at libertie Their voice vnto him is as the voyce of life he beholdeth them and they are as the angels of God Such shal bee the shewe and sight of the sonne of GOD he shal come downe with maiestie from heauen the Trumpet of God shal sounde and be hearde from the one ende of the heauen to the other and whosoeuer shal heare it shal quake for feare Then shal he be the iudge ouer al flesh Then be shal shew him selfe to be King of Kings and Lorde of Lords Then shal he not come in humilitie méeke nesse and mercy but with dread and terrour of iudgement and iustice Not with twelue poore Apostles but with twelue thousande Angels to attende vpon him Not in the preaching of the Gospel calling sinners to repentance but in the sounde of a Trumpet wherewith al the corners of the earth shal be amazed Then shal he not say come vnto mee al ye that trauaile and be loaden and I wil refresh you I am sent to the lost Shéepe of Israel He shal not say Father forgiue them for they knowe not what they do But you haue béene ashamed of me and of my worde before men therefore now wil I be ashamed of you before my heauenly father Then shal they that despired y e word of God know what they despised and the blasphemers shal reape the fruit of their blasphemie Then the carelesse Sheaphearde which hath not fed the Lords shéepe but neglected them and left them at al aduentures which hath betrayed his flocke and giuen them to bee a praie vnto the Woolfe shal receiue a iust rewarde for his treason Then the adulterer oppressour and Vsnrer shal haue their life layde open before them Then shal euerie eye sée him They shal see him whome they pearced through they shal sée his woundes which they did not regarde They shal sée his Sworde readie drawen to slaie all his enemies and shal fal downe for feare of him that sitteth vpon the throne and of the Lambe But the harts of the righteous shal reioyce They shal lift vp their heades and sée him in whome they haue trusted Then they shal say this is the day which the Lorde hath made let vs reioice and be glad in it Come let vs reioice vnto the Lord let vs come before his face with praise lette vs sing lowde vnto him with Psalmes Such shal be the state and countenaunce and honour and maiestie of our God when he shal come downe from heauen for our deliueraunce And the dead in Christ shal rise first The earth shal open yéelde foorth her dead bodies that so they may be ready with vs that remain to go before the presence of our iudge Which are dead in Christ. Who are they They whom he chose out of this world and which haue chosen God for their portion whome God hath sealed vnto the day of redemption Which haue saide Christ is to me both in life death aduantage And I liue not I now but Christ liueth in me And againe whether we liue or bie we are the Lords Which say I haue boūd my selfe to serue the Lord all the daies of my life They are dead in Christ which commend them selues wholie vnto him and say O Lord in thée haue I trusted let mée neuer be confounded I desire to be losed and to be with Christ. Into thy handes O Lord I commend my spirite thou hast redéemed mée O Lord of truth To be shorte whosoeuer liueth in the Lord he dieth in the Lord. He in whom Christ liueth which hath a tast and féeling of Christ in his heart he that reioiceth in Christ and looketh for that blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the mightie God and of our sauiour Jesus Christ he is a shéepe of his pasture he is a member of his bodie he is the apple of his eie he liueth and dieth in Christ. Blessed is he that so liueth and so dieth for he shall rise with Christ in the resurrestion of the righteous and shal haue his part in the land of the liuing V. 17. Then shal we which liue and remaine be caught vp with them also in the cloudes to meete the Lord in the aire and so shal wee euer be with the Lord. 18. Wherefore comfort your selues one another with these wordes We which shall sée al these things shal also be caught vp our selues But here you must note that Paul speaketh not this of his owne person and of them that liued in his time as if they should continue aliue vntil the ende or that the world should haue an ende before they should die but he sheweth what shal be the state of such whosoeuer shal then remaine aliue And againe marke that he saith not we which liue and remaine shall die soorthwith or our bodies shall be turned into dust and so our soules alone go to méete the Lorde but whether we be standing or sitting doing well or ill occupied Wee shall be caught vp For the Trumpet shall sodainely blow and then the dead shall rise and we shall be changed So saith Saint Paul Behold I shew you a secrete thing we shal not al sleepe but wee shal
al be changed In a moment in y e twinkling of an eie shal they that are dead arise and we shall be changed This our mortall bodie shall be changed and shal put on immortalitie this corruptible bodie shal be changed and put on incorruption Christ wil change our earthly bodies to the likenesse of his glorious heauenly bodie Then shall our flesh be pure and heauenly and spirituall and we shall be able to behold the glorie of God Then shall be brought to passe the saying that is written death is swalowed vp into victorie O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victorie To meete the Lord in the aire c. This is a comfortable end of al troubles and persecutions which the godlie suffer in this life that they be receiued into the glorie of God and that both their bodie and soule doth liue with him and enioy his presence for euer Then shall they eate of the trée of life which is in the middest of the paradise of GOD. They shal hunger no more nor thirst any more neither shal the sunne light on them nor anie heate God shal wipe away al teares from their eies Then shal they féele those ioies which eie hath not séene nor eare hath heard nor hath entred into the heart of man Such an end shal they haue whosoeuer feare the Lord. Comfort your selues one another with these wordes You sée the turmoiles and troubles of the world what vexations and afflictions Sathan raiseth vp against al those that will liue godlie Open and notorious sinners are â—…borne Theft adulterie vsurie extortion wilfull murther rebellion treason are many times pardoned and vnpunished but true religion which is the turning from idols to serue the true and liuing God and faith in Jesus Christ that by him we shall be deliuered from the wrath to come findeth feâ—…e friends and seldome escapeth without strange and most cruel tormeÌ„ts What is this but to crucifie the Lord of glory and to set Barrabas a murtherer at libertie Dauid saith The Kings of the earth band themselues and the Princes are assembled together against the Lord and against his annointed They séeke to spoile the vine of the Lord and to destroy his little flocke They vse al meanes to put out the light of the Gospel But be you of good chéere coÌ„tinue you stedfast in the truth your redemption is euen at hand You shal be caught vp in the cloudes to méete the Lord and so shall abide with him for euer Let euerie neighbour comfort his neighbour and euery father his childe let vs al one comfort an other with these words CHAP. 5. BVt of times and seasons brethren you haue no neede that I write vnto you 2 For yee your selues know perfectly that the daie of the Lord shal come as a theefe in the night 3 For when they shal say peace and safetie then shal come vpon them sodaine destruction as the trauaile vpon a woman with child and they shal not escape WHen the Disciples came vnto Christ a part and saide Tel vs when these things shall be and what signe shal be of thy comming and of the ende of the world hee answered Take heede least anie man deceiue you It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the father hath put in his owne power For of that daie and houre knoweth no man no not the Angels which are in heauen neither the sonne himselfe saue the Father vere not your spirite in vaine Séeke not for that you may not knowe you shall not be able to finde it Therefore saith Paul I néede not write of times and seasons in which these things shall be done Your selues haue béene taught the word of God you haue learned what his wil is you know the day of the Lord shal come vpon you as a théefe And how commeth a théefe not in the day time not when a man hath company about him not when he is watched but in the night in the darkenesse when al light is out when the good man of the house taketh his rest when the seruants are asléepe Euen so when the light of the truth is taken away when the hart of the goodman of the house is at rest and his eies are darkened that they cannot sée and al his senses drowned in worldlie pleasures when we care for nothing and think of nothing when we say peace and safety then wil the sonne of man come to iudgement then shal destruction sodainly fal vpon vs. Therfore let vs be readie for in the houre that we think not wil the sonne of man come Marke that Paul saith yée haue no néede that I write vnto you of times and seasons that our sauior saith it is not for you to know the times or the seasons What may we think then of them that write bookes almanackes and say such a yeare and at such a time Christ shal come and with these spéeches fray and mocke the world Paul was the Apostle of Christ an elect vessel of the holie ghost he said I haue no néed to write of it you cannot know it What néede is there nowe that such bookes and pamphlets should be written why should the world be troubled with such vanities Spare me your patience and giue me leaue a little to deale with these wisards Tell mee thou that doest measure and beholde the compasse of heauen and markest the coniunoions and oppositions and aspects of the starres and by that wisedome canst foretel the things that shalbe done hereafter where learnest thou this skil how commest thou by this déepe knowledge Paul was taken vp into the third héaueÌ„ heard words which cannot be spoken which are not lawful for man to vtter yet he knew not this secret nor might not know it What art thou then art thou greater than the Apostle of Christ hast thou béene taken vp into some place higher than the third heauen hast thou heard such words as are not lawfull to vtter if it be so why doest thou vtter them wilt thou take that vpon thée which the holie Apostle dareth not arte thou of Gods priuie counsel the angels and archangels know not hereof and shal we thinke that thou knowest it Art thou wiser than an Angel Consider thy selfe thou art a miserable man thy breath fadeth as the smoake Thou art nothing but dust and ashes thou canst not attaine to the knowledge hereof And what is that which thou boastest the knowledge of that terrible daie when all flesh shall appeare before the Judge Euen of that time which God hath put in his owne power O vaine man thou knowest not thine owne â—…aie thou knowest not when thy soule shall be taken from thée By what helpes and meanes camest thou vnto this knowledge by reading the writings of the Apostles by reading the Gospell of Christ or anie parte of the word of GOD No GOD wote thou hast no great skill in this learning Thou hast
it from Manilius Maternus Albumazar or Haly. What is Manilius Maternus Albumazar and Haly What are they but Heathens Painims and Jnsidels Were they not voide of all knowledge of God were they not the enimies of the crosse of Christ these neuer beléeued in God howe could they then know that day when he would iudge the world Let thy common reason reforme thée Can Saturne and Mars knowe this when the Angels of God cannot knowe it To what end write they thus to giue a token of their knowledge nay hereby they proclaime and publish their sollie and want of knowledge These two hundred yeares there haue euer béene some which haue aduentured to tell such newes and to saie in this yeare or that yeare you shal haue doomes daie Such a daie will Christ come to iudgement and the world shall haue an end They haue appointed many such yeares and daies and houres The yeares be gone the daies be past the houres be slipt away but the world abideth and giueth witnesse of their follie But the meaning of these men is good Hereby they moue the people to repentance For when men thinke the ende of the world is at hand they wil beare the lesse affection of the things of this world This is not the waie to teach repentance and amendment of life The people may not be taught by lies fables If this had béen good for theÌ„ God himselfe would haue vsed it God graunt them grace to repent which thus presume of knowledge and reach so high and yet know nothing Let vs yet reason further with them How haue they this knowledge of certaintie or by coniecture if of certaintie then it must néedes be so it cannot faile nothing can let it But you wil say it is a coniecture it may so bée and it is likely for such a day shal be a Coniunction of Saturne and Mars in a fierie house and therefore al things shal be consumed with fire Alas what hath Saturne or Mars to doe with the day of the Lorde They are but creatures they are no Goddes They are starres made to giue vs light why should they leade vs into darkenesse in the day of the Lorde they shal be melted and perish with fire Why then trouble they the worlde with such vanities and set those thinges downe for trueth whereof they haue no certaintie but onely a gesse and coniecture And what time chose they to cast abroade these newes the same in which the Gospel through the mercie of God is wel knowen of most men Euen nowe tel they these tales when all men knowe that Christ sayeth the Angels in heauen knowe not of that day and houre The Angelles beholde the face of God and stand in his presence yet know they not the day of the Lorde This is a secret which God reuealeth not vnto any Children can reprooue this follie in them and say Mitte arcana dei caelúmque inquirere quid sit Seeke not to knowe the secretes of God nor what manner thing the heauen is Know thy self that thou art but a mortal man crawling on the grounde like a worme Hée that wil stare vpon the sunne may be blinde and loose his eyes God hath giuen thée knowledge in measure thou canst not knowe as much as thou wouldest Knowe that is fit for thée to knowe and speake that is laweful to be spoken Thinke of the commaundementes of God to followe them Search not into his workes to be curious in them For he that is curious in searching the maiestie of God shal be oppressed and confounded by his glorie Thus much we may wel knowe that the Lorde wil come that al fleshe shal appeare before him that the worlde the heauen the earth the sunne and the moone shal haue an ende that the day of the Lorde shall come sodainely as a Théefe in the night This warning GOD hath giuen vs that we shoulde not be taken vnwares but that wee repent and stande in readinesse and watch and pray that wee may bee caught vp into the cloudes to méete our redéemer V. 4. But you brethren are not in darkenesse that that day shoulde come on you as it were a theese 5 Yee are al the children of light and the children of the day wee are not of the night neither of darkenesse 6 Therefore let vs not sleepe as doe other but let vs watch and be sober 7 For they that sleepe sleepe in the night and they that be drunken are drunken in the night 8 But let vs which are of the day be sober putting on the breaste-plate of Faith and Loue and the hope of saluation for an helmet 9 For God hath not appointed vs vnto wrath but to obtaine saluation by the meanes of our Lord Iesus Christ. 10 Which dyed for vs that whether wee wake or sleepe wee should liue togither with him Your conuersation is in heauen from whence you looke for the sauiour euen the Lorde Iesus Christ. Ye were once darkenesse but nowe you are light in the Lorde walke as children of light approouing that which is pleasing to y e Lord. That day shal be dreadful and come sodainely vpon the wicked but to you it shal not séeme sodaine which feare the Lorde and put your trust in him and take al care to be in readines at his comming Arme your selues strongly the enemie séeketh to ouerthrowe you Your enemie is the Deuill with al his force Your strength standeth not in your owne prowes or manhoode but in the mightie power of God put on therefore the breast-plate of faith and loue he that beléeueth shal be saued he that abydeth in loue abideth in God whosoeuer putteth his trust in him shal not be confounded Here I may take occasion to say somewhat of the troubles of warre howe Sathan séeketh by it to disquiet the Church of God Who hath not hearde what force is this day raised in this realme who hath not hearde of it but let it not trouble you God wil turne al to his glory I loue not to speak of such things Yet somewhat I must speake thereof the time enforceth me This is the first disturbance and breach of that blessed peace in which God hath so long and so quietly preserued this realme since the time that hir Maiestie came to the Crowne It giueth great occasion to the enemie to breake in vppon vs it is the spoyling of our Countrey The barbarous souldiours rush into mens houses and take out what they list They drawe their sworde bende their force ioyne themselues to warre against the Lord and against his annointed They haue â—…orne and defaced burnt in fire the holy Bible the Gospel of our saluation and woulde set vp the loathsome seruice of the Masse What hath the worde of God offended why should it be torne in péeces why shoulde it be burnt what worde is in it which is not the worde of life it is the power of God vnto saluation to them that beléeue And
called you I coulde speake such thinges wherewith you woulde be better pleased but your case is such it requireth rather frâ—… and planie and â—…arpe reprehension whereby you may be brought to consider and amend your errours than faire and smoothed spéech which might hould you stil in your follie Séeke therefore the kingdome of GOD and the glorie thereof and seeke not your selues Weigh trueth and falsâ—…de in an indifferent ballaunce so shâ—…l the heauier weight of the one soone bewray the lightnesse of the other What thing in the worlde so Massie and so weightie as is the trueth Harden not your heartes as did your Fathers in the Wildernesse It is no sinne to yéelde vnto GOD it is no shame to lay a part al affection and to chaunge your minde to the denial of al vngodlinesse and imbracing of true holinesse The wise man sayth There is a shame that bringeth sinne and a shame that bringeth worshippe and fauour In this sort it is likely the Apostle would haue spoken if néede had so required But nowe seeing them forcibly assaulted and that yet they striued with such good courage against the perswasions of the wicked he commendeth their stedfastnesse and exhorteth them by these wordes not to yéelde vnto their persecutours nor to goe from their faith in Christ Iesus Neither by spirite that is by reuelation of the spirite The spirite of God wrought mightily and bestowed sundrie and great giftes vppon men Christ sayde to his Disciples When they deliuer you vp take yee no thought howe or what ye shal speake for it shal bee giuen you in that same houre what yee shall speake For it is not ye that speake but the spirite of your father which speaketh in you And againe saith he I wil pray the father and he shal giue you an other comforter that hee may bide with you for euer The spirite of trueth whome the worlde can not receiue because the worlde feeth him not neither knoweth him but yee knowe him for he dwelleth with you and shal bee in you The holie Ghost shal be with you to assist you to teach you al thinges to direct your counsels to leade you into al trueth and to preserue you from al errour Nowe as the spirite of God was among the faithful and distributed to euerie man seueral giftes as it séemed best to profit withal so did the spirite of Satan waite vpon the wicked and possessed their hearts and bodies and caused them to imagine and to doe those thinges which were vnséemely He vsed them as instrumentes to disquiet the Church of God and to cast into it the séede of error of vntrueth and dissention Of such spirites Saint Iohn giueth warning saying beleeue not euerie spirite but trie the spirites whether they are of God for many false Prophets are gone into the worlde At what time Achab would not beléeue the aunswere which the Prophet Micheas made him there came foorth a spirite and stoode before the Lorde and sayde I wil go out and be a false spirite in the mouth of al his prophetes This spirite euer walketh vp and downe séeking whome hee may deuour and blindeth the mindes of many that the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ may not shine vnto them Take héere that you be not deceiued by any such which shal séeke to abuse you by pretence of reuelation Though they shal take vpon them to tel you of the day or houre of the comming of our Lord beloeue them not for the false spirite is in the mouth of such prophetes Nor by worde or if anie shal report and goe about to perswade you that I haue so spoken or taught in the congregations or will boldely countenaunce out suche matter and tell you saring I was present I hearde his wordes and remember them this was the doctrine which Paule preached refuse him that is such a one for hee bringeth not the trueth vnto you but deceiueth you with lying and vaine fables Nor by letter as it were from vs. Againe it may bee they which lie in waite to destroye you for their better way wil counterfaite letters and sende them vnto you in my name This is a token in them that they bée past shame bee not you carried away by anie such pretence from that which wee haue preached vnto you Wée haue not taught you that the day of Christ is at hande Oh then be not so soone remooued away vnto an other Gospel by them which trouble you and intende to peruert the Gospel of Christ. Manie such sâ—…eightes and false deuises haue béene vsed by deceiuing spirites to blind the eyes of the simple There haue béene some which haue â—…etie abroade their owne fantasies vnder the names of Adam the first man that GOD created vppon the face of the earth and of Cain and Seth. Others haue called their owne dreames the Gospel of Thomas and of Bartholemewe and of Barnabee and of the Apostles of Christ. Saint August sayth of the Manichees Manichaeilegunt seripturas Apocryphas nescto à quibus sutoribus fabularum sub nomiâ—…e Apostolorum Scripâ—…as The Manichees â—…ead secret hidden Scriptures written I know not by what coblers of fables vnder the name of the Apostles Such writings were neuer written by them whose name they brare but were wickedly and falsely counterfaited vnder their names by sundrie heretiques This is that whereof our sauiour gaue vs warning Take heede that no man deceiue you for many shal come in my name saying I am Christ and shal deceiue many Againe he sayeth If any shal say vnto you lâ—…e here is Christ or there belecue it not for there shal arise false Christes and false Prophetes Into what shape can not he transforme himselfe in whose name wil not hée crastilie sette foorth his errours which dareth falfelie sette him selfe in the place of the â—…onne of GOD This hath euermore béene the practise of that olde Serpent to chaunge himselfe into the likenesse of an Angel of light and vnder the credite of holie men to deceiue the worlde with vnholy and vnwholesome thinges Since the time that the Church of God hath departed from hir first faith and would no longer be guided by the voyce of the Gospel what and howe great forgeries haue there béene wrought What Epistles and Canons and decretals haue béene deuised to maintaine seueral partes of false religion and published vnder the name of Clemens Cletus Anacletus and of others whereof these holie fathers neuer thought Thus haue they cioked themselues vnder the couert of the Apostles of the fathers of the primitiue church and haue thought to winne credite in the worlde by false shewe of antiquitie It is certaine that the sonne of man shal come with his holie Angels and shal rewarde euerie man according to that he hath doone in this life Then will he giue sentence against the wicked and wil place the faithful at his right hande In that day the heauens shal passe
away with a great noyse and the elementes shal melt with feruent heate the earth also and the workes that are therein shal be vtterly burned In that day we which liue and remaine shal be caught vp together with them that are dead in Christ in the cloudes to meete the Lord in the aire But of that daie and houre knoweth no man no not the Angelles of heauen but my father onelie saith our sauiour Christ. Now it remaineth that we sée by occasion of this practise of the false Prophets or false Apostles of whome Saint Paul héere warneth the Thessalonians howe the wicked abuse the holie Scriptures and vnderstand them contrarie to their meaning Saint Peter saide The daie of the Lord will come as a theefe in the night euen as Paule had written vnto this people as also it is spoken in the wordes of Christ They â—…all see the sonne of man come in the cloudes with power and great glorie The false Apostles vse the same wordes and wrest them to euill purpose and take vppon them to iudge of the end of the worlde and at what time the comming of Christ should be Christ saide Destroie this temple and in three daies I will raise it vp againe There arose certaine that did beare false witnesse against him saying we heard him saie hée would destroy this temple made with hands Then remembred that Temple was fortie and fire yeares a building and thought it impossible that he could reare it in three daies They tooke his wordes otherwise than bée meant They thought of the materiall temple of stone in Hierusalem and he spake of the temple of his bodie Againe Christ saith Thou arte Peter and vppon this rocke will I builde my Church These are the wordes of Christ spoken vnto Peter after he had witnessed of him that hée is Christ the sonne of the liuing God Héereof they say Peter is the rocke and the Bishop of Rome is Peters successor he is the rocke vpon which the church is builded and shall stand stedfast for euer But they vnderstand the wordes contrarie to the meaning For alas who would conceiue that God would build his Church vpon a man or vpon any creature Christ only is that rock whereupon his church is setled Other foundation can no man lay thaÌ„ that is laide which is Iesus Christ. Therefore Chrysostome expoundeth those wordes Super hanc Petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam id est super fidem atque confessionem I will builde my Church vpon this rocke that is vpon this faith and confession Likewise Saint Augustine Super hanc petram quam consessus es c. Vpon this rocke which thou hast confessed vppon this rocke which thou hast knowen saying thou arte Christ the sonne of the liuing God will I build my Church That is I will build my Church vpon my selfe which am the sonne of the liuing God I will not build my selfe vppon thee but I wil thee vpon me Christ saith Except a man be borne againe hee can not see the kingdome of God These words are most true For by our owne nature we be the vessels of Gods wrath and the children of danmation Vnlesse we be regenerate and borne a new of water and of the holie ghost we cannot be saued Yet Nicodemus a wise man a Pharisée and a ruler of the Iewes mistooke this speech it séemed strange vnto him how a man might be borne when he is olde Can he enter saith he the second time into his mothers wombe and be borne how can these things be Iesus aunswered and said vnto him arte thou a maister of Israel and knowest not these things This newe birth must be from aboue euen by the working of the holie ghost Againe Christ saieth Excepte yee â—…ate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud you haue no life in you The Iewes heard him but mistooke his words They did not vnderstand his meaning Therefore they said This is an hard saying who can abide the hearing of it They reasoned among theÌ„selues how it might be that either he could giue theÌ„ his flesh to eate or that thâ—…y could take his â—…esh and eate it or take his bloud to drinke it but when Iesus knewe that his Disciples murmured at it hee saide vnto them Doth this offend you It is the spirite that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing Hereof Augustine saith Acceperunt illud suulté c. They tooke the saying of Christ foolishly they thought of it carnally and imagined that the Lord would cut off fmall peeces from his bodie and giue it to them Therefore they saide This saying is hard They were hard and not the saying For if they had beene meeke and not hard they would haue said to themselues this is not spoken without some cause there is some mysterie hidden vnder his wordes And againe hée saith Spiritualiter intelligite quae loquutus sum Non hoc corpus c. Vnderstand those things spiritually which I haue spoken vnto You shall not eate with the mouth of your bodie this bodie that you see nor shall you drinke that bloud which they shall shed that shall crucifie me I haue commended vnto you some sacrament vnderstand it spiritually and it shal quicken you Thus we sée the true meaning of Christs words and after what grosse manner the Capernaites vnderstood them Let vs beware wée fall not into like errour Christ spake truely of his bodie when hée called it a Temple The Iewes destroyed it and in thrée daies he did raise it vp againe Mistake not his wordes be not deceiued It is true that he said Vpon this rocke will I build my Church Mistake him not Christ himselfe is the rocke and not Peter It is true that a man must be borne a new or else he cannot be saued Mistake not this hereby is meant not a bodily birth but a renuing of the soule of man It is truely said that Christs flesh is that bread that came froÌ„ heauen and giueth life to the worlde but mistake it not for this bread filleth not the bodie but the minde it requireth the hunger of the inner man Euen so is it true that the Apostle saith of the daie of the Lorde Take héede you mistake him not and fall into the errour of the false Apostles which take vpon the to appoint the time and houre when the son of man shall come vnto iudgement V. 3. Let no man deceiue you by anie meanes for that daie shall not come except there come a departing first and that that man of sinne be disclosed euen the sonne of perdition The Church of God hath euer béene vnder persecution and afflictions as may appeare by the stories of al ages but GOD hath not failed to comfort them and worke their deliuerance Israel was in great bondage vnder Pharao They were put to great stauerie to â—…hoppe strawe and to bake bricke c. Their male children were slaine before
heauen the spirite of God ordring al thinges and directing al the heads of the church In the time of Tertullian the Christians stil kept this maner Therefore he sayth Coâ—…mus ad diuiâ—…arum literarum commemor ationem fidem sanet is vocibus pascimus spem erigimus fiduciam sigimus We meete together at the reading of the holy scriptures wee nourish our faith with those heauenly wordes by them we raise vp our hope settle our affiance trust Augustine Chrisostome Origen other auntient and godly fathers commended the reading of the scriptures vnto the people called vpon them to read them theselues or to get others to reade vnto them And that they would heare them not onely in the Church but also at home in their houses They taught them the hurt and daunger of ignoraunce that ignoraunce of the scriptures hath béene the cause of her esies and that it hath brought in corruption of life and of maners This was the order and vsage of the Church in the time of the holy Apostles and of our first fathers The people were guided by the worde of God they were made partakers of the holie mysteries and al thinges were done in the Church to edifying And the same order is this day restored and practised in our churches Let vs looke into the church of Rome and behold the vsage behauiour thereof Where shal we find that heauenly comelinesse which S. Paule requireth Where is the comfortable reading of scriptures Where is the people taught their saluation in Christ Iesus where is the brotherly méeting of al the congregation at the communion of the Lordes supper May we say of Rome that it holdeth fast the forme and fashion of that church which Christ and his Apostles left vnto vs and which the holy ancient fathers continued nay rather we may say of them with Chrisostome they may haue the chestes and cofers wherein the treasure was sometimes kept but the treasures they haue not We may say it is not nowe a house of prayer but a denne of théeues We may say it shal no more be called Bethel the house of God but Bethauen the house of vanitie or of lying Iupiter and Bacchus and the Idols of the heathen were not so dishonored of their worshippers as the almightie and euerlasting and onely true God is dishonoured in that sinagogue I speake of it as it is nowe and as it hath béene these many yeares For in the time of our elder fathers it had great testimonie of true holinesse Ignatius called it castissimam most chaste Tertullian saide it was a happie Church because the Apostles of Christ suffered martyrdome in it and left their whole doctrine vnto it And in like sort did others giue vnto Rome as it was in those times reuerent and worthie commendation But now saith he O Roma à Roma quantum mutata vetusta es nunc caput es scelerum quae caput orbis eras O Rome howe much art thou channged from the olde Rome thou which hast beene the chiefe in al the worlde art nowe the chiefe in al naughtinesse They haue forsaken the trade of life and the loue of the Gospel which they of olde time had in Rome and therefore cannot be inheritours of their commendation When Chrisostme considered the state of the Church as the Apostle speaketh of it vntâ—… the Corinthians did see how farre the church in his time swarued from that he sayd Nunc verò vestigia tantum rerum illarum tenemus We haue now the only bare signes of those things Againe Videtur ecclesia hodie mulieri quae mansuetudine veteri exciderit similis quaeqúe Symbola tantum c. The church which is now may be likened to a woman which hath forsaken her wonted modestie And hath only certaine outward shewes of that first felicitie and keepeth stil the hutches and boxes of precious thinges but lacketh the treasure which was in them To such a woman may the church this day be likened I speake not this of the giftes for the matter were not so great if we wanted them only but of life and of vertue And againe he sayth Scrinium aliud paternt the sauri exinanitum bodie dicam c. I wil tel you of one other boxe of that treasure which our father left vnto vs which is empty and hath nothing left in it at this day In times past they did sing altogether so doe we also but then they were al of one minde of one heart at this day you shal not finde one man that agreeth with himselfe there is such warre and discord in al thinges euerie where The name of peace is common in al places but peace it selfe is no where to bee founde Then men did vse their houses like churches now men do vse the church as they vse their house nay more prophanely than any house Thus Chrisostome blamed the church in his time and layeth out their departing from the faith He liued about 411. yeres after Christ. What may we thinke he would say of the church that hath béene of later yeres if he had liued to sée the desormitie and abuses thereof where besides that they are not of one minde and of one heart they suffer not the people altogether to sing the praises of God where they haue not only emptieâ—… such boxes or hutches wherein Christ left great treasures vnto his church but haue made light account of them and haue cast away the very patterns and images of true godlinesse They driue away the people from reading the scriptures and reckon that as vnlaweful as to cast the bread of the children vnto degges or pearles before Swine They leade men from trust in the bloud of Christ and teach them to beléeue such thinges and to put confidence in those creatures which cannot profit or helpe them at al. You may remember what prayers they vsed But blesse your eares for they are wordes ful of horrible blasphemie They sayde to the holy and blessed Virgin Marie the mother of our redéemer sauiour In te virgo Maria confidimus in te speramus nos defendas in aeternum Our trust and hope we put in thee O Virgine Marie defende vs euerlastingly They say O faelix puerpera nostra pians scelera O happy mother which doest purge vs from our sinnes And Sanctae Mariae merita ducant nos ad regna coelestia The merites of holie Marie bring vs to the heauenly kingdome Againe Tu mediatrix dei hominum aduocata pauperum refugiuÌ„ peccatorum Thou art the mediatour betweene God and man the aduocate for the poore the refuge of al sinners O merciful Christ what is become of thy passion where is the price of thy blout howe are we lead away from thée to séeke redemption in a creature Againe they say vnto her Thou art the Ladie of Angels thou art the Queene of heauen Commaund thy sonne shew thy selfe to be a mother He is thy sonne thou art
erre If the Church of Rome cannot erre what néede haue they of that church either of the Scriptures or of the fathers or councels Perhaps through this pride they grew first to despise the holie Scriptures would not direct their waies by them They are high minded and boast themselues that they are as mount Sion which shal not be mooued Yet our Sauiour likeneth the Church sometimes to shéep as in the 15. of S. Mathew I am not sent but vnto the lost sheepe of Israel Sometimes to children which are simple and soone beguiled Sometimes to a Vine which is weake easily throwne down sometimes to the moone which waxeth and is also in wane and many times giueth no light The ancieÌ„t fathers compare the church of god to no one thing so vsually as to a shippe And who knoweth not how a ship is tossed hither thither how it is in daÌ„ger of sands of rocks and of pirats in danger of drowning by leaking If the shéepe were not a straying kind of cattel what should they néede a shéepheard If little children could guide themselues what néede had they of a guider If the vine did not hang down and lie on the ground what néede were there of proppes or of one to set it vp If there were no feare for the passage of a ship if it could not miscarie what should it néede a Pilote Let no man therefore saie the church is safe for euer it cannot erre it can not decay Such words are deceiuable and lying words For false Prophets shal come There shalbe a desolation there shal be a departing euen in the house of God and that daie of Christ shall not come except there come a departing first And that that man of sinne be disclosed euen the sonne of perdition V. 4 Which is an aduersarie and exalteth himselfe against all that is called God or that is worshipped so that hee doth sit in the temple of God shewing himselfe that he is God This the Apostle speaketh of Antichrist Hée is the man of sinne and the sonne of perdition It will be somewhat hard to treat of this matter and to opeÌ„ the words of this scripture Whatsoeuer I shall speake it will be ill taken of manie and manie will doubt of the truth of my spéeches such affection they bear to him whom the Apostle disciphereth to be Antichrist Albeit whatsoeuer I will vtter in opening the Apostles wordes shall be such as the holie scriptures and learned writings of the holie fathers haue left vnto vs and the church of God hath prooued and at this daie doth prooue to be true God promised that Christ shoulde come into the worlde euen the Shiloh vnto whome al the people should be gathered and that he should be the hope of Israel and deliuer his people from their sins God made promise of him to Adam to Abraham Dauid c. The scriptures are ful and the prophets make ofteÌ„ mention of this promise Olde men and yong men and al the people waited for the fulfilling thereof said Send him whom thou wilt send And againe Yee heauens send the dewe from aboue and let the clouds drop down righteousnes let the earth open and let saluation and iustice grow forth And againe God wil come saue you Thus was euerie eie bent vpon him and euery heart waited for his comming But when the fulnesse of time was come God sent foorth his son made of a woman that we might receiue the adoption of the sonnes Hee was in the world and the world knew him not Hee came vnto his owne and his own receiued him not Light came into the worlde and men loued darknesse better than light They to whom the promise was made and which wished for him and made al their common talke of the hope of his comming when he came knewe him not they reuiled him and saide Beholde a glutton and drinker of wine a friend vnto publicans and sinners They called him Beelzebub and a false prophet and a seducer of the people Him they did take by the hands of the wicked they betraied him they denied the holie one and iust they hanged on a trée and killed the lord of life Such was the receiuing of Christ. This did they to him through ignorance It was not giuen them to knowe the secretes of the kingdome of heauen They haue not â—…nowen the father nor whom he hath sent Iesus Christ. Therefore saith he I confesse vnto thee father Lord of heauen and earth that thou hast hid these things from the wise and learned and hast reuealed them to babes euen so father bicause it so pleased thee Now as the comming of Christ was such is the comming of Antichrist God hath foretold of his comming Daniel hath foretold Christ and his Apostles Paule and Iohn haue foretolde it the Scriptures and oâ—…de Fathers make often mention hereof There is none neither olde nor young neither learned nor vnlearned but he hath hearde of Antichrist They hate his name and detest him before they know him But here you may marke the wonderful sleight and sutteltie of Satan The worlde shal looke after the comming of Antichrist He shal not faile but come Al men shal carie hatred against him and recken him abhominable and yet their eyes shal be blinded and their hearts deceiued so that they shal not knowe him They shal hate his name and embrace his doctrine he shal couer himselfe with a cloke of holinesse They shal thinke they doe good seruice vnto Christ but shal therein doe seruice vnto Antichrist The diuerse fantasies of men haue deuised manie sundrie fonde tales of the person of Antichrist Some say he should be a Iewe of the tribe of Dan. Some that he should bée borne in Babylon some that he should be bred vp in Bethsaida and Corazin some that he should rise vp in Syria some that Mahomet is Antichrist some that he should ouerthrowe Rome some that he should builde vp the Citie of Hierusalem some that Nero was Antichrist some that he should be borne of a Fryer and a Nonne some that he should continue but three yeares and a halfe some that he shoulde turne trées vpside downe with the toppes in the grounde and should force the rootes to growe vpwarde and then should flée vp into heauen and fal downe and breake his necke These tales haue béene craftily deuised to beguile our eyes that whilest we thinke vpon these gesses and so occupie our selues in beholding a shadowe or probable coniecture of Antichrist he which is Antichrist indéede may vnawares deceiue vs. Except that man of sinne bee disclosed The Apostle séemeth to teach vs of Antichrist as if he should be one man because he calleth him The man of sinne But wee may not so take him The maner of the scripture is oftentimes and in diuerse places it speaketh that of manie which séemeth to be-spoken but of one So doeth Daniel set foorth
they exhort teach and reproue and correct and instruct the people in righteousnesse Antichrist sitteth not in the Church after this sort He teacheth not nor exhorteth the people He maketh that no part of his office How sitteth he then What shal he say what shal he doe The Apostle telleth vs He exalteth himselfe against al that is called God or that is worshipped He shal be honoured with the honour that is due vnto God He shal shine and glitter in gold and precious stones Hee shal be carried vppon the shoulders of men and waited vpon by kings and princes and great estates So shal he bée contrarie to Christ. Christ was humble and lowly The prophet in his owne person speaketh of him I am a worme and not a man a shame of men and the contempt of the people And the Apostle sayth He humbled himselfe and became obedient vnto the death euen the death of the crosse Beholde his parentes his birth his cradle beholde his life his disciples his doctrine and his death Al were witnesses vnto his humilitie He sayth of himselfe The sonne of man hath not whereon to rest his heade And to his Disciples he sayeth The kings of the Gentiles raigne ouer them and they that beare rule ouer them are called gracious Lordes but you shall not be so And againe Learne of me that I am meeke and lowly in heart and yee shall finde rest vnto your soules Nowe on the other parte take viewe of Antichrist Beholde his birth his place his thaire his estate his doctrine his disciples and al his life You shall sée nothing but pomp and glorie Gregorie calleth him the King of pride He is proude in life proude in doâ—…trine proud in worde and proud in déedes Hée is like vnto Lucifer and setteth himselfe before his brethren and ouer nations and kingdomes Hée maketh euerie knée to how downe to him and worship him hée maketh Kings to bring him water to carie his traine to holde his cup to beare his dish to leade his bridle and to holde his stirrup hée claimeth power ouer heauen and earth hée saieth hée is Lorde ouer all the worlde the Lorde of Lordes and the King of Kings that his authoritie reacheth vp into heauen and down into hell that hée can commaund the Angels of GOD that hée condemneth whom hée will condemne that he maketh Saints at his pleasure that whatsoeuer he blesseth is blessed and that it is cursed whatsoeuer he curseth Hée selleth merites the forgiuenesse of sinnes the sacrifice for the quicke and the dead Hée maketh marchandize of the soules of men Hée laieth his filthie handes vppon the Lordes annointed Hée remooueth kings and deposeth the states and Princes of the world This is Antichrist This is his power Thus shal he worke and make himselfe manifest So shall he sit in the temple of God The people shall woonder at him and shall haue him in reuerence They shall say who is like vnto the beast Who is so wise so mightie so godlie so vertuous so holie so like vnto God so intolerable and monstrous shal be his pride It were much for hym to sitte in the seate and to occupie the roome of an earthly King or Emperour But he shall take vppon him the authoritie and the name of GOD the name of the liuing Lorde the name of GOD which hath made heauen and earth euen the name of GOD the father of our Lord Iesus Christ. And in this pride hée shall excéede al others that haue béene wicked The Pharises and the Scribes were wicked yet none of them did sit in the temple of God shewing himselfe that hée was God Arius Nestorius Montanus Valentinus were wicked heretiques yet they neuer â—…ooke vppon them the name of God What shoulde I saie of this blasphemie or in whom may wée find the like Mahomet was a Turke and a false Prophet and a deceiuer of the people yet he tooks not vppon him the name of God This point and reach of vngodlinesse belongeth onelie to Antichrist He shall sit in the place of God in iudgements he shall shewe himselfe out of that place as if he were God Irenaeus saieth Quum sit servus tamen â—…dor ari vultâ—…ut deus Whereas hee is but a serâ—…ant hee will be worshipped as if hee were God But some will saie Antichrist shall be mortall as other men borne of a mortall father and mother hée shall knowe that he shal die and that he is but dust and shal returne againe into dust that hée can not make himselfe no that he can not make the least and â—…ilest of al creatures Howe then will he proclaime himselfe to be an immortall God How wil he cal himselfe God that made heauen and earth or God which had no beginning nor shall haue anie ende no this is not the meaning of these wordes Hée shall not so thinke of himselfe nor so saie I will tell you after what sorte hee shall sitte in the Temple of GOD and howe the worlde shall receiue him and reuerence him as GOD. Hée shall take to himselfe that supreme authoritie and prerogatiue which appertaineth onelie to GOD by nature Although hee be but a man yet in office he will be accounted as GOD. He shall compare his lawes with the lawes of GOD. He shall say his worde is the worde of GOD. Whatsoeuer he saieth he shall saie it is the voice of the spirite of God of the same authoritie that is gospell of Christ no man maie breake it no man may touch the credite thereof if aniâ—… man with stande it hée must thinke he doth sacrilege committeth blasphemie and sinneth against the holie Ghost Againe he shal breake the lawes of God to vphold his owne and shal pul downe GOD to set vp himselfe Such shall be the power and auctoritie of Antichrist so shall he possesse the consciences of the people so shall hée sitte as an Idoll in their hearts so shall he stande in the place of God and shew-himselfe that he is GOD. The people shall receiue his doctrine and beléeue his worde They shall sall downe before him and worship him They shall saie Who is like vnto the beast What creature is so beautifull as he They shall honour him as God But what is hée which hath suffered himselfe to be so called Who is hée which hath béene called by the name of GOD Of all the creatures which haue professed the faith of Christ of al the Kings or Bishops or Priests or laie people that euer were in the Church of GOD who euer required to be called by the holie name of GOD Or who euer liked well of them which so called him Who hath béene so wicked Who hath euer so much forgotten himselfe In what place hath he dwelt Or what hath hée béene Here mée thinketh I sée the secrete motions of your heart You looke that I shoulde name the Bishoppe of Rome that it is hée which hath suffered himselfe to be
and shall shew signes and wonders to deceiue if it were possible the verie elect Againe he saith Manie wil saie to me in that daie Lord Lord haue we not in thy name prophecied and by thy name cast out Diuels and by thy name done manie great workes and then wil I professe to them I neuer knew you depart from me ye that worke iniquitie These things shall Satan bring to passe vnder my name The Apostles wrought miracles thereby to confirme the Gospell which they preached As the Euangelist writeth The Lord wrought with them and confirmed the word with signes that followed And as the Apostle Saluation at the first began to be preached by the Lorde and was confirmed vnto vs by them that heard him God bearing witnesse thereto with signes and wonders and with diuers miracles and gifts of the holie ghost according to his wil. So shal Antichrist worke miracles to ouerthrowe the gospell As Iannes and Iambres withstood Moses so doe these also resist the truth men of corrupt mindes reprobate concerning the faith But they shall preuaile no longer for their madnesse shall be knowne to all men as theirs also was Aaron cast foorth his rod before Pharao and his seruaÌ„ts and it was turned into a serpent And the charmers of Aegipt did in like maner with their enchauntments Aaron smote the water and al the water that was in the riuer was turned into bloud and the inchaunters of Aegipt did likewise with their sorceries And as Aaron caused frogges to come and couer the land so the sorcerers did likewise with their sorceries But the illusions of the magical Artes came to naught saith Salomon and it was a most shamefull reproch for boasting their knowledge So shall Antichrist come in working signes and lying wonders as did Iannes and Iambres to desace the gospell and glorie of God It is not saide he shal worke wonders but false lying wonders But howe can his myracles be false If false howe be they myracles If myracles how be they false They shal be false after two sortes some are called false myracles bicause they séeme to be myracles and are not Some are called false myracles because they are vsed falsly to mainetaine his falshoode Of the first sorte of false myracles we haue séene an infinite number in the daiâ—…s of our fathers in the kingdom of Antichrist Then was there appearance of spirits and visions of Angels our Ladie came swimming downe from heauen poore soules came créeping and crying out of purgatorie and ietted abroad and kept stations casting stakes of fire and beset highwaies and bemoned their cases the pains and torments were so bitter They sought for helpe and cried for good praiers they cried for Diriges they cried for Masses of Requiem for masses of Scala coeli for trentals of masses Hereof grew portsale of pardoÌ„s hereof grew the prouince of purgatorie the most gainfull countrie that euer was vnder y e citie of Rome But these myracles were no miracles at al. They were deuised by suttle varlets and lazie lordaines for a purpose to get money Oftentimes the spirite hath béene taken and laide in the stockes the Angel hath béene stript good Ladie hath béene caught the conueyance and the miracle hath appeared the engines and sleights and the cause and the manner of the working hath béene confessed In those daies Idols could goe on foote Roodes could speake Belles coulde ring alone Images could come downe and light their owne candles Dead stockes coulde sweat and bestirre themselues they could turne their â—…ies they coulde mooue their hands they coulde open their mouths they could set bones and knit sineâ—…es they coulde heale the sicke and raise vp the dead These myracles were conueyaunces and suttleties and indéed no miracles The trunks by which they did speake the strings and wiâ—…rs with which they mooued their faces and bands al the rest of their treacherie hath béene disclosed These be the miracles of which Paul speaketh Miracles in sight but indéede no miracles The other sort of false miracles is when such things as be in déede wrought and done are vntruelie applied by Antichrist to maintaine his falshoode God giueth recouerie to the diseased the deafe receiue their hearing the blind receiue their sight He asswageth the tempests and staieth the rage of fire that it continue not These things are done by the finger of God Antichrist draweth vs from so thinking of the mercie of God and telleth vs we haue other friends to whom we are beholding which haue done so and so for vs. It was this Saint saith he it was that Saint that tooke pitie of your case and wrought the remedie for you It was Apollonia it was Genouefa it was Sitha it was our Ladie Such a Saint is able to do much such a Saint can worke miracles Hereof grew inâ—…ocation of Saints Hereof it came to passe that ech Saint was assigned allotted to his sundry charge and seueral office apart Saint Blase for the choaking Saint Roch for the pestilence Antonie for the burning Valentine for the falling sickenesse Romane for madnesse Apollonia for the toothach Petronilla for agues and others for other purposes Wherein it was wisely foreseene that they were so limited and ordered least perhaps else any one might be ouer saucie and incroch vppon and trouble his fellowes It was also foreséene that al saintes shoulde not haue power to worke in al places Some wrought at Canterburie some at Walsingham some at Yorke some at Buxton some in one place some in another some in the townes some in the fieldes Euen as Hieremie saide among the Iewes According to the number of thy Cities were thy Gods Hereof grewe Pylgrimages and Worshipping of Images and kissing of Reliques Hereof grewe oblations and enritching of Abbies Euerie man had his peculiar Saint on whome he called Euerie countrey was ful of Chappels euerie Chappel ful of myracles and euerie myracle ful of lies These myracles are wrought by Anti-thriste They are his tooles wherewith he worketh they are his weapons wherewith hée preuayleth They are ful of lying full of deceitfulnesse and ful of wickednesse So shal Antichrist preuaile and rule ouer the worlde By these myracles he shal possesse the eares the eyes and the heartes of manie and shall drawe them after him He shall shadowe the Moone and darken the Sunne and make the thirde part of the starres of heauen to followe him Hée shal chaunge light into darkenesse and darkenesse into light Hée shal worke in al thinges at his pleasure If a man sée wel hee shal make him blinde This is a myracle Such as are whole he shal make sicke he shal infect them with leprosie which before were cleane This is a myracle He shal chaunge the sense and féeling of nature hée shal make the sonne hate the father and shal make the Father hate the sonne yea to séeke the death of his sonne This is a myracle Hee shal make the
reformation of the abuses and errours of the church of Rome They haue béene aduertised of them not only by the professours of the gospel but also many of themselues haue spoken for reformatioÌ„ of sundrie abuses They haue kept many counsailes and assemblies They haue promised redresse They haue sit in consultation many yeares What one thing haue they reformed sée looke ouer their aâ—…es and sessions They be abroad in print Hitherto they haue reformed nothing no not their pardons no not their srâ—…ws they haue hardned their heartes and set themselues against the highest Therefore shal the glorie of the Lord shew it selfe in their destruction With the breath of his lippes they shal be consumed and brought to nothing And shal abolish with the brightnesse of his comming The Lord shal come and shal make his enemies his footstoole Then the sunne shal be black as a sackcloth the moone shal be like blood There shal be an earthquake Kinges great men and rich men and euery bond man and frée man shal hide themselues in dennes they shal say to the hils and mountaines and rockes fal vpon vs hide vs from the presence of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lambe Then shal Antichrist be quite ouerthrowen Then his kingdome shal be vtterly abolished and haue an end Then it shal appeare who hath sought the glorie of Christ who hath followed the doctrine of the gospel and who hath done the true endeuor of a faithful shepheard theÌ„ it shal appeare who is the woolfe who scattereth spoileth the flocke S. Hierome sayth Circumdabit â—…um calix dextere domini c. The cuppe of the Lordes right hande which is the Lorde and sauiour shal compasse him about when hee shal staie him with the breath of his mouth and shal destroie him with the brightnes of his comming Then al the ignominie and shame which hee hath heaped vp vppon himselfe with thoughtes deedes and wordes shal fal vppon his glorie and pompe in so much that he shal be afterwarde as vile and contemned of al men as he was before reputed or highly esteemed of them This might suffise touching the ruine and fal of Antichrist Yet I wil adde to that hath béene spoken the maner of the sight and of the victorie and of the triumphe which shall followe The fight is doubtful and daungerous the victorie shal be glorious the triumph shal be ioyful Heare let vs cal to remembraunce the warres which tyrantes and vngodly princes haue made against the people of God and what hath followed Scuacherib the great king of the Assirians came vp against Ierusalem with horses chariots and infinite nuÌ„bers of pickt souldiers The whole countrey of Iewrie was in an agonie al the people were astonied with feare to sée so many enemies and themselues so fewe to sée the enemies so strong and themselues so weake They knewe not neither where to séeke aide nor how to escape the present danger Sodainly the Lord sent his Angel from heauen to relieue his people In one night he smote in the campe of the Assyrians an hundred foure score and fiue thousand which were al dead coarses The residue were scattered and ranne away stragling they knewe not where to hide their head King Senacherib went his way and returned And when he was in 〈◊〉 at home and woorshipping his God Nisroch in the temple Adramelech and Sharezer his sonnes slew him Remember the cruel warres which Nabuchodonozer King of Babilon made against Gods people He tooke their citie spoyled their Temple sacked Ierusalem and gaue the pray to his souldiers He tooke the Nobles and gentlemen and marchants and yeomen and led them captiues Some of them he tooke with him to Babilon and some he sold for money so great and so terrible was his victorie In the middest of al his pompe God bereft him of his wit and astonied him with deadly madnesse He was driuen from men and did eate grasse as the Oxen and his bodie was wet with the dewe of heauen til his hayres were growen as Eagles feathers his nayles like birds clawes He imagined that he was an Oxe that he had hoofe and horne and haire as Oxen. Hée therefore forsooke his palace his princely apparel and daintie fare and lay abroade and fed with beastes So did God auenge the cause of his people Who hath not heard of the war which Pharao had against the Israelites the battaile was strange and the victory sodaine The people of god was beset with dangers on euery side the wildernesse had shut them in Before their faces they saw the raging sea that they could not scape it behinde their backes they did beholds Pharao with his army march after theÌ„ if they went forward they must néedes be drowned if they retired they must néedes be slaine Their enemies were mightie and they were weake Sodainly God deuided the waters made the sea dry land so that the children of Israel went through the middest of the sea vpoÌ„ dry ground safely as through a medow Pharao followed after with his sword and speare to worke his fury Then the sea returned to his course and drowned the chariots horsemen and al the host of Pharao there remained not one of them aliue Their carkases lay afloat vpon the water and were cast in heapes vppon the shoare Such shal bee the ende of those that hate the Lorde So shal he make his name triumph ouer al the world Let vs imagine a battaile of two mightie princes both of great power and of great â—…ourage they méete togither in the fielde they ioyne battaile both sides encounter together either part is bent to beate downe the other what an horrour is it to heare the braying of Horses the sounde of trumpets the thunder of drummes the roaring of guns the clashing of swords the groning and mournful voice of them which are slaine and the crying trembling of the people nowe let vs by this make some resemblance of the battaile betwéene Christ and Antichrist betwéene Christ the sonne of God and Antichrist the sonne of the diuel Either of them is wel prepared They are both mightie and haue both of them souldiers and knightes to attende vpon them Antichrist shal come from the earth for al his glorie is vpon the earth his power shal be the power of Satan Christ shal come from the heauens aboue euen from the bosome of his father What cognisance shal they giue how by what difference shal their souldiers be discerned the ensigne of Christ shal be enerlasting truth the ensigne of Antichrist shalbe falshood and vanitie and al deceitfulnesse By these markes shal either be knowen With what souldiers shal they make their fielde they that shal follow Christ are poore and simple who haue forsaken themselues their goods and their liues and tremble at the worde of God The men of warre which fight with Antichrist and followe him shal bee
the great citie the harbor and palace of Antichrist and is become the habitation of Diuels and the hold of al foule spirites And I heard an other voice from heauen say â—…o out of her my people beléeue her not do not as she commaundeth you that ye be not partakers in her sinnes and that ye receiue not of her plagues For her sinnes are come vp into heauen and God hath remembred her iniquities Reward her euen as she hath rewarded you giue her double according to her works and in the cup that she hath filled vnto you fill her the double In as much as she glorified her selfe and liued in pleasure so much giue you to her forment and forrow For she saith in her heart I sit being a Quéene the world is mine no ill shal touch me Therefore shal her plagues come at one day death and sorow and famine and she shal be burnt with fire for strong is the Lord God which will condemne her And the kings of the earth which haue committed fornication and liued in pleasure with her shall bewaile her when they shall sée the smoake of her burning and shall stand a far off for feare of her torment saying alas alas the great ciâ—…ie Babylon the mightie citie for in one houre is thy iudgement come And the Marchants of the earth shal wéepe and waile ouer her for no man buieth their ware any more the ware of gold siluer and of pretions stone of pearls and of fine linnen of purple and of silke of scarlet and of al maner of Thime wood of al maner of Yuorie of al vessels of most pretious wood of brasse and of yron of marble and of cinamome and odours and ointments and frankencense and wine and oile and fine flower and wheat and beasts and shéepe and horses and chariots and seruants and soules of menâ—…o man anie more shall buie her parchment waxe and seales no man shall buie her orders her dispensations pluralities totquot non residence Perinde valere no man shal buie her concubines her oile salt holie water holie bread no man shal buie her palles her agnos dei her iubilees masses trentals and pardâ—…ns no man shall any more buie of her forgiuenes of their sins and life euer lasting no man shall regard her no man shall buie or séeke to get this marchandise of her anie more The marchants of these wares shal stand a far off for feare of her plagues and saie alas that great city that was clothed in reines and scarlet and purple and golde and diamonds and pretious stones in one houre is al thy glorie stript from thée O what city vnder heauen was like vnto thée Thou wast the great citie the noble and the holie citie Then a mightie Angel tooke vp a stone like a great milstone cast it into the sea saying With such violâ—…nce shal the great citie Babylon be cast and shal be found no more She shall be out of remembrance they shall séeke the place where shée stood and not find it The voice of harpers and musitions shal be no more heard in her The light of a candle shal shine no more in her her marchants officers and dataries were the great men of the earth and by her enchauntments were al nations deceiued And in her was found the bloud of the Prophets and of the saints of al that were staine vpon earth Then I heard a great voice of a great multitude in heauen saying Halleluiah saluation and glorie and honour and power be to the Lorde our God For he hath condemned the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and hath auenged the bloud of his seruants shed by her hand And againe they saide Halleluiah and the smoake rose vp for euermore and the foure and â—…nentie elders fel down worshipped god that safe on the throne saying Amen Halleluiah Then a voice came out of the throne saying praise our God al ye his seruants both small great And I heard like y e voice of a great multitude and as the voice of manie waters and as the voice of strong thunderings saying Halleluiah for our Lord God almightie hath raigned Let vs be glad and reioice giue glorie to him for she is fallen she is fallen Babylon that great citie there she lieth the mother of filth and fornication There lieth Antichrist the man of sin the son of perdition which is an aduersarie which hath sit in the temple of God and exalted himselfe aboue al that is called God that wicked lawlesse man lieth there The Lamb the roote of Iesse the lion of the tribe of Iuda hath ouercome and gotten the victorie He is worthy to receiue glorie and honor Then shal the Apostles and the Prophets the Angels saie praise and honor and glorie be vnto him that sitteth vpon the throne and vnto the lamb for euermore We thank thée we giue thanks to thée O God which art and was and shal be Thou hast auenged the bloud of the Prophets and Martyres thou hast destroyed them that haue defiled the earth Thy name be blessed for euer Amen Halleluiah Such glée and triumph shall be in heauen for the ouerthrow of Antichrist Thus haue I by occasion of the Apostles words spokeÌ„ of the comming and of the kingdome of Antichrist And least we might be deâ—…eiued as touching his person I haue saide what hée should bée what thinges he shal doe of what estate he shal bée what countenaunce he shal carie in what place he shal sit at what time shal be his comming by what meanes he shal preuaile who they be that shal beléeue in him what power shal beate him downe what ende hee shal haue what triumph shal followe vpon his fal I haue tolde you that he shal be the ouerthrowe of the worlde the confusion of the Church the sonne of perdition that he shal destroye himselfe and be the destruction of others I haue tolde you he shal be a reuerend father and weare a myter and be a Bishop and a Bishop of Bishoppes So saith Gregorie so Ierome so Augustine and Barnard and others And can not we tel who it is that calleth himselfe an vniuersal Bishop the Bishoppe of al Churches Doe we not heare of such a one Doe we not know him What soeuer he be wheresoeuer he dwel what countenaunce soeuer he beare he is Antichrist I haue tolde you he shal sit in the temple of God in the consciences of the people that the people shal heare credite follow and honor him as if he were God and thinke it sinne and daâ—…aioon to breake his loare I haue tolde you where hee shal be stalled where his chiefe place shal be whence hée may be séene Saint Iohn sayth he shal sit in a Citie built vpon seauen hils that citie is the citie of Rome Rome is so built Rome is set vpon seauen hils Dame Sybilla sayth Antichrist shal sit by the