within them anie feare of God anie loue anie remorse of conscience any regard of the saluation of theyr bodies and soules in the life to come nowe at the last to rouse vp themselues out of the cradle of securitie and drousie lethargie of sin wherin they haue long slept and by the examples of bruit beasts to do the workes and offices of their vocation and calling Let vs cast off the workes of darknesse as the Apostle exhorteth vs that is the workes of sinne and put vpon vs the armor of light that is the workes of righteousnesse holynes and truth redeeming the time because the dayes are euill as the same Apostle in an other place willeth vs. Let vs consisider weigh that we are they vpō whom the endes of the worlde are come and that the bridegroome Christe Iesus standeth before the doores Let vs think that the iudge is at hand to sūmon vs to the dome who though he defer his cōming yet be sure he will come at the last and reward euery one according to his doings in this life whether they be good or bad Let vs thinke that he who hath committed his talents to vs wil one day demaund accompts of them Remember these things whilest thou hast time deare Christian do the workes of mercy Follow the councell of the holy Ghost by the mouth of Dauid Eschew euill and do good Seeke after peace and ensue it Oh let not bruite beasts and vnreasonable creatures goe before thee in the doing of their duties Think thus that hee to whome much is committed shall be accomptable for much then reason thus with thy selfe As the Lord hath bestowed many great blessings and graces vpon me far aboue many other of his creatures so will he require of me that I should loue honor obey magnify prayse and in all my actions glorify him more than any other creatures And knowe this whatsoeuer thou art high or lowe ritch or poore yong or olde that thy yeares nay that thy very dayes houres and minuts of hours which thou hast to liue are numbred with God and that thou canst not by any means possible passe the same no not the twinckling of an eye or the least period of time that may be therfore good Dauid prayed the Lord to teach him to number his dayes that he might know how long he had to liue But admit that thou liuest to 60.80 or 100. yeres alas yet are thy dayes full of miserie affliction calamitie vexacion trouble as good Iacob sayd vnto Pharao being demanded how old he was few and euill are the dayes of thy seruant But say that thou shouldst liue to hundreths of yeres as many of our forefathers did yet must thou needs die at the last Adā liued nine hundred yeres od he died saith the text Abraham so many yeres he died Isaac so many yeres and he died Iacob so many yeres and he died Dauid so many he died Salomon so many hee died Methusalē so many yeres yea the most of any that euer liued vpō the earth and yet saith the text he died so that the foot of the song is still and he died Irreuocable therfore is the sentence of God against al flesh Dust thou art and into dust thou shalt returne again The same thing witnesseth the Apostle Paul where he saith Destinatum est omni homini semel mori It is appointed to euery man to die once and then to come to iudgement Then seeing the case standeth thus that we must all die that we shal cary nothing with vs but our good works our bad as Iohn witnesseth in the 22. of the Reuelation saying Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their labour theyr workes follow them let vs I saie in the name of God resolue our selues to glorify our God by good works in this life that we may be glorified of him for euer in the life to come The second Section Wherein is shewed how necessarie good workes are Of the great Zeale of our forefathers in doing of good workes Of their simplicitie and plaine dealing and of our want of both NOtwithstanding al that hath or can be sayde to this purpose there are some Atheistes that hold and also teach that Christ being come hauing shed his bloud for vs hath heereby so satisfied his fathers iustice and paide the raunsome for sinne that now whatsoeuer we doe is no sinne Nay further they will not sticke to affirme that Christ hath taken awaie all sin out of the world and therefore we cannot sinne Another sort of Locustes they affirme that as a man cānot be saued by his good works so he cannot be condemned by his euill workes and therefore it maketh no matter saith these Libertines whether a man doth the one or the other But these bee all most execrable and damnable opinions inuented by the deuill and broched by his members to the vtter destruction and confusion of as many as follow them Let vs that be christians and hope to be saued by the merits of Christes bloud rather obey the counsell of the holy ghost who warneth vs to worke out our saluation in feare and trembling in another place make your saluation sure by good workes Let vs with the Apostle Iames shew forth our faith by our good workes beeing assured that that faith which bringeth not forth good workes in some measure is no true iustifieng faith but a dead faith such as the deuils haue who are sayde to beleeue tremble The tree is knowen saith our sauiour Christ by the fruit and a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit nor a bad tree good fruit To the same effect Christ telleth vs in another place that not euery one that saith vnto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heauen but he that doth the wil of my father which is in heauen he shall enter into the kingdome of heauen And the Apostle Iames telleth vs that not the hearers of the law but the doers shall be iustified And therefore let vs brag of a naked bare faith as long as we will I am fully perswaded by the spirite of God that if wee haue no other faith than such as bringeth foorth no good workes we can neuer bee saued by it For a true liuely and iustifying faith can no more bee without good works than the Sun without light or fire without heat And yet doe I not attribute iustification to good workes neither for that were to attribute that to the effect which is proper incident to the cause or efficient but to such a faith as bringeth foorth good workes to the praise and honor of God But of this heereafter in his due place now to returne to the matter in hand It was tolde Saint Paul how that some preached CHRIST vppon enuie some of mallice some of pride some of one affection and some of an other who
sayd God forbidde that I should laie violent handes vppon the Lordes annoynted The Apostle Paul was indued with another spirite when he sayde Omnis anima potestatibus supereminentibas subdita sit Let euerie soule hee sayth not one soule or some soules but euerie soule bee subiecte to the higher powers his reason for there is no power but of GOD the penaltie or dannger of those that doo resist and those that doo resist sayth hee the power they resist the ordinaunce of GOD and purchase to themselues eternall damnation Then I woulde aske these murthering Papists if they that doe but resist the power doe purchase to thēselues damnation both of bodie and soule oh then what doo they purchase that not onely doo resist but also murther and kill the Lords annoynted And yet theyr delight is in nothing so much as to imbrue theyr cruell handes in the bloud of kings and princes For example What Emperours haue they poysoned yea in the verie wine of the challice What Kings and Princes what Peeres and Nobles haue they most cruelly murthered in sundrie partes of the worlde Did they not most trayterously murther the good Prince of Orenge with a dagge The late famous King of France with a double poisoned knife by the subornation of a Iacobine Frier Doe they not now also by all meanes possible by all plots and deuises seeke and practise the death of him who at this present is the most lawfull king of France Haue they not murthered two or three of the late kinges of Scotland And to come neerer home Haue they not practised attempted the murthering of our gracious soueraigne Queene Elizabeth by infinite waies meanes and by innumerable plots and deuises As first by sending in a number of Iesuites and seminary priests starke roagues and plaine traytors into her Maiesties realme to withdrawe the heartes of the people from theyr allegeance and to raise vp warres and commotions in euerie place And when these deuises and driftes dyd not take effect according vnto theyr expectation then they suborned and hired a sort of desperate graceles and reprobate villaynes to kill her Maiesties royall person as namely Parry Sommeruile Arden Throgmorton Babington with 13. moe of his collegues and confederates besides many moe which heare to recite were but superfluous All whiche notwithstanding Gods name be praysed for it receyued such condigne punishments for theyr deserts as I pray God all Traytors against their Prince and Cuntrey may do They hould it also for a principall good worke and of great merite to take armor and to rayse vp warres for the mayntenance inlarging and augmenting of their pretenced conterfeite Catholike Church or rather most diuelish antichristian synagogue of Sathan And therefore is the Pope with his Cardinals Abbots Friers Monks and all other consorts of that viperous generation sworne at their creation that they shall to the vttermost of theyr powers defend mayntayne and inlarge as they falssely call it Saint Peters patrimonie And to this end doth the Popes vnholie holynes sende abroade hys bandogges the Cardinalles hys curre dogges the Abbots and Monkes and his spanyels the sneaking Friers into euery cuntrey to perswade Kings and Princes to take Armes agaynst such and such for such and such causes as he hymselfe shall frame in the forge of hys owne brayne And the better to effect hys purpose hee sends them eyther some lowsye indulgence or else some beggerly pardon or other in a Bull of leade and that of all their sinnes for euer or else hee sends them some scalde relique or other and if that wyll not serue sometymes he sends them a goodly oyntment called rubrum vnguentum which wyll worke more then all the rest And when hee hath thus set them together by the eares then commes hee as a rauenous Gripe and deuoures eyther the one or both of them at hys pleasure And thus rageth hee euery where through-out Christendome so that in my conscience the Pope with the rest of hys broode are the very authors of all the warres and bloudshead in all Europe at thys present and that for the inlarging forsooth of Saint Peters Patrimonye What warres hath hee raysed heeretofore in Spayne What warres hath hee and at thys present doeth hee manage and maynteyne in the Kingdome of Fraunce in Flaunders and in the lowe cuntreys in Germany in Italy and sundry other places of the world it is vnpossible to number the infinit millions of Gods saints that he hath murthered and beene author of theyr murthers what warres he hath raysed what tumults he hath caused what rebellions insurrections and commotions he hath stirred vp throughout all Christendome and all to maynteyne his paunch his honor his glory his renowne his dignitie and estimation in the world And yet all will not serue for thanks be to God he cums tumbling downe euery day And the more he striues to be honored and magnified in this world the more is he hated of God and detested of men The Pope and Papists also accoumpt it a good worke to set vp stewes and brothell houses whether euery man may resort at his pleasure and that sana conscientia with a safe conscience as they say and inioy his whore or whores as many as he list and no man may say blacke is his eye or Domine cur ita facis because forsooth the Pope hath dispensed with him in a wanyon And as though this were no sinne but rather a good worke for so he and they all accompt it indeede he tollerateth Buggery Sodometry and other filthy sinnes for money which are not once to be named amongst the children of God And this is his reason Is it not better sayth this vile beast for me to tollerate them receyuing yearely a million or two of gould for them towards the maintenance of the Church or rather his owne carren carkasse than they to commit them secretly without my tolleration I receyuing nothing therfore But how light soeuer they esteeme of whoredome the word of God condemneth both it and the doers thereof to hell Was not Sodoma and Gomorrha consumed with fire and brimstone from heauen for this filthie sinne of whoredome buggery and yet thinke they to escape free The whole world eyght persons only excepted was drowned in that great and vniuersall deluge for the same sinne of whoredome The citie of the Sichemites was wholy destroyed and put to the sword for the same sinne also There were slayne of the Beniamites in one day 25000. for the defiling of a Leuites wife Zimri and Cosbi were both slayne for their whoredome together by Phinehas whose fact so pleased God that hee turned away hys wrath from the rest of the people that they were not destroyed Besides examples the Apostle Paule sayth that neither whoremongers adulterers nor incestuous persons shall enter into the kingdome of heauē The Apostle Iohn saith mariage is honorable amongst all mē and the bed vndefiled but whoremongers and adulterers God
A MOTIVE TO GOOD WORKES Or rather To true Christianitie indeede WHEREIN BY THE waie is shewed how farre wee are behinde not onely our fore-fathers in good workes but also many other creatures in the endes of our creation with the difference betwixt the pretenced good workes of the Antichristian Papist and the good workes of the Christian Protestant By Phillip Stubbes Gentleman MATHEW .5 verse 16. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your workes and glorifie your father which is in heauen LONDON Printed for Thomas Man dwelling in Pater Noster rowe at the signe of the Talbot 1593. To the Right Honorable Cutbert Buckle Lord Maior of the Citie of London P. S. wisheth all prosperity in this life and in the life to come euerlasting saluation by Iesus Christ. HAuing a desire right Honorable to see the state of this our noble Ilande in the bowels wherof as in the womb of my mother I was both bread and borne and wherein I haue liued euen to this present day I tooke my gelding about the Annunciation of S. Mary last past and so trauayling from place to place within one quarter of a yere or a little more I performed by Gods good prouidence and his blessed protection as much as I purposed compassing the whole realme in effect round about Which long and wearysome iorney albeit to my great charges and paynes I vndertooke partly for my priuate pleasure and recreation partly for the auoydance if it might please God of this generall infection of the plague which now raigneth and rageth not only in this honorable City but also almost throughout the whole realme vniuersally and partly to acquaint my selfe with the maners and dispositions of the people and finally to see and viewe all such monuments edifices and memorable deedes as our good Ancestors haue left behinde them In all which my progresse right honorable obseruing euery little circumstance as neerely as I could I found if not all yet very many things out of order and farre from that perfection which I hoped and loked for For as concerning the people I founde them in most places dissolute prowde enuious malicious disdaynefull couetous ambicious carelesse of good workes and almost altogether irreligious For the Cuntreys themselues I found them both pleasant and delectable and abounding with all kinde of commodities and store so as nothing seemed to be wanting that mans hart could desire vnder the sunne saue only good people and the same thankfull to God for his so great so inestimable and so infinite blessings bestowed vppon them And as for the ancient monuments which our good forefathers lefte vs as namely Hospitalls Spittles Almes houses Churches Chappels Schooles of learning Bridges high wayes pauements causies and the lyke I founde them some quite dissolued so as scarse any small remembrance thereof is in many places to bee seene and othersome so ruinate and decayed as if the first founders thereof were nowe liuing and shoulde see them they would not take them for their owne but rather for some disproportioned miscreants foysted in in their places Which generall decay of all good workes or rather playne defection and falling away from God right honorable when I considered returning to London from my long and paynefull iourney and hauing reposed my selfe there a little I was moued I protest before God euen in conscience to write this little treatise to the end that eyther by example exhortation or one meanes or other I might stirre vp the mindes of men at least of those whose hearts God hath touched if not to doe good workes themselues yet to maynteyne those which our predecessors haue left behinde them The want whereof as it is a blemish to our profession so is it a cause that maketh the enemy to barke against vs as if our Religion were nothing else but playne talking and not walking nay playne Atheisme and Libertinisme for so they falsely beare the world in hand And therefore I pray God we may if not for conscience sake yet for feare or if not for feare yet for very shame now at the last indeuour our selues to do good works and to leaue some monuments and testimonies of our christian zeale and charitie behinde vs. For else I am afrayde least not onely our good forefathers but also those which we accoumpt prophane and wicked persons as Christ speaketh shall goe before vs into the kingdome of heauen But of these matters we shall haue occasion to say more in the further discourse of this booke and therefore to bend my stile towards your honor After that I had in some sort penned this little treatise I considered with my selfe to whome I might dedicate the same and so after many ratiocinations pro contra I was at the last resolued to consecrate the same rather to your Honor than to any other and that for two causes First for that it hath pleased God to call you and that most worthely to the regiment of this so famous and populous a City to this end no doubt that by the sword of authoritye you might suppresse vice and by the scepter of wise gouernment you might commaund and enioyne men to the practising of good workes And secondly for that the same God hath made you not onely zealous of religion but also of good workes all which heereafter Christ willing shall be registred in theyr due tyme and place to your immortall fame honor and renowne Accept therefore my very good Lord according to your pristine affabilitie this little Treatise published in your Honors name and admit both it and the Author thereof into your patronage and protection so shall I thinke my selfe sufficiently remunerate and the Church of God being edified thereby shall prayse God for you to the end And thus I most humbly take my leaue From my lodging by Cheape side this 8. of Nouember 1593. Your Honors in all duty Phillip Stubbes Gentleman To the curteous Reader COnsidering with my selfe gentle Reader the great decaie or rather the plain abolition and extermination of good workes in these our vnhappie daies I was perswaded to publish this little Treatise to the ende I might stirre vp if it bee possible the mindes of men to the exercising and practising of the same The Argument I appeale to thy conscience in the feare of God is good the end and purpose of the Author also commendable and therefore I doubt not but it will be both well liked also no lesse esteemed of al those that feare God and then for the liking or disliking of the other I am so farre off from caring for it that I pray God I may neuer neither say doe nor write anie thing that may be liked or applauded of them For the manner of the handling heereof I haue not desired to be curious neither to affect filed phrases culled or picked sentences nor yet loftie haughtie or farre fetched epithites but a plaine bare and naked stile for I seeke not
vaine-glorie nor worldly prayse which many greene heades make so much account of but profite to the reader and gaine of Christian soules vnto GOD. And for those faultes which haue passed eyther my penne in writing or the presse in printing I pray thee friendly reader either amend them with thy pen or else couer them with the vaile of modestie And if thou reapest anie commoditie by these my labours ascribe the glorie to him whome the heauens doo worship the Angels reuerence and the powers adore And thus I commit thee to God and my booke to the censure of the godly wheresoeuer dispersed vpon the face of the earth Thine in the Lord Phillip Stubbes Gentleman Faults escaped in printing Fol. 89. line 23. for chase reade chastise Fol. 94. line 1. blot out these words Let vs rest contented with whatsoeuer he doth Fol. 95. line 22. for renumeration reade remuneration Fol. 96. last line for in that famous reade to that famous Fol. 102. line 2. for per sanctis reade pro sanctis Fol. 102. for supereminentibas reade supereminentibus Fol. 113. line 2. for chiefest worke reade chiefest marke Fol. 120. line 1. for a moment reade a monument Fol. 122. line 12. for pessessions reade possessions Fol. 154. line 20. for at last reade at least Fol. 159. line 17. for what soeuer reade wheresoeuer Fol. 164. line 1. for willingly reade willinglier Fol. 168. line 22. for defile reade defileth Fol. 188. line 13. for momentary reade momentany Fol. eodem line 21. for holy Iob reade the holy man Iob. A MOTIVE TO GOOD WORKES The first Section Wherein is shewed the end of mans creation in this life how all creatures do serue and obey their creator better than man in their seuerall callings with an exhortation to good workes IF God created the whole world with all things contayned therein of infinit variety to this end that he might be glorified by them and in them as without al controuersie he did than much more created he man to the same end whom he made after his owne similitude and likenesse indued with almost vnspeakable graces and whome also hee constituted Lord and ruler ouer all his other creatures And therefore euen as an earthly prince that shuld promote and aduance the meanest vassal or basest peasant of his realm as it were from the dunghill to great honor and dignitie making him not onely ruler ouer all his iewels and treasure whatsoeuer but also chiefe ruler and gouernor vnder him ouer all his people might in reason looke for greater gratitude loue obedience and loialtie at such a ones handes whome hee shuld so aduance than at the hands of the rest of his subiects whom he hath put in subiectioÌ„ so the heaueÌ„ly king calling vs as it were froÌ„ the dunghil and aduancing vs to great honor and glorie in this world and making vs Lords rulers ouer all things vnder him doth and in all reason may loke for greater thankfulnesse loue and obedience at our handes for it than hee doth or may looke for at the hands of all or anie of his other creaturs whome hee hath put in subiection vnder our feete And yet notwithstanding whether they or we in our seuerall conditions and callings do glorifie him the more it will easily appeare in the further discourse of this booke if we compare their doings and ours a little together And first to beginne with the Angells The Angels which as Paul saith are ministring spirites and most glorious substaunces created for the execution of Gods will for the comfort defence protection of such as be heires of saluation in Christ are so ready and prest to execute accomplish the will and purpose of God that they faile not in the least point And therefore when God sent them not onely to denounce but also to execute his iudgement and decree ouer Sodome and Gomorrha they were so precise and so exquisite in performing the least circumstaunce of their commission that they tolde Lot they could doe nothing till hee were gone forth of the citie Againe God commanded them not only to comfort but also to feed the good Prophet Eliiah when hee fled from the face of cruel Iezabel who presently obeied as you may read in the sacred historie They were sent to comfort Hagar who fled from the presence of her mistresse Sarah they performed their embassage both feeding and also comforting of her They were sent to accompanie Iacob trauelling from Haran towards his natiue Countrie they obeyed presently without all reluctation or resistance An Angell was sent to deliuer the three children Shadrach Mishach and Abednego from the furie of the raging furnace who without delay accomplished his charge so strictly that the very hairs of their heads were not once touched nor so much as anie smell of fire felt about them although they walked vp downe the firy flame The Angels also were sent to pitch their tents about the good Prophet Elisha and to defend him from the violence of them that were sent to take him they straight waie obeyed compassing him round about with firie chariots as it had beene mightie mountaines not onely defending him from harme but also striking his enimies with palpable blindnesse They were sent to conduct Tobias in his iourney to Rages in Media they straight obeyed guiding him not only thether but also bringing him home againe to the no smal ioy of his olde parents They were sent also to comfort to feede and to deliuer Daniel out of the Lions den they feede him by the Prophet Abacuc comforted him by most sweete wordes of consolation and finally stopping the mouthes of the greedie lions deliuered him by the power of him who worketh whatsoeuer hee will in heauen and in earth They were sent to conduct the Israelites thorough the wildernesse they obeyed going before them in the day time in a pillar of a cloude and in the night time in a pillar of fire shielding them from their enimies on euery side They were sent to strike the hoast of Dauid with the pestylence they obeyed slaying seuaentie thousande before they ceased and beeing commanded to staie their hande they stayed forthwith They were commanded to slaie all the valiant men of Sanâ—â—â—rib king of Asbur who inuaded â—â—dah with a mightie hoast in the daies of Hezechia they presently slew all the princes captains and famous men of the armie according to theyr commission inioyned them by the Lorde To conclude they were sent to salute the virgine Marie and to signifie vnto her the mysterie of the incarnation of our sauiour Christ they presently without all delaye obeyed as you may reade more at large in the Gospel after S. Luke I might heere inferre many moe the lyke examples of the obedience of Angelles towardes GOD who made them but these few least I might seeme tedious at this time shal suffice Nowe who seeth not except he bee
good works and the like it is vnpossible for thee to see the face of God to thy saluacion otherwise than the deuils and the reprobate who shall see the face of God I graunt but to their euerlasting condemnation So thou without good workes mayest see the face of God with thē but to thy vtter cōfusion destruction both of body soule for euer Be zealous therefore good Christian of good workes do good whilest thou hast time for the night of death will come when thou canst not work redeme the time with wel doing as the Apostle speaketh yea withdraw from thy sleepe from thy meate drink and frō thy necessary affaires to do good Remember thy yeres are few vpō earth thou hast but a short time to liue to work in Admit thou attainest to fortie fiftie sixtie or it may be eighty yeres wherto fewe doe come in comparison of those that die before alas that time is nothing neither in regard of the perpetuity eternity of the life to come Haue euer in thy minde that golden sentence of the Apostle He that soweth little shall reape little and he that soweth plentifully shall reape plentifully Let the words of our sauior neuer slip out of thy remembrance Beatius est dare potius quam accipere It is a thing more blessed to giue meaning to the poore than to receiue Giue therefore lend freely to them that haue need loking for nothing again and thy reward shall be great in heauen sayth our sauiour Christ. Consider it is sayde What is giuen to the poore is lent to the Lorde and looke what thou laiest out it shall bee paide thee again Distrust not Gods promises for he is yea and amen in all his sayings and faithfull and true in all his dooings Hee both can for that he is almightie and also will for that hee is mercifull most bountifully remunerate and most liberally rewarde them for whatsoeuer good thou dost in this life yea so precise is he herein that he hath bound himselfe with a promise that he wil not leaue so much as a cup of colde water giuen to anie in his name vnrewarded at that day The fifth Section Wherein is shewed the ends of good works and of our iustification by faith onely with a conclusion exhortatorie to good workes NOw as thou art to do good workes so thou must take heed that thou dost them not neither for desire of reward nor yet for feare of punishment but for the loue and obedience which thou bearest to thy God And so farre off oughtest thou to bee from thinking to be iustified or to merit any thing by thy workes as the blasphemous papistes doo contend that thou must both think saie as Christ teacheth thee to say When thou hast done all that is commaunded thee to doe thou art yet an vnprofitable seruant and hast done but thy dutie nay nor thy duetie neither no not in anie small measure No although thou were stable to do all the good workes in the world and all the good workes which the worde of God doth command thee yea and in that perfection which GOD doeth require of thee which thing neuer anie was nor euer shall be found able to performe Christ Iesus only excepted yet couldest thou neither bee iustified before God nor yet merite anie thing by them ex opere operato as the Papistes doo dreame But yet they are in deed notable seales and testimonies to thy conscience that thou art the childe of God and coheire with Christ Iesus of the kingdome of heauen And heereof is it that the Apostle biddeth vs make our saluation sure by good works not that good workes are any efficient cause of our saluation but doe assure confirme and seale vp vnto vs our saluation purchased by Christ. They are therefore most excellent fruites of our faith and infallible pledges of our election in Christe but no causes of our iustification before GOD. For euen as no fruit can make the tree good which by nature is naught so no good workes can make a man good before God who before was wicked euill for as the tree must of necessitie bee good before it canne bring foorth anie good fruite at all so a man must bee sanctified and regenerate by the spirit of God before he can doo anie good workes acceptable vnto God which once being accomplished thē follow good works as the effect from the cause And therefore I cannot but wonder at the more than palpable blindnes of these iusticiaries and merit-mongers the papists who beleeue that good workes can iustifie vs before God Our sauiour Christ sayth Without mee yee can doo nothing Whereto the Apostle seemeth to agree when he sayth It is God which geueth both the wil the deed euen of his good will and then alas what place of merit is there left for vs And whereas they obiect that God hath promised to reward our good works True it is hee giueth vs grace first to will then power to performe and put in practise euerie good worke that we doo and hath bound himselfe with a promise to reward these his own gifts in vs. But this reward standeth in the mercie of God not in the merit of the worke Let vs therefore abandoning our owne merits as filthie dong hold the mercies of God in Christ to bee our righteousnes beeing assured that if the Lord shoulde enter into iudgement with vs waying our verie righteousnes in the ballance of his iustice and rewarding vs according to our deserts we should be vtterly condemned and cast awaie for euer This the Prophet Esay confirmeth where hee saith That all our righteousnes is like a menstruous clout than the which there is nothing more filthy stinking or fulsome To which sentence Saint Barnard seemeth to allude saying Ve vniuersae iusticiae nostrae si remota miserecordia iudicetur Woe be to our righteousnesse if we should be iudged with out mercie And yet the papistes are perswaded that they are not onely iustified that is pronounced iust before God freed from sinne and all punishment due for sinne but also that they merite the kingdome of heauen and euerlasting life by their good workes Yea they haue not onely good works inough to saue themselues withall but others also and these they call works of supererogation that is whē they doe moe good workes and in greater perfection than God eyther can or will require of them as I haue noted before and therefore with the ouerplus of these forsooth they will helpe their fellowes if they will paie well for them else get they none for No pennie no Pater noster And is not this a pretie matter that they can not onely saue themselues but also others to by their workes of supererogation What should a man care for doing of good workes himself when for a little monie hee may buy inough of others The fiue foolish virgines would haue bought oile of the wise but it was answered
shall iudge But this winde shakes no corne as the Papists say for the Pope cā easily wipe away al this a thousād times more with a word What am not I Christs viccar generall and Peters successor Haue not I claues regni caelorum the keyes of the kingdome of heauen haue not I potestatem soluendi ligandi power to bind loose In a word am not I God can not I forgiue sinne at my pleasure Oh blasphemous mouth God shall destroy thee with the breath of his mouth The very Iewes shal rise vp in iudgemēt against thee cōdemne thee who sayd Can any mā forgiue sin 〈◊〉 God alone They thinke it also a good worke and of great merite to gad vp and down the cuntreys on Pilgrimage to this place and that place to this hee Saint and that shee Saint yea although it be as farre off as Rome Constantinople or Ierusalem is hence the further the more merite to visite Bethleem where Christ was borne the holie Sepulchre where he was buried the holy Crosse wherevpon he suffered the nayles that were driuen into his handes and feete the speare that was thrust into his side his bloud that was shed when he hanged vppon the Crosse the milke of Maries brests or else they lye the cratch or manger wherein Christ lay with infinite the like supersticious reliques too long to be recited heere To all which must be attributed a diuine worship with kneeling before them praying vnto them belieuing and trusting in them and aboue all for this is the chiefest work they shoote at offering vnto them as it were a sacrifice to Baal gould siluer iewels and precious stones of infinite varietie These things although they doe the idolls no good for so I will not feare to call them yet doe they serue to inritch these ambicious and greedie Priests who dayly gape for such prayes And truely but that the iudgements of God are a deapth without bottome hys counsayles vnsearchable and hys wayes past finding out I would wonder that any man could be so blinded or besotted as to trauayle so many hundred myles nay so many thousand myles sometymes in the meane tyme not regarding hys or theyr poore wyfe and children at home how miserably so euer they lyued to thys Saint and that Saint to thys Idoll and that idoll as though one were better than an other or that one could helpe better or more than an other Therefore it is true which the Apostle by the holy Ghost vttereth of such men where he sayth when men will not belieue the truth then God geueth them ouer to a reprobate sence to belieue lyes Alas did they or doe they thinke that these idolls can doe them any good eyther heare theyr prayers relieue theyr necessities or graunt theyr petitions No no this was but the subtiltie or rather playne knauerie of the couetous Priests to get money withall although to the destruction of theyr owne and infinite millions of Christian soules besides Full well was it sayde therefore of the heathen Poete Oh auri sacra fames quid non mortalia pectora cogis Oh cursed loue of money what wickednes is there in all the worlde which thou wilt not cause a man to doe for the loue of thee This caused the holy Ghost to denounce that couetousnes is the roote of all euill Oh remember what the Apostle sayth Godlynes is great riches if a man be content with that that hee hath Forget not what hee telleth you in an other place those that studie to be rich in thys world fall into diuers temptations and snares of the Deuill Seeke therefore to be ritch in God and not in the transitorie vanities of thys lyfe whiche vanishe away lyke a scumme or bubble before a man haue any vse or fruition of them Deceyue the world no longer with your bableries for filthy lucre sake repent and turne to God for hee is mercifull and would not your destruction Agayne the Papists accoumpt it a wonderfull good worke to make and erect Images and Idols in Churches and crosses in high wayes to creepe to them bare foote and bare legged to kneele before them to adore and worship them to pray to them to trust and belieue in them to aske and looke for all good thyngs at theyr handes to offer to them and in summe to attribute all diuine honor and worship to them being notwithstanding stocks and stones dead and insensible creatures and which as the Prophet sayth can neyther heare see smell taste nor vnderstande no nor so much as stirre out of theyr places If they be ouerwhelmed with dust they can not so much as make themselues cleane or if they be throwne into the fyre they can not ryse vp agayne and therefore not without cause doth the Lord pronounce accursed both the image and the image maker And as for crosses I see neyther reason nor scripture for them why they should be set vp eyther in Churches Churchyards high wayes or any place else Oh but say the Papists it doth a man good to looke vppon that engine whereupon Christ dyed But if they wyll needes haue crosses to gaze vppon let them looke vppon euery Christian man and woman who theyr armes being spread abroade doe resemble most liuely both the crosse and also Christ himselfe a thousand tymes more truely than these idolatrous counterfeite crosses of wood and stone And because they shall see the small or rather the no necessitie at all of these crosses amongst vs Christians I will shew the originall of them how and vppon what grounds and for what causes they fyrst came vp The heathen people and infidels denegers of the faith professed enemies to Christ Iesus reproched the Christians and cast in their teeth that their Sauiour and theyr Messias in whome they trusted was hanged vppon a crosse betweene two theeues as the most notorioust malefactor of all to his and theyr perpetuall approbrie ignominie and shame for euer as they most blasphemously affyrmed The Christians heerevpon to shewe that they were not ashamed neyther of Christ Iesus nor yet of his crosse caused to be set vp as well in Churches and Churchyards as also in high wayes streetes and lanes diuers and sundry crosses which custome hath continued and descended as it were by succession from them vnto vs at this day Now who seeth not heereby the small necessity of them amongst Christians For at this day there be none that doe vpbrayd vs that our Sauiour in whom we belieue was hanged vppon a crosse and therefore the cause of the erection or setting vp of crosses being ceased let the crosses themselues be remoued also For certainly the continuance of them in high wayes or elsewhere doth mayntayne a notable branch of Popish idolatrie and superstition amongst vs whilest some when they passe by them will geue them the right hand put off theyr caps make obeysance and worship them as that archtraytor seducer of Gods Saints Campion did passing along