fountaine of lyning water / and haue digged to theÌ„ selfes Sestornes / that can holde no water Why wilt thou iustefye thyselfe Vnder thy wynges is founde the bloud of the soules of the poore innocentes / whome thou founde not in corners / and yet thou sayest / I am innocent Ierem. iij. Thou hast gotten a whores forehead / thou canst not think shame / my people is folish / they know me not / Ierem. iiij Ierem i.ix. they are folysh chyldren / and haue no wysdoÌ„ / wise they are to committe mischiefe / but to do good they are all together ignorant Euery maÌ„ may beware of his neyghbor / and no man assuredly maye truste in hys brother / for euery man is becoÌ„me disâ—eatfull / they haue practesed their touÌ„ges to lyes / and guyle They haue lefâ— my law sayth the Lord and haue folowed the wicked imaginacioÌ„s of their owne hartes / they haue folowed after Baalam / whome their fathers taught them The offeÌ„ces of Iuda before the captiuitie Of this and of many moo places lyke apeareth the generall offences / off that people to haue ben defectioÌ„ froÌ„ God / shedding of innoceÌ„t bloud / Iustifiyng of theÌ„ selfes / defence of their iniquitie / while yet they abeuÌ„ded in reaf / murder / oppressioÌ„ / lyes / crafte / practise / deceat / manifest idolatrye / folowing the trade of their fathers / who vnder Manasses AmmoÌ„ / of whom the one in the beginning / thother all his lyfe mantaineth Idolatrie / had ben the ringleders of all abhominacion The prophetes off God woÌ„dering at so manifest iniquitie iudged that suche ingnorauncy and inobedieÌ„ce was only amonges the rascals sorte off men / and therfore he sayth Ierem. v. These be but poore ones / they are folisshe / they knowe not the waye of the Lord / nor the iudgemeÌ„t off their God / I will goo to the nobils and I will talke with them / for they know the waye off theyr Lord / and the iudgemeÌ„tes of their God But what findeth he amonges them / he declared in these wordes Ierem. v. They haue all brokeÌ„ the yocke they haue heaped synne vpoÌ„ synne / and one misschefe vpon another / froÌ„ the least vnto the moste / all are bent vpon auaryce / and gape for lucre / from the priest to the prophet / euery man dealth deceatfully Ierem. vi Beholde / theyr eares be incircuÌ„cised / they can not aduert / The word of God is a rebuke vnto them / they delite not in it They haue committed abhominable misschiefe / What this abhomination was / God sheweth to Ezechiel / Eâ—â—â—k viii all had forsaken God in their hartes / in so muche that a great number openly / had turned their backes vnto God / and made sacrifice to the sunne / euery man in hys owne secret closet Yea / wemen mourned for that they were not permitted to commit open abhomination / is it not to be wondered that al estates were so corrupte vnder so godly a prince Ierem. v. But our prophet Ieremie proceadith in his complainte / sayinges / they can not repent / neither yet thinke shame They haue denied the Lord / and sayd it is not he / we shall neither se sweard nor huÌ„ger You heare the obediens that the prophet founde amonges the princes off Iuda / and yet I saye / it is not to be wondered that the vineyarde / which was so well mannured / brought forth no better grapes Herken England They had a kyng most godly mynded / they had prophetes for Ieremy was not alone most faithful and ferueÌ„t They were admonisshed by diuers plagues / and alwaies the prophetes called for repentaunce / and yet folowed nothing / but open conteÌ„pt off God / and of hys messingers Osel vl Their repentaunce were lyke the mornyng dewe / it remayned not / although they cold saye in their mouthe / the Lord lyueth / yet were their othes nothinge but lyes Ierem. vâ— Fynde me one man / that doth equitie iustice c. to hym will I be mercifull sayth the Lord. Here was narow and sharpe inquisition amonges so great a multitude be lyke / there hath not bene very manye / when he that knoweth the secrete thoughtes searcheth so diligeÌ„tly But before we proceade further in this matter / it shall be profytable / to se how these procediÌ„ges doth agree with our estate and tyme. Comparyson betwixte England and Iuda before the distruction Kyng Edward the sixte And firste that we had not Gods woorde offered vnto vs / will none excepte arrant papist alledge We had a kynge off so godly disposition towardes vertew / and chiefly towardes Gods truthe / that none froÌ„ the begynninge passed hym / and to my knowledge / none of hys yeare did euer matche hym in that behalfe / iff he might haue bene lorde of hys owne will In this meane tyme / if synnes dyd abound / let euery man accuse hys owne coÌ„science for here I am not mynded to specefie all that I knowe / neither yet is it necessarye / seynge some crymes were so manifeste and so heighnous that the earthe colde not hydde the innocent bloud / nor yet could the heaueÌ„s without shame / behold the craft / the deceat / the violens and wronge / that openly was wroughte And in the meane ceason / the hande off God was busye ouer vs / his trew messingers is kept not sylence You know that the realme off Englande was visited with straunge plagues and whether that it was euer prophesied / that the worse plagues were to folow / I appeale to the testemony of your own conscieÌ„ce / but what ensewed here vpon Alas I am ashamed to reherse it / vniuersal contempt of all godly admonitions / hatered of those that rebuked their vyces Autoresing of suche / as colde inuente most vylanye agaynste the preachers of God Witnes certeyne ballates In this matter I maye be admitted for a sufficieÌ„t witnes / for I hard and saw / I vnderstood and knew / with the sorow of my hart / the manifest contempt and the crafty deuices of the deuil against those most godly and learned preachers that this laste Lent / Anno. 1553. were apoynted to preache before the Kynges maiestie / as also against all others / whose touÌ„ges were not tempered by the holy water of the courte too speake it plainlye / who flatteringe agaynste their owne conscience / coulde not saye / all was well / and nothinge neded reformacion What reuereÌ„ce and audience was geuen vnto preachers / this laste Lent / by such as then were in autoritie / their owne countinaunces declared assuredly / euen suche as was geuen to Ieremye / they hated suche / as rebuked their vyce / and stubbernlye they sayde We wil not amende / and yet howe boldely theyr synnes were rebuked / suche as were presente / can witnes with me / almoste there was none / who dyd
scriptures are not written in vayne / but too certefye vs / that God of hys natiue goodnes will metigate by our prayers offered by Iesus Christ / although he hath threatened to punish or presently by punishing / which he doth testefye by his owne wordes saying Ierem. 18 Yf I haue propheried against any nacion or people / that thei shal be destroyed And yf they repent of theyr iniquitie / it shall repent me of the euel / which I haue spoken agaynst them â—aâ—enes in praier This I write lamenting the great couldnes of men / which vnder so longe scorgis of God / is nothing kyndled to prayer by repentaunce / but carkese slepe in weked lyfe / euen as though their continuante warres / vrgent famyne / cotidian plagues off pestilence / and other contagious insolent and straunge maladis / were not the present signes of Gods wrath prouoked by our iniquite ¶ A plague threatned too Englande O Englande / A plague threatened to EnglaÌ„de let thy intestiue batteries domesticall murther / prouoke the to purety of lyfe / according to the worde / whiche openly hath bene proclaymed in the / other wise the cuppe of the Lordes wrathe / thou shalt shortly drinke of The multitude shall not escape / but shall drynke the dregges / and haue the cuppe broken vpon their heades / The godlye punisshed for iudgement beginninge in the house of the Lorde / commonly the least offendor is fyrst punished / to prouoke the more weked too repentaunce But O Lorde / infinite mercye / yf thou shalt punishe / make not consumacion / but cut awaye the proude luxuriant brauÌ„ches / which beare no fruyte / and preserue the coÌ„mon wealths / of suche as geue succour herber / to thy contempned messengers / which loÌ„ge haue suffred exile in deserte / so be it FINIS ¶ Here after foloweth a Confession OMnipotent and euerlasting God father of our LORDE Iesus Chryste whoo be thy eternall prouidence / disposes kyngdoms / as beste seameth to thy wysdom / we acknowledge and confesse thy iudgemeÌ„tes to be righteous in that thou hast taken froÌ„ vs / for our ingratitude and for a businge of thy most holy worde / our natiue Kyng earthlye comforter / iustly maye thou poure forth vpon vs the vttermoste of thy plagues / for that we haue not knowen the dayes and tyme of oure mercifull visitacion / we haue contempned thy worde / and dispised thy mercies / we haue traÌ„sgressed thy lawes / for deceytfully haue we wroughte euery man / with oure neyghbours oppressioÌ„ and violeÌ„ce we haue not abhorred / charitie / hath not apeared amonge vs as oure profession requireth / we haue littel regarded the voyces of thy prophetes / thy threatninges we haue estemed vanytie and wynd / so that in vs / as of our selfs restes / nothinge worthy of thy mercies / for all are founde frutles / eueÌ„ the princes with the prophetes / as wythered trees apt and mete too be burnt in the fyre of thy eternall displeasure But o Lord / behold thy own mercy goodnes / that thou may purdge and remoue the moste fylthye borden / of oure moste horrible offences / let thy loue ouercome the seueritie of thy iudgemeÌ„tes / euen as it did in geuing to the world thy onely sonne Iesus / when all mankynde was lost / and no obedieÌ„ce was lefte in Adam nor in his sede Regenerate our hartes o Lorde by the strength of the holy ghoste / conuert thou vs / and we shall be conuerted / worke thou in vs vnfayned repentaÌ„ce / and moue thou oure hartes too obey thy holy lawes Beholde our trobles and apparant destruction / and staye the sworde of thy vengeaunce before it deuoure vs. Place aboue vs o Lorde for thy great mercies sake / such a head with suche rulers and maiestrates as feareth thy name / and willeth the glory of Christ Iesus to spred Take not from vs the light of thy Euangely / and suffer thou no papistrie to preuaile in this realme Illuminate the harte off our soueraigne lady quene Marie / with prignant giftes of thy holy ghoste And inflame the hartes of her couÌ„sayl / with thy trew feare and loue / represse thou the pryde of those that wolde rebelle And remoue frome all hartes the conteÌ„pte of the worde / let not our enemies reioyce at our destruction / but loke thou too the honor of thy owne name o Lorde / and let thy Gospell be preached with boldines in this realme / if thy iustice must punish / then punish our bodies with the rodde of thy mercy But o Lorde let vs neuer reuolte / nor turne backe to Idolatrie agayne Mytigate the hartes of those that persecute vs / let vs not faynt vnder the crosse of oure sauiour / but assist vs with the holy ghoste / euen to the ende Here after foloweth the Table of this boke A. A confession of Christes moste sacred Euangely / vpon the death of that moste verteous moste famous kyng Edward the .vi. fo xvi A plague threatened to Englande fo xvi A poynted places to praye in maye not be neglected fo xv Aungels maye not be mediators fo x. Agaynste suche as wolde haue mediators too Iesus Christ fo xij B. Better it is to obey God then man fo xiij By whome we must praye fo ix C. Corporall thinges fo xij Comforte to the afflicted fo xiiij D. Dayly bread fo vi F. Fleshe striueth agaynste the sprete fo xiiij For whoÌ„ at what tyme we should fo xvi G. Gods sentence may be chaunged fo xvi God deliuereth hys chosen from fo vi H. How the sprete maketh intercession fo iij. I. Iesus Christ / God man is mediator fo x. Impedimentes commeth of the weakenes off the fleshe fo xiiij Intercession to sainctes fo x. Ipocrisie is not alowed with God fo v L. Let euery man iudge hys owne hart fo iij. N. Not to pray is synne most odious fo vij O. Obedience of Christ fo xi Obseruacion in godly prayer fo ix Of necessite we must haue a mediator fo ix R. Reddines of God to heare synners fo vij S. Sporris stire vs to prayer fo vi T. Turkes and Iewes / fo ix The hope to obtayn our peticions / should depende vpon the promises of God fo vij The cause of theyr boldnes was Iesus fo v. The peticion of the sprete fo xiiij W. What prayer is fo ij Who prayeth not in tribulation fo vi When synners are not harde of God fo iiij Why we shoulde praye / and also vnderstande what we do praye fo iii. What fasting / almose dedes are fo v. When we be not herde fo x. What is to be gathered in the name fo xv Who maketh other mediatours then Ihesus Christ taketh ouer from hym fo xi What shoulde be prayed for fo xiij When and for whom we should praye fo xv Why God differreth or prolongeth to grauÌ„t vs oure peticion fo xiij Where constaunte prayer is / there is graunted peticion fo vij Who prayeth not fo iij. What is to be obserued in prayer fo ij ¶ Here endeth the Table GOD IS MY HELPER
not prophesye and plainly spake the plagues that are begonne / and assuredly shall ende Mayster Grindall plainlye spake the death of the Kynges maiestie / Mayster Grindal complayninge vppon hys housholde seruauntes / who / neyther feared to raile agaynste the woorde off God / and agaynste the trewe preachers of the same That godly and feruent man mayster Leuer / playnlye spake the desolacion off thys common wealthe Mayster Leuer Mayster Bradford And mayster Bradforde whome God for Christes hys sonne sacke comforte to the ende spared not the proudest of them / but boldely declared / that Goddes vengeaunce shortlye shoulde strycke / those that then were in auctoritie / because they lothed abhorred the trew worde of the euerlastinge God / willed theÌ„ to take example by a noble man / who became so colde in hearing Gods worde / that the year before his death / he wold not disease hym self to heare a sermoÌ„ / God punisshed hym sayde that godly preacher and shall he spare you that be dubble more wicked No / ye shal saye / will ye / or will ye not / ye shal drinke of the cup of the Lordes wrathe / Iudicium domini IudiciuÌ„ domini Mayster Haddon The iudgemeÌ„t of the Lord / the iudgement of the Lorde / cryed he with a lamentable voyce / and weaping teares Master Haddon / most lernedly opened the causes of the byepassed plagues / and assured them / that the worse was after to come / If repentaunce shortly were not founde Muche more I harde of these foure / and of others / which now I maye not rehearce / that which is to be noted after that the hole counsail had sayd they wolde heare no mo of their sermoÌ„s / they were vndiscrete felowes / yea / pratynge knaues / but I will not speake all / for yf God contynew me in this troble I purpose to prepare a dysshe / forsuche as then ledde the ryng / yea / who but theyâ— but nowe they haue bene at the skoole of Placebo / and ther they haue lerned amongst ladyes to daunse as the deuill lyst to pype Agaynst those / whom God hath stryken / seing now resteth to them no place of repentaunce / nothing mynd I to speake But such as lyue to this dai / wold be admonisshed that he that hath punished the one / wil not spare the rest But to our matter This presidents I iudge sufficient to proue this oure age to haue bene / yet to remayne lyke wicked if it be not worse with the tyme of Ieremye Now let vs searche what folowed in Iuda Mischefe vpon mischefe / notwithstaÌ„dinge the continuall and long cryeng of the prophetes / whil fynally God in his anger toke away good king Iosias / liij Regum xxllj because he was determened to destroye Iuda / as before he had destroyed Israel After the death of this godly Kynge / great was the troble / diuers sondry were the alteracions in that commeÌ„ wealth Three kynges taken prysoners / one after other in short space / what other were the miseries of that stubbern nation O God for thy greate mercies sake let neuer thy smal and troubled flocke / within the realme of Englande / learn in experiens But in all those trobles / no repentaunce appeared / as by the prophet ye may learne / for thus he crieth Ierem. v. â— Esai 1. Thou haste stryken them o Lorde / but they haue not mourned / thou hast destroyed them / but they haue not receaued discipline Ieremi xij They haue hardened their faces harder then stones / they will not coÌ„uert The hole laÌ„d is wasted / but no man wil wyn / Ierem. xiij ponder consider / the cause This people will not heare my worde / They walke in the wicked inuention of their owne hartes They go after other goddes to worship and serue them and of the prophetes naturall frendes of the men of Anathotes / some plainly said Speake no more to vs in the name of the Lorde / leaste thou dye in our handes / belyke these men had smal fantasye to Gods prophet But yet shall a sermon and that whiche ensewid the same made in the beginning of the raigne of Iehoiakim / sonne to Iosias / make euident / and better knowne / how muche the people were bent to Idolatrye / and to heare false prophetes / after the death of their good kyng The prophet is commaunded by God to stande in the court or entres of the Lordes house / and to speake to all cities of Iuda / that then came to worshippe / in the house of the Lorde / and is commaunded to kepe no worde backe / yf peraduenture sayeth the Lorde they will herken and tourne euery man from his wicked waye The tenor of hys sermon / is this / Thus fayth the Lorde Iere. xxvi yf ye wil not obey me to walke in my lawes / which I haue geuen you / and to heare the wordes of my seruauntes the prophetes whome I sente vnto you / rysing vp betymes and styl sending / yf ye wil not heare theÌ„ I sayde then wil I do to this house / as I dyd vnto Silo / will make this citie / to be abhorred of al the people in the earth Heare not the wordes of the prophetes / that said vnto you / you shal not serue the king of Babylon / Iere. 27. I haue not sent them sayeth the Lorde howbeit / they are bold to prophesye lyes in my name / yf you geue eare vnto them / both you and your false prophetes shal perish Denie vvil I nothiÌ„g excepte Idolators But the liâ—e vvas done in Englande Here is first to be noted / that the people was alredy entered in to iniquitie / and especially straighte after the death of their king / into Idolatry / froÌ„ which the Lorde by his prophet labored to call them backe / threatning vnto them desolation / yf they procede to rebel Suche false prophetes at this presente are muche estemed in Englande Secondarely / it is to be obserued / that amongest them were false prophetes / not that they were so knowen / holdeÌ„ of the people / no / they were holdeÌ„ and estemed for so they boasted them selfes to be The trew churche of God that colde not erre / for howe should the law perish from the mouthe of the preasts Ierem. 18 These false prophetes were mayntaynors of Idolatrie / and yet boldelye promised to the people prosperitie and good lucke Wherewith the people were so abused and blinded / that the wordes of Ieremye / dyd rather hardeÌ„ their hartes / then prouoke any to repeÌ„taunce / as the consequentes declared / for his sermon ended / the priestes / prophetes / and the hole people apprehended Ieremye / and with one voyce cryed / he is worthye of the death Greate was the vprore agaynst the poore prophet / Ierem. 26 in which appearinglye /
citie he fainted the hartes of the souldiours and of the people but principally Such vvealthe do the papistes promis the people for receauinge the Idolatrous masse againe into Englande Iere. 28. he was vnfrendly to the faythe that Passhur taught the people To weke / the fayth of their forefathers / who alwaies rebelled agaynst God And therefore he was reputed a heretycke / accused of sedicion / and dampned of treason Playne preachinges were made agaynste all that he had spoken / and suche felicitie was promised / that within twoo yeares shoulde the yocke of Nabuchonosor be broken from the neckes of all people and the vessels of the lordes house together with all prysoners should be brought agayne to Ierusalem Iere. 13. HaboÌ„dauÌ„ce cam before the destruccion Iere. 38. Now dyd this habound with wyne oyle / O pleasing and blessed amoÌ„gst the people were such prophetes / Ieremy had trobled them and therefore he must dye To pryson shall he go / for the kyng can denye nothing to his princes / of whome Pashur apeareth / to haue ben chief chauÌ„celour / by whom was not only the kyng / but also the hole multitude so blinded / that boldly they durst crye No mischaunce shall come too vs we shall neither se pestilens nor hunger The kynge of Babylon shall neuer come againste thys lande Iere. 27 In the middest of these stormy trobles / no other comfort had the prophet / then to complayn to hys God / at whose commaundement he had spoken And in this his coÌ„plaint he is so kyndled agaynst their Idolatrie / and great vnthankefulnes that he crieth / as in a raige O thou Lord of hostes Iere. â—0 the tryar of the iust thou that seith the reynes and the hart Let me se thy vengeaunce taken vpon theÌ„ for vnto the haue I referred my cause â–ª 〈◊〉 this prayer was most fearful to his enemyes / yf they had sene the effiaccie therof so by thesame was the prophet assured / that Goddes wrath was kyndled against that sinful natioÌ„ that it shoulde not turne backe / till he had performed the cogitations of his owne hart I appeale to the conscieÌ„ce / of euery indiffereÌ„t maÌ„ / in what one point differeth the regiment manners / A coÌ„parison betwene EnglaÌ„de Iuda and estate of Englande this day froÌ„ the aboue rehearsed estate off Iuda in those dayes / except that they had a kynge / a man as apeareth of nature / more facied / nor cruell / who sometymes was entreated in the prophetes fauour / and also requyred hym of counsail in some daungers The quene stubburne against the truthe of gods vvord and hateful to the preachers of the same And you haue a Quene / a woman of a stoute stomack / more styffe in opynion / then flexible too the truthe / who in nowyse maye abyde the presens of Gods prophetes In this one thing you disagre in al other thinges so lyke as one nut is too another Their kyng led by pestilence priestes / who guides your quene / it is not vnknoweÌ„ / Vnder such came Idolatrie to the highte agayne O wold to God / that the worse were not amoÌ„gst you / In Ierusalem was Ieremie persecuted / for speakinge the truthe / for rebuking their Idolatrie What pryson within London / tormenteth not some trew prophet of God The Idolatrous masse of late first erected in the tovver of London for the same causes And o thou doungeon off darkenes where that Idole of late dayes was fyrst erected thou Tower of London in the doth moo Ieremies then one suffer iniurye trouble / The B. of Canterb. D. Ridleye M. Latimer Bradforde Sandes Becon Veron c. Preachers and prisoners in the Tovver of London whome God shal comfort according to hys promyse / and reward their persecutors euen as they haue deserued / and in that daye shalt thou trymble / and suche as shal purpose to defende the / shal perishe with the / because thou waste fyrst defyled with that most abhominable Idol Consider deare brethern if all thinges / as appertayninge to iniquitie be a lyke betwixte Englande and Iuda / before the destruccion therof / yea / Yf Englande be worse then Iudea was in those dayes / seing God spared not them / shal we thinke that the Lordes vengeaunce shal slepe / mans iniquitie beyng so rype No deare brethren Iere. ix He that hath vnderstandinge muste know the contrary And he to whome the Lordes mouth hath spokeÌ„ / must shew the causes / why the lande shal be waste It maye offende you / that I cal Englande worse / then was vnthankeful Iudea / but yf good and euident reasones aduised maye take place / then I feare not iudgement Wherein Iudea was better then England is now From Ierusalem / many passed at admonition of the prophetes / leauing all that they had / rather then they wolde abyde the daunger of Gods plagues that were threatned Goddes prophetes hath cryed but I heare not of many that prepareth to flye / God graunte they repent not In Ierusalem were princes / noble men who defended Ieremy and also that dyd absolue hym / when wrongfully he was accused by the priestes But howe many now of the nobilitie within Englande boldely speaketh in in the defence of Gods messinger is easy too be tolde Amongest them had Gods prophet lyberty / to speake in maintenaunce of his doctrine How such as seketh a tryal of their doctrine / hath bene and are entreated amongest you / it is hard of in straunge countries In Ierusalem was Abdemelech / why when the prophet was cast in prysoÌ„ as worthy of death boldly past to the king / and defending the innocency of the innocent / obtayneth hys liberty / but in EnglaÌ„d I hear of none God stur some that dare be so bolde / as to put their handes betwixt the Lyons / and their praye / the poore sainctes of God / those cruell murtherers In Ierusalem / Ieremy beyng dampned to pryson / was fedde of the kynges charges / that when great hunger and scante of bread was in the hole citie In London where all plenty haboundes / are Gods messingers permitted to hunger Yea / O horrable to be harde and aunciente fathers / are so cruelly entreated / that lyke extremetye hath seldom bene vsed vpon theues and murtherers In this behalf do I not blame you beloued brethren for I assuredly know your hartes to mourn for the trobles of your brethren / and faythfull preachers and that you seke all meanes possible / how they maye be comforted releaued / but these thinges to th ende that you mayese / that more abhominacion / lesse fear of God / more in iust dealing / and lese shame more cruel persecucion against Gods messengers / and lesse mercy and gentlenes / is now amongst youre chief rulars within Englande / then in those dayes was in Iudea / and yet did not
and that he maye multiplye thy / as he hathe sworne vnto thy fathers Vvliij Idolatrie is too be eschevved the mainteners therof In these wordes most euidently is expressed vnto vs / why God wil that we auoide all felowship with Idolatrie / with the maintainers of the same In whiche are thre thinges chiefly to be noted / fyrste that the holy Ghost instruct vs / that maintaynours of Idolatrie / prouokers to the same / intēdeth to draw vs frō God / therfore he cōmaūdeth vs / that we shal not coūsail their īpietie / but that we shall make it knowen / that we shall punishe it / if we will haue the leage betwixte vs God too stande sure And here is the firmamente of my fyrst cause / why / it is necessary to auoyde Idolatrie / because that otherwise we declare oure selfes litell to regard / yea / to haue broken / and plaīly denied that holy leage / which is betwen vs God / through Christ Iesus Secōdarely it is to be noted / that Idolatrie so kindleth the wrath of God / that it is neuer quenched / vntill the offendors / all that they poses / be destroyed frō the earth / that by fyre It may appeare that this is seueare rygorous iudgement / but let the cause be cōsidered / thē shall we vnderstāde / that in the same / God sheweth vnto vs his most singuler loue / declaring him selfe enemye vnto oure enemies / for all those that wold draw vs frō God be the kynges or quenes beīg of the diuels nature / Dravvers of men frō God are of the deuils nature are enemies vnto God / therfore wil God that in such cases / we declare our selfes enemies vnto them And last it is to be noted / that obediēs geuē vnto God / in taking vēgeaūce vpō Idolatours / by suche meanes / as God hath appointed / is a cause why God sheweth his mercye / why he multiplieth vs / enbraseth vs with brotherly loue / where cōtrary wyse / by cōsentinge with Idolatrye / are the mercies of God shut vp frō vs / are cutted of the bodie of Christ / to wyther and roote / as trees withoute moysture But nowe shall some demaunde / what then shall we go too / and kyll all Idolatours Questiō Aūswere That were the office dutye of euery ciuell magistrate within hys realme and Iurisdiccion But of you is requyred only to auoyd participacion and company of that abhominacion / as wel in body as in soule / as Dauid and Paule plainly teacheth Psal xvi Dauid in his exile / in the middes of Idolatours sayth I will not offer their drinke offeringes of bloud neyther yet will I take their name into my mouthe Paule sayth 1. Cor. x. You maye not be partakers of the Lordes table and of the table of deuils you may not drinke the Lordes cup / and the cup of deuils As these two places / of scriptur plainly resolueth the former question / so do they confirme that which is before sayd That the leag betwixt vs and God requireth / auoydinge off all Idolatrye 1. Regū xxvij Fyrst playne it is / that in Gathe and in Corinthus / were no smal number off Idolatours / when Dauid was there in exile / when Paule wrote hys Epistle / yet neither sayth Dauid / that he wil kyl any in that place because he was their magistrate / neither geueth Paule any suche commaundement / but in one thing they both agre / that suche as hath socitie leage with God / must so abhorre Idolatrye / that no parte of the bodye be defyled therwith For Dauid sayeth I will not take their names in my mouth As he wolde saye / so odious are the names of false vaine Goddes / that the mencion of them is righteouslye compared to stinckinge donge / vile carion / whiche neither can be eaten / neither yet smellid without displeasur of suche that hath not lost the iudgemente of their sences / therfore sayeth Dauid / I wil not defyle me mouth with thē / that is / I wil neuer speake one fauorable worde of them I thinke much lesse / wolde he haue croched and kneled before them for anye mans pleasure Aduert brethren / Shyfte makers are double dissemblers that Dauid inspyred with the holy Ghoste knew no such sheftes / as worldly wyse men imagyn nowe a dayes That they maye kept their hartes pure and cleane to God / howbeit / their body daūse with the diuel Not so deare brethrē not so The temple of God hath nothing to do with Idols The cause expresseth Dauid in their wordes The Lorde hym selfe is my portion and my enheritaunce Greate is the cause / yf it be deaply considered Dauid illuminated by the holy Ghost seyth euē the selfe same thing / which before we haue aleaged of the Apostles wordes / that God will not parte spoyle with the deuil / promitting hym to haue the seruaūt of the body / he too stande contente with the soule / harte and mynde No brethren / Dauid marketh this / the fundament reason / why / he wil neither offer sacrefice to Idols / neither yet defyle hys mouthe with their names / because sayeth he the Lorde is my porcion Vvhat the leage betvvene vs and God requireth as he wolde saye / suche is the cōdiciō of the leage betwene me and my God / that as he is my tower of defence against my enemies / preseruing and norishing bothe the body soule / so muste I be hole his in bodye and soule / for my God is of that nature / that he will suffer no portiō of hys glory to be geuen to another In confirmation of this sayeth Esay / Esai 57. after he had rebuked their Idols and vayne inuecinons These are thy porcion and Ieremy likewise in mockinge of thē sayth / let thy bedfellowes deliuer thy / call vpon them / and let them heare thy / thou hast committed fornicacion whordome with stocke and stone Ierem. 3. The prophetes meaning thereby / that Idolators can haue no leage nor couenaunt with God / in so farre / that their hartes be alyenated from hym / which the seruice of their bodies doth testefye / and therfore renounceth God suche leage / bounde as was before offered for Esay wolde saye / euen suche as thou hast chosen / suche shal be the portion And Ieremye wolde say / thou put thy trust to them / which he meaneth / by the lyēg with thē in bed / therfore let them shewe their power in thy deliueraunce / and thus he sendeth them as it were to sucke water from hote burninge coles Note wel It shall nothing excuse / to saye we trust not in Idols / for so will euery Idolatour alleage / but if either you or they in Gods honor / do any thing contrary to
wel For nothyng is more odious before God then Ipocrisie and dissimulacioÌ„ that is whan maÌ„ dothe aske of God a thinge / wherof he hathe no neade / or that he beleueth to attayne / by others then by God allone As if a man aske of God remission of his sinnes / thinkinge neuerthelesse to obtayne thesame by his owne workes / papistical pardoÌ„s / merytes of masses / or whatsoeuer other meanes / dothe mocke God / and in suche causes doth a greate number offende principally / the mighte and riche of the earth / who for a common confuetude custome / wil pray this parte of Godes prayer geue vs this day our dayly breade / Dayly bread that is a moderate and resonable sustentacion / yet theyr owne hartes will testefy that they neade not so to pray / seinge they abounde in al wordly solace and felicitie I meane not that riche men should not pray this parte of prayer / but I wolde they vnderstode / what they ougt to pray in it wherof we intende after to speake and that they asked nothinge wherof they felt not them selfs maruelous indâ—gent and nedeful / for onelesse we cal in verite / he wil not graunte / without we speake with oure hole harte / we shall not finde him The fourthe rule / necessary to be folowed in prayer / is a sure hope to obtayn what we aske for nothing more offendeth God / then when we asâ—e doubtyng wether he wil graunte oure peticions / for in so doinge we doubt if Gâ—d be true / if he be mighty and good Iaco. 1. Suche faythe Iames obtayne nothynge of God / and therfore Ihesus Christe commaundeth that we fyrmly beleue to obtayne whatsoeuer we aske / for al thinges is possible vnto hym that beleueth / and therfore in our prayrs alwayes is to be expellid desperacion Note wel I meane not that any maÌ„ in extreamite of troble / caÌ„ be without a present dolour / and without a greater feare of troble to folow Sporris stire vs to prayer Troble feare are the very spures to pray for when man compassid aboute with vehement calamyte / and vexid with continual solicitude / hauinge by healpe of man / no hope of deliueraunce with sore oppressed an punished harte / ferynge also greater punishement to folow frome the depe pyt of trybulacion / dothe cal to God / for comforte and supporte ¶ God deliuerith his chosen frome theyr enymyes THat prayer ascendith into goddes presence and retourneth not in vayne / as Dauid in the vehement persecucion of Saule / Psal 7. hunted and chased from euery hole / fearing that one day or other he shulde fal in to the haÌ„des of his persecutors / after that he had complayned / that no place of rest was lefte for him vehemently / prayde sayinge / o Lorde which art my God / in whome I haue trusted / saue me frome al that persecute me / and delyuer me / let not thâ—s man meninge Kinge Saule deuoure my life as the lioÌ„ doth his pray / seing their is no man to delyuer me / in the myddest of these aÌ„guishes / the goodnes of God sustainid hym / that the present tribulacion was tollerable / and the infallible promysis of God / so assured him of deliueraunce / that feare was partly nitegate and gone / as playnly apereth to suche as diligently marke the prosses of his prayer / for after longe menissâ—nge and threateninge made to his enemye / he concludith with these wordes The dollor which he enteÌ„dith vnto me / shal fal vppon his own head / the violence wherwith he wolde haue oppressed me / shal cast doun his owne head / and I shal magnify the Lord / accordinge to his iustice / and shal prayse the name of the most higest A coÌ„forte to the writer / being in aduersite This is not written for Dauid only / but for al suche as shal suffer tribulacion / to the ende of the worlde / for I the writer hereof let this be sayd to the laÌ„de prayse of God alon in anguishe of mynde / vehemeÌ„t tribulacioÌ„ affliction called vnto the Lorde / when not only the vngodly / but euen my faytheful brother / yea and my owne selfe / that is / al natural vnderstandinge Iudge my cause to be irremydiceble yet in my greatest calamyte And wheÌ„ my paynes wher most cruel / wold his eternal wisdome / that my hande shuld write farre contrary to the iudgemeÌ„te of carnal reason which his mercy hathe prouyd true / and therfore dare I be in the veryte of Godes worde to permit that not withstandinge / the vehemency of troble / the longe continuance therof / the desperacion of al men / the fearfulnes dolore / and anguishe of our own hartes / yet yf we cal constantly to God / that by expectacion of al men he shal delyuer Notewel Vvhere coÌ„stant praier is this grauÌ„ted the peticion Psal 41. Psal 119. Let no maÌ„ thinke him selfe vnworthy to cal and pray vnto God / because he hath greuously offendid God in tymes past / but let hym bryng to God a sorowful and repentynge harte / sayinge with Dauid / heale my soule o Lorde / for I haue offendid agaynst the / before I fel in mysery I transgressed / but now let me obserue thy commauÌ„dementes To mitegate or ease the sorowes of our wouÌ„did conscience / two playsters hath our most prudent phisition prouyd to geue vs / in corrage for to pray / notwithstanding the knowlege of offences committed / that is a precepte and a promyse / the precept or commauÌ„dement to pray is vniuersal frequently inculeate and repetyd in Godes scripturs Mat. 7. Psal 49. Matt. 26. 1. Tim. 2. 1. Tessa 5 Aske and it shal be geuen vnto you Cal vppon me in the day of thy tribulacion / watche and pray that ye fal not into temptacion I commaunde that euer ye make deprecacions / pray incessable and geue thankes in al thynge / which commaundement / who contemneth or dispiseth / doth eâ—â—ally sinne with hym that doth steale For as this commaundement / thou shal not steale / is a precept negatyue / so thou shalt pray is commauÌ„dement affirmatyne / and God requireth equal obedience of / and to al his commauÌ„dementes yet more boldly wil I say wheÌ„ necessite coÌ„straynth desireth / Notewel not supporte and helpe at God / doth prouoke his wrathe no lesse then suche as make falsse Gods / doo or openly deny God ¶ Who prayth not in tribulacioÌ„ denieth God FOr like as it is to know no phisicion or medicine / and in knowinge them refuse to vse and receyue the same / so not to cal vppon God in thy tribulacion is / lyke as thou not God / or els vtterly denye hym ¶ Not to pray is sinne most odious O Why ceasse we to cal instantly to his mercy / hauinge his commauÌ„dement so to do aboue al our iniquities / we