comparison of the glorie that shall be shewed vpon vs. 19 If the sicke man for the loue of his health is very willing to drinke most bitter potions If the husband-man in hope of the haruest to come setteth light by the scorching heate of Sommer and the pinching colde of Winter If the Marchaunt feareth not the danger of ship-wracke nor the lying in wait of Pirats when he aduentureth for gold If the souldier for vaine glory and a shadowe of honour thinketh the burthen of his armour light and is contented to vndergoe hunger thirst watchings labours wounds perils and death it selfe how can it be but that those things which God commandeth must bée easie and light to a Christian man especially if he consider that great and sempiternal glory which God promiseth to his souldiers 20 The holy Apostle writing to the Ephesians doth not without cause say that hée prayeth with so great carefulnesse Eph. 1.18 that the God of glory would vouchsafe to giue them the spirit of wisedom and illumined eyes of the heart that they might know what is the hope of his calling and what is the riches of his glory of his inheritance in the Saints For hée knew that the greatnes of the heauenly reward was such that the onely consideration thereof was able to make all grieuous and bitter things swéet and light These cogitations saith S. Cyprian what persecution Cyprian de exhor Martirij what torments can ouercome The minde which is setled vpon religious Meditations standeth firme stable and the same minde standeth immoueable against all the terrors of the diuel and the threatnings of the world being confirmed by a stedfast faith of the things to come 21 The punishments also and torments which are to come are so continual and greiuous that to escape them all the labours that we suffer here in earth are not to be accounted labours 22 But yet let vs see another answere to the former question The way of the Lord in the beginning is very straight but by little and little it is enlarged In the beginning it seemeth hard and bitter but by vse it groweth easie by little and little and by custome it is made light and swéete 23 Hereupon Saint Bernard saith The commaundements of God at the first seeme importable afterward not so heauie Then not heauy at at all And in the ende they delight To this agréeth the saying of Saint Hierom. Vertues are hard to him that first taketh them in hand easie to him that profiteth in them and sweete to him that exerciseth them And Saint Augustine saith The paths of equitie when a man first entreth to them are straight and narrowe but when hee hath gone foreward in them a time they seeme spacious and broade Pro. 4.11 Also Salomon in his Prouerbes saith I haue taught thee in the waye of Wisedome and leade thee in the pathes of righteousnesse wherein when thou goest thy gate shall not be straight and when thou runnest thou shalt not fall That is to say before thou entrest thou shalt be discouraged but when thou art entred thou shalt féele little difficultie or none at all 24 Homer the Prince of Gréeke Poets a Heathen man but yet wise writteth that when Vlisses should passe by those places where Circe a famous woman in inchauntments wherby she turned men into beasts dwelt caryed with him a certaine hearbe by the force whereof he fortified himself against her power the rootes of the which are most foule and stinking but the flowers most faire and white as milke The purpose of Homer is hereby to shew that wise men whom he describeth in the person of Vlisses are wont to guard and fortifie themselues with vertue which is stronger then any armour of proofe least being vanquished with diuers desires lustes they be transformed and made like vnto brute beastes and that vertue is like to the said hearbe which hath blacke rootes and white flowers for that the beginnings of vertue are hard and vnpleasant but the fruit thereof most swéete and good 25 Moreouer experience and daily vse proueth this For there are many to whom if we should say thus This must be your life hereafter ye shall abstaine frō pastimes and pleasures ye shal seldome walke abroad out of your houses ye shall not hunt after feasts and banquets ye shal not vse wanton daliaunce with women but yée shall followe your vocation at home wherein ye shall be conuersant hereunto ye shal ioyne prayer reading and godly Meditation To this they would answere we can in no wise performe this without God should worke a great myracle in vs this is no humane life but a life for Angels 26 But if these men would begin to enter the kingdome of heauen as it were with strong hand to resist their euill customes to exercise themselues in good workes and willingly to vse those remedies which helpe to roote out sin and wickednes as often prayer and fasting the receiuing of the blessed Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ the diligent reading of the Scriptures and other good bookes the companie and fellowship of good men who doubteth but that vpon these religious exercises there will follow such good successe that the way of the Lord shal be opened vnto them more and more and that in a short time they shall sée themselues in that place with excéeding ioy of minde wherunto afore they thought they should neuer come And thus they shal not only without labour and paine but also with delight and pleasure abstaine from sin and wickednesse and liue a holy and blessed life 27 For the Philosopher though an Ethnicke saw this plainely and so taught that it is a pleasure to a vertuous man to liue vertuously and Salomon expresseth the same thing in others words The righteous man reioyceth to deale righteously 28 Moreouer this question may be answered another way If wée say with Theophilact that Christ is a straight gate and narrow way so called not so much because he is so but because hee séemeth so to the louers of the worlde to wealthie and riche men For in very déede if men were humble if they would lay aside many vnprofitable burthens and put off the garment of the flesh they should peraduenture finde no straites in the way and gate of the Lord Whereas now they think vpon nothing but how they may rise continually howe they may waxe fat in body swell in minde howe they may extend inlarge their possessions how they may abound and flow in wealth neither doe they cease at any time to lade themselues with the heauie burthens of the cares of this life And what maruel then if to such men the gate of the heauenly kingdome seeme to be straite and narrowe 29 It séemed not a hard and straite way to the Apostles of our Lord It séemed not so to them which succéeded them in profession who forsooke all that they possessed would néedes follow
are carried after death by the diuel and his angels euen as contrariwise the soules of Gods children which liue in his feare in Christian obedience in this world are caryed vp into Abrahams bosome as was Lazarus and are in the hands of God Luke 16. Wisd 3. Greg. lib. 9. moraliū where no torment can come neere them For as S. Gregory saith Inasmuch as the wicked haue in this life forsaken their Creator both in body and in minde they shall in hell fire bee tormented both in body and in minde together And now that we haue hitherto spoken at large concerning Hell it resteth that somewhat be declared as touching the paines and torments that are now shall be for euer in the same In the which albeit there is but one fire yet saith S. Gregory it doth not torment sinners after one manner For euery one shall be punished according to the qualitie and quantitie of his sinnes 22 As in sin there are to be séene 2. turnings namely a turning away frō the chiefe and increate good or felicitie called Summum bonū a conuersion or turning to the lesser created good which be the things of this world Euen so in the punishmēt which is answerable to that sinne there shal bée found two sorrowes The one which shal arise of the losse of euerlasting blessednes the other which shall arise of the paine and torments which shal be brought vpon the body soule Both which sorrowes and torments the Schoolemen cal the pain of losse the paine of sence 23 But first of all we wil speak of the losse of felicitie which is the greater punishment There cannot be immagined or deuised any paine or punishment so greiuous which is comparable to the losse of felicitie For if to liue in exile and banishment in a close prison from our deare friends in this world it may séeme a punishment how greatly wil that seperatiō from God vexe torment vs whose onely sight is so great happines that sodainly it maketh a man blessed and happy 24 It was to the Cittizens of Rome a great punishment and almost the greatest of all other when for some great offences they were compelled to forsake the Citie and the company of Cittizens and to dwel in certain desert Ilands among the Barbarians Wherfore Marcus Tullius when he was brought againe from banishment as if hee had entred into a new world had gotten heauen for earth said as a man amazed how beautifull is Italie how faire are the regions thereof what goodly fieldes what pleasant fruites what famous cities how great humanitie of Citizens what an excellent common wealth and so forth How great griefe and sorrow then shal they féele which are absent from the Pallaces of heauen from the commonwealth of Saints from those most happy Regions where peace charitie tranquilitie and ioy raigneth where the voyce of praise and reioysing and a continual Alleluia is sung And finally to be absent from that most pure light which maketh the beholders ioyful and happy and when they shal bée compelled to dwell for euer in most filthy prisons and as it were in a sinke of al filthinesse where there shall bee no order but continual horror where there shall bée no voice but of such as mourne and blaspheme where there shal be heard no sound but of beating maules and of whips and with a rable of all sorts of diuels both barbarous and cruel and also in the companie and fellowship of most wicked men 25 Then shal their eyes be opened then shal the vaile be taken away frō before their face then shal they sée with excéeding sorrow that betwéene the euerlasting felicitie and these fraile transitory things there is incomperable difference when they shal behold most euidently that they haue lost the ioyes not to bee tolde and permanent for euer for certaine shadowes and dreames 26 Here shal be so great sorrow that although the damned doe know that al accesse vnto euerlasting blessednes is shutte vp from them O Lord open our hearts and giue vs grace to seeke thee while thou art to be found and that there is a most great Chaos and vniuersal confusion set betwéene them and the place of the elect and blessed yet being compelled with a certaine natural desire they shal not refraine themselues from these cries Lorde Lorde open to vs Lorde Lorde open to vs. 27 Hell therefore is an intollerable thing and the paine therof most horrible and yet if it were a thousand times bigger yet is it not comparable to the separation from the honor of that blessed glorie in the kingdome of heauen and to the hatred of Christ Math. 25. O remember the poore mēbers of Christ Iesus and the Lord vvill remember you when he shall say I knowe you not and to this reproach and checke When I was hungry and thirstie ye gaue me no meate nor drinke c. For we shall more easily endure a thousand thunder-claps then to haue his most méeke and louing countenance turned away from vs. 28 Moreouer the losse of this felicitie bringeth with it selfe the losse of all good things For the eyes of the damned shall sée no comely shape or forme their eares shall heare no manner of harmony their tast shal haue no swéete or sauerie thing to delight it their féeling shal haue no safte thing to serue it and their smelling shal haue no fragrant sauours to refresh and comfort it For they which shal bee once shutte out from the companie of God are at one instant drowned in the Ocean of all calamities and miseries without hope of deliuerance Let vs then déeply weigh and consider how great a matter it is to lose felicitie 29 Now let vs come to intreat of that torment which is therefore called the paine of sence by the schoolmen because it is as wel laied vpon the outwarde sences of the bodie as vpon the inward faculties of the minde And that wee may first deale with the torment of the inward sence yee shal obserue that there are foure faculties of the soule which shall bee vexed in hell with wonderful torments The first is that which the Grecians cal Phantasia and we Cogitation The second is memory The third vnderstanding And the last will 30 Cogitation therefore shall be most vehemently vexed with the féeling of those tormentes into the which both the body and the minde shal be cast For if now some great griefe doe so possesse our Cogitation that a man cannot would hee neuer so faine but thinke of that griefe what wil the torments of hel doe in the mindes of the damned which shal bee greater without al comparison Therefore cogitation shal increase the griefes and sorrowes and those sorrowes shal whette and stirre vp cogitation and they both shal so féede one another that they shal leaue no place of rest neither in the mind nor in the body of the damned These therefore Holy
which is giuen for you This is my blood which is shed for the remission of your sinnes Finally they despise the church and the vnity thereof and willingly excommunicate themselues from the communion which the faithfull haue in the Supper as well with Iesus Christ as one with another Wée sée therefore how fondely these contemners of the Lordes holy Supper doe fall and are vtterly inexcusable And therefore let vs take good héede that wée followe them not if wee will not bée punished with them which for their Oxen a Mat. 12.7 Luke 14.22 Farmes Wiues and Trafficque of Marchaundize refused is come to the marriage in the Gospel Contrariwise of them which come vnwoorthily to the holie Supper of the Lorde or ought not to be thervnto admitted AL Atheistes that is suche as are without GOD These haue not faith misbeleeuers ignoraunt of God and his worde all heretiques and false Prophetes all Magicians Idolaters and superstitious which are partakers of the table of Diuels likewise all they which haue but an hystorical faith all the adherents ministers of the Romish Antichrist and they that establishe by any manner whatsoeuer his kingdome or depende thereon also all they which haue not yéelded themselues to the Churche of God and haue not made profession of their faith Finally all they that customably sweare eyther by the name of God or by their faith and applie it to vaine matters and causes of no value all these ought to abstaine from the Lords table for so much as they haue not a true trust in God without the which wée cannot be members of Iesus Christe nor consequently be apte and méete to receiue life of him which is the onely head of the true fatthfull These haue not repentance AL they which liue slaunderously all impenitentes and vnthriftes al contemners of God of his worde and of his holy assemblies al blasphemers and denyers of the name of God al despisers of correction and Ecclesiastical Discipline they also that haunt and frequent ordinarilie euill companie which walke in the counsel of the wicked a Psal 1.1 which stand in the way of sinners which sit in the seate of the scorneful To be shorte they in whome appeereth no amendement of life no regeneration and they that committe heynous and infamous vices and suche as are to bee punished by the Magistrate all these after that they are knowne to be suche ought not to be admitted to the Supper and if they present themselues vnto it they ought not to be receiued least that that is holy bée giuen to dogges and Swyne b Mat. 7.6 to the great dishonour of GOD and slaunder of his Churche Of them which sinne against the third Article which consisteth in giuing of thankes VVIthout true faith and repentance These are not thankful to God wée can not be méete to set foorth the praises of GOD who wil not bée praised by the mouth of the wicked a Psal 50.16 and therefore al Infidels Ignorants and Impenitents sinne also against this Article and ought not to be receiued to the Lordes Supper Also they that are madde or fooles either by nature or some other accident They also which by reason that they be vnder age as little children cannot shew forth neither the Lords death fit he come nor are capable of the Supper of the Lord. Finally they which by fragilitie vnkindnesse and contempt in time of persecution did forsake Gods cause and renounce the name of our Lorde Iesus Christe ought not also to bée admitted thither vnlesse that they doe first make open confession of their faulte and be reconciled to the Church of God Of them which sinne against the fourth Article which consisteth in loue towardes our Neighbour THe disobedience to father and mother These are voyde of loue to the Magistrate and to al superiours the seditious conspiratours fighters murderers and such as beare malice and hatred against their neighbours they that are carried away with the fire of reuengement whoremongers adulterers incontinent buggerers Drunkards Gluttons Deceiuers Théeues and Vsurers Backebyters Mockers False witnesses Lyers and common periured Persons and in summe all they which make an Arte of the breache of Loue towarde their Neighbours conteined in the second Table of the Lawe of GOD ought not to bée receiued to the Supper For séeing that the Scripture pronounceth thus that such sort of men haue none acquaintance of God are shut out of the kingdome of Heauen a Eph. 5.5 Psal 15. and shall not dwell in the Lordes holy Mountaine they ought of right to bée shutte out from the sacred signes wherby the faithfull are ioyned to IESVS CHRIST and made possessors of eternall life FINIS
it selfe hath saide not in iest but in earnest Of euery idle word which men haue spoken they shall giue an account in the day of iudgement 31 O how many which now sinne with great delight yea euen with gréedines as if we serued a God of wood or of stone which seeth nothing or can do nothing wil be then astonished ashamed and silent Then shal the daies of thy mirth be ended thou shalt be ouerwhelmed with euerlasting darknes and in stead of thy pleasures thou shalt haue euerlasting torments When Ieremy had imbraced all the calamities and sinnes of the Iewes at the last he imputed al to this She remembred not her end Lam. 1.9 So if I may iudge why natural men care for nothing but their pompe why great men care for nothing but their honour and dignity why couetous persons care for nothing but their golden gaine why voluptuous Epicures care for nothing but their pleasure why the pastor careth not for his flocke nor the people for their pastor I may say with Ieremy they remembred not their end When Salomon had spoken of al the vanities of men at last he opposeth this memorandome as a counterpoyse against them al Remember that for all these things thou shalt come to iudgement as if he should haue said men would neuer speake as they speake think as they thinke nor doe as they doe if they were perswaded that these thoughts words and déedes should come to iudgemēt What if we had dyed in the daies if our ignorance like Iudas that hanged himself before he could sée the passion resurection or ascension of Christ Iesus we should haue numbred our dayes and our sins too but alas how many dayes haue we spent and yet neuer thought why any day was giuen vs but as the old yeare went and a new come so we thought that a new would follow that and so wee thinke that an other will followe this and God knoweth how soone we shal be deceiued for so they thought too that are now in their graues O deare brethren this is not to number our dayes but to prouoke God to shorten our dayes I that writ this thou that readest this all you that heare this which of vs haue not liued twenty yeares yea and some thirty or forty and happily some many more and yet we haue neuer applyed our hearts aright vnto wisdome O if wee had learned but euery yeare one vertue since we were borne we might by this time haue bin like saints among men whereas if God at this present time should cal vs to iudgement it would appeare that we had applyed our heartes our mindes our hands and féet or tongues yea our whole bodies to riches pleasures to lying and deceiuing to swearing and forswearing yea and to all kinde of sin and wickednesse but to true vertue and wisdome we haue not applyed our heartes God of his mery giue vs grace to sée our former sins truly to repent vs of them and to amend our liues hereafter that we may liue with him for euer Surely if man could perswade himselfe that this were his last day as it may be if God so please he would not defer his repentance vntil to morrow If he could thinke that this is his last meat that euer he shal eate he would not surfet if he could beléeue that the words which he doth speake to day should be the last words that euer hee should speake he would not offend with his tongue in lying swearing and blaspheming if he could be perswaded that this were the last lesson the last admonition or the last sermon that euer God would affoord him to cal him to repentance hee would reade it or heare it with more diligence then euer he hath done before O I beséech you remember your selues while it is to day lest you repent your selues when it is too late of all we that be here which of vs can assure our selues of life til to morrow or what if we should liue thrée foure or fiue yeares or what if twenty yeares who would not liue like a christian twenty yeares to liue in heauen with Christ eternally we can be content to serue seauen yeares prentise with great labour and toyle to be instructed in some trade that we may liue the more easily the rest of our dayes and we must labour notwithstanding afterwards and can we not be content to labour in the things of God a little while that wée may rest from our labours euer after Christ said to his disciples when he found them sléeping could yée not watch one houre so I say vnto you and to my selfe can we not pray can we not fast can wee not suffer a little while he which is tyred can trauaile a little further one steppe more to saue his life and therefore God would not haue men knowe when they shall dye because they should make ready at all times hauing no more certainty of one houre then an other 32 Séeing therefore the case standeth thus let vs looke to our selues and let vs take counsel of him which would be an Aduocate before he be a Iudge For no man knoweth so wel what is necessary for vs against that day as he that shal be the Iudge of our cause Hee therefore cryeth thus vnto vs. Iohn 12. Mar. 13. Luke 12. Walke while yee haue the light least the darkenesse come vpon you Take heede watch and pray for ye knowe not when the time is Be ye like men waiting the comming of their Lorde c. 33 They that thus watch and waite are sure to make a most ioyful departure frō this life and to be receiued into the Lordes ioy of the which happy dissolution the scriptures thus record I am now ready to bee offered and the time of my departure or dissoluing is at hand I haue fought a good fight and haue finished my course I haue kept the faith Hencefoorth there is laide vp for mee the Crowne of righteousnesse c. 2. Tim. 4.6 As the Hart brayeth for the Riuers of water so panteth my soule after thee O God My soule thirsteth for God euen for the liuing God when shal I come and appeare before the presence of God Psalme 41.1 The righteous shall liue for euer their reward also is with the Lord and the most high hath care of them Therefore shall they receiue a glorious kingdome and a beautifull crowne of the Lords hand For with his right hand shall he couer them and with his arme shall he defend them Wisdome Chap. 5.15 Bring my soule out of prison that I may praise thy name Psal 142.7 I desire to be losed and to bee with Christ which is best of all Philip 1.23 Reade also the fifth Chapter of the second Epistle to the Corinthians the first and second verses And let these things be oftentimes thy meditation and standing that so despising the things of this transitory life and pacing thy steppes in the path-way to felicitie
happie yet they all are no wher else to be found but in God For then at the last we shal be happy and blessed when we shal be like vnto God which by nature is blessed And wée shal bee like vnto God when we shal sée him as hée is As the Euangelist Saint Iohn testifieth saying Dearely beloued Iohn 3. wee are now the sonnes of God and it hath not yet appeared what wee shall be and we knowe that when we shall appeare wee shall bee like him for wee shall see him as hee is Saint Paul also putteth our felicity in séeing God face to face And therefore Saint Austine saith 1. Cor. 13. This onely sight of God is our happinesse 12 For as God is hereof blessed because he séeth and beholdeth himselfe being the first and the chiefe truth euen so wée also shal be blessed and like vnto God according to our measure namely when we shal beholde and see him as hée is the first and most principal trueth 13 Furthermore if the Moone and Stars doe receiue their light and are made like vnto the Sunne when they are opposite vnto him and doe after a sort behold him howe much more shall the pure mindes of the blessed receiue the diuine light and be made like vnto God when as they shal no more in a glasse or darke spéech but face to face behold the vncreated sunne and light of righteousnesse 14 O what a ioye shal it bée when at one view wée behold the most high and hidden mistery of the inseperable Trinity and of the loue of God therein towards vs and when wée shal see all things whatsoeuer in God For what shal not he sée who seeth him that seeth all things Then shal mans minde haue perpetual rest and peace neither shal it desire any further vnderstanding when he hath all before his eyes that may be vnderstood Then shal mans wil bée quiet when he enioyeth that felicitie wherein al other good things as in the fountaine Ocean of all happinesse are contained Then shal faith haue her perfect worke hope shal enioy that which she long desired but charity shal abide for euer Then shal be sung continual praises vnto the Lambe and the song although it be alwaies sung yet it shal be euer new 15 Therefore our true and onely blessednes consisteth in the sight of God as our Lord Christ hath testified Mat. 5. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God This is life euerlasting Iohn 17. that men knowe thee the true God and Iesus Christ whome thou hast sent 16 This blessednesse though it be but one simple thing yet hath it riches power pleasure In this worlde no man is rich no man is satisfied for the heart of man is greater then all the worlde can content But in that most blessed life the soules of the blessed shal be rich and satisfied with God whom it shal possesse This abundance of all things the Lord promised saying Luke 6. Good measure and running ouer and pressed down shall men giue into your bosomes And in another place Mat. 24. Verily verily I say vnto you he shall make him ruler ouer all his substance 17 The blessed soules also shall haue their honour and power For if they shal be Princes if Kings if the sonnes of God and petty Gods and if they shall sitte in Gods throne how can it be but that they shall bee most mighty and glorious For thus saith God in the Reuelation of Saint Iohn To him that ouercommeth Apoc. 3. will I graunt to sit with me in my throne euen as I ouercame and sitte with my father in his throne O incredible glorie what labours and sorrowes wil not they forget which shall be inuested into Gods throne and haue palmes of victory put into their handes and crowns set vpon their heads by Gods owne hands before all the Princes of heauen Therefore the Apostle Paul most truely crieth out saying Rom. 8. The afflictions of this life are nothing in comparison of the glory that shall be shewed vpon vs. 2. Cor. 4. And againe Our tribulation which is momentany and light prepareth an exceeding ioy waight of glory vnto vs. c. 18 The ioy and pleasure that the soules of the blessed shall haue cannot be expressed especially when soule and body shall be vnited againe in the resurrection O ioy aboue all ioyes surmounting all ioyes and without the which there is no ioy when shall I enter into thée saith Saint Augustine when shal I enioy thee to see my God that dwelleth in thée 35 solilo quiorum O euerlasting kingdome O kingdome of all eternities O light without end O peace of God that passeth all vnderstanding in which the souls of saints do rest with thée and euerlasting ioy is vpon their heads they possesse ioy and gladnes and all paine and sorrow is fled from them O how glorious a kingdome is thine O Lord wherin all saints doe raigne with thée adorned with light as with apparell and hauing crownes of precious stones vpon their heads O kingdom of euerlasting blisse where thou O Lord the hope of all saints art and the â—adem of their perpetuall glory reioycing them on euery side with thy blessed sight In this kingdome of thine there is infinit ioy and mirth without sadnes health without sorrow life without labour light without darkenes felicity without ceasing all goodnesse without any euill Where youth florisheth that neuer waxeth old life that knoweth no end beauty that neuer fadeth loue that neuer vanisheth health that neuer diminisheth ioy that neuer endeth Wher sorrow is neuer felt complaint neuer heard matter of sadnesse is neuer séene nor euill successe is euer feared Because they possesse thée O Lord which art the perfection of their felicity 19 Let vs enter into these godly meditations with this holy maÌ„ let vs not neglect so great felicity for the loue of transitorie things which are meere vanity why doe we so earnestly labour for things of no moment and haue that most happy and blessed life offered vnto vs wherein all felicity consisteth Thebrotus when hée had read the booke of Plato of the immortality of the soule was so moued therewith that immediately hée cast downe himselfe headlong from a high wall Shall Platos heathen Philosophy so much preuaile with an Ethnicke which had no féeling of this felicitie that in hope of immortality he bereft himselfe of life and shall not the swéete and most comfortable promises of the Gospell much more perswade vs which haue the true knowledge of Christ and his heauenly kingdom to forsake these vanities and delights and pleasures of the world Remember often that worthy sentence Hoc momentum vnde pendet aeternitas that is This life is a moment of time whereof al eternity of death or life to come dependeth If it be a moment the ioyes thereof must needs be momentany and miserable is that ioy which hath
complaint wée are accompted as shéepe to the slaughter As if they had sayd Wée are otherwise dealt with then the Fathers in the olde time were dealt withal vnto whom God séemed to beare great fauour when as hée enriched them fought for thē gaue them the victorie and with excellent names and titles made them famous and honourable we say they are nowe otherwise dealt with for wée are deliuered vnto the enemies as shéepe to be slaine as vnto whom they may doe what pleaseth them death hangeth all the day long ouer our heads and we are neuer in securitie but yet herein we are comforted that we are not in this perill as men that suffer for euill doing but For thy sake that is for Religion and godlinesse 22 Wherby also we are admonished that paines punishments and death make not Martirs but the cause For otherwise many suffer many grieuous things and yet are not martyrs nor confessors If punishments mke martyrs then the Papists at this day might truely boast of Martyrdome when for their traitrous deserts to their Prince and Countrey they are rightly executed And some Sectaries Scismatickes which would faine be reputed Confessors might then haue some iust colour to complaine of persecution when they are by Ecclesiastical censures iustly punished But these are such Martirs and Confessors of whom S. Augustine writing to Boniface de correctione Donatistatum and in many other places complaineth saying that in his time ther were Circumcellions a furious kind of men which if they could finde none that would kill them would often times breake their owne neckes headlong and would slay themselues These men sayth hée must not be counted martirs These are not shéep but Goates these are not led against their wils but runne headlong through ambition and proud conceit These Rammes follow not the example of Christ of whom it is written that when he was led like a sheepe vnto death yet did he not open his mouth for these open their mouthes too too wide vttering blasphemies against Magistrates These haue forgotten the sentence of the Apostle If I shall deliuer my body to bee burnt 1. Cor. 13. and haue no charitie it profiteth mee nothing Therefore Martyrs and confessors beside the goodnesse of the cause must be méeke patient and charitable 23 Wherefore wée hauing a good cause ought with patience and méekenesse be ready prepared when trial shal be to suffer persecution and tribulation after the example of the holy Martirs of olde time because the crosse alwayes followeth them which wil liue godly in Christ Iesus Then hee who hath promised vs that neither in fire water no nor yet in the shadowe of death hée wil bée from vs but wil bée our buckler defender and shield faithfully wil performe the same in such wise that no temptation shal so assayle vs but that he wil giue vs a ioyfull end and deliuerance 24 The holy Ghost hath caused many histories to bée kept in writing for vs that liue now in the latter age of the worlde to this end that we should not onely beholde in them the fiery raging of the world from the beginning against the people of God and how stoutly they withstood and ouercame by faithful patience the mallice thereof but also by reading of them wee should in our like troubles learne like patience receiue the same comfort and béeing throughly tryed conceiue a sure hope of the same victorie which they after many and sundry trials did win whereof we shal not be disappointed if we to the end striue lawfully If it be too hard and aboue your capacity to behold al the hystories examples propounded in the scriptures and the chronicles of Christs Church with such consideration that you may espye and behold in them the order of Gods working with his Church in al ages and if you doe not vnderstand in diligent perusing thē that the end and issue was euer ioyful and glorious victorie and deliuerance wherwith to comfort your selues in the middest of miseries take into your handes the comfortable historie of king Dauid marke his whole life from that time hée was taken from his Fathers shéepe vntil his death beholde in him your selues whensoeuer you shal be afflicted with any kinde of Crosse 25 After that the Lorde had found out Dauid a man after his owne mind and appointed him king ouer his people who labored worthily to deliuer defend Gods people from their enemies the Idolaters that dwelt neare about him he did not grant vnto him such quietnesse neither to his people but that he was in continual troubles and no smal dangers during the life of Saule and also after Saules death the Idolators and also Saules friendes séeking al the waies that might be to depose him from his kingdome 26 And not onely was hée thus vexed with his forraine enemies but also most grieuously of all other by those of his household who should haue béene his most deare friends his owne natural sonne Absolom his most priuie Counsailers 2. Sam. 15 the nobilitie of his realme the most part of his subiects Absalom pretending to his father Dauid a great holinesse as the maner of hipocrites is desired to haue leaue to goe into Hebron there to sacrifice for the performance of a vow which he had made in the time of his being in Siria but his meaning was to obtaine the kingdome from his Father and to stirre all Israel against him which hée brought to passe Dauid was banished and pursued vnto the death by his own sonne who wrought so much villany against his owne Father that he did not forbear in the despight of him to misuse his Fathers wiues in the sight of all the people How grieuous and dangerous this suddain change was to Dauid and to the godly people which were but a few in respect of the great number of the malicious Hipocrites which followed Absolom it appeareth plainly in the story you may easily consider 27 The best that was like to come of the matter was that while the kingdome of Israel was thus diuided Gods enemies the Pbilistines which had lien long in wait therfore should snatch vp from both the parties the kingdome of Israel and not only vtterly banish Gods true Religion from among the Israelites but also bring them their countrey and their posterity into most miserable bondage and thraldome and that to Gods enemies the most vile people and hated of all the world 28 Dauid in all these perlious dangers of his owne life losse of his kingdome and vtter destruction of Gods people did not discourage himselfe but vnderstanding all this to be the worke of Gods own hand acknowledging the true cause vnfaignedly did perswade himselfe that the Lorde after a time when his good will should bée would giue a comfortable end to all these stormes and bitter pangues His whole behauiour hee himselfe describeth in a Psalme which is left in writing for vs to learne thereafter how to behaue
our selues in the like persecutions 29 When he was fled from Hierusalem and the priests were departed from him with the Arke of the Lords couenant he went vppon Mount Cliuet barefoote wept as he went had his head couered and so did all the people that were with him And he made his mone vnto the Lord saying O Iehoua how are they increased that trouble me How many are they that rise against me Howe many are they that say of my soule there is no helpe for him in his God 30 Wonder not though this good King with a heauy heart and sorrowfull cheare doth lament bewaile his dolourous estate Would it not grieue a King when hée thinketh of no such matter sodainly to be cast out of his royall seate and brought in danger of his life and that by his owne naturall sonne Can the displeasure of any enemie so much pearce the heart of a kind Father as the vnnaturall cruelty of the son to séeke his death of whom he himselfe had his life It grieued him no smal deale to perceiue such as had bin his wise counsailers whom he much trusted whose duty it had bene with the spending of their own liues to haue defended the common weale brought to good and quiet order both in matter of pollicy and of Gods true Religion to bée the supporters and maintainers of an Hipocrite who had neither respect to Gods true honour nor yet consideration of duty to his most honourable Father neither yet regard to the prosperous weale of his natiue countrey But nothing of all these grieued him so much as this one thing the remembrance and true acknowledging in himselfe that hée himielfe was the onely cause of all these euils Hée called to remembrance that these plagues fell vppon him sent from God whose worke it was and that for his sinnes which were the cause thereof and this made him wéepe and mourne For so soone as the Prophet Nathan had warned him of his offence he cried peccaui I haue sinned and afterward when he saw this grieuous and sodain change follow hée perceiued it came partly for his sin by the worke of God and therefore submitted himselfe wholly to Gods wil saying If I shal finde fauour in the eyes of the Lorde he will bring me againe shew me both his Arke and the Tabernacle thereof 2. Sam. 15 But and the Lord thus say I haue no lust vnto thée behold here I am let him doe with me what séemeth him good in his eyes 31 Thus the worthie man of God acknowledgeth his trobles to be of Gods hand his sinnes to be the cause therefore humbly faithfully submitteth himselfe to Gods â—ordering well content to receiue whatsoeuer should be laid vpon him He assured him selfe that when he himselfe were most weakest then God would declare his strength for his owne glories sake and after he were reduced to faithful repentance by the correction of his merciful father then the rod should be cast into the fire 32 This consideration of plagues and tribulations both to priuate men particularly and also of Realms and whole common wealthes is diligently to be weyed that as they come from God so haue they this ende that they tend partly to his own glory partly to our profit and amendment For although sinne be the general cause wherefore all mankinde was is and shal bée molested with many and sundry kindes of troubles and calamities yet the calamities and afflictions are not all kinde of men alike nor yet for one end and purpose For the wicked and reprobate are punished and whipped of God to a far other end and meaning then the godly and chosen children who are the true Church of God the liuely members of Christ and such as shall be neuer seperated from God and his louing fauour in Christ Iesus 33 These although they be neuer without trouble in this world but alwaies exercised vnder the crosse yet the cause and consideration why God will haue them thus exercised is either for the honor and glory of his owne name or the profite commodity and exceeding benefit of them whom hée thus afflicteth either else for both these considerations together for that there is no trouble that comes to Christes Church or any member thereof which appeareth not plainly to redound to Gods glory and the profit of the afflicted if it be well and iustly considered 34 Thus may you plainly sée how God hath wrought with his Church in olde time and therefore shoulde not discourage your selues for any sodaine chaunge but with Dauid acknowledge your sinnes to God declare vnto him how many they be that vexe you and rise against you naming you Hugonotes Lutherians Heretiques and the children of Belial as they named Dauid Let the wicked Idolaters boast and bragge that they will preuaile against you and ouercome you and that God hath giuen you ouer and will bée no more your God let them put their trust in Absolom with his large golden lockes and in the wisedome of Achitophel the wise counsailer yet say you with Dauid Thou O Lord art my defender and the lifter vp of my head Perswade your selues with Dauid that the Lord is your defender who hath compassed you round about and is as it were a shielde that doth couer you on euery side it is hée onely that may and will compasse you about with glory and honour It is he that wil thrust downe those proud hypocrites from their seate and exalt his lowly and méeke It is hee which will smite your enemies on the chéeke-boane and burst all their féeth in sunder hée will hang vp Absolom by his owne long haire and Achitophel through desperation shall hang himselfe the bandes shal be broken and you deliuered for this belongeth vnto the Lord to saue his from their enemies and to blesse his people that they may safely proceed in their pilgrimage to heauen without feare CHAP. XII Concerning the alterations of true Religion in all ages ALbeit Dauid his kingdome after he was annointed king ouer Gods people were exercised with many troubles during his time yet he obserued the ordinances of the Lord and kept the true Religion among his people according to the commandement of God After him Salomon had gouernance of Gods people who in the beginning of his raigne walked after his father Dauid did build Gods temple obserued the true Religion but that lasted but a while for in his latter yeares he fell to Idolatry and the seruice of false Gods so that the true seruice of God began then to be corrupted 2 After him his sonne Roboam reigned at whose beginning that realm had such a miserable change that it could neuer after recouer it selfe againe sor the kingdome was diuided and tenne tribes which were called afterward Israel fell from Roboam and from the true Religion vnto Idolatrie and false seruing of God and so continued in false superstitious Religion alwaies hating the true religion of God killing
mentioneth in the Acts of the Apostles who spent their liues in the building of Christes Church 8 After Christs death the cruell tyrant Nero the Emperor did persecute the Church most cruelly after whose time the Church was in some quiet but not long For Domitian the Emperour did persecute Christes Church to destroy his true religion most hainously Nerua his successor was friendly to the Christians Traian after him a cruell persecuter and enemie And then Hadrian after whose time the Church had rest for a while For shortly after the Christians that were in Asia and also in the West partes were cruelly disquieted Shortly after this time did England receiue the Christian Faith and was the first Countrey of all the world that receiued the Faith of Christ by publicke authoritie Lucius being the first Christian King But the puritie of Christes truth did not long here continue not much aboue one hundreth yeares 9 Seuerus the Emperour wrought all the meanes that might be to destroy Christes Church and to subuert the true Religion with most sharpe persecution after whose time there was some quiet But shortly after the cruell tyrant Maximinus did sore molest the faithfull and likewise after him Decius Gallus Hostilianus Lucius Valerianus Galienus granted the Christians peace Aurelianus did persecute them And Dioclesianus more like an infernall Serpent then an earthly man did as it were deuoure the Church most cruelly In this time was the greatest persecution that hath béen before the tormentors were much more weary in shedding the Christian blood and cruelly tormenting the faithfull thē the holy Martyrs were in suffering the paines There were in this persecution within thirty daies aboue seuentéene thousand Christians killed most spitefully Eusebius Eccle. Hist lib. 8. cap. 9. 10 But Constantine the good Emperour became a Christian set the Church in peace and was the first Emperour that did by publike authoritie put downe Gentilitie and truely maintained Christianitie But that lasted not long For within short time after Iulianus the Apostata béeing Emperour went about to vndoe all that Constantine had done vsed wonderfull pollicies to destroy the Christian Religion and did afflict the faithfull very gréeuously After this time the Church was gréeuously molested by the Arrians after with Humes Vandales Gothes and so continued many yeares till all good learning began wonderfully to bée decayed And at the length albeit the Church séemed to be at rest yet hath it béene euen vnto this day miserably afflicted and wonderfully defaced by two Vicars of the Diuell put in commission at one time about eight hundred years since The one Mahomet for the Eest the other Antichrist of Rome for the West The one forraine the other a more néere and domestical enemie to Christians For during these foure hundred yeares Rome hath béene Topheth and the valley of Hynnom and the very Altar whereon hath béen sacrificed the body of Gods children Whose tyranny and outrage is such that the Kings and Potentates of the world haue béene and are greatly damnified and iniured by her as appeareth by many notable pageantes which shée hath played afore our time among which this one shal serue for many 11 Pope Innocent being displeased with George Pogiebracius king of Bohemia for fauouring of Iohn Hus and his religion that is to say for playing the part of a godly Prince did excommunicate and depose him appointed his kingdome to Mathias But Fredericke the Emperour would not thereto consent and especially after the death of the aforesaid George when the Emperour and the Bohemians leauing out Mathias did nominate Vladislaus sonne of Casimirus King of Polonie to bée king of Boheme for the which great warre and trouble kindled betwéene him and Fredericke the Emperour wherein the Emperour had béene vtterly ouerthrown had not Albertus Duke of Saxonie rescued the Emperour and expressed the vehemencie of Mathias This fire of dissention being kindled by the terrible thunderbolt of the Popes Excommunication did yet a greater mischiefe For it hindered the sayd Mathias in his expeditiō against the Turkes wherein he should haue been set forward and aided by Christian Princes and Byshops The like curse and excommunication hath béen denounced by the Antichristian Byshop Pius Quintus for the like cause as wée all know against Q. Elizabeth but the same hath béen altogither turned to her her peoples good by him that can and will blesse where Baalam curseth What should I need to set before you the bloody broiles of France and of the Low-countries thereto adioyning wrought and brought to passe by this domestical enemy vnder the colour and name of a holy league therby to maintaine Idolatry and superstition and to roote out the religion and seruice of almighty God It is too too manifest they haue felt it all the world cannot but condemne it But what better can be expected Can any good come from Rome No verily For as Babylon is full of Ostriches as Africa yearely bréedeth some monster and as Sodome and Gomer sendeth forth yearely noysome stinches So the Church of Rome is the nource and fountaine which sendeth forth error treason rebellion and vtter desolation if it were possible of all christian kingdomes 12 Now weigh and consider with your selues this same briefe rehearsal of the seate of Gods church how the church of the Israelites was afflicted in the time of the kinges then carried into a strange country captiues after their returne and redeifiyng of the temple what great perils and troubles it sustained till after the dayes of the Machabees next consider the historie of Christ and the Acts of the Apostles After this the ten not able persecutions which the Church suffered vnder most cruell tyrants from the eight yeare of Nero by the space of thrée hundred and twenty yeers vnto the time of Constantine and from his time thrée hundred yeares after by the Arrians and barbarous Hunnes Vandals and Gothes by whose meanes good learning was decaied ignorance brought in and then marke with aduisement how that from that time hitherto Mahomet hath vsurped and afflicted the East Church and the Pope the West for he began to exercise his proud power ouer the Church about the same time that Mahomet brought in his religion Consider I say with aduisement in all these times how little while Gods Religion was maintained in the church what perillous changes were in the kingdome what excéeding cruelty was alwaies vsed against the people of God as though they had bin heretiques his word condemned as heresy and the cause of all euils and you shall easily perceiue that neither Gugall Silo nor Mispah can assure the Lords tabernacle any rest and that Religion kéepeth not her place and standing any long time 13 The vse and profite which is to bée made héereof vnto our selues is this that forsomuch as God hath giuen vnto vs his word and the ministerie thereof in such wise that we haue amongest vs blessed be his name therefore his true religion