as our blessynges at home ought not to breede in vs senssesse securitie so the forraigue plagues and almost oppression of the Churche abroade should not abashe or make vs shrinke Let vs not bee mooued with the might and multitude of enimies whether they bee Turkes or Papistes neither let vs bee dismayed which the weake and poore estate of the Churche to iudge that they therefore be accepted and wee contenmed which carnall and peruerse speculation mooueth many to reuoulte to Turke and Pope from the Gospell bicause they often times beholde the Church as a refuse voyde and destitude of all humane helpe In such cases wee ought to take vnto vs in faith and inuocation those defenses out of the Armorye of the bible whiche will make vs inuinsible against the weapons and assiultes of all dyuelles and wicked men Those munitions are Gods prounises whiche wee ought deepely and stedfastly to imprint in out mindes and they shall better fortify and defende vs then any stonge Bulwark or Cast'e Of the which sort among many other are these that folow Thus saith the Lorde I vvill beare you vvhen you are olde I haue made you I vvill beare you I vvill carrie you and agayne Canne a mother forget hir Childe and not haue pittie vpon the sonne of hir vvombe and if she do for get it yet vvill I not forget thee Syoh How sweete is that speach of the Prophet which resembleth the sonne of GOD to an Herdmaâ— feedinge his flock gathering his Lambes â—egether swith his armes caryinge them in his bosome and kindly in treatinge them that beare younge ones Wherby we are put in minde in our dayly prayer that we are the sheepe of this shepharde and therfore ought to flye vnto him for succour and defence in all distresses And no lesse pleasâ—unt is that picture of GOD caryinge his Churche in hys wombe and bosome proueysinge to beare the same in hir olde age Men vse deepe inquysitions and carefull cogytations where the Churche shall remayne amonge these ruines of kingdomes confusion of opinions and infynit domesticall calamyties which we beeholde with great dolor and griefe The Prophet caseth this carefulnes saying that the Church shal remayne in the bosome and wombe of God that is to say that he wil alwaâ—es defend those places y harbour intertaine his church But amongst the rest it is chiefly to be obserued that the Church of God is compared to a sucking infant puttyng his hand in a serpents nest and Cokatrices denne and playing with them For as the litle babe sythinge amonge Serpences Cokatrices neither vnderstandeth his daunger neither is well defensed against those vencmous vipers so the Church doth not throughly seethe crafty conuenticles and lurkyng dennes of hir emiuties and is assaulted with greater forces then she hath defenses visible and yet she is myraculously and inuysibly preserued by the sonne of God the protector and defender therof Whensoeuer therefore wee see our enimyes readye to deuour vs and our selues destitute of all humaine helpe then wee may most assurc our selues of Gods presence If wee be exiled let vs not think that we are therefore abiectes or forsaken of God or that wee wander alone For the sonne of God marcheth before with an infinite company of chaste â—ngels Christ Iesus is the Herbinger and will lotte out a conuement restinge place for his obedyent people Blooddy war rageth presently throughout the whole worlde and the crueltye of Tyrantes increaseth euery where wastinge and destroyinge many seruaunts of Christ But they shall not vtterly abollsh and vanquish the Church albeit they haue made many breaches in the wals and seeme now ready to enter for euen then wyll God shew his presence to the confusion of Rabsaces and his mighty army which is lyuelye paynted out by the Prophet in this wise Thus hath the Lorde spoken vnto mee Like as the Lyon and Lyones vvhelp roreth vpon the pray that he hath gotten and is not afraide though the multitude of Shephardes crye out vpon him neither is abashed for all the heape of them so shall the Lorde of hostes come dovvne from mount Syon and defende his Hill. Like as the birdes flutter about their nestes so shall the lorde of hostes saue and deliuer Hierusalem Therefore O yee children of Israell tourne vnto him vvhom you haue ostentimes forsaken Let vs fyxe our eyes and hartes vpon these euydent testymonies of Gods mighty presence protection of his Church in such sort that the gates of hell that is to say the fearce assaultes and subtyll vndermininges of diuels and men shall not be able to prenayle against it The Churche indeede is a lyttle tower or Oyle yf you compare it with the warrelyke Castell of Sathan but by meanes of hyr Captayne shee sustayneth and beateth off the beseege and assauites of all hyr aduersaries Neyther ought wee to thinke that the Churche shall at the last be destrcyed bicause many of hir meÌ„bers be dyuersely afflicted and cruelly murdered For they in theyr tormentes and passions doo tryumph ouer Tyrauntes and professe bouldelye theyr Faith and Relygion So the three Children in the fyrie fuâ—nace tryuinphed ouer Nabuchodonezor and the scauen Machabies against Antiochus with many others who haue left a sweete memoryall of their names euen in this worlde whereas â—yrauntes Ieaue and cary with them perpetuall shame and ignoniie as the wiseman sayth The memoriall of the iust shal haue a good report but the name of the vngodly shall stincke For the death of Gods saincts is precious in his sight and is an entre into euerlasting felicitie And as the sonne of GOD in the fyrste Easter passed through Egipt and slew al their fyrst borne and spared the Israelts whose dore postes were sprinkled with the blood of the Lauthe euen so hee alwayes passed ouer mankynde subuerting great and mightye Princes who haue afflicted and persecuted his Churche but sparynge and preseruinge his owne flocke myraculously The church then shal alwaies continue vntil the comming of the sonne of GOD to iudgement And albeit the face and countenaunce of the same bee not alwayes one and the lighte thereof sometime more sometime lesse much lyke the Moone in hir wayne and Eclyps yet as she after hir chaunge increaseth to the full and shineth most brightlye euen so of seauentye soules that descended into Egypt they anymented in shorte spacâ— to six hundred thousande besydes women and children and beeinge streytened for a time in obscure corners of Iuryc shee kindled vnder persecution in suche sorte that in the dayes of Constantine the Great shee shined throughout all the world Shee was beseeched latly by â—mperours and Princes powers in litle Magdcburge and Rochell but was sette at ly bertye in short time and had free passage almost throughout all these landes Although then the power and furor of tyrants be great threten destruction to christian kingdoms and breath out cruelty against
mercy of our heauenly Captaine toward his faythful seraunts and souldiours Philosophie is mute and dumme in these matters and if at an aduenture it happen to vtter some golden sentence of Gods mercy loue toward mākind yet it kéepe not holde handfast constantlie but in the ende declineth to a dubitation or an vtter deniall of the same Antilochus wylled menne to ascribe al thing to Gods prouidence VVho oftentimes aduaunceth poore to their deserued degree of dignitie honor and throweth down the high and mightie These such lyke sentēces of Gods prouidēce are scattered in the writings of Ethnicks which for a tyme delight mens mindes but they are not built vpon any sure foundation For they neuer knew God as he hath reueled him selfe in his sonne by his worde they doubte in their prayers whether God heareth them as Euripides in the person of Hecuba cryeth out and sayth O you Gods I call vppon impotent and slouthfull helpers But the worde of God conteyned in the olde and newe testament doth effectuallie and truly describe vnto vs the liuing God reueled in his onely sonne Iesus Christe who commaundeth vs to call vppon the heauenly Father in his name with boldnesse and trust without any trembling or doubting for that through him his heauenly Father is wel pleased with vs we may then speak thus vnto him Thou O God art the Creator and conseruor of heauen and earth thou art also the Father of our Lorde Iesus Christe who was borne suffered dyed and rose againe for the iustification of mankinde Thou sendest thy holy ghost into our harts who kindleth in vs by the sounde of thy holye worde true fayth and spirituall motions agreeable to thy holy wyll thou art my hope and strength thou doest couer mee vnder thy winges thou doest keepe mee with thy holy Angelles thou dost heare mee and deliuer mee thou art with mee in this my tribulation out of the which in thy mercie thou wylt delyuer mee yea and glorifie mee thou wylt aduaunce mee from aduersitie to prosperitie thou wylt satisfie mee with long lyfe If the same maye tender to the setting foorth of thy honour and glorie and to the profite and furtheraunce of thy holy Church This confidence and liberty of spéech wee maye vse with our Captaine but not in respect of our owne worthinesse for this cheerefulnesse and courage of minde wee maye conceaue through our raunsome once satisfied and through the continuall intercession of the Sonne of God who dyed and rose againe for all penitent sinners We our selues bring nothing for fayth is also the gyfte of God kyndeled in our hartes by the holie ghoste through the preaching of the gospell Let vs then place and oppose this promise of GOD togeather with the death and intercession of his sonne Christe through fayth and true repentaunce against all doubting and vnworthinesse of our selues and let vs flee awaye and appeale from God being angrie with vs for our many and greeuous offences vnto God most louing and mercifull turned and reconcyled vnto vs through the passion resurrection and intercession of his deare and onely sonne Iesus Hereof commeth that stoute and valyaunt harte of Christians that they feare not although the earth gape and open her mouth the Element doo fall vppon them and the waues of the Sea woulde seeme to ouerflowe them according as Dauid wytnesseth The sound of many waters and of the waues of the Sea are strong and mighty but the Lord aboue is stronger and mightier Iulian the Reneger was for a time of great power and strength but hee being vanquished at a fielde foughten in Persia was enforced to yéelde the honour of the victorie to this Captayne and with a lowde voyce sayde Thou hast gotten the victorie of mee O thou Galilaean Apries King of Egipt who put the Prophete Ieremie to death said That no power neyther of God nor man was able to take his kingdom from him hee had so firmelie established his Scepter and Crowne But our myghtie Captaine who hath power ouer all kingdomes of the worlde spoyled him of his kingdome and strangled him by the handes of Amasis his Courtyer Neoptelemus the player of Tragedies being demaunded what sentence hee had obserued as most notable in Aeschilus Sophocles and Euripides aunswered that he founde in them nothing woorthye so great admiration But hee rather accoumpted it a thinge memorable that hee sawe with his owne eyes King Phillippe of Macedon at the mariage of his daughter Cleopatra in the most noble assemble of the world honoured as a great God and the next day after ryding in the Tylte or Theatre miserably murdred and contempned And Herodus Agrippa who stopped not the flattring mouthes of such as named him a God but fedde and delighted him selfe with the same perished immediatly with corrosion of his Intralles and lowsie sicknes Surely all humaine power is no better then glasse whiche whē it is most bright and cleare is then the soonest brokē for rashnesse procureth speedy spoyle God alwaies resisteth the prowde Let vs not then feare mans power which when it is at the highest and in his pride then is God able yea and often indeede ouer turneth the same with the leaste blast of winde ⧠The sixt Chapter describeth the Armie and warlyke power of our heauenlie Captaine in this conflicte and battayle The. 6. Chap. THIS our Heauenly Captaine hath many glorious names in the holye Scripture but amongst other he is named the Lorde of Hostes Which tytle albeit it be common to the thrée personnes in Trinitie yet because the Sonne of God was sent to vanquishe and breake the power of the deuyll and to redeeme mankinde this honourable name is properlie and for the most part geuen vnto him as in that Psalme VVho is this King of glorie the Lorde God of Hostes is the king of glorie In the which place without all doubte Christe the King of glorie was signified whereof the Arke of Couenaunt was a testimonie and witnesse And the Prophete Esay sayth That the Lorde God of hostes dwelleth in Syon which sentence is to bee vnderstoode of our sauiour Christ This most noble tytle is geuen vnto him because hee is the cheefe Emperour and Captaine in the Cittie of God againste the Cittie of the Deuil For he is the onely head of all celestiall and terrestriall powers the moste strong and mighty defendor and is therefore named in the Psalme A God that is strong and mighty in battale He is not ydle then but fighteth valyantlie hee is neuer ouercome but but alwayes ouercommeth he neuer flyeth but euer tryumpheth and that not so muche for his owne cause as for the Cittie and Church of God and therfore the Prophet ascribeth vnto him the chéefe souerainty saying Blessed be the name of his glorie for euer and let the whole earth be filled with his maiesty Nowe although this our Captaine
God that we may be able to resist in the euyll daye and stande perfytâ— in all thinges ⧠The fourth Chapter declaring what Captaiues and souldiours the Deuyll vseth in this warfare against mankinde Chap. 4. ALthoughe the Deuyll bee sufficient ynough of him selfe to suslaine this warfare yet for the better performance of the matter he lynketh vnto him such companions as haue reuolted with him moste trayterouslie and shamefullie from the heauenly captaine Christe Betweene whome albeit nowe and then there fell some variaunce as betwéene infernall spirites that want the spirite of peace and concorde yet they conioyne and knitte them selues togeather most stedfastlie to ouerthrowe and destroy mankinde We reade in the Gospell howe a whole Legion of deuylles which consisteth of 5300. conspyred the ruine of one seelie man Yet he conteÌ„teth not him seâ—fe with the power and ayde of his felowe deuylles but leuyeth an armie of all Nations and professions which acrueth to suche greatnesse that the whole worlde is scarce able to conteyne the same It is writtan of Xerxes that hee came into Greece with an armie of ten hundred thousande men which drunke vp the lyttle â—yuers where they camped But this huge and mighte armic had no good Captaine For Xerxes was bolde and couragious in prodoking his enemies but in daungers he was both fearefull and pensiue the laste in the fielde and first in slight But the deuyâ— hath yet a greater armie whereof himselfe â—being alwayes the chiefe seueraigne he is first and last in the fielde He hath vnderneath him sundrie great and mightie captaines who haue trayned vp an innumcrable company of pollitique souldiours made expert and cunning to deâ—eyue and destroye mankinde But because the publique and common aduersaries of â—an are excellently well paynted foorth in that booke intituled the VVarrefaire of the Christians My purpose at this time is only to discrie those enemies that chiefly oppose themselues against the church of Christ and bend their power against his chosen and eleâ—â—e seruauntes There are foure sortes of men esperially that yssewe out of the campe of Sathan into the Church of Christ Against whome vnlesse wee bee defenced with spirituall Armour we stande in great daunger not onely in thinges appertayning to this lyfe but also in our soules and of eternall lyfe and saluation Who albe it they doo not assault the Church after one sort yet they all shoote at one marke euen that oppresse the same themselues might beare the chiefe â—waiâ— and dominion and that the kingdome of Sathan may be enlarged farre and neere These graunde and Capitall enemies are Tyrants Sophisters Hippocrites and Epicures Tyrauntes whese mindes are puft vp with rytches and good successe in the worlde doo eyther scornefullie obiect vnto the Churche the ignominie of the Crosse or with hostilytie oppose them selues against it delyghting to bathe theyr handes in the blood of his Saints Sophisters and Sicophantes with vaine ostentation of worldlie learning and knowledge doo subtilly laye-snares and ginnes to entrappe the seruauntes of Christe and studie eyther to abolysh or too depraue his Churche whose lyfe is the written worde of god These menne by deuyllish sleyght endeuour with vndermyning to subuerte the foundament of Christes Church sometyme corrupting this article of y faith sometime that insomuch that the more pure the doctrine is the more mightyer Sophisters and Sicophantes the deuyll sendeth out to trouble and molest the bryght fountaynes of Israell and welles of lyfe Hippocrites put vpon them the face or rather the visor of friendes These men would not be reputed for enemies but for fauorours of the Gospell wherby they doo more hurte to simple and vnexperienced persons then open and notorious aduersaries For that is a true saying It is a safe and common practise to deceyue vnder the pretence of friendshippe Hippochrites sustayne the personage of a frâ—â—nde cloked with counteâ—fayte holynes and so rushing in to the they folde of Christ doo lyke rauening wolues scatter and all to renâ—the same Epicures are of diuerse fortes Albeit then all followe vaynâ— Pleasure as if it were mans cheefe blessednesse and felicitie For there are 〈◊〉 of them that are notorious Athests and irreligions persons whose ioy is to be famous mal 〈◊〉 and making no neckoniaâ— at all of the speache of the worlde do wallowe and tumble in al kinde of wickednesse There are othersome that impart cruility and pietie and these howe it the chiefe goodnesse to haue a 〈◊〉 name and same in the world They 〈◊〉 seeing to abhorre vngodlines they heare Gods worde they are partakers of the sacraments and maked shewe of honesty in their lyues But they hyde and cover vnder that mashe three heynous offences First they preserre their pleasures before the wyll of God secondlie then lyue securelye without his feal thirdly they willinglie and with pleasure heere prophane and godlesse spéeches of Religion which do wonderfully vnquiet weake conscienceÌ„s and oftentimes alienate them from Christ Such blasphemous persons as these are the deuyll traineth vp to be Captaines and leaders of his armie The deuyll appointeth vnto his Armie experte Drators and Trumpeters who with their subtill words and warlike sounds call their souldiours together and incourage them to fight The holye Ghost tearmeth such by the mouth of y Prophet Leopardes Aspes Cokatrices and Lions VVhelpes by the names of these beastes he vnderstandeth the poyson that wicked and supersticious preachers blowe as it were in to Captaines and Souldiours These Trumpeters with obsecrations execrations and detestrations doo inflame the mindes of men to defende false doctrine and to suppresse true religion whereby the Church of Christ is oftentimes excéedingly assaulted and afflicted Wee haue knowen a Cardynall in an Dracion published by himselfe to haue moued Charles the lifte to withdrawe his power from inuading the Turker to conuert the same to the destruction of his natiue Countrey Mounkes and Fryers haue with full pypes now these many yeares blowne bloodie blasters incensed the mindes of Princes to persecute pietie and to defende Idolatry One so raged in a sermon bifore Charles the fifte and many of the Princes of Germanie that hee shrunke not to tell them that they could neuer please God perfectly vntill they had bathed their handes vnto the elbowe in the Lutheranes bloude Manie schollers comming out of the Protestants Schooles haue blown a warlike sound and wonderfully troubled the church of god Of this number were Staphilus Harding such lyke who were well knowen to the world to haue bin of a factious and conteÌ„tious nature desirous to be accoumpted singuler and notable aboue others in gyfts and Iudgements which because they could not deserue and obteyn amongst the learned the reuolted from Christianitie and ledde with ambious mindes apposed themselues against the 〈◊〉 truth And nowe a dayes the lesuites or rather Esuites do like Aspes 〈◊〉 vppe and downe Who with their swéete