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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A17717	Sermons of M. Iohn Caluine, vpon the.X.Commandementes of the Lawe, geuen of God by Moses, otherwise called the Decalogue. Gathered word for word, presently at his sermons, when he preached on Deuteronomie, without adding vnto, or diminishing from them any thing afterward. Translated out of Frenche into English, by I.H.; Sermons sur les Dix commandemens. English	Calvin, Jean, 1509-1564.; Harmar, John, 1555?-1613.	1579 (1579)	STC 4452; ESTC S118603	228,662	264

and ouerworke them selues continuallie For there must be some rest for your men seruants and your maides and your cattell you shall haue then this as of superaboundance Nowe therefore we see why here is expresse mention made that the Iewes were seruantes in Egypt that it behoueth they haue some regard of them which are held as captiues and bondmen vnder their hands For Moses speaking of men seruantes and maides vnderstandeth it not after the common order and fashion among vs For with them the seruantes were slaues and bondmen they burthened them and held them vnder as the oxen and the asses they had so vile and barbarous a condition as was pitie to behold God then sheweth that the people of the Iewes obseruing the rest shall receiue profite commoditie by their familie You ought to be so farre saith he from complaining of the time which I haue reserued vnto my selfe that of seuen dayes there should be one dedicated to my seruice that if you be not ouer cruell vumercifull if you vse not tyrannie toward them which are vnder your authoritie such a day would seeme conuenient vnto you to be chosen For if you should haue no other regard but this policie namelie that in this day your seruantes shall haue some rest this ought to leave you herevnto but vnderstande you alwayes that I haue not ordeined it onely for your familie but for this end you might aduise your selues considering of this which I haue shewed that beeing separated from the vnfaithfull you be vnto me a royall priesthood that you desire nothing else but to serue mee in all vprightnesse and in a pure and sincere conscience When you shall haue this consideration then shall you knowe that this day shall further serue you for some earthlie profite and commoditie albeit in the meane time this is not that you ought to seeke after To speake in a woord our Lord in this place declareth vnto vs that which in like manner hath bene pronounced ●● Iesus Christ that when wee shall seeke the kingdome of God all other thinges shal be cast vppon vs For we are of that minde that if we endeuour to mount on high to the heauenlie life and bestowe our studies herein we shall die for hunger and this shal be to turne vs from all profits and commodities Briefly the diuell cōmeth alwayes to persuade vs vnder this shadowe and wilinesse that if wee employ our selues to the seruice of God wee must needes die of famine and that wee shall liue to bee pitied of others for our miserie that we must needes quit our selues of the whole worlde But of a trueth we can not serue God except wee bee ridde of all our affections and cast from vs these worldlie cares which presse vs downe ouermuch Yet neuerthelesse wee must rest vppon this blessing which is promised vs namelie that if wee seeke after the kingdome of heauen wee shal be blessed in these temporall and transitorie thinges that our Lord will haue pitie vpon vs and will giue vs all that which he knoweth to be needefull and conuenient for this present life onelie let vs but waite for from him those thinges whiche wee by our industrie and labour can not obteine That then is the thing whiche is declared vnto vs in this place Now this sentence ought to serue vs as a pricke to stir vs vp to follow that which God hath commaunded vs For the cheefe thing which staieth vs from ruling and ordering our life to the obedience of God is this that being to much wedded to our selues wee thinke this shal be against our profite and we will alwayes prouide howsoeuer the case stands for our cōmodities in those thinges which apperteine vnto the world Behold how men can not followe God but rather forsake him and drawe cleane backward from his lawe for that they thinke if they serue God they shall neuer thriue Now this is so wicked an vnthankfulnesse that it serueth to aggranate an hundred times more our rebellion What must we then doe Let vs note well that we shall not be able to serue God with a frank and free courage except wee bee resolued that he prouideth for our whole life and that he will not forgette vs as it is spoken in the person of Iosue For the Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews applieth this doctrine to all the faithfull Yea to drawe them from ouermuch care and carcking he saith Thy God will not faile thee he will not forget thee So if once we can be persuaded that God watcheth ouer vs that he will liberally prouide for our necessities it is certeine we shall not bee so ●usied in our earthlie affections wee shall not bee so easilie turned from seruing of GOD we shall not be hindered to meditate and thinke on the heauenlie life we shall so passe through this world as to vse the creatures thereof as if we vsed them not because wee know alwayes that we ought to make our race further Loe in summe what we haue to beare in mind of this doctrine wherein our Lord sheweth that albeit this which he commaundeth of obseruing the Sabbaoth day bee spirituall yet notwithstanding that men shall perceiue herein their gaine and profite 〈◊〉 that God will blesse them when they shall haue a respect vnto him and shall not ouer busilie gredilie seeke after that which belongeth to their temporall and earthlie commodities Now withall we are warned that if any beare rule ouer others they ought not to despise their neighbours although they be inferiour to them And this extendeth it selfe verie farre For we ought not onely to expound it of men seruantes and of maides but of the poore of them which are neither in authoritie credite nor estimation of all subiectes of them whiche in the eye of the world are not worthie to be compared with vs For wee see what the pride of men is although wee haue no occasion to aduaunce our selues aboue others yet euerie one will desire and seeke after some preeminence and superioritie Seeing then there is such an hautines in vs that euerie one wisheth to be lifted aboue his neighbours yea though he haue nothing in him why he should bee aduanced to what outrage will we growe when we be exalted Behold them which are in the seate of iustice they would beare them selues in hand that the worlde were created onely for them if God held them not backe by his spirit and shewed them that they ought not to oppresse them whiche are vnder their charge but rather that it belongeth vnto them to execute the office of fathers to hold their neighbours as their children and that forasmuch as GOD hath so highlie honoured them they ought to walke in so much the greater humilitie They which preach the woord of GOD and haue charge to guide and conduct others if they thinke they ought to bee exempted out of the common ranke and despise others woe come to them For it

loe my spirite is plunged as it were in some great deapth they surmount in number the haires of mine head as he speaketh in the 40. Psalme Againe when wee shall haue knowen howe farre we are all bound to God in generall let euerie one in the priuie chamber of his owne heart consider the benefits which he hath receiued of the handes of god And in steade of that which was said in old time to the people of Israel I haue redeemed you out of the land of Egypt let vs remember from whence our Lord hath deliuered vs when it pleased him to receiue vs into his fannlie into his church For we are the children of Adam by nature cursed and inheritors of death we haue nothing in vs but sinne so consequently we must needes be accursed before god Let men please magnifie themselues as they list yet behold their birth behold their nobilitie they are but bondslaues of Sathan they haue a sinke bottomlesse gulfe of corruption in them they are worthie that the wrath malediction of God fal on their heads briefly being banished from the kingdome of heauen they are geuen ouer to all miserie wretchednesse Now our Lord and God by the hand of his sonne hath hence deliuered vs He hath not sent a Moses as to the people of auncient time but not sparing his onelie sonne he hath deliuered him to death for vs Being then raunsomed with so deare and inestimable a price as is the holie and sacred bloud of the sonne of God ought wee not wholie to yeelde our selues vnto him And withall let vs note that if it be said That Egypt was a house of bondage what thraldome and seruitude is this when Sathan holdeth vs in his bondes and vnder his tyrannie in such sort that wee haue no meane to escape death that we bee excluded from all hope of saluation that God is our enimie and aduersarie Nowe being deliuered from all this is not our redemption farre more greater and excellent than this whereof Moses here speaketh So in steede that it was sa●ed to the auncient people Thy God hath deliuered thee out of the land of Egypt it is nowe said That wee be redeemed from the bondage of Sathan to liue vnto the Lord as Saint Paule speaketh in the. 14. Chapter of his Epistle to the Romanes and the sixte of the first to the Corinthians that wee are not our owne It behaueth therefore the faithfull that they presume not on the libertie to doe what seemeth them and to liue euerie one after his owne lust And why so The Lord Iesus therefore died rose againe reuiued that he might be Lord both of the quicke dead It is then good reason that Iesus Christ should be Lord both of the liuing of the dead seeing he hath not spared himself for our redemption saluation And besides this that the sonne of God hath offered himselfe vpon the crosse to redeeme vs let vs knowe that at this day by the meane of the Gospell he maketh vs partakers of this benefite for he hath gathered vs to himselfe to the end wee should bee of his flocke and inheritance It is true that he is that vndefiled Lamb and without spot which taketh away the sinnes of the worlde and that he hath offered himselfe so reconcile man vnto god Howbeit so it is that wee see many people for saken to whom the gate is shut and to whom God hath not shewed this fauour to inlighten them in the faith as we are And withall let vs note that forasmuch as the Gospell is preached vnto vs we haue herein a sure testimonie that the sonne of God will make the redemption which he hath once accomplished auailable vnto vs and that he will haue vs to reioyce in such a benefite Let vs learne then that our vnthankfulnesse shal be so much the more vilainous if wee employ not all our paines to serue that God which hath by such benefites bounde vs vnto himselfe If such as are not of the houshold of faith behaue themselues as vntamed horses broken loose if they passe all measure in their superstitions if they be loose and lawlesse in their liuing this may well be because they haue no bridle to restraine them because the Lorde raineth them not backe as he doeth his housholde seruantes Wee see the horrible confusion which is now in the Papasie But all this while they haue no doctrine to reduce men vnto God but rather to estraunge them from him And wee see how the diuell hath gained an empire and kingdome among them in such sort that all is full of deceites illusions that the liuing God is forsaken See then here an horrible confusion But as for vs seeing God hath drawen vs to himselfe is not this a most streight obligation to make vs knit our selues wholie vnto him to make vs hold the obedience of the doctrine proposed vnto vs in his name Let vs therefore learne so to cleaue vnto our God that we renounce all that we might forge of our owne braine that we stagger no more hither or thither or bee moued and tossed in any sorte whatsoeuer Knowe wee that there is one God which will possesse vs for his people so wholie possesse vs that his honour be not taken from him to be bestowed on creatures knowe we that he watcheth ouer vs to the end wee shoulde acknowledge that it is he onely whom wee must call vpon and of whom we must looke for all helpe and succour And for that he will receiue vs and keepe vs in house let vs walke as in his presence so that wee worshippe him as our onely God not onely by way of ceremonies and outward protestation but sincerely and in heart as wee knowe that his seruice is spirituall Briefly let vs yeald vp our selues our soules and bodies to be gouerned by him that he may bee in all thinges honoured and glorified Now let vs cast our selues downe before the face of our good God with acknowledging of our faults beseeching him that he will make vs feele them better than we haue done that we may be led to a true and earnest repentaunce that he will mortifie vs more and more cutting off our euill and disordered affections to the end wee may bee wholy geuen to feare and honour him And because we cannot serue him so purely as he deserueth whiles wee bee helde bound vnder the infirmittes of our flesh pray we him that he will beare with vs vntill he hath clothed vs with his righteousnesse And so let vs say humbly from our heart Almightie God and heauenlie father The. 3. Sermon Deut. Chap. 5. 8 Thou shalt make thee no grauen image or any likenes of that that is in heauen aboue or whiche is in the earth beneath or that is in the waters vnder the earth 9 Thou shalt neither bow thy selfe vnto them nor serue them for I thy Lord thy God am a

confesse that our chief desire is willingly vnfeignedly to honor God that we cānot suffer any reprochfullie to abuse his maiestie Thus ye see what we haue to beare in minde vpon this place which we ought at this day with all diligence to obserue albeit it be preciselie geuen in commādement to the Iewes for in substance truth it belongeth vnto vs For as in old time our lord brought this people out of Egypt so at this day hath he drawen vs out of the gulfe of hell hath deliuered vs from eternal death from those deepe and darke dongeons wherein we were plunged to bring vs into his heauenlie kingdome hauing redeemed and purchased vs to himselfe by the bloud of his welbeloued sonne our Lord Iesus Christ Now let vs cast our selues downe before the face of our good God with acknowledging our faults praiing him to make vs feele them better than we haue done that labouring to reforme our selues more and more to his iustice we fight daily against the lustes and desires of our flesh and continue so long in this combate vntill he hath fullie freed vs from it and reformed vs vnto his image in the which we were first created That hee will graunt this grace not only to vs but to al people and nations of the earth c. The. 7. Sermon wherein it is entreated of the second Table Deut. Chap. 5. 16 Honour thy father and thy mother as the Lorde thy God hath commaunded thee that thy dayes may bee prolonged and that it may be well with thee in the land which the Lorde thy God geueth thee WE are now come vnto the second Table of the lawe wherein God sheweth vs how we ought all to liue here together For as it hath bene aboue touched there are two principall thinges required in our life The one that wee serue God purelie and sincerelie The other that we liue with men in all integritie and vprightnesse rendring vnto euerie one that which apperteineth and belongeth vnto him Now as the honour of God is more excellent than all that which concerneth men so it behoued that in the first and principall place the rule of honouring God as we ought should be geuen And this is handled dispatched in the first Table Here then God beginneth to declare vnto vs in what sort our life ought to be ordered if we wil applie our selues vnto the dutie we owe vnto men Now we haue also declared that God requireth no honour of vs for any neede he hath of it or for any profite it bringeth vnto him but it is for our welfare and saluation that he requireth it So then he will proue our obedience and the loue we beare him when he commaundeth vs to walke in all equitie and vprightnesse with our neighbours and that we liue together in such concord and fellowship that any one bee not geuen vnto himselfe but that we communicate together and that euerie one according to his abilitie and power to do well employ and force himselfe therevnto This say I is the proofe which God maketh to knowe whether we worship him vnfeignedly and from our heart For we might make many faire countenances and vse great ceremonies but God shall not content himselfe with it And this is the cause why our Lord Iesus Christ saith that the principall point of the law is iustice iudgement vprightnesse faith which worde importeth here fidelitie or faithfulnesse Therefore when we liue with men without hypocrisie and dissimulation when we are not geuen to our subtile sleightes nor malicious practises wee studie to minister vnto and to serue euerie one in his commoditie we mainteine right resist wrong as much as lieth in vs loe the chiefe and principal part of the lawe Not that the seruice of God ought in the meane while to be forgotten or that it is of lesse importance but because it is vnpossible that men acquite themselues in their duetie toward their neighbours except they be led herevnto by the feare of god Now let vs handle this commaundement last recited which concerneth the honouring of father and mother And here although expresselie mention be made of the father and the mother there is no doubt but GOD meant to deliuer a generall doctrine of hauing all superioritie in honour For graunt we which must needes be confessed that the lawe conteineth a perfect rule of doctrine wherein nothing is wanting and this which we haue said must needes be so For if it hath not touched any thing of the duetie we owe to other superiours as princes and magistrates and those which haue the sworde of iustice if it hath deliuered nothing concerning maisters it should haue some default in it Therefore we must conclude that God hath commaunded that all they which are in any degree of honour and authoritie be honoured and obeyed Moreouer seing all preeminence and superioritie commeth from God and that this order is established and appointed by him without the which the world could not stande what might be thought if God made no account of this when he gaue forth a certeine forme of liuing well and in all holinesse Neither ought we to account it straunge that vnder one speciall kind of obedience to bee yelded to all superiours the whole is comprised For we haue alreadie touched how this ought to be obserued in the law and we shall see it more plainlie hereafter And this was not done because God could speake in no other manner but for our better profite and instruction For we know that albeit men desire to seeme subtile and sharpe witted yet cease they not alwayes to couer themselues with the buckler of ignorance If we might espie that the law of God presseth vs ouer sore we would feigne haue some excuse to exempt our selues from the subiection of it And if the lawe of God were not apt and conuenient to instruct the rude and ignoraunt many would alledge that they are no great Clerkes that they neuer went to schoole It should seeme then that the law of God might not bind them But when we see that God abaseth himselfe to our rudenesse and that he speaketh grosselie according to our capacitie this taketh from vs all excuse this remoueth all pretences whatsoeuer and euerie one is bound to order him selfe aright and we all must confesse that there is nothing which hindereth vs from doing our dueties but that we be rebellious against God and will not beare his yoke Lo why vnder one kind God comprehendeth the whole that he might instruct traine vs vp like yong children whiche are not capable nor apt to be taught after some absolute and perfect maner This therfore is the true and naturall sense of the place as we shall see hereafter For as God deliuered the ten commaundementes or wordes as he calleth them so he annexed also the exposition of them to the end nothing might be obscure and that men might not doubt or dispute of that which

looke for all that apperteineth to the maintenance of this present life brieflie it is his blessing which is the fountaine of all riches If we were well and throughlie persuaded of this we should not neede more preceptes in the lawe to forbid stealings we should not neede anie more admonitions wee should not neede anie more aduertisements this onlie word would suffice But what Wee demaund of GOD our dailie bread and while wee protest that hee sustaineth and nourisheth vs wee exercise our rapines our pillinges our deceites and other such wickednes Is not this euen to mocke God when I say with my mouth Giue me my dailie bread and in the meane while I go to seeke it of the diuell For if we vse such vnlawfull meanes if we deceiue one if we spoile an other from whom is it that we take our goods Is it from the hand of God or rather from the hand of the diuell Are we not companions of theeues and of robbers It is certeine therefore that we would the diuell enrich vs when we are giuen so to deceite and extortion and which more is it is a sure signe of our infidelitie and vnbeleefe and that we attend not anie thing at all on the blessing of God and thinke not that he is rich inough to susteine and enriche vs Loe howe wickedlie we are herein disposed and yet this wee ought to profit our selues when we heare that our Lorde accurseth stealings and that he teacheth vs that they are detestable in his sight to let vs haue them in greater horrour and detestation Therefore let vs first of all beare in minde that God iudgeth not according to the fantasie of men but that his will is that we walke in all integritie and vprightnesse that euerie one haue his right that none be molested and troubled for his liuing and substance that wee streightlie withholde our selues from all iniurie and wrong doing And againe because we are so inclined vnto euill let vs consider of those meanes which may holde vs vnder the obedience of GOD and hinder vs from stealing of which we haue alreadie spoken and let vs know that God hath ioyned vs together that we should keepe this lawe and rule of equitie Moreouer let vs not desire to be rich but let vs practise this doctrine of bearing pouertie patientlie that we be not inflamed with a desire of getting and aduauncing and promoting our selues further Againe let vs abhorre and detest all crueltie and deceit and aboue all let vs learne not to be so brutish as to thinke that when we haue scraped together on this side and the other this may be to make vs rich Let vs beware howe we deceiue our selues in this behalfe And why For true riches as I haue said proceede from the blessing of god We must therefore drinke of this fountaine and be satisfied if we will absteine from all kindes of theft But nowe let vs also enter into consideration of the threats which God setteth before vs When hee hath sufficientlie shewed that this precept is of great equitie and that he hath giuen vs the meanes also whereby to walke in all integritie and vprightnesse without hurting or wronging anie one seeing vs yet ouer hard to bee brought to the obseruation hereof and that alwayes our wicked affections carrie vs away headlong altogether backwarde from our dutie he adioyneth his manaces and threates to feare vs to keepe vs in greater awe And is this a small thing and lightlie of vs to be considered when he saieth That theeues and extortioners shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen Loe then howe hee expresselie declareth and pronounceth vnto vs that if we make so great account of this present life as that for to plucke vnto vs some commoditie the better to passe through this present worlde wee will wittinglie prouoke the wrath and indignation of God we shall be exiled and banished his kingdome If we had but one onelie droppe of faith should not this threat be euen to pearce vs to the heart But yet our Lord passeth further for seeing vs so carnall so giuen ouer to the world he sheweth vs that euen in this worlde hee will make vs goe backward and hee which shall thinke to lift vp and aduance him selfe by subtile shiftes by robberies by extortions that euen he shal be consumed he shall haue a secrete curse and malediction which shall vndermine him and consume him to nothing As in that place which we haue alledged of Zacharie it is saide That the curse of GOD shall come vpon the house of theeues and robbers and shall remaine therein vntill they be wholie consumed We see further howe hee hath spoken hereof by all the rest of the Prophetes by whom he hath declared that when men shall thinke to enriche them selues when they shall make their reckoning of I know not what great wealth GOD shall blowe on them yea with such a breath that all their pompe shall vanish and that so soudeinlie that a man could not perceiue their fall and consumption But God passeth yet further True it is that we may read often and in manie places that our Lorde scorneth and derideth them which so torment themselues to gather together great substance when in the ende all shall decaye and fall away like water But we shall see further that great richesse shal be the cause of their destruction which haue liued in credit and reputation Beholde a father which shall haue pilled one and spoyled an other which shall haue the whole time of his life prouoked and plucked on his head the vengeance of God well hee dieth it seemeth vnto him that his children shal be young Dukes Nowe if hee had left them but some small portion to haue bestowed them selues painfullie in some trade if he had learned them honestlie to trauell for their liuing his children might haue had wherewith to haue liued a contented life but loe the father hath twisted the rope to hang his heires For when they repose their trust in the richesse which shall haue bene wickedlie gotten it must needes be that either they be led to the gibbet or otherwise perish vnhappilie And what is the cause hereof Euen the anger and indignation of God which lighteth on them to consume all that which shall haue bene euill gotten by pillings and extortions The house must needes be accursed God must needes shew that he is a iust Iudge both vpon theeues and vpon all such as make a scorne of his diuine maiestie when one speaketh vnto them thereof as we heare these iesters hickscorners will say when the latter iudgement is denounced them Well well it is long time thither when they oppresse a poore man who shall haue neither abilitie nor credit to mainteine his right against them Nowe in the meane time they bath them selues in their iniquities and welter in their wickednesse But what When God seeth that men are so senslesse and that he can

as to destroy and bring vs to nothing that he yet vseth such mercie towardes vs that it is vnto vs to life in steede of consuming and destroying vs And when I say that the worde of God is of such force as to consume vs to nothing I vnderstand not onelie the worde as it is here described by Moses but if the Lord would make vs feele the vertue and power of his worde albeit it should be preached vnto vs by men yet shoulde it serue vtterly to confound vs But now wee see that the Lorde quickeneth vs when he speaketh vnto vs and especially at this day when the Gospell is preached vnto vs for this which is spoken by Saint Iohn is euerie day accomplished namelie That all those which heare the worde of the sonne of man are restored to life For by nature wee are aliantes from GOD wee are exiled and banished his kingdome wee are dead and as it were en●umbed in some graue or sepulchre and loe our Lorde Iesus Christ profeteth vnto vs the remission and forgiuenesse of our sinnes God his father adopteth vs for his children Beholde then the manifestation of saluation which is opened vnto vs and wee are thereby quickened and restored vnto life by the meanes of the Gospell And for this wee haue wonderfull great cause to praise and glorifie our GOD for that he maketh his worde to serue for to restore vs vnto life and to deliuer vs from death whereas his worde is of such force and vertue as vtterlie to consume vs if he of his mercie did not turne it to worke a cleane contrarie effect in vs. Now withall let vs diligentlie note that if our Lord hath once bestowed on vs more than we any way deserue wee must not therefore take leaue and licence hereby to tempt him and to desire alwayes to rule him after our owne lustes and appetites As wee see at this day the Papists will excuse themselues for not receiuing the Gospell because they see no miracles done in our time Yea but let them answere me wherevnto the miracles which our Lorde Iesus Christ hath done and which hee committed to his Apostles serued Ought these to serue nothing to our profite and commoditie Behold then what admirable vertue and power GOD hath declared at the beginning of the Gospell The heauen and the earth were then moued there was no parte in the worlde wherein GOD imprinted not some worke or signe of his maiestie that the Gospell might be authorized Beholde the Angels which descended at the birth of our Lorde Iesus Christ to beare witnesse vnto him beholde the Sunne which was darkened at his death behold the vaile of the temple which was rent in two pieces to shew that the holy Sanctuarie was opened and that freer and bolder accesse was graunted vnto GOD than euer before The raging and tempestuous Sea is appeased the diuels themselues do homage to the glorie of GOD being present Brieflie both by signes and wonders aboue and beneath God hath declared that the Gospell proceeded from him as wee haue alreadie shewed So many maladies sicknesses healed so great warres appeased so many other signes and wonders which were shewed were not to serue for one time onelie but at this daie the memorie of them ought to remaine and wee must receiue this witnesse for a seale of our faith that wee doubt not but that the dignitie of the Gospell ought to bee as great at this day and that the authoritie thereof is as well nowe ratified and confirmed as it was then when Christ wrought his miracles And yet for all this we see manie of the vncredulous and vnbeleeuing sorte which alledge that if they did see any miracles they should be conuerted But it is certeine if they were now presently shewed they would still remaine in their obstinacie and stubbornesse take thereby an occasion of further enuenoming and impoisoning themselues against god What remaineth then for vs to doe We must learne as I haue said to content our selues with that which GOD hath once done If GOD hath giuen vs more than hee owed vs let vs receiue it and with geuing of thankes let vs learne not to prouoke his wrath and anger against vs by an ouer presumptuous tempting of his patience Beholde then what wee haue to beare in minde in this place when the people saith Let the Lorde speake vnto vs no more for it sufficeth vs that were haue hearde his voice and yet haue bene permitted of him to liue And that this wee haue aboue declared may bee more certeinlie confirmed vnto vs let vs beare in minde that which is here said What fleshe hath hearde the voice of the liuing GOD and liueth For by these wordes in this place it is plainelie shewed that the people of Israel spake not in their owne name but euen in the behalfe of all mankinde They saie not onelie What are all we to heare GOD speake but What is all flesh And in verie deede as I haue touched in the beginning it cannot bee but men are either staring madde or starke dronken when they cannot humble themselues for there needed no other thing for them to doe but to respect their owne estate and condition to saie What are wee There is nothing neither in our bodies nor in our soules but frailtie We are not now remaining in our nature wherein wee were first created but beeing fallen therefrom into that estate wee nowe are in what are wee but as a water which glideth away as a smoke which passeth and vanisheth on a soudeine And which worse is wee are enimies of GOD and hee must needes bee our aduersarie partie forasmuch as there is nothing in vs to be found but sinne and wickednesse Therefore when we be entised and tickled with such foolish and vaine lustes and desires as to wishe that GOD would do miracles that we might heare the angels of heauen let vs returne to thinke on this which is here said and what is all flesh Let vs I say enter into this consideration to bethinke our selues what wee are and our owne small abilitie shall sufficiently aduise and aduertise vs to geue praise and thankes vnto God that he maketh vs not feele his presence to consume vtterlie to confound vs but with an amiable mildenesse and gentlenesse allureth vs to himselfe when we heare men like our selues and our brethren which speake vnto vs in his person And let vs further note that when the people of Israel say What people hath heard the voice of the liuing God and remained aliue as wee It is to shewe vnto vs that God would not that this should bee drawen into consequence for vs to conclude any thing thereon And therefore let vs not alledge this to say And why speaketh not God at this day vnto vs after a visible manner as he hath done to his people in the mount It pleased him then so to doe but wee must not impose him a lawe or thinke to binde