adde that it is but partely But that glose marreth all For heere it is proued that wee can not bee founde righteous before God but by the meanes of our Lorde Iesus Christe and by resting vpon the saluation which he hathe purchased for vs. The Papists see this well inough and therefore for fashion sake they say we be iustified by fayth but not by fayth onely they will none of that That is the thing that they fighte agaynst and it is the chiefe poynte that is in controuersie betwixte them and vs. But S. Paule bewrayeth heere their beastlynesse when he sayth but by beleefe For that word betokeneth that all that euer men presume to bring vnto God to winne his fauour with is quite cut off Yee see then that the doore is shut agaynst all deseruing when S. Paule auoucheth that there is none other meane than by fayth VVee shall see more playnly hereafter why fayth is so compared with the law as a thing ful but agaynst it For the lawe presupposeth that if wee haue once fulfilled Gods commaundements we shall be taken for good seruants and that he wil pay vs the wages which he hath promised and faith presupposeth vs to be wretched dāned forlorne folke and that we must be fayne to seeke the things that we wante in Iesus Christ As for example There are two men that desire to bee boorded and lodged whereof the one bringeth money with him and lookes to be wel interteined for his wel paying and both of them require meate drinke howsoeuer the cace standeth but the second man is poore hath neither penny nor pennies worth and he desireth almes Thus do both twayne of them matche iuste in one poynt for they desire foode as the thing whereof they haue bothe neede But the first hath money to content his host and lyke as he shall haue fared well and bin well and curteously interteyned so shall his hoste receyue money of him and holde him selfe contented with it and not thinke his guest beholden or bounde vnto him For why he is recompenced yea and he hathe gayned by him But as for the poore man that craueth almes he thinks him selfe beholden for his life to him that fedde him and lodged him for he bringeth him nothing but a charge So then if wee will bee iustified before God by the Lawe we must deserue it so as he may receyue of vs and we of him and there may be as it were an interchaunge betwixte vs. And is that possible No as wee shall see more at large heereafter Therefore wee must conclude that wee bee excluded from the righteousnesse of the Lawe and that if wee thinke to bring any thing to binde God withall we doo but prouoke his wrath Then is there none other shifte but to go to hym like poore beggers and so to be iustified by fayth not as by a vertue that is of our selues but bicause we confesse with all lowlinesse that we can not obteyne saluation but by his free gifte ▪ Thus yee see howe the lawe is set heere full but agaynst fayth as if S. Paule should tell vs that all they which go about to winne Gods fauour by their owne merites forsake the grace of our Lorde Iesus Christ as shall be declared more at length hereafter ▪ But now if any man say that the lawe was giuen of God so as it can not haue any contrarietie agaynst fayth whereof God is the author also the answere therevnto is easie For God made bothe day and nighte fire and water colde and heate Now it is certayne that the day is not contrarie to the night but we see the wonderfull order of Gods goodnesse and wisdome in that men haue the lighte of the sunne to doo then worke in by day and the darknesse as it were a couert to rest in by night So then although the day differ from the night yet is there no contrarietie betwixte them neither is there any betweene fire and water so eche creature bee put to his owne proper vse but wee see that God hathe very well agreed the fire and the water and yet notwithstanding if 〈◊〉 beholde them fighting togither then is there greate contrarietie Euen so is it betweene the lawe and the Gospell And if any bodie will haue a man to be iustified bothe by the lawe and by the Gospell to he doth but turmoyle and mingle things togither and it is all one as if he should set heauen and earth togither by the eares To be short it were much easier too mingle fire and water togither than too say that wee can purchace any grace at Gods hand by our own deseruings and therwithall also haue neede to bee succored by our Lord Iesus Christe But if a man consider what the lawe is and too what purpose it was giuen he shall find that it is not whit at all repugnant too the Gospell nor consequently vntoo fayth but that they agree very well Thus ye see how this difficultie is dispatched so that if it be alledged that fayth commeth of God as well as the Law it is true Neuerthelesse it is to be considered as wee shall say hereafter to what end God gaue as well the one as the other But let vs returne too that which S. Paule sayeth He sayeth that wee bee not iustified but by the fayth of our Lord Iesus Christe VVhen he speaketh of beyng iustified lette vs marke that it is all one with beyng reckened or taken for rightuous before God And that woorde had neede too bee well vnderstoode for the cace standeth vppon knowing after what maner wee bee saued But are wee not wretched caytifes if after wee haue liued long in the world a man aske vs whiche is the meane too bee saued and wee cannot tell him VVee shall see many beastly wretches whiche haue deuoured Gods breade and yet notwithstanding cannot tell howe they shoulde offer themselues before him And therefore it behoueth vs to take so much the better heede to the things which are taught vs here by S. Paule He sayeth that we be iustified and how Is it that wee bee rightuous and that there is nothing amisse in vs No but it is for that God accepteth vs. Then is the woorde Rightuousnesse put for the fauour whiche God sheweth vs in that he voutchsafeth too bee our father and too take vs for his children If a man demaunde why the Scripture vseth the woorde Iustifie sith it seemeth too make nothing to the purpose for it might well be sayd God loueth vs God pitieth vs God vouchsafeth to become our father and Sauiour and therfore why should not men rather vse that maner of speach than say that he vouchsafeth to iustifie vs I answer it is not without cause that the scripture speaketh so For if we take the woord Saluation rawly say no more but that we be saued by the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ we shall not well perceyue what our owne state is nor how
Christ who is the fountayne and welspring of all blissednesse Nowe let vs fall downe before the Maiestie of our good God with acknowledgement of our faultes praying him too make vs perceyue them more and more so as we may mislike of them and not onely confesse them with our mouth but also lay open our hearts before him and submit our selues wholly to his holy word and that in suche wise as wee may bee comforted by his free goodnesse as it is shewed vs in our Lorde Iesus Christ and he reforme vs also by his holy spirite too the ende that whereas wee of our selues be full of rebelliousnesse we may by his gouerning become teachable and readie to follow his holy will and to giue our selues ouer all wholly vnto him And let vs pray vnto him for all these things saying Almightie God heauenly father c. The .xxij. Sermon which is the eyght vpon the third Chapter 21 Is the lavv then agaynst the promises of God God forbyd For if the lavve vvere giuen too iustifie truely ryghtuousnesse shoulde come by the Lavve 22 But the Scripture hath shut vp all vnder sinne to the intent that the promise by the saythe of Iesus Christ should begiuen to those that beleeue 23 Novv before that fayth came vve vvere kept vnder the lavve shut vp to come to the fayth that vvas to bee reuealed 24 By meanes vvhereof the Lavv vvas our scholemaster to leade vs vnto Christ that vvee might bee iustified by fayth 25 But novv that fayth is come vvee bee no more vnder the Scholemaster WE haue alreadie this morning dispatched this poynt that the Law was not giuen in vayne though it coulde not bring vs too righteousnesse to make vs acceptable to God SecoÌ„dly it was shewed you that Gods giuing of hys Lawe was not to the intent we should seeke our righteousnesse and saluation there as though his grace had bin weake and vnsufficient but for a farre other respect that is to wit to giue men suche knowledge of their sinnes as they might be ashamed of them in theÌ„ selues for otherwise they could not be touched to the quicke to flee to our Lorde Iesus Christ for refuge as we see too much And now S. Paule moueth another question namely whether the lawe bee agaynst the promises For surely when it is sayde that the lawe promiseth vs saluation vpon condition that wee deserue it and the promise of the Gospell telleth vs that wee shall bee taken into Gods fauour without any deseruing a man would thinke there were some contrarietie in the matter As if a man shoulde offer mee a house so I would pay wel for it and did set me a price of it and another man should say vnto me no thou shalt haue it for nothing There is great contrarietie in these sayings And it seemeth that in speaking after that fashion God vnsayeth that which he had spoken in hys law where he sayth Serue me and keepe my commaundements you shall not misse of your wages For in the Gospell he speaketh another language saying I require nothing of you for yee bee so wretched that ye can giue me nothing but I receyue you into my kingdome frankly and of mine owne free goodnesse without any desert of yours your heritage is assigned to you euen bicause it is my good pleasure to doo it Heerevpon S. Paule declareth that although God speake after another maner and fashion in the lawe than in the Gospel yet notwithstanding when we haue well considered the marke that he shooteth at wee shal perceyue there is no contrarietie in the matter For as I haue tolde you this morning Gods promising of rewarde to our works is not to beguyle vs but to stop our mouthes that wee might not repine agaynst him as we see that the world doth which is alwayes ready to carpe at him with diuelish malapertnesse wheÌ„ he handleth them not after their owne will and liking God then cutteth off all occasion of grudging when he telleth vs that wee shall not be disappoynted of our wages for our wel seruing of him Furthermore let euery of vs examine him selfe well and he shal finde that that is not the match wherby we must obteyne saluation for there is none of vs all but he may condemne him self by his own life if he iudge without flattering But after that God hath spoken after that fashioÌ„ he offereth vs remedie in the Gospell and telleth vs that for as much as we be damned and can not hope to attayne any saluation by our works he him selfe offered it vs of his own free goodnesse bicause it pleaseth him so to doo And for that cause S. Paule answereth If the law had bin giuen to iustifie I coulde wel inough graunt that righteousnesse should be giuen vs by it But let vs see whether God ment that or no. It is certayne he ment it not Then sendeth he vs to Gods purpose as if he should say that the Hypocrites which are so puffed vp with pride ouerweening that they think they be able to iustifie them selues to win heauen are il expounders of Gods law yea falsifiers therof For men must alwayes haue an eye to the intent of the speaker Now God ment not to set men a gog with any trust in their own wit deseruings for we be too much giuen to that of our own nature VVe see it hath bin a common error through the whole world in all ages Therfore we nede no scholing to persuade vs that we be able folke that we can bind God to vs by our vertuous doings But contrariwise God hath giuen vs his lawe to the intent we should be wounded with it as with a sword the stripe be so deadly as we might be constrayned to flee to him for succor Seeing then that Gods will it to slea vs by the Law it is not giuen vs to make vs righteous And therfore they that seeke their life welfare there beguile them selues and there is no reason why they should alledge for theÌ„ selues yea how so God hath promised me it No but they must consider to what end he saith so Now we see how S. Paul hath discussed this question that there is no contrarietie betweene the Law the Gospel though God alter the maner of his speech at the first blush Now he addeth afterwarde That the Scripture hath shut vp all â—â—â—der sinne that we might obteyne the promise by the fayth of our Lorde Iesus Christ. VVhen he sayth that the scripture hathe shutte vp all vnder sinne he sheweth that men are too-too blockishe too thinke that God ment too assigne them a due wages or hire when he dyd set them downe this condition He that dooth these thinges shall liue in them Lette them reade the whole lawe let them searche the contents and substance of it let them looke well vpon the whole holy Scripture and they shall finde that it accuseth and condemneth all men from the moste to the
95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103 â–ª 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109 â–ª 114. b. 31. 115. 116. 117. 123 â–ª a. 12. b. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 130. 131. 132. 133. 134. 135. 136. 137. 138. 141. b. 20. 142. 143. 144. 145. 146. 147. 148. 153. a 24. b. 154. 155. 156. b. 11. 166. 167. 168. 169. 170. 171. 172. 173. 174 â–ª 175. 176. 224. b 19. 225. a. 231. a. 34. 233. a. b. 234. 235. 236. b. 1. 237. 238. 239 It is vn possible to be Iustifyed both by the law and by the Gospell 88. b 20. 89. a 96. b 29 97 a b 134. b 9 VVe can not be iustifyed by grace vnlesse we vtterly forsake our owne woorkes 88. a 5. b The only meanes of IustificatioÌ„ is Christs Sacrifyze 127. b 4 In what maner it behoueth vs to come to be Iustifyed by Iesus Christ 19. b 11 The meane to know that we can not bee Iustifyed by the law but by grace 93 a 8. He that seeketh to Iustifye himselfe by any part of the law bindeth himselfe to the perfourmance of the whole lawe 231. b 22. 232. a b 233. a b 234. a b 235. a Such as will Iustifye themselues by keepeing any law eyther of God or man bereaue themselues vtterly of all benefite by Christ 236. b 8. 237. a b 238. a aÌ„ After what maner the Papistes descant vppon Iustification by fayth 89. b 31. 90. a 108. a 26. b 109. a The slaunders which the Papistes raise vppon free Iustifycation by fayth 100. b 3. Looke more in Fayth Lawe Merits Righteousnesse and VVorkes K ¶ Krye WHat is ment by the worde Krye 187 b 11. 188. a b 189. a b 190. L ¶ Ladder VVHat was betokened by Iacobs Ladder 160. a 34. b ¶ Language The diuersitie of Languages hindreth not the vnitie of fayth 190. b 19. ¶ Lawe VVhat is comprehended vnder the worde lawe 158. a 33. b The law was giuen by Christs direction 159. b 18. 160. a The ministration and seruice of the Angels bothin publishing Gods lawe and in seeing the same executed 159. b 11. 160. a b 161. a b The law was a scholemaister 167. b 30. 168. a The lawe bringeth nothing but death 156 b 29. 157. a b No man can be Iustifyed by the lawe 96. a b 97. a b 98. a b 99. a b 100. a b 101. a b 102. a 107. b 35. 108. a b 115. b 11. 116. a b 130. a 28. b 131. a b 132. a b 133. a b 134. a b 217. a 23. b The difference betweene the lawe and the Gospell and in what cases they be to be seperated 97. a 4. b 98. a b 99. a b 110. a b 115. b 32. 116. a b 138. a 7. b The difference betwene being of the law and being of fayth 127. a 8. b How the law is matched against faith and yet there is no contrarietie betwixt theÌ„ 88. b 20. 89. a 96. b 29. 97. a b 163. a 12. b The law is spirituall why it is sayd to be so 269 b 26. 270. b 34. 271. a For how long time the law was to continue 159. a 15. b How and why Iesus Christ became subiect to the law 185. a 20. VVhat 〈◊〉 ment by keeping of the lawe 318. a 25. No man fufilleth the law thorowly 130. a 23. 131. a b 132. a b 133. a b 134 a b 135. a b 158. b 16. 138. a 28. b VVhat maner of performance of the lawe God requireth 133. b 30. 134. a b 135 a b 136. a b 137. a b VVhat it is to fulfill Christes lawe and how wee may doe it 289. b 15. and 290. a How and when the law is aliue and when it is dead 97. b 16. 98 a b 99. To what ende the law was giuen 97. b 6. 116. a 18. 156. a 31. b 157. a 159. b 4. 163. b 25. 277. b 8. The fond and blasphemous error of the Papistes concerning Gods law 135. a 1. 136. a b 137. a b 220. a 27. How the Monks and schole diuines haue interpreted this saying That men are not iustifyed by the workes or deedes of the law 82. a 14. Hnw the godly do keepe the lawe 318. a. 34. b The fonde glorifing of the Iewes in their Lawe and Cerimonies 86. b. 5. and 87. a How the fathers were shut vp vnder the lawe 167. b 18. In what wize wee bee deliuered from the law 185. b 24. 186. a b Looke what lawe a man layeth vppon others the same ought he to keepe himselfe 78. a 10. VVhat is ehe cause of so many lawes and statutes among men â—56 b 4. Looke more in Fayth Iuslifye Iustification Cerimonies VVorkes Gospel Gods word and Merits ¶ Lent or Lenton The inioyning of Lent 232. a 3. ¶ Libertie VVhat is ment by Libertie or freedome 229. a 25. b 230. a b 231. a b 232. a b 233. a Of christen libertie 56. b 10. 57. a b 71. a 21. b and 72. and 73 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. a b 185. b 1. 186. 187 188. 189. 190. 191. 192. 193. 194. 195 196. 197 198. 199 200. 215. a b 229. a 16. b 230. 232. 233. 254. a 5. b 273. a 2. b 275. b 18. 276. 277. 278. 279. a b The meames to atteine to true Libertie too whome the same belongeth 278. b 30. and 279. a. The way to mayntaine and inioy the libertie that Christ hath purchased for vs 184. a. 34. b. and 258. b. 14. The Gospell is slaundered by the Papistes with giuing libertie to do euil 277. b. 16 and 278. a. The Gospell giueth not libertie to do euill 99. b. 30. and 100. a. b The Libertie of counterfet Christians and newters 278. b. 5 ¶ Liberalitie The Liberalitie of the Papistes and the nigardship of the Protestants in finding of their ministers 299. a. 23. b. and 300. b. 27. and 301. a ¶ Loue. Gods Loue towards vs in Iesus Christ 106 b. 36. and 107. a and 110. a. 1 Christes great Loue towards vs 12. a. 32 VVhat it is to Loue our neighbour as our selfe 260. a. 32. b How God did both Loue vs and hate vs al at one time 12. b. 25 The true triall of our Loue
b 13. ¶ Redeeme To what end we bee Redeemed 14. a. 20. and 15. 16 ¶ Regenerate The Regenerated are neuer quite voyd of sinne 264. a. 18. b ¶ Renew After what maner we be Renewed in spirite 262. b. 6 ¶ Repent and Repentance VVhat is imported by Repentance 26◠b. 18 The true preparatiue to Repentance 201. a. 20. b ¶ Resurrection The maiestie of Christes Resurrection ◠2. 19. ¶ Reuerence In what wise men are to be Reuerenced ◠b. 24 Looke more in Authoritie Credit and Countenaunce Person The Reuerence that is to be giuen to the Preacher of Gods word 31. a. 7. 46. b 34. 205 a 32. b. 206. a. b. How the ministers must behaue themselues to be Reuerenced 206. b. 18 ¶ Rigorousnesse Of Rigorousnesse in rebuking of other mens offences 284 b. 30. 285. a The cause of our Rigorousnesse against other mens offences 287 b. 2 ¶ Rule The Rule of God which all men must folowe 326. a. 31. b. 327 a. b. VVhereunto the Rule of God leadeth vs 327 b. 1 The reward of such as are alwayes wauering and wandering from the Rule of God 327. a. 25 The Rulers of Poperie 326. b. 11 ¶ Rightuousnesse VVhat is betokened by the word Rightuousnesse 232. b 29 All humane Righteeousnesse before regeneration or without faith is but hipcorisie dung and filthinesse before God 36. b. 23. and 37. a b 38. a. b. No man can attaine to the perfect Rightuousnesse which the Lawe requireth 100 a. 5 The difference betweene the Rightuousnesse of sayth and the Righteousnesse of the Lawe 101. a. 22. b. 137. b. 27. 138. a b VVhat the Righteousnesse of the Gospell 〈◊〉 of fayth is 140. a 5. b VVhat maner of Righteousnesse the Rightuousnesse of the Law is 134. a. 7. b. The Rightuousnesse of Christians 99. b. 1. 239 a. 8. b The parting Righteousnesse of the Papist◠234. a 9 The lothnesse of worldlinges and hypocrites to be bereft of their owne Rightuousnesse 95 a. 26 b Looke more in Iustifie and Iustification in faith and in Law S ¶ Sacrament WHat the Sacramentes are and why they be added to the word 54. a. 9 To what end Sacraments were ordeyned 83. b. 31. a. 118. a. 12. b. Christes Sacraments defyled by Popes Poperie 240. b. 17. 241. a. The Papistes abuse misapplie the name of Sacraments 320. b. 11 The vse of Sacramentes 84. b. 29. and 85. a. b. The right applying of all Christes doings Sufferinges and Sacraments to our benefite and behoofe 106. b 11. and 107. a. ¶ Looke more in Ceremonies ¶ Sacrifize Christes Sacrifize and mediation happened not but by the ordinance of God 12. b. 6 Only Christes Sacrifize taketh away sins 11. b 23. and 12. The sufficiencie of Christes Sacrifize 12. a 1. The benefits of Christes Sacrifize 19. b 26 VVhat was betokened by the Sacrifizes of the Iewes 84. a 20 VVhy the Gentiles and heathen men retained the vse of Sacrifizing 135 a 28. The trew Sacrifizes that God requireth 280. a 32. b ¶ Saluation Saluation Election and calling come al of Gods only free mercy 38. a 4. b and 39. a b and 40. b 28. and 41. a b. and 42. a b. Our Saluation is fully and perfectly reueyled in the Gospell 144. a 18. b and 145. a Christ admitteth no partnership in the woorking and accomplishinge of our Saluation 233. a 25. b and 234. a b 235 a b and 236. b ◠and 237. a b. VVhosoeuer ioineth any thing with Iesus Christ in the work of Saluation renoūceth him 200. a 8 Gods glory and our welfare or Saluation are matched inseparably togither 55. a 23. VVhy Saluation is said to be of free gift 19. b 8 VVhy the promis of Saluation is called spirituall 144. a 12 How the Fathers obtained Saluation 159. a 35. b To whom the law prowiseth Saluation 158. b. 10 VVhy God promiseth Saluation to such as kepe his law 163. a 33. b ¶ Secular VVho is a Secular man among the Papistes 274. a 6 ¶ Seede and Sowe VVhat is ment by the wordes Seede and Sowe 303. a 11 and 304. b 19 Christ is the only blessed Seede in whom all other must be blessed 146. a 5. b and 147. a b VVhat the word Seede importeth who be the trew Seede of Abraham 146. a 11 b 147. a VVhat is ment by Sowing to the spirit the reward thereof 303. b 9. and 304. b 1. and 305. a 12. b and 306. a VVhat is ment by Sowing to the flesh the sundry sorts therof and the reward of it 303. b 27. and 304. a and 305. a 17. b VVhat it is to Sowe to eternall lyfe 304. b 26 VVhat the Sowing of Gods Ministers is 304. b 21. After what maner al men ought to Sowe that is to say to trauaile in their seueral trades craftes and vocations 304. b 32. and 305. a Such as men Sowe such shall they reape 303. a 7. b and 304. a b and 305. a b ¶ Serue Seruant Seruice God looketh to be Serued by all men though they be of neuer so high degree and calling 176. a 27. b God will not be serued with mens inuentions 243. a 6. The meanes and waye to yeeld God acceptable seruis 193. b 17. 243. a 13. b and 244. a b and 245. a b and 246. a b and 273. a 33. 274. b 12. and 324. b 22. and 325. a b and 326. a b The chief Seruing and honouring of God 27. a 7. b VVhat the Papistes do terme Gods Seruis 219. b 18. and 273. a 13. and 274. a 2. b 325. a 34. b To what end the Papistes serue God 326. a 18. VVho be Gods trew Seruants 315. b 35. 316. a b and 317. a b VVhom God imployeth too his Seruice they be the more bound too him for i◠▪ 120. a. 17. b and 121. a b There is no Seruing or woorshipping of God without Christ 112. a 22. A description of such as Serue the tyme what is to be thought of them 315. b 21. 316. a. b. 317. a Looke more in Honour and Honouring ¶ Shame VVe must not refuze the Shame of our misdeedes when God may bee glorified by the acknowledgment of them 50. a. 5 ¶ Shrift The inioyning of Shrift 232. a. 3 ¶ Shrinke Of such as Shrinke in Christes quarrell and their reward in the end 316. a. 18. b and 317. a. Looke more in Dissimulation and in Apostasie Scorne Looke Mocke ¶ Simplicitie VVhat is ment by the Simplicitie or singlenesse of our Lord Iesus Christ 60. b 19. ¶ Sinne Sinfulnesse Sinner All persons both Iewes and Gentiles are shut vp vnder Sinne 93. b 24. and 94. a b and 95. a b. In what wize and why God hath shut vp all men vnder Sinne 164. a 1. b. and 165. a b. Onely Sinne is the cause of Gods displeasure towards vs 11. a 30. VVe neuer see our owne Sinfulnesse
it is that the Papists haue lesse colour than had the deceyuers of whom S. Paule speaketh For although they were Satans vnderlings and sought nothing but to peruert the truthe of the Gospell yet had they at least wise this colour that they broughte not in their owne dreames and traditions but alleaged the authoritie of God howe that the lawe ought to be kepte and that was a meetely apparant excuse But the Papists haue no suche foundation For all their Ceremonies are forgeries of mans brayne It is true that they haue mingled Iewishnesse with them and made suche a galimaufrey as a man can not tell of whome they haue borowed moste But howsoeuer the world go yet are the Ceremonies of mens setting vp which are at this day in the Popedome Nowe when we striue to abolishe them they say wee trouble the worlde for nothing And then steppe in these Neuters whiche woulde fayne please bothe parties and make a Bastarde Gospell Those fellowes caste vs in the teeth that wee bee seditious and that throughe oure precisenesse wee set muche trouble in the worlde And for proofe thereof saye they is it meete that there shoulde bee suche stryuing aboute Ceremonies seeing they bee things indifferente Yea forsoothe For if God woulde haue the Ceremonies of the lawe which yet notwithstanding came of him and by his expresse commaundement too come too an ende in our Lorde Iesus Christ what shall wee do when men will of their owne foolishe rashnesse set vp others in their stead Seeing that God would haue his owne abolished why should men step foorth therevpon and bring in their owne deuice and make God beleeue that he was not well aduised See yee not a cursed blasphemie Nowe vve knowe that the cause vvhy God vvould haue the Ceremonies of his lawe abolished in these dayes was to the intent that the grace of our Lorde Iesus Christ should be the more lightsome and better knowen For he is the daysunne of righteousnesse Therfore all those shadowes must cease and it is he in whō we haue the body and substance of them sayth S. Paule Seeing then that God had that respect and reason the figures must passe and vanishe away But now what reason wil the Papists bring when as men perceyue by eyesight that all their Ceremonies are a burying of our Lorde Iesus Christ and yet that they binde men to the keeping of them vnder payne of deadly sinne And furthermore when as in all their Ceremonies they haue a certeyn opinion that Baptisme is not inough for them but that they must haue holiwater to christen or baptise men euening and morning and finally that when they haue brought in all their pelting trash and al their gewgawes there must alwayes be somewhat in thē to draw poore soules into bondage is it to be borne withall On the other side we see there is so streight a yoke as it is able to strangle the poore wretches For the seelie soules are bereft of the freedome that was purchased for them by the death passion of our Lord Iesus Christ VVe see thē how it is not without vrgent cause yea extreme necessitie that we striue against the Popish tyrannie about ceremonies cōsidering that our Lord Iesus Christ hath not his deserued preheminence so long as men busie their wits about those smal trifles that moreouer their wretched consciences are alwayes in vnquietnesse without ende or ceassing and finally that on the otherside the Papists thinke to deserue grace by the things which they terme Gods seruice bearing themselues in hande that that is the meane whereby men shuld become righteous to obteine saluatiō So thē we see that S. Paul in his time was driuē to susteyn that strife And forasmuch as our case is altogither like at this day so as we cānot hold our peace except we wil betray both god mā we must fight stoutly agaynst that hellish tyrannie and against those pelting trash trumperie and illusions of Sathan whereby hee would fayne eyther quite deface the Gospell or else so turmoyle it as a man shoulde not knowe which is the pure truth This in effect is the thing that wee haue to beare in mynde And whereas S. Paule sayth that he yelded not one iote too such men it is too confirme vs so muche the better on the thing that I touched euen nowe Peace and friendshippe are an amiable thing among men They bee so indeede and wee ought to seeke them to the vttermost of our power But yet for all that we must set such store by Gods truth that if all the world should bee set on fyre for the mayntenaunce thereof wee shoulde not sticke at it As much as wee can possibly let vs purchase peace and if the matter concerne but our owne persons or goodes let vs endeuour too compound with our aduersaries let vs beare with them and let vs labour to ouercome them by our patience Lo in what maner wee ought to buy peace But yet in the meane while let not Gods truth be deminished nor sustein any harme or preiudice For the peace that men seeke among themselues shall euermore be accursed if God be not therewithall acknowledged and magnified as he ought to be and his word also continue vnimpeached for that is the knot of our bonde and if we intend to haue it acceptable to God and the end of it to be good and for our welfare surely God must knit vs togither And hee hath giuen vs his Sonne who is called our peace too the end we should all of vs fall in order vnder him Then if we minde to haue good and holie peace let vs ame vs at this marke of yeelding our selues vnder the obeysance of Gods sonne that he may be our head and we his body like as there is but one Church But if any man goe about too withdraw vs from our Lord Iesus Christ let vs rather beare all the hatred outrages and madnesse of the world than to seeke such agreement And let vs not be afraide of all the reproch that can bee done vnto vs according as nowadayes we shal be falsly slaundered as stirrers vp of many strifes yea verily but what can wee do with it For it behoueth vs to abide still in the truth of the Gospell or else woe bee vntoo vs. If the Papistes will not agree with vs but bee vtterly wilfull in the stubbornnesse that is seene too bee in them wee must bee contented to be at defiance with men seeing they purpose too turne vs from the peace which wee should haue with God by the means of his Sonne who not without cause beareth that title as I told you before Therefore when they crye out vpon vs wee must be fenced with this answere of Elias which hee made vnto Achab. Art not thou he sayd Achab that troublest Israell For the Prophet was accused as we be nowadayes bicause he labored to bring the people backe againe too the purenesse of
our Lorde Iesus Christ Nowe if children be alreadie full of infections at their comming into the world what are we who neuer ceasse to offend our God and do drinke wickednesse as a fishe drinketh water as it is sayde in the booke of Iob Agayne when wee come too the Lords supper what come we to doo Come we to get any thing of God by our owne desert No but to confesse that we be like wretched dead men which come to seeke our life out of our selues and therefore must be fayne to haue the fleshe of our Lorde Iesus Christ for our meate and his bloud for our drinke and all things in him which we want in our selues Yee see then that the Sacraments serue not to puffe vs vp with any presumption but to make vs walke in humblenesse to the ende that beeing voyde of all selfe-trust our whole seeking may be to be succoured by Gods infinite goodnesse and by his pouring out of the treasures of his grace vpon vs according to our neede And our comming to them is that God should warne vs of our sinnes to be touched with them in good earnest And wee muste not acknowledge our selues sinners with the mouth onely or slightly and by way of ceremonies but wee must haue our hartes wounded inwardly with griefe that wee haue offended and feele howe dreadfull Gods wrath is too the ende wee may be sorie in our selues and not haue any rest till he haue shewed vs where wee shall finde it that is too wit in our Lorde Iesus Christ And when we come to this holy table let euer of vs looke well that he be so grounded in our Lorde Iesus Christ as that he hauing forsaken all the fonde illusions of Satan and all the deceiptes that he setteth afore vs too turne vs away from the grace of God and may imbrace our Lorde Iesus Christe with the merites of his death and passion assuring our selues that it is he in whom we haue the full performance of righteousnesse and saluation Moreouer forasmuche as our Lorde Iesus Christ hath called vs to be members of his body let vs knit our selues togither indeuouring to glorifie God as it were with one heart and one mouth and therwithall to liue in true vnitie with our neighbours lyke as the hande serueth bothe the foote and the eye So then let vs haue the sayde brotherlynesse in suche estimation as wee maye shewe that we intende not to separate our selues asunder as it were too â—eare Iesus Christ in peeces but that our desire is that he shoulde so knitte vs togither that not onely he may liue in vs and wee in him but also that he may so rule vs by his holy spirite as euery of vs may indeuer to serue and honour him first of all and afterward to employ him selfe in the seruing of his neighbours according to the abilitie which he shall haue And now let vs fall downe before the maiestie of our good God with acknowledgement of our faultes praying him too make vs feele them more and more that the same may alwayes stirre vs vp to better repentance and cause vs to continue therin to the ende and also make vs to grow in fayth to our Lorde Iesus Christ so as we may giue our selues wholly vnto him and in his name cal vpon God his father to the ende that he may heere vs and continue his gratious goodnesse towards vs till he haue drawen vs wholly too him selfe to make vs feele perfectly the benefite which is purchased for vs by his death and passion That it may please him to grauÌ„t this grace not only to vs but also to all people c. The twelfth Sermon which is the sixth vpon the second Chapter 15 VVee bee Ievves by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles 16 And yet for as much as vve knovv that a man is not iustified by the vvorks of the lavv but by beleefe in Iesus Christe vvee also haue beleeued in Iesus Christ that vve might be iustified by the faith of Iesus Christ not by the vvorks of the lavv for no flesh shal be iustified by the vvorkes of the lavve WE haue seene alredie and declared heretofore why S. Paule hauing to treate of the Ceremonies and shadowes that were before the comming of our Lorde Iesus Christ coÌ„cluded generally that men could not attaine righteousnesse before God to stand in his fauour but by keeping the whole lawe Nowe a man mighte deeme at the first sight that these were diuers matters Howbeit as I haue sayde afore it behoued Paule to come to the pure vse of ceremonies to shew that men do but beguyle them selues when they thinke to obteine fauour at Gods hand by their own merites Secondly also I declared why S. Paul doth expresly adde the word Law For although it haue alwayes bin a common opinion in the world that by liuing well men might binde God to be good vnto them yet did they fowlly deceyue them selues therein For doo what we can God shall not be any whit at all beholden vnto vs bicause wee owe vnto him what soeuer wee be able to doo Then is there not any deserte if there might bee any deseruing at all but by the couenant which God hath made in saying that he which fulfilleth the law shall obteine life and saluation For as muche as God hath spoken that worde no doubt but he accepteth the obedience that is yeelded vnto him as if it deserued saluation but yet is not that as muche too say as that wee can deserue oughte For there is none of vs all that dischargeth hys duetie as wee shall see heereafter That promise woulde bee too no purpose or at least wyse it woulde bee vnauaylable so as it shoulde neuer take effecte vnlesse God gaue vs another remedie that is too witte vnlesse hee forgaue our offences and accepted vs for righteous althoughe wee bee not so But howe so euer the cace stande when S. Paule sayth that wee bee not iustifyed by the workes of the Lawe hys meanyng is that if wee intende too clayme fauour and saluation bicause God hath promised that such as keepe his lawe shall be righteous and so taken to bee that will not serue our turne bicause none of vs fulfilleth the Lawe but wee are all of vs gyltie before God and must receyue sentence of damnation vpon our heads And for the better expressing heereof he maketh a coÌ„parison betweene the Iewes the Gentiles Although sayth he that we be Iewes by nature and not Heathen men yet doo we knowe that we shall not otherwise obteyne Gods fauour than by beleeuing in our Lorde Iesus Christ Nowe it maye peraduenture seeme that although men beeing corrupted in Adam can not deserue ought yet notwithstanding the Iewes had a speciall priuiledge bicause God had adopted them as it were for his owne children and accompted them to bee as his housholde And that was the thing wherein the Iewes deceyued them selues For when the Scripture speaketh
looke into hys owne lyfe what it is Now if there were but one myte as ye would say amisse it is certaine that we were foorthwith in daunger of eternall death But surely euery of vs shall finde hymselfe a sinner not in some one poynt alone but in a hundred thousande not in some one fault but in infinite sortes of faultes And when wee shall haue perceiued neuer so many miseries in ourselues God knoweth yet many mo without comparison than we can for hee seeth much cleerer than we do as sayth Sainct Iohn in his canonicall Epistle Thus then is our pleading vtterly voyd Thus is sentence gyuen that we cannot be iustifyed by the lawe but by fayth only And nowe the Apostle going forward with his matter vseth another reason whiche is that if wee seeke righteousnesse in the law the same will be a cleane contrary one to the rightuousnesse which Gods children and chosen people obteyne by fayth For what manner of one is the rightuousnesse of the law sayth hee This it is He that doth those things shall liue in them that is to say whosoeuer obeyeth God and doth his commaundements shall haue saluation for his labour Lo heere a fayre promis but what good will it doe vs If wee will assay to do the things thoroughly which are commaunded vs wee shall euery one of vs see that God sheweth vs our condemnation so much the greeuouser as if he had set it downe before vs. VVhat would become of our saluation if we should seeke it in ourselues and be fayne to earne it Now therfore when we heere that God is ready to recompence all suche as shall haue serued and honored him by keeping of his law it seemeth to vs before we go any further that we haue gottē a maruellous vantage Tush say we beholde God byndeth hymselfe too vs and warranteth vs the heritage of heauen if wee serue him and fulfill his will Yea but when wee haue compared our lyfe too hys doctrine we shall fynd that his shewing of himselfe so liberall and bountifull towards vs too bind himselfe to vs for our seruing of him and for our keeping of his lawe is a plunging of vs muche deeper into the gulfe wherein wee were before VVhat shall we do then VVe must resort to the remedie which the Apostle setteth downe heere before vs by the mouth of Abacucke whyche is that the rightuouse shall liue by faith Therefore let vs refuse the promis of the law bicause it is not for our behoof take the freegiuē goodnes of our god who reacheth out his armes to receiue vs so we be cleere rid of al selfweening That is the thing which is set downe vnto vs here by S. Paule And it is a reason that holdeth of contraries as they tearme it As for example if a man shoulde say that fire heateth and another wilfull body shoulde holde the contrarie it myght be sayd vnto him see if yee or frost do heate or no doth it not appeere that they be things dyuerse repugnant and vnmatchable Agayne if it should be demaunded whither the heate of the Sunne is behooffull for this lyfe or no what a thing were it if there were no Sunne in the world we shoulde de all of vs be choked with the filthinesse of the aire all the corruption whereof is clenzed away by the shyning of the Sunne Then like as men may reason vppon contraries in the order of nature so the Apostle sayeth that wee cannot bee iustified both by the law and by the free fauour of God that is too say if we bee well lyked at Gods hand our comming into his fauour must be through his owne freebestowed goodnesse bycause hee loueth vs in oure Lord Iesus Christ and not for any worthynesse that can be in our selues Howbeit for the better vnderstanding of this doctrine Let vs mark well how it is told vs heere that the ryghteousnesse of the law is the fulfilling of Goddes commaundementes And heereby it myght seeme to vs that the doctrine of the law were sufficient to saue vs for asmuch as God hauing rehersed the ten commaundements that are conteyned in the law hath finally tolde vs that that is the thing whereby we shoulde liue the thing whereby wee shoulde direct our lyfe the infallible rule and that wee must not seeke anie other perfection of righteousnesse than that And that is the very matter wherein we stryue so muche against the Papistes bycause that whereas God requireth obedience they thinke to do him as good seruis with the things that are of their owne deuizing VVherefore let vs marke that the full perfection of all holinesse is conteyned in the Lawe Yea verely as in respect of doctrine For it is not lawfull to adde any thyng to it and men do but ouerlabour themselues in vayne when they bryng in I wote not what deuotious of their owne deuyzing But it is not ynough for vs that the doctrine of the lawe dothe sufficientlye shewe vs what ryghtuousenesse is wee come too thys poynt also namely whither wee be able to do the thynges that God hathe enioyned vs. I tolde you thys morning that wee come farre short of that And so the promis of the law is nothing to our behoofe and the Papists do fowlly ouershoote thēselues in that behalfe For they hold still this fantasticall opinion that God hath not commaunded any thing which we be not able to performe But we see the cleane contrary by Sainct Paule To confirme theyr error they alledge that then God mocketh men in telling them that he which doeth those things shall liue in them But this knot is easye too be vntyed For if God gaue men no remedye it is certeine that they should be vtterly abashed when he sayth that he whych doth these things shall lyue in them that is to say no man shal liue At the first blush as I sayd we may seeme to haue wonne the goale seing that God hath told vs that by keeping his law we shall obteine hys fauour and that there is a crowne of glorie prepared for vs wherof we cānot fayle but when we haue cast our cardes we must be fayn to come to this poynt that no man can atteyne to lyfe by his owne purchace or earning for why no man performeth the law It is not sayd he that doeth but some one part or other of the lawe shall liue but he that doeth all that is conteyned in it VVhat manner of thing then is the rightuousenesse of the lawe It is a ful and perfect keeping of it without missing or fayling in any point at al. But such a one is not to be found among men and therefore it followeth that all of vs are disappointed and shut out from the promis that is giuen vs in the lawe Yet is it not to be sayd that God mocketh vs when he holdeth vs at the staues ende bycause men deceyue themselues through their owne pryde by boasting of their owne deseruings He
from the rightuousnesse of fayth is too shewe that they bee vnmatchable and can no more bee ioyned togither than fyre and water True it is that there is no contrarietie betwixt the Lawe and the Gospell as I haue sayde afore for wee knowe that both twaine of them doo come of God But heere it behoueth vs too take Gods meening in such wise as he declareth it to vs which is that by setting the rightuousnesse of the Law before vs he intendeth to humble vs and to make vs condemne our selues when we come before him which thing wee woulde neuer do if he should not bewray our wretchednesse Therfore when he sayth that wee shall be iustifyed by keeping of the Lawe it is all one as if hee should say wretched wightes what woorthinesse or valure weene you to be in your selues VVey my commaundements and consider what they import and therewithall bethinke your selues how euery of you hath liued and ye shall be as good as drowned in despayre VVhen God hath sayd so he addeth the remedie Come saith he to the doctrine of the Gospell And what a maner a one is that Saint Paule alledgeth heere the saying of Abacucke how that the rightuous shall liue by fayth And in the same place which I haue alledged he openeth himselfe howe that it behoueth to resort wholy to our Lorde Iesus Christ For the worde that ought too bee in our mouth and in our heart to bring vs vnto God and too open vs the kingdome of heauen is not a worde that serueth to holde vs downe heere beneath nor too make men beleeue that God will allowe of our owne desertes nor too puffe vs vp with pryde no but too holde vs fast to our Lorde Iesus Christ Therefore when we knowe that our sinnes are wyped out by the death and passion of our Lord Iesus Christ and that by his resurrection suche rightuousnesse is purchased for vs that in stead of beeing damned too the gulfe of hell which is the heritage that belongeth to vs and whereof we be worthie we be made heyres of the kingdome of heauen and when we know that in Iesus Christ we recouer all that we had lost in Adam and the cursednesse wherein we be wrapped is taken from vs and God hathe sette vs free that is Gods iustifying of vs by fayth And in good fayth when wee haue well considered the circumstance of the text that Saint Paule alledgeth out of the Prophete Abacucke wee shall see plainly that that is the thing wherevnto the holy Ghost leadeth vs. For the Prophete had spoken of the chastizements and corrections which God would send vpon the people so as to looke vnto all shoulde seeme too bee confounded Now therevpon hee sayth that the wicked shall but swell more and more in their pride howbeit that they shall haue no sure footing but shal stūble with all their sway bicause they wil nedes exalt themselues they shall the more cast thēselues down with so much the sorer fouler fal That thē is the thing which the prophet vttereth against the wicked And he addeth on the cōtrarie part but the rightuous shal liue by faith Now wheras he saith that the rightuous shal liue it is all one as if he had said that gods children shal not find their life neere at hand in themselues but that euen when they shall haue traueled ouer all the world vp down it shal seme to thē that there is nowhere any thing else thā the very dungeons of death yet notwithstāding that missing of a presēt life they shal find a life to come when they shall haue nurrished it in their harts mindes by fayth VVe see thē that the Prophets intent is to draw Gods chosen both from the world and frō thēselues to the end they may cleaue wholy vnto him and not seke any other meanes to be saued than by his only grace But S. Paule hath spoken more breefly here bycause he was fully resolued of all that I haue declared heretofore and which hee himselfe hath discoursed that is to witte That fayth teacheth vs too seeke all oure welfare in God But the Lawe teacheth vs the contrarie I say it teacheth vs it to the ende too shewe vs that to seeke it throughly wee must acknowledge that there is not so much as one drop of lyfe in vs. The Lawe then sayth vnto vs go to take yee paynes and do yee so much as ye may winne heauen by it And why doth the Lawe say so Not too feede men in their vaine self trust of weening still that they can deserue well at Gods hād it is not for that but to prepare thē to receyue the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ with lowlinesse For as I haue sayd alreadie when we keepe our selues aloof from God and euery man beares himselfe in hand that he is well worthie to be accepted of him our Lorde will surely be aduenged of such presumptuousnesse and sayth Go to let me see what ye haue done come on and let vs fall to reckening and let him that oweth aught to other pay it Ye shal not be disappointed by me I haue your wages in my hande it is readie for you and if ye shall haue done all that I haue commaunded you feare not but you shall be well payde for your labor Therefore hie you apace and let me see how you will serue me But as I sayd our Lord in saying so prepareth and dispozeth vs to know in what plight we be For when we once perceiue our owne neede then will wee seeke our wantes at his hand Thus ye see how the Lawe leadeth vs to fayth but it is a straunge kinde of leading Howsoeuer the cace stand there is alwaies this cōtrarietie which S. Paule setteth down here namely that we cannot be iustified by fayth except we haue first knowne and acknowledged vnfeynedly that we be damned in our selues and that the groūd of our welfare is to know that there is nothing but damnation in vs. Now at the first sight it might be sayd that S. Paule hath stretched this saying of Abacucks too farre seing he spake there but of the afflictions of this transitorie life The rightuous shall liue that is to say he shal holde out and although God afflict him scourge him yet shall he not quayle if he ground himselfe vpon Gods promises And here the cace concerneth not Gods comforting and deliuering of vs from the miseries wherevnto wee bee subiect in this world but it concerneth our euerlasting saluation which farre passeth all the state of this transitorie life It seemeth therefore that S. Paule applyeth not this Text of the Prophete aright Howbeeit let vs marke that if the Prophet had looked no further than too thys worlde that saying of his had bin very vaine seeing that afflictions are common both to good and bad Againe howe is it that we lyue by fayth Seeing we bee continually subiect to fall into the same daunger
Thus yee see what they esteeme to bee purenesse in the seruice of God But we know that the cheefseruice which God requireth is that we should wholly drawe to his Lure that we should glorifie him both in weale and wo that wee should walk euery man in his owne calling and that there bee neither pride vainglorie nor enuie in vs. Those are the things that God alloweth But according to the Papists definition they that behaue themselues so are of the worlde And where are the popishe Angells in this while In some Cloyster VVhen these shamelesse hypocrites haue glutted themselues too the full and made lustie cheere they wote not whereaboutes to occupie themselues but eyther in gaming or else in all manner of wickednesse for it is well knowen that all the Couentes of the Popedome are starke brothelhouses And woulde God they were not woorfe than brothelhouses ▪ for there are committed so outrageous and beastly deedes as would 〈◊〉 mannes heare too stand vp stiffe vppon hys head too heere them spoken off Too bee shorte that state of theirs is horrible And yet for all that they be Angells in respect of the poore soules that behaue themselues after the manner aforesaid And why Bycause they sing mattins very deuoutly chaunt masse by note and are separated frō the rest of the world so as they be not put to digging of the earth nor meddle not with shoomakers craft or tailers craft nor with any trade else but giue themselues ye may be sure to a contemplatiue life and to the state of perfection Is it not apparant that the world hath bin vtterly sotted with them But such people as haue so transformed God into puppets are well worthy to be plundged in so grosse vnreasonable errors But for our part let vs assure our selues that we haue a God which is a spirit will be serued spiritually as he sheweth vs by his word Therfore let vs be afrayd too bee vnder the fond fancies wherwith those miserable wretches are bewitched let vs cōsider that Gods cōmunicating of himself vnto vs is to the end that we should repaire vnto him in al holinesse rightuousnesse and faithfulnesse and therwithall examine our liues by his law not by our owne opinion or by the opinion of the world Agein let vs also haue an eye to that which he alloweth or forbiddeth for it is he to whom we must yeeld vp our account and we shal haue none other iudge but him alone Therefore let vs looke to all these things exercise ourselues in them knowing that we shal not loze our labour in being so occupied and let vs let the Papistes alone which breake both their legges their necks know not what they do sauing that they grieue God and prouoke him more more To the end then that we trauel not in vain nor wander heere there after opinions without hauing any certen mark to ame at Let vs exercise ourselues in the thing that S. Paule teacheth vs in this texte then shal we not be condemned for buzying of our heads about things of nothing which God blameth and misliketh and also auoweth to be but trifles Nowe let vs cast our selues downe before the Maiestie of our good God with acknowledgment of our faultes praying him too make vs so to feele them as it may beate vs 〈…〉 that we being condemned in our selues 〈…〉 vnto him knowing that he is alwayes ready to succor 〈◊〉 thirst after his grace and long for it vnfeynedly and that forasmuch as he hath giuen vs too our Lord Iesus Christ Christ hath taken vs into his keeping it may please him too poure out the treasures and giftes of his holy spirit vpon vs too make vs partakers therof and too increase his grace more and more in vs that wee may be so fenced with it as wee may obteine victorie ageinst all Satans assaultes and ageinst the world and our owne flesh That it may please him to graunt this grace not only to vs but also to all people c. The. 37. Sermon which is the seuenth vpon the fifth Chapter 22 But the fruite of the spirit are loue ioy peace pacientnesse gentlenesse goodnesse faith 23 Meekenesse temperance against such things there is no Lavve 24 Novve they that are of Christ haue crucifyed the flesh vvith the affections and lustes therof 25 If vvee liue after the spirit let vs also vvalke after the spirit 26 Let vs not be desirous of vainglory prouoking one another and enuying one another WEe haue seen heretofore that if we be willing too serue God wee shall find ynough wherewith too occupie ourselues in chastizing our vices if euery of vs cōsider to how much corruption sinfulnesse he is subiect And sainct Paule hath purposely set afore vs the sinnes that reigne in vs by nature too the intent we might know whervpon to set our minds to frame ourselues aright to the obeying of God For we see how mē busie themselues about trifling things in shewing themselues willing too serue God they trudge 〈…〉 measure Howbeit all is but vaine vnprofitable labor according 〈◊〉 we see in the Popedome where mē giue the name of Gods seruis to a sort of toyes that they haue deuised of their own brayn And yet in al those things though they like neuer so wel of them and glorie in them neuer so much there is nought else but vanitie and in the mean while they neuer passe of cōming to the principal for the world doth alway seeke windlasses But God setteth the ryght way before vs in his lawe and if we intend to go foreward to the true perfection vnfeynedly wee must begin at the forsaking of ourselues bycause there is no wisdome in vs that is not cursed no thought that is not wicked nor no desyre that is not froward corrupted For this cause S. Paul told vs before that if men be minded to order their life well firste they shall finde inough to occupy thēselues withal if euery man cōsider what a number of intāgled and wicked lusts he hath in him to be cut vp which thing wil not be done out of hād And also S. Paul spake these words purposely to such as buzied thēselues about the Ceremonies of the lawe For although they said generally that the things which God had commaunded were to be fulfilled yet the cheefe thinges that they made account of were Circumcision the Ceremonies Now herevpon S. Paule telleth vs that God wil haue vs occupied about greater matters that is to wit he wil haue vs to fight māfully ageinst the gret number of things that turne vs aside from the right way And now he addeth on the contrary parte that the frutes of the spirite are louingnesse meeldnesse gentlenesse mekenesse stayednesse and suche other lyke thyngs and that when all thyngs are thus well ruled the lawe hath no more power ouer vs for wee be set free from it bycause our Lorde Iesus Christ
nigardship 62. b. 13. VVhatsoeuer is Added too the Gospell is but vanitie and wickednesse 22. a. 1. Looke more in Mingle ¶ Aduowtrie VVhat is conteyned vnder the worde Aduovvtrie 269. b. 35. ¶ Affection The cause why we ouercome not our affections 263. b. 14. ¶ All. VVhat is ment by the vvoord All. 165. b. 2. ¶ Allegorie The peril of seking Allegories in the scripture 216. b 1. Ambition Looke Vaineglorie ¶ Angell VVhat the woorde Angell betokeneth 205. b. 16. VVhat the glorie and dignitie of the Angels is 26. b. 33. ¶ Antiquitie Of following Antiquitie and mens opions 193. b. 20. The Papistes alledging of Antiquitie 225. b. 24. In vvhat vvise the Papistes and their adherentes mainteine the traditions of Antiquitie 31â— a. 9. b. ¶ Apostasie Of Apostasie or slyding back and the perils thereof 194. a. 29. b. 112. a 17. b. 113. a. b. 116. b. 29. 117. a. 119. b. 16. 120. a. b. Looke more in Nevvter Newfangled and Vnconstancie ¶ Aptnesse All our Aptnesse too any charge or office and all other giftes both of body and minde come of Gods mere grace 41. a. 12. b. 42. b. 4. ¶ Atonement VVee must haue none Atonement with Gods enemies 256. a. 11. b. 257. a. b. ¶ Authoritie Our faith must not bee grounded vppon the excellencie or Authoritie of men but only vppon God and Christ 32. a. 13 b. and 33. a. b. and 34. a. b. and 35. a â–ª The Authoritie and maiestie of the lavve 159. b. 11. and 160. a. b. and 161. a. b â–ª The Authoritie and maiestie of the Gospell 24. a. 22. and 27. b. 8. b. 28. a. b â–ª Christes Authoritie and maiestie ought not to bee the lesse esteemed among vs bycause of his bodily absense 8. a. 25. b The Authoritie and reuerence of meÌ„ must not preiudice God 5. b. 18. 6. b. 22 No man hath Authoritie to appoint any thing in the church which is not grouÌ„dded in Gods vvord 80. b. 28. 81. a b The inconueniences that come of our leaning to the Authoritie and credite of men 43. a. 15 After what maner the preachers may staÌ„d in defence of their Authoritie 4. and 5. and 7. b 35 Looke more in Credite and Person B ¶ Babe WHo be little Babes 210. b. 6. 211. a. b Looke more in Child Backslyding Looke Apostasie ¶ Baptim The right vse and meaning of Baptim 84 b. 35 â–ª and 85. a. and 114. b. 8. and 240. b. 22 The signification frute and effect of Baptim rightly receiued and what it is otheâ—vvize 172 a. 21. b. and 173. a. b. 174 a. b. and 175. a. b ¶ Battell The continuall Battell bewene the flesh and the spirite and the meanes too get the vpper hand 2â—4 b. 21. and 265. a â–ª b. 266. a. b. and 267. a Looke more in warre ¶ Beare and Bearevvith IncoÌ„ueniences that come of Bearing with faultes and errors too much or too long 76. b. 24. and 77. a. and 78. a. 10. b. 79. a. b. and 80. a VVho be borne before their time 211. a 1. b Hovv and vvhen vve be borne in Christ 212. a. 5 The meane and way to make vs gentel in Bearing with other mens offences 287. a. 2. b. and 288. a No man is to be Borne withall too the impeachment of the Gospell 73. a. 19. b. 74. a. b. and 75. a. and 76. b. 28 Of Bearing and forbearing mens faultes and who are to be Borne with hovv farre forth 75. a. 3. and 283. a. 27. b. and 284. a. and 285. a. b. and 286. a. b. and 287 a. b. and 288. a. b. and 289. a Looke more in Flatter ¶ Beleef The true preparatiue to make vs Beleeue in Iesus Christ 91. b. 10 After vvhat maner Abraham Beleeued God 124. a. 34 b. and 125. a. b Beleef Looke more in Fayth ¶ Blyndnesse Our Blindnesse in our owne vices and our sharpsightednesse in espying other meÌ„s 290. b. 23 and 291. a. ¶ Blissed and Blissednesse VVhat it is too bee Blissed 127. b. 20. and 128. a. 19 How vvee Gentiles are made partakers of the Blissednesse that vvas promised too Abraham and his seede 130. a. 10. and 143 b. 30 and 145. b. 12 and 146. a. b and 147. a. b. and 148. a. b and 149. a. bâ— and 150. a. b. and 151. a. b and 152 a. b To what purposes the knowing therof serueth vs 151. a. 29. b. 152 a. b 153. a Looke more in Happinesse ¶ Burthen VVhat is ment by the vvord Burthen 296. a. 1 Euery man shal beare his own Burthen how 295. b 31 296. a. b. 397. a. b The only remedie to ease men of the Burthens 297. a. 10. b and 298. a C ¶ Catechize and Catechizme WHat the vvordes Catechize and Catechizme betoken 299. b. 24. ¶ Call and Call vppon Christ Calleth not al men to him vvithout exception and vvhoÌ„ he Calleth 289. a. 2 Of lawfull vocation or Calling 4. b. 4. and 5. and. 6 A double Calling outvvard and invvard 39. b. 5 No man ought to thrust himselfe into the ministerie without Calling 4. b. 4 The benefites that redownd of the lawfull Calling of the minister 42. a. 13. and 43. a. 33. b and 51. b. 5 The Apostles had a peculiar kind of Calling â–ª immediatly from God 6 a. 12 VVe must not passe for the allovvance of men in following our vocation or Calling 48. a. 23. b God vvill haue all nations too Call vppon him 190. a. 15. b. and 191. a ¶ Ceremonies VVhat thing Ceremonies are of themselues or othervvise 72 b. 10. and â—96 a. 30. b. and 197. a. b 199. b 200. a VVhat Ceremonies are without warrant of Gods word 182. b. 27. and 183. a The Ceremonies of the law serued but for a time 19. a. 29 To what purpose the Ceremonies serued the old fathers 238. a. 12. b VVhy the Ceremonies of the law are sayd to be fleshly 118. a. 22. b VVhat the Ceremonies of the Lawe be-hight vs 159. a. â— The vse and end of the Ceremonies of the law 56. a. 26. b 70. b. 14. 71. a. 72. a. 31. 80. b 21. 240. a 2. b 263 â–ª a. 11. How men haue alwayes abused visible signes or Ceremonies 118. a. 12. b The number of Ceremonies doo so little helpe mens insicmities that they rather carie them quite away from Christ 181. b 19. and 182. a. b Inconueniences in sewing vppon the keeping of Ceremonies 56. b. 25. and 57. a. b and 58. a. b. and 71. b. 8. and 72. a. and 80. a â–ª 27. b. and 81 a. b. and 82. a. b VVhat the intent of them is vvhich would haue men to keepe Ceremonies 80. a 17 b. and 81. a. b. and 82 â–ª a. b VVhat the intent of them is â–ª which vrge the keeping of Ceremonies and what account they themselâ—es make of them 318. a 7. b. and 319. a. b. and
know 20. a 13 29. a 11. b 116. a 14. b. The full and perfect sufficiencie of the Gospell in all thinges 34. a 20. b The benefites that spring of the Gospell 23. a 27. Nothing is to be mingled or added to the Gospell 11â— a b 29. 117. a All thinges and all persons must stoupe to Christ and his Gospell 64. a 29. b 65. a b 67. b 1. and 68. b 28. and 69. a and 74. a 8. and 75. 33. To swarue neuer so little from the Gospel is the high way to distruction 122. b 22 VVhat is ment by another Gospell 28. b 22 To what ende the Gospell is Preached 96. a 21. b 113. a 5. 117. b 25. 118 a b. After what maner the Gospell killeth 100 a 1. b VVhy the Diuell laboreth by all meanes to hinder the Gospell 55. a 18. b Looke more in VVorde ¶ Gouernement No new Gouernement must be brought into the Church vnder preâ—eÌ„ce of mens rawnesse 180. b 1. and 181. a b The Gouernment of the church must depend only vpon God his word 68. b â—8 and 69. a and 180. b 1. and 181. a b. ¶ Grace VVhat the worde Grace signifieth 10. a 16 The two cheefe Graces or benefites which we receaue by IESVS Christ 99. a. 26. b. Gods Grace is not tyed to place nor to person 217. b 25. 218. a b 219. a b. No man can of himselfe come vnto God or receiue his Grace when it is offered 195. a 3 b and 196. a By what meanes God geueth vs his Grace and how we may atteyne it 237. b. 8. and 238. a. After what maner and with what minds we ought to receyue Gods Grace 328. a 23. b. By what meanes wee may be made partakers of all Gods Graces 321. b 26. and 322. a b The Popishe degrees of Grace 108. b 34. and 109. a Of reiecting Gods Grace 107. a 28. b ¶ Greffe How wee be Greffed into Iesus Christ 173 a 26. ¶ Growe Men must Grow in Christ by degrees 119. a 12. H ¶ Halting THe remedie of shrinking Halting in religion 321. b 26. 322. a b and 323. a b and 324. a b. ¶ Hande VVhat is ment by the word Hande 159. b 29. and 160. a ¶ Happinesse The Happinesse of Christians must not be esteemed by their outward state in this world 103. a 17 b 104. a b 105. a b. Our chiefe Happines by what meanes we atteine thereto 170. b 13. 171. a b and 172. a b and 173. a b and 174. a b 175. a b and 176 a b ¶ Hatred The cause of Hatred 261. a 19. Of Hatred and discorde the inconueniences thereof 260. b 27. and 261. a b The right cause why we should cease from Hatred 261. a 27. a b ¶ Heire Heritage VVhat is ment by the word Heritage or inheritance 153. a 28. b Only Christ is the Heire of all thinges and the onely stay for fayth too rest vppon 154 a 31. b How we inioy our inheritaÌ„ce with Christ 191. b 4. ¶ Hell Of Christes going downe into Hell 104 b 18. and 106. a 17. and 141. a 13. ¶ Helpe Euerie man hath neede of others helpe 310. a 23. b ¶ Hypocrisie An Image of Hypocrisie 241. a 36. b. ¶ Holinesse VVhat is ment by Holines 268. a 5. The Holines of Rome 218. b 7. 219. a The Holines of Papistes 273. a 13. and 274. a 29. b and 278. a 7. The full perfection of all Holines is conteyned in the law 134. b 28. Looke more in Deuotion Righteousnesse Fayth and workes and vertues ¶ Holidaye Of the keeping of feastes and Holidayes 197. b 19. and 198. a b ¶ Holy water VVhat Holy water is 63. a 6. ¶ Honor and Honoring In what thinges the true Honoring of God and of Christ consisteth 35. b 15. 36. a b 45 b 22 46. a. b. There is no Honoring of God without obedience to his word 45. b 22. and 46. a How we ought to be minded when wee heare Gods Honor defaced by anye meanes 226. b 35. 227. a b. The blindnesse and weetchednesse of the Papists in honoring the Apostles Maâ—â—irs and saints deceassed 45. b. 1 The greatest honor that can bee too man 120 b 26 Looke more in Serue and Seruis Authoritie Credit Reuerence ¶ Hope Christian Hope 189. a 29. b ¶ Humilitie True Humilitie and the meane to atteine therto 80 b 17. 291 a 11. 292. a 16 b 203. a b 296. b 31. 297. a b 298 a VVhereto Humilitie serueth 103. a 8. VVe can neuer come vnto Christ till wee be vtterly abaced and confounded in our selues 38. a 23. b. ¶ Hireling VVho be Hirelinges and how they be to be eschewed 314. b 15. 315. a b 316. a b 317. a b. I ¶ Idolatrie VHence Idolatry springeth 193. a 25. b ¶ Iewes The prerogatiue of the Iewes aboue the Gentiles and whereto it serueth 86. b 6. and 87. a b ¶ Images VVhich bee the true Images pictures or paintinges that lead vs to God 113. b 35. and 114. a b ¶ Indifferent Indifferent things may and ought to be vsed diuersly as oportunitie serueth 63. b 2. 64. a 318. b 23. 319. a Of admitting of Cerimonies and matters Indifferent into the Church 3. a b. To whom in what cases men must not yeld in things IndiffereÌ„t 63. b 27. 64. a Satans wylinesse in setting the Church at debate about small triffles and matters of Indifferencie 3. a 27. The Interim 61. a 27. ¶ Ioy Of christen Ioy or gladnes 276. b 10. ¶ Isaac How Isaac was persecuted by Ismaell 226. b. 18. 227. a VVhy Isaac is sayd too bee borne by promise and not of the fleshe 215. b. 18 â–ª ¶ Israelites VVho be the true Israelites or people of God 327. b. 11. VVho be Gods people after the opinion of the Papistes 327. b. 29. 328. a ¶ Iustice The orderly proceeding of Gods Iustice 297. b. 12. 298. a ¶ Iustifye and Iustification VVhat is ment by the worde Iustifie and why the Scripture vseth it 89. a. 17. b. 127. b. 25. 129. a God hath double respect in Iustifying of vs 128. b. 31. 129. a. No man can be Iustifyed by the lawe 86. b. 5. 87. a. b. 91. a. 7. b. 92. 93. 94. 95. 135. a. b. 136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141. a. 144. b. 16. 154. b. 14. 155. a. b. 156 157. 158. 159. a. b Looke more in Law and in workes VVhat is ment by being Iustifyed by faith 125. a. 2. 128. b. 1. 129. b. 9. 138. a 34. b. Of free Iustifycation by fayth without workes 81. a. 9 â–ª b. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94.
was not lawfull to alter any part of it seeing that God was the Authour of it But they shoulde haue considered to what ende the Ceremonies were giuen to the people of olde time True it is that like as God is vnchaungeable so his worde also indureth stedfast for euer but yet doth it not follow therevpon that God should not appoynt men the things which he knoweth to be meete for theÌ„ Therfore the Ceremonies were ordeyned for a tyme too serue the necessitie of the Iewes Also there was this respect which I haue touched that before the comming of Iesus Christ it was requisite that there shoulde bee certaine shadowes too bring the faythfull more further forwarde that is that they might be confirmed in the hope of the redeemer that was promised them And therevpon wee may well gather that Gods inioyning of the Ceremonies was not too the ende they shoulde continue for euer and stande alwayes in theyr full and perfect state but to the intent they should continue for a time to serue to keepe that people in the hope that was giuen them of the things which wee now haue in our Lorde Iesus Christ who is the verie bodie and substance of the shadowes that were in the tyme of the lawe Ye see then to what poynt we must come And yet cannot a man argue that God is variable as some fantasticall persons do who haue alledged the same reason For shall wee say that God chaungeth his purpose bycause hee maketh Sommer and VVinter VVee see the sundrie seasons of the yeare wee see the earth wexe greene and the trees bud floures and afterward bring foorth frute and we see all things as good as dead in the VVinter time All this varietie commeth surely of God but yet doth it not therefore follow that he chaungeth his nature So likewyse as I sayde afore he gaue his lawe for mans behoofe and it was requisite that the Iewes who had not yet such manifest knowledge as is giuen vs by the Gospell should be helped by another meane that is to wit by the Ceremonies which no wadayes should be needlesse forasmuch as we haue the performance of the things that God shewed them then a farre off and our state is in that respect better than the state of the Iewes But nowe Saint Paule to shewe that his preaching of such libertie and that the law which God had layd vpon the necks of the auncient fathers was taken away at the comming of our Lorde Iesus Christ was not without cause declareth that he rebuked Peter for the same matter Nowe if the Christians ought to haue bin hilde in like bondage as the Iewes had bin surely Peter woulde haue mainteyned the quarell to the vttermost But hee suffered himselfe to bee reproued and confessed his fault Seeing we haue such a president in the person of Peter it foloweth that our cace is good and that the Apostles knewe that all the olde shadowes and figures ought to ceasse and bee vtterly abolished by the coÌ„ming of our Lorde Iesus Christ Thus the thing that S. Paule setteth downe heere is that he rebuked Peter in the Citie of Antioche for beeing conuersant with the Gentiles not with the vnbeleeuing sort but with such as had bin conuerted to the knowledge of the Gospell He liued familiarly with them accounting them as members of the Church But beholde assoone as certaine Iewes came from Ierusalem sent of Iames Peter fearing least some misreport might bee rayzed of him shrunke away and made countenance as though hee had no familiaritie nor acquaintance with the Gentiles and notwithstanding that they had the same fayth of the Gospell which he had yet did he vse them as straungers bicause it was taken to be a kinde of defyling to bee in companie with them See here a wicked madnesse for by that meanes there was a diuision made in the Church For as it is sayde in another place the wall was broken downe when our Lord Iesus Christ was appointed to be a light from God not only for the Iewes but also for the saluation of the whole world VVherfore if it behoued those that had erst bin separated estraunged from the Church to be called into one flocke then doth Peter disanull Gods grace whereas yet notwithstanding we know there is not a more precious thing than the vnion of the Church Therefore he that varieth from it cannot by any meanes be excused But beholde the fault of Peter was that he brake this bonde of concord by separating the Iewes from the Gentiles notwithstanding that all belonged too the bodie of our Lorde Iesus Christ and were the verie children of God Againe they had all one selfesame head and one selfesame redeemer and therefore his deed was a diminishing of Gods house forsomuch as we be all gathered togither in his name and do become his houshold folke euen till we bee gathered vp into the heritage of heauen But there was yet one other fault which is that the grace of our Lorde Iesus Christ was darkned For what fare we the better by his coÌ„ming vnlesse we know that in him we haue the fulnesse and performance of the things that were figured to vs in old time â–ª If we should offer sacrifize nowadayes as they did in the time of the law we should not know that we were clenzed by the bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ and that the same was a sufficient payment for the satisfaction of all our sinnes and that we haue there a perfect righteousnesse purchased for vs. VVe should know none of these things Therfore S. Peter offended grosly in hanging vp that veyle againe which was as much as to stop Christ from being knowne as he ought to be Moreouer â—there was also a third fault which was that therby the Iewes were hardned in their error True it is that we ought to beare with the ignorant weak ones not grieue theÌ„ ouer much although they ouershoot themselues yet must they be brought back again by litle little rather than to break either bone or gristle of theÌ„ as the prouerb sayth but yet as for to nurrish their ignorance by soothing theÌ„ in it or by giuing any tokeÌ„ of alowance or welliking that is naught And Peter by withdrawing himself from the Gentiles to please his own Countrimen brought to passe that the Iewes might the better make their brags that they had won their spurs forsomuch as Peter had giuen an incling that the Gentiles were vnclean vnholy people and so his deed was an augmenting of the euill that was to great alreadie In respect wherof S. Paule sayd that Peter was blameworthy And it behoueth vs to marke this thing well and diligently bicause some haue thought in tymes past that it was done by agreemeÌ„t bytwixt them that S. Peter was sorie that some of his Countrimen were to hard to be pleased therfore had told S. Paul secretly that he was coÌ„tented to be rebuked of him But
so let vs all say Almightie God our heauenly father c. The. 11. Sermon which is the fifth vpon the second Chapter 14 But vvhen I savve that they vvalked not rightly after the truth of the Gospell I sayde too Peter afore them all if thou beyng a Ievv liuest after the maner of the Gentiles and not as the Ievves vvhy compellest thou the Gentiles to play the Ievves 15 VVee bee Ievves by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles 16 And yet for asmuch as vvee knovve that a man is not iustified by the vvoorkes of the Lavve but by beleefe in Iesus Christ vve also haue beleeued in Iesus Christe that vvee might bee iustified by the fayth of Iesus Christ and not by the vvorkes of the Lavve for no flesh shall bee iustified by the vvorkes of the Lavve IT hath alwayes bin a cōmon saying that looke what Law a man layeth vpon others he ought too keepe the same himselfe For it is nother right nor reason that a man should go scotfree himself and lay the burthen vpon other folkes shoulders And for that cause doth our Lorde Iesus Christ vpbrayd the Scribes and Pharisies that they passed not to lay heauy burthens vpon the poore people in the meane while tooke leaue to do what they listed themselues And commonly it falleth out through hipocrisie that he which is rough extreme in all rigour towards his neybours would haue other men to forbeare him and to dispence with him But if wee will needes presse our neighbours to do their duetie the true naturall order requireth that euery of vs should first begin at himself Ye see then how it is a most manifest hipocrisie when a mā will not a whit beare with his neibours but chalēgeth their dutie to the vttermost in the meane while offendeth grosly himself will not suffer any correctiō Yea somtimes also it falleth out that we would play the good fellowes at other mens cost Euen so fell it out heere in S. Peter For his inforcing of the Gentyles to keepe the Ceremoniall lawe came not of the foresayde hypocrisie of taking leaue too doo what he listed and of desiring too go quite and cleere before God for his constreyning of other menne too such a poynt but of dubblenesse for that hee was too desirouse too pleasure his owne countrymen He had already taken leaue too liue after the maner of the Gentyles that is to say too giue ouer the vsing of the Ceremonies of the Lawe For as I haue earst touched S. Paule speaketh not heere of the vnbeleeuers nor of the despyzers of God but of those Gentyles that had bin conuerted too the knowledge of the Gospell and were desirous to serue God yea euen without the old Ceremonies Now S. Peter had fashioned himself to their common trade and yet notwithstanding he was a Iewe and therfore he did the Gentyles too much wrong to put a streyter brydle vpon them than he receyued to himself as I sayd afore He did it not in respect of himselfe but playde on both handes as they doo whiche would feyne keepe fauour with all parties and are loth too mislike any man So wee see there was rightfull reason to rebuke him and too shame him before all the Church Now remayneth that he acknowledged his faulte by which example wee muste learne mildenesse That is to say for asmuch as there is none of vs all but he may step awry as they that haue not such perfect wisedome but that we may fall euen into grosse faultes and although we perceyue it not yet now and then we happen to swarue through infirmitie at leastwyze let vs not ieere at it when we be reformed as many proude stubborne folke do who eyther spew out their poyson or else rancle inwardly in their hartes when they bee rebuked Let vs learne first of all by S. Peters example that there is none of vs all so farre foreward in holinesse wisedome and vertue which may not ouershoote himself And therfore let vs patiently heare what is tolde vs that wee may fare the better by it and let vs not bee ashamed too caste downe our heades when we see our selues iustly accuzed and condemned Thus yee see what we haue to remember vppon the first part of this Text. Truely we haue seene already this mornyng how S. Peter had this honorable title to be called a chiefe piller in Gods Churche and in the spirituall Temple that was too bee buylded He was honored he and his fellowes had receyued the holy Ghost and although he had stumbled once afore yet had Iesus Christe set him vp againe and wiped away the remembrance of that fall in saying to him feede my Sheepe haue a care of my Lambes And yet for all this he walketh not the right way but steppeth aside VVherefore it behoueth vs too bee so much the warer that noman deceyue vs as though wee had profited so well in Gods schoole that wee were no more in daunger of doyng amisse Let vs beware of suche ouerweening and keepe continuall watch that wee bee not misledde by the wyles and traynes of Satan yea let it bee a suspicious matter with vs too desire too please men seyng that S. Peter fell intoo that extremitie True it is that his meening was too the contrarie and that his intent was too imploy himself wholly too the glorifying of Gods name He had stoutly withstoode it when he was forbidden too preache any more in the name of Iesus Christ It was the voyce of an Angelicall stoutnesse when he answered God must be obeyed and not men For he sawe there the rulers of his countrie he sawe them assembled with their pompe and there was the statelinesse of Magistrates which had bin able too amaze a poore man of no credite as he and his fellow Iohn were But not withstanding his stout answering that he woulde obey God maugre all those that pretended too haue preheminence ouer him yet he was deceyued in this cace whereof mention is made heere Therefore whensoeuer men doo the thing that may thrust vs out of the way and wee haue some fayre cloke so as it shall seeme too vs that wee doo not amisse too please them Let vs bethinke vs of this example that is set vs down heere and which is tolde vs too make vs euery of vs looke aboute him what his calling will beare and what God commaundeth without casting of our eye aside too purchace fauour in the worlde Let vs shet our eyes agaynst all that is about vs and looke onely at this marke that wee must in all caces and all respectes fashion our selues too the will of God And when wee shall haue looked rightfoorth too Gods ordinances and asked counsell at his mouth and prayed him too guyde and gouerne vs by his holy spirite and finally well considered the boundes of our vocation so as wee attempt not any thing otherwise than becommeth vs then shall wee bee able too
themselues froÌ„ al corruptions of the flesh and on the other side be led to our Lord Iesus Christ to repose their trust in him to rest wholly there So then as touching those that would haue the ceremonies of the Law kept as if it were of necessitie that meÌ„ should be precisely bound to theÌ„ vpon paine of deadly sinne as they terme it it is certayne that their meening was to set vp a seruis of God contrarie too his will and meening and that they were as good as Cousiners for why they peruerted the naturall meening of the Law Marke that for one schoole poynt Another is that they taught men to set vp their bristles to glory in theÌ„selues that was an abolishing of Gods glory for we caÌ„not chaleÌ„dge aught be it neuer so little to ourselues but we rob and rende away that which belongeth vnto him Ye see then how it is a diuelish trayterousnesse when men presume vpon their owne power as though they had any sparke of righteousnesse in themselues And besydes that it is an entering into the gulfe of hell when we weene to get saluation by our owne workes For we renounce the death and passion of our Lord Iesus Chryste where we should seeke all our righteousnesse Agayne the Diuell maketh vs to beleeue wonders â–ª howbeit it is but to make vs to fall into destruction VVherefore let vs marke well that S. Paule treateth heere of the manner of iustification before God that is to say of the meane whereby we bee brought into his fauour bycause it is the principall poynt whiche we ought to learne and without that all the religion or deuotion that can be named is but smoke and leazings And it is not for naught that Sainct Paule entereth into that question For manye men make this allegation â–ª How now The cace concerned the Ceremonies of the law and why then doth Sainct Paule as ye would saye fling himselfe ouerthwart the feelds VVhy speaketh hee of righteousnesse of mans saluation of the forgiuenesse of sinnes and fynally of all the whole lawe Nowe on the one part it behoued hym too deale wyth all those thynges â–ª as for example when we in these dayes teache that men must not keepe the superstitions of the Papists nor any of the thyngs that haue bin so deuised by the witte of man wee shall not only debate whither fleshe may be eaten vppon frydayes or whyther suche a wake vigil or Sainctes euen bee too be kept or whyther thys thyng or that thing be to be done but we shall treate generally whither it bee lawfull for a mortall man to make lawes to bring mennes consciences into tyrannicall bondage For God hathe reserued to himselfe alone the authoritie and prerogatiue to be called the lawmaker to the intent that no man should vsurp any such preheminence in the Church Then seeing that the spirituall gouernement of our soules ought to be taken out of Gods pure word we may coÌ„clude that nother Pope nor any other man of what calling soeuer he be hath power to burthen vs with any lawes or ought to attempt any thing that is against the doctrine whiche we haue of God Then may we well enter into that generall discourse and that is bycause the reason of them is alike in all points If we should dispute onely about the eating of fish or flesh it would be but a fond disputation For euery man must eate according as is for his health or as hee can get and therefore such disputation shoulde not concerne the health of mens soules or the matter that were requisite for them to rest their conscience vpon But when we take in hand too shewe that it is not for any liuing creature to aduance himselfe so hygh as to lay lawes vppon mennes necks the other disputation is fully resolued and dispatched Againe when as men say that in babbling paternosters to buy out their sinnes and in gadding on pilgrimage to get there the things which in poperie are tearmed the workes of supererogation that is to saye workes of ouerplus that men do more than God commaundeth them they raunsome theÌ„selues and make him some recompence for the faultes that they haue committed If we speake simply of pilgrimages and go not to the ground and welspring of the matter it will be a cold and sleÌ„der discourse But if we declare how all our satisfaction is in the things that are purchaced for vs by the death and passion of oure Lord Iesus Christ and therewithall that God vtterly misliketh all that is of our owne inuention and that he will be serued with obedience then do we lay foorthe the cace as it ought to be and may bring it to a sure and certaine conclusion After that manner did S. Paule For he regarded not only what the Iewes sayd how it behoued them to forbeare the eating of swines flesh and to keepe suche a feast or such a feast and all the residue of the Ceremonies but he marked to what end they said it namely how they went about too shew that the keeping of the law was of necessitie of saluation and that was a yoke of bondage vpon mens consciences that could not be borne Againe he saw how the libertie that was purchaced vs by our Lord Iesus Christ was taken away and that was another point that compelled him to enter into that discourse But the cheefe point that he treateth of heere is that such as would haue had men to keepe the Ceremonies had a secret meening that the same was an acceptable seruis vnto God and of such importance as meÌ„ shuld purchace righteousnesse and soulehealth by it and to be short that it was a meritorious thing But S. Paule sheweth that it is impossible for meÌ„ to purchace righteousnesse before God by their works Now therefore we see for what cause S. Paule treated generally of our iustification when as notwithstaâ—ding hys aduersaries pretended no more but the keeping of the Ceremoniall lawe and the continuing thereof still as before the comming of our Lorde Iesus Christ so as men should still offer sacrifise and do the rest of the shadowes and auncient figures And heereby we see also what a follie it is for the Papists to thinke themselues escaped in saying that S. Paule speaketh heere but of the works of the law and not of the morall works True it is that they be not the first founders of that dotage For the Diuell hath always had his ministers to cousin the people But we must not rest vpon the authoritie of men specially of such as haue nother religioÌ„ nor feare of God in them Although that many of the Monkes haue bin reported to be men of greate skill yet notwithstanding they haue bin but fantasticall fellowes and neuer had any tast of the feare of God Euen those that were called the auncient doctors haue peruerted the kindly sense of the holy scripture and were as vtterly bewitched by Satan and yet the wretched
world hath bin so blynde that it could not perceyue it These kinde of men haue expounded this saying that wee bee not iustifyed by the deedes of the law to import that wee bee not iustifyed by the deedes of the law to import that we be not iustifyed by circumcision or by absteyning from any certaine kynds of meates or by keeping such a holyday or such a feast whereas notwithstanding S. Paule treateth of none of all those things He matcheth Gods grace against all our workes and finally sheweth that we cannot bring aught vnto God but that we must be faine to be admitted freely of him That is S. Paules drift And if we should not set the same marke before our eyes surely all the doctrine that is conteined in this Epistle would be but fond matter Furthermore let vs marke that S. Paule doth oftentimes say simply and without addition that wee bee iustified without workes like as in the thirde Chapter too the Romanes he sayth we haue a cleere and sure proofe of our righteousnesse namely that we bee rightuous before God through the remission of our sinnes and not by our workes Hee saythe not there by the workes of the lawe ▪ but he setteth it downe single without addition to the ende that all mouthes should be stopped and all startingholes be takē away ▪ Yet is it not without cause that he speaketh of the workes of the law to bring to nothing all the seruices that men can alledge too bind God withall as though they were able to become righteouse of themselues For as we shall see hereafter although we were as perfect as Angells yet could not that bind God at all if it were not for that he of his owne good will hath made this promis in hys law he that doth these thinges shall liue in them Then if we go about to get fauour at Gods hand for our owne works sakes we must not dispute philosopherlike that God oweth vs any wages or recompence for the seruis that we haue done him for we be his and we cannot bind him by aught that we can do How then may our works be recompenced as though they were auaylable before God Euen bycause he hath promised so to do It is the couenant whiche he hath made with vs in saying he that doth these thynges shal liue in them So then if we could performe the law to the full surely we should be righteous before God and deserue saluation ▪ howbeit not for any worthinesse that should be in our selues but by reason of the couenant that God hath made with vs. For we see that all the desert which can be alledged on mannes behalfe depēdeth wholly vpon the said promis And that is the cause why sainct Paule saith always the works of the law the works of the law For there are none other workes that deserue to be accepted of God and to haue any recompence Therefore let that serue for one point And we shall see heereafter how we be vtterly excluded frō that righteousnesse ▪ bycause we come short of it and that Goddes telling of vs that we shall be saued by keeping of the lawe is all one as if hee had sayde that we be all of vs damned And why For there is not any manne that dischargeth himselfe of it but all of vs are transgressers Ye see then that the lawe can bryng vs nothyng but deathe by reason of our infirmitie But thys shall bee layde foorth more at length in his order ▪ It is ynough for thys tyme that we knowe how Sainct Paules setting downe of thys doctrine is agaynst the Iewes which boasted themselues and were puffed up with pride as though God had bin bounde vnto them for their obseruing of the Ceremonies of the lawe No no saith he it is nothing worth and we shall see the reason of it afterwarde Furthermore S. Paules debating of the case of Ceremonies is bycause these hypocrites which tooke vpon them to match themselues with God and too haue the praise of their saluation themselues did always buzie their heads about small trifles and came not to the cheefe point which is to enter into their owne cōsciences Like as at this day in the Popedome they that do so much preach their owne merites and say that we must purchace Paradice by our owne works and that although we be sinners yet we haue a way to discharge ourselues to Godward by satisfactions what alledge they VVhen those great Rabines go about to set men after that maner vpon the stage to be honored as Idolls and when they haue made their great prefaces of free will of their owne vertues of their satisfactions and of their merites or deseruings what bring they Exhort they men to liue chastly without doing other men wrong or without any couetous desire so as euery of vs shoulde content hymselfe with that he hath be patient in aduersitie beare wrongs and reproches and in all thynges shewe ourselues to bee the Disciples of our Lorde Iesus Christe by forsaking ourselues There is not one word with them of these things But the good workes which they set afore vs are that we must go deuoutely too Masse take holywater before we enter into the Church be crosse ourselues kneele downe before a stocke worship a puppet gad on pilgrimages keepe suche a feastfull daye found a Trentall deale doales for the dead and do this and that So then all these hipocrites which will needes become righteous by their owne workes haue nothing but gewgawes and dotages and yet for all that they thinke themselues so holy and perfect that nothing is amisse in them They thinke that God ought to content himselfe wyth the great number of murlimewes and countenances which they make But that is not the coyne wherewith he must be paied for his lawe is spirituall He looketh not vpon the outward gesture nor vpō the things that carrie a faire glosse before men in somuch that if men set their minds too much vpon his owne Ceremonies he reiecteth it vtterly And that is a thing well worthy the marking For men seeke still some startinghole that they might not yeeld themselues to the obeying of God and they beare themselues in hand that when they haue once dispatched their fond deuotions then they be well discharged and all the rest of their sinnes must be forgotten bycause they raunsome them by that meanes The thyng therefore whiche we haue to marke heere is that Sainct Paule stroue heere against suche men as neuer wist what it was too serue God in good earnest nor neuer entered into their owne consciences And euen such are these Shauelings in the Popedome and those naughtipacks that haue their full scope there I meene not only the Cardinalls and these horned beasts the Byshops for men knowe that they be the filthinesse whiche infecteth the whole world but I speake also of those that are called doctors the vpholders of their Catholike faith It is certaine that they
be but mockers of God they neuer entered into their consciences to examin themselues earnestly nother had they euer any remorse of conscience Surely all their study hath bin to holde folke as it were vppon the racke and to put many hartgripes into them to the intent they myghte seeme to be sharpwitted But as for themselues they neuer felt any thing And that is the cause why they prate so much at their case concerning merites and yet in the meane while haue no regarde of them themselues Only they do some small trifles like rittlerattles that men giue to little children wherewith they beare themselues in hande that they can appease God Now for thys cause Sainct Paule disputeth of the Ceremonies of the lawe as they were put vntoo hym and yet dothe hee neuerthelesse cut home to the bottome that is too witte hee prooueth that men are stripped starke naked from all righteousnesse and cannot bryng any thyng vntoo GOD but must beg at hys hande confessing that there is nothyng in them but vtter beggerie and penurie And furthermore let vs marke also that the Iewes did alwayes peruert the nature and vse of the Sacramentes in that they made meritorious workes of them and that was cleane contrary to the vse that they should haue put them too For God ordeyned not the Sacramentes to the end that by indeuoring to obserue them men should purchace any vertue that might be imputed to them for righteousnesse but rather to teach them that it stoode them in hand to seeke all at Gods hand As for example when the Iewes were circumcised thereby God shewed to the eye that all that euer commeth of man is but corruption and that it stādeth vs on hand to haue it cut away So the thing which the Iewes had too consider in that visible Sacrament was that mans nature was cursed before God and that we may well seeke but neuer fynde so much as one drop of cleannesse in it And on the other syde they had a token and recorde that God neuerthelesse woulde succour them by meanes of the Redeemer which should come of the race of men for he was borne of the linage of Dauid God therfore shewed that thing visibly And so the Iewes were cast downe in themselues and ought to haue considered that there was nothing but cursednesse in them and therevpon should haue come to seeke the thing in our Lord Iesus Chryst whiche wanted in themselues As much is to be thought of their washings As oft as the Iewes washed themselues it was a putting of them in minde that there was nothing but vnclennesse in them And wherein was that washing was it in the water No but in the bloud of our Lorde Iesus Christe VVhen the brute beasts were slayne there they behild that they had deserued death The beastes were giltlesse and yet they were sacrifised for mennes sakes to beare their sinnes Thus ye see a mirror which sheweth that all men are cursed of God And yet in so doing men humbled themselues calling vpon God and protesting that they were redeemed by the sacrifise Howbeit not by those shadowing sacrifises but by the true sacrifise whiche was not yet come into the world But what did the Iewes VVhen they were once circumcised they thought that God was bound vnto them for it And when they had offered sacrifise they thought there was great holinesse in so doing and made their boast thereof But the Prophets rebuked those hipocrites dubble For first they told them that when they had kept al the Ceremonies of the lawe their doings were nothing all was but vanitie For behold God saith I wil haue mercy and not sacrifice and again I wil shew thee ô man how thou shalt please God be thou hūbled truly imagin not to bring him many sheepe Oxen for that is nothing but deale thou iustly and vprightly and when thou hast worshipped him liue honestly and vncorruptly with thy neighbours Also we see what oure Lord sayth in Ieremy Did I speake to your fathers saith he of offering sacrifice vnto me No sayth he but I willed them to obey me and to herken to my voyce and to serue me with a sound hart Agayne in another place it is said Lord thou louest faithfulnesse Thus we see how the prophets rebuke the Hypocrites for being hild backe by the Ceremonies which are nothing of themselues except men walke in a cleere conscience towards God and in faithfulnesse towardes men And after that the Prophets haue spoken so they adde secondly that when men haue done all that they can yet ceasse they not to be stil in Goddes dette and that the Ceremonies serue to bring them still neerer that is to witte to make them acknowledge that God calleth them to him promising them to shew them mercie and too forget and burie all their misdeedes howbeit by meane of the Redeemer that was promised them But now Sainct Paule leaueth the first point namely that the Ceremonies are nothing without the principall which is that we walke without doing any man wrong and without doing any hurt or harme to other men that we liue chast and pure and that we haue a cleane and vpright conscience S. Paule letteth that discourse alone and why For it would not serue the purpose And therefore he sheweth that the shadowes of the law were nother profitable nor needefull bicause they were nothing if a man looked vpon them in their owne nature but that the end of them was to be considered which was that for asmuche as they were a witnesse of the grace that is giuen vs now finally in our Lord Iesus Christ it behoued them to rest wholy therevpon And the same ought to be well printed at this daye both in our hart and in our remembrance For wee shall haue profyted greatly if we once know how to apply to oure vse the Sacramentes that are ordeyned by our Lord Iesus Christ specially for asmuch as we haue to receiue the Lords supper the next Sunday For although we ought to haue bin exhorted this day to put ourselues in a reddines to it yet was it not touched this morning But let vs beare well in mind that if we thinke to be made ryghteous by baptim we defyle the thing which God hath apointed to our saluation And why Baptisme dothe but teache vs that there is nothing but filthe and vncleannesse in vs. For wherefore do wee washe our handes faces and bodies but to make them cleane from the spottes that are in them Nowe it is sayde that Baptisme is a washing of vs and therefore it followeth that when wee come to Baptisme or when any of vs bringeth his children to be baptized we declare that the children are alreadie damned and forlorne euē from their mothers wombe and that they be a cursed seede so as they must be fayne to breake clennesse not by their own purchace but by receyuing it for as muche as it is offred them in
of vncircumcision it meaneth the vnclennesse wherewith wee be compassed about in Adam in so muche as there is not any man which is not damned alreadie from his mothers wombe But the Iewes thought that God had set them free from that coÌ„mon curse and they made their boast therof Surely Gods chosing of them after that sort for his own people heritage was a great dignitie and worthy too bee esteemed aboue all worldly goodes But yet neuerthelesse it became them to haue acknowledged with all humblenesse that there was not any excellencie at all in their owne persons For according to our wonted maner of drawing Gods gracious giftes too muche to vayne ouerweening the Iewes did commonly ouershoote them selues by bearing them selues in hand that they were aboue all the rest of the worlde Verily as who should say that God had founde any thing in them why he should preferre them before those whom he had forsaken Therefore that dooing of theirs was a great pride whiche caried with it a shamefull thanklesnesse in that they imputed not to Gods meere goodnesse the things which they had of his free gifte but were puffed vp with ouerweening as thoughe God had knowne them to be better or worthyer of euerlasting saluation than the Gentiles But nowe S. Paule to dispatche all ouerweening sayth Go too wee be Iewes by nature As if he had sayde It is true that wee haue some fauour aboue the Gentiles whome God hath not vouchsafed to receiue into his Church VVhen he speaketh after that fashion it is not to giue the Iewes occasion to waxe proude but to lay before them the things which they had receiued frely of God wherin they had no cause at all to brag of them selues according as we see how that in the Epistle to the Romanes he vttereth two sayings whiche at the first â—lushe might seeme contrarie For on the one side Haue wee then sayth hee no priuiledge aboue the Gentiles Yes verily for God hath chosen vs for hys people he hathe giuen vs the seale of Circumcision too shewe that hee auoweth vs for his children hee hathe alyed him selfe vntoo vs hee hathe promised vs the Redeemer of the worlde and too bee shorte he hath sanctified vs in suche wyse that if wee consider the fauour whiche he hathe vttered towards vs there hath beene well wherwith to aduance and exalte vs aboue the residue of the whole worlde Thus on the one side Paule dothe there magnifie the goodnesse of God and afterwarde he falleth too questioning agayne and asketh what aduauntage haue wee then None at all sayth he for all men are shutte vp vnder Gods curse If the Gentiles bee too bee condemned wee bee too bee condemned double for there may be yet some likelyhoode that ignorance shall serue to excuse them But yet can they make no defence of that before God but shall perishe althoughe they neuer had any instruction or teaching Needes then must wee bee condemned by the lawe sayth he seeing that God hathe taughte vs and yet for all that wee cease not too sinne still and too transgresse his commaundements in so muche that we be plunged in greater and deeper cursednesse than the Heathen folk and vnbeleeuers Now then he sayth that the Iewes are in deede separated after a sort from the Gentiles not that the Iewes are of more worthinesse or that they haue any righteousnesse in them selues â–ª but bicause God of his own meere goodnesse voutsafed to chose them â–ª like as at this day the children that are borne of beleeuing pareÌ„ts are not better than the children that are borne of Paynims Turkes if a man coÌ„sider them both in their owne nature For we be all of a corrupted and cursed lumpe and God hathe so condemned vs as no man can iustly set vp his bristles to thinke him selfe of more value than his fellowes But yet neuerthelesse S. Paule sheweth that they be sanctified and that they be not vncleane as those are which are borne of vnbeleeuers or Heathen folke Heere shoulde seeme to be some contrarietie neuerthelesse all agreeth very well togither For there is nothing but vncleannesse and filthinesse in vs all without exception and that commeth of nature Howbeit there is a supernaturall gifte that is to say a remedie that God giueth whiche is that the children of the faythfull are dedicated vnto him and he acknowledgeth auoweth them for his Then like as now a dayes the children that are borne of the Churche are reckned too bee of the number of Gods people and of the companie of the chosen euen so vnder the lawe the Iewes were separated from the rest of the world And that is the cause why S. Paule sayth Wee bee Iâ—wes and not sinners of the Gentiles VVhereas he speaketh of Sinners he meaneth suche as continue in their filthynesse and are not clensed by the grace of God For Circumcision was a token and witnesse that God accepted Abrahams issue and ofspring for hys owne housholde and peculiar people The thing then wherein the Iewes differed in olde tyme from the vnbeleeuers was that althoughe they were all of one sute for as muche as they were all indifferently the children of Adam yet notwythstandyng God had chosen the one sort and left the other sort still straungers from his house If a man aske why he dyd so there was none other cause than his owne meere grace and yet were not the Iewes in the meane whyle the more excellent But nowe let vs followe the matter that S. Paule handleth heere Wee knowe sayth he that wee can not bee iustified by the deedes of the Lawe but by beleefe in Iesus Christ. In so saying he sheweth that the Iewes them selues what grace soeuer they had receyued coulde not grounde them selues vpon other men nor vpon them selues as thoughe they had deserued aught at Gods hande but must bee fayne to flee to his free goodnesse acknowledging that there is no saluation but in Iesus Christe who is come to finde out the thing that was alreadie loste And herein is fulfilled that which he sayth in another place howe that aswel they which were nere hande as they that were farre off were all gathered togither into one Iesus Christ is the peacemaker to cause God to loue vs and to receyue vs too mercy not onely those that were earst farre of as the Gentiles but also the children of Abraham what noblenesse or dignitie soeuer were in them for that came not of their owne nature And let vs marke that when S. Paule saythe that the Iewes whiche were conuerted to the Christen fayth knewe they coulde not bee iustified by the works of the lawe but by beleefe in Iesus Christ he maketh a comparison betweene fayth and the Lawe to shewe that wee can not bee iustified by grace excepte wee forsake all our owne merites and that is a thing well worthy too bee marked For the Papistes will well inoughe confesse that wee bee iustifyed by faythe howebeit they
Christ be set afore vs and till wee haue cast our looke vpon him so as all our senses be settled vppon him and as it were shet vp there Yee see then that the fayth whereby wee obtayne grace is that after we once know our selues to be wretched creatures and that there is nothing but loth somnesse in vs wee seeke the remedie of it in our Lord Iesus Christ and vnderstand that he was offered vp for vs to redeeme vs from the curse wherein we were plundged that he hath made vs cleane by his bloud that by his obedience he hath put away all our offences and that for the same we bee assured that God accepteth and receiueth vs for his children Thus ye see how this text is to be vnderstoode And whereas S. Paule sayeth that he himselfe and all the Iewes that were conuerted vnto Christianitie did looke too bee saued by the fayth of our Lord Iesus Christ he addeth also the reason why namely bycause no flesh shall be iustified by the works of the Lawe He had well vsed that woord if he had applied it but to his owne countrymen but heere he speaketh of all men in generall And whereas he sayeth no fleshe at all first he betokeneth that the Iewes differ nothing at all from the Gentyles in the meane of obtayning saluation VVherfore although the Iewes beyng circumcyzed were taken as it were for Gods heritage and sanctified vnto him yet not withstāding they could not haue any hope of saluatiō but by his mere grace Lo how they be matched with the Gentyles and raunged in like degree with them Again S. Paule ment heere to deface vtterly all the ouer weening that men conceyue of their own vertues There are many which know they haue ouershot thēselues so farre that they cannot chalendge any glorie too them as though they had deserued aught at Gods hand VVretched drunkardes vnthriftes and such as haue giuen themselues ouer to all naughtinesse will be ashamed to auaunce themselues and too brag that they can bind God by their deserts and well doings for euen before mē they be fayne too hide themselues bicause of their leudnesse But as for those that haue some cloke of hipocrisie and shew some signe of holinesse before men they by by become drunken with it so harden themselues that they beleeue they deserue Paradyse and that God is greatly bound vnto them Of which sute are these Popeholy ones who although they be ful of al filthinesse so as there is nothing in them but ambition couetousnesse crueltie and suche other like things yet how soeuer the world go for asmuch as they haue good store of their Churchstuffe other counterfettings they beare thēselues in hand that God seeth not a whit intoo their leudnesse but perswade themselues that God ought to accept them for their owne merites sakes Also such as heare Masse deuoutly such as rūne from the Tauerne or from the Alehouse to the Chappell specially such as buy pardons and such other like stuffe and such as keepe fasting-dayes and holydayes wil be puffed vp with such an ouer weening as to thinke they haue bound God vnto them But S. Paule in naming all flesh sheweth that men must not shole out themselues asunder as though one were righteous though another were not so but must all stoupe and humble themselues and passe condemnation assuring themselues that all their vertues yea euē of the excellentest men of all are but filthinesse before God For although a man bee perfectly rightuous to our opinion so as he doth noman harme but hath stedfastnesse in himself to withstand all vices and is chaste and sobre and to be short is taken and esteemed to be as an Angell yet not withstanding he hath nothing in him but corruption And how can that bee Bycause wee may not reste vppon the outward apparance for as the Prouerbe sayeth all is not golde that glistereth It is not for vs to iudge what is vice and what is vertue except wee could enter into a man For if a man yeeld not vnto God that which belongeth vnto him what is to be sayd of it He robbeth not men but he robbeth God of his honour Agayne though men giue him neuer so great prayse clap their hāds at him yet shall he but burst for vaynglorie and pride and nothing shal be able too frame him too humilitie saue the knowing of our Lord Iesus Christ So then they which make a goodly outward show in their life shall neuerthelesse be still condēned before God This is the thing whereby S. Paule intēded to forestall all the vaine trust that men can cōceyue or nurrish cōcerning their own deseruings But there is yet more For he speaketh not only of such men as were after a fort forsaken of God and were not renewed by his holy spirit but when he sayeth All flesh ▪ he cōprehendeth the faithfull also For although Gods holy spirit dwell in vs after he haue drawen vs to the knowledge of his Gospell and greffed vs into the bodie of our Lord Iesus Christ although say I that Gods spirit dwell in vs yet are we al comprehended vnder the woorde Flesh in respect of that which we haue of our owne S. Paule then giueth sentence heere that no flesh shall bee iustified bycause the faythlesse are condemned in Adam and abide in their condemnation and the faithfull are alwayes vnperfect so as they haue many vices and blemishes by meanes whereof they bee condemned as well as the other and so this condēnation is generall That he which will bee iustified by the woorkes of the lawe shall alwayes be found giltie yea euen the holiest men that euer were Let vs take Abraham who was a mirrour of all perfection let vs take Dauid who excelled in all vertue Let vs take Noë Iob and Daniell who are reckened vp for three rightuous men by the Prophete Ezechiell and let vs take such other like and yet neuerthelesse euen they also are raunged in the same aray that is too wit that they could not obtayne rightuousnesse before God but by Grace Nowe then I pray you what shall wee doo muste not the Diuell needes driue them headlong intoo terrible pryde which at this day doo stay still that they may bee iustified by their owne desertes or meritorious woorkes as they terme them For who is hee that can matche eyther Dauid Noë Abraham or Daniell Had not men neede too haue profited well in Gods schoole and to bee inflamed with a true zele of giuing themselues wholly vntoo him that they may bee vtterly conuicted that they bee yet very farre of from beyng come to the poynt whiche wee see Dauid Noe and Daniell too haue bin at ◠For asmuch then as wee knowe this lette vs marke that heere the holy Ghoste beateth downe suche as mount vp too highe too the ende wee should bee the more ashamed that wee haue not one drop of deserte of glorie and seeke all that pertayneth
seuenth vpon the second Chapter 17 But if vvee that seeke to bee iustified by Christ bee founde to bee sinners is Christ therefore the minister of sinne No not so 18 For if I build vp the things again vvhich I had cast dovvne I make my selfe an offender WEe haue seene alreadie that to beate downe all the pryde and selftrust which men put in their owne workes and merites Paule alledged that the Iewes who had great preferment aboue other men could not for all that come in Gods fauour otherwise than by beleeuing the Gospell Yet notwithstanding it was a good likelyhood that the Iewes had some righteousnesse in themselues wherwith too winne Gods fauour bicause the lawe was giuen to them with promise that whosoeuer performed those things should liue in them Therefore a man would haue iudged that the Iewes euen in respect of themselues alone without Christ might after a sort haue bin iustified before God otherwise it shoulde seeme that the lawe was superfluous But when they come too our Lorde Iesus Christ there they perceyue themselues to bee wretched sinners forlorne and damned It should seeme then that Iesus Christ bringeth sinne for before his comming the Iewes were reckened for Gods children They bare the badge of holinesse in their bodies moreouer it was sayd vnto them that they were the holy and chosen people of their God Now then seeing they become fellowlike with wretched sinners and there is nothing but cursednesse to bee found in them so as they be faine to flee for refuge to the mere grace of our Lord Iesus Christ it seemeth that Iesus Christ brought sinne intoo the worlde Truly so will men iudge of him after their owne opinion howbeeit foolishly For it behoueth vs to marke that our Lord Iesus Christ doth not bring sinne but bewray sinne For although the Iewes exercised themselues in the keeping of the law yet did that serue but to proue vnto them still more and more that God would neuer shewe them mercie but by the meane of the Redemer No doubt but that in liuing chastly soberly therwithall in walking in obedience to god they had some show of righteousnesse but that came wholy of grace and we must not father that thing vpon men which belongeth vnto God for by that meanes God should be defrauded of his honour Then if the Iewes being gouerned by Gods spirite had some willingnesse and desire to lead a holy life it must not come in account as who should say that God were beholden to them for it for contrariwise they be so much the more bound vnto God But on the otherside wee haue too marke as wee shall see more fully in due time and place that there was neuer yet any man so perfect but there was alwayes much to be blamed in him Therfore we haue to conclude that the Iewes could not be so well taken and accepted at Gods hand but that they had neede of his mercie and that their saluation must needes be grounded wholy vpon the forgiuenesse of their sinnes Also as in respect of Ceremonyes they bare themselues on hande that there was great holinesse in them as whereof hypocrites haue alwayes made their cloke But howsoeuer they fared it is certaine that the Iewes were more damnable than all other men And why For as Saint Paule sayth without the lawe sinne doth not vpbrayde men insomuch that men fall asleepe and flatter themselues in their vices when they haue not that Sumner to cyte them before Gods iudgement seate Then whereas the wretched Gentiles might haue some defence and excuse at least wise that they bee not so giltie before God the Iewes in offering their sacrifizes had it witnessed too their face that all of them were worthie of eternal death and so consequently double giltie in comparison of the Gentiles And therefore in the second to the Collossians S. Paule vseth this similitude that the Ceremonies of the law were as euidences to binde a man the more Truly like as although a detter be not cōdemned by order of law nor haue bound himselfe before a notarie nor giuen assurance in wryting vnder his hande and seale yet ceasseth he not for all that to be bounde in conscience too pay his debt euen so although the Gentyles had not any authenticall matter of recorde whereby to bee condemned yet ceassed they not too bee still worthie of death But as for the man that hath passed bondes by order of lawe and entered his debt in the common recordes what shall he say more There is no shift for him he must be fayne too answere the debt out of hande Now the Iewes were in the like plight For their washing of themselues when they went intoo the Temple and in their owne houses and euery where else was a confessing that there was nothing but vncleannesse in them Againe when they killed the beastes and sawe them slain before thē surely the same was as a liuely picture of their owne death and cursed state And yet coulde not the brute beastes nor the shedding of their bloud set them cleare nor likewise the water which is a corruptible element and cannot come at the soule So then the washing which they vsed had bin a fonde thing if it had not directed them to the spirituall washing which wee haue in our Lorde Iesus Christ Likewise in baptisme at these dayes if we think our selues to be made cleane by the water what an abuse is it All these things must serue to leade vs to the bloud of our Lorde Iesus Christ VVherefore I conclude that whereas the Iewes were exercysed in the lawe the same was a greater euidence agaynst them and bounde them straightlier to subiection vnto Gods iudgement and eternall death than the Gentiles were And so wee see howe Iesus Christ was not a bringer in of sinne but a discouerer of sinne For the Iewes thought themselues well shrowded vnder the Ceremonies and made a sheelde of them to fence themselues from gods displeasure esteeming all other Nations vnholy vpon opinion that there was nothing but vncleannesse in all the worlde besydes and that all holinesse was in themselues Lo what their brauerie was Yea but when Iesus Christ came and put them in order he shewed them that they shoulde be faine too shew other men by their owne example that their saluation was too bee sought elsewhere than in their owne merites and that it behoued them to come to him with such humilitie as too confesse that they on their part brought nothing with them but vtter cursednesse And by that meanes oure Lord Iesus Christ discouered the mischief that had bin hiddē before like as diseased persons shall oftentimes not perceyue the festering of some sore that will breede some deadly disease till the Surgeon finde it out who cannot do his dutie in curing it till hee haue searched the sore to the bottome which was vnknowne before Euen so was our Lorde Iesus Christ fayne too bewray
that it was no bloud but filthie corrupt matter Againe what filthinesse voydeth out of a mans bodie when hee is purged for some disease Now shall the Phisition be blamed for it or the medicine that was giuen him It is well knowne that the purgation serueth to deliuer the bodie that was halfe rotten afore So then if our Lorde Iesus Christ do by the light of his Gospell bewray the spirituall diseases that were in vs and the filthie vnclennesse which is lothly before God and shamefull before men and do purge vs quite and cleane thereof ought he to be charged with any blame or reproch for his labour VVhat an vnthankfulnesse were that therefore heere is a sufficient answere to beate backe the blasphemies and grudgings of the enimies of the Gospell which burst for pride and cannot indure to be tamed Let them alledge what they can too proue that they haue some righteousnesse and holinesse and yet shall it alwayes bee founde that there is nothing but vncleannesse in them which they wyst not of and yet it sheweth it selfe cōtinually Marke that for one poynt And secondly Saint Paule addeth a more large and easie declaration when hee sayth that he is dead too the lawwarde by the lawe it selfe and that he was crucified with Iesus Christ to liue vnto God Nowe when as he sayth that he was dead to the lawwarde by the lawe it is in way of mocking suche as pretende too bee iustified by keeping of the lawe For I haue told you alreadie how all his disputing and stryuing was agaynst such kinde of folke They were but deceyuers which went about to mingle Iesus Christ with the lawe of Moyses yea euen too get righteousnesse For it is certayne that our Lorde Iesus Christ is not contrarie too the law but rather his Gospell taketh witnesse of the lawe as it is shewed in the first chapter too the Romanes Neuerthelesse when the matter concerneth Iustification that is too say when men come too scanning too knowe howe and by what meanes God taketh and accepteth them for innocent pure and without spotte then must the lawe bee separated from Iesus Christ And why For the lawe bringeth nothing in it but cursing and Iesus Christe bringeth the remedie of it Therefore the enimies of the Gospell agaynst whom S. Paule dothe nowe dispute would haue mingled the law with it and haue made men beleeue that althoughe they were iustified by our Lorde Iesus Christ yet notwithstanding they shoulde mingle the Ceremonies with him as a parte of their saluation and that by meanes of them they should purchase grace fauour before God But S. Paule cutteth off all this geare and sayth that there is none but onely Iesus Christ that can do that and that men must seeke none other helpes in that cace eyther one way or other but simply content them selues with his grace and not gyue the lawe any roome in that behalfe For he saythe as for mee I am not deade through the Gospell As if he should say will yee make mee beleeue that I can get Gods fauour by meanes of the law Nay I tell you contrariwyse that it is not the Gospell whiche hath condemned mee it is not the Gospell that hath shewed me my filthinesse to make me ashamed of it ▪ it is not the Gospell that hath berefte me of all hope of saluation but it is the Lawe which hath shewed me that I am starke dead that I am dampnable before God that I am vndone and damned This commeth not frō elsewhere than from the lawe And would yee haue mee too seeke righteousnesse there It is all one as if yee would giue mee a poyson to eate to the ende I shoulde take nourishment of it Howbeit to say truthe that inconuenience is not to be wyted vpon the Law for it should redounde to the dishonour of God from the Lawe came But howsoeuer the case stande considering the corruption that is in vs the Lawe can not but kill vs as wee haue seene in the second too the Corinthians and as S. Paule declareth more fully in the seuenth to the Romanes For he sayth that when men beleue them selues too haue lyfe that is too saye when they beleeue themselues to be righteous and to stande in the grace fauour of God it is a signe that the lawe is dead to them that is to saye that it hath not the power and strength to shew them that which else it should do For to what ende was the law giuen Too set the rule of good life before our eyes that rule is called the righteousnesse which God alloweth Marke that for one poynt Secondly the law ought to be as a looking glasse to vs wherein too beholde our owne deformities blemishes foulenesse filthinesse and iniquities so farre out of all order as wee may bee as it were swalowed vp in dispayre at the sighte of them Nowe before wee haue the lawe wee see none of all these things that is too say wee knowe not what maner of ones we bee nor what euill is in vs. But when God setteth his demaundes before vs and we perceyue the same throughly then are wee at our wittes ende and vtterly out of hope The Lawe then is dead that is to say it is as it were thrust vnder foote and as good as buryed so long as wee thinke our selues to be aliue and conceyue any foolishe imagination of beeing righteous and of obteyning heauen by our owne good workes But when the lawe liueth that is too say when God giueth it power to touch vs then are wee dead then is it as a sworde to thrust vs too the hart Therfore wee must needes receyue a deadly wounde so soone as wee haue perceyued what the Lawe conteyneth After that maner speaketh S. Paule in the texte whiche I haue alleaged And nowe following the same matter he sayth that he is dead too the Lawe by the Lawe as if he had sayde Come not hyther too slaunder the Gospell as thoughe it were the cause of our damnation or an enterance vnto vs too bee cursed before God too haue the knowledge of the grace of our Lorde Iesus Christ in vs. No no. But it is certayne that the Lawe when it dooth his office and wee reade it in suche wyse as becommeth vs dooth alwayes kill vs and wee lye as it were plunged in dispayre tyll oure Lorde Iesus Christe haue reached vs his hande too lifte vs out of it Thus then am I dead vnto the lawe that is too say I can haue no lyfe I can haue no assurance of soule health I can haue no comforte rest nor contentation to be short there is nothing in the law wherby I may come vnto God but cleane contrariwise it shaketh me off it thrusteth me backe it banisheth me from the kingdome of heauen it cutteth me quite off from the hope of saluation it maketh me a poore cursed and wretched creature and to be shorte it sendeth me to
the bottome of hell Yee see then what I haue wonne by abyding in the lawe And S. Paule speaketh of him selfe rather than of any other body to the ende that the things which he speaketh may bee the better receyued as of a man of experience And it is after the same maner that he speaketh in the fore alleaged seuenth Chapter too the Romanes For there he setteth not foorth thys man or that man for an example but saythe I my selfe was sometymes alyue that is too saye at suche time as he was a Pharisie and accounted an holy man yea euen for one of the excellentest in all Iewry in so muche that he was a myrrour of all perfection and as a lyttle Angell then saythe he I was alyue howebeeit but by hypocrisie For he made him selfe too beleeue wonders and he was so puffed vp with pride that he hilde scorne of Iesus Christe Lo in what blindnesse Sainct Paule acknowledgeth hym selfe too haue beene And he addeth anone after that he wyst not what was ment by Thou shalte not couet It might bee thoughte straunge that a man whiche had not onely bin at schoole but also bin a great teacher of others and thereto a very zealous man as he him selfe affirmeth should bee so dulled as not to knowe his owne faultes But S. Paule sheweth the reason of it For sayth he I looked no further than to the outwarde honestie that there might no faulte bee founde in me before the worlde nor any man know any euill by me But when I vnderstoode what this saying Thou shalt not luste ment and perceyued that God condemneth all the affections thoughts of men then I perceyued that the worst was behind as the common Prouerbe sayth for it is the last cōmandement of the law wherein God maketh so liuely and deepe a searche as nothing can be excepted from it VVheras it is sayd in the lawe Thou shalte not haue any straunge goddes Thou shalt not make any image too worship it Thou shalte not take the name of the Lorde thy God in vayne ▪ Thou shalt keepe holy the day of rest Thou shalt honor thy father mother Thou shalt not kil Thou shalte not commit aduoutrie Thou shalte not steale All this is well will we thinke we must absteyne from all whordome violence and extortion we must absteyne from deceipt and robberie we must liue soberly Heretoo we must absteyne from blasphemie and we must honor God All this will easily be graunted But there is a backenooke that we perceyued not whiche is Thou shalt not couet or luste that is a priuie nipper Truely it seemeth not too bee very bigge or greate but yet for all that it is suche a stinger as passeth all the rest in byting For by the ende and wynding vp of hys Lawe God searcheth out all that euer is in man Hee setteth downe that commaundement too trie out the things that were hidden and when he sayth thou shalte not couet it is a percing euen into the marie of mens bones So then S. Paule confesseth that he knewe not what sinne mente till he vnderstoode what was mente by the commaundement that forbiddeth men too couet or luste And therfore in this texte he chargeth not the Gospell but the Lawe with it VVherefore let vs remember vpon this text that all they whiche deceyue them selues by any opinion of their owne merites neuer tasted what the Law of God is nor what it meaneth I speake of the greatest doctors that are in moste estimation as in good fayth it is too bee seene in the Popedome For euen those that are taken too bee the pillers of the Churche notwithstanding that they professe Diuinitie knowe not one worde of Gods lawe too apply the same too his true and naturall vse For they haue nothing in them but hypocrisie and they beare them selues in hande that they shall please God with a rattle as if he were a little babe They doo but toye with him and yet yee shall see them stande so muche in their owne conceites as they can not abide to be condemned And if a man tell them that wee must seeke our saluation in Iesus Christ yea say they and what shall become then of our freewill what should become of our owne merites and satisfactions Too their seeming it were much better too plucke the sunne out of the sky yea and God out of his seate too than too bereeue man of that prerogatiue or of the thing that he can bring of him selfe to cōpound with God and yet for all that it is certayne that there is nothing in thē but starke filthinesse For men see that there is neyther feare of God nor vprightnesse nor equitie nor ought else that good is in their lyfe They be so full of pride that they be readie to burst agayne and they be full of enuy rancour and all maner of loocenesse And yet for all this they will needes holde God bound vnto them but that is bicause they neuer knewe the law So then when our Lorde teacheth vs and sheweth vs how we ought to walke in this world let vs learne to lay the doctrine that he setteth foorth and our life togither and there we shall finde the right perfection of the law and that in our selues there is nothing but horrible confusion wee shall see hell readie prepared for vs. By that meanes it will be easie for vs to giue ouer all the deseruing whiche wee shall haue fancied in our selues so as it shall be soone beaten downe and our mouthes stopped and we become like poore dead folke without any breath bicause we shall perceyue well inough that we can not come vnto God but must needes thunder agaynst vs if wee bring any foolishe imagination of our owne deseruings Lo howe the lawe sleaeth vs. But when we haue passed through suche death that is to say when we be alreadie rightly humbled and vtterly dismayde then here is a remedie which S. Paule setteth downe saying I was crucified with Iesus Christ euē to liue vnto God Now he sheweth here that our Lorde Iesus Christ not only bringeth vs remission of our sinnes but also sanctifieth and regenerateth vs by his holy spirite in so muche that whereas there was nothing but stubbornesse in vs before now we be giuen to serue God and to please him And for the better vnderstanding of that which S. Paule telleth vs let vs marke that we receyue two principall graces of our Lorde Iesus Christ The one is the forgiuenesse of our sinnes whereby we are assured of our saluation and haue our consciences quieted and wherevpon it behoueth vs to be grounded so as we cal vpon God as our father VVho giueth vs the boldnesse to lift vp our heads to heauen and to call God our father Agayne what maketh vs so bolde as to glory that we be companions and brothers to the Angels It is bicause our sinnes come not to account for we must alwayes haue recourse to
vnder our feete thinke we that God wil suffer his grace too be so lightly esteemed and hild skorne of No. For wee cannot despise the doctrine of the Gospel but we must vnhalow the bloud of Gods sonne which he did shead for our redemption for the one cannot bee separated from the other VVhensoeuer and how often soeuer God speaketh to vs and offereth vs forgiuenesse of oure sinnes shewing himselfe readie to receiue vs to mercie so often is the bloud of our Lord Iesus Christe sprinkled vpon vs. All the teaching in the world cannot do vs any good except our Lord Iesus Christ be with it to apply the sheading of his bloud vnto vs. And if we despise the doctrine of the Gospel it is all one as if wee did spit at the holy bloud of Goddes sonne which thing is an intolerable trayterousnesse Therfore let vs looke narowlier to our selues and wey wel this text to the intent we stand stedfast and for asmuch as God hath called vs to so great a good turne and we do now know that is not by haphazard that the Gospel hath bin preached but bycause it was Gods will to vtter the infinite riches of his goodnesse towardes vs let vs stand in it and so sticke too it as nothing may thrust vs from it nor by any meanes euer shake vs down Lo in effect what we haue to beare away in this text Moreouer we be warned also which are the true pictures or peintings to leade vs too God The Papists say we must haue rememberances to teache vs and that images are the bookes of the vnlearned which are not apt to conceiue higher doctrine but hath Sainct Paule spoken heere but to three or four folke No It is generally and to all Christians without exception as well to great as small that he sayth that wheÌ„ the Gospell is preached then Iesus Christ is peinted out liuely and we must looke vpon him not with the fleshly eyes of our bodyes but with the spirituall eyes of our faith Then seeing it is so let vs learne that we haue no neede of Images and puppets to teach vs what is necessarie for our saluation nother neede wee a peece of wood stone or other suche pelting stuffe too put vs in rememberance of God for in all those things there is nothing but vanitie and leasing but we haue neede to haue Gods word preached and to indeuer and trauell to make the same familiar too vs that wee may there beholde God in his liuely image that is to saye in the person of our Lord Iesus Christ his only sonne according also as Sainct Paule sayeth in the second too the Corinthians where he protesteth that the doctrine which he brought vntoo them was not hidden from anie but the vnbeleeuers suche as perish whome the Diuell possesseth and which haue their eyes sealed vp And no wonder though they see not awhit in the open light But yet in the meane while the doctrine is so manifest vntoo vs as we may easly perceyue Gods will For he sheweth vs it familiarly ynough as oft as the Gospell is preached in somuch that wee neede not to make much running vp and downe not too fetch farre wyndlasses wee neede no more to say who shall stie vp aboue the Cloudes who shall go beyond sea who shall go downe intoo the deepe Haue we Gods word at leastwise haue wee it preached purely Then is Iesus Christ as it it were in the middes of vs and sheweth himself as it were hanging vppon the Crosse witnessing what hee dyd for vs when he suffered death to reconcyle vs to God his father There hee setteth vs downe a sure and vndeceyuable pledge or warrant and let vs content our selues with it For when we haue pleaded neuer so muche it will not excuse vs oure cace wyll alwayes go againste vs if wee bee not well assured in oure consciences that wee haue whollye leaned vntoo Goddes word which as I sayd bringeth vs so neere vnto God that it is the very vnion itselfe whiche we haue with him in the person of our Lord Iesus Christ And in good sooth we see how God dothe as it were stoup to our rudenesse and infirmitie For doth he speak in so loftie and darke a stile as we can vnderstand nothing No but contrariwise he abaceth hymselfe and therto thinkes it not ynough to haue spoken but also addeth Sacramentes to his worde whyche are the true pictures that we ought to haue Like as when we see the water of baptim it is a picture which sheweth vs that we be â—ull of filth and vncleannesse till we be washed and by whome VVe must seeke our washing from aboue Besides this it sheweth vs that we must be renued by the holy Ghost of God That then is a good picture And why Bycause it beareth Gods marke and is matched wyth hys worde As much is to bee sayde of the Lordes supper VVhen we see the morsells of bread and the droppes of wyne Very well they bee the Creatures whereof wee haue bin wont too take nurrishmeute and sustenaunce for our bodies but the same do leade vs to the lyfe of our soules and gyue vs to vnderstand that we haue no lyfe but in our Lorde Iesus Chryste And the cause why the wyne is added is to shew that he hath such vertue in him as we neede not to seeke any part of the thynges that we want any otherwhere but that he serueth vs for meate and drinke and all These I say are the good images that God hath set afore vs and now if we bee still soring in the aire and gadding after our owne lusts to say I would fayne haue more it is a disdeyning of the grace that is offered vs. So much the more therefore doth it stande vs on hand to marke well this streine where Sainct Paule by the poewr and in the name of God condemneth yea and with the power of the holy Ghost thundereth against all suche as haue bin taught the Gospell faithfully and afterward do turne aside and slip away from it And therevpon he addeth that he woulde fayne haue it knowen by what meane the holy Ghost is receyued For if they had receiued the holy Ghost by the works of the law Sainct Paule would haue graunted that there was some righteousnesse to be had by it But forasmuch as they had receiued him by the Gospell it must needes be concluded that they ought to haue rested vppon the record that God gaue them so apparantly And for the better vnderstanding of the thing that he meant too saye heere let vs marke that Gods spirit is giuen in common to all the faithfull for somuch as they be regenerated and made new creatures Besides this â–ª there are spiritual gifts which God destributeth according to such measure and portion as hee thinketh good but yet they redound all to the common welfare of the Church If we bee Christians we must needes haue Gods spirit as wee shall see
part we also are ioyned in it and God inlargeth his goodnesse and mercie further which hee had appoynted too one certaine linage by that meanes we become parttakers of saluation And that is the thing which Saint Paule treateth of heere when he telleth vs that the Scripture foreseeing that God not onely iustifieth the Iewes but also vseth the lyke mercie towardes the Gentiles whiche were as good as cut off from the house sayth All Nations shall bee blessed in thee Then is there no speaking here of some handfull of men or of some certaine people but without any exception God openeth the gate to all such as had earst bin quite and cleane past hope And therevpon also Saint Paule concludeth that they which are of fayth shall be blessed with faythfull Abraham As if hee shoulde say when God iustified Abraham he had not respect neither to Circumcision nor to any thing that he had wherewith too winne fauour after the opinion of men but receyued him in another kew that is to wit as a beleeuing man God therefore contented himselfe with Abrahams fayth onely And in that respect also it was his will too make him the father of the whole Church Seeing then that God made none account of any thing else in Abraham but of his fayth let vs conclude that God doth nowe still receyue vs to him in likewise if we haue the like fayth that Abraham had though not in like measure and that God taketh it in good worth though we do but follow him aloofe Then belongeth not this blessing to Abrahams fleshly ofspring onely but also too those that were straungers too him so there bee the like substaunce and fashion of fayth in them Howebeeit too the ende wee take profite by this doctrine let vs remember what I haue touched alreadie that is to wit what it is too be of faith namely that it is a reposing of our selues wholy in Gods mere mercie But Saint Paule setteth down a comparison of things contrarie and which can no more agree than fire and water that is to wit of beeing of the lawe and of beeing of fatyh Yet followeth it not that the lawe commeth not of God insomuch that if we reiect it at whom doth such contempt poynt Is not Gods authoritie impeached thereby But in these wordes of Lawe and Fayth S. Paule respecteth not simplie the doctrine of eyther of them but the hope of saluation that men may conceyue of them For the rightuousnesse of fayth hath his recorde of the lawe and the Prophetes as Saint Paule sayth in the third to the Romanes They be not contrarie things but the diuersitie of them is in this that such as misknowe themselues and are blinded with hypocrisie thinke too purchaze fauour in Gods sight by keeping the Lawe whiche thing is impossible Those therefore are of the lawe whiche holde of the Lawe as though they were able too earne the heritage of the heauenly life at Gods hande On the contrarie part they that are needie yea or rather vtterly emptie of themselues acknowledging that they haue not so muche as one droppe of grace in them they are of fayth For why they forsake themselues and seeke theyr rightuousnesse elsewhere They come and offer them selues lyke poore beggers vnto God to the ende he shoulde fill them whereas they were vtterly emptie before Therfore marke it for a scholepoynt that by the force of fayth we must be quite ridde of all selfe-trust and of all ouerweening of our owne merites and haue oure whole refuge to Gods mere goodnesse But truly we cannot come right forth vnto God without some meane our Lorde Iesus Christ must be faine too make vs way thither and all this is comprehended vnder the worde fayth For fayth is not an imagination of mens owne forging it is an assurednesse which wee conceyue of Gods goodnesse when he commeth to vs and vttereth familiarly the loue that he beareth vs. Then must the promise go before or else there shall be no following of fayth To be short whosoeuer hath not bin trayned in the Gospell can haue no fayth at all For God must first haue told vs that he loueth vs or else we cannot rest vpō his goodnesse nor call vpon him as our father Now let vs see what this promise is God not only saith that he wil haue pitie vpō vs but also telleth vs that although we be wretched sinners yet he will not ceasse to accept vs bycause he buryeth all our sinnes namely by the meanes of our Lorde Iesus Christ for that sacrifize must needes come forth euery where where any mention is made of the forgiuing of sinnes Neuer can there be any pardon gotten at Gods hand except there be bloudsheding with it for a satisfaction So then the foundation of this promise where God sayth that he wil be merciful to vs is Christes sheading of his bloud to wash away our spots and his offering vp of himselfe for a full amends to pacifie the wrath of God his father Thus ye see how that if we be of fayth we haue our eies fastened vpon Iesus Christ and our rest and quietnesse is altogither in his death and passion which is the onely meane too reconcile vs vnto God Also let vs marke that to bee blessed and to be iustified are al one thing accordingly as S. Paule declareth heere Hardly shal a man finde one among thirtie of such as are called Christians that can skill to define this worde iustifie And surely it is a foule shame that we shoulde haue our eares dayly beaten with the Gospell and yet notwithstanding bee ignorant of the cheefe article of our fayth Then to be iustified is not too haue any rightuousnesse in a mans selfe but to be admitted for rightuous at Gods hande though we be not so And here ye see why I sayd that we haue a good opening of this doctrine in that Saint Paule setteth downe the worde Blesse in stead of the worde Iustifie which he had vsed afore according to the fourth of the Romanes where hee sayeth that the rightuousnesse of fayth is that our sinnes are forgiuen vs. Forsomuch then as God is fauourable and louing to vs and receyueth vs as his children therefore it is sayde that wee bee iustified before him And why iustified Bycause he cannot loue sinners till hee haue forgiuen their sinnes and put them quite away VVe knowe that forasmuch as God is rightuous hee cannot agree with sinne but muste needes alwayes hate it Then sith the cace standeth so if we intend to haue his fauour we must needes be first clenzed of our offences For so long as they come to reckening God must needes hate vs and curse vs. But contrariwize when he wipeth away all our sinnes then receyueth he vs to mercie And by that meanes do we begin to be blessed of him Are wee then blessed that is to say be loued of God Verely we are therewithall iustified also that is to say wheras
staues end too the intent too humble him as he doth all the rest of the faithfull Then could not Abraham bring aught of him selfe for looke what goodnesse so euer he had he hild it of God and of hys free goodnesse And moreouer the same was yet still vnsufficient too saue him for by nature he was vtterly lost and damned as all the rest of Adams lyne is Therefore it stoode hym in hand that God shoulde receyue him through pardoning of his sinnes and looke vpon him singly in his faythe But let vs marke also that Gods iustifying of vs is by fayth that is to say by his owne meere and alonely goodnesse and that thervpon it behoueth vs to rest in his promise by the vertue wherof he alloweth and accepteth vs yea and our works also not in respect that they come of our selues but for that we do theÌ„ by the grace of his holy spirite and therfore dooth he accept them and allowe them as righteous yea euen so farre foorth as to rewarde them as the whole scripture doth plentifully witnesse And yet dooth all this also proceede of fayth For when wee bee iustified that is too say accepted for righteous before God then also are our works iustified that is to say God accepteth them for rightfull although there be not any worthinesse in them nor any cause at al why he should receiue them Then like as wee our selues are iustified by Gods onely free goodnesse when wee receyue his promises by fayth euen so bee our workes iustified by the selfe same meane After that maner was Abraham iustified in his person and then likewise were his workes also iustified before God But howsoeuer the world go if yee consider the originall cause and welspring of all yee muste needes conclude that nothing else was made account of but onely fayth For had God listed to sift Abrahams life he had bin coÌ„demned as all other mortall men are But his intent was to take him for his owne and nothing perswaded or moued him thervnto but his own mere mercy Also Abraham had his eyes shut agaynst all vayne trustes wherewith men deceyue them selues he knewe there was nothing able to bring him to lyfe saue the onely mercy of God To bee short like as Abraham had no regarde but of Gods meere mercie so God had no regarde but onely of Abrahams fayth and by that meanes was he iustified So then let vs leaue all things that men imagine to bring them selues in fauour with God by mingling this and that with fayth for they are all but falshods and illusions of Satan and let fayth haue such foundation as this that is too wit that with al humilitie we acknowledge our selues to bee then righteous when God forgiueth vs our sinnes and that by the same meanes our works also are reckned for good and righteous bicause God listeth not to sifte them narrowly but taketh them in good worth of his fatherly goodnesse Thus yee see what wee haue too gather vpon that text Now that the blessednesse of Abraham belongeth vnto vs and is ment vnto vs it appeareth by that which I haue touched alreadie and by that S. Paule auoucheth that all natiâ—ons should be blessed in Abraham And nowe remayneth too see the reason that S. Paule addeth on the contrarie part For men by their good wils can neuer finde in their harts too giue ouer the opinion which they haue of their owne righteousnesse excepte they bee compelled and inforced too it For althoughe wee bee saped in so many vices as is oughly to beholde yet the worst and deepest rooted vice in our nature is pride or presumptuousnesse whiche is a selfewilled weening that there is somewhat in vs in so muche that although God tell vs that we be right nought and that there is nothing in vs but leaudnesse filthinesse and vnclennesse and that all the vertue which we dreame vpon is but vanitie leasing yet can he not compasse to humble vs til we our selues perceiue our owne neede and haue it proued to our faces And therfore it behoueth vs to marke well the reason which S. Paule addeth heere to drawe vs to the pure fayth and to turne vs away from all the vayne trustes which we can haue in our owne deseruings All they sayth he that are of the law are accursed For it is written Cursed be he that continueth not in all the things that are written and conteyned in this booke too doo them VVhen as S. Paule sayth that all they which are of the lawe are cursed he meaneth that so long as men rest and muse vpon their owne works and thinke to obteyne grace by that meane before God they be cursed For as I haue declared heeretofore like as he that forsaketh him selfe and renounceth al that he hath of his owne and groundeth him selfe vpon the only mercy of God is of fayth so contrariwyse hee that thinketh too bring any seruice wherewith too binde God vnto him or imagineth to recompence him with his merites is of the Lawe But sainct Paule saythe that suche are cursed And why He alleageth the saying of Moyses Cursed bee hee that perfourmeth not all that is written heere It had beene sayde afore Cursed bee he that serueth straunge Gods Cursed bee he that blasphemeth God Cursed be he that breaketh the Sabboth day Cursed bee he that is stubborne agaynst his father and mother Cursed bee he that defileth another mans wyfe After the rehearsing of all these Curses and after the solemne vttering of them it behoued the people too answere Amen Amen as if there had passed some couenaunt and that God on hys side had made demaunde saying I wyll haue you too serue mee after thys maner yea euen without fayling in any poynte and in suche wise as yee keepe touche wyth mee through stitche in all things that I commaunde you and the people on theyr side shoulde answere Amen yea Lord we be contented to be all damned if we serue thee not and then afterward God should come and conclude Cursed bee he that performeth not all that euer is conteyned in this booke that is too say which misseth in any one poynt and the people should answere agayne sobeit Nowe seeing that the lawe curseth all suche as performe it not to the full let vs see if there bee any one that dooth it It is certayne that al men froÌ„ the greatest too the least are gyltie For why let vs consider the summe of the Lawe which is that wee should loue God wyth all our hart with all our minde with all our power and with al our strength and our neighbour as our self and then let euery of vs try his own life he shal neede none other iudge than him self to coÌ„demne him For although we loued God with an vncorrupted and sounde hart vnfaynedly yet can it not bee but that wee must bee drawen diuersly with many vanities Yea put the cace that a man were as perfect as an Angell
yet coulde he not loue God as he ought to doo for it would behoue all our wits to be imployed in the loue of him But now let vs marke if wee cast not many vayne lookes when wee open our eyes or if that when wee open oure eares wee bee not giuen too their much fonde talke that tendeth not to the honor of God or which is not vtterly voyde of sinne if at leastwyse it bee not wicked But howe soeuer the cace stande wee shoulde so dedicate our wittes wholly vnto God as that wee should not thinke vpon any thing wherein he should not bee glorified And where shall one be founde that dooth so No where but whiche worse is besides that wee haue our wittes farre haled and drawen away from the loue of God wee see that they tickle vs dayly vnto naughtinesse and that wee doo not so soone stirre a hande but it is to put it too many things of no value As muche is to bee sayd of our feete of our eyes and of our eares Agayne what a dungeon is there in mans hart what a number of croaked lusts are there so snarled one within another as there is nothing to bee founde among them but confusion In so muche that it is vpon very good cause that Ieremie crieth out O what a maze is the heart of man wherein there is neyther ende nor measure to bee seene so that although a man should sounde and gage him selfe neuer so deepe yet it is not possible that he shoulde attayne too the knowledge of the hundreth part of his naughtinesse There is none but onely God that can bee iudge of it So then let vs marke well that although God haue begotten vs agayn by his holy spirite and that we strayne our selues to the vttermost to serue honor him yet must we needes come farre short of the ende and bee still but on our way thitherwarde yea and go alwayes halting And moreouer beside oure slownesse wee meete with many falles and many shrewde rushes we limpe on the one foote and stumble on the other and diuers times we tumble ouer and ouer Lo what our lyfe is Therefore by the Lawe we see we be all of vs accursed yea euen when there is no many fest sinne in vs. For as I haue declared alreadie if there were no more but this that no man dischargeth him selfe of the full performance of the Lawe it were too be concluded therevpon that all of vs are condemned by the Lawe and therfore that it standeth vs in hand to seeke our rightuousnesse else where that is to wit in the mere mercie of God Now then wee see howe S. Paule sheweth vs that all such as haue any vaine trust in their owne merites are ranke traytors too God and make warre agaynst hym For he dooth as it were dragge them foorth by the heare of their heads and shewe them the distresse wherin they be and what a stubbornesse is it if they will not come vnto him Must not the diuell needes haue dulled them VVee see then that S. Paules meaning heere was too driue men too seeke their rightuousnesse and saluation in the only grace of our Lord Iesus Christ for without that the other should neuer befall vs bicause wee alwayes surmize some valew to be in our selues and that selfestimation or ouerweening doth so blind vs that we can not glorifie God in his rightuousnesse by keeping our owne mouthes shet till wee bee conuicted as wee see in this text Furthermore let vs marke that S. Paule hath taken heere a principle which the Papistes cannot finde in their hartes too agree vnto â–ª For among other things they say cursed and banned bee he which shall say that God hath commaunded vs more than wee are able to doo They excommunicate and accurse all such as are of opinion that the rightuousnesse of the Lawe ouerreacheth all the abilitie of man For it seemeth to them that God ought not too commaund vs any impossibilitie that eyther wee must haue wherewith too performe the Lawe or else the Lawe should bee too no purpose So doo they thinke and so doo they say but the holy Ghost saythe the flat contrarie for God is not bound to fashion himselfe to our abilitie It becommeth vs to regard what we our selues ought to do VVho is he that dare step vp and say that he ought not to loue God with al his hart For seeing that wee bee his is it not reason that wee should bee wholly dedicated vntoo him Yee see then that we bee indetted vnto him of the perfect loue which he requireth Ageine if wee talke of our owne strength it is not too bee sayd that wee bee able to discharge our selues of our dutie as in respect of the loue which we owe vnto our God As for example If a man haue wasted all his goods in ryot and haue not aught lefte wherwith too pay his creditors shal that discharge him of his dettes If any man say it is not through our owne default Yes surely is it For in as much as wee bee corrupted in Adam originall sinne holdeth vs sufficiently conuicted and giltie before God so as it is no excuse too say I am weake or rather vtterly vntoward and I can not so muche as thinke one good thought accordyng as Sainct Paule declareth It is true that wee can not thinke so muche as one good thought and that our harts are full of sturdinesse and malice so that al our affections are enemies vntoo God So speaketh the Scripture but howsoeuer the worlde go wee ceasse not too bee still bound too our duetie VVherefore let vs marke that the Law is commaunded vs though it be impossible for vs to fulfill and performe it And if it were not so S. Paule would not haue sayd in the eyght too the Romans that God performed that thing by the meanes of our Lord Iesus Christ which was impossible too the Lawe In saying so he sheweth well that wee bee not able to performe all that God commaundeth vs. For if wee could bring that to passe surely wee should be iustified by it For it is sayde that all suche as fulfill the Lawe shall lyue therein If any man coulde bee founde that had perfourmed it he should liue But S. Paule taketh the same reason afterwarde too shewe that it is a follie to thinke to get righteousnesse by keeping of the Lawe for no man can bring it to passe as is required Now then as touching this text let vs vnderstande that S. Paule presupposeth that no man is able too perfourme the Lawe thoughe he strayne himselfe neuer so much insomuch that although he be gouerned by the holy Ghost yet shall he neuer be able to bring it too passe during this â—ightfull life bicause God giueth vs his grace by measure It is true that he could giue vs such perfection as nothing should be amisse in all our life but that wee should haue a full and more
than angelicall conformitie too all his commaundementes Howbeit although he holde vs in awe although he chaunge vs and fashion vs newe agayne althoughe he reyne vs backe to the obedience of his will yet is there no full perfection in vs. And why For he intendeth to holde vs still vnder the bridle of humilitie he wil haue vs to know our owne weaknesse and to grone for it before him and he will haue vs to passe iudgement and to know that wee be alwayes inâ—etted vnto him Forasmuche then as God doth not in this present life giue vs such perfection as were requisit to the ful performance of his whole law therfore we can neuer do throughly the things that he coÌ„maÌ„deth vs. And forasmuch as we be not able to performe theÌ„ therfore this iudgement is huÌ„dred down vpon our heads that he is cursed which fulfilleth not al the things It behoueth vs to marke well that saying for it is not sayd Cursed bee he that reiecteth the Lawe or which keepeth no poynt at all of it but Cursed be he that dischargeth not himselfe of it poynt by poynt and through stitche as I sayd afore And for that cause also S. Iames too the ende too beate downe mens pride sayth that he which fayleth in any one poynt is giltie of the whole VVee will think this to be very rough dealing at the first sight VVhat say we will God forget al the good that a man hath done for the committing of some one onely fault That would be counted crueltie among men Yea but S. Iames addeth a reason saying He that forbad to murther forbad also to coÌ„mit whordome and he that forbad to steale forbad al the residue too Then if I thinke my selfe to haue satisfied God in forbearing thefte and in the meane while am a whoremaster haue I not offended the maiestie of God And therfore wee must leaue all these peecings for if wee bring God some one peece let all the rest alone what a dealing wil that be â–ª VVe see that one man is giuen to one vice another to another and so euery man would bee priuiledged and dispenst with vnder colour that he had done this or that notwithstaÌ„ding that he missed in some other poynt But God hathe not separated his commaundements asunder He hath not sayde too one man thou shalte not steale and to another Thou shalte not commit aduoutry but he sayth to al men without exception Absteyne yee from whordome absteyne ye from theft absteyne yee from murther Therefore wee must examine our life not by any one commaundement alone but by all the whole law togither But now let vs see if we can find any man that is faultlesse Yee see then that wee must needes bee confounded so long as we stande to be iudged by the law For if Abraham who was the excellentest that euer could be picked out amoÌ„g men should be driuen to enter into account by that it is certayne that he shoulde not misse too bee damned Seeing it is so let vs beare well in minde that it is not for vs too dispute any more for when the Papistes speake of the righteousnesse of faythe they doo but dally and skoffe with God as if he were a lyttle babe Let vs keepe our selues from suche scornfulnesse and when God pronounceth this horrible sentence that all they bee cursed which fulfill not all that is written let vs conceiue such a terrour of it as we may quake before his maiestie yea and euery of vs become his owne iudge and willingly yeeld himselfe giltie and beeing so conuicted of our wretchednesse bewayle our vtter fayling in all things and therevpon imbrace the rightuousnesse that is offered vs in our Lord Iesus Christ taking all our contentment and rest there Now let vs fall downe before the maiestie of our good God with acknowledgement of our faults praying him to make vs so to feele them as we may not only aske him forgiuenesse with true repentance but also pray him to hold vs vp all the tyme of our lyfe till he haue taken vs hence into his owne kingdome and in the meane while to reforme vs more and more by his holy spirit to the end we may haue sure record that we be of the number of his children by gouerning ourselues after that manner in feare and seeke nothing else but to giue ourselues wholly vnto him And so let vs all say Almighty God heauenly father c. The. 18. Sermon which is the fourth vpon the third Chapter 11. That no man is iustifyed by the lavve before God it is manifest for the rightuous shall liue by faith 12. And the lavve is not of saith but the man that doeth those things shall liue in them 13. Christ hath raunsomed vs froÌ„ the curse of the lawe in that he became accursed for vs for it is vvritteÌ„ cursed is he that hangeth on tree 14. That the blissednesse of Abraham myght come vppon the Gentils through Iesus Christ to the end that vve myght receyue the promis of the spirite by fayth WE haue seene that if men be not worse than mad they must needes for all that euer they haue seeke their saluation in our Lord Iesus Christ For if they sticke to the law they shall find nothing there but damnation as hathe bin shewed alreadye and that doth euery man fynde sufficiently by hys owne experience And certesse when as Sainct Paule goeth about in the Epistle to the Romanes to shew that men beguile themselues too grosly by trusting in their owne merites he fayth that the law can worke nothing but Gods wrath and vengeance For although wee bee already sufficiently condemned ere God open his mouth to gyue sentence againste vs yet notwithstanding our naughtinesse is yet deeper ingrauen by the law when he saith that if wee transgresse but some any one point we become enimies to God and his wrath must needes be kindled against vs. VVhat shall we gaine by disputing when the determinate sentence is pronounced by the heauenly iudge There is nother appeale nor pleading that will stande vs in sted So then let vs vnderstand that to haue the true knowledge of the Gospell we must hold vs wholly to our Lorde Iesus Christe that we put not our hope of saluation in any other thyng than in his only mercie and for the performance thereof let euery of vs haue an eye to his owne life For if men sift themselues thoroughly without hipocrisie or feyning surely all cause of pleading will soone be rid away The Papistes will not in any wise graunte that only fayth should make vs acceptable to God and that is bycause they neuer felt throughly what it is to come before Goddes iudgement seate but haue alwayes as it were played with the shadow of it And therefore no maruell though they pardon themselues in all things But the very way to bring vs to the truth and to the pure and right religion is for euery of vs to
God and neuer were moued to true repentance but haue alwayes had their consciences asleepe or rather bewitched none say I but such folks do thinke themselues to deserue aught and they beguyle themselues Then seing that the righteousnesse of the law is shut away from vs and we be vtterly barred from it it behoueth vs to go to another ryghtuousnesse which is that God take vs into his fauour of his owne free goodnesse and in sted of receyuing any thing of our bringing giue vs that thing for our paiment which is none of ours that is to wit the obedience of oure Lord Iesus Christ by deliuering vs from the condemnation wherein we were plunged that is to wit by putting away all our offences and sinnes As much is said of it in another place where Sainct Paul treateth excellently well of the doctrine which we haue heere For he doth also set downe the righteousnesse of the lawe And it is a wonder that the Papists haue bin and yet still are so dulled that they coÌ„sider not the warning that S. Paul giueth here being so faire and cleere as it is For it is always at their tungs end to say what that were a mocking out of al that God hath promised concerning the recoÌ„pence that he wil veld to good works And seing he hath so often sayd that we shal be recoÌ„pensed must he not needes discharge his promise For else men might accuse him of vntruth But Saint Paule telleth them alwayes thus my freendes if we thinke to stand in Gods fauour for our owne desertes let vs consider the promise that is giuen vs. For when there is any controuersie among men either for bying or selling or for any other like thing they will say here is the Indenture let it bee looked vpon I report me too that which is conteyned in it As soone as the deed is read the cace appeareth plaine and the seller will say the ownership of this thing is thine but yet vpon condition that thou haue payed for it If thou haue not payd thou hast nothing to do with it Ye see then that wheÌ„ we fall to scanning for the inheritance of saluation we must resort to the cheefe and originall deed or Indenture that God made betweene himselfe and vs. Nowe that deed or Indenture is the Law Therefore if men will needes bee payed theyr wages according too their seruice they shall finde themselues rather to be banished from the euerlasting life than to come any thing neere it God may say to them that if they performe al that is commaunded them the heritage of saluation is readie for them But nowe remayneth to bee seene whether any man can performe all or no. I haue shewed you alreadie that no man is able to doo it and so are wee euerie one of vs shet quite out of the doores The Papists consider not that but when they heare it sayde that hee which doth those things shal liue in them they beare themselues in hand that that there is no more doubt of the doing thereof it is ynough that God saith the worde In deede God speaketh the worde but hee requireth the performance of it at our handes After the same maner also do they take this text of Saint Paules where he sayth not the hearers of the law but the doers of it shal be iustified The Papists alledge that saying howbeit but to picke out their owne eies withall For S. Paule proâ—eth thereby that we cannot be iustified but by performing all that is commanded vs. The Iewes boasted that the Lawe was giuen vnto them saying Tushe wee haue the Lawe whereby it is tolde vs that we be Gods people Yea but it is with condition And where is the performance of that condition VVill it be found in you No. But S. Paule saith that wee become not righteous by hearing of the Law For it were a fonde matter if we shoulde come to Church too here what is tolde vs and euery man returne home to do what hee listeth himself It behoueth vs to performe whatsoeuer God coÌ„mandeth vs but none of vs performeth it therfore all of vs are damned sayth he The Papistes consider not this consequence but take onely this saying broken off from the rest namely that such as performe the law shall be iustified Yea verely if there were any such but where are they Also in the same Epistle to the Romans he declareth afterward that Gods promising of vs eternall life vpon condition that we performe the Law standeth vs in no steed at all bycause we shall neuer bring it to passe forasmuch as by nature we be vtterly contrary to his rightuousnesse and afterward when he hath begotten vs again by his holy spirit we be so much the more bound vnto him wee haue receyued all our goodnesse at his hande and he shall but crowne his owne giftes in vs. Are these then merits or deseruings No. Howbeeit wee must passe yet further namely that although our Lorde voutchsafe to crowne our woorkes when they be good yet they be but partly good and there will alwayes be matter ynough founde to condemne vs with So then we bee quite and cleane bereft of all trust in our owne righteousnesse not onely bycause our workes are not of sufficient worthinesse before God but also bicause they be to be vtterly mislyked if we shoulde fall to entering into account and that God listed to iudge according to the sayde sentence He that doth these things shall liue in them for it is all one as if he should say you are all of you dead damned and past recouerie For why none of you performeth the things that I require of him and yet you owe them to me And that is the cause why I sayd that we must go to the seconde remedie that is to wit to liue by fayth And S. Paule in the text by me euen now alledged in sted of rehercing the saying of Abacucke which he had set downe in the .xvij. verse of the first chapter sayeth that the rightuousnesse of fayth hath good recorde in the Law For the rightuousnesse of the Lawe that is too say the rule that God giueth vs in his Lawe too iustifie vs with all is that wee shoulde keepe and performe all hys commaundements But the rightuousnesse of fayth speaketh another maner of language For it sayth that it is not for men too seeke in themselues the meanes too make theyr lyfe allowable before God and so to receyue the hyre or crowne of it but that they must rest wholly vppon Gods woorde so as it may be both in their heart and in their mouth For hee that beleeueth with his heart that our Lord Iesus Christ dyed and confesseth with his mouth that he is rizen againe shall by that meanes obteyn rightuousnesse before God VVe see then that Saint Paule vttereth himselfe the more at large to the intent that we should vnderstande that his separating of the rightuousnesse of the Lawe
whereoutof God hath deliuered me once twice or thrice before and that if God haue pitied me in some affliction to day so as I haue felt his fauor he afflicteth me to morrow with some other affliction what were my life if I rested vpon the worlde So then the Prophet mēt to declare that although the faithful be miserable and do but pyne away in this worlde yet notwithstanding they be blessed of God euen in this worlde and all the miserie which they indure here shall turne to their welfare for why they rest themselues vpon their God VVherfore we must vnderstand that there is a better heritage than this and that we seeke the true and euerlasting happines so as we may haue a stedfast continuance of our state But the woorde Rightuousnesse ought also to be well marked For if Abacucke had sayde the wretched sinners shall liue by fayth it would haue seemed that hee had spoken but to a fewe folke For it wil well ynough bee graunted that wretched sinners shoulde flee for refuge vnto God but as for those that excell in vertue ought they not to be exempted from the common aray and to be exalted too a higher degree at Gods hande and finally too bee iustified by prerogatiue Accordingly as we see nowadayes that although there bee nothing but al maner of filth in the Popish Ceremonies and Clergie as they tearme it so as they ought to be abhorred both of God and man yet notwithstanding vnder colour of their Coules and all other their trumperie they ceasse not to chalenge God too bee greatly in their det And besides this when these dotardes haue made muche babling and trotted and scudded vp and downe from altar too altar and from Chappell to Chappell and gadded on pilgrimage to their seeming God ought not to forget any of these doings but all of it ought to passe for good payment in their account besides an hundred thousande other Items which they haue too set downe before him And that is the cause why our Lorde Iesus Christ sayth that the wretched loce liuers yea euen the verie whooremongers shall much sooner come too the kingdome of heauen than 〈◊〉 any of all these foule toades that are so puffed vp with the vaine trust of their own deserts that although their whole life be wicked and they thēselues are full of all lothsomnesse yet they will nedes bind God vnto thē vnder the shadow of their hypocisie Now to the entēt to cut off all occasion of such imaginations the Prophet saith purposely that the rightuous shall liue by faith At the first sight there should seeme to be some contrarietie in these two sayings How so Must we to the intēt to be rightuous liue by faith yea for if we liue not by faith we be not rightuous For what is the rightuousnesse of the Gospell It is Gods free giuing vs a cōuenient remedie whereby to come vnto him and to be in his fauor through our Lord Iesus Christ bicause we cannot obteyne rightuousnesse by the law Therfore whosoeuer liueth by fayth is out of doubt not rightuous of himselfe But the Prophet saith that those notwithstanding are rightuous which are saued by Gods only and free mercie Therfore it is as much as if he had sayd that although God giue vs the grace to imploy our selues to his seruice and haue by his holy spirit imprinted in our harts the true feare and honor which we owe vnto him so as we fight against the lusts of our flesh to the vttermost of our power striue against the sin that is in vs and in our nature yet must we shet our eies at all the things which wee woulde fayne find in our selues too please God with and rest wholy vpon our Lord Iesus Christ If the rightuous must be faine to be iustified by fayth who shall bee iustified by his owne deseruings None will take vpon them but Diuels wicked wightes and enimies of God Ye see then that the Papistes euen at this day coulde not deuize to shewe betten that they intende not to be rightuous than by theyr stryuing for the rightuousnesse of their owne woorkes and desertes as they doo For it is an vtter fighting euen with a spyte agaynst God and nature You Papists say you seeke too bee rightuous and howe euen by your selues and by your owne workes and deseruings VVell let vs consider what the Prophete sayth he sayth not that the rightuous shall liue by their workes but that they shall bee saued by the onely grace of God Now if the righteous giue ouer all selfe trust of their owne merites as of force they must needes do it is certaine that such as thinke to make God indetted vnto thē by bringing any vertue of their own vnto him do wipē raze thēselues quite cleane out of the register of rightuousnesse Thus ye see that the Papists so long as they dwell in theyr errour are reiected of God according to the sentence which hee gyueth vpon them heere by his Prophete And vndoubtedly when as Saint Paule alledgeth this saying of Dauid Happie is he to whome God imputeth not his sinnes hee sheweth well therby that those men are most righteous which do most condemne themselues and are most striken downe yea and are vtterly out of all hope of themselues till God haue succoured them by his goodnesse Now when Dauid cryed out happie is the man to whom God imputeth not his sinnes he was not a naughtipacke nor an vnthrifte nor a dispiser of God that had neuer tasted what it was too enter into his owne conscience and too ransacke his sinnes too the quicke but contrariwise God had chosen him and annoynted him by Samuell he was an excellent Prophete his reigne was a figure of our Lorde Iesus Christ and finally God wrought so in him that he was as an Angell dwelling among men And yet for all this he confesseth and acknowledgeth his sinnes and in confessing of thē doth sorrow and mourne and is in such vnquietnesse as if hee were tormented vpon a racke or torture till God was so gracious to him as to make him taste of his goodnesse and he knewe no ease till God had receyued him to mercie Then if God vouchsafe too forbeare the examining of our workes that is all our happinesse the onely way for vs to become happie is to haue our sinnes couered and too be in Gods fauour howbeeit not in respect of aught that is in our selues but by his turning away of his countenance frō vs damned wretches so as he consider vs not as of our selues but accept vs for his onely sonnes sake accordingly as wee see howe Dauid speaketh of it in another text saying Lorde enter not intoo iudgement with thy seruant for I knowe that no man liuing shall bee found righteous in thy sight VVherefore let vs marke well that according as eche man shall haue profited in the feare of God so also will he be the more
that the free promis was giuen afore the law and therefore it followeth that the law came not in to diminish or alter any whit of it but that it continueth still in his owne fulnesse nature and force True it is that our Lord Iesus Christ had not yet shewed himselfe to the worlde when the free promis was made to our father Abraham neuerthelesse it suffiseth that he was ordeyned to be our mediator that by hys meanes men might be reconciled to God Now if any man alledge that it should seeme then that the law was more than needed or else that there was some change and variablenesse in Gods purpose seeing the law came in Sainct Paule discusseth the same in place conuenient and wee must not huddle vp thynges togyther for all cannot be vttered at once nother in an houre nor in a day Therefore it is ynough for vs at this tyme too haue thys poynt made playne and cleere that the promis whereby God hath chosen vs intoo the number of his chyldren was before the lawe and also that the same promis had not any respect to our deseruings nor too any woorthinesse that was in our persons but too Gods meere goodnesse and mercie whych moued hym therevnto without looking for any thing in vs bycause hee saw welynough there was nothyng in vs but vtter miserie And finallye that the sayde promis was grounded in our Lorde Iesus Chryste who had alreadye done the â—â—ffice of a mediator to make vs way vnto God his father This being graunted wee must needes conclude that the promis hath abidden and shall abyde for euer euen to the worlds end And that is sayd expresly bycause the Iewes gloried of their auncetrie But Sainct Paule telleth them that their father Abraham had not the lawe but was contented though he vsed sacrifises and such other like thinges And although he was circumcised in the end yet when he receiued the promis there was not as yet theÌ„ any law writteÌ„ no nor any circumcision at all For Abraham was vncircumcised when he receiued the promis and yet neuerthelesse was iustifyed before he was circumcised and all that was by fayth Sainct Paule therefore sheweth that the Iewes were greatly ouerseene too shole out themselues after that manner from the rest of the whole woâ—ld and to rest continually vpon the figures of the law seeing that Abraham their father and the cheefe patriarch of the Church was iustifyed the sefsame way that we must be at this day that is to saye by Gods meere mercie bycause hee knew himselfe to be a wretched sinner and therefore accursed and damned in Adam and that there was no blissednesse to be hoped for other than that which was promised hym for our Lord Iesus Christs sake Thus yee see what wee haue too beare in mind And for the same cause Sainct Paule exhorteth vs heere too wey well these words when it was sayd vnto Abraham that all nations of the earth should be blissed in his seede Now there are heere two principall poyntes The one is that the blissednesse is promised not only to Abrahams fleshly ofspring as I haue told you already but also to all the world in generall VVe therefore are made partakers thereof wee I say that are issued of the Gentiles that is to say of suche as were heathenfolke and banished from the kingdome of heauen Although then that we were not of that holy linage whiche God had chosen at the beginning yet notwithstanding it behoued saluation to be extended vnto vs. And why so â–ª For it had hin promised before that all Nations shoulde be blissed Seeing it is so shall we say that God hath cut off the greatest parte of his bounteousnesse and will haue no more but the sayde linage of Abraham considering that hee hath alreadye tolde vs that he woulde bee the sauiour of the whole worlde and shewe himselfe a father in time conuenient Yee see then howe the firste poynt is that the making of the sayde promis vnto Abraham was not for his linage alone but for all men howbeit that it were not fulfilled at the first dash For the time of fulnesse was not yet come as we shall see in the Chapter following The second point is that the blissednesse which was promised to Abraham was for his seedes sake For Sainct Paule sayth that God spake not of seedes in the plurall number as of mo than one but of one onely seede whiche must be concluded to be Iesus Christ Heere it myght be supposed that Sainct Paule buzied his head about a needelesse matter For the word Seede importeth a linage or ofspring that is to witte not some one man or ten or fortie but a whole people Therefore the Seede of Abraham is the people that came of hym whyche were so many in number that it was iustly sayde of them that they shoulde bee as it were twelue Nations For when mention is made of a people it will bee thought ynough to haue a hundred thousand of them togither and there were many mo in the onely tribe of Iuda So then it should seeme that Sainct Paule dyd not sufficiently consider what God meant by the word seede when he sayd that it is but one only man But wee must wey well the thyngs that Sainct Paule presupposeth heere as fully certaine and resolute and then shall wee perceyue his argumentes to be vtterly infallible Abraham had not one sonne alone but after Ismaell he had Isaac also And what became of his eldest sonne Hee was cut off from hys house as we shall see within a whyle that is to say in the Chapter following Beholde then Ismaell whiche had the birthright in Abrahams house is neuerthelesse put out and made an vtter straunger yea and as a rotten member in somuch that it is sayd of hym Cast out the sonne of the handseruante for hee shall not inherit in my house Afterwarde Abraham had other children but euery of them had their portions giuen vnto them and were sent away Thus was onely Isaac left at home vntoo hym Anon after Isaac had a cupple of children and they were twinnes of one wombe Esau the firstborne whiche ought too haue hadde the prefermente was lykewise cast off so as hee was not counted for the linage of Abraham nor yet was made partaker of the promised blissing There was no mo left but Iacob Yea and although the father blissed his sonne Iacob through ignorance and mistaking yet he declareth that it was not in him to reuoke or chaunge the thing that hee had vttered with his mouth bycause he was the instrument of the holy Ghost Now then if we take the seede of Abraham for all those that came of his race The Ismaelites or Agarenes as they be called and such other lyke and moreouer the Edomites also should be of his houshold But the heritage is taken quite and cleane from them Therefore the seede of Abraham must be considered after a peculiar
promise of it as wee haue seene Heere yee see also why wee bee called Abrahams ofspring For wee belong no whit at all to him in respecte of the fleshe But fayth is a sufficient bonde too knit vs vnto him Furthermore wee see that our Lorde Iesus Christ who is the pledge of mens welfare is nowe reuealed vnto vs too the ende that wee shoulde haue the better assurance that wee bee ▪ hys and that hee wyll holde vs for the members of hys body And that is the cause why Christ sayde that Abraham sawe his daye and was glad of it The Iewes alledged the worthinesse of the Patriarke yea saith Christ as though your father Abraham had not rested vpon the things that were spoken too him concerning mee Therefore he sawe my day and it was the thing wherein he tooke all his comforte in so muche that he had not any other hope of saluation than by the beleefe which he had in the doctrine which is preached vnto you at this day by the Gospell That also is the very same thing that is spoken of Iohn Baptist by the Prophet Malachie namely that he was sent to knit the hearts and mindes of the fathers to the children And this is not spoken only of the person of Iohn Baptist but it belongeth also to the doctrine of the Gospell Yee see then that the thing wherevnto our Lorde calleth vs is that although Abrahā be rotten in the earth so long tyme ago yet wee may assure our selues that there is none other promise than that for vs too trust vnto so wee be knit vnto him by fayth and doo so agree togither as wee can call vpon God with the same minde wherewith he was gouerned according as in very deede he had his minde fixed vpon our Lorde Iesus Christ Nowe then for so muche as wee bee vnited vnto Abraham let vs tende to our Lorde Iesus Christ and let him be our aming marke and our shoote anker till wee be all assembled togither and gathered vp into the heauenly kingdome Lo what wee haue to consider when mention is made of the promise that was made before the lawe Yea and wee ought to bee greatly prouoked to constancie when wee perceyue that our father Abraham did alwayes wayte for our Lorde Iesus Christ althoughe it were so long ere he should be discouered to the world and it was tolde hym that hys seede shoulde bee hilde prisoners in a straunge lande After that God had tolde him that all the worlde should bee blissed in his seede he addeth and yet for all that thinke not that this shall bee performed within these twoo or three dayes or a hundred yeeres hence for thou thy selfe muste first die thou thy selfe muste firste bee conueyed hence intoo a straunge countrie where thyne ofspring shall bee oppressed with all tyrannie and crueltie Assure thy selfe I will be reuendged of it but yet must thy seede smart in the meane while Abraham herde all this Againe after that the lawe was giuen there passed other twoo thousand yeeres more ere our Lorde Iesus Christe came Nowe coulde Abraham neuer haue trusted too that which was spoken too him if he had not bin armed with heauenly power for he himselfe could not inioy the benefite that was offered him nother should his children inioy it that were too come Yee see then that two thousand and foure hundred yeeres were then to passe and yet notwithstanding Abraham repented him not that he had forsaken his fathers house as the Apostle declareth in the eleuenth too the Hebrewes but hilde on his race still albeit that God intended too trie his patience too the vttermoste Of much more reason ought wee now adayes too go on stedfastly whither soeuer God calleth vs and too hold vp our heades till we come too the crowne of glorie not withstandyng that as now it bee hidden from vs and that wee must bee fayne too beleeue and hope for things that surmount all our capacitie and which wee cannot perceyue Thus yee see how wee ought too put this text in vre Nowe herevpon S. Paule concludeth that if the inheritance come by the lawe it shall not come by fayth But God gaue Abraham all things in respect of fayth and therefore it is too bee concluded that the Lawe must needes ceasse when men go about to get fauour at Gods hand and the prayse of our saluation muste bee yeelded all wholly vntoo him S. Paule in speaking here of inheritance meeneth two things The one is that what soeuer God hath at any time promised vs is of his owne meere free goodnesse for an inheritance is not a wages or hyre True it is that a father in giuing his children their heritage may well say See how I take paynes for you Marke what shall come of it Yee shall haue my goodes among you But yet howe soeuer the father deale with them he hath none other respect than too his owne kinship He laboreth and taketh great paynes too prouide for such as are so alied vnto him Seing then that heritages are things of free gifte among men wee must not take eternall lyfe as a deserued wages or hyre at Gods hand For why it is an heritage Marke it for a sure grounde that heere all woorthinesse of men is excluded For when a man makes his children his heires he passeth not whither they haue done any greate woorke or no or whither they bee fayre or foule or whither they bee one thing or other but it is ynough for him that they bee his children and that his minde is too prouide for them Another poynt is that Sainct Paule in so saying giueth vs an incling that wee bee all of vs vtterly reiected of God so as wee cannot no not euen in this transitorie lyfe inioy any thing at all but by the onely meere grace of God True it is that the Sunne shyneth as well vppon the faythlesse as vppon the faithfull and all men are nurrished alike with the things that God giueth and graunteth vnto them but yet howsoeuer they fare the vnbeleeuers possesse not any thing by iust tytle They are but theeues and muste yeelde account of the benefites and goodes whiche they haue receyued of God euen too the last droppe of water bycause they were not sanctified but defiled them asmuche as in them lay bycause they had no fayth whiche as sayeth Sainct Paule is the thing whereby the benefites that God giueth vntoo vs are made cleane That is the way for vs too vse them lawfully but lette fayth bee away and there shall be nothing else but vnclennesse For why if my handes be foule and I handle the preciousest things in the worlde with them they shall bee rayed with the filthinesse of my handes Euen so is it when wee abuse Gods benefites The vnbeliefe that is in vs defileth all and in the ende all creatures muste crie out for vengeance vppon vs bycause wee abused them if we possessed them not with faith
Yee see then that wee cannot inioy any thing at all vnlesse wee bee Gods children And for the same cause also Sainct Paule in the fourth too the Romanes thinkes it not ynough too set downe the heauenly lyfe and euerlasting saluation but also nameth the heritage of the worlde and sayeth that Abraham was made heire of the worlde and that the same was not for that man alone but for all menne in generall Therefore whereas God adopteth vs and telleth vs that he will be gracious vntoo vs it is too the end that while wee liue heere beneath wee should bee fedde by his hand and he in giuing vs foode make vs too taste aforehand of the loue whiche he beareth vs and of the care that he hath ouer vs. Too bee shorte wee may and ought also too beholde Gods fatherly goodnesse in all his creatures Doo wee open our eyes and looke vpon the light of the Sunne Euen there dooth God shewe himselfe a father towardes vs. VVhen wee eate and receyue our sustenance God reacheth out his hande too shewe that wee bee alreadie fedde by him as his owne children Too bee shorte in all things and by all meanes he maketh vs too taste his fatherly loue aforehand too the intent wee shoulde bee confirmed in the things that he sheweth vs in the Gospell that is too wit that he hath reserued a better heritage for vs as for his children whom he hath adopted Then must all creatures direct vs vntoo heauenward But surely wee doo the cleane contrarie for wee apply Gods creatures to our owne lustes so as wee behilde downe still by them heere To bee shorte looke how many helpes God hath giuen vs too drawe vs too him so many lettes haue wee too holde vs backe in the worlde For wee neuer passe too knowe howe wee should bee reckened for Gods children so wee may liue at our ease in this worlde that is ynough for vs. But yet for all that it standeth vs greatly on hande too perceyue that God dooth alreadie in this worlde shewe himselfe a father towardes vs and intendeth too doo vs too wit what a care he hath of vs too the ende wee shoulde learne too referre our selues wholly vntoo him and there too reste Yee see then that by this woorde Heritage or Inheritance God sheweth firste that whatsoeuer he offereth vs is of his owne meere free bounteousnesse and secondly that wee bee so cursed that wee haue no righte too any thing no not euen too a droppe of water excepte God make vs his heyres and that muste bee done all onely for our Lorde Iesus Christes sake And therefore we must once againe call to rememberance how wee haue heretofore seene that the promis was made too Iesus Christe Then is not Abraham the stay and shoote anker thereof And for that cause also is our Lord Iesus named the heyre of all things and looke what he hath peculiar too himselfe that doothe he communicate too vs as too the members of his bodie In that respect also doth S. Paule say that the saying whiche is written in the seuenth verse of the eyght Psalme whiche is that he is made Lord of all things ought too bee applied first of all to his persone True it is that the sayd text is spoken of all men according as wee see how God hath put all beastes of the earth in subiection to man so as they bee fayne too die too giue vs sustenance and too clothe vs and keepe vs warme Againe we see how the earth yeeldeth vs frutes Therefore the lordship of the worlde is giuen vntoo vs how beit that is but by the meanes of our Lorde Iesus Christe For as I haue touched alreadie if wee bee separated from him wee bee forthwith so cut of from Gods house that the inheritance of them belongeth no more vntoo vs than too the furthest straungers in the worlde But nowe let vs come too the chiefe poynt that is contayned heere S. Paule sayeth that this heritage commeth not of the Lawe but of Fayth VVhereas he vseth these twoo speaches and cuppleth them toogither they bee things flat contrarie as I haue tolde you heretofore Not that the lawe is contrarie too fayth but bycause that too bee iustified before God and too obtayne fauour and mercie at his hand cannot come too passe by the Lawe The Lawe was not giuen too that end as we shall see in the next Sermon but too the cleane contrarie So then seyng that the heritage commeth by fayth we must conclude that our woorkes can doo nothing and that wee must bee fayne too come to God vtterly emptie as poore beggers too craue too bee filled by him bicause wee haue not one drop of goodnesse in our selues Yee see then whereat S. Paule ameth when he sayeth that the inheritance cōmeth of fayth and not of the lawe according also as God gaue it vntoo Abraham in respect of fayth And let vs marke that if wee bee not able too deserue any nurrishment in this worlde what shall wee bee able too doo towardes the possessing of the kingdome of heauen VVhen there is any talking of corruptible sustenance it is nothing in comparison of the heauenly glorie For it is sayde that wee shall bee made parttakers of the glorie of our God and that then wee shall bee all in all things But as now wee cannot deserue so much as one bit of bread for the inheritance cōmeth of fayth that is to say all that euer God hath promised men is of his owne meere free goodnesse And howe can wee then purchace the Realme of Paradice what a pryde is it for men to presume to come to it by their own strength must it not needes be that they are caried away with a terrible rage Moreouer in saying that God gaue all things to our father Abraham in respect of his fayth S. Paule doth yet better expresse and shewe that which I haue told you alreadie namely that man is able to deserue nothing of himself and that he must bee fayne too haue all of free gift He had sayd afore as we haue seene already that the promises were made and vttered but here he vseth the woord Giuing As if he should say here is not a bargayne betweene partie partie too say I will do this and thou shalt do that I wil sell and thou shalt buy but God doth freely giue and man doth but onely receiue Seing then that we must come vnto God to receyue that which he offereth vs and that we haue not any other title to the things that we looke for at his hand than only by free gift let vs forget all the worthinesse which we imagine to be in our selues and acknowledge that we be nothing And surely S. Paule vseth one other maner of speach which serueth to expresse better the thing that is ment here which is that if the heritage came by the Law the promis were disanulled and so consequently faith Therefore to be
least without any exception Now if we be al condemned euen by the law what would we more Must it not needs be that we be tootoo much blinded with hypocrisie when we will needes binde God to vs after this sorte notwithstanding that we be farre wyde from all righteousnesse and he hath tolde vs that we can not compasse it in his sighte but that we must bee vtterly ouerwhelmed S. Paule alledgeth not heere any text too shewe that the Scripture hath shut vp all vnder sinne but taketh it as vtterly certayne and which ought not to bee doubted of any more among the faithfull And for proofe thereof wee see that euen from the creation of the world we be all of vs corrupted in Adam His sinne condemned not him selfe onely but also all his whole ofspring and all of vs are falne in that fal of his And thervpon it is sayd that al our thoughts are rebellings agaynst God and there is nothing but naughtinesse in vs. VVhat then is mans wit A warehouse of all wickednesse And seeing that God hath auouched it to be so at a word what shal wee gayne by chalenging this or that too our selues For all our startingholes shal but increase our miserie bicause that in so doing wee spite God and kindle his wrath so much the more For wherto serued all the sacrifices but to shew vs to our faces that all men are vtterly accursed so long as they continue in them And although there were no sacrifices at all yet very experience sheweth it Let euery of vs enter into himselfe let him consider what maner a one he is and let him viewe himselfe in the perfection which the holy scripture requireth at our hands he shal wel find that there is no way for him but to imbrace the promise of Gods mercy which he maketh vnto vs wheÌ„ he sayth that our iniquities shal be wiped out that there is no way for vs to come to him but only by his loue And doth he not hereby still bewray our sinne specially seeing he setteth down Iesus Christ for our rightuousnesse But if any maÌ„ list to haue a larger certener discourse hereof let him ad that which S. Paule setteth down in the third to the Romans where he setteth foorth the thing largely which is touched here briefly then shal he see yet better how the scripture hath shut vp all vnder sinne For there S. Paule alleageth the texts that serue to bewray mans nature till Gods haue drawen him backe changed him and fashioned him new agayne Like as when he sayth that God looked downe heere bylowe to see if he could find any soundnesse and all were corrupted yea and festered in their naughtinesse and there was not so much as one that sought after God Nowe it is certayne that there there is no speaking of two or three but generally of all men in whom God hath not wrought to gouerne them by his holy spirite Therefore it is all one as if Dauid did shewe vs in a paynted table what maner of ones wee bee by birth and heritage Afterwarde he addeth that which is written in the fiftith Psalme and in all the residue and finally alleageth Esay also to shewe that God was fayne to serue his turne with his own arme when he purposed to redeme men VVhat is it sayth he that men haue done in that behalfe For they do but runne forwarde and cast themselues headlong intoo all cursednesse and transgression They doo but wander they loue shifting sutteltie falshod and lying to bee short when God had looked that men should haue helped to bring themselues too saluation they were rather a hundred thousand times more in danger of perishing S. Paule therefore alleadgeth all those things Nowe let vs flatter our selues as muche as wee list yet can not the things bee called backe which God hath pronounced vpon vs. And as ofte as wee reade the sayde textes and heare Sainct Paules expounding of them in the forealledged chapter it is for vs too cast downe our heads and to receyue the shame which we deserue namely to be berefte of all glory and too seeke at Gods hande the things that we want And thus ye see how the scripture hathe shut vp all vnder sinne In the eleuenth chapter to the Romans he saith that God hath shut vp all vnder sinne too the intent to haue mercie on all But there heâ—â—seth yet one steppe higher For he speaketh not of the things that are told vs in the law and the prophets but of Gods secret iudgement in that it was his will that all of vs shoulde bee as good as drowned in destruction to the intent that there should be no saluation but only by his goodnesse Then if it be demaunded why God hath suffered men to fall into so miserable plight it is bycause he will haue vs beholden to his only mercy for all things Truly this will seeme straunge to many fantasticall persons whiche would fayne restrayne God to their measure and are so rash that when Gods determinations passe beyond theyr fleshly reason by and by they condemne him for spitefull and cruell Yet for all that S. Paule will haue vs too rest vpon thys saying that God hath shet vp all vnder sin that is to say that he could well haue created vs much stedfaster and perfecter than he hath done He could haue preserued vs as he doth his Angells He could haue giuen vs such constancie in the person of Adam that wee shoulde haue entered into the heritage of heauen without dying Yea and he could haue made that no mo should haue falne in the person of Adam but Adam alone But he listed not so to do If it be demaunded why the mischeefe spreaded out further is it not bycause God would haue it so Therefore we must in this cace as it were brydle and imprison ourselues and receiue the doctrine in suche wyse as Sainct Paule hath vttered it namely that God hath put vs all vnder sinne to the intent we should resort to him for mercie But it is not ynough that God hath so determined it in his secrete purpose it was requisite also that the determination shoulde be published and knowen For vntill such time as men perceyue themselues too be condemned they will still be weltring in some vayne selftrust and boast of themselues as we see too much The Scripture therefore must be fayne to bring vs to this vnderstanding that euery of vs may condemne himselfe for a sinner as it were with his owne mouth yea and that we do it vnfeynedly And why Bycause it is by beleeuing that we obteyne the promis that is to say the rightuousnesse that is freely promised vs. In the sayd text of the eleuenth to the Romanes whych I alledged euen now Sainct Paule sayth to the intent to shew mercy vpon all but heere he sheweth that it is not for all men to be partakers of it in generall For
wee knowe that the greatest number perisheth in their sinnes bycause they refuse the remedie that is offered them in the Gospell And why then doth Sainct Paule speake of all It is asmuch as if hee should saye there is none other help for vs but only Gods looking vppon vs with pitie of his owne meere goodnesse that pardoning our offences and receiuing vs into his fauour he take vs for his children too bring vs to the heritage of the kingdome of heauen VVe see then that Sainct Paule did not without cause say that God will haue mercy vpon all not that euery man is comprehended vnder that word all but to exclude and put away all selfrightuousnesse of man Moreouer we see how the meane is expressed heere namely that wee must obteyne the promis by fayth according as Sainct Iohn sayth that God so loued the world that hee spared not his onely sonne to the end that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue life euerlasting VVill wee then enter into the treasure that is shewed to vs heere Faith must be as a keye to open vs the dore For God calleth vs to it but it is not ynough for vs too be called only it behoueth vs to answer according to this saying you are my people yea Lord and thou art our God VVhen hee sayth you are my children let vs answer Lord we come to thee as to our father But surely we cannot answer so of our owne proper motion it must be giuen vs of the holy Ghost Howbeit the question is not heere whither fayth come of mens selues or no. Sainct Paule doth no more but declare that to be quit before God and to be drawen out of the dungeon of cursednesse wherein wee are all of vs plunged we must not bring any thing of our owne as though we would go about to bind God and that it were meete for vs too imagine any desert of our owne but come too craue hys fauoure which is offered vs freely without any duetie to vsward and settle our trust there so as we hope not for any welfare otherwise than bycause God sheweth himselfe mercifull towards vs. I haue declared already wherefore this serueth Surely men would alwayes fayne cloke themselues with some presumptuousnesse as wee see that Adam dyd who though hys owne sinne vpbrayded him so as he was afrayde of Gods maiestie did neuerthelesse seeke fig-leaues to couer himselfe withall At the same poynt are we Howbeit it is but a beguiling of ourselues too come before God lyke whytelimed walles and to thinke to be accepted at his hand for he hath an eye to the soundnesse of the hart which is not to be found in any man For so long as he letteth vs alone in our owne kinde wee bee naughtworth how fayre a show soeuer wee make too the worldward Againe when he hath reformed vs and giuen vs a good desire too walke in his feare whiche thyng all the faithfull must needes haue it doth not follow therefore that our affection is full and perfect no it commeth farre short of it And yet that which we haue we hold of his meere grace So haue we not any thing to glory of or to rest vpon howsoeuer the world go wee cannot ground ourselues vpon our owne deseruings True it is that the faythfull must seeke to gyue themselues wholly vnto God for wee cannot bee members of our Lord Iesus Christ except wee be sanctifyed by hys holy spirite as wee shall see in tyme and place hereafter And our Lorde Iesus Christ cannot be deuided nor cut in peeces as infinite as he is Although our sinnes bee forgiuen vs by hys death and passion and washed away and clenzed by hys bloud and that the same washing be gyuen vs to fashion agayne the image of God hys father in vs so that we must bee made new creatures in hym yet notwithstanding howsoeuer we fare it is not for vs too preace boldly before God as though we were worthy to be receyued or as though wee brought him any thing wherewith to binde him For if we presume to alleadge one thing or other to him first and formost all that we haue commeth of him Agayne on the otherside we be conuicted of a hundred thousand faultes and when we go about any good worke we shall no sooner haue done it but it shall be infected with some spot or other so that if it bee tried rigorously it shall always be subiect to condemnation Then must we needes keepe our mouthes shut so that if wee will haue God fauorable and mercifull to vs we must bring nothing with vs but onely fayth no but only fayth Neuerthelesse it is not meant that euery man shoulde take the bridle in his necke too do euill as I haue declared already heeretofore it is not meant that wee shoulde bee voyde of Goddes spirite nor that wee shoulde welter in all wickednesse no but heere the cace concerneth onely oure trust wherevppon wee may ground ourselues too call GOD our father that we may be sure of the eternall heritage If we go to our owne works as hath bin declared afore there will be no certeintie at all For why it is not a worke or twayne or three that is required but a perfect obedience which was neuer yet found in any mortall creature Truly if the Angells should come to account before God they could not answer to that perfection of rightuousnesse much lesse were it possible that we which are but wormes and which sucke vp sin as a fish doth water as Iob sayth should be so sound that God should receiue vs for our worthinesse To bee short wee must quite and cleane giue ouer the trust of our owne works and acknowledge that there is nothing but condemnation in vs if we mind to haue the promis performed towards vs. Thus ye see in effect what Sainct Paule meant too declare in thys text And now he addeth immediatly that before faith came we were kepte vnder the law and as it were shet vp till the faith was reueled Heere the words Lawe and Faith would be somewhat darksome if they were not opened more at large For sometimes when the scripture speaketh of fayth it meeneth all religion and comprehendeth all the instructions that are giuen vs in Gods booke Sometimes it meeneth the certeintie of beleefe which we ought too haue when wee come to pray vnto God bycause wee may not step to him at al aduenture but accept the grace that he offereth vs. Then in asmuche as Gods promises depēdeth not vpon our deserts but is altogither freely and frankly giuen vnto vs and we are made partakers by our Lorde Iesus Christ if we imbrace the same our so doing is called fayth and so hath Sainct Paule taken it hitherto and likewise in his Epistle to the Romanes and in all other places where he discourseth or treateth how we may be iustifyed before God or how we may come in his fauour for
they be both one thing as I haue sayde afore But in this text the word Faith hath yet a more peculiar signification which is the reuelation or discouerie which wee haue by the Gospell For it is very certaine that the forefathers had the spirit of faith or beleefe according as I haue shewed you alreadye that Abraham was iustifyed bycause he beleeued God that wee also must be fashioned like to his example in that behalfe as whereby we be made his children to come to the kingdom of heauē Then had faith his full strength at all times and there neuer was any other meanes to set God and men at one but yet was not the fayth reueled in Abrahams time bycause our Lorde Iesus Christe who is the very pledge and substance therof was not yet come intoo the world Thus ye see how we be iustifyed freely at this day and without any desert of our owne And why is that For he that beleeueth that Iesus Christ died for our sinnes and is risen againe for our iustification hath all the whole And as it is sayd in another place our beleeuing with our hart maketh vs ryghtuouse and our confessing with our mouth maketh vs safe But now had Abraham had oure Lord Iesus Christ discouered vnto him as we haue him at this day in somuch that he is as good as crucified among vs as Sainct Paule hath sayd heeretofore his fayth had bin all one with ours But it was yet after a sort ouercouered that is to say although Abraham trusted in Iesus Christ hoping for saluation at his hande and although he vtterly distrusted himselfe knowing that there was vertue in him that might go for payment before God yet was he hild still vnder shadowes was fayne to looke at Iesus Christ a far off For he was not yet named the day sunne of rightuousenesse as hee is called in Malachie Now then we see what Sainct Paul meant by saying that faith was not yet come namely that the cōuenient time of the reueling of it to the world as it is nowadayes by the Gospel was not yet come so that the fathers were shet vp vnder the lawe So therefore heere is some peece of difference and some peece of likenesse in somuch that if it bee demaunded what the state of the fathers wer that liued vnder the law it is to be answered that partly it differed from ours and partly was al one How were they both one In this that God had shewed himselfe mercifull to our father howbeit for our Lord Iesus Christs sake and that Abraham perceyuing how it stoode him on hand to put his whole trust in the meere grace of God gaue ouer himself and so his beleeuing was reckened to him for rightuousnesse as we haue seene afore In lyke cace was it with all the Patriarks and Prophets So then their taking was all one with ours in that they grounded themselues vppon our Lord Iesus Christ and boasted not of any thing saue onely Gods mercy and had the promises of the inheritance of the heauenly life as we haue Yet was there also a diuersitie bycause they were fayne to haue Sacrifises washings and such other like thinges till the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ And when the law was giuen so as there was a Preest that entered into the Sanctuarie to be an intercessor and the people stoode aloofe a great way of and a veyle or Curtayne was drawen in the middes of the Tabernacle to make a darkening of things ye see they were thinges wherein the state of the fathers differed from ours for during the absence of our Lord Iesus Christ they had Ceremonies figures whereas we haue the very body substance of them as saith S. Paule to the Colossians For God biddeth not vs to offer any mo Calues Sheepe or Oxem to wipe out the spots of our sinnes But he telleth vs that we must be sprinkled with the bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ through the power of the holy Ghost that in our Lord Iesus Christ we shall find all that is requisite for our saluatiō Ye see thē that as now faith reigneth in ful power that is to say whereas the fathers had but a little tast of it according to their mesure it is fully opēly reueled vnto vs. And for this cause S. Paul saith that the fathers were after a sort restreined or shut vp so that he likeneth the law to a bōdage in very deede so was it he will hereafter shew what maner of bōdage it is It is not ment that the fathers obteined not the euerlasting life which we hope for or that we shal not be crowned all togither at the last day but that God was fain for a time to weeld thē like little babes And for that cause also doth he vse the similitude of a scholemaster wil againe set down a third similitude of Tutors gouerners Howbeit for asmuch as this shal be handled in his due place let it suffise vs as now to vnderstād that whereas S. Paul likeneth the law vnto a bōdage it is to shew far greater fauor to vs thā he did to the fathers that died before the cōming of our Lord Iesus Christ bicause he vseth vs now after a freer fashiō And the secōd similitude doth yet better expresse that the Iewes were as children we now are as mē growē For this word Scolemaster betokeneth a master of childrē he saith thē that the law executed the office of a Scolemaster to traine vp the childhood of the people in old time And herevpon it may be cōcluded that the faithfull which beleued in Iesus Christ before he was manifested to the worlde were Gods children as wel as we And if they were children then were they also heirs Herin we see that we must not make thē like brute beasts as some fantasticall heads do which thinke that the Iewes contēted themselues with the possession of the plentifull land that was promised thē cared for no more but to be wel nurrished sed ther for that is too cursed a blasphemie But Iesus Christe serueth not to fil mēs bellies to feede their paunches he serueth to bring vs to the heauenly life It is said that Abraham saw his day that then was the thing wheron he rested his cōscience And wee see how Dauid did always looke vp higher thā the world Iacob at his death euē though he was giuing vp the last gasp and looked not to liue any longer in the world said he would trust in the saluatiō of God The aunciēt fathers thē were not little childrē after such a sort that they were not marked with Gods holy spirite nor called by him to the inheritance of the endlesse life but onely in the measure of faythe which was the differēce betwene thē vs. And how was that Euē bicause the law whiche they had was yet wrapped in figures shadowes whereas now Iesus Christ
the end we shoulde knowe that onely fayth ought to suffice vs to the atteyning of saluation without seeking any other meanes one way or other too helpe vs. VVhat shoulde wee desyre more than that God shoulde acknowledge vs for his children VVill we needes haue an ouerplus added too so inestimable a benefite Ye see then that our full felicitie and perfect glorie is that we haue leaue to call vppon God as our father not doubting but that seeing he hath receyued vs into his fauour hee will also handle vs as his owne children But howe shall we come by that Saint Paule sayth it is onely fayth that maketh vs parttakers of that dignitie Then let vs conclude that the Lawe can nothing aduauntage vs or else it must needes bee that wee bee woonderfull couetous yea and as good as out of our wits to desire more than too be the children of God The Angelles are greatly honoured in the holy Scripture and yet the cheefe tytle that is giuen them is that they be the children of God Now seeing that we we I say poore wormes of the earth in whom there is nothing but filthynesse no nor aught but corruption of sinne bee matched with the Angelles insomuch that God openeth vs the kingdome of heauen and intendeth too haue vs fellowes with them who bee vertues are nere about him seing I say that we be made partakers of that glorie shall we be so presumptuous to seeke I wot not what moreouer Truely it is not onely fayth that maketh vs to obteyne that benefite VVherfore lette vs learne to renounce all other meanes that may bee set before vs for when men offer vs any other helpes as though the fayth that we haue in him were not sufficient it is but a turning of vs away from our Lorde Iesus Christ That then is Saint Paules meaning But wee shall neuer conceyue the frute that is conteined in this texte except we alwayes beare in minde that by this worde Fayth S. Paule meaneth to exclude all the desert worthinesse that men suppose or imagin thēselues able to bring with thē vnto God VVhen they will needs go through with the matter by their owne power and vertues It is all one as if they would cut off a peece of the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ But he cannot be rent in peeces or deuided Therefore all the working of our saluation must come of him alone and we must not skulk heere and there nor seeke bywayes but come right forth vnto him by the streyte way of fayth Herevpon S. Paule addeth that beeing baptised in Iesus Christ we haue put him on And this is too take away a doubt that might be cast heere namely howe it is possible that we should become the children of God seeing that that dignitie is peculiar to our Lorde Iesus Christ For whereas he is called the Sonne of God the Apostle sheweth that that tytle cannot be verified of the verie Angels of heauen True it is as I haue sayde heretofore that they be named the children of God howbeeit that is not without an addition So is it out of doubt that there is not any creature to whom that dignitie belongeth But nowe seeing that Iesus Christ is the only sonne of God howe doth the same extende vntoo vs S. Paule declareth that it is by reason of the vnion that is betwixt him and vs according as it is sayd in the .xvij. Chapter of S. Iohn Then if we were not one with our Lorde Iesus Christ surely wee should haue none acquaintance at all wyth God for we be quite cutte off from all hope of lyfe by sinne Yea and wee must needes be as deadly enimies vnto him and he vnto vs till hee haue altered and renued vs. Howsoeuer the worlde go beeing separated from Iesus Christ and considered in our owne nature we bee vnworthie too be called men and therefore much lesse can we boast that God is our father But here as I sayde Saint Paule intended to assoyle that question saying that by Baptisme we be clothed with our Lord Iesus Christ And this similitude of clothing is verie ryfe in the holy Scripture and it betokeneth in effect that Iesus Christ is our apparell or rayment whereby all is couered and buryed that might make vs to be reiected at Gods hand and grace is purchased vnto vs so as he doth not any more sift vs and search vs in our selues but accepteth vs as if we came in the very person of his owne Sonne To be short Saint Paule ment to shew here the vnion that is betwene our Lord Iesus Christ and all the faythfull which are the members of his body And like as all the substance of a tree commeth from the root and al the powers and abilities of a natural bodie come from the head euen so is it betwene the sonne of God and vs. For as I haue sayd alredy we haue not so much as one drop of the heauenly life but of his inspyring or breathing into vs. Therefore if we will come vnto God and be partakers of the holy Ghost and of the giftes that belong to the endlesse life let vs be in Iesus Christ and not thinke our selues to be any thing or aught worth of our selues And for the same cause our Lorde Iesus Christ in the sayd text which I alledged out of the xvij of S. Iohn setting out the true and perfect happinesse of his fayeth Father I pray thee that they may bee made one with vs. Ye see then that the way for vs to get out of the dungeon of death wherein we were drowned is to be vnited to our Lord Iesus Christ by the bond of fayth Now S. Paule sayth that that is done in Baptisme Not that all they which are baptized are true members of Iesus Christ in deede for we see the cleane contrarie insomuch that there are some which vnhallow and defile all the holinesse of Baptisme and are giltie of high treason too God bicause that whereas they professe to holde of Iesus Christ they despyze and spyte him and are as dung and filthinesse too marre all things Baptisme then maketh vs not all Christians and againe wee knowe that too bee made the childe of God is too great a benefite to bee fathered vppon a corruptible Element VVhat is the water Too say that the water begetteth or regenerateth vs againe and that thereby we be deliuered from death and obteyne the glorie wherein God lyfteth vs vp too himselfe as say I a peruerting of all order But first of all let vs marke here that when Saint Paule speaketh of Baptisme he presupposeth that we receyue the thing that is offered vnto vs in it Many that are baptised do wype away the grace of God and notwithstanding that it be offered them yet they make themselues vnworthie of it through their vnbeleef lewdnesse and rebellion Thus yee see that the power of baptisme is disfeated in many men But when there happeneth
How soeuer the cace stand let vs marke well that he which was Lord of heauen and earth tooke that subiection vpoÌ„ him to set vs free from it For we see how our Lord Iesus Christ was circumcyzed and when he came to mans age he kept diligently all that belonged too the lawe of Moyses not that he was bound to do it but to put away the bondage and to breake the bond wherewith wee were as it were pinched and fettered Therefore as oft as the Gospell speaketh to vs of libertie whereof S. Paule doth also treate in this text let vs come backe to our Lord Iesus Christ assuring our selues that he became not bonde after that fashion for nothing Now there is nothing in him which coÌ„teyneth not the performance of our saluation Then must we needes conclude that wee be not any more subiect to the bondage of the lawe or else it would turne too the dishonour of our Lord Iesus Christe For what a thing were it if after his yeelding of himself to subiectioÌ„ for our sakes we should still hold scorne of libertie It were more conuenient that heauen and earth should chaunge their nature than too say that the sonne of God is come downe here bylow and hath abaced himselfe in maner aforesayd and yet that we should esteeme it but as a play or trifling thing For what a dealing were that Now theÌ„ let vs learn that we may now serue our God freely and come directly vnto him without being hild any more so streitly vnder the yoke of the law as the auncient fathers were bicause Iesus Christ is come hath set vs free I haue told you already heretofore in what wise we be deliuered from the law It is not for that it remayneth not still as a rule to frame our life by so as God may gouerne vs haue all superioritie ouer vs. For what a thing were it if we should be worse theÌ„ the Heathen folke vnbeleeuers But it is certaine that they haue the law ingraued in their hartes as sayeth S. Paule He that neuer went too schoole ne hath had any teaching at all nor euer hath herd or red any thing may notwithstaÌ„ding discerne betweene good euill Not that he hath a perfect skill but bicause that howsoeuer the world go with him God to take away all excuce of ignorance would that men should haue that euidence printed in their hartes that theft whoredome extortion deceyt periurie drunkennesse and such other like things are vices to be condemned Also it was his will to haue men know that to blaspheme his name is an irksome thing The Heathen folke knew all this without any teaching Now then if we should be lawlesse vnder pretence that our lord Iesus Christ reigneth ouer vs and hath set vs at libertie what a thing were it There woulde bee greater coÌ„fusion in the Church than there is where Satan hath made a minglemangle and put al things out of order so as there is no bridle at all But whereas it is sayd that we be no more vnder the lawe it is in the same respect whereof mention hath bin made heretofore namely that the Lawe shall not execute any more this sharpnesse and rigour vppon vs too say vnto vs cursed shall he bee that fulfilleth not all things For so long as the threatening remayneth and standeth in force we must needes be as men out of their wittes and as folke vpon the racke ready to be torne in peeces To be short we can haue no rest except the sentence of the law be abolished which is that they which performe not all that is coÌ„tayned in the law shall be accursed But coÌ„trarywise let our consciences beare vs record that God pitieth vs and beareth with our infirmities as a father doth towardes his children and passeth not vpoÌ„ the vyces that are in vs but hideth burieth them so as our seruis is acceptable to him though there be many things amisse in it then are we no more subiect to the law Not that we should be quite without rule nor that the commaundements ought not to be preached continually vnto vs to the end we may know what God hath ordeyned be hild in awe by it but that we should not be out of hart if we fall or halt or make any false steppes or that if we cannot discharge our selues of al things so perfectly as were requisite yet we should not bee vtterly dismayed knowing well that God will alwayes hold vs vp by the hand not enter into accouÌ„t with vs to sift our life rigorously moreouer bycause the Ceremonies that were before the coÌ„ming of our Lord Iesus Christe are no more in vse as they were towardes the fathers of old time who were trayned by them as in their childhood For wheÌ„ the brute beasts were offered in sacrifize euery maÌ„ behild there his owne death as though the bottomlesse gulfe of hell had bin opened too swallow vp the whole world At this day wee knowe that the Sonne of God hath by his offering vp of himselfe in sacrifize and by his sheading of his bloud for vs purchaâ—â—d vs euer lasting redeÌ„ptioÌ„ so that we come with our heads vpright before God not doubting but that we obteyne life by the death of him that was not subiect too it but of his owne good will made himself subiect too it as our suretie to the end that we might be quit and discharged by his death passion Thus ye see that at this day the law is abolished towardes vs that we be deliuered froÌ„ it euen to obtayne the adoption Howbeit in speaking so S. Paule meeneth not that the Patriarkes Kings Prophets and other faythfull folkes that liued vnder the old TestameÌ„t were not the children of God as well as wee or that they knew not themselues to be adopted by fayth as well as wee but that the sayd adoption was not yet so reueled as it is now adayes For as we haue seene the lawe was a Tutor too rule little children But we be come to the age of men bicause the sonne of God hath shewed himselfe and brought vs all perfectnesse by his comming Then seing it is so wee do now inioy the adoption which the fathers did but as it were taste of afore bicause the tyme was not yet come Not that God wrought not in them with such measure of his spirite as he thought good but bicause the cace coÌ„cerneth the order of gouernment that God hild not the persones themselues as I haue sayd already For in those dayes there were shadowes and figures so that it was as a chayne of bondage but now that our Lord Iesus Christ calleth vs to him and that the veyle of the temple is rent asunder he hath prepared vs a Sanctuarie not buylded with mans hand but of a heaueÌ„ly making whereinto wee may boldly enter in asmuch as he is gone in thither before vs. Ye see then that we be receyued fully into
this adoption bicause the law hath no more power ouer vs as it had in the time of the figures and shadowes Nowe too confirme this matter S. Paule addeth that God sheweth that he taketh vs for his children bycause the spirit of his sonne is in vs crying father Speaking of the holy ghost he doth by a circumstance terme him the spirite of our Lorde Iesus Christ For by what title can we be Gods children but bycause wee be meÌ„bers of his onely sonne to whom that right honour and dignitie belongeth by nature For in that our Lord Iesus Christ is called the only sonne of God not only men but also the very Angelles of heauen are excluded from that dignitie so that it belongeth to none but onely to Iesus Christ Howbeeit for asmuch as we bee ioyned vnto him and he will not be separated from vs but sheweth himself to be our head and we haue such vnion with him as the meÌ„bers haue with the head therfore he sayth that eyther we must haue the spirite of our Lord Iesus Christ or else we can haue no familiar accesse to our God too call vpon him as our father and it were too great a presumption for vs too take that honour vppon vs. For if a begger would make himself a riche mans sonne folke would laugh him to skorne and he should be shaken off with al the shame that might be And how then should wee sillie woormes of the earth yea and full of all infection and filthinesse go match our selues with the Angels of heauen to say that God is our father Truely the very Angelles themselues cannot chalendge suche nobilitie but by the meanes of our Lord Iesus Christ bycause he is their head Then were it greate pryde in vs if wee would take vppon vs too stie aboue the Angelles without coÌ„ming in the name of our Lorde Iesus Christ or without hauing his spirit that we might be accepted as members of his body and bee intertayned as it were in his persone And therefore also it is sayde that he maketh intercession for vs and that wee call vppon God in his name For if he were not our spokesman how could we hope too haue our petitions receyued Let vs a little consider the feeblenesse that is in vs when wee intend too pray vntoo God Although wee sigh vnfaynedly and although wee haue good motions to lift vs vp yet do wee faynt and they that thinke too come vnto God with a perfect zele beguile themselues yea euen to grosly But they that humbly acknowledge themselues to be as they bee doo perceyue themselues too halt and stumble euen in the very vertue and streÌ„gth that is giuen theÌ„ Howbeit for asmuch as our Lord Iesus Christ is in the middes staÌ„deth there in our behalf and maketh vs to come neere therfore we may boldly pray And for the same cause did the high Priest in the time of the lawe beare twelue precious stones vpon his brest and other twelue behind vpon his shoulders wherein were written the names of the twelue tribes of Israell For although the people were present in the porche or outter tabernacle yet was there a veyle betwixt him and theÌ„ so as the Sanctuarie was hiddeÌ„ nothing was seene of the things that were done within for a witnesse of Gods presence It wâ—â—â— ynough that the high priest went in in the name of them al hauing in his hand the bloud wherwith Gods wrath was to bee appeazed Then had he the sayd tablet at his brest wherein the names of the twelue trybes that is too say of Gods people were ingrauen Also he had them vppon his shoulders that it might bee sayd howe he was there in the name of the whole Churche Thus yee see how wee crie euen by the spirite of our Lord Iesus Christ vntoo God his father with full assurance that he knoweth and auoweth vs for members of his sonne by whose meanes he receyueth vs into his heauenly kingdome and setteth open the gate vntoo vs so as wee haue accesse vntoo him familiarly And this is expressed yet better by the woord Crie S. Paule coulde well haue sayd wee say but he goeth further as neede was For as I haue touched heretofore here he compareth the old fathers with vs and sheweth that our state is better than theirs bicause God hath shewed himselfe more bountifull towardes vs than he did towardes them that were vnder the lawe That is the cause why he sayeth that we in these dayes do crie out that God is our father yea euen with open mouth and ful libertie and that we come boldly to him glorying that we be taken for his childreÌ„ True it is that the fathers vnder the lawe did also vse the same maner of speeche as when they sayd Lord what shall become of vs if thou receyue vs not to mercie Abraham knoweth vs not no more doth Iacob VVee bee borne of them as touching the flesh howbeit all this naturall kinred is nothing in comparison of the spirituall kinred whereinto thou hast ingreffed vs in the persone of thy sonne Therfore thou art our father After that maner did the whole Churche pray vntoo God as Esay reporteth it And there are many such textes And out of doubte it had bin impossible for the fathers too haue offered vp good petitions and prayers vnto God without that ground that is too wit vnlesse they had bin fully resolued that God tooke them for his children For that is the thing wherein the faythfull differed from the Heathen and vnbeleeuers in all ages The Heathen menne did in deede pray vntoo God howbeeit that was but at all aduenture not knowing whither they should bee herd or no. But our prayer muste bee grounded vppon fayth And Sainct Paules saying shall alwayes bee true namely that wee cannot pray vntoo God except we first know and vnderstand his good will towardes vs. Therefore it must needes followe that they whiche liued vnder the Lawe were fully assured in their consciences that God accepteth them for his children Howbeeit this was shewed them as yee woulde say but with half face so that they prayed beyng wrapped in many shadowes and figures whiche taught them grosly It is true that they offered not themselues without fayth for then had it booted them verie little and that it stood them on hand to ouer come all the lettes that were set before their eyes but yet were they not able too call vpon God with the full certeintie whiche is communicated too vs vnder the Gospell And this is yet better expressed in the eyght too the Romanes where Sainct Paule sayeth that wee haue not now receyued the spirit of fearfulnesse and bondage but the spirit of boldnesse so as we bee able too crie Abba father And by the contrarie member he inlighteneth the matter that might bee darksome in this Texte by reason of the shortnesse of it For he setteth downe the spirite of bondage bycause the Lawe was giuen
foorth all the treasures of his mercie in our Lorde Iesus Christ Nowe this must needes comes of Gods spirite according as it is sayd in the first to the Corinthians that we do not now by our naturall wit comprehende that God loueth vs for that passeth all the power of man God then must be faine to lift vs vp aboue the worlde for it lieth not in our owne power to certifie our selues of Gods loue Therefore the spirit giueth it vs that is to say we haue it not by nature nor by inheritance neither do we purchace it by our desertes but God of his owne mere goodnesse assureth vs of it to the intent wee might resort vnto him familiarly in all our needes But contrariwise the Papists after their own imagination deeme that we cannot be sure of Gods loue And these wretches are so blinde that they say it is presumption if we desyre to haue any certentie of it yea and so is it if we would haue it of our selues For if a man woulde vpon his owne conceyte beare himselfe in hande that God is his father he shoulde be but a fantasticall childe and a foole at all assayes like one of these dizardes that gad vp and downe the streetes and play the Kings and Princes But if we haue the sayde recorde of our God should wee then doubt of it still Is it a presumptuousnesse to do God so much honour as to beleeue him to be faythfull and to rest our selues vpon his worde Againe on the other syde when we go to pray is it not a good forwardnesse that hee gyueth vs when hee sayeth come too mee If wee had no commaundement to pray vntoo God surely it were too great a rashnesse to preace into his presence But seeing that hee calleth vs yea and taryeth not till wee seeke hym but preuenteth vs and telleth vs that he requireth nothing but that we should come to him and giueth vs both the motion and mynde too pray vnto him if we take him for our God let vs yeelde him his deserued prayse by seeking all our welfare at his hande Seeing say I that he hath so preuented vs shoulde we dispute whither we ought to follow him or no Is it not a blasphemie that tendeth to the defacing of all Gods promises Thus yee see what wee haue too remember when mention is made of this worde Crie But yet for all this howsoeuer the worlde go with vs though wee bee fayne too hacke it out lyke folke that haue halfe forgone theyr speeche and bee straytened with so many ouerthwartes that wee cannot fashion out one sillable or iote aright yet whatsoeuer come of it let vs not leaue goyng vnto God vpon this grounde that he will succour vs at our neede and redresse the infirmities that plucke vs backe To be short when the spirite worketh in vs to stirre vs vp to the gronings whereof I haue spoken let vs seeke God and though we be at our wittes ende and knowe not whereat to begin let vs alwayes go forward to the marke that is set before vs here And Saint Paule sayth purposely that we crie Abba father to signifie that it is not the Iewes onely whome God will haue to call vpon him and to flee to him for succor nowadayes but that he will haue the whole worlde to do it And forasmuch as the Gospell which is the key to open vs the gate of Paradice is published euerie where nowe he will haue all men to inioy the right which heeretofore had bin as the speciall priuiledge of the linage of Abraham Thus ye see after what maner we crie Abba father Nowe the first worde Abba signifieth a father howbeeit Saint Paule vseth the language that was hilde still as most common among the Iewes For the Hebrewe tongue was not so pure after the captiuitie of Babilō as it was before but was mingled with the Chaldey tongue Howbeeit Saint Paules meening heere is to shewe that vnder the Gospell all men in common ought to cal vppon God with open mouth bicause his adoption was offered to all Nations and the wall was broken downe which deuided the Iewes and Gentiles asunder so that henceforth he will haue vs to be equall and in lyke state Ye see then that wee may call vpon God in all languages as it were with one mouth and we must not doubt but that God receiueth vs and giueth vs leaue to preace vnto him inasmuch as we haue the doctrine of the Gospell to leade vs which is an infallible guide for vs. Now by this meanes we see that euery mans praying vnto God ought to bee with vnderstanding For if a man that vnderstandeth no more but his owne mother tongue shoulde pray vnto God in Greeke or Hebrew surely it were but a daliance and an vtter peruerting and marring of the rule of praying aright and there coulde be nothing but hypocrisie and feyned deuotion in it I haue tolde you alreadie that we cannot pray vnto God without fayth too bee sure that he will heere vs. And what a thing is it if wee knowe not what we haue to aske at his hande Is it not a defiling of so holy a thing as prayer is VVe knowe that to call vpon God and too flee to him alone for succour is the Sacrifize that hee requireth at our handes bicause that therein we confesse him to bee our father and the verie welspring of all welfare Nowe then it is meete that wee should resort vnto him which is the rewarder according as the Apostle sayth in the .xj. to the Hebrewes that hee disappoynteth not those that seeke him but that they shall alwayes finde that there is nothing better than to flee vnto him Therefore when we pray vnto God we must haue vnderstanding to know what wee craue of him Marke that for one poynt Moreouer whereas it is sayde that wee crie Abba father thereby we be done to vnderstande that the diuersitie of languages hindereth not the vnitie of faith Esay seemeth to vse a cleane contrarie maner of speaking when hee sayth that all men shall speake the language of Canaan that is to say the Hebrew tongue Nowe to be Christians and faythfull beleeuers it is not of necessitie that we must haue skil of that language but he meaneth that God shall be worshipped in all languages And hee speaketh of the tongue of Canaan bicause the Hebrew was a holy tongue wherin Gods secretes were conteyned Forasmuch then as that language was after a sort consecrated vnto God he sayth that God shall bee honoured of all men and all men shall renounce their blasphemies superstitions and abuses and there shall be one conformitie of faith among men and being instructed both in the Law and the Gospell they shall all make one selfe same profession so as there shall be one tunablenesse and good agreement among all men Howbeit S. Paule ment to expresse here more clearely after what maner we call vpon God namely that euery man
that fashion And why For it is all one to pull Christ in peeces and too giue him but the one halfe of that which belongeth fully and wholly vnto him alone He is giuē vs to be our rightuousnesse he is called our peace what betokeneth the word Rightuousnesse That God accepteth vs freely for oure Lord Iesus Christs sake Now thē if we say that we win Gods fauor by our own deserts and that Iesus Christ is but a supplyer of wāts is it not a rending of him in peeces and a dismembering of hym as much as in vs lyeth But that cannot be done nor suffered Moreouer our Lord Iesus Christ is giuen for our satisfaction or amendsmaking for there is none other meanes to set God and vs at one but by knowing that we bee quite and cleane discharged and freely quit of the bond of endlesse death For if wee thinke to ransome our selues by our owne desertes and say that if there be any want in vs Christ shall make it good as a small matter it is a flat mockerie and that is in no wise to be borne with VVe see then that the cause why S. Paule telleth vs that Iesus Christ shal profit vs nothing is that mē should not beguile themselues in deuising a newe Iesus Christ that should do but halfe his dutie for we must receyue him in such wise as he is giuen vs of God his father Now he is giuen vs with condition that we should rid our selues of all selftrust and resort wholly vnto him and furthermore that it should suffice vs to haue him too be our head and thervpon serue God his father offering him al that we haue and assuring our selues that although the same all bee nothing yet notwithstanding howsoeuer we fare it fayleth not to bee taken in good part bicause the adoption that is gone afore groūded in our Lorde Iesus Christ maketh vs and our workes to be alwayes accepted of God vs I say that are nothing woorth and our workes that are but pelting trash and yet notwithstanding God taketh them in good worth bicause he looketh not what wee bee or what we do nor vpon the qualitie or quantitie of our workes but only looketh at this that we come vnto him as members of his only sonne resting wholy vpon the sacrifice whereby he hath redemed vs. And therefore S. Paule for a larger confirmation addeth that he protesteth and witnesseth that he which is circumcised is a detter of the performance of the whole lawe For sayth he Iesus Christ is vnauailable when folke will needes iustifie themselues by that meane VVee haue a declaration cleare and easie ynough of the things that Paule hathe sayde and wee must marke it well bicause it is hard too perswade mē that Iesus Christ is vtterly vnauaylable when they go about to make him vnauylable in any part For although the Turkes and other Heathen folke neuer knewe what Iesus Christ is yet haue they had an opinion fully lyke the Papistes and a man shall finde them to be both of one stampe For there were neuer yet any heathenmē in the world which haue not bin of opinion that they could not satisfie God and yet they haue gloried in their owne workes beleeuing that their saluation or welfare proceeded of them The Heathen men then did alwayes beare themselues in hande that they were able to purchase grace and too deserue somewhat at Gods hande And therevppon they offered Sacryfices knowing not that the same were a figure of Iesus Christ but yet howsoeuer the worlde went they thought too make some satisfaction or amendes Euen so also did the Iewes when they had once marred and corrupted the true meening of the Lawe As much also doo the Papistes at this day fully resoluing that God accepteth theyr dooings and that hee is in a maner bounde too them so too doo Let them then bargaine with him too allowe of theyr dooings though they doo amysse For they bee sure ynough that they can not make satisfaction too the full nor in all poynts but yet on the other syde they say that they can doo more than God hath commaunded and that that shall serue for recompence and payment Nowe forasmuch as it is so harde a matter too perswade men that Iesus Christ will not serue their turne by halues it standeth vs on hand to marke this Text so much the better where Saint Paule sayth that whosoeuer is circumcysed is a detter of the performance of the whole Lawe VVhen Saint Paule speaketh after that sort of Circumcision wee muste marke that hee talketh not according to Gods first instituting of it for too what purpose did God giue it vntoo Abraham Hee gaue it him as a seale of the rightuousnesse of fayth and so dooth he himselfe say in the fourth too the Romanes Therefore the Circumcising of Abraham was not too make him a detter of the performance of the whole Lawe but contrarywise too assure him of the forgiuenesse of his sinnes and that God accepted him for one of his children for oure Lorde Iesus Christes sake Yee see then that Circumcision did set our father Abraham at full libertie VVhy then did hee take it Bicause God gaue it him as a recorde and Sacrament of his free goodnesse But contrarywise those agaynste whome Saint Paule reasoneth tooke Circumcision as a meritorious worke and thought therby to deserue at Gods hande they entered intoo a kinde of bargayning with him as if they shoulde say verie well I am beholding to you for such a thing and I haue done this or that in recompence of it Therfore whensoeuer we fall to indenting after that sort with God we become detters of the performance of the whole Lawe As if he shoulde say yee must not bargaine in this cace men must not beare themselues in hand that they can partly binde God so as he should of right bee in theyr dette and bounde of necessitie to take them into his Paradice for dooing this or that for him No no sayth Saint Paule wee muste go more substancially too worke wee must not fall to bargayning with God to say that he bindeth vs to performe the whole Lawe and that we binde him to giue vs euerlasting life If we come to that poynt wee bee detters of the whole Lawe To bee short Saint Paule stryueth heere agaynst the diuelishe errour that reigneth in the Popedome They terme it a parting rightuousnesse that is too say a rightuousnesse that commeth partly of gods grace and partly of meritorious workes And why so For it is wel knowne that there was neuer yet man in this worlde that performed Gods Lawe and that doth experience shewe too much Forasmuch then as the Papistes as shamelesse as they bee doo knowe well ynough as I sayde that it is too manifest a thing that men are not able to keepe all the Lawe they say we mainteyne not that we bee fully rightuous in all poyntes but wee say that Iesus Christ
farre ouerseene as to take vpon him that he hath performed the whole Lawe Then if all of vs be found giltie of offence against God wee be as good as vtterly vndone till our Lord Iesus Christe reach vs his hand Therefore it followeth that wee must forget the rightuousnesse of the lawe and lay it vnder foote so as it may bee vtterly abolished and therevpon that wee go naked too our Lord Iesus Christe for remedie confessing our owne pouertie and not beyng ashamed too bee defaced with all reproche before God that we may be clothed againe with his glorie Thus ye see in effect what we haue too gather vpon this text where S. Paule sayeth that Iesus Christ is made vnprofitable if men hope to iustifie themselues by the Lawe For it hath bin too common an errour in all ages that at the first setting forth and first brunt men will needes pay God all that is due too him and in the end seeke startingholes when they see no power nor abilitie in them too doo it VVell say they though wee cannot doo all yet will wee do somewhat But in this cace it is not for vs to follow our owne imaginacions for God will iudge vs according too his owne woorde Therefore let vs not recken without our host as the Prouerb sayes by making our selues beleeue that God will accept what we think good but let vs vnderstand that Iesus Christ cannot boote vs at all except wee seeke the fulnesse of our saluation in him For it is not sayde in the Scripture that the father hath giuen vs him as a help to obtaine our saluation but that he is giuen vs to be our rightuousnesse and lyfe It followeth then that in our own selues there is nothing but wickednesse endlesse death til we haue recouered the thing in Iesus Christ which wee lost and were vtterly bereft of in Adam And these twoo things are ioyned here togither namely that Iesus Christ profiteth vs not at all and that wee be fallen from grace according as in very truth all the grace or fauour that we must finde at Gods hand is coÌ„municated to vs by the meanes of our Lord Iesus Christ And it is a very notable poynt For euery man will well ynough graunt that we must resort vntoo God bycause he is the welspring of all welfare But in the meane whyle the most part of men wander in their own windlasses and in stead of coÌ„ming vntoo God do go from him as it is too bee seene in the Papacie where wretched hipocrites the ignorant sort say that their gadding after their Sainctes and puppets their marâ—yring of theÌ„selues in their foolish deuotions is to get Gods fauour But in the meane whyle Iesus Christ is let alone and no man makes accouÌ„t of him but they rather hie theÌ„ to some stocke or stone which they call their Lady than to the Sonne of God And wherof coÌ„meth this Euen bicause they know not how God hath giuen vs his grace nor after what maner he will haue vs too seeke it nor what way and order it behoueth vs to hold Therefore when we be once throughly resolued that God is our father also know perfectly that what soeuer we haue neede of he will haue vs to draw it from out of our Lord Iesus Christ who is as a spring that was vnder the earth and afterward is opened and floweth abrode that euery man may take his fill of it then say I do we know that Gods grace cannot bee drayned drie but yet dooth it not come at vs but by the meanes of our Lord Iesus Christ Too bee short let vs marke that all that euer belongeth too our saluation is so put intoo the persone of Gods onely sonne that he alone must suffize vs and we go streyght vnto him and take all our contentation there And as I sayd afore let vs keepe our selues from this imagination of thinking to purchace any thing by our desertes for it separateth vs vtterly froÌ„ our Lord Iesus Christ Nowe herevpon S. Paule addeth that wee wayt for the hope of rightuousnesse by fayth in the spirite It serueth to confirme that which he hath sayd heretofore concerning the diuersitie that is betweene vs and the fathers that liued vnder the Lawe For howe was Abraham receyued intoo fauour but through fayth Yet notwithstanding he differed from vs in one thing For in asmuch as Iesus Christ was not yet discouered Ceremonies were giuen him and many mo were added at the publishing of the Lawe according too the neede which the people had too bee so led and guyded Too bee short the faythfull of all ages haue euer sought their whole rightuousenesse in the grace of God Neuerthelesse they were helped by the Ceremonies and shadowes bycause the Gospell was not yet so reueled vntoo them as it is vntoo vs nother was Iesus Christe who is the very pledge of rightuousnesse made yet so manifest But nowe lette vs come too that which Sainct Paule sayeth He setteth heere the spirite now adayes among the Christians to exclude all figures and shadowes as if he should say that it ought too suffize vs that the Sonne of God is appeered too vs for our rightuousnesse and therefore wee muste let go the Ceremonies bycause the shadowe were needelesse now adayes And not in this Texte alone dothe Sainct Paule match the woorde spirite agaynst the shadowes of the Lawe Truly when God in old time did ordeyne Circumcision Sacrifices and suche other things it was not too set folke at a gaze heere bylowe for all things that are contayned in the Lawe are in very deede spirituall There was a patterne of them shewed too Moyses on the Mountayne So then it is certayne that the fathers had a spirituall beleef as well as wee so as they knewe they were not washed and made cleane by three or foure droppes of water nor reconcyled too God by the sacrifizing of a Calfe or of some other brute beast but that oure Lorde Iesus Christe was their onely washyng and clenzing and that hee by the Sacrifyze of his deathe had discharged them quyte or at leastwyse should bycause the thyng was not yet done but the Fathers looked aloofe at the thing which was not yet disclozed And moreouer it is 〈◊〉 without cause that the sayde woord Spirit is set downe heere to shewe that the fathers could not imbrace the grace of our Lord Iesus Christe but by the meanes whiche our Lorde had ordeyned for the time Therefore when any man had done amisse he came with a sacrifice to acknowledge himself woorthie of death before God not too seeke his attonement in a Calfe or in a Sheepe or in any such other thing for that was too bee had in Iesus Christe but yet was it of necessitie that the figure of him should go before As much is to be sayd of the washings and of the residue of those things In these dayes we haue the body sayeth S. Paule and
coÌ„maunding of the Ceremonies was but for a time that we must alwayes haue an eye wheretoo he tended namely that he ment to mainteyne the people in hope bycause Iesus Christe was not yet appeered too the world For if they had not had washings and Sacrifizes and such other like things they would haue bin dismayed and the frayltie of man is such that they would haue quite quayled a huÌ„dred thousand times And therfore although they saw not yet fully how they should be saued yet notwithstanding they had therein as it were liuely pictures lookingglasses where they might behold the grace of god Thus ye see how the shadowes and figures serued but for a time So then S. Paule declareth that he wil not in any poynt diminish the authoritie of God who had stablished that Law among the Iewes nor also say that all those things were frutelesse and vnauaylable but that wee nowe after that our Lord Iesus Christe is manifested are come to the fulnesse of time and therefore that wee muste haue no more veyles to keepe vs froÌ„ beholding him face to face according as he is set foorth to vs in the Gospell For whensoeuer the Gospell is preached vnto vs it is all one as if we saw Gods sonne crucified presently before vs or as if wee sawe his bloud streaming downe for so much as wee be besprinkled with it by the power of the holy Ghost as sayeth S. Peter in his first Epistle So then seing that our lord Iesus Christ hath by his death and passioÌ„ opened vs the way whereby wee may come to God his father it is not for vs to buzie our selues any more about the things that were apointed for the time of his abseÌ„ce It is true that he dwelleth not now adayes in the world but yet haue we his Gospel which is the accoÌ„plishmeÌ„t of al things that are needefull to our saluatioÌ„ therfore it is as good as if he were crucified amoÌ„g vs as S. Paule hath sayd already Now that we haue the vnderstanding of these wordes in Iesus Christ that is to wit that the Gospel is preached let vs come to this addition of his that there is nother circumcizion nor vncircumcizion that is too say that those things must hencefoorth ceasse and men muste reste onely vppon charitie And wherefore doth S. Paule add the woord charitie Too shewe that Christenfolke will not be idle and that they haue ynough too occupie themselues about though they keepe not the figures of the Lawe For albeit that it was Gods meening to leade the people vnto Iesus Christ in ordeyning the Sacrifizes circumcizion and all the residue yet notwithstanding men beyng of themselues corrupt marred all And truely the Iewes were of opinion that they bound God too them in offering vp sacrifize but it was cleane contrarie For he that offered sacrifize did there passe a recognissance to binde himself solemnly to cursednesse as if he shoulde say I am woorthie of death in token whereof a poore beast is heere killed and hath his throte cut and is it the beast that hath deserued it no it is I. Yee see then that a man might there behold his owne sinfulnesse like as also it behoued him to seeke his saluation els where than in himself Lo I pray you how the figures ought to haue brought folke too such a lowlinesse that all men from the greatest too the least should haue condemned themselues and therevpon imbracing the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ haue rested themselues wholly vppon that But now adayes in the Popedome there is a like deceytfulnesse vsâ—ed in so much that men do falsifie all that God hath ordeyned As how Looke vpon Baptisme looke vpon the Lordes Supper which were instituted to the end that wee should come and protest before God that wee holde all things of him VVhat is there in Baptisme It is shewed vs there that wee must die in our selues And why so euen bycause there is nothing but frowardnesse and cursednesse in vs so as we bee the children of wrath and vtter straungers vnto God Yee see then in Baptisme a man is vtterly ridde of all his trust in himself In the Supper wee come to seeke our life in Iesus Christ and so are wee starke dead both the wayes Yet for all this the Papistes weene these things too bee meritorious workes And that is the cause why they by the Hellish abhomination of their mischieuous Masse haue falsified yea vtterly defaced all things that our Lord Iesus Christ had appoynted For such a woorke euen as it is done by man or the very working of the deede that is too say the very doing of it as it commeth and proceedeth of man muste say they of necessitie bee meritorious But therein wee see a manifest falshood Howbeit S. Paule ment to go yet further in â—â—buking the hypocrisie of suche as are so much giuen too these outwarde things the lyke whereof is still at this day in the papacie It is true that these miserable wretches take great peynes too serue God they trotte vp and downe without ende or measure but what doo they They martyr themselues in vaine things and such as God neuer required but vtterly mislyketh and yet in the meane whyle there is nothing but hypocrisie in all their dooyngs For what doth the deuoutest person among them but only make much babling and mumbling He must heere Mattins in the night and two or three Masses in a day He must gad on pilgrimage and fast the Lent and Sainctes euens He must keepe all the apes toyes that haue bin appointed at the deuise of men And what are all these things Surely if men put their trust in them they bee diuelishe deuises but although there were none other harme in theÌ„ sauing that euery man followeth his own imaginacions yet are they but gewgawes and Apes toyes before God And why For he loueth obedience better than all sacrifices But if wee will obey God wee must serue hym after a spirituall manner and not with these chyldishe playing toyes Nowe let vs come too that which S. Paule sayth Circumcision sayth he is nothing but faith that woorketh by charitie Hereby he betokeneth that although Ceremonyes bee layd aside wee haue ynough too occupie our selues with in dooyng the things that God commaundeth that is to wit that all the perfection and holinesse of the faythfull consisteth in charitie That is the fulfilling of the Lawe that is the ende and shooteanker wherevntoo God bringeth vs. Therefore if wee haue charitie let vs not thinke that wee bee vnoccupyed But nowe a dayes if a man rebuke the superstitions of Poperie and skorne them saying Go too yee haue much baggage amongst you when yee come at Churche yee besprinckle your selues with holiwater yee kneele down before a puppet yee skud from alter to alter ye do this and that and to be short there is an endlesse hotchpotch of al maner of gewgawes among you and poore soules
that Satan hathe layde too catche them withall Are they not al of them illusions trumperies Yes surely bee they Seeing it is so then let vs learne too set nothing by the worlde and too bee fully persuaded and resolued in oure selues that God is our freende that he acknowledgeth vs for hys children and heires and that he blisseth vs and that without those things wee bee miserable By this meanes then yee see wee maye passe lightly through the world and not be stayed not pulled back by any thing for wee will alwayes looke still to that marke VVee knowe wee ought to make hast too come too the place that God calleth vs too and if the affections of this world intangle vs wee shall be estraunged from our God by that meanes Thus yee see in effect what wee haue to remember vpon this streyne Now heerevpon S. Paule addeth that in Iesus Christ neyther Circumcision nor Vncircumcision auayleth any thing at all but the newe creature As if he should say that they which dyd then trouble the Church had nothing to moue them therto but their owne vayngloriousnesse For to stirre vp great troubles when the Church is not furthered nor fareth the better by them surely it sheweth that men seeke nothing else but to set vp them selues in the roume of our Lorde Iesus Christ For what should be all our drift but that the sonne of God might reigne among vs and we be ruled by the worde of his Gospell and that his power might bee knowen to the ende that bothe great and small might put their whole trust in him And therefore according heerevnto let vs bee resoâ—â—ed in our whole life to obeâ— God and to submit our selues to his word For like as Gods spiritual teÌ„ple consisteth in fayth newnesse of life so faith importeth that we should do homage vnto God for all his benefites that wee should haue our recourse vnto him that we should blaze abrode his praises and that his holy name should bee called vppon among vs. That is the way for vs to be aduaunced to be Gods temple Ageine on the other side we must also be renued in our life by patience learne to renounce ourselues and to dedicate ourselues vnto God Lo what all teachers and preachers ought too procure They then which shoote not at that marke do shew well ynough that their intent is not to serue our Lord Iesus Christ So then S. Paule declareth that nothing auaileth in Iesus Christ but the new creature that is to say that wee must come too that poynt according as wee haue seene how he sayd heretofore in the second to the Corinthans that whosoeuer will bee esteemed in Iesus Christ must become a newe creature For if one man boast of his eloquence another of his wit another of his great learning and another of his trim behauiour or goodly personage all this is but vanitie Therfore let vs learne too forsake our selues quite and to forsake the world and to gyue our selues to him that hath bought vs to the end that wee bee no more looce For it is good reason that Iesus Christ hauing bought vs so deerly should possesse vs and fully inioy vs. But that cannot bee done except euery of vs renounce himselfe and all things else that may hold vs among men Lo what we haue to marke Now Sainct Paule speaketh of Circumcision vncircumcision bycause that as yee haue seen afore the disputation and controuersie which he had was about the Ceremonies of the Lawe which he comprehendeth heere vnder the particular terme of Circumcision For the Iewes would needes haue men to reteine still all the shadowes figures which serued but for a time And therfore S. Paul scorning all those things saith that our Lord Iesus Christ is not come to holde vs still in the old forworne figures but that for as much as the veyle of the temple is rent asunder and he hath in himselfe the body and substance of all the shadowes that were in the Lawe men must holde themselues contented with him and therfore Circumcision was no 〈◊〉 any thing worth VVee shall profit our selues the more by 〈◊〉 text if we apply it to that which we saw yesterday For in pope 〈◊〉 they haue many pelting tryfles wherin they put all the trust of holinesse And if a man aske the Papists how they caÌ„ deserue fauor at Gods hand purchace remission of their sinnes as they make their boast They will clap you in the mouth with their holywater their Tapers their Sencings their Organplayes their chauntings their Pilgrimages with a nuÌ„ber of other things Agein they haue their foolishe deuotions of trotting from altar to altar froÌ„ chappell to chappell Moreouer they must buy good store of Masses To be short all Gods seruice which is so termed in the popedome is but a maze gulfe of superstitions inuented of their owne heades But let vs consider what those things may auaile God hath not made mention of any of theÌ„ but men haue deuised them of themselues yea or rather SataÌ„ hath whispered them into their eares too trouble Gods seruice withall And yet notwithstanding the papists imagin that there is neither ReligioÌ„ nor faith nor seruice of God nor zeale except a man be rauished with their foolesbables But S. Paule speaking euen of the ceremonies that God had ordeined in his law saith that they be hensforth as nothing And why For God thinketh it ynough that we serue him with a pure coÌ„science that hauing put our trust in him we call vpoÌ„ him knowing that we hold all things of him and therwithal that we liue vprightly faithfull one with another knowing that charitie is the fulfilling of the law the end of the law finally that we be so dedicated to our god as we may liue chastly in all holinesse waiting for the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ as it is said in the epistle to Titus That theÌ„ is the first poynt of the holinesse perfection which God sheweth vs by his worde But the Papistes will on the contrary parte saye how so what shall become of so many goodly deuotions Shall they all bee abolished Nay it were better that God shoulde bee plucked out of Heauen Lo what the doltishnesse of the Papistes is But wee see howe Sainct Paule telleth vs that if men bee so sore drowned in their owne fancies as too surmize that they can woorke woonders with God and bee hild downe too their owne pelting trashe all of it is nothiâ—g woorthe VVho hath pronounced it God by the mouth of Sainct Paule VVhat auaileth 〈…〉 n The newe creature And what is ment by the new creature Tâ—â—â— wee shoulde fall too examining of our lyues after suche a sorte as wee myght bee vtter abaced in our selues and therevpon offer vntoo God the spirituall sacrifyces whyche wee owe vntoo him euen offering ourselues too him to the end he may haue pitie and mercie vppon our
a man of a hundred yeeres old his wife also pricked much about the same age who had bin barrein all the foretime of hir life was full fourscore ten yeres old or thereabouts ere she might conceiue be with child in somuch that eueÌ„ she hir selfe also thought it to be but a tale and a laughing matter when the message was brought him by the Angels Yee see then that Isaac was borne by promise For in that cace God wroughte by miracle too the ende it might bee knowen that our Lord Iesus should bee sent into the worlde not after the common order of nature but as proceeding of Gods goodnesse and woonderfull forepurpose But howsoeuer the cace stande yee see heere in the house of Abraham who is as it were a figure and image of the Churche two women with their two children borne of eyther of them one Now as tâ—â—ching Agar S. Paule sayth that shee representeth mount Sinay where the Lawe is giuen and he calleth it a mountayne of Arabie to shewe that it was not in the holy land which God had appoynted to be the inheritaÌ„ce of his people Also Sara representeth Ierusalem not the Ierusalem sayth he which is now standing for that was corrupted and gone away from the lawe and pure doctrine of God I say from the lawe not after the maner that S. Paule taketh it heere to engender vnto bondage but according to the couenant that God had made with his people in the name of our Lorde Iesus Christ For as muche then as the Ierusalem which was in S. Paules time had forsaken Iesus Christ and by that meanes disanulled Gods couenaunt S. Paule sayth that it must be coupled with Agar or mount Sinay It is to no purpose sayth he that the Iewes make their brags vnder colour of their Temple Sacrifices and such other things that they bee Gods chosen and peculiar people for notwithstanding all that geere yet are they as good as banished and rooted out of the holy land and haue no more but a vayne title of the law For let a man looke vpoÌ„ the state of Ierusalem as it is now to be seene and it differeth nothing at all from Sinay But there is a Ierusalem from aboue saith he â–ª that is to wit the Church which breedeth vs before God and shee hauing the incorruptible seede of the Gospel beareth children that are free and vnbounde and she is the mother of all the faythfull according as it is written Reioyce thou poore barein woman And Esay speaketh not to any one woman but termeth Gods Churche so by a similitude which Church should for a time be greatly scattered His saying then is very well thou shalt be an ofcast and there shal be as it were a kinde of diuorce betweene God and thee but in the ende he will multiplie thee agayne and thou shalt haue mo childreÌ„ than if thou haddest flourished of all the while in prosperitie and that came to passe when the Gospell was preached openly too the world For then the Church had not only the childreÌ„ of Abraham or some one certayne people but through the heauenly seede of the Gospell shee brought foorth infinite children vnto God of all Nations and Countreys farre and wide according to the power which God vttered through the whole world Lo heere in effecte the substance of the texte which I 〈◊〉 rehearsed But first of all wee haue to marke that whereas S. Paule sayth that these things are spoken by an Allegorie he ment not too impeache the naturall sense of the holy Scripture as wee see howe some haue doone who through their foolish curiositie of seeking fonde speculations in the holy Scripture haue turmoyled and disordered all things esteeming the literall sense to be nothing worth This was the cause that all things were falsified and peruerted and there hath not bin a more diuelishe deuice than these allegories whiche haue borne such sway in the world and as yet still delight many men so much that they bee as it were bewitched with them bicause they be very fauourable and plausible O noble exposition saye they And why so Bicause that when as it toucheth neyther heauen nor earth the sillie people are rauished at it and it is an easie matter too hang in suspence and mamering at it But Sainct Paule mente not that the things whiche Moyses reporteth of Isaac and Ismaell shoulde onely serue for suche curious speculations but he sheweth that in that storie wee see in effecte the state of the Churche bicause that at that time there was no Churche in the worlde gouerned by God but onely the house of Abraham There was as yet Salem where Melchisedeck was kyng Howe be it for as much as the same wente still too decaye God gathered a people in the person of Abraham whereby he gaue an incling that he woulde bee called vpon by those whome he had sholed out from the rest of the worlde Therefore wee muste not reade this storie of Moyses coldly without looking any further that is too say without consideration of the things that happened in that house wherin the state of the Church is shewed vs. Marke that for one poynt But nowe too come too the principall let vs marke that whereas Sainct Paule likeneth Agar Abrahams bonde woman vntoo mounte Sinay and vntoo the Lawe that was published there he meeneth not the Lawe with the whole contentes and substance of it For in the Law there are promises of saluation which wee must hope for by our Lorde Iesus Christ as Sainct Paule declareth in dyuers places and as wee our selues haue seene Then if we could take the Lawe in hys ryghte and lawfull vse it is certayne that wee shoulde haue there theâ— corruptible seede of lyfe and God would bee our father and we should be set free by him The lawe in deede hath ingendred vntoo bondage as in outward respect as hath bin declared heretofore Although the fathers of olde time were Gods children and heyres of the kingdome of heauen as well as we yet were they vnder tutors and gouerners For they were as yet like little children and the perfection of things was reserued to the coÌ„ming of our Lord Iesus Christ and the Ceremonies were as brydles and thongs so that they which kept them had not the full freedome that God graunteth vs to inioy now adayes as it is purchaced for vs by our Lord Iesus Christe Yet notwithstanding S. Paule speaking heere of the Lawe that ingendereth vnto bondage taketh it for the false opinion which they had against whom he disputeth For he will adde anon that all such as are so ingendred shall in the end be banished and driuen out of Gods house and heritage Now although the fathers were ingendred in outward boÌ„dage as is sayd of them in the viij to the Romanes yet were they free by the spirit of faith which ouer ruled the bondage or else they had bin cut of from all hope of saluation To
be short S. Paule speaketh heere of the lawe after the interpretation wherewith it had bin corrupted by the hypocrites that buzied their heades aboute pelting trifles and woulde needes make meritorious deedes of them and in the meane whyle did cast mennes consciences into so streyt bondes as was ynough too choke them But hereof ynough hath bin sayd heeretofore Neuerthelesse wee must call to minde howe the lawe hath bin compared with the Gospell bicause that such as will needes purchace themselues rightuousnesse by it do beare thēselues in hand that God is bound vnto thē for their doing of their dutie and they think they do it throughly in deede VVhen they heere this promis he that doth these things shall liue by and by they streyn thēselues and they beleue that they shall bring the matter about to performe al that euer God requireth and cōmaundeth And when they haue once gottē the promis by the end streytwayes they looke for the wages too they neuer thinke any more that their saluation is a free gift but that they haue deserued and earned Gods promis so that the eternall life is with thē but a recōpence of their deserts Thus yee see what is ment by the Lawe when S. Paule compareth it with the Gospell And as touching the Gospell he doth vs to wit that it is a doctrine wherby God sheweth himself to be our father with couenant that we should be set free frō the condemnation of Satan and sinne yea and from the curse of the law For as wee haue seene afore it is sayd that all such as fulfill not the lawe in all poynts shall be accursed Nowe the cace is so that all of vs are indaūgered And by that meanes all the world is swallowed vp in despayre and there is no remedie vnlesse God drawe wretched sinners out of that condemnation and acquit them of the sentence that was pronounced against them Nowe then wee see after what maner S. Paule tooke the name of the Lawe namely that he ment not that the doctrine which is conteyned in Moyses doth not make vs rightly the children of God or that it contayneth not the promises which were for the euerlasting saluation of mankinde but onely that before Iesus Christ came into the worlde there was not yet any ful libertie or freedome as there is now adayes moreouer that the hipocrites abused the law by their false interpretations For they surmyzed that they could make God amends and thereby purchace fauour at his hand And therefore S. Paule sayeth that we shall alwayes be in bondage till wee be begotten againe by another kinde of seede that is to wit by the Gospell But let vs marke well these wordes where it is sayd that Agar or Sinay representeth the Ierusalem which was at that time that is too wit the same Citie which had erst bin Gods sanctuarie should haue bin the welspring of all heauenly doctrine according too Esay and Micheas which say The law shall come from Sion and the woord of God from Ierusalem Howbeit for asmuch as the Iewes were corrupt and had mingled their own inuentiōs glozes with the purenesse of the true doctrine yea and had forsaken Iesus Christ the fountaine of life S. Paule sayeth that that Ierusalem of theirs is like Agar the bondmayd like the mountayne Sinay which cannot ingender but to condemnatiō and that is a thing well woorthie to be marked for it serueth too shewe that God did neuer so tie his grace to any one place but that he punished the thanklesnesse of the inhabiters whē they would not haue the wit to make their benefit of the good things that he had put into their hands Behold Ierusalem is called Gods holy citie his royal palace his house and the plac◠of his abode all these titles are giuē it in the holy Scripture And yet notwithstanding S. Paule sayeth that she is become like Sinay a barrein hill in a deserte and elendge place and out of the bounds of the holy land which God calleth his resting place and the heritage of his faithful and chozen Seing there was such a chaunge in the Citie of Ierusalem which had bin chozen of God and honored with so many goodly and excellent titles what shall become of al such people as do now adayes refuze the doctrine of the Gospell Although they were exalted to the like honour yet could God wel ynough make them to tumble into all reproch VVe see what is sayd of all those Cities where our Lord Iesus Christ had preached the Gospel as of Capernaum and the rest For they might haue boasted of their hauing of the message of saluation first afore all others and of Christes being conuersant among them rahter than at Ierusalē But he sayeth thou shalt be cast down to the bottom of hel and that was bicause they were stubborne maliciously wilfull in disdeyning to receyue the grace that was preached vnto them Yea we see what Ieremie sayeth of Silo. Bycause the Iewes boasted so much of their towne of Ierusalē vnder the colour of the Tēple and the altar Go your wayes to Silo sayeth he was not the Ark placed there a lōg time did not mē resort thither frō all coastes to worship God did they not offer sacrifizes there And what see ye now a terrible tokē of Gods vengeāce bicause they had not profited thēselues by the benefite that was offered to thē first of all Now therfore let vs apply this to our own instructiō that whensoeuer God shall haue bin so gracious to vs as to make his abode among vs as it were to plant his royall seege with vs too reigne ouer vs wee may walke in feare warenesse indeuering on our side to obey him to shrowd our selues soberly aduisedly vnder his wings For if wee thinke to hold him boūd vnto vs thervpō presume to be wilfull in our own cōceyt vnhalow the gratious gifts which he had dedicated to our saluatiō surely such lewdnesse shal not abide vnpunished So thē we be warned by the exāple of Ierusalē to yeeld our selues peasably to the obeying of our God to suffer him to gouerne vs applying our selues to him in al respects without puffing vp into vayne presūptiō whē he shal haue bestowed any of his spiritual gifts vpō vs but rather cōfessing that we be so much the 〈◊〉 beholdē vnto him thervpō taking occasion to humble our selues And heere by the way we see what a fondnesse it is of the Papistes too tie God vnto Rome vnder colour as they say that it is the Apostolike sea Let vs put the cace it were so although we know not why for all that they alledge of S. Peter is but tales and starke lies It is very certaine that S. Paule was hild prisoner at Rome and it may be gathered that he was euen put too death there Beholde all the holinesse of Rome is this that