instrument to receiue it withall is faith He that beleeueth is made partaker of it and not of it onely but of eternall life also For he that beleeueth in me hath life eternall saith our Sauiour Christ. But this faith this iustifying faith doth worke through loue and sheweth it selfe by workes The good tree will be fruitfull The beleeuing iustified childe of God will feare God and worke righteousnesse 46 This doctrine of iustification by faith in the death and resurrection of Christ Iesu is witnessed by all the Prophets It is no newe doctrine but olde not onely proceeding from the Apostles but also from the Prophets For Moses and all the Prophets beare witnesse of him And as they so the Apostles after them Whose steppes we must followe and acknowledge that no doctrine is to be established but that which is testified by the Apostles and Prophets The true Church of Christ doth builde her faith on their foundation God will be worshipped and serued according to his prescript woord and not according to the braine of man The Prophets and Apostles with all such as be ministers of the woord are heere and elsewhere called witnesses Yea Christ himselfe termeth himselfe a witnesse of the truth For this cause am I borne and for this cause came into the worlde that I should beare witnesse to the truth And Christ saith to his Apostles Ye shall be witnesses vnto me both in Ierusalem and in Samaria euen to the vttermost endes of the earth 47 The truth is to bee testified by publike preaching Paul commendeth the Thessalonians for beleeuing his testimonie His testimonie was the Gospel which he did preache and testifie vnto them According to the voice that did speake vnto him when he was cast off his horse I haue appeared to thee for this purpose to appoint thee a minister and witnesse both of things which thou hast seene and of the things in which I will appeare vnto thee The truth is also testified by writing By the writings of the Prophets Apostles and Euangelists the truth of God Iesus Christ was most plainely testified As Iohn to name one of them among many This is that Disciple which testifieth of these things The truth is also witnessed when as it is testified in bloud for a martyr is a witnes Christ told Peter that when he was young hee girded himselfe and walked whither he lusted but when he waxed old other should gird him and carie him whither hee would not Nowe this saith Iohn he spake signifying by what death he should glorifie God Many Martyrs haue thus testified the truth with suffering for it But they ouercame by the bloud of the Lambe and by the woord of their testimonie not louing their life no not to the death That minister which will neither testifie it by publike preaching nor by writing will hardly testifie it by suffering but will rather say with Peter I knowe not the man But I must here make an end for the time hath ouertaken me and without repetition as you knowe the maner is To God the father God the son God the holie Ghost three persons one almightie almerciful God be rendred all thanks all glorie giuen for euer and for euer Amen The fifteenth Sermon A Sermon preached at Strausborough in the time of Q. Maries reigne 2. COR. 6. 2 Wee therefore as helpers beseeche you that ye receiue not the grace of God in vaine 3 For he saith I haue heard thee in a time accepted in the day of saluation haue I succoured thee behold now the accepted time beholde now the day of saluation THE Prophet to abate the hawtie conceit which naturally wee haue of our selues in such sort as euery man were his owne God and had no other whom to praise for the graces and gifts wherewith he is beautified and set forth as a mirror for al other creatures to beholde and woonder at indeuoureth to turn away our eyes frō too much gazing vpon our owne excellencie by pointing as it were his finger at him who is author of euerie good perfect gift saying Hee made vs and not we our selues For what end and purpose Zacharie teacheth namely that we might serue him in holinesse and righteonsnesse before him all the daies of our life For we are his workemanship created in Christ Iesus vnto good works which God hath ordeined that we should walke in them Ye are not saith S. Paul to the Corinthians your owne Why so For you are bought with a price Glorifie therefore God in your bodie and in your spirite for they are Gods Forsomuch then as we are all of the houshold of God all one in Christ all members of one and the same spirituall bodie woorshipping one Lord receiuing one baptisme professing one faith expecting one glorie to be reuealed vpon vs in that great day it is our duetie in token of our neere coniunction in the spirite with one heart one minde and as it were with one mouth to present our selues before his mercie seate to praise him to heare his word to receiue the seales of his merciful couenaunt in the Gospel and to offer him our needeful supplications together that in all things it may appeare that we are one as hee and the father are one euen one God to be blessed for euer 2 With what zeale desire Gods people of old were woont to do this we may gesse by that which we reade of y ◠Prophet Dauid who being persecuted of his wicked vnnatural son driuen from y e presence of that glorious tabernacle which with great triumph ioye himselfe had placed in the Citie of Dauid where he was woont with the rest of the people to call vpon the name of the Lord to heare the Lawe and to offer sacrifice vpon those beautiful altars conceiued such a deepe impression of griefe by the sorowfull meditation of those sweete and heauenly comforts whereof his soule had tasted in former times that forgetting quite the losse of all other royalties whatsoeuer he maketh mone for nothing but onely this that he might not nowe be partaker of those inestimable benefites and the comforts of minde and conscience which he was woont to receiue at the hand of God at such time as with the rest of the Israelites he resorted to the tabernacle where God promised to be present and fauourably to heare the petitions there made vnto him Of this his great miferie he complaineth him lamentably in diuerse of his Psalmes but especially in the 84 where he breaketh out into these woords of great zeale O Lord of hosts howe amiable are thy Tabernacles My soule longeth yea and fainteth for the courts of the Lorde mine heart and my flesh reioice in the liuing God He goeth on and magnifieth the blessed estates of those sillie birds which might haue their nests and lay their young euen
of heauen to burne vp cities it destroied the Tribe of Beniamin Let it not be once named amongst you They that are such shall not inherite the kingdome of God These fowle offenders are here termed Sinners 5 The Iewes were grieuous sinners which slewe their Prophets and stoned such as were sent vnto them But they escaped not his heauie hand whose seruaunts they did so cruelly entreate God plagued this their sinne with strange desolation Hee made their house like Shilo and their citie a curse to all the nations of the earth The Lord hath also sent wise men Scribes and Embassadors vnto vs of them in these our daies we haue killed and crucified none we haue scourged none of them in our Synagogues we haue persecuted none from citie to citie we haue not beaten one and stoned another wee haue not dealt thus cruelly with any one of them but wee haue dealt hardly and vnkindely with moe than one No mans life hath beene touched many mens liuings are They haue not beene murthered and slaine they are defaced reuiled and made contemptible to the whole worlde These messengers ought to be better esteemed for their masters and for their message sake But the sonne of God whose seruants they are wil in his good time reuenge it he will not beare this iniurious ignominie doone to himselfe He that despiseth you despiseth me Such contemners of Christ and of his ministers may most iustly be called Sinners 6 Achab gaue great and open offence in robbing Naboth of his vineyard And God did reuenge this open sinne with an open plague punishing the deuourer with deuourers bloud with bloud The vineyard of the Lorde is set ouer to the spoile it is the onely pray that is left for greedie cormorants to rauen vpon The hedge is broken wilde boares are entred in for to destroie it If God had not set his elect ouer it no doubt ere this day it had beene vtterly laide wast You could haue looked for no grapes of pietie of learning or of religion of it but beeing rooted vp by these violent boares it would haue brought out nothing but sowthistles ignorance superstition and grosse Idolatrie But Woe be to thee that spoilest shalt not thou be spoiled How both the Church and common wealth are spoiled all men see it but fewe wil tell it and no man goeth about to redresse it These greedie gleaners are also in the number of them whom our Apostle here nameth Sinners 7 The sinne of king Saul was heinous in consulting with a witch that had a familiar spirite inquiring of her what chaunce should befall him This grieuous sinne God grieuously and without delay plagued On the next morowe he and his sonnes were slaine all Israel discomfited murthered and put to flight If euerie good gift come from God shall wee seeke helpe at diuels hands If onely God knoweth the heart of man and things to come shall we inquire of secrets at the mouth of Satan The diuell is a lyer and shall we beleeue him Hee is our aduersarie and shall we seeke aide of him Hee is a deceiuer and shall wee trust in him There is no fellowship betweene Christ and Beliall neither ought the seruaunts of Christ to communicate with such seruaunts of Satan Let witches sorcerers and sowthsaiers die the death saith the Lorde Such as communicate with them communicate with diuels and such also are Sinners 8 Doeg sinned greatly in accusing faithfull Dauid and the good high Priest Aâ—imelech to king Saul who being light of beleefe persecuted the one and murthered the other Haman dealing so with godlie Mardocheus brought him almost to the gallowes and his people to great confusion The Arrians accused the right Christian Bishop Athanasius of incontinencie before the Emperor Constantinus but his innocencie through the prouidence of God cleared him Christ was charged to bee a drunkard a companion of sinners a destroier of the Lawe and of the Temple an enemie to Caesar. Such false accusations are more current in these our euill times and latter daies than euer If the Heathen accounted it a discredite to be termed an accuser may we not iustly call false accusers sinners By whose meanes if false accusations may get credite innocencie shall be condemned Christ shall be crucified as a malefactor and Barrabas as an innocent shall be let loose Wherefore the Ciuill Lawe hath wel prouided that the false accuser receiue as much dammage as hee seeketh to bring vpon an other And this Law hath beene sometimes executed He that falsely accused Appollonius was so serued For failing in his proofe sentence was giuen that both his thighes should be broken This is another kinde of Sinners 9 Now as our Apostle remembreth vnto vs open sinners so doth he also couert sinners whom he calleth double minded The Sichemites were double minded in matters of religion who in respect of gaine and profite were content outwardly to yeeld to Iacob and his sonnes to receiue the Iewes religion and to bee circumcised Men for commoditie can transforme themselues into all colours and conditions and in open shewe professe any religion inwardly keeping their false hearts to themselues 10 Which practise the Familie of loue hath lately drawne to a precept and hath newlie broached it as saleable doctrine that men neede not openly be of any religion whereby they may endanger themselues that it is good Christiandome to lie sweare forsweare to say and vnsay to any sauing such as be of the same Familie with whom they must only vse al plainnes keep their mysteries secret from all others to themselues These men may doe any thing to auoide affliction and they haue scripture for that purpose Your bodies are the temples of the holie Ghost you may not suffer Gods temples to be touched As fitly alleaged as Scriptum est by the diuell 11 In a paper which of late came from the Pope as a token to his deare children there were printed the fiue woundes of Christ with this poesie Fili da mihi cor tuum sufficit Sonne giue me thy heart and it sufficeth Whether his Holinesse did meane thereby to allowe dissimulation or no I will not define His practises are mysticall and his broode is so throughly framed in this way that they seeme to take the Popes embleme in no other meaning They halt on both sides they serue all times and turne with all windes By professing all religions they shew themselues plainly to be of none They haue double hearts one heart for the Prince another for the Pope one for Christ and an other for Baal one for a Communion and an other for a Masse These dissembling wolues put vpon themselues sheepes skins to deceiue withall Now are they milde and gentle flattering and promising all loyaltie to the prince conformitie to gouernement and consent to religion But if the times should turne they would turne off the
For he is our God not whom we professe but in whom we repose our trust and whom we serue and obey When the Lord commaundeth one thing and his monie perswades an other will not his obedience declare whom he maketh his God God saith Lend freely and looke for no gaine But wil the vsurer whose monie is his God remit his interest because of this because the Lord hath so charged him No he will not so let goe his tenne or twentie or thirtie in the hundred To him the glorie of God yea and his owne soule is vile nothing is pretious but onely money What the Prophet speaketh of putting foorth monie to vsurie he full litle regardeth but feedeth still vpon his mast and blesseth himselfe when hee waxeth fat not perceiuing that God hath alreadie plagued him with a plague of all plagues the obduration of his heart And although that God hath giuen him ouer into a dull and senselesse minde his eares beeing so dammed vp that nothing can haue entraunce to mooue or touche his hard heart yet he still blesseth himselfe and his accursed soule Thou vsurer thou idolater that doest glorie in thy shame in thy euill gotten golde doest thou not knowe that thy wealth shall melt like snow before the sunne thinkest thou still to holde it O foole this night shall they tâ—ke away thy soule perhaps this instant and then whose is all this After that Zacheus fell to the seruice of Christ and that Christ entred into his house hee presently forsooke the seruice of Mammon made a large restitution of that which he had gained by such vnlawfull meanes and then began to bee liberall not onely to lend freely but to giue for nothing he gaue the one halfe of all his goods to the poore If God would at this day work thus in the heart of one Zacheus a rich vsurer how many poore might be relieued by such a restitution He might mainteine many a needie man and saue his owne soule Well this one thing we knowe This woord that proceedeth out of Gods mouth against vsurie shall not returne in vaine if it cannot worke reformation it wil worke confusion 11 As these serue their monie so there are some Domino non seruientes sed suo ventri seruaunts to the bellie and not to the Lord. He serueth the bellie who frameth himselfe to be of any religion so that in this world he may liue by it when poperie hath the vpper hand then a papist when the Gospell is in due estimation a protestant all things to all men that somewhat may be gained or saued to himselfe Hee maketh no difference betweene the Masse and the Communion Christ and Beliall but for his bellie sake wil halt on both sides serue all times and turnes Such a one was Leontius Bishop of Antioch who being in heart an Arrian couered his religion and ioined with the counsell of Nice in outward profession of the trueth So his soule was led by the diuel and his bodie by the world 12 Some and those many are seruauntes of men as those which in matters of religion wholly hang their soules vpon humane authorities and iudgements So did the Corinthians I hold of Paul I of Cephas and I of Apollos So doe al the Popes fauorites And so doe those that choose to themselues newe masters newe teachers according to their itching and wandering â—ares esteeming such and despising others So doe they which praise and flatter men in their follie thereby to winne themselues estimation with them which haue mens persons in admiration for gaines sake Finally so doe they which repose their trust in the merits of men that seeke iustification or remission of sinnes eyther by their owne woorkes or by the desertes of others For to knowe that hee is our redemption sanctification and iustice is no small part of Gods seruice to giue this to any other is to take it from him which who so doeth is not woorthie to bee named his seruaunt He that serueth him must serue him alone 13 Not him and the worlde For the worlde is wholly set on vanitie and mischiefe it hateâ—h him and therefore wee must hate it If ye be his seruaunts let not sinne beare rule in your bodies or haue dominion ouer you We must die vnto sinne that we may liue vnto God through Iesus Christ our Lord. He that doth sinne is the seruaunt of the diuell the diuel is but a bad master to serue he is a lier a theefe and a murtherer And hee entertaineth no seruants but such as be like himselfe whose wages are fire cheines brimstone darkenesse wailing howling and gnashing of teeth in a word euerlasting death and damnation Wee are nor ransomed out of the hands of our enemies to serue these masters mammon the bellie men sinne the world or the diuell But wee are redeemed to serue him onely to serue our Christ our redeemer that hath full deerely bought vs. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue 14 Him we must serue without feare In the Psalme it is saide Serue the Lord with feare and reioice vnto him with reuerence And here wee are taught to serue him without feare As there is but one God so the scripture is alwaies one There is a feare which children haue towards their parents and a feare of seruants towards their masters God will be feared of vs as children but not as seruaunts or if as seruaunts not as slaues The beleeuing Christian the regenerate childe of God who through faith in Christ is certaine of his deliuerance from the diuell and from hell assured of remission of sinnes and of life euerlasting in the death and resurrection of Iesus Christ our Sauiour he serueth in the reuerent feare of loue and not in that dreadfull feare of death and euerlasting damnation wherewith the reprobate minde is daunted He feareth not death for hee is sure of life hee feareth not damnation for he is assured of saluation he beleeueth that which Christ hath promised and doubteth nothing of the obteining of that which Christ hath procured for him He is surely perswaded with S. Paul that neither death nor life nor tribulation nor affliction nor any thing present or to come shall separate him from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus Hee feareth therefore neither the sting of death nor the power of Satan But this certaintie of Gods loue towards him in Christ and the testimonie of his loue towards God againe casteth out all feare of eternall punishment For ye haue not saith the Apostle receiued againe the spirite of bondage vnto feare but ye haue receiued the spirit of adoption by which wee crie Abba father This spirit testifieth with our spirit that God is our gratious father and if he our father wee his children and if his children heires of his glorious kingdome The preaching of the Lawe letteth vs see
times wherein iniquitie aboundeth and charitie waxeth colde Heartie loue is turned into heartie hatred our handes are bloudie and our hearts malitious Hee liueth not that loueth his neighbour as himselfe If we did loue our neighbours as our selues we would not oppresse them with extortion and vsurie we would not vndermine them and wring them in bargaining we would not so proudely contemne them so spitefully enuie them so impudently slander them or so greedily practise for their infamie and discredit wee would not speake them faire and mind them euil fawne on them and betraie them seeke our credit by their reproche our gaine by their losse when we see their necessities we would releeue and succour them binde vp their wounds with the good Samaritan and charitably prouide for them When wee suffer them for want to perish in our streetes this is an euident token and manifest argument that wee neither loue God neither them that are of God neither him nor his If the vertues which are in loue be not found in vs but if contrariwise we abound in those vices from which loue is free if we be voide of patience and courtesie full of enuie and froward dealing if we swell in pride and care not what we do to aduance our selues aboue others if euerie mans care be only for himselfe if our wrath be kindled with euerie light occasion any thing suffice to make vs alwaies thinke the worst that can be surmised and doe the woorst that can be inuented if wee rather be glad at the fall of our brethren than reioice when they constantly abide in the truth if we be come to that passe that we can in a maner suffer nothing beleeue nothing hope nothing beare and endure nothing what should we say but acknowledge the arrearages in which we are cast and confesse that wee haue left that debt of loue which wee owe to our brethren vndischarged God graunt vs grace to amend this bad paiment least hee paie vs our due punishment Thus much of our duetie towardes our neighbour set downe in these words Owe nothing c. 20 Nowe followeth the duetie which we owe vnto God And that considering the season that it is nowe time wee should arise from sleepe For nowe is our saluation neerer than when we beleeued The night is past and the day is at hand Let vs therefore cast away the workes of darknesse and let vs put on the armour of light so that wee walke honestly as in the day Two things are here required at our hands to cast off the workes of darkenesse to put on the armour of light to put off the olde man Adam and to put on the new man Christ to shake off the ragged coate of sin to cloath our selues with the comely vesture of innocencie to absteine from euill and to doe good in a word to repent and amend Why wee should thus doe our Apostle giueth reasons The time doeth require that nowe wee should arise from sleepe our saluation is neere the night is past and the day hath dawned 21 This time requireth a newe life For this is the last houre the acceptable time the day of saluation the day when as God doeth visite vs in his mercie calling vs to the knowledge of him and of his sonne Christ by the preaching of the gospell to the sauing of our soules O that we could knowe the day of our visitation and would take hold of this gratious time of mercie Arise at length arise from sinne and redeeme the time past and lost We haue long yea too too long slumbered it is now more than high time to arise to arise from slepe of error of sin of securitie 22 Many are fallen asleepe in the blinde errors of mans doctrine many are yet drowned in the dregges of poperie preferring dreames fancies lies and fables before the heauenly doctrine of Gods euerlasting trueth The cause of this their blindenesse is ignorance of the scriptures the cause of their ignorance is the hardnesse of their hearts They neither knowe they are so ignorant nor will knowe they are so stubborne When they are exhorted to reade they close their eies when to heare they shut their eares when to come they drawe backe their feete If the sunne shine neuer so bright they see it not if the trumpe sound neuer so lowde it will not waken them Christ compareth them very aptly to the hard stonie way whereon what good seede soeuer is cast is lost it can take no roote for either it is eaten vp by birds or trodden downe by men The stubborne-hearted and stiffe-necked Iewes were cast into this dead sleepe establishing their owne righteousnesse and reiecting the righteousnesse that is in Christ Iesu reposing saluation in their externall sacrifices ceremonies not seeking it there where it was onely to bee found in Christ which was the sacrificed Lambe from the beginning of the worlde that onely taketh away the sinnes of the worlde As those were then so nowe these are who with the proude Pharisees iustifie themselues by their owne defiled woorkes not regarding the true iustification which we haue in Christ thorough faith preferring the sacrifice of the blasphemous masse the meere inuention of man or of Satan before the sweet and acceptable sacrifice which Christ made for vs vpon the crosse once not to be renued and sufficient not needing helpe Men they are of dull eares and of hard hearts a rebellious and froward generation to whom whatsoeuer we speake this account we may make before hand Surely they will not heare neither will they arise from the error wherein Satan hath rockt them asleepe crie the Prophets neuer so lowde so often Rise O Ierusalem be inlightened for thy light is come and the glorie of the Lord is risen vpon thee The light is come into the world Therefore considering the season it is time we should awake least we bee vnseasonably taken asleepe and so iudged as we are taken 23 Arise thou that sleepest whether it bee in error or in sinne This sleepe is so pleasant that all the world lieth in it and hardly can shake it off King Dauid fell into it and continued in it sleeping very soundly neuer lifting vp his head for two yeres space till at the length Nathan the Prophet at the commaundement of God awakened him Zacheus slept a long time pleasauntly in his vsurie with heapes of euill gotten goods vnder his heade till the sonne of God himselfe called vpon him and lifted him vp by whose voice hee was effectually and throughly wakened insomuch that his eyes beeing nowe opened to see the ouglinesse of his sinne wherein he had so long time before slumbered hee not onely made restitution but also gaue the one halfe of al his goods to the poore This man awaked in an happie time It is most dangerous to slumber long in sinne Custome of sinne maketh sinne familiar so that at the length we learne
I looke for to come out of such a schoole and from such a schoolemaster This would worldly wisedome and flesh bloud haue said vnto him but faith putteth no such perill but readily obeyeth whatsoeuer God commaundeth It doubteth not it stackereth not but if God saith goe it goeth if GOD say coÌ„me it commeth if God say doe this it doth it Beholde to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken is better than the fat of rammes 18 He sendeth two of his seruaunts and a godlie souldier that attendeâ—â— vpon him Here was the reward of his labour in bringing vp his houshold in the feare of God He had taught his seruaunts truely and syncerely to feare God and God had taught his seruaunts faithfully and willingly to serue him For he saith the Scripture that doeth serue his master faithfully and heartily serueth Christ Iesu who rewardeth all faithfull seruice Abraham brought vp his familie in the feare of God and he reaped the fruite of it He had a most faithfull seruaunt whom hee sent to procure a wife to his sonne Isaak whosoeuer therefore will be trustily serued let him traine vp his houshold in the feare of God and expell out thence all that be not godlie as godly Dauid did It is dangerous for any man to nourish serpents in his bosome they will at one time or other sting him Faithlesse seruaunts haue beene the confusion of many good masters And godlesse children the destruction of many good fathers Ophâ—ni and Phinees were the death of their father Ely the high priest And Iudas conspired against his master Christ the innocent sonne of God 19 But to come to that which I set downe for the last Note in Cornelius with what humanitie and reuerence hee receiued Peter the preacher of Gods word he called to him his kinsemen and friends and expected him he fel downe prostrate to doe him honour he thanked him for his comming declaring how readie he was to heare him And because faith doth labour for Gods glorie and breake foorth into loue towards our neighbour hee called his friends and kinsemen to be partakers of that great treasure of God with him Hee was not Caine-like who had no care for his brother Cornelius teacheth vs howe desirous we ought to be of Gods word howe glad and readie to heare it and howe that in duetifull loue wee should prouoke others to the hearing and imbracing of it For it is the woord of trueth and saluation Which S. Iames considering exhorteth his brethren to receiue the word that is able to saue their soules And let vs consider one another saith S. Paul to prouoke vnto loue and to good woorkes not forsaking the fellowship that we haue among our selues as the maner of some is but exhorting one another The arrogant Iewes puffed vp with selfe-loue would not ioine themselues in the congregation with Gentiles Which thing the Apostle reprooueth exhorting them not to contemne their brethren but rather one prouoke another charitably to ioine together in pietie in hearing of the woord and receiuing of the Sacraments As Esay did foreshewe that the faithfull in Christs time should say one to another Come and let vs goe vp to the mountaines of the Lord to the house of the God of Iacob and he will teache vs his waies and we will walke in his pathes But alas this zeale of the glorie of God this loue towardes our brethren is worne away in vs I feare me wee will neither goe our selues to heare the word neither suffer others but dehort them so much as we may pretending I knowe not what to couer our arrogant malitious heart withall Such a man is an vsurper I cannot heare him with safe conscience hee weareth a surplisse I will neither heare him nor trust him Another is a shrinker another halfe a papist leaue them heare them not This is the common crie I will not vse their owne speeche it is too proude and too bitter I trust we all preache Christ crucified Howsoeuer it be saith S. Paul so that Christ be taught I reioice in it If we mislike the minister shall we mislike the message also If we cannot brooke the messenger shal we be at defiance with him that sent him God graunt vs such hearts as Cornelius had that in liking and loue we may prouoke one another to pietie and godlinesse that wee may hunger after Gods truth heare the word without respect of the messenger and so heare it that we may liue by it Cornelius fell downe prostrate before Peter Hee considered of him as of the embassador of God hee reuerenced him as his spirituall father he gaue vnto him that double honour which S. Paul saith is due vnto him The Elders that rule well are woorthie of double honour specially they who labour in the woord and doctrine He looked not on the man but regarded his office Wee beseeche you brethren that you knowe them which labour among you and are ouer you in the Lorde and admonish you that you haue them in singular loue for their workes sake S. Paul doeth greatly commend the Galathians in this behalfe that they loued him as an Angell of God yea as Christ Iesus yea if it had beene possible they would haue plucked out their owne eyes and giuen them him But our times are altered men are otherwise affected They enuie and mutter against Moses and Aaron They are become such of whom God complaineth by his prophet Hosea Thy people are as they that rebuke the Priest I would to God they would remember Christ saying He that despiseth you despiseth me 20 But the honour which Cornelius gaue vnto Peter was more than was fit to be giuen to a man For Peter refused it with thâ—â— reason I my selfe am a man too The zeale and reuerence that he had to the woord made him ouerreach in honouring the minister of it So did the men of Lystra honour Paul and Barnabas but they saide in like sort O men why doe ye these things We are men subiect to the like passions that ye be Iohn would haue woorshipped the Angel likewise but the Angel refused See thou doe it not I am thy fellowe seruaunt Worship God Here we learne howe dangerously religious honour is giuen to any creature It cannot be thought that either Cornelius or Iohn would robbe God of his glorie and giue it to Angel or man But yet they were forbidden to doe that which they did least they should attribute more to the messenger of God than they ought through preposterous zeale It is not so great a daunger to honour a prince with al humilitie therein men cannot so easilie exceed because the honour is ciuill But the danger is in a spirituall person least in respect of his holie office they honour him too much And here is the insolent pride of the pope reproued who vaunteth himselfe for Peters successor
e law hath plainly said None shall come neere to any of the kindred of his flesh The vnrulie desires of men which presume to go further in these cases than the shamefastnes of natural honestie doth permit must be restrained repressed For this cause Iohn the Baptist tolde Herode It is not lawfull that thou shouldst haue thy brothers wife For this cause S. Paul dealt so sharpely and seuerely in the cause of that lewde Corinthian with whose foule and vnnaturall fault the whole Church of Corinth was much disgraced 13 In mariage therefore there ought to bee a reuerend regard of nature that this state be not dishonoured by vnseemely copulation as in like sort it is by the vngodlie ioyning of the faithfull with vnbeleeuers Of this thing holie Abraham in prouiding a wife for his son had as we see an especiall care For the eldest therefore by likelyhoode the discreetest seruaunt of his house yea and the trustiest as it seemeth for he had rule ouer al which Abraham did possesse was not permitted to deale in this matter without taking a corporal oath before hand I wil make thee sweare saith Abraham by the Lord God of heauen and God of the earth that thou shalt not take a wife vnto my sonne of the daughters of the Cananites amōgst whom I dwell Abraham would not linke his sonne with the wicked Hee remembred what had come of such mariages in the age before him when the sonnes of God tooke them wiues of the daughters of men onely for their beautie without regard of religion or honestie Their destruction was a lesson vnto him he auoided their sinne by fearing their punishment GOD gaue his people expresse charge concerning this that they should beware in ioyning mariage with Amorites and Cananites the indwellers of that prophane Countrie not onely forbidding this kinde of mariage but also shewing the reason why his people should forbeare it least idolatrous wiues should make their husbands also to become idolators least they make thy sonnes goe a whoring after their gods Whereof wee haue a notable example in Salomon whose pitifull fall being so wise a prince to so horrible impietie ought to be admonition sufficient vnto vs to submit our wisedome to the wisedome of the almightie and our desires to his commaundement But had Salomon neuer beene or had his fall beene vnrecorded our owne times may teache vs what fruites haue come of such vngodlie coniunctions Mans nature is corrupt and fraile he runneth headlong into wickednesse but to righteousnesse must be drawen by God and sooner can the euill peruert the good than the good persuade the euill This kinde of mariage therefore seemed so wicked vnto Esdras that hee caused the Israelites after their returne out of captiuitie to put away their strange not women only but wiues which they had taken to themselues in Babylon And shall Christians doe wel in receiuing such into mariage as Iewes being maried vnto did wel to put from them 14 But the common sort of men in making their matches this way haue chiefly two outward vntoward respects regarding nothing in their choise except it be either beautie or monie The sonnes of God of olde bewitched with the beautie of the daughters of men procured the general flood to ouerflowe them all to wash the defiled world Samson tooke one of the daughters of the Philistims to wife because shee pleased his eye but what came of it It cost him a polling wherein stoode his strength and it lost him both his eyes which before were rauished in the beautie of that deceitful woman Others there are yet of a baser note whose only care is to match themselues wealthily Their question is with what monie not with what honestie the parties whom they seeke are endowed whether they bee riche not whether they be godlie what lands they haue on earth not what possessions are laide vp in heauen for them Such as marie for monie as the monie wasteth so their loue weareth neither is there any loue or friendship constant saue onely that which is grounded on constant causes as vertue and godlinesse whereof onely neither time nor man can spoile vs. There was a riche man in Athens which had a daughter to marie and he asked counsell of Themistocles howe to bestowe her shewing him that there was a verie honest man that would gladly haue her but he was poore and there was a riche man which had also desired her but he was not honest Themistocles aunswered that if he were to choose he would preferre monilesse men before masterlesse monie It is true that S. Paul saith Godlinesse is great gaine Whether it bee man or woman that is godlie they be rich and as Salomon saith He that findeth a good wife findeth a good and a pretious thing the value of golde is not to be matched with her In mariage therefore it behooueth vs to be carefull that they whom we choose bee of the houshold of God professing one true religion with vs the disparagement wherein is the cause of all dissension true friendeship being a louing consent as in all things so chiefly in Gods true seruice 15 But this is not ynough For although the parties maried be such as the lawe of the Lorde alloweth to come together yet can it not be saide that they marie in the Lord except they also marie in such sort as the lawe prescribeth For mariage may be as much dishonoured by the one as by the other For orderly entring into the state of matrimonie it is required that they which be vnder the tuition and gouernement of others haue the ful consent of their parents tutors or such as haue rule ouer them to direct and guide them Abraham prouided a wife for his sonne Isaak Isaak sent Iacob into Mesopotamia to his vncle Laban and there commaunded him to take a wife and he did so In the law of Moses children are commanded to honour their parents And what honour is giuen vnto parents if in this chiefe case beeing the weightiest one of them that can happen in all their life their aduise wisedome authoritie and commaundement be contemned The lawe saith If a man finde a maide that is not betrothed and take her and knowe her then the man that knewe her shall giue vnto the father of the virgin fiftie shekels of siluer and she shall be his wife What Although the parents be against it No. For If her father refuse to giue her to him he shall pay the monie and not marie her Againe the lawe saith Whosoeuer voweth a vowe vnto the Lorde or sweareth an oath to binde himselfe by a bond hee shall not breake his promise but shall doe according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth Neuerthelesse if a woman vowe a vowe vnto the Lord and binde her selfe by a bond beeing in her fathers house in the time of her youth and her