which they haue matched in authoritie with the Scriptures and haue commaunded men payne of death to receyue and beléeue them before the Scriptures He sayth iâ— conâ—erteth or turneth the soule that is to say it maketh him that readeth them a newe man a repentant person a faythfull beléeuer and a godly liuer So farre it is from peruerting or corrupting any godly student thereof He calleth it a sure and faithfull testimonie of the Lorde whereas mannes policies councels and deuises are alwayes vncertaine chaungeable and vnsure It giueth wisedome vnto the simple Why then shoulde they be kept from it Uerily this hath bene Gods practise in all ages as appeareth by all hystories that he hath reuealed his worde and will to no kinde of people sooner than vnto those that are simple as may be séene by those thankes that our Sauiour Christ gaue to God his father in the behalfe of his Disciples being but simple Clarkes saying I thanke thee O God fathâ—r of heauen and earth for that thou hast hidden these things verilye the vnderstanding of his kingdome from the wise that is to saye the great Doctors in their owne conceyte and in the worldes iudgement and hast reuealed them vnto the simple that is to the vnlearned and despysed wightes of this worlde For so doth Chrysostome expounde the wordes Rusticall people and Ideotes sayth he â–ª were illuminated persons of small account in the worlde or in the knowledge of God but not of obstinacie but ignoraunce If our new Diuines would admit these sayings of Christ and Chrysostome they shoulde soone perceyue how vnchristianly they speake and also howe vnlyke the olde Doctors whyle they raue and fare so fowle wyth poore Artificers and Craftesmen whome it hath pleased God in these dayes so to enriche with his spirite that when they haue bene called before these our newe Rabbines they haue shewed more true Diuinitie than all the whole Sinagoge of them were able I report me to Eusebius Ecclesiasticall hystory and to our owne entituled the Actes and Monumentes of the Church But Dauid goeth on saying The statutes of the Lorde are right and reioyce the heart the commaundement of the Lorde is pure and giueth light to the eyes The feare of the Lorde is cleane and endureth for euer the iudgementes of the Lorde are true and righteous altogither More to be desired are they than golde yea than much fine golde sweeter also than hony and the bony combe Moreouer by them is thy seruant taught What I warraunt you this olde Diuine Dauid neuer ment that they taught eyther heresie or error In diuers other places of his Psalter maye be séene the earnest exhortations that he maketh to all the people to heare the worde of God as in the .xlix. Psalme O heare ye this all ye people ponder it with your eares all ye that dwell in the worlde High and lowe rich and poore one with another What shoulde they heare euen that that immediately followeth howe his mouth shall speake of wisedome and his heart muse of vnderstanding Here are none excluded from hearing what Dauid shall say but such as dwell in Vtopia The Diuines therefore that will barre any dwellers in this worlde from hearing or reading of Dauid must there go preache this doctrine Agayne Wherewithall shall a yong man clense his waye euen by ruling himselfe after thy worde Againe Thy worde is a lanterne to my feete and a light vnto my pathes Againe When thy worde goeth forth it giueth light and vnderstanding euen vnto the simple Againe Kings of the earth and all people Princes and all Iudges of the worlde yong men and maydens olde men and children prayse the name of the Lord. Here by an enumeration of al states and degrées sexes and ages may we sée that none are secluded from praysing the Lorde which then is done moste acceptablye when we sing prayse vnto him as the same Dauid sayth with vnderstanding which vnderstanding we can not haue without his worde Infynite more places there be in the Psalter to this effect as the diligent Reader thereof shall finde whereof this is one verye notable and therefore not to be omitted Out of the mouthes of very babes sucklings hast thou ordeyned strength that thou mightest still the enimy and the auenger It is the more notable for that Christ alleageth it in the .xxj. of Mathewe agaynst the Scribes and Phariseyes in defence of the people which so thankefully welcommed and receyued him into Ierusalem in the same sense that it is here brought for But let vs nowe come to the testimonies of the newe Testament Our Sauiour Christ hauing to doe with those Iewes which of all other in the worlde at that time most gloried in the knowledge of God and his religion bicause they had Bishoppes whose succession they coulde shewe by order euen from Aaron and therefore had antiquitie ynough hauing Scribes Phariseyes Sadduceyes Essenes Nobles Communes and all the worlde on their side yet did he plainly tell them that they erred and were deceyued for that they vnderstoode not the Scriptures For to the Sadduceyes which allowed no part of the olde Testament but the bookes of Moses denying the resurrection for that they imagined if there were any men shoulde knowe their wiues as they had before done in the worlde as appeareth by their captious and foolishe demaunde Christ aunswered yee erre not vnderstanding the Scriptures and power of God. Where we maye plainely learne that ignoraunce in the Scripture is the cause of error contrary to these newe Diuines assertion that saye Ignorance is the mother of deuotion Whereas true deuotion cannot be without the true vnderstanding of Gods will and his will by no meanes ordinary can be vnderstanded but by his worde Therefore to auoyde errour it is moste méete that people haue the Scriptures to search and vnderstande the will of God by Another time hauing to doe with the Phariseyes also as these two sectes of men were the greatest assaylantes that Christ euer had whereby we learne it is no newe practise that they most persecute Christes Church that challenge most authoritie and learning in the same he bade them for that they séemed to haue such exact knowledge in the worde of God and yet knew not that he was that Messias and Sauiour that God had promised them to search better in the Scriptures and they shoulde finde that the Scriptures in all places did testifye and beare witnesse that he was the same Whereby Christ plainly giueth vs to vnderstande that without the Scriptures we cannot truly knowe him These two places declare sufficiently howe necessarye the Scriptures are for all that will knowe Christ. We will adde two other testimonies to shewe howe profitable they are S. Paule in his Epistle to the Romaines sayth Whatsoeuer thinges haue bene written afore time they haue bene written for our learning that through pacience and comfort of the Scriptures we might haue hope They are
translated diuers other treatises also out of Gréeke into Latine as Didimus worke touching the deitie of the holy ghost Epiphanius bishop of Cyprus Epistle to Iohn the Patriarch of Ierusalem and diuers other such And bicause none shall saye what maketh this for the translating of the Bible into other more vulgar tongues as into the Englishe c. For they can well admit the Hebrewe Gréeke and Latine tongues and any other that the people vnderstande not therefore S. Hierome translated the Bible into the Sclauonian tongue that is to say into his owne natiue countrie tongue We haue therefore antiquitie ynough on our side for proofe of our diuers translations Neyther did he euer feare or make account of such inconueniences as these new Diuines pretende spring of such translations or any thing regarded the sharpe censure and checks of diuers Comptrollers that founde fault with his doings but helde on and continued to the ende translating wryting and endyting sending his bookes onewhile to virgins one other whyle to married women sometime to widowes but euer to one kinde of person or other being still exercised and occupied in such doinges And I marueyle why these men should be so offended that euery Nation shoulde haue the scriptures in their owne tongue séeing in some places of their writings they make the holy ghost the author of this opinion and iudgement Doth not Aeneas Syluius which was afterwarde Pope and called Pius secundus tell vs that when about the yeare of our Lord .900 there fell a great contention at Rome whether the Hungarians shoulde haue their seruice in their owne tongue yea or no that there was a voyce hearde from heauen saying Let euery thing that hath breath prayse the Lord and euery tongue giue thankes vnto his holy name Whervpon sayth this Aeneas the Councell brake vp and the contention surceased So that by this storye whosoeuer denyeth Gods people Gods seruice in their owne proper tongue resist Gods ordinance and commaundement These men count it a great absurditie that a woman a childe or an artificer shoulde talke of the Gospell or of the Scripture And yet many times we may heare women children and artificers vnderstande more of Gods holy mysteries than a number of some ruddy Rabbines that notwithstanding looke very high and lofty Moses was not of this minde and opinion For when Iehosuah his seruant would haue had him to forbid Heldad and Medad from prophecying he aunswered woulde God that all the Lordes people coulde prophecie and that he woulde giue his spirite vnto them all Christ commaundeth little children to be suffred to come vnto him and not to be forbidden But who maye not more iustly thinke it a greater absurditie to heare women children and artificers patter their Pater noster in a tongue that they so little vnderstande that Cardinall Ascanius Parot at Rome was as wise as they Yea the Crowe that saluted Augustus coulde saye his Aue Caesar better than they coulde their Aue Maria. And surely if the newe Diuines godly intention may not in this case helpe at a pinch they may also saye and say truly as an other Crowe did at another time we haue lost all our labour So little doth God allowe such godly intention For he biddeth we shoulde not be like Horse and Mule in whome there is none vnderstanding Then séeing we haue the Scriptures aswell of the olde Testament as the newe so full and whole on our side séeing Christ commaundeth vs to search the Scriptures séeing S. Paule sayth they are written for our learning and instruction séeing we haue thexample of the Primitiue Church permitting all men to haue and reade the Scriptures in all tongues séeing we haue so many translations of the Scriptures I meane of olde tyme I speake not of those in the Englishe tongue in Ethelstanes dayes and in the Saxons tongue ne yet of that gift of tongues giuen to the Apostles to the intent that all Nations might heare the great workes of God in their owne language séeing there is nothing in the Scriptures eyther threatened or promised but it appertayneth to all men in all ages nothing done by Christ of olde but the same in one respect or other is dailye done For Christ is newly borne among vs euen at this day There are Herodes that goe about to murther him in his Cradle euen at this day He notwithstanding groweth in fauour with God and men euen at this day He healeth all maner of maladies Leprouse Demoniacks Dumbe Blinde Deafe Dropsies Palsies bloudy Fluxes at this day so that we say sonne of Dauid haue mercy vpon vs and Lord if thou wilt thou canst make vs whole Yea he rayseth men from death to life againe by the power of his worde euen at this daye He teacheth threatneth promiseth comforteth euen at this day There are Iewes which will not suffer their vayled Moses to yéelde to his brightnesse in these dayes He hath Scribes Phariseys and Sadduceyes that lye in wayte to catch and entangle him in his talke euen nowe a dayes also He hath more than one Annas and Caiphas to buye and more than one Iscarioth to sell him at this daye Herode Pylate and their Crewes want not to mocke whip and crucifie him yea to kéepe him downe also in his graue that he rise not againe euen at this day And yet all this notwithstanding he hath still also at this day his little flocke that doth and will depende vpon him saying Lorde to whome shall we go Thou hast the wordes of eternall life Therefore whatsoeuer the newe Diuines say to the contrary let vs still reade the Scriptures and sticke to that olde Diuinitie But bicause many men are ledde not so much eyther with reason or testimonies of Scriptures as with authoritie of Doctors to fulfill my promise and somedeale to satisfye if happily it may be their preposterous zeale and peruerse iudgement I will shewe also that the best and soundest of the olde Doctors haue alwayes bene of this opinion that all people at all times ought to haue the scriptures in their owne tongue And if any man as delighting in a worke of supererrogation that is to say for a man to doe more than he hath bounde himselfe to or néedeth shall require so much I will also by the olde Doctors aunswere the obiections of such as thinke the scriptures ought not to bee read of all men bicause of the difficultie of them and that varietie of translations cause and bréede errors And first we will begin with the Doctors of the Latine Church not for worthynesse eyther of life or learning that hath bene at anye time in them more than in the Gréekes For verily the Gréekes are able to shew as many worthy writers of their Church as the Latines can by any meanes if I say not more but bicause perhaps some Romanist or Latine man may hit vpon this writing which if he be partially affected toward the Latine Doctors
vnto Peter and the other Apostles ye men and brethren what shall we doe He attributeth two things vnto them First they are pricked in heart He vnderstandeth the terrours of conscience which rose in them by the acknowledging of their sinne and by the feeling or feare of the wrath of God in them With these must we beginne if we will take any profite by preaching of the worde For as long as we liue carelesse in sinne and are touched with no feeling of our sinnes nor feare of the iudgements of God we can not earnestly thinke of the waye of saluation as men that iudge the care thereof vnprofitable and superfluous And bicause this faulte cleaueth to vs by corruption of nature but being delighted with the enticementes of sinne acknowledge not our selues for sinners it is necessarye that our sinnes be reprooued and accused by the worde of God which thing Christ declareth to be one of the first workes of the holy ghost By reason wherof the worde of the Gospell is called a sworde and the light For being sharper than any two edged sworde it entreth through euen vnto the deuiding a sunder of the soule and the spirite and of the ioyntes and the marrowe and is a discerner of the thoughts and of the intents of the heart and setteth them not only before our selues but before others to beholde And that this is a thing necessarye we are taught not onely by the expresse worde of God but also by the example of Gods elect to speake nothing in the meane season of the filthye children of the world which cannot repent Surely Dauid although he were a man euen according to Gods owne minde yet did he not acknowledge his grieuous sinnes of adulterie manslaughter and manye such vices as followed them till he was reprooued of the Prophete by the worde of god And then he beginneth to crie out I haue sinned against the Lorde Againe I acknowledge my faults and my sinne is euer before me My bones are vexed and my soule is also sore troubled There is no health in my flesh bicause of thy displeasure neither is there any rest in my bones by reason of my sinne And such like as are read in the Psalme lj vj.xxxviij and in other places And the lyke we may see euen in our own sinnes There were now fiftie dayes and more gone since the death of christ And how many were there at Ierusalem of them that cried the bloude of Christ be on vs on our children which shewed any token of repentance But rather liued carelesse out of doubt had perished if god had not shaken that carelesnesse of fro their mindes For they being prouoked by Peters sermon begin now at length to be pricked in their harts to tremble and to thinke of their saluation We must saye the same euen of our selues if we will confesse the truth They therefore are greatlye deceyued which will not haue sinnes rebuked by the worde of God and crie out that it belongeth not to the dutie of Ministers to be busied in reprehending of sinne Such men finde sometime dumbe dogges which frame their doctrine according to their lustes but then is that saying of the Prophete fulfilled that the sworde of the Lorde commeth vpon the carelesse and the bloude of them that perish shall be required at the handes of the flattering preachers To this pricking of heart and terrour of conscience is added an other thing that is to say they séeke counsell at Peter and the Apostles howe to be deliuered from their sinne and to be restored againe to Gods fauour And this is no lesse necessary than the first whereof we spake euen nowe For it is manifest that the verye wicked are compunct and stricken sadde with the worde of God and the accusing of their sinne But as all thinges worke to the best in the elect so the wicked take occasion on euerye side to offende the more grieuouslye as we see in this place it commeth to passe For where their sinnes are openlye detected eyther through impacient fiercenesse they rise against the worde of God and will not seeme to haue sinned wherof we haue examples in Achab and afterwards in the Priests of the Iewes or else turning them to their owne workes they seeke by them howe to satisfie the iustice of God and to auoyde his wrath And when they can see nothing but the heynousnesse of sinne and the horrible wrath of God then begin they to crie out with Caine My wickednesse is greater than can be forgiuen and so at length with Iudas come to an vnhappy ende We must therefore after the example of these men go farther and not sticke in the bitter terrors of conscience We must take counsell of the thing whereof our terrour riseth that is to say of the word of God which as Pelias did sometime with his Iaueling against Telephus both woundeth our consciences and maketh them whole againe Neyther must wee here be so afrayde with the grieuousnesse of sinne that we must thinke our selues forlorne and past hope For this sentence of God remayneth still in his full strength which sayth I will not the death of a sinner but rather that â—ee conuert and liue And Christ our Lord doth not only promise that they that seeke shall finde but also professeth that he is a Phisition for suche as are sicke in conscience and in euery place biddeth them that traueyle and are heauy laden to come vnto him And we must thinke it was not without the secret instinct and working of God that they whose handes as yet reeked with the bloude of the sonne of God were the first that hearde the Apostle preach For God in this doing woulde haue vs perswaded that the merite of Iesus Christ and the liberalitie of his goodnesse coulde not be counterpeysed or outweyed with any sinnes so that we woulde cleaue vnto him by faith But let vs heare Peters short and sweete counsayle Repent you and be you euery one baptized in the name of Christ for the remission of sinnes and ye shall receyue the gift of the holy ghost For to you was the promise made c. He requireth of them three things but we will entreate onely of two at this present of the thirde we will speake in the sermon following The first thing he dispatcheth in one worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sayth he which the Latine interpreter translateth poenitentiam agite that is repent ye He beginneth with that which the Scripture euery where exacteth Moyses verily sheweth them which shoulde be punished for their offences and for transgressing of the lawe that their way to be saued stoode only in repentance That this repentance is that thing which the Prophets chiefâ—y vrge is more manifest than needeth to be prooued Iohn the Baptist the first minister of the newe Testament beginneth his preaching with the same And Christ when he begunne to preache cryed Repent ye for the
for their faithfull endeuour and godlynesse and not to be offended if the like also fall out vpon vs. But least we shoulde haue any iust occasion to be offended the Euangelist teacheth vs how little the wicked with all their tyrannie preuayled against Christ and his Church Many sayth he of them that heard the words beleeued and the number of the men was about fiue thousande What shoulde we here first saye or marueyle at O brethren The vnspeakable power of God or the woonderfull constancie and boldenesse of the faythfull of that time Here appeareth the inuincible power of Christ which doth not only scatter the counsell of his enimies but also turneth it vpside downe which Dauid once prophecied he should doe They go about to stoppe the course of the Gospell and by feare to pull men from the Church of Christ. But they are so deceyued that rather maye be perceyued a marueylous fruite of the Gospell and newe scholers are added vnto the Church of Christ. This is the perpetuall condicion of the Church that by persecutions it encreaseth The same came to passe longe agone in Babylon what time the kinges of Assiria and Persia did set forth God and his religion Under the Romaine Emperours the whoter the persecution was the more there were that thought it a goodlye matter to confesse Christ with their bloude This is it that Dauid sayth Christ shall reigne or beare rule in the middle of his enimies Let vs followe the boldenesse of the primitiue Church and not be feared with the crosse or rage of persecutors They shewe crueltie but vppon our bodies and that no further than God permitteth but vppon our soule they haue no power at all They binde the Preachers of the worde and the faithfull hearers but the worde of God cannot be bounde For the spirite of the Lorde bloweth not where the worlde will but where it selfe will. Further he is greater that worketh in vs than he that so rageth in the worlde Christ worketh in vs through whose comfort we are able to doe all things He is a strong and faithfull shepeherde which will not suffer his sheepe to be taken from him He hath prepared for vs a place in heauen to the which it becommeth vs by the crosse and all maner of tribulations to come that we may liue with him and reigne in the house of his father To whome be prayse honour power and glory for euer Amen The .xxvij. Homelie AND it came to passe on the morowe that their Rulers and Elders and Scribes and Annas the chiefe priest and Caiphas and Iohn and Alexander and as many as were of the kinred of the high priestes gathered togither at Ierusalem And when they had set them before them they asked By what power or in what name haue you done this Then Peter full of the holye ghost sayde vnto them you Rulers of the people and Elders of Israel if we this daye be examined of the good deede that we haue done to the sicke man by what meanes he is made whole Be it knowen vnto you all and to all the people of Israell that by the name of Iesus Christ of Nazareth whome you crucified whome God raysed vp againe from death euen by him doth this man stande here present before you whole This is the stone which was cast awaye of you builders which is become the chiefe of the corner Neyther is there saluation in any other For amonge men vnder heauen there is giuen none other name wherein we must be saued ALthough our Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christ according to his promises neuer fayleth those which embrace him with true fayth yet hee chiefly succoureth them when they are persecuted of their enimies and finde no helpe in man wherevnto to leane And then he comforteth them not onely with his spirite but also sheweth them what to doe and to saye This present hystorie giueth vs an example hereof whyle the wyse men and of greatest power in the world after the worlds iudgement be ouercome and shamefully confounded by Christes Apostles being but vnlearned men and of no estimation We haue seene howe the Apostles were had to prison bicause they tooke vpon them the office of preaching and taught howe Christ was risen from death being not licensed thereto of the Bishops But now Luke declareth how they handled Christes cause before the counsell at Ierusalem which place as well for many other skilles as for this chiefely is notable bicause it containeth the craftynesse of the enimies of truth and an example of a counsell of Bishops assembled against the truth He beginneth with the benche of the Iudges which he painteth out with a diligent rehearsall of all them that were gathered togither not only bicause we should vnderstande who and what maner of men were assembled but also that we might perceyue howe the enimies of truth trust more in the authoritie and power of men than in any thing else It came to passe sayde he that their Rulers and Elders and Scribes of Hierusalem c. Whatsoeuer was of any excellencie or authoritie among the Iewes he comprehendeth in three degrees They are Rulers to whome the Romaines had committed the gouernaunce of such thinges as chiefely concerned the constitutions and rules of Iurie wherein they differed from others The Elders were the state of the Senators as appeareth by other places of the Scripture The Scribes are they which attributed to themselues the knowledge of the lawe and the Scriptures and who had the keeping of the publike writings and recordes And not contented to haue rehearsed these degrees he reciteth also the names of certaine other of most authoritie amongest them that is to saye Annas who seemeth here to be the high Priest not bicause he was then Bishop for the hystories report that Caiphas was this yeare Bishop but bicause he had bene Bishop before then Caiphas Iohn and Alexander wherevnto afterwarde he ioyneth all those that were of the high Priests kinred Now if you consider well this bench you shall perceiue there was nothing at that present of greater honour For they whose power was of most authoritie with the Romaine Presidentes were all assembled togither They also were there to whome the publike administration of the Church was committed And they whose name and fame for learning and doctrine was greatest among the people were there But herein stoode the chiefe poynt of all others that these degrees of men were instituted of God and commended for the succession of about a thousande and fiue hundred yeares if we count from the departure of the children of Israel out of Egypt or from the time that Aaron was Byshop vntill the dayes of Christ and his Apostles And in deede they might call themselues the successors of Aaron Eleazar Abiathar Iehosuah and others to whome there is no small prayse attributed in the Scriptures With these men are the Apostles coped yea they are brought before them
manifestly set forth Gods helpe and the myraculous deliuerie of the Apostles For they say they finde the prison close shutte and the keepers diligently watching and yet no man in the prison What other could be hereof gathered but that this was the worke of God For who was able so to haue beguyled the keepers and brought out the Apostles without their knowledge They are therefore not without a cause wonderfully vexed in their minde and wote not what to doe For they feele the prickes of conscience which vse to take holde euen on the wickedst But there commeth an other message that more mooueth and grieueth them For there commeth one that telleth them how the Apostles are openly and boldly teaching in the Church which could not but be occasion of great griefe to such ambitious men perceauing that their authoritie was neyther regarded nor their power feared This example teacheth vs howe easie a thing it is for God to frustrate the wicked attemptes of his enimies For who would haue thought the Apostles could haue bene brought out of the prison without the knowledge of the keepers But that which seemeth impossible to man is as easie to God as the dust to be scattered with the winde For he is able to beguile them whom it seemeth no man can beguile eyther by sleepe eyther by benumming of senses eyther by giddinesse of head or many other wayes Furthermore they haue them to witnesse and declare the myracle whose helpe they thought to vse in oppressing the truth Therefore the same thing happeneth here vnto them that did at the first when they sent their seruauntes to take Christ and they returned agayne not onely without him but also gaue a notable testimonie of hys doctrine Whervnto that testimonie was not vnlyke that the souldiours gaue of Christes resurrection whome they therefore hyred to watch his graue bicause he should not rise agayne Lyke examples we reade euerywhere in the scripture Pharao went about to oppresse and destroye the children of Israell And yet he brought hym vp in his owne house and set him on his lap whome God had appointed to be the delyuerer and reuenger of his people Afterwarde when he set the Magitians agaynst Moses he hearde them openly testifie that the finger of God wrought by Moses And this is also like where Balaam hyred by the king of Moabytes to cursse the people of Israell was enforced whether he would or no to blesse them What shall we speake of Achab who most cruelly persecuting the Prophetes of God cherished and reuerenced the most faythfull Patrone of the Prophetes and the verye onely Mecaenas of those dayes amongs the Lordes of his Court I omyt infinite examples of lyke sort which might be brought both out of later and auncient hystories besides those whereof we haue daylie experience I thought good to admonishe the faythfull seruaunts of Christ by these onely that they might diligently marke and obserue the lyke For great and verie profitable is the vse of these examples For first they comfort vs in aduersitie in that we see mannes power farre inferriour to Gods and that mannes enterprises can not hynder the purpose of god Next they profite vs to frame our lyfe after that we rashely withstande not Gods prouydence and ordynaunces For what is impossible to God which in times past so merueylousâ—y did frustrate and disappoint the attempts of the men in the beginning with the wonderfull diuision of tongues and not so fewe tymes as once by the ministerie of one Angell only made kinges and princes to be laughed at of all men Wherfore to humble our selues vnder his mightie hand is both safest and profitablest for our helth and saluation Further let vs consider the priestes and other that satte in thys counsell which yet haue not learned to gyue place vnto God and not content that their folly is nowe opened to all men shewe yet an incurable impietie of minde For the Captaine of the Temple being sent by them bringeth the Apostles without anye resistaunce before the counsell absteyning in deede from vyolence not that the consideration of Gods woorke and myracle made them euer the meeker but bicause they feared least the people would stone them Here we haue to consider not onely the priests and their complyces but also God and the Apostles In the Priestes and Captayne of the Temple may be perceaued the incurable malice and peruerse blindenesse of minde in the wicked For it was sayde before howe they were in doubt and perplexitie what to doe Whervpon maye easily be gathered that they were striken with some perseueraunce of the thing that was done But yet they go not on therein so farre to acknowledge the myracle with their hart and to yeelde vnto god Nay they returne to their purpose and as the things folowing declare go about to kyll them whome they sawe God a little before had so marueylously saued Many examples prooue that thys is the disposition of all wicked Pharao many times ouercome with the maiestie of Gods myracles and griefe of plagues confesseth the God of Israell desyreth Moses to make intercession for him and promiseth he wyll accomplish the commaundement of god By and by he falleth to hys olde vsage being ready to resist God agayne a freshe And euen as these men doe here so did they before in the resurrection of christ For when they knewe it by relation of the souldiours they would neyther beleeue the truth nor feare the inuincible power of Christ but brybed the souldiours with money and spredde false rumours amongst the people of him as though Christes glorie could haue beene defaced by lying whome the authoritie of the Emperours maiestie in whose name the graue stone was sealed could not keepe within the graue And would to God we had onely but olde examples of thys obstinacie and founde not euery where nowe a dayes such as neyther by the iudgements of God nor testimonie of their owne conscience are content to yeelde to Christ and his truth This is an infallible argument of reprobation and a worthy punishment of the contempt of Gods word which once by his Prophete and afterwarde by Christ he threatned to his enymies where he sayth yee shall heare in deede but ye shall not vnderstand ye shall plainely see and not perceaue Harden the hart of this people stop their eares and shut their eyes that they see not with their eyes heare not with their eares and vnderstande not with their hartes and conuert and be healed These things ought to feare vs that we contynue not in hatred of the truth the ende whereof hath so euill successe We are further taught that the wicked can not alwaye doe that they would but that they many times are brydeled by the secret power of god For hereof commeth it to passe that the Captaine and his souldiours holde their handes fearing least the people woulde stone them So he that thinketh he maye contemne
of Iesus Christ his sonne who in times past hauing suffered all kinde of iniuries at our handes and yet dayly suffreth cannot yet forget his loue and liberalitie but acknowledgeth vs for hys brethren and doth good euen to them that haue deserued a thousand deaths and crosses Let vs imitate this condicion of God the father if we will be called and taken for his children Yet is there no cause why their sinnes shoulde not be reprooued and accused who we see haue done and doe many things out of square Nor we may not so pardon them who haue iniuried vs that through our to much bearing they become the worse but we must thinke this the chiefe poynt of charitie if we can by anye meane call them from sinne and destruction which as yet be voyde of godlynesse But let vs consider the seconde part of this place where Iacob and all his familie and kindred commeth downe into Egypt Here it appeereth none remayned in the countrie of Chanaan that were of the number of Goddes people but they were all outlawes and preserued there without any ceremonies or rytes of the law by the meere grace of god And it is not wythout a cause that Steuen so diligently reckoneth the number of soules For the consideration hereof setteth before our eyes the ineffable and inuincible power of God which was able within two hundred and tenne yeares to make so small a company so innumerable For as Moyses testifieth when they went out of Egypt there were mounstred .vj. hundred thousand three fiue hundred and fiftie fighting men of the Israelites With the which thing if we compare the tragicall attempts of Pharao which euery way went about to destroy and roote out this people it shall easily appeare that the promise of God made sometime to Abraham Genes 15. 17. coulde no wayes be hindered by any power or deuyse of man This ought to be obserued for the instruction and comfort of vs all that we feare not the threates and enterprises of the worlde seeing it appeareth the force thereof agaynst God is altogither vayne Let vs compare this to Christ and his Church God promised him a kingdome which he possesseth and shall for euer possesse despyte of his enimies He promised also that his Church shoulde be enlarged which thing we see is fulfilled although one Pharao alone hath not sought the ouerthrowe thereof Let euery body marke this in their temptations that they suffer not their fayth to be ouerthrowne seeing as Paule sayeth there is nothing that can seperate vs from the loue of God. In the later part of this diuision Steuen sheweth how the father 's died in Egypt and were afterwarde caryed to Sichem And Moyses wryteth plainely of Iacob that his corps was caryed into Chanaan And the Scripture lykewise sheweth that the Israelites brought Iosephes bones out of Egypt as he gaue commaundement Concerning the other Patriarches although Moyses write nothing yet it is credible that their bones were also brought by their posteritie bicause Steuen affirmeth it so boldly before them who he knewe were diligent markers of his wordes Furthermore that the writers haue erred in the name of Abraham it is more plaine than needeth long declaration See at the least what is written touching this field which Iacob bought of the sonnes of Hemor Genes 33. and Iosua 24. He sayth the Patriarches dyed in Egypt for that it may appeere they dyed in that religion which consisted in no ceremonies but in the onely fayth which embraced the promyses of god Wherof may be gathered that they were iustifyed and saued by fayth through the meere grace of God and not by the lawe ceremoniall In the meane season we are taught that the faithfull dye godlily in what place so euer it be and that they are not to be thought miserable which dye in exyle out of their countrie For where this life wheresoeuer it is ledde is but a Pilgrimage and our countrie or Citie is permanent and abyding in heauen he cannot dye in banishment which hauing ended the race of his pilgrimage is taken into the hauen of the heauenly countrie For the Aungell calleth them blessed which die in the Lorde And Christ testifieth that they which beleeue in him passe from death vnto lyfe Furthermore God is present euerywhere with his that are ready to die And in the later daye the earth the sea and all the parts of the world shall render agayne all those that euer they made awaye and consumed Therefore pieuishe and foolishe is the superstition of those which measure beatitude or blisse by holynesse of places and thinke it a great matter in what place a bodye is buried whereas it is playne that all the earth is the Lordes whose power and grace can be included and bounde to no place And let not these men obiect to mee the Patriarches which wylled their bones to be caried out of Egypt into the lande of Chanaan For they did not that to th ende to shewe they had any hope of saluation in the place of buriall but this was a worke of fayth which no feare of death coulde driue from them And for that they woulde testifie to all menne that they firmelye beleeued the promises of God which he had made vnto them touching their posteritie to be possessors and inhabiters of the land and would allure their ofspring to loue the same therfore they would there be buried so that euen at the poynt of death it may be sayde they had an hope and beliefe in the same And that good cause thus to doe appeereth by the condicions and behauiour of their posteritie who being deliuered out of Egypt by the singular myracles and woonders of God had yet an eye still vnto the same and despised the Countrie where their fathers were buried What woulde they therefore haue done if their fathers had appoynted their Sepulture in Egypt Therefore the example of these Patriarches nothing helpe their superstition which thinke so great an hope of mannes saluation and glory in the buriall place Let vs rather marke the poynt of thys diuision of Steuens whole oration and leauing the obseruation of ceremonies let vs keepe fast our hope and fayth that we may fitte with the holye Patriarches in the kingdome of heauen as Iesus Christ hath promised vs to whome be prayse honor power and glory for euer Amen The .xlvij. Homelie BVT when the tyme of the promise drewe nigh which God had sworne to Abraham the people grewe and multiplied in Aegypt till an other king arose which knewe not of Ioseph The same delt subtilly with our kynred and euyll intreated our fathers and made them cast out their yong chyldren that they should not remayne alyue The same tyme was Moyses borne and was acceptable vnto God and nourished vp in his fathers house three Moneths When he was cast out Pharaos daughter tooke him vp and brought him vp for hir owne sonne And Moses was learned in
natiuitie For when the Iewes had lost their libertie and were compelled to pay taxe and tribute to a straunge Prince and an Ethnike and euery man was ceassed by Cyrenius then was that promised and so long looked for Sauiour of the world borne Yea he was borne of the stocke of Dauid where as it had lost all dignitie and seemed as Esaye once sayde a rotten and vnprofitable stocke Therfore let no man despayre in imminent afflictions The seconde argument whereby he prooueth Moses to bee saued by the mercy of God he taketh of his Parents who brought him vppe three moneths at home at their house contrary to the kings commaundement For this was as Paule testifyeth and interpreteth it Hebr. 11. a worke of fayth whereby they respecting Gods mercie and his promises were so comforted that they durst breake the kings commaundement But that fayth and boldenesse of minde are the gyftes of God is more euident than needeth long proofe So therefore must the fayth of Moyses parents be considered that we encouraged by their example must learne to contemne those wicked commaundementes oftyrauntes which no man can obey with godlynesse For in such thinges must Peters rule be followed which plainely sayth we must rather obey God than men Thirdly he rehearseth the order and maner howe Moyses was saued that the grace and power of God may the more appeere For Pharaos daughter tooke him being cast out into the riuer Nylus and brought him vp as if it had bene hir owne sonne Furthermore being trayned vppe in the Court in all maner of wisedome of the Egyptians he became expert in all qualities belonging to a ruler and gouernour Who will in these thinges attribute anye thing to mannes desertes or merites who will not acknowledge Gods singuler grace and fauour Here is the power of God marueylous woonderfull who disappoynteth and laugheth at tyrants enterprises Pharao bringeth vp in his owne Court and as it were in hys owne bosome the Captaine and deliuerer of that people which he sought most to oppresse So whyle Achab persecuteth the Prophetes and the Church Abdias a most faythfull defender of the Prophetes and true doctrine is in greatest honor and authoritie in the court So vnder the Romaine Emperours sometime the mainteyners of the true fayth had greatest charge in the fielde although the Emperours would haue had the faith destroyed And many other examples there are which declare howe the greatest enimies of Christ haue furthered and set forwarde the Church Who therfore will be afrayde of their attempts which are ruled by the bridle of Gods power and prouidence Let vs also consider howe he sayeth Moyses was brought vp in all maner wisedome of the Egyptians Christians therefore maye reade the workes of Gentyles and Philosophers as it appeareth Paule did by his writings and sermons wherein he feately placeth the sentences of the Ethnickes Yet a meane must be obserued least the mysteries of the worde of God beginne to be contemned of those that delyght in Gentyle philosophie and that we make not to much of those things in their writings which openly impugne the prophecies of heauenlye wisdome This thing commeth to passe in Astrologers and in the ouer curious searchers of naturall causes which yet are not ashamed to defend their vngodlynesse by Moyses example But they ought rather to followe his modestie who in the description of the frame and workmanship of this worlde hauing great occasion to haue shewed and set out his Egypticall wisedome comprehendeth all those things in marueylous playnenesse and breuitie that the curious wittes of Mathematicalles and Philosophers haue wearied their braynes vnprofitably about nowe these manye hundred yeares For where he referreth the causes of things to God alone as the Scripture euerywhere doth he easily saw that it was a wicked ostentation of the wit to spoyle God of any part of his glorye and to bring the gouernaunce of the world in subiection and bondage to the course of Creatures Therefore their foolishnesse and madnesse is detestable which make Abraham and Moyses the authors of iudiciall astrologie Let vs rather depende vppon Gods appoyntment and prouidence onely who of his goodnesse chose both Abraham and Moyses and hath by them promised vs hys sonne to be our Sauiour and King To whome be all prayse honor power and glory Amen The .xlviij. Homelie AND when he was full fourtie yeares olde it came into his heart to visite his brethren the children of Israel And when hee sawe one of them suffer wrong he defended him and aduenged his quarrell that had the harme done to him and smote the Aegyptian For he supposed his brethren would haue vnderstande how that God by his hande shoulde deliuer them but they vnderstoode not And the next daye he shewed himselfe to them as they stroue and would haue set them at one agayne saying Sirs yee are brethren why hurt yee one another but he that did his neyghbour wrong thrust him awaye saying who made thee a Ruler and a Iudge ouer vs wilt thou kill mee as thou diddest the Aegyptian yesterdaye Then fledde Moyses at that saying and was a straunger in the lande of Madian where hee begate twoo sonnes WHereas the blessed Martyr Steuen following the order and tracke of the storie of the fathers is commen to Moyses in whom the Iewes so greatly glorie as in their deliuerer and lawe giuer he diligentlye handleth his hystorie partly bicause Moyses touching their deliuerie out of Egypt was a figure of Christ and bare witnesse of Christ and partly bicause he would not seeme to be a contemner of Moyses as they accused him in that he preached agaynst the Temple and Ceremonies of the lawe And bicause he woulde quyte take from them the vayne affiaunce they had in outwarde ceremonies he sheweth that the fathers so little trusted in mannes righteousnesse that Moyses himselfe had nothing whereof to reioyce before God bycause through no helpe of man but by the onely grace of God he was saued and called to such honour as he had Wherevpon it followeth that whatsoeuer afterwarde he did worthy of any singuler prayse and commendation it was to be attributed vnto Gods goodnesse and grace The same is more plainely set forth in this present place where he declareth how Moyses beganne to vse his office wherevnto God had appoynted him and howe the fathers vnworthily despised the benifyte of deliuery giuen them and very vncourteously reiected Moyses their reuenger and defender He beginneth with Moyses age and with the cause that mooued him to take vppon him the charge of the people being so grieuously afflicted he sayth he was fourtie yeares olde before he gaue anye token of the peoples deliuerie In the meane time liuing in the Court among the Nobles of the Realme he seemed to haue little regarde of the people which thing Steuen manifestly teacheth where he sayth when he was full fourtie yeares of age it came into his heart to visite his brethren Who
put that thought in his hart Or else coulde it spring of it selfe in such an one as had bene brought vp in Courtly pastymes and taught in the sciences of Egypt No. Then it was the secrete motion of the holye spirite which twitched Moyses by the eare being as one in a sleepe and awoke his mynde with the consideration of auncient promises making hym to ioyne himselfe to that people of whose stocke he vnderstoode that the Sauiour of mankinde shoulde be borne Paule agreeth herewith which attributeth Moyses doing vnto fayth which fayth all the whole Scripture teacheth to be the gyfte of god For he sayeth By fayth Moyses when he was great or in honor refused to be called the sonne of Pharaoes daughter and chose rather to suffer aduersitie with the people of God than to enioye the pleasures of sinne for a season and estemed the rebuke of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt Also it appeareth very euidently by this place that all the prayse of their deliuerye is to be ascribed to God alone who did not onely giue Moyses strength but put a will thereto in his heart also This must in the meane season serue for our learning that Moyses tooke not on hym the care of his brethren tyll he was stirred vp by god Hereof gather we an vniuersall doctrine that they which are yet ledde with worldly and fleshely desyres and ruled by worldly wysedome can doe nothing that is good or commendable in Gods affayres vnlesse they be drawne by the motion of the holy ghost forasmuch as of our selues as Paule sayth we can not thinke well And Christ teacheth vs that no man commeth to him except the father drawe him Wherefore the bryde in Salomon cryeth out not without a cause Drawe mee after thee Wherevpon it foloweth agayne that no prayse of merite is due to our workes but that whatsoeuer good thing we doe it is of grace onely Also Moyses example teacheth vs our dutie that when God stirreth and draweth vs we must yeelde thereto and shewe our selues obedyent For of such force is Gods calling with the faythfull that it can not want effect for as much as Christ sayth this is the propertie of his sheepe to heare his voyce and to follow it Which thing they vse to doe with such feruencie and zeale that they despise all thinges that might hynder their calling as noysome and but verie dunge and againe thinke nothing intollerable or to harde that is ioyned with Gods calling Both these thinges we see in the example of Moyses For as soone as he heareth the worde of God speaking in his heart without anye delaye hee refuseth the delycacies of the Court the pompe of the Realme the dignities of publike authoritie the friendship of greatmen riches ease and whatsoeuer else like is to be had in the court In steade of these he chooseth traueyles pouertie shame and infinite daungers wherewith he sawe the people of God euery daye vexed vnder most cruell enimies And that we see Moses did the same we see in the Apostles who although they forsooke not so great ryches yet that little they had they forsooke with as earnest an affection and zeale as he did Unto whome we may ioyne Zachaeus and diuers other With the example of whome if we compare our owne sluggishe slouthfulnesse who thinke it not meete nor reasonable to lose or suffer any thing for Christes sake it shall plainely appeare howe farre we yet be from a christian perfection For this is that forsaking and denying of themselfe that Christ requireth of his Disciples This is that obedience of fayth that Paule euery where vrgeth and without the which the profession of a christian name is vnprofitable But some will obiect we confesse all that is here sayde of Moses yet it is to be thought that the fathers by their merites deserued that God should appoint hym to be their reuenger and defendour Steuen therefore prudently preuenteth this obiection and sheweth that the fathers of the Iewes in their delyuerie out of Egypt deserued so little prayse or glorye that rather they were worthy to haue bene perpetually in bondage bicause they reiected the benefite of their redemption offred them of God by Moses verie churlishly and vnworthily And for a proofe hereofhe alleageth the storie written in the seconde of Erasmus where he may see more that thinketh Luke in this place to briefe or short The ende of all is that the fathers despised the benefite of God and Moses their deliuerer wherefore their whole departure out of Egypt was to be attrybuted onely to the fauour of god Steuen also manifestly retorteth the contempt of Moses wherwith they charged him vpon their forefathers and vpbraydeth them wyth their olde vngodlynesse and ingratitude not with rayling inâ—ent but to shewe them howe well they followed their fathers steppes seeing with like contempt they reiected Christ whom Moses long before commaunded them to heare and to follow But that we omytte not such things as serue for our erudition first of all Moses is to be consydered and in him the dutie of a gouernour or Magistrate He is not ashamed of the people whose Shepheard and ouerseer God had appoynted hym to be Therefore no man must be ashamed of the people committed to him of God be he of neuer so great dignitie in the worlde For though the people be neuer so much despised in the iudgement of the worlde yet in Gods sight they are verie deare who hath vouchedsafe to redeeme them by the death of his owne sonne He also defendeth them agaynst open violence and tyranny with armed power and protecteth them though wyth the daunger of his owne lyfe For thus doth Salomon describe the dutie of a good Prince He shall delyuer the poore when he cryeth the needie also and him that hath no helper He shall be fauourable vnto the simple and needie and shall preserue the soules of the poore He shall delyuer their soules from falshood and wrong and deere shall their bloud be in his sight And Paule teacheth vs that God hath gyuen the Magistrate the sworde to thys ende to keepe vnder the frowardnesse of the vngodly and to defende the innocent and good Therefore they greatly are deceyued which being bragge but of a bare and emptie tytle haue no care of the people but let other tyrannes to misseintreate them And these things chiefely consydered be in religion which Princes must see mainteyned among the people that they be not drawne from God by the superstitious traditions of men Therefore Esaye calleth princes the Nurrices of the Church the glorie of which name would God they would acknowledge which suffer the people committed to their charge to be in bondage of the cruell tyrannye of Popes and their wicked counsels and decrees Besides this he is a meane of concorde betweene his brethren the maintenaunce whereof it becommeth them aboue all things well to see too that will
the Lords And to this ende it is that he sayth he is the God of Abraham Isaac Iacob which yet were deade long before he thus spake And Christ by the same reason calleth Lazarus his friend being both dead and buryed Whervnto chiefely it appertayneth that Christ out of this place tooke a generall doctrine to confirme the resurrection of the deade and certaintie of eternall lyfe against the Sadduceyes cauillations Let vs therefore be occupyed in the meditation of this tytle as oft as feare of death ariseth in vs and we shall perceyue by and by that we shall be delyuered from all care and pensiuenesse But whereas Moses feared aswell with the sight of the burning bushe as with the voyce of God durst not come neere by and by he is tolde what he must doe For God sayth moreouer Put of thy shooes from thy feete for the place whereon thou standest is holy grounde So he sayth bicause of hys owne being there and for that he had appointed that place to set forth hys lawe in It is not without a cause that Steuen maketh mention of this precept for hereby he meaneth to admonishe the Iewes what God in tyme past requyred of Moses and what he also requyreth of vs nowe a dayes that is to saye neyther temple neyther leuiticall worshipping no colde ceremonies whether it be the bloud of Oxen or Goates but that we should purge our minds from beastly affections which are signifyed by the shooes and should be wholy ioyned to him by sinceritie of fayth and puritie of mindes For this is that true worshipping of God which Christ otherwheres sayth consisteth in spirite and in truth And herevnto belongeth his precept of washing the feete whereof we ought to haue greater respect than of any outwarde things We must also marke euery where howe all the scriptures testifie vnto vs that God is present in euery place and how daylie examples aboundantly prooue the same Last of all God openeth his intent and pleasure vnto Moses I haue sayth he perfitely seene the affliction of my people in Aegypt and haue heard their groning and am come downe to delyuer them Which words serue most aptly to Ste ens purpose For they declare that there was no desert in the Israelites for the which they ought to be delyuered and that God regarded nothing in them but their afflictions wherewith they were miserably troubled wherevpon it followeth that all the benefite of their deliuerie appertayneth to the meere grace of god Wee are also taught that God doth not neglect his people although he sometime seemeth so to doe He seeth their teares which Dauid sayth are put in a Bottle in his sight He heareth not onely their crie but also their groning bicause he searcheth the heart and the reynes And they that reade hystories finde examples euerywhere whereby it may easily be prooued Let this serue therefore to comfort vs when we are forsaken of false and vnkinde persons Let it also serue to instruct vs that we vnaduisedly afflict not those whome God hath so speciall a care of Hereto appertayneth that that is written concerning Wydowes fatherlesse and straungers crying vnto him And that that is written in Zacharie the second chap. He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye And chiefely let vs haue regarde that we giue our seâ—â—es wholy to that God which considering the miserie of all mankinde hath giuen vs his sonne Iesus Christ â–ª to be our deliuerer and reuenger to whome â—e prayse honor glorye and power for euer Amen The L. Homelie THIS Moses whome they forsooke saying who made thee a Ruler and a Iudge the same did God sende to bee a Ruler and a delyuerer by the handes of the Aungell which appeared to him in the bushe And the same brought them out shewing woonders and signes in Aegypt and in the redde Sea and in the wildernesse fortie yeares This is that Moses which sayde vnto the children of Israel A Prophet shall the Lorde your God rayse vp vnto you of your brethren like vnto mee him shall you heare ALthoughe Steuen taught none other waye of fayth and saluation than that that is founded vpon the merite of Iesus Christ the promised Sauiour to whome Moses and the Prophets beare witnesse yet he is accused that he teacheth a newe fayth and an erronious yea that he is a blasphemer of Moses and the fathers and goeth about to abolishe the fayth which they obserued and deliuered vs The same state was the worlde in then that in these daies it is where they that follow the fayth deliuered by the Apostles and sealed with the bloud of the Martyrs are accused as subuerters of auncient religion and condemners of the olde fathers But what we haue to doe in thys case Steuens example teacheth vs He reasoneth diligently and at large touching the beliefe of the fathers chiefely he cyteth the hystorie of Moses that by rehearsall therof he might shew partly how reuerently he iudged of Moses and partly prooue that he was no enimie to the auncient religion of the fathers although he taught them that those ceremonies were nowe to be put awaye without the which they well ynough serued God yea without the which Moses also pleased God and was aduaunced to so high dignitie and honor So the vnlearneder sort nowe a dayes must be taught what the beliefe and doctrine of the Martyrs was in time past and howe they were saued without those things whereabout now a daies is such bytter contention But after Steuen had brought his oration to the solempne vocation of Moses then prosecuteth he the same at length and entreth into the prayses of Moses and first testifyeth that he acknowledgeth all things in Moses that God bestowed vpon hym Then prooueth he hys doctrine of Iesus Christ by the testimonie of Moses whose meaning he sayth was not that the Israelites should stick in the lawe and ceremonies gyuen by him but that they should haue an eye to that especiall Prophet which God afterwarde should sende of whome he was but a signe and figure onely This is a notable place whereby we are taught that we must thinke and speake so reuerently of the ministerie vertues of the Saints that yet we leaue Iesus Christes honor whole to hymselfe who onely hath the preheminence in all those thinges that concerne the true worshypping of God and meane of our saluation First he begynneth with the office of Moses which was the most excellent thing that he could deuise For he sayth that God sent him to be a ruler and delyuerer of the people of Israell Thys thing he so proponeth that he hytteth them agayne in the teeth with the ingratitude of their fathers which vnworthily refused Moses laying to their charge how they contemned him in whome they so greatly bragged For he sayth Thys Moses whome they denyed saying who made thee a Ruler and a Iudge the same did God sende to be a
and horsemen of the Egyptians and thought they must needes perishe eyther vpon their swordes or else be swallowed vp of the sourges of the sea sodeinly the sea stricken with Moyses rodde as God commaunded deuyded it selfe in two parts lyke a walle standing on both sides and the winde blowing roughly dryed vppe the myerie fourde that the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on drie foote whome when the Egyptians with deadly hatred pursued sodeynly the heapes of waters ioyned togither agayne and oppressed and swallowed them vp By which myracle God euidently taught vs that he is able to helpe his people by those things which seeme to them most hurtfull and agaynst them and that he can giue them a passage to escape through the middle of all the thinges that lye in their waye that waâ—ke in hys vocation Agayne he vseth to punishe his enimies by those things in which they haue their most hope and affiaunce yea he can blinde their eyes and sende them the spirite of gyddinesse that they shall runne into their owne mischiefe and not be able to anoyde the daungers lying before their face For it is certayne the Egyptians tooke the redde sea for a sure bulwarke and thought that the Israelites their wiues and children shoulde pershe therein yet Gods prouidence so ordreth all things that the Israelites passe safely through both body and goodes and the Egyptians bee drowned and of their owne heade enter into the middle of the sea betweene the two mayne walles of water notwithstanding they had so often before felt Gods heauye hande Whereby we learne that we shoulde despayre in no aduersitie nor put any trust or confidence in outwarde thinges bycause God is able so quickly to turne all thinges vpside downe In the thirde sort Steuen comprehendeth those that were done in the wildernesse where the people had Manna giuen vnto them which fedde them fourtie yeares togither where Quayles fell rounde about their tentes where Moyses opened the veines of quicke springs out of the hard rockes where by godly prayer he gate a glorious victorie of the Amalechiâ—es where God marueylously defeated the sleyghtes of Balaam where the wicked murmurers perished with straunge plagues where their garmentes in fourtie yeares space neyther consumed with wearing neyther dyd rotte for oldenesse I omit diuers other things which by Moyses are more diligently rehearsed But seeing Steuen so willinglye acknowledgeth all these things and so highly commendeth them he abundantly declareth that they doe him no small iniurie to accuse him as a contemner of Moyses And bicause he sendeth the Israelites from Moyses to Christ he euidently sheweth that al these signes serued but to confirme Moyses doctrine and ought not to be racked to the ende to cause the people to depende and hang vpon Moyses And they are confuted by this place which abuse the myracles wrought sometime by the Saintes to proâ—ue the superstitious inuocating and worshipping of them â–ª whereas they 〈◊〉 witnesse but of their doctrine whereby we were brought vnto Christ. And bicause he was not ignorant that his aduersaries chiefelye vrged him with this argument that he ledde his hearers by this doctrine from the ceremonies of the lawe vnto Christ and the beliefe in him he prooueth that he doth not so in contempt of Moyses but according to his example and commaundement For this is that Moyses sayeth he which sayde vnto the children of Israel A Prophete shall the Lorde your God rayse vp vnto you of your brethren lyke vnto me him shall you hearâ— â–ª Wherevpon he gathereth that it was not Moyses meaning that the Iewes shoulde sticke in the ceremonies giuen by him but that he promised them another Prophete whose sayings they must all hearken vnto or else perish both body and soule This Prophete was Christ whom the Scripture calleth the Prince of all Prophetes by whose spirite all other Prophets were inspired Also he beateth backe their accusation of his contemning of Moyses vpon their owne heades whyle he sheweth that they refuse Iesus Christ whome Moyses so earnestly and with such authoritie commended The place is in the .xviij. of Deuteronomie vpon the explication whereof we haue spoken more largely in the .xxiiij. Sermon where we expounded the same place in Peters sermon which brought the same text Let vs learne that it is God the fathers will that we shoulde heare Christ and be obedient vnto him by true obedience of fayth and so obteyne saluation in him to whome be prayse honour power and glory for euer Amen The .lj. Homelie This is he that was in the congregation in the wildernesse with the Angell which spake to him in the Mount Sina and with our fathers This man receiued the worde of life to giue vnto vs to whome our fathers would not obey but cast it from them and in their hearts turned backe agayne into Aegypt saying vnto Aaron make vs Gods to go before vs For as for this Moyses that brought vs out of the lande of Aegypt wee wote not what is become of him And they made a Calfe in those dayes and offered sacrifice vnto the ymage and reioyced ouer the workes of their owne handes BYcause the Iewes had all the trust of their saluation in outwarde ceremonies and gloryed in keeping the fayth of their auncesters and forefathers they accused all those which taught men to seeke saluation in Christ onely of great blasphemie both agaynst God agaynst Moses and the fathers This Steuen founde true as before we haue declared who for that he would the more easilye cleere himselfe hereof breaketh forth into the prayse of Moyses greatly extolling him and declaring how vnworthily their fathers intreated him The ende of all which is to laye the crime wherewith they charged him both vpon their fathers in whome they so greatly gloryed and also vpon themselues which stubbornely refused Christ of whome he sheweth that Moses bare witnesse Moreouer he gathereth hereof that the fathers were saued through none of their desertes but by the meere mercy of God and that therefore they ought to put their hope and trust in none other The same is the ende also of this present place where first he rehearseth the setting forth of the lawe whereof Moses was the minister afterwarde he declareth the heynous trespasse of their fathers in offending both agaynst Moses and the lawe of God. And in speaking of the setting forth of the lawe he maketh mention of two other things which were able to purchase no small credit vnto Moses â–ª First he sayth he was in the congregation with the fathers in the wildernesse In these wordes he comprehendeth fourtie yeares space wherein he suffered with so great fayth and pacience the Nation of the Iewes that there is to be founde in no hystories any to be compared with him This is an argument of a singuler fayth which coulde be ouercome by no terrors by no continuall labours nor by no vnkindenesse of the people but would stoutly go
that bodies are committed to the ground as seedes vnto the earth which afterward shall be raysed vp with more glory Howbeit it is like the holy men had an other consideration For while they decently bury him that was condemned by the sentence of the counsell they manifestly reproue the vnrighteousnesse of their aduersaries giue an euident testimony of the fayth which Steuen had preached Furthermore they declare how they reuerenced him whō they saw was so singular an instrumēt of christ And they are not like vnto those which now adays vse to let slip the raynes of an impotent vnbridled tonge against the ministers of the word by whose free speach and doctrine they see their enimies are incensed and so seeke after the bloud of the faithfull ministers of Christ deride their cōstancy boldnesse whom they ought to reuerence honor In the meane time we learne by this example what we owe to the bodies of the deade that is to say honest and comely buriall forasmuch as Paule sayeth our bodies be the Temples of the holy ghost We must in our buryinges vse no pryde or superstition wherin diuers faultes are now adayes committed For there are some which puffed vp with vanitie doe so forgette their mortall estate that they will after death also be prowde while they fasten the armes cognizances of vayne glory about their Tumbs There are other again which labour by Diriges and sacrifices to do away the sinnes of the dead or else after a peculiar sorte of ceremonie vse to canonize them and make them saintes wherof the one is peeuish and without example the other derogatory and repugnaunt vnto Christes merite and doctrine which teacheth vs that those that beleeue passe from death vnto lyfe and haue neede of no new expiacions Moreouer they make great lamentation ouer Steuen And that is not against the rule of Paule whiche forbiddeth vs we shoulde not mourne as the heathen do For they lament not as vncertaine doubtfull of Steuens estate but for that they see the wicked to haue such power and the church depriued of so excellent a Minister which might yet haue done very much good in setting forth the kingdome of christ Neither are they to be blamed which cannot by and by forget their friendes like men voyde of all humanitie and common sense but are enforced to weepe forasmuch as God hath not made vs blockes and the scripture euery where condemneth those that be destitute of naturall affections On this sort we reade Abraham bewayled Sara his wife Ioseph with his brethren Iacob their father the people of Israell Aaron Moses and Samuel wyth godly dutie Yea Christe when he sawe the two sisters mourne wepte for his belooued Lazarus In deede a meane must be kept lest we may be thought either to enuy the dead their heauenly felicitie or else to stande in doubte or not firmely to beleeue the inheritaunce of the same Last of all Luke setteth vs out a singuler example of tiranny that Saule vsed against the church wherin first the great crueltie of the tyranne next the vayne successe of his purpose and intent is to be considered Of this Saule it was sayd before that he consented to the death of Steuen and kept their clothes that stoned him wherby is signified that he was guiltie of innocent bloude But now he can not be satisfied with the tirannye of an vniuersall persecution but deuiseth a peculier way and goeth about vtterly to pull vp the church as it were by the rootes And he setteth not on them alone which openly professed the faith but bursteth into priuate houses and draweth out not onelye men but women also whome the infirmitie and weakenesse of sexe defended and putteth them in prison in so muche that certaine writers thinke not vnwittily the Oracle of a Woolfe that shoulde come out of the tribe of Beniamin ought to be applied vnto this Saule For he was in deede a rauenyng Woolfe which yet at length when he was conuerted distributed the wholesome spoyles of Euangelicall preachyng almost ouer the whole world And the thinges which Luke here reporteth of him he himselfe oftentimes confesseth yea he lamenteth hym of the same verye often See Actes 26. 1. Cor. 15. Galath 1. The vse of them all is that we shoulde acknowledge the goodnesse of God whiche did vouchsafe to take into his fauour so great an enimy For as he himselfe interpreteth the matter On hym would Iesus Christ shewe all long pacience to declare an example vnto them which should beleeue on him vnto eternall lyfe But what preuayled Saules great enterprise Coulde he make hauocke of the church Nothing lesse Yea he was the cause that they beyng scattered hither and thither spred the word of saluation kingdome of Christ the further Thus God knewe how to set forth the glorye of his sonne euen by those wayes which seemed most to hinder it Whervnto also is to be referred how the euill spirites in the gospell euen against their will brought before Christe and threw to the ground those whom they thought they had all power ouer Therefore their feare is foolishe which suffer themselues to be discouraged with the attemptes of tyrannes In the meane while we are aduertised of our dutie that we be not ouercome with persecutions nor forsake not our dutie by and by Which thyng diuers doe in these dayes who hauing bene once or twise in daunger make holyday for euer after as though they had fully discharged their dutie toward Christ already But they of whom Luke here speaketh do better which being driuen out of Ierusalem are by their banishment made the bolder and preach Christ euerywhere being myndfull of that sentence which sayth they shall be saued not which begin well but which continue vnto the ende Let vs therfore follow their zeale that after we haue faithfully finished this race of life we may attaine to the garland of the heauenly reward through Iesus Christ to whom be all praise honor power and glory for euer Amen The .lvij. Homelie THEN came Phillip into a Citie of Samarie and preached Christ vnto them And the people gaue heede vnto those thinges which Phillippe spake with one accord hearing and seyng the myracles which he did For vncleane spirites crying with lowde voyce came oute of many that were possessed of them And manye taken with palseyes and many that halted were healed And there was great ioye in that Citie But there was a certaine man called Simon which before tyme in the same Citie vsed witchcraft and bewitched the people of Samarie saying that he was a man that coulde doe great things whome they regarded from the least to the greatest saying this man is the power of God which is called great And hym they set much by bicause that of long tyme he had bewitched them with sorceries ALthough the Kingdome of Christ and the church is alway assaulted and set on by the
he sayth the fame hereof was streyght waye published ouer all Iurie Here are two sortes of men vttering and bewraying themselues The first are the Apostles and brethren by which name I suppose the Ministers of the word and their fellowes are here ment Of these the Euaungelist sayeth but this one thing and no more that they hearde the Gentyles had receyued the word of God also Wherevpon may be gathered that although they yet vnderstoode not very well the mysterie of this matter yet being mindefull of Christian modestie they woulde not blame or accuse Peter ouer hastily whose credite and diligence they had by manye proofes tryed Whose modestie the holy ghost hath set before vs to imitate least in iudging other mennes doinges we be ledde with vnaduised zeale and so breake the rules of Christian charitie Here is also to be considered the phrase or maner of speaking where he sayth the Gentyles receyued the worde of God whereas he might haue sayd they receyued Christendome were made partakers of Christ his Church But this way he thought to saye somewhat more and to make a difference betweene the true Christianitie and counterfayte dissembling of some kinde of persons For they receyue the worde of God which acknowledge it to be the worde of God and therefore labor to be transfourmed into it and to become followers of god So Paule writeth that the Thessalonians receyued the word where he sayth when you receyued of vs the worde whereby you learned to knowe God you receyued it not as the worde of man but as it was in deede the worde of God. Agayne And you became followers of vs and of the Lord receyuing the worde with much affliction They that receyue the worde of God after this sort bring forth marueylous fruites by the same For denying themselues and mortifying the affections of the fleshe they forsake their olde vngodlynesse and as children of light followe innocencie For they know that God is light and that they which will haue fellowship with him must walke in the light And they which bragge of the Gospell had neede oftentimes to consider this thing least whyle they crye with open mouth that they haue receyued the word of God they accuse themselues of lying shewing forth no fruites agreeable to the worde But let vs come to the other kinde of men which were not so indifferent iudges of Peters singuler doing Luke sayth these were of the Circumcision But whereas the first sort also were circumcised and Iewes I suppose he meaneth not here the people of the Iewes onely but those rather which would be taken for Christians yet did cleaue to fast vnto Circumcision and the Ceremonies of the lawe as necessary vnto saluation These men sayth Luke ouer boldly reprehended Peters doing and openly contended with him And this they lay to his charge as a matter of life and death that he went in to men vncircumcised that is to Gentyles and Heathen men and did eate with them For thus doing they accuse him of breaking the traditions of the Elders and of custome the origine whereof we haue otherwheres declared to haue sproong of the law of God being ouer straitly strayned By this example we are taught howe hurtfull a thing it is once to be bletched with error and to continue long in the same For commonly a certaine frowarde feruencie to defende error is ioyned therevnto bicause such is the inclination of mannes nature that none will seeme to haue erred With which vyce these men were also blinded which woulde not admit the Gentyles into the congregation albeit it was manifest by the playne testimonie of God that they were admitted thereinto So great and so tough is the corruption of mannes nature and so inuincible is his stubbornnesse in the defence of errors once receiued And would God there were not at this day infinite examples of this kinde in those men who being the heades of the Church thinke it but a tryfle to defende those things which they knowe to be contrary to the expresse Oracles of Gods worde Furthermore this place teacheth vs that no man can so prosperously and godlily doe any thing that he shall satisfie all men For this rather is the state of the worlde that they that shoulde be commended are accused and blamed This the Scripture teacheth vs came to passe vnto Moses both amongst the Egyptians and the Israelites We reade howe the Prophetes had experience of the same who while they watched and laboured for all mennes saluation were called disturbers of the Realme enimies of their countrie and authors of all euill And it appeareth the worlde had none other iudgement of Iesus christ For one while he is accused for neglecting washing of the handes another while for being conuersant with sinners by by againe as a breaker of the Sabboth after that they crie out he is a Samaritane possessed of the deuill Therfore Peter now suffreth the same that his maister did where he was worthy of singuler prayse for bringing the kingdome of God so prosperously vnto the gentiles he is faine rather to abide the venymous bitings of slaunderers And they onely which are manifest enimies of Christ doe not thus vniustly controll him but they also which would be taken for Christians brethren yea the schollers take the fetula and rod against the Maister The consideration herof ought to make vs pacient if the like at any time do fal out vnto vs It also teacheth vs that we must labour rather to approoue our doings to God than to the worlde which many times is both vnkinde to his benefactours and for the moste part deceyued in his iudgement Againe let vs learne that it is a great offence dishonestly to defame and slaunder the well doinges of our brethren For they that so doe declare the Deuills disposition whome the Greekes therefore haue called Diabolum that is to saye Deuill bicause he vseth to slaunder misreport and misconstrue all our doing and sayings And they also breake the rules of charitie whose propertie it is alwayes to hope well of the brethren and rather to couer the multitude of sinnes than to disclose and open them But after the vniust accusation of these waywarde men â–ª followeth Peters Apologie or defence deuoyde of all bitternesse the only ende and scope whereof is to shewe that nothing is herein done â–ª of priuate diuise but all things by the commaundement of God who woulde haue the Gentyles to be receyued into the communion of Christ and his Church And bicause he sawe his aduersaries mindes greatly exasperated he frameth a diligent narration of all things done euen from the beginning and confirmeth the same with sounde argumentes The which narration before I touch the modestie of the Apostle is to be considered who thought good so humblye and carefully to excuse himselfe to those whome hauing so iust a cause as he had he might eyther haue set light and giuen
alone conteyneth more in it than any manne is able to perfourme And if thou haue to speake vnto Christians what canst thou deuise more amiable than the name of brother or more honourable than the name of Christian wherby both the Priestly dignitie and Princely maiestie whervnto Christ hath aduaunced vs is expressed But nowe a dayes the worlde is come to such foolishnesse that they are iudged rude and rusticall that stuffe not their orations and writings with counterfeyted and most pâ—euish and ridiculous tytles whereby they make men already not well in their wits starke staring madde How much better did Augustus Caesar who thought this name Dominus or Lorde more honorable than sitting for a mortall man as he was Secondly we are taught what maner of men they shoulde be that will heare the worde of God worthily and to their profyte and vtilitie First they must be Israelites which in the wrastling of temptations must take fast holde of the worde of God and not suffer it by anye aduersitie to be taken from them Therefore is fayth required whereby the Apostle witnesseth we ouercome Then must they be such as feare God and tremble with great reuerence at his worde as the Lorde admonisheth by his Prophet Esay 66. For it cannot be that any can obey the worde of God but he that hath learned to thinke well of it For the which cause when Moses came to talke with God he was commaunded to put of his shooes that is to say all beastly and fleshly affections whereby the maiestie of God vseth to be driuen awaye Nowe seeing there be so fewe such hearers in these dayes for that cause we see the worde of God is so much preached in vaine But to returne vnto Paule he addeth to his beginning the narration of an hystorie wherein the fyrst part of his Oration is ended And he taketh the beginning of his narration of the fathers therby declaring that he preached neyther newe God nor newe fayth but the same by the which the fathers in time past were saued For he affirmeth that they had in deede many singuler giftes but yet nothing but that God of his grace gaue them who woulde haue the Sauiour that he promised borne of their posteritie But bicause they which trust in their owne worthinesse can hardly acknowledge the grace of God Paule vseth a diligent rehearsall of Gods benefyts which both maintaineth the grace of god against the boasters of their merits and also contayneth manifest examples of our whole redemption Wherefore it shall not be from Paules purpose if we runne them all ouer and expende such poyntes as serue for our instruction First he toucheth the fountaine of all goodnesse which is free election The God of this people sayeth he chose our fathers He calleth him the God of the people of the Iewes not after the maner of the gentiles which appoynted to euery Nation their peculiar God but bicause that God which was the Lorde and gouernor of all Nations chose vnto him the people of Iewes before all other by whom he would be knowne vnto all the world That this election or choyse was of his free mercie the Scripture teacheth in euery place Uerily Iosue testifyeth that Abraham serued straunge Gods before he was called And Moses doth many times inculcate this election that they might vnderstande whome to thanke for all those benefytes that they had receyued And hereto belong the things which we read in Ezechiel 16. and Amos. 3. and they take from the Iewes all occasion of glorying Hereby also appeareth that our saluation and whatsoeuer we haue that good is ought to be referred vnto the grace of God whereby he did vouchsafe to choose vs also before the foundations of the worlde were layde Dauid therefore doth well saye Blessed is the man whome thou hast chosen And if we haue no goodnesse of our selues but are chosen of God what madnesse is it I pray you to attribute saluation to our merites or works which vnlesse free election go before cannot please God. Secondly he alleageth the glory and notable deliuerye of this people out of Egypt For when they were Pilgrimes and straungers in Egypt God did marueylously exalt them fyrst by Ioseph who being made ruler of Egypt obtained fauour for them of the king of that Countrie After that being oppressed with tyrannie he brought them out of the house of bondage into libertie wiâ—h an high or mighty arme that is to saye by myracles and wonders with great power And that this was a free benefyte and goodnesse appeareth in this that they were pilgrimes and men most abiect For what coulde such deserue To saye nothing in the meane season howe they were polluted and defyled with the superstition of Egypt whereby they deserued rather to be kept in bondage still than to be sette at libertie These things containe in them a fygure of our common redemption much agreeing with this present argument For it is manifest we are all pilgrimes vpon the earth and haue here no continuall dwelling place Such therefore as we who deserued no possession vpon earth hath God lift vppe into heauen yea he hath witsafe to take as his children He also hath deliuered vs being oppressed with the deadly tyrannie of the deuill with his highe arme that is to saye by his sonne whome Esaye the Prophete cap. 53. calleth the arme of the Lorde Thirdly he sayth God suffered their maners fourtie yeares in the wildernesse Herein is noted a marueylous and more than fatherly bearing and tendernesse such as no mortall man woulde vse towarde his only sonne or seruaunt most profytable vnto him This thing well appeareth if we read the storie of Moses Howe often reade we they murmured against Moses howe often rose they sediciously against him howe often went they about to murther him But to let passe the thinges they did against Moses what did they not commit against God himselfe They forgate his commaundements and made a Calfe and chaunged the glory of God immortall into the similitude of an Oxe that eateth haye How often preferred they the seruitude of Egypt before the benefyte of their glorious deliuery how often did they tempt the will and power of God yet God bare with their incurable malice although they daily deserued with newe punishments to be destroyed This might seeme a wonderfull meekenesse of God if we daylye founde not the like For what daye or houre passeth in the which we prouoke not the iudgement of God against vs eyther in wordes deedes or thoughts and wicked desires Yet the Lorde spareth vs as though he had not thunderboltes and diuers other weapons at hande wherewith to punishe and strike vs. For he knoweth whereof we be made to vse the wordes of the Prophet and remembreth that we are but dust Yet least any man might thinke he maye hereby sinne without checke let vs note that this lenitie of God serued but hereto
proposeth three arguments to prooue the same vnto these he adioyneth other which he so putteth forth that therewithall he also aunswereth those obiections which might pull the hearers from embracing the fayth in christ For fyrst he testifyeth that Christ pertayneth vnto them least any man might thinke hee spake of a matter pertayning nothing to the purpose Then he putteth the offence away that men might take bicause Christ suffred on the crosse And last of all he alleageth and constantlye prooueth the resurrection of Christ which is the chiefe argument of his godheade We shall speake of eche of them in order as much as God shall permit vs. Yee men and brethren sayth he children of the generation of Abraham and whosoeuer among you feareth God to you is the worde of this saluation sent This is a graue little preface wherwith he meaneth to prouoke them to think that the doctrine of Christ belongeth vnto them For it is like there were diuers in those dayes which thought it vnsitting for their profession to haue ought to do with controuersies rising about faith and religion such as are now a days euerywhere to be seene who by this opinion go about to purchase to themselues great prayse glory But Paule denieth this that he might the more easily perswade them the truth he calleth them by a worshipfull name and title For besides that after the common vsage he calleth them Men and brethren he addeth therevnto children of the generation of Abraham in which name by reason of the couenant and promises of God he knewe they greatly reioyced Yet that they shoulde not thinke the prerogatiue of the Nation sufficient he admonisheth them also of their dutye where he sayth and whosoeuer among you feareth God. For by this meanes he teacheth them that they are then the true and right children of Abraham that ioyne vnto outwarde profession the feare of God and syncere study of religion whereof Christ also in the .viij. of Iohn disputeth Then he proceedeth saying To you is the worde of this saluation sent As though he should say If you will be taken for the children of Abraham and the syncere worshippers of God you must by no meanes despise the doctrine of saluation which is offered vnto you by the singuler benefyte of god Yet Paule speaketh not this in such meaning as though he thought the Gentyles still excluded from the fellowship of saluation whome the holy ghost had appointed him to call But he hath a respect vnto the counsell of God who as he set forth the promises of Christ vnto the fathers of the Iewes and called them out from others as a peculiar people vnto himselfe so would he first haue the saluation giuen vs in Christ preached vnto them as Christ in the Gospell euidently testifyeth when he fyrst sent out the Apostles forbidding them to go into the way of the Gentyles But when the vayle whereby the Gentyles were deuided from the Iewes was remooued away by the death of Christ then also was the doore opened vnto them that being made the children of Abraham by fayth they might enter into the same inheritance of saluation with the Iewes Therefore Paule admonisheth the Iewes of the prerogatiue that God did giue them least they should vnaduisedly reiect the knowledge of Christ as nothing appertaining vnto them And this example of Paule ought all Ministers of the worde to followe remembring that they must so preache the worde of God that the hearers must vnderstande howe the things spoken doe belong vnto them For except they so doe the worde of God shall strike their eare like a song whose sounde is in vayne as wee reade in Ezechiel the .xxxiij. Chapter So therefore let them inculcate the commaundementes of God that all men may bee assured that the obseruation thereof belongeth vnto them So let them preach the iudgements of God that they that commit the lyke may know they haue to looke for the like For then is the worde of God rightly deuided and cut when euery body may learne thereby to take what serueth eyther for their instruction consolation or erudition Furthermore it is a singuler prayse of the Gospell that it is called the worde of saluation in the which sense the Angell spake vnto Cornelius as we before sawe Simon Peter shall speake wordes vnto thee through which thou and thy house shall be saued c. Let it suffyce here to admonish thus much that their ingratitude is very enormious which rayle at that worde and that they are the greatest enimies of their owne saluation of all other From hence Paule commeth to the slaunder of the crosse which he diligently putteth away bicause they that were ignoraunt of Christes mysteries were offended with Christes death not without a great cause And chiefly it seemed an heynous matter that the Priests at Ierusalem were the authors thereof For Ierusalem was the sea of religion priesthoode and doctrine and from thence according to auncient Prophecies was the worde of saluation looked Wherefore it coulde not choose but seeme a great absurditie to acknowledge him for a Sauiour whome the chiefe of Ierusalem put to the death of the Crosse as a schismatike and a deceyuer and to embrace that doctrine that was not receyued at Ierusalem For such was the authoritie of the holy Citie for so the Prophetes called Ierusalem that many thought it impossible for them to erre in matters of faith and religion But Paule so aunswereth this offence that he teacheth the example of that Citie is rather to be auoyded than to be folowed least they might offend God through lyke ingratitude and impiety And there be fower things which he bringeth to this ende First he sayth they that dwelt at Ierusalem and their Rulers bicause they knewe him not condemned him Therefore he sayth ignoraunce was the cause of their so heynous an offence as also is sayd 1. Cor â–ª 2. Who will think it a thing worthy to be followed when he heareth men sinne of ignorance And yet this is not to be counted such ignorance as excuseth the deede For they are sayde also to be ignorant of the scriptures yea of those common Scriptures which vsed to be reade euery Sabboth day But it is a foule thing and not worthye to be pardoned for a Priest to be ignoraunt in the Scripture considering God commaundeth to search the knowledge of the lawe at his hande Furthermore he taketh from them a great part of their excuse in that Christ admonished them to search the scriptures But Paule in another place sayth that this was the onely cause of their ignorance for that they were occupyed in reading Moses and the Prophetes without the helpe of christ For this was that vayle that was the onely cause that they could not see Moses face that is to say the true meaning of the lawe Seeing therefore they were blind guides as Christ also calleth them Math. 15. they are not to be
followed We are here taught that we must not alwayes cleaue to the iudgements and examples of notable men but rather trie and examine all things after the rule of the Scripture afore we imitate them For if they were so fowly deceyued which had the greatest dignitie among the people of God by his appointment what shall we hope of others They are also confuted which when we bring forth the worde of God bring vs the examples of Princes and great estates For the question is not what men doe but what is done according or contrarye to the worde of god Moreouer we are taught that the reading of the Scripture neuer so much preuayleth not if we well vnderstande not the meaning of the Scripture Moses the Prophets were read of ordinary among the Iewes in all their sinagoges But whereas they were deceyued in the affiance of their owne righteousnesse they knew not the ende of the lawe which was Iesus Christ and being ignorant thereof they fulfylled the Scriptures presumptuously putting him to death whom Moses the Prophets did prophecie should be their sauiour We see the same hath come to passe these many yeres in the papacie or Popedome The vnlearned Monkes and Priests reade and sing the holy scriptures Yet Christ whome the scriptures teach is despised of a great many and Antichrist is worshipped and glorifyed whome the scriptures with one consent warne vs to beware of And other cause of so fylthy an error is there none than for that men being puffed vp with a Iewishe affiance of their owne works are not able to see the righteousnesse of Christ while they go about to set vp their owne righteousnesse See Rom. 10. Secondly he alleageth the authoritie of Gods prouidence declaring that for this cause no manne ought to be offended at the death of Christ bicause he suffred nothing but that the Prophetes to whome the holye ghost long before reuealed the counsayles and ordinaunce of God prophecied he shoulde suffer Wherefore the Priestes when they vnderstoode not the scripture yet they fulfylled them in that they presumed to condemne and put Christ to death And it is no doubt but Paule in this place brought forth the oracles of the Scripture which are extant euerywhere touching Christes passion In that he sayth the Prophecies were fulfylled by the wicked enimies of Christ we learne that the very wicked also are the instruments of God by whome oftentimes he vseth to bring his ordinances and deuises to passe And yet they are not therfore to be excused bicause they doe that that God will haue to bâ— done For where they like Bedlems rage in impietie against God and go about to hinder and not to set forwarde his ordinances they are in the fault and God is to be praysed and glorifyed which can moderate and order their audacitie and boldenesse so well Also his inuincible power and infallible veritie appeareth in these examples For if hys deuises take effect through the meane of his very enimies also then must they needes stande fast for euer Therefore they whose infyrmitie is feared with the cruell deuises of the Princes of this worlde let them seeke comfort hereat But whereas it might notwithstanding be obiected that it was scarce credible that God would appoynt him to be our Sauiour who was made away by so slaunderous a death and such as was cursed euen by the lawe therefore in the thirde part he prooueth he was innocent and guiltlesse and sheweth that his kinde of death must not be so much considred as his cause when they founde by him sayth he no cause of death yet desired they Pylate to kill him These things might haue bene declared more at large as it is like Paule did bicause he spake vnto them which suspected all Christes doing Let it suffyse vs to holde fast the scope and ende of Paule that is howe no man ought to be offended at Christes death which he suffered being an innocent forasmuch as many times the holyest men of all vse to be put to death both vnworthily and vniustly Also the true vse of Christes innocencie must be well weyghed which consisteth in the purgation or clensing of our sinnes For if Christ had not bene free and cleere of all sinnes he coulde neuer haue bene able to haue satisfyed for our sinnes For howe can he make others cleane that is himselfe vncleane Or how shoulde one being indebted himselfe paye other mennes debtes Therefore it behooued Christ shoulde be innocent that we might knowe howe he who had deserued no death for his part suffred death for vs Esay maketh mention herof where he expoundeth the mysterie of our redemption cap. 53. And hereto belongeth that saying of Paule God made him to be sinne for vs which knewe no sinne that we by his meanes shoulde be the righteousnesse which before God is allowed And this is the chiefe cause why the Euangelistes be so earnest in setting forth the innocencie of christ Then if none ought to bee offended with Christes death bicause he suffred innocently by the same reason the vnworthy and vniust slaughters of the Saintes ought to offende no body whereby they are made partakers of Christes crosse to th ende to be glorifyed with him Fourthly least anye man shoulde thinke that Christ was ouercome by the force or power of his enimies and therefore shoulde deny that he were a sauiour or reuenger he teacheth that he receyued no losse or harme by the wicked enterprises of the Priestes They perfourmed all the thinges which were prophecyed of him while they killed him on the Crosse and pierced his side with a speare and at length tooke him down from the crosse and layd him in a sepulchre But for all this he was of neuer the lesse power or glory For God as he foreshewed raysed him vppe from death so that now he liueth for euer in a glorifyed body where they enuyed him this miserable and corruptible life But let it here offende no man that Christes buriall is permitted to his wicked enimies the honor whereof the Euangelistes ascribe to his faythfull disciples Ioseph and Nichodemus For Paule here speaketh howe they were not contented with his ordinary buriall but caused the grauestone to be sealed with Pylates signet and gotte souldiours to watch him and forceably to keepe him downe in his graue thinking that they of their owne power had killed him vpon the crosse and were ignorant that he layde downe his lyfe of his owne voluntary This diligent description of his buriall maketh for the more certaintie and truth of his resurrection For thus it appeareth there coulde be no frawde or deceyt in the matter and that it was a false rumour that the Priestes caused to be raysed by the souldiours being well bribed with money that his Disciples came and stole away his body In the meane season we may take a generall comfort hereof that the enimies of Christ fyght against him in vaine The same
vseth to reuenge the contempt of his sonne and of his worde vppon them that holde on in their incurablenesse and vnbeliefe The fyrst he concludeth with great weyght of wordes saying Bee it knowne vnto you therefore yee men and brethren that through this Iesus whom I haue hitherto preached is the forgiuenesse of sinnes declared vnto you And it is not without a cause that he thus beginneth saying Be it knowne vnto you For by this meanes he thought to make them the more attent and diligently to consider that which was to followe And hereby he teacheth vs that it is necessary and conuenient that as many men as desire to be saued shoulde knowe christ For Christ himselfe teacheth vs that the chiefe poynt of our saluation consisteth in the knowledge of him where hee sayth This is lyfe euerlasting ô father that men should knowe thee the onely true God and Iesus Christ whome thou hast sent Then also where it is the peculiar counsell of God that the knowledge of Christ through the preaching of the Gospell shoulde be published ouer all the worlde they that despyse this knowledge of saluation offered vnto vs by God must needes bee iudged wicked and ingratefull contemners of Gods goodnesse They are by this place confuted that say matters of religion belong not vnto them and are wilfully ignorant and deceyued in their saluation Using commonly to abuse Christes wordes where he sayth The seruant that knoweth his maisters will and doth it not shall be beaten with many stripes So that they thinke they shall be excused before the iudgement seate of God so long as they be vtterly ignorant in the mysteries of fayth and saluation But they ought also to thinke that it is vnmeete and not conuenient that they which will be called and taken for the seruauntes of God shoulde be ignorant of their maisters will and refuse to learne it It is Gods will that housholders shoulde declare his commaundements and workes vnto their family and shall we thinke to be excused if we wittingly be ignorant of that which God reuealeth vnto vs both by writing and plaine teaching Why doe we not rather harken what Christ sayth that they which are borne of God refuse not to heare the worde of God And Iames sendeth them which lacke wisedome vnto prayer to obtayne it of the father of lights And we want not examples both of Dauid and other holye men who were most desirous to obtayne this heauenly wisedome See Psal. 25.119 c. But lette vs returne vnto Paule which comprehendeth in a fewe of wordes the summe of all Gods benefytes giuen vs in Christ saying Through this man is preached vnto you remission of sinnes For in forgiuenesse of sinnes is vnderstanded all those things that appertayne to our saluation For it is euident that God is offended with vs bicause of sinne and that for sinnes sake we be excluded from the grace spirit and kingdome of god Wherby againe is gathered that God must needes be mercifull vnto them whose sinnes are forgiuen and taken away Ergo he giueth them his spirite wherewith being regenerate and made his children they become inheritors of the kingdome of heauen Let vs note how Paule in this briefe sentence doth most fully teach the true knowledge of saluation which if it be diuided into certaine poyntes and articles shall most easilye be perceyued and vnderstanded The fyrst of them is that we should vnderstande we be sinners and stande grieuously detbounden vnto God which hereby appeareth for that the scriptures euerywhere make mention of forgiuenesse of sinnes The scriptures likewise eueriwhere accuse vs of sinne and teach vs that we be of nature corrupt Moses from the mouth of God declareth that the inuentions and deuises of mans heart are naught euen from his childehode He setteth the lawe before vs as it were a glasse wherein the flesh may beholde hir corruption which otherwise vseth to flatter hir selfe In the booke of Iobe it is written that none borne of a woman is cleane Dauid confesseth that he was conceyued and borne in sinne Salomon writeth that the iust man falleth seauen times a day And in Esay the Prophete the faythfull confesse that our righteousnesses by reason of the contagiousnesse of sinne and the fleshe cleauing vnto vs are lyke an arayed and fylthy clowte And Christ admonisheth vs of the same where he teacheth vs to praye forgiue vs our trespasses For that prayer were superfluous if we were not loden with grieuous sinnes Nowe it must needes be that this foundation must lye in the knowledge of saluation bicause man can haue no care thereof vnlesse he fyrst vnderstand he is vtterly lost and corrupted But we haue neede also of another thing that is to vnderstande howe we be freely forgiuen For where through sinne we haue deserued eternall death and haue no sparke of goodnesse of our selfe and all that good which we seeme to doe is corrupt and vnperfyte it must needes be that this remission and forgiuenesse must come of fauour and grace The Parable in the .xviij. of Mathew teacheth vs the same And we professe this remission or forgiuenesse among the articles of our fayth where we saye we beleeue the forgiuenesse of sinnes and we alleage nor make mention of no satisfaction that dependeth vpon our workes Thirdly it behooueth that we knowe for whose sake this grace is bestowed on vs The same is Iesus Christ onely and alone in whome the father is well pleased bicause hee hath taken our sinnes vppon him and hath pourged them on the aultare of the Crosse by the merite of his bloude insomuch that otherwheres he sayeth he is made to vs of God the father righteousnesse satisfaction and sanctifycation yea and a sacrifyce for sinne that we by his meanes might be made righteous Iohn the Baptist taught vs the same where hee sayeth that Christ is the lambe of God that taketh awaye the sinnes of the worlde Fourthlye we must holde fast the meanes whereby Christ is made oures which Paule plainelye teacheth vs where he sayeth forgiuenesse of sinnes is preached to vs through christ For hereby is gathered that he is receyued by faith bicause there is none other meane whereby the worde preached may be taken hold of yet he expresseth the same more plainely in the wordes that followe saying By him euery one that beleeueth is iustified Wherevnto all the thinges written of fayth in any place of the scripture are to be referred but speciallye that that Christ commaunded his Disciples at his last departure from them For in Luke .xxiiij. he commaundeth repentance and forgiuenesse of sinnes to be preached in his name And in another place whosoeuer beleeueth and is baptized shall bee saued And all that that Paule prosecuteth at large in the Epistles to the Romanes Galathians Ephesians to diuers other he comprehendeth in this briefe sentence wherof if a man lyst to see yet any more
singular fruites of fayth For shewing hir dutie of thankefulnesse vnto the Apostles she requested them home to hir house and lodged them By which occasion it came to passe that the Apostles proceeding earnestly in their office daylye wanne more and more Disciples and so beganne a Church togither as shall appeare in the ende of the Chapter But Satan thinking this geare intollerable assayeth to resist these fyrst principles and beginnings of Christes kingdome And fyrst he handleth the matter with subtiltie and guilefull flattery and by and by when his fyrst enterprise succeedeth not he setteth vpon the Apostles by open force and at length dryueth them out of the Citie But at this time we will examine but the fyrst encounter Luke beginneth his hystorie with the description of that person whose helpe Satan vsed in this conflict This was a mayde or damozell possessed with the spirite of Python which by hir prophecying was very gaynefull vnto hir maister and mystresse Nowe thys spirite of Python the Gentyles supposed to be Apollo who had that name giuen him as the Poets feigne of that Serpent Python which he slewe wyth his bowe and arrowes And that Apollo was the President of prophecying is more manifest than needeth by many wordes to be prooued For Delphi Claros Delus and diuers other places where vnder the name of Apollo the deuill sometime vsed to vtter hys Oracles were very notable and famous He lykewise inspyred certayne priuate persons striking them sodainly madde and making them speake ambiguous and doubtfull sayings which superstitious men receyued and embraced for credible Oracles And at length the matter came to this passe that foolishe men woulde enterprise or take nothing in hand vnlesse they had fyrst consulted with these Prophets and in all their distresses they woulde runne to these Oracles whereby it came to passe that great aduauntage followed Bicause man is of this nature that he will let for no labour nor cost about those things which may any kinde of way satisfye his curiositie And Satan rayseth vppe an instrument hereof among the Philippians agaynst the Apostles to the intent eyther to make the wiser sort suspect them or else the rude and vnskilfull Commons to hate them In the meane whyle we maye consider with what engines Satan maintayneth hys kingdome amongst men namely by lying and curious and soothsaying Artes wherein he counterfeyteth the spirite of Prophecie to drawe men by that meanes from the worde of God which ought to be the onely rule in all our doyngs The Professors of these Artes in Egypt were the Magitians whych the Scripture sayeth wythstoode Moses Among these may Baalam also be numbred although he did egregiously counterfeyte a loue of the truth Such were diuers and many sorts of Prophetes among the Chanaanites whome God by his lawe commaunded to be destroyed Unto the which maye be referred the Augures Aruspices and interpreters of dreames Astrologers Necromancers Geomancers Hydromancers and infynite others whose counsayles and sayings were of great authoritie among Kings and Magistrates in the administration and gouernance of their kingdomes and common weales And surelye if we consider the thing well Satan scarcely exercised the power of his kingdome in anye other thyng more than in this vanitie of Oracles wherewith he bewitched all the worlde a great number of yeres And in these dayes he many times rayseth vp certayne Prophetes which eyther make themselfe cunning in the knowledge of thinges to come or else can put awaye diseases by enchauntments and assay to doe diuers other things impossible for man to perfourme But some will demaunde wherefore God in times past suffred and yet to this day suffreth these things to be done The answere is readye For where the Gentyles in tymes past were not contented with the reuelations of God but went about to fynde out the mysteries of Gods maiestie by the pregnancie of their owne wit this presumption of theirs deserued that they shoulde be gyuen vppe into a reprobate sense and miserably seduced wyth the wyles and ginnes of the Deuill Paule gaue vs warning that the same shoulde come to passe towarde the later dayes saying that Antichrist should haue power on them which would not embrace the truth offred of god And if a manne consider the Philippians he shall fynde they were worthye to be thus seduced by this Demoniake Damsell For such was their liberalitie towards hir that hir Master and Dame had no small aduauntage by hir But yet they so little regarde the Apostles of Christ that they had wanted harbour vnlesse Lydia which also was a forrenner had taken them into hir house The like vnthankefulnesse peruersitie is in these dayes For men will not embrace the light of the truth and where they bestowe much cost vpon dumbe ymages deceyuing Priestes Coniurers Inchaunters Soothsayers and wise folke as they call them euery thing seemeth to much that they bestow on the doctrine of truth They are worthy therefore to be a pray for Satan by whose subtiltie they may perceyue both their goods to be consumed and their bodies troubled and molested Let vs therefore learne to harken vnto the lawe of God which teacheth vs to take heede and beware of all such kindes of deceyuers and commaundeth vs only to studie and followe the worde of god See Deut. 18. Leuit. 20. Esaye 8. And they that will not thus doe let them learne by the example of Saule what to looke for See. 1. Sam. 28. But nowe it is time to marke what Satan did by this Damsell She following the Apostles which of custome resorted to the prayers cried out saying These men are the seruantes of the most high God which shewe vnto vs the waye of saluation What kinde of thing sayest thou is this that I heare Is this the saying of the Deuill withstanding the Apostles Yea verily Why he coulde not saye any more in their commendation than to confesse them to be the seruauntes of God and the preachers of saluation Howbeit it behooueth vs not so much to consider the wordes as the pretence and meaning of the Deuill by whose suggestion these wordes were spoken For so shall thou perceyue that he most craftily vndermineth Christes cause where he seemeth most to holde with the same For here in this place he beareth witnesse vnto the Apostles doctrine to make it with the wiser sort specially with the Iewes if anye were present to be suspected For Satan knoweth he is accounted a lyer amongest all menne For this cause he crieth that the Apostles are the seruantes of God and messengers of saluation to make them the rather to be suspected with wise men Furthermore he seeketh to make those that beleeue the Apostles to beleeue also his answeres whereby they heard the Apostles doctrine commended But the faith in Christ cannot stande where ought is attributed vnto the deuill whose kingdome Christ came into this worlde to destroye Therefore vnder the pretence of Christ he seeketh priuily to
Christ cryeth Repent you for the kingdome of heauen is at hande The Apostles preach likewyse by his commaundement And in the last of Lukes gospell he prescribeth the same order of teaching that fyrst repentaunce shoulde be preached in his name and then forgiuenesse of sinnes Which order all this booke and their Epistles doe sufficientlye testifye they diligently obserued Therefore they falsly and to impudentlye call themselues Gospellers which holde on in their former errors and licentiously followe vice and will not suffer the Ministers to reprooue their maners which is as though a man shoulde desire of the Phisition to maintayne his health but yet woulde not haue him withstande sickenesses and applye thereto conuenient dyet and remedies We are taught moreouer that no man is excused before God eyther through ignorance of his Predecessors or times passed For that our auncestors erred in the ages passed was through the iust iudgement of God which dissembled and bare with their errors But when he reuealeth his will it is certayne he will no longer beare with their error but requyreth repentaunce of all men Which thing whoso performeth not are contemners of the grace offred and therfore deserue most grieuous punishments This thing shoulde they well obserue that vnder the plausible pretence of forefathers and auncient superstitiousnesse persecute the Gospell with fyre and sworde But they shall neuer escape the iudgement of God whereof Paule reasoneth in this present place For he alleageth the cause wherefore God nowe reuealeth his worde vnto the Gentyles saying for he hath appoynted a day in the which he wyll iudge the worlde with righteousnesse c Thus he layeth before their eyes the auncient vsage of God which neuer punisheth any sinners but such as are abundantly tolde and warned before For he can doe nothing but he fyrst reuealeth the same vnto his seruauntes the Prophets We haue euery where examples not onely in the scriptures but also in the stories of the Gentyles so that we neede not here to stande long in rehearsall of them It is better for vs to consyder the order of the last iudgement which Paule briefly and plainly toucheth Fyrst bycause of Epicures their sectaries he declareth that God hath appoynted a day of iudgement bicause none should hickscornelyke deryde the mention therof which thing Peter teacheth vs certaine â—oâ—kers should doe And that that Paule sayth the whole consent of scripture prooueth Herevnto appertaine the things spoken in the last chapter of Daniel Which Christ also so often inculcateth And as it is sayde in an other place we must also come before the iudgement seat of christ This doth the iustice of God plainely requyre which coulde by no meanes stand if that iudgement were not where euery man shall receyue condigne rewarde according to his workes For in this worlde we see for the most part that the godly are afflicted without anye renumeration and the wicked rage and ryot without check Then he declareth who they be that shall be thus iudged naming all the worlde which we in the articles of our faith expresse by the quick and the dead Therefore none shall escape that day but as we sayde before we shall all come before the iudgement seate of god For there is no respect of persons with God neyther can any man bleare his eyes This thing ought to make great men which are puffed vp in worldly pride mindefull of modestie and humilitie Thirdely he declareth the maner and fashion of the iudgement saying he shall iudge with righteousnesse Therefore there shall be no place for colours or pretences but they that haue synned vnder the lawe shall beare the sentence of the lawe and they that haue sinned without lawe shall be condempned without lawe And euery man shall receyue according to that he hath done in his body This ought we to remember when the entisements of sinne and the fleshe creepe vpon vs which pull vs from doing our duetie when also the glorie and riches of this worlde prouoketh vs to sinne For what shall man giue for the redemption of his life in that daye when the most seuere Iudge shall pronounce sentence according to the tenor of iustice Finally he defyneth the Iudge by whome God shall iudge the worlde verâ—ly by the man whome he hath ordeyned So he calleth Christ bicause of his humaine nature meaning to vse the more tollerable name among the vnbeleeuing to the ende he might come by little and little to speake of the mysteries of christ It is not without a cause that the scripture euerywhere declares that Christ shall be our Iudge For this maketh very much for the comfort of the godly when they heare he shall be their Iudge who they knowe is their Sauiour and Byshop For hereof they gather that he shall rather be a reuenger than a Iudge for them as Iob calleth him And they are not afrayde of the sentence of damnation at his hande whome they beleeue was offered on the crosse for them Againe to the wicked it is a great terror when they thinke he shall come to be their Iudge whome they haue wickedly contemned For they shall looke vpon him whome they pierced and to their perpetuall hindraunce and losse shall be constrayned to abyde his iudgement whome they would not acknowledge to be their redeemer Nowe bicause Paule hath made mention of Christ he beginneth to intreate of his mysteries in which treatise no man maye doubt but he was more prolixe and diligent then is here mentioned Luke noteth the chiefe pointes onely which abundantly declare what Paules oration and doctrine was They are three in number First he sayth he was predestinate or appointed of God from euerlasting as is elsewhere sayd This appeareth by the promises which declare he was ordeined to be the sauiour of mankinde euen from the very beginning Hereof we gather as Paule otherwheres teacheth that saluation commeth of grace without anye our desert For what man is there which can bragge that he hath deserued from euerlasting that the sonne of God should be appointed to be his sauiour Secondly he sayth that God in Christ hath perfourmed his promise vnto all men meaning that in him the promises fygures and prophecies wherein long agone saluation was comprysed are fulfylled wherevnto Christ being ready to yeelde vp the ghost had a respect and sayd It is finished or perfourmed And after his resurrection he shewed that so it behooued thynges shoulde be perfourmed that the Scriptures might be fulfylled which are wrytten in Moses the Prophetes and Psalmes Where vppon we gather that they all fowly erre which shewe any newe or other waye of saluation than in christ For what else doe they but reprooue God and Christ of lying See touching this poynt 1. Iohn 5. He that beleeueth not God maketh him a lyer c. Thirdly he maketh mention of Christes resurrection meaning thereby to prooue that he is the God and iudge of
so oftentimes founde God his ayder and helper is afrayde to go meete his brother Esau. Moses fearing the tyranny of Pharao flieth into Madian and scarce woulde returne againe into Egypt at Gods calling Iosue a valiant warrier discomfyted with one ouerthrowe of his people declareth the feare he had conceyued in his minde by vnmanly weeping and mourning We reade howe Dauid which being but a stripling ouercame Goliath after he was a man growen and had gotten many victories feared oftentimes the threates and attemptes of Saule Helias whome neyther the sight and tyrannie of Achab nor furie of the people coulde withholde from killing the Priestes of Baal being afrayde at the threates of one syllye woman which was Iesabel tooke him to hys heeles and desired god he might die What shall I speake of Peter who being not afrayde of a company of harnessed men was quite dismayde at the worde of one symple wench and denyed Christ Manye like examples might be rehearsed which we repeate not to the ende to detect the infyrmities and falles of holy men but bicause the consyderation of them serueth not a little for our instruction For both we knowe our owne infyrmitie thereby the knowledge wherof maketh vs not to trust to much in our selfe and we are admonished of charitie that we rashly condemne not men which otherwise haue deserued well if they seeme to doe otherwise than becommeth them For God will haue the tokens of common imperfection appeare euen in them also that we be not to much addicted vnto them and so forgette the grace of God which by them had wrought singular workes In the meane season we must helpe them with our prayers that eyther they may beware they fall not or else that they may by Gods grace speedily rise agayne For this deutie did Christ vse towardes his Disciples as the Gospell declareth Luc. 22. Iohn 17. But let vs consider Gods person which by and by comforteth him being in this feare although there is no mention made that he did call vppon God therefore For God doth not onely heare them which open their desire of minde by crying but he seeth the secret sobbes and gronings of the heart and helpeth comforteth them And so is it very needefull he should bicause oft times it commeth to passe that we are so compassed on euery side with aduersitie that we are not able in words to declare the desire of our hearts Then is fulfylled that that God promiseth by his Prophete Esay cap 65. It shall come to passe that or euer they call I shall aunswere them while they are yet but thinking howe to speake I shall heare them So the Lorde speaketh to Moses standing by the redde sea why cryest thou Yet we reade of no worde he spake This is a great argument of the goodnesse of god For as God knoweth whereof we haue neede so he vseth to helpe vs in season and time and although he sendeth vs temptations to teache vs our infyrmitie and to enflame vs the more vnto godlynesse yet he tempereth the same with comfort that we be not vtterly swallowed vp of sorowe Let no man therefore despayre to soone seeing God hath infynite meanes whereby to comfort and helpe vs And here in this place he thought good to vse both vision and Oracle both which were very needefull bicause Paule had no man to comfort him and sawe many causes which might make him thinke that so corrupt a Citie had no regarde of god The words that God here spake conteyne in them three poyntes of euerye whereof we will intreate orderlye First he taketh away the cause of all this euill where he biddeth him not to feare This kind of precept is often times mentioned in the scripture For so sayth god vnto Moses being dismayed at the meeting of the king of Basan To Iosue also being redy to ioyne battayle with the fyue kings it was sayd Be not afrayd of them And the Lord sayth vnto Ieremie when he called him to the office of a Preacher Be not afrayde of their faces c. Christ also biddeth the Apostles that they shoulde not feare those which killed the bodye but coulde not hurt the soule I omitte diuers places of this sort The cause why God so oftentimes forbiddeth his seruauntes to feare is for that there is nothing of more efficacie to pull menne from doing their dutie than feare For assoone as feare is once conceyued in the heart the light of reason is so blemished that it cannot see what is needefull to be done and no deuises or counsels are more vncertaine than such as persons in feare and perplexitie take in hande And if they stande throughly in feare then maketh it men shamelesse also so that for feare of losse of lyfe or goodes they committe moste mischieuous actes and many times they incurre a greater daunger for the auoyding of a perill present Bicause this thing falleth vppon priuate men howe much more necessary is it that men in publike office shoulde be bolde and voyde of feare For if these men offende it is not against them selfe onely but against other also whome God hath committed vnto their charge Which was the cause that the wise man Iethro required boldenesse of minde in Iudges Therefore God did verye aptly make his beginning of comfort in this place In the second part he commaundeth him what to doe Speake sayth he and holde not thy peace Here no manne must thinke that God vsed any superfluitie of wordes He ioyneth these two togither bicause many times diuers speake and yet holde their peace whiles they speake such thinges as they thinke no man will be offended with and in the meane while keepe silence of such things which they ought by Gods commaundement to speake The meaning therefore of the commaundement is that he shoulde preach the gospell plainly and dissemble or keepe close none of the thinges conteyned in the same although he wist many woulde be displeased therwith By this let all Ministers learne that they haue not done their dutie if they preach the worde of God except they preach it all and that plainely and so applye it vnto euery man that he maye thinke it spoken vnto him For as he is an vntrusty ambassadour which speaketh nothing but that he is commaunded and yet vttereth not euery thing but for fauour of some persons omitteth many things so can he not be iudged to be a faythfull Minister of Christ that leaueth out neuer so small a portion of the Gospell to please men with See what is sayde hereof Iere. 1. Ezech. 3. and .33 Math. 28. In the thirde part he sheweth very graue and effectuall reasons wherof this is the fyrst for I am with thee This one reason ought to be sufficient against all daungers For whereas God is almightie they can want nothing with whome he is present For what are Creatures able to doe against God without whose power they cannot stande
intercession those promisses are ratified whereof wee should haue no vtilitie at all vnlesse he were the maintainer and defender of the couenaunt But bicause as well the diuine power of Christ as also the office whereunto his father appoynted him appeareth most euidently in the resurrection of the deade as Paule other wheres declareth he omitteth nowe the other Articles and taketh him to entreate only thereof as a thing cheefely appertaining to this present controuersie For by this it appeared both that Iesus Christ which rose againe from the deade was the aucthor of life and saluation and also the error of the Saduces which vtterly denied the resurrection was confuted For it is very like that this secte at that time did muche preuaile with many men and that diuers of Paules hearers were infected with the same For onlesse we graunte this Paule may seeme too importunate which asketh in angrye wise why it should seeme incredible to them that he saide God should raise the deade againe And vndoubtedly Paule intreated of all these things more at large and confirmed them with testimonies of scriptures But Luke doth but touch certaine breefe notes of euery thing to giue vs an occasion the more to meditate thereof And surely this place which the breuitie thereof maketh obscure will be moste plaine if a man woulde draw out therof the propositions or arguments which Paule as it is euident more at large handled Wherof this shal be the first Our controuersie is touching the hope of the promisse made by God vnto the fathers and of the whole meane of our saluation The seconde I teache that this hope consisteth in Iesus Christe onely which they constantly denie The third I proue by the resurrectioÌ„ of him which declared that he was both the sonne of God and the aucthor of life that all the meane of our life and saluation consisteth in Christe The fourth neither ought the resurrection of Christ to seeme incredible to any man for as much as it is a moste easie thing vnto God in the end of the world to raise all the dead againe as all the scriptures declare he shall doe This seemeth to me to be the order of Paules oration and the summe of al those things which hitherto haue ben spoken which if we consider it shall be very easie to explicate euery thing more at large Also by the enumeration of certaine principall poyntes he thought he wold make his hearers attent bicause they should not thinke that he contended with the Iewes about a trifle as Festus before had said In the meane season we haue to consider certaine common places falling out in this matter And first of all we be taught what the faith hope of all the Sainctes and of the whole church of God hath bene in al ages Uerily euen such as hath depended vpon Christ the sonne of God which became man for our sake and which beleeueth that all faithe and saluation consisteth in him only For this dothe Paule in this place call the hope of the promisse made sometime vnto the fathers But the Catholike faithe saithe that all the promisses are confirmed in Christ as Paule himselfe euery where confesseth specially in the first Chapter of the second to the Corinthians and in the tenth Chapter of the first to the same Corinthians where he wryteth that the condition of the fathers of the olde Testament was allone with oures so that he attributeth to them oursacraments also which are baptisme and the supper eueÌ„ as other wheres he attributeth to vs the passeouer and spirituall circumcision Howbeit these things shall more euideÌ„tly appeare if we consider the promisses of God which he made sometimes vnto the fathers Among these fathers Adam is the first who when hee was thrust out of Paradise into this vale of misery had none other hope of saluation giuen him than that which is in Christ only For the seede of the woman was promised vnto him whose heele the serpent should lie in wait to sâ—ing although in vaine for as much as that seede shuld crush and tread down the serpents head But Christ alone may be called the seede of the woman which without any commixtion of mannes seede toke fleshe of the virgin Marie The Deuill that olde Serpent lay craftely in waite against his heele that is to say against his humane nature and by his instruments brought to passe that he was slaine vpon the Crosse but to his owne vtter hinderance and destruction For heereby it came to passe that Christ when he died trade downe the head of the Diuell that is vanquished his rule and tirannie by the merite of his deathe and vtterly disarmed him of his force and draue him out of his kingdome But seeing there is no doute but that Adam beleeued this promisse for as muche as he chaunged his wiues name and called hir Heuâ— as which should bring foorth them that should lyue it is euident that he dyd put his whole hope and trust in Iesus Chryst alone which was that promised seede of the woman Therefore Adam was a christian man and beleeued that he and his posteritie should be deliuered and saued from the tyrannie of the Diuell through the merite of Chryst onely Paule in the .11 chapter to the Hebrues proueth most euideÌ„tly that Abel Enoch Noe and the other fathers as many as before the floud plesed god were of the same fayth After the floud we haue chiefly to consider Abraham with whom it pleased God to renue his couenant whom the scriptures cal the father of all those that beleeue Moyses and Paule beare witnesse that he beleeued God and howe that beleefe and fayth was imputed vnto him for righteousnesse What he beleeued all men knowe verily that the promise of God which sayde that in his seede all nations should be blessed and saued should be confirmed And that this seede was Chryst bothe Paule in the third to the Galathians and Chryst him selfe witnesseth For Chryst sayth Abraham reioyced to see my day and he sawe it and was glad This is to be vnderstanded of the contemplation and sight of fayth onely Whervppon we gather that Abraham also was stayed vp by fayth onely in Chryst and at length saued Touching his ofspring and issue Isahac and Iacob what needeth it to speake seeing it is manyfest that the promises made vnto the father are so oftentimes repeated vnto them yea Iacob when he lay a dying preached to his children touching the sauiour that was promised and playnely expresseth his comming And if we consider Moses it shal appeare that he also had his respecte vnto Chryst onely He sendeth the people of Israell vnto him whereas he promiseth them a great Prophet which al men were bound to heare as we vnderstode before by the words of Stephen and Peter Moreouer that one Epistle to the Hebrues is sufficient to teach vs that all the Ceremonies of the lawe and the Leuiticall seruice were
danger of the Iewes therfore he first sheweth the reason therof which was that he was deliuered through the help of God and therfore ought not to be slacke in his office Thus he ascribeth vnto God the benifite of his deliuery whereof it seemed the captaine was the aucthor bicause he knewe the captaine was led by the hand and spirite of god In the meane season Paules example teacheth vs that those which haue once or twice proued felt the helpe of God ought to be inflamed with greater diligence and not as some vse to waxe the more remisse and negligent as though they had fulfilled all their duetie at once For beside that we owe vnto God all kinde of duetie the lawe of thankfulnesse requireth the more faithe and industrie of vs least we might seeme vnkiâ—de to God our benefactoure Againe bicause he would not seeme importune in preaching vnto them he declareth that he is bounde in duetie so to doe For hee was detter vnto all men both smal and great Thus he stirreth vp their mindes to thinke that the gospell appertained vnto them also This is very diligently to be considered that we heare the gospell is preached by the commaundement of God to men of all states degrees For hereby we learne that there is no respect of persons with God yea that he would haue all sortes of men to be saued Therefore he hathe appoynted the ministers of the word to be the disposers and stewardes of all his houshold Lette this comfort them that are coÌ„passed about with troubles also teach both ministers and hearers their duetie that neither the one at their pleasure get and procure them disciples after their owne calling nor those other thinke they be at libertie and not bounde to the rule of the gospell At lengthe he repeateth what he taught verely none other thing but that that Moses and the Prophetes had foreshewed in times past He comprehendeth all his doctrine in three Articles which it is euident were then moste in controuersie The first was that Christ was that sauioure that was promised should suffer death for vs For this of all other things was coumpted moste absurde as the wordes read in the twelfth of Iohn abundantly declare The seconde was that the same Christe should rise againe from the dead and that the first but not in order For we reade that diuers other before Christ were raised againe but in worthinesse and in power as the aucthor of the resurrection and life of all men The thirde was that hee should illuminate with his worde and spirite not only the Iewes but also the Gentiles And that Paule declared these things with many places and testimonies of scripture the onely exclamation of Festus shall afterwarde proue And surely there are euery where extant many testimonies bothe of Moses and the Prophets wherby to proue all these things Wherupon we gather againe that the doctrine of the gospell is no newe thing resting or consisting in a few of persons but of most antiquitie and allowed with the consent of all ages Furthermore howe in the scriptures are contained whatsoeuer things are needeful to be beleeued seeing that Paul was able to proue all the mysteries of Christian faith by them Lette vs therfore be contented with them only and constantly holde faâ—â— the faithe contained in them that by theÌ„ we may attaine to life euerlasting through Iesus Christ our Lord to whome be blessing honoure power and glory for euer Amen The Clxv. Homelie AS he thus spake for him selfe Festus said with a loud voice Paule thou art beside thy selfe Much learning doth make thee madde And Paule saide I am not madde moste deare Festus but speake forthe the wordes of truthe and sobernesse For the King knoweth of these things before whom also I spake freely Neither thinke I that any of these things are hidden froÌ„ him for this thing was not done in a corner King Agrippa â–ª beleeuest thou the Prophetes I wotte well that thou beleeuest Agrippa saide vnto Paule Somwhat thou bringest me in minde for to become a christian And Paule saide I would to God that not only thou but also all that heare me to day were not somewhat only but altogither suche as I am except these bands And when he had thus spoken the king rose vp and the deputie and Bernice and they that sate with them And when they were gone aparte they talked betweene them selues saying This man dothe nothing worthy of death or of bonds Then saide Agrippa vnto Festus this man mighte haue bene let lose if he had not appealed vnto Caesar. AFter Luke hathe declared Paules oration he sheweth what effect it toke with the hearers And this is a very worthy place to be considered For in two examples he describeth two kindes of men which heare the word of God in vaine The end and vse of all these things is that both ministers may learne how to deale with such fortes of men and also all others vnderstand what to beware of if they will heare the worde of God to their profite and commoditie The first kinde is set out in the example of Festus the Deputie who is a president of vngodly persones and of those which haue no knowledge nor taste at all of any godlinesse Where we haue first to consider Festus and then Paule He gaue eare vnto Paule declaring his visions and prouing al the mysteries of the christian faith and mans saluation by the testimonies of the scriptures whereof he had neuer heard any thing at all as being a Gentile which had more vnderstanding by all likelihode in warres than in religion Wherfore he supposeth that Paule in reasoning of such profouÌ„d and difficulte matters was madde and like vnto those that in their frantike fittes vse to imagine with themselues monstrous and wonderfull things and so vtter them without all reason and very importunately hee interrupteth Paule in his speaking Yet in this one thing he is not altogither vnreasonable that he imputeth the wante of wit which he supposed to be in Paule to ouermuche studie of learning vpbraiding him with none other thing as many vse to do in these dayes This example teacheth vs how litle the word of god preuaileth with theÌ„ which are led only with mans reason For this is their coÌ„mon property to couÌ„t that a mockery that passeth the reach of their capacitie reason Wheras in the mean season they vnderstand nothing lesse than the things belonging to the spirite of god Therfore it caÌ„not be choseÌ„ but they must thinke the gospel of Iesus Christ crucified to be the greatest foolishnesse in the worlde bicause there is nothing so absurde and voide of reason as to aske and hope for saluation in him which was hanged and died on the Crosse among theeues and murtherers Therefore that that happened vnto Paule preaching before Festus the same we read happened before vnto the Prophets and afterward vnto the successoures of the Apostles also namely
altogither to the world and to sinne if at any time they be in sicknesse or other daunger they will seeke counsell and helpe at the onely ministers of the worde whome otherwise they yet hate worse than the Deuill Furthermore least Paule might seeme some vaine trifler or busie body he alleageth an Oracle saying For there stode by me this night the angell of the Lord whose I am and whome I serue saying feare not Paule thou must be brought before Caesar and loe God hath giuen vnto thee all those that saile with thee Heere euery worde hath his weight and teacheth vs diuers things worthy to be considered For first God declareth vnto vs his goodnesse which is so great that he cannot forget the same not when he correcteth vs according to our desertes Neither is he alwayes angry but comforteth vs in the middest of afflictions and helpeth vs with his counsell that we be not tempted farther than we be able to beare ▪ and he hath also suche a care of vs that he hathe appoynted the Angels to be occupied in safegarding vs wherof we haue hitherto sene diuers examples Furthermore Paules plainnesse and simplicitie vsed about faithe and religion is to bee considered for wee knowe hee was laide in bandes for the faithes sake yet hee confessed the same freely and plainely In so muche that he boldely affirmeth that he is not onely the seruaunt of God but also worshippeth him This is it that Christe requireth of vs where hee commaundeth vs to confesse him before men And wee reade howe the Martires also did folowe this example of Paule who would not so much as dissemble their faithe in Christe muche lesse flatly deny it Moreouer Paules woordes teache vs that it is not enoughe for vs to say we belong vnto God for as muche as it is euident that the Deuils also are subiecte to his commaundemente But God requireth of vs all kinde of woorship and obedience which excepte wee perfourme the professing of Chrystes name shall serue more to condemne vs than to saue vs Yet further this place teacheth vs howe profitable it is to dwell among holy menne and worshippers of god For as God gaue vnto Paule the liues of all them that were passengers with him so is it euident that he hathe oftentimes spared many which haue deserued destruction for a fewes sake that haue bene good For euery man knoweth what the scriptures say of Noe Lot Moses and infinite others And yet these Examples muste not bee racked to the ende to attribute godly honoure vnto Sainctes and to aske of them such things as belong onely vnto God for to giue For the vse of them serueth to farre other purpose For God partely maketh the wicked beholding vnto his seruaunts to the ende they may liue the more safely and commodiously among them and partely by suche testimonies commendeth their faithe and religion And as the godly vse to be profitable to those that liue with them so again a fewe wicked when they are lette runne at the long line are moste times the destruction of whole common weales as may be seene in the Example of Ionas for whose sake we reade that bothe the Mariners and all the Passengers were in ieoperdie Which things if all men would wel marke and obserue the godly should both be better regarded and the companie of wicked men should be more detested Laste of all Paule concludeth hys Oration and biddeth them to be of good cheare Hee addeth thys moreouer For I beleeue that it shall be euen as it was tolde mee And for that they should the lesse dout heereof hee declareth howe and after what sorte they shoulde escape saying they muste bee caste oute into a certaine Ilande Where we are taughte that the promisses of God muste bee receiued by faithe bicause so they be ratified and confirmed not for that Goddes truthe dependeth vppon vs but bicause he promiseth vs his helpe and saluation vpon this condition that none shall haue it but those onely that beleeue it In the Gospell we haue examples heereof euery where Heere is one thing very comfortable that althoughe there bee but a fewe that beleeue yet God can easily discerne betweene them and the wicked and hath a regarde of those that be his as the scripture teacheth vs it happened in times past to Iosue and to Caleb whome onely God broughte into the lande of promisse bicause they onely beleeued his promisses Let vs diligently occupy our selues in the consideration of these things and wheras God offereth vs comfortes and counsels of saluation in these dayes also let vs embrace them with stedfast faithe for so shall it come to passe that when we haue sailed through the tempestuous sea of this life we shall be broughte to heauen the hauen of eternall saluation throughe Iesus Christ our Lord to whome be praise honoure power and glory for euer Amen The Clxix Homelie BVt when the fourtienth night was come as we were sailing in Adria about midnight the shipmen deemed that there appeared some country vnto them and sounded and founde it .xx. fadomes And when they had gone a litle further they sounded again and found .xv. fadomes Then fearing least they should haue falne vppon some rocke they cast foure ankers out of the sterne and wished for the day As the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship when they had let downe the boate into the sea vnder a coloure as though they wold haue cast ankers out of the foreship Paule saide vnto the vnder captain and to the souldiers except these abide in the ship yee can not be safe Then the souldiers cut of the rope of the bote and let it fall away And when the day began to appeare Paule besought them all to take meate saying this is the fourtenth day that yee haue taried and cōtinued fasting receiuing nothing at all Wherefore I pray you to take meat for this no doubt is for your health for there shall not an haire fal from the head of any of you And when he had thus spoken he tooke breade and gaue thankes to God in presence of them al and when he had broken it he begun to eat Then were they all of good chere and they also toke meate ALthough God suffreth his seruauntes many wayes to be tempted yet as we haue oftentimes declared he assisteth them both with counsell and comforte so that they be not ouercome with temptations An euident example heereof we haue in this storie For where the tempest increased so vehemently that there was no more hope left in man God sendeth his Angell vnto Paule to renue the former promisse wherewith he was a freshe so confirmed that he was able to confirme and comforte others also And God did not with vaine wordes only holde the miserable creatures in hope but most faithfully performed that he promised as we shall see when we come to the place But before Luke commeth therevnto he declareth what was done in
not declare ending in this place his hystorie according to the instincte of the holy spirite which would not haue the Church ouercharged with too many writings or bokes and therfore he hath writen onely those things which may suffise for the instruction of our fayth and life Howebeit out of Paules owne Epistles may some coniectures be taken wherby it is declared what he afterwarde did For in his seconde Epistle to Timothe and fourth Chapter he expresseth playnly that he pleated his cause before the Emperour saying he was deliuered through the benefite of God when he was redy to be offred And writing to the Philippians among other things he sayth I hope shortely to sende Timotheus vnto you assone as I shall see howe my matters will go and I truste in the Lorde that I my selfe also shall shortly come And writing to Philemon the Colossian he sayth Moreouer prepare me a place to lodge in for I trust that through the helpe of your prayers I shall be giuen vnto you Agayne in the .xiij. to the Hebrues he sayth Pray for vs and this I desire you the more instantly to do that I may the soner be restored vnto you Knowe yee that brother Timothe is deliuered with whome if he come shortly I will see you Yet before he was led prisoner to Rome he was minded to go into Spayne as the Epistle to the Romanes in the .xv. Chapter declareth Of the which thinges men gather not altogither without a cause that he was set at libertie and so returned through Grece and Asia the lesseâ— into Syria and when he had saluted the Easte Churches wente through Italie and Fraunce into Spayne Thus according to the opinion of these men he preached the Gospell ten yeres after he was set at libertie and at length beeing called backe to Rome agayne in the laste yere of Nero loste his heade and receiued the crowne of Martyrdome when he had preached Chryste vnto the moste parte of the worlde seuen and thirtie yeres long togither But bycause our saluation dependeth not on suche poyntes as these I will not contende herein ouer muche with any man And â—e thinketh they deserue not very much of Christian fayth and Religion which laboure in searching foorth those thinges which the holy Scriptures haue passed ouer in silence â–ª For in so doing bothe the Scriptures are more negligently handled and the supersticious haue occasion giuen them to be occupied in doubtfull and vnprofitable questions neglecting the doctrine of the Apostles and so being bewitched with fables do greeuously â—ire in matteâ—s of faith and saluation â–ª And surely as God would haue Moses sepulchre or buriall place in times paste vnknowen and the holy Ghost hath left fewe things in memorie in the olde Testament touching the martyrdomes of the Prophetes so in this present Treatise Luke hath described thâ—â—â—de but of two persons onely namely of Stephen and 〈◊〉 the Apostle beeing contented to say this onely of the residue that they moste constantly preached and confessed Chryst in all kindes of aduersitie â—o commending vnto vs the studie of the Apostles doctrine which maketh men followers of the Apostles and partakers with them of the heauenly inheritaunce Wherefore wee also in this place muste principally obserue and followe â–ª that feruent and continuall trauayle of Paule in setting foorth the glory of Chryste And wee muste not bee offended at his â—â—de â–ª For hereby Chryste maketh those that worshippe him lyke vnto him selfe in this worlde to the ende that hereafter they may bee partakers with him in heauen of his glory and kingdome Hitherto we haue expounded this booke according to the grace of God giuen vnto vs We haue seene therin the forme fayth and doctryne of the primatiue Church which we also must keepe and obserue in these dayes if we will be coumpted to be of Christe his Churche For we must giue no eare vnto those which say that many things are necessarily required about religion and the way of saluation that the primatiue Churche lacked Whose rashnesse or rather impudencie I know not whether a man may more maruell at For heerein they accuse the Apostles either of negligence or of vntrustnesse and feare not to prefer themselues before those whose examples the holy Ghost hathe set forthe to all men that will be counted the members of Christ and attaine to saluation in him to folowe And who will thinke that they which continued whole eight and twentie yeeres in the faithe and religion taughte by the Apostles lacked any of those things without the which saluation could not be obtained But if they were saued without those things which certaine bolde superstitious persons afterwardes brought in who will then deny vs saluation which folowe their steppes No man I thinke but hee that is led with the madnesse and frensie of the Manichees will accuse all this boke of falshode We haue seene also the state that the church is in in this world being molested with continuall tribulations whiles bothe open ennimies and false brethren vexe and disquiet the same Wee haue seene the vnworthy case that the Ministers are in and howe slenderly the world requiteth them Wee haue seene also the mighty hand and power of Iesus Christe whereby he faithfully defendeth his Churche in the middest of the waues of persecutions and by the crosse of his seruauntes moste gloriously triumpheth ouer the world and Prince therof Let vs therfore diligently vse these things to the instruction and confirmation of oure faithe that being strong in the same and ouercomming al dangers according to the example of the Apostles and primatiue Churche we may come to the inheritaunce of the kingdome of heauen prepared for vs from euerlasting â–ª 〈◊〉 Iesus Christe our King and Priest To whome be prayse honoure power and glorye for euer Amen FINIS I fought be said amisse remember man it spake If well do thou alone O Christ the glory take Deut. 6. Psal. 78. Math. 23. Math. 15. They began in the dayes of Ioannes Hircanus high Bishop of the Iewes about an hundred and thirtie yeares before Christ was borne Prou. 21. Galat. 1. Actes 20. Math. 15. Math. 15. 1. Cor. 7. Math. 16. Actes 17. 1. Thes. 12. Math. 11. Luc. 10. Psal. 119. Psal. 148. Psal. 47. Psal. 8. Math. 21. Math. 22. Marc. 12. Luc. 20. Iohn 5. Rom. 15. 1. Tim. 2. Actes 10. Rom. 2. Math. 5. Mar. 4. Luc. 8. Math. 19. Math. 11.13 Marc. 4. Esay 58. Psal. 150. Numer 11. Marc. 10. Psal. 32. Math. 2. Luc. 2. Math. 14.15 Luc. 5. Math. 9.20 Math. 8. Luc. 5. Math. 21. Mar. 12. Luc. 20. Math. 26. Marc. 14. Luc. 22. Iohn 18. Math. 27. Iohn 6. Colos. 3. ix. Homely vpon the Epistle to the Colossians In his Apologie toward the ende Matth. 7. Luc. 12. Rom. 11. Math. 5. Iohn 10. Psal. 110. Psal. 2. 1. Iohn 4. Apolog. 2. Tim. 2. Math. 24. Marc. 13. The commeÌ„dation of the holy History or Scripture The commeÌ„datioÌ„ and argument of