Sermon in Edinburgh — John Knox

Sermon in Edinburgh · John Knox

Isaias .26. Chap. verse. 13.

13 O Lorde our God, other Lordes beside thee hauehave ruled vsus, but we will remē ber thee onelyonly and thy name.

14 The dead shal not lyue, neyther shal the dead arise, bicause thou hast visited and scattered them and destroyed all their memorie.

15 Thou hast increased the nation, O Lorde: thou hast increased the nation, thou art made glorious: thou hast enlarged all the coastes of the earth.

16 Lorde in trouble hauehave they visited thee: they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was vponupon them.

17 Like as a woman with childe that draweth nere to the trauaile is in sorrowe, and cryeth in her paines, so hauehave we beene in thy sight O Lorde.

18 We hauehave conceyued, we hauehave borne in paine as though we shuld hauehave brought winde: there was no helpe in the forth neyther did the inhabitants of the earth, worlde fall.

19 Thy deade men shall liue: euen with my bodye shall they rise, awake and sing ye that dwell in dust: for thy dewe is as the dew of herbes and the earth shall cast out the dead.

20 Come my people enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy dores after thee hide thy selfe for a verie little while vntill the indignation passe ouer.

For loe the Lorde commeth out of his place to visite the iniquitie of the inhabitants of the earth vpō them: and the earth shall disclose her bloude, and shall no more hide her slayne.

A SERMON PREACHED by Iohn knoxe.

AS THE CONninge Maryner beinge Maister, hauing his ship tossed with vehemēt tempest, and windes cō trarious, is compelled oft to trauerse, leaste that eyther by too much resisting to the violence of the waues, his vessell might be ouerwhelmed, or by to much libertie graunted, to be carried whither the furie of the tempest would, his ship should be driuen vponupon the shore, & so make shipwrack: Euē so doth our prophet I saiah in thys texte which presentely ye hauehave heard read. For he foreseing the gret desolation that was decreed in the counsell of the eternal, against Ierusalem and Iudah, to weete, that the whole people that bare the nāe of GOD should be dispersed,The dispotion. that the holy city should be destroyed, the temple wherein was the Ark of couenant, and where GOD had promised to giuegive his owne presence, should be brent with her, the King taken, his sō nes in his owne presence murdered, his owne eyes immediately after to be put out, the nobility, some cruelly murdered, some shamefully lead away captiues, and finally the whole sede of Abraham, rased as it were, frō the face of the earth, the Prophet (I say) fearing these horrible calamities, doth as it were, some times suffer himselfe and the people committed to his charge, to be carried awaye with the violence of the tēpest, with out further resistance, than by pouring forth his and their dolorous cō playntes, before the maiestie of GOD, as in the 13 .17. and .18. verse of this presēt text we may reade. At other times he valiantly resisteth the desperat tempest, and pronounceth the fearfull destruction of all suche, as trouble the Churche of GOD, which he pronoūceth that God wil multiply, euen in such time as when it appeareth vtterly to be exterminate. But, bycause ther is no final rest to the whole body, till that the head returne to iudgement, he calleth the afflicted to pacience, and promyseth such a visitation, as wherby the wickednesse of the wicked shal be disclosed, and finally recompenced in their owne bosomes.

These are the chiefest poyntes which by the grace of God, we intende more largely at thy… present to entreate.

First the Prophet sayth: O Lord our God,Ver. 13., other Lordes besydes thee hauehave ruled vsus.

This no doubte, is the beginning of the dolorous complaint in the which he first cōplayneth of the vniuste tirannye that the poore afflicted Israelites sustayned, during the time of their captiuitie. True it is that the Prophet was gathered to his Fathers in peace, before that this extremitie apprechēded the people. For a hundreth yeare after his deceasse, was not the people lead away captiue, yet he foreseing the assurance of the calamitie, did before hande endite vntounto them the complaynt that after they shoulde make. But at the firste sight it appeareth that the cōplaint hath small waight. For what newe thing was it that other Lordes than GOD in hys owne person ruled them, seeing that suche had bene their regiment from the beginning. For who knoweth not that Moyses, Aaron, & Iosua, the Iudges, Samuell, Dauid, and other godly rulers, were men, and not God. And so other Lordes than God, ruled them in their gretest prosperitie.

For the better vnderstanding of this complaynte, and of the minde of the Prophete, we must first obserue from whence al authoritie and dominion floweth▪ And secondly, to what ende powers are appointed of God. The which two poynts being discussed, we shall the better vnderstande, what Lordes, and what authority rules beside God, and who are they in whom God and his mercifull presence rules.

The firste is resolued to vsus by the words of the apostle, saying, There is no power but of God. Dauid bringeth in the eternall God speaking to Iudges and rulers,Psal. 82. saying, I hauehave sayde ye are Gods, & the sonnes of the most highest. And Salomon in the person of GOD, affirmeth the same, saying: By me Kings raygne, and Princes discerne the thinges that are iuste. Of which places it is euidēt, that it is neither birth, influence of Starres, election of people, force of armes, not finally what soeuer can be comprehēded vnderunder the power of nature, that maketh the distinction betwixt the superior power and the inferior, or that doth establish the royall throne of Kings, but it is the onelyonly and perfect ordinance of God, who willeth his power, terror & Maiestie in a parte to shine in the thrones of Kings, and in the faces of his Iudges, and that for the profite and comfort of man, so that who soeuer would study to deface that order of regimēt, that God hath established, and by his holy worde allowed, and bring in such a confusion, as no difference shuld be betwyxt the vpper powers and the subiects, doth nothing but euert & turne vpside downe the very throne of God, which he wil to be fixed here vponupon earth, as in the ende and cause of this ordināce more playnly shall appeare, which is the seconde poynte, we hauehave to obserue for the better vnderstā ding of the Prophets words and minde.

The end and cause then, why God prynteth in the weake and feble flesh of man this Image of his own power & maiesty, is not to puffe vp flesh in opinion of it selfe, neyther yet that the heart of him that is exalted aboue others, shall be lifted vp by presumption and pryde, and so despise others, but that he shal cō sider that he is appoynted Lieutenaunt to one, whose eyes cō tinually watch vponupon him, to see and examine howe he behaueth himself in his office,Rom. 13. Saint Paul in fewe words declareth the end wherefore the sword is committed to the powers, saying, it is to the punishmēt of the wycked doers, and vntounto the prayse of such as do well.

Of which words it is euident that the sword of God is not cō mitted to the hande of man, to vse as it pleaseth him, but only to punishe vice, and maintayne vertue, that mē may liue in such societie, as before God is acceptable. And this is the very and onelyonly cause why God hath appoynted powers in this earth.

For such is the furious rage of mans corrupt nature, that vnles seuere punishment were appointed and put in execution vponupon malefactours, better it were that man shoulde liue among brute and wilde beastes, than among men. But at this presente I dare not enter into the descriptiō of this common place, for so shuld I not satisfie the text, which by gods grace I purpose to absolue. This onelyonly by the way I would, that such as are placed in authoritie shoulde consider, whether they raygne and rule by God, so that God ruleth them, or if they rule without, besides and against God, of whom our Prophet here doth complayne.

If any lust to take trial of this poynt,Deut. 17. it is not hard: for Moses in the election of Iudges, and of a King, describeth, not onelye what persones shall be chosen to that honour, but doth also giuegive to him that is elected and chosē, the rule by the which he shal trie himselfe whether God raygne in him or not, saying: when he shal sit vpō the throne of his kingdō, he shal write to himself an examplar of this lawe in a boke by the priests the Leuits, it shal be with him and he shall reade therin all the dayes of his life, that he may learne to feare the Lord his god, and to kepe all the words of this law & these statuts▪ that he may do them, that his hart be not lifted vp aboue his brethrē, & that he turne not from the cōmaundement to the right hand or to the left.

Thesame is repeated to IosuaIosua. 1. in his inanguration to the regiment of the people by God himselfe, saying: let not the boke of this lawe depart fro thy mouth, but meditate in it day & night, that thou mayst kepe and do according to al that which is written in it. For then shall thy way be prosperous, and thou shalt do prudently.

The first thing thē that god craueth of him that is called to the honor of a king,What is required of a King or Prince. is the knowlege of his wil reuealed in his word.

The second is an vpright and willing minde to put in execution suche things as God commaundeth in his lawe, without declyning eyther to the right, or left hande.

Kings then hauehave not an absolute power to do in their regimēt what pleaseth them,The authoritie & power of kings is Limmitted., but their power is limitted by gods word. So that if they strike where god commaundeth not, they are but murderers, & if they spare, wher GOD commaundeth to strike, they and their throne are criminal and giltie of the wickednesse that aboundeth vponupon the face of the earth, for lacke of punishment.

O if Kings and Princes shuld consider what accompt shall be craued of them, as well of their ignoraunce and misknoweledge of Gods will, as for the neglecting of their office But nowe to returne to the words of the Prophet. In the person of the whole people he doth complayne vntounto God, that the Babilonians (whō he calleth other Lordes besydes God, both bycause of their ignoraunce of God, and by reason of their crueltie and inhumanitie) hadde long ruled ouer them in all rigor, without pitie or cō compassion had vponupon the aunciente men, and famous matrones. For they being mortall enimies of the people of God, sought by all meanes to aggrauate their yoke, yea, vtterlye to hauehave exterminate the memorie of thē and of their religion, from the face of the earth.

After the first part of this dolorous complaynt, the Prophete declareth the protestation of the people, saying, neuerthelesse, onelyonly in thee shall we remember thy name (others reade it, Put wee wyll remember thee onelye and thy name) But in the Hebrew there is no Coniunction copulatiue in that sentence. The minde of the Prophete is playne, to wit, that not withstanding the long sustayned affliction, the people of God declyned not to a false and vayne religion, but remembred God that sometime appeared to them in his mercifull presence, which albeit then they saw not, yet would they still remēber his name, that is, they would cal to minde the doctrine and promise which sōetimes they hard, albeit in their prosperity, they did not sufficiently glorifie God, who so mercifully ruled in the midst of them. The temptation no doubt of the whole Isralites was gret in those dayes. They were caryed captiues from the land of Canaan, which was to thē the gage & pledge of Gods fauour towardes thē. For it was the inheritaunce that God promised to Abrahā & to his seede for euer. The league & couenant of Gods protection appeared to hauehave beene broken. They lamentably cōplayne that they sawe not their accustomed signes of Gods merciful presēce. The true prophets were fewe, & the abhominatiōs vsed in Babylon were exceding many. And so it might hauehave apered to thē, that in vayne it was, that they were called the posteritie of Abrahā, or that euer they had receyued law or form of right religion frō god. That we may the better fele it in our selues, the temptatiō, I say, was euē such, as if God shuld vtterly destroy al order & policy that this day is withī his church, that the true preaching of the worde should be suppressed. The right vse of sacramēts abolished, Idolatry & papistical abhomination erected vp again. And therwith, that our bodies should be takē prisoners by Turks or other manifest enimies of God & of al Godlynesse▪ Such I say was their temptatiō. How notable then is this their cōfessiō that in bōdage they make, to wit, that they wil remember God onelyonly, albeit he hath appeared to turne his face from them, they will remember hys name, and will cal to minde the deliuerance promised.

Hereof hauehave we to consider what is our duetie, if God bring vsus (as for oure offences and vnthankfulnesse iustely he may) to the like extremitie. This confession is not the fayre flattering wordes of hypocrites, lying and bathing in their pleasures, but it is the mightye operation of the spirite of God, who leaueth not his owne destitute of some comfort in their most desperate calamities.The dutie of Gods people This is then oure duety, not onelyonly to confesse our god in the time of peace and quietnes, but he chiefely craueth that we auowe him, in the middeste of his and our enimies. And this is to doe, but it behoueth that the spirite of God worke in vsus aboue all power of nature. And thus we ought earnestlye to meditate before the battayle rise more vehement, which appeareth not to be farre of, but now must we enter in somewhat more deepely to consider these iudgements of God.

This people entreated as we hauehave heard, was the onelyonly people vponupon the face of the earth, to whō God was rightly knowen, among them onelyonly were his lawes, statuts, ordinaunces, and sacrifices vsed, and put in practise. They onelyonly inuocated his name, and to them alone, had he promised his protection and assistance. What then shoulde be the cause, that he shoulde giuegive them ouer into this great reproche, and bring them into suche extremitie, as his owne name in them shoulde be blasphemed. The Prophet, Ezekiell, that saw this horrible destruction forespoke by Isaiah put in iust execution, giueth an aunswere, in these wordes.…che. 20. I gaue vntounto them lawes that were good, in the which, whosoeuer shoulde walke, should liue in them. But they woulde not walke in my wayes, but rebelled against me, and therefore, I hauehave giuen vntounto them lawes, that are not good, and iudgements, in the which they shal not liue The writer of the bookes of kings and cronicles declare this in more playne words, saying: the Lorde sent vntounto them his prophets rising early, desiring of them to retourne vntounto the Lorde, and to amende their wicked wayes (for he would hauehave spared his people and his tabernacle) but they mocked his seruants, and woulde not retourne vntounto the Lorde their God to walke in his wayes.2. Reg. 17. Yea, Iuda it selfe kept not the precepts of the Lord God, but walked in the maners & ordinances of Israell: that is, of suche as then had declyned to Idolatry frō the dayes of Ieroboam. And therfore the Lorde God abhorred the whole seede of Israell, that is, the whole body of the people, he promised them and gaue them into the hands of those, that spoyled them, and so he cast them out frō his presence.

Hereof, it is euident, that their stubborne disobedience vntounto God and vntounto the voyces of hys Prophetes, was the cause of their destruction. Nowe hauehave we to take heede how we should vse the good lawes of God, that is, his mercifull will reuealed vntounto vsus in his worde, and that order of iustice, that by him for the comforte of man is established among men. It is no doubt, but that obedience, is the moste acceptable sacrifice vntounto God, and that which aboue all things he requireth, that when he manifesteth himselfe by hys worde, that men follow according to their vocation and commaundement. Now so it is, that God by that great pastor out Lorde Lesus, nowe manifestly in his worde calleth vsus from all impietie, aswell of body, as of minde; to holynesse of life, and to his spirituall seruice. And for this purpose, he hath erected the throne of his mercy among vsus the true preaching of his word, together with the right administration of his sacramet, but what is our obedience. Let eueryevery man examine his owne conscience, and consider what statuts and lawes we woulde hauehave to be giuen vntounto vsus.

Wouldst thou O Scotland hauehave a King to raigne ouer thee in iustice, equitie, and mercy? Subiect thou thy selfe to the Lorde thy God, obey his commaundements, and magnifie thou that word that calleth vntounto thee. This is the way, walke into it, and if thou wilt not,Isai., flatter not thy self, the same iustice remaineth this day in God to punishe thee Scotlande, and thee Edenborough in especiall, that before punished the lande of Iuda, and the citie of Ierusalem. Euerie realme or nation (sayth the Prophet Ieremy) that likewise offendeth,Iere. 9. shall be likewise punished. But if thou shalt see impietie placed in the seate of iustice aboue thee,Eccle. 3. so that in the throne of God (as Salomon doth cōplayne) raigneth nothing but fraude and violēce, accuse thy owne ingratitude and rebellion against God. For that is the onelyonly cause,Isa. 3., why God taketh away (as the same Prophet in another place doth speake) the strong man and the man of warre, the Iudge, and the Prophete, the prudent, & the aged, the captaine, and the honorable, the counceller and the cunning artificer. And I wil appoint, sayth the Lorde, children to be their princes, and babes shal rule ouer them. Children are extorcyoners of my people, and women hauehave rule ouer them.

If these calamities, I saye, apprehend vsus so that we see nothing, but the oppression of good men, and of all godlynesse, and wicked men without God, to raigne aboue vsus: Let vsus accuse and condempne our selues, as the onelyonly cause of oure owne miseries. For if we had heard the voyce of the Lord our God, & giuen vpright obedience vntounto the same, God should hauehave blessed vsus, he shoulde hauehave multiplyed oure peace, and shoulde hauehave rewarded our obedience before the eyes of the worlde. But nowe let vsus heare what the Prophet sayth further.

The dead shall not liue,Verse. 14. sayth be, neyther shall the tiraunts, or the dead arise, bicause thou hast visited and scattered them, and destroyed all their memorie.

Frō this .14. verse vntounto the end of the .19. it apeareh that the Prophet obserueth no order, yea, that he speaketh thinges directly repugning one to another. For first he sayth the dead shal not liue. After, he affirmeth, thy dead men shall lyue.Verse. 15. Secondly he sayth, thou hast visited and scattered them, & destroyed all their memorie. Imediately thereafter he sayth, thou hast increased the natiō O Lord, thou haste increased the nation. They hauehave visited thee, and hauehave poured forth a prayer before thee.

Who, I say, woulde not thinke, that these are thinges not onelyonly spoken forth of good order and purpose, but also manifestly repugning one to another. For, to liue, and not to liue, to be so destroyed that no memoriall remaineth. And to be so increased, that the coastes of the earth shal be replenished, seme to importe playne contradiction. For remouing of this doubt, and for better vnderstanding of the Prophetes minde, we must vnderstand that the Prophet had to doe with diuers forts of mē. He had to do with the coniured & manifest enimies of Gods people, the Caldes or Babilonians, euen suche as professe Christ Iesus, hauehave to doe with the Turke and Sarazens. He had to doe with the sede of Abraham, wherof there were three sorts. The tenne tribes all degenerate from the true worshipping, and corrupted with Idolatry, as this daye, are our pestilent papistes in al realmes and nations.

There rested onelyonly the tribe of Iuda and Ierusalē, where the forme of true religion was obserued, the lawe taught, and ordinaunces of god outwardly kept, but yet there were in that body (I meane in the bosome of the visible Church) a great number that were hipocrits, as this day yet are among vsus, that doe professe the Lorde Iesus and hauehave refused papistrie, not a fewe that were lycentious lyuers, some that had tourned their backe to God, that is had forsaken al true religion, and some that liued a most abhominable life,Ezech. 8. as Ezechiell sayeth in his vision. And yet there were some godlye as a fewe wheat cornes oppressed and hid amōg the multitude of such chaffe. Nowe according to this diuersitie, the Prophete kepeth diuers purposes and yet in moste perfecte order.

And first after the first part of the complaint of the afflicted, as we hauehave heard, in vehemencie of spirite he bursteth forth against all the proude enimies of Gods people, all such as trouble them, and against all such as mocke and forsake God, and sayth: the dead shal not liue. The proud Giants shall not arise. Thou hast scattered thē and destroyed their memoriall. In which wordes he fighteth against the present temptation, and dolorous estate of Gods people, and against the insolent pride of suche as oppressed them, as the Prophet should say. O ye troublers of Gods people, howsoeuer it appeareth to you in this your bloudy rage, that God regardeth not your crueltie, not considereth not what violence ye doe to his pore afflicted, yet shal ye be visited, yea, your carcases shal fal and lye as stinking carions vponupon the face of the earth, ye shal fal without hope of life, or of a blessed resurrection. Yea, howsoeuer ye gather your substance & augment families, ye shal be so scattered, that ye shal leaue no memoriall of you to the posterities to come, but that which shal be execrable and odious.

Hereof hauehave the tirauntes their admonition, & the aflicted church inestimable comfort. The tiraunts that now doe oppresse, shal receiue the same end that they which hauehave passed before, that is, they shal dye and fal with shame without hope of resurrection as is aforesayd, not that they shall not arise to their owne confusion & iust condempnation, but that they shal not recouer power to trouble the seruants of God, neyther yet shal the wicked arise as Dauid sayth, in the councell of the iust.

Now hauehave the wicked their coū cels, their thrones, & finally handeling for the most part of al things that are vponupon the face of the earth, but the pore seruāts of God are reputed vnworthy of mens presence, yea they are more vile before these proude tyraunts, than is very dirt and mire that is troden vnderunder fote. But in that glorious resurrection, this estate shal be changed. For thē shal such as now by their abhominable liuing and crueltie,Apoca. destroy the earth & molest gods children, see him whome they hauehave pearced. They shal see the glory of such, as now they persecute, to their terror and euerlasting confusion. The remembrance hereof ought to make vsus patient in the dayes of affliction, and so to comfort vsus, that whē we see tiraunts in their blind rage tread vnderunder fote the saints of god, that vtterlye we dispaire not, as that there were neyther wisedom, iustice, nor power aboue in the heauens to represse such tirannie, and to redresse the dolors of the vniustly afflicted. No brethrē, let vsus be assured that the right hand of the Lorde will change the state of thinges that be most desperate. In our God there is wisedome and power in a moment to change the ioy and mirth of our enimies, into euerlasting mourning, and our sorrowes into ioye and gladnesse that shall hauehave no ende.

Let vsus therefore in these apparant calamities (and maruell not that I say calamities apparant, for he that seeth not a fier begonne, that shal burne more than we loke for, vnlesse God of his mercye quench it, is moore than blinde.) Yet I say, let vsus not be discouraged, but with vnfained repētance, let vsus retourne to the Lorde our God, let vsus accuse and condemne our former negligence, and stedfastly depende vponupon his promised deliuerance, and so shal our temporal sorrowes, be conuerted into ioye euerlasting, the doubt that might be moued concerning the destruction of those whome God exalteth, shall be discussed if time wil suffer, after that we hauehave passed throughout the text. Now procedeth the Prophet and sayth.

Thou hast increased the nations,Verse. 15. O Lorde, thou hast increased the nation, thou art made glorious, thou hast inlarged all the coastes of the earth.

Lorde in trouble.Verse. 16. &c.

In these wordes the Prophet giueth consolation to the afflicted, assuring them that howe horrible soeuer that desolation shoulde be, yet shoulde the seede of Abraham be so multiplyed, that it should replenish the coasts of the earth. Yea, that God should be more glorified in their dispersion, than he was during the time of their prosperity: This promise no doubt was incredible when it was made. For who coulde hauehave bene persuaded that the destruction of Ierusalem, should hauehave bene the meanes, wherby the nation of the Iewes shoulde hauehave bene increased, seing that muche rather it appeared that the ouerthrow of Ierusalem, shoulde hauehave beene the verie abolishing of the seede of Ahraham. But we muste consider to what ende it was that God reuealed himselfe to Abrahā, and what is contayned in the promise of the multiplication of his seede, and of the benediction promised therto.

First God reuealed himselfe to Abraham, and that by the meanes of his word, to let al flesh after vnderstande, that without God first cal man, and reueale himselfe vntounto him, that flesh can doe nothing but rebell against God.…osu. 24. For Abraham no doubt was an Idolater before that God called him from Vr of the Caldeis. The promise was made that the seede of Abraham should be multiplyed as the starres of heauen,Rom. 9. and as the sande of the sea, which is not simply to be vnderstanded of his natural seede, althoughe it was sometymes greatly increased, but rather of suche as shoulde become the spiritual seede of Abraham, as the Apostle speaketh: Now if we be able to proue that the right knowledge of God, his wisedome, iustice, mercye, and power, was more amply declared in their captiuitie, than euer it was at any tyme before: then can we not deny, but that God euen when to mans iudgement he had vtterly rased them from the face of the earth, did increase the nation of the Iewes, so that he was glorified in them, and did extend the coastes of the earth for their habitation. And for the better vnderstanding hereof, let vsus shortly try the histories from their captiuitie to their deliuerance, and after the same, to the comming of the Messias. It is no doubt, but that Sathan intended by the dispersion of the Iewes so to hauehave prophaned the whole seede of Abraham, that among thē should neyther hauehave remayned the true knowledge of God, nor yet the spirit of sanctificatiō. But that all shoulde hauehave come to a like ignoraunce and contempt of God.

For I pray you, for what purpose was it, that DanielDaniell. 1. and his fellowes were taken into the Kings court, were commaunded to be fed at the Kings table, and were put to the scholes of their diuines, South sayers and Astrologians? it maye be thought that it proceeded of the Kinges humanitie, and of a zeale that he had, that they shoulde be brought vp in vertue & good learning. And I doubt not, but it was so vnderstanded of a great number of the Iewes. But the secret practise of the Diuell, was vnderstanded of Danyell, when he refused to defyle himselfe with the kings meat, which was forbidden to the seede of Abraham in the lawe of their God. Well, God beginneth shortly thereafter to shew himselfe myndefull of his promise made by his Prophete. And he beginneth to trouble Nabuchodonezar himselfe, by shewing to him a vision in his dreame, which did the more trouble him, bicause he could not forget the terrour of it. Neyther yet coulde he remember what the vision, and the parcels therof were. Wherupon were called al diuines, Interpretors of dreames, & Southsayers, of whom the King demaū ded, if thei could let him vnderstād what he had dreamed. But while that they answere, that such a question vsed not to be demaunded of any Southsayer or Magitian: For the resolution thereof onelyonly appertained to the Gods, whose habitation was not with men: the charge was giuen, that they all should be slayne. And amongst the rest DaniellDaniell. 2. was sought (whose innocencie, the diuel most enuied) to hauehave suffered the same iudgement. He reclaymeth and asketh tyme to disclose that secret. (I onelyonly touch the historie, to let you see by what meanes God increaseth his knowledge) which being graūted, the visiō is reueled vntounto him. He sheweth the same vntounto the king, with the true interpretation of it. Adding, that the knowledge thereof came not from the starres, but only frō the God of Abraham, who onelyonly was, and is, the true God▪ which thing vnderstanded, the king burst forth in his confession, saying, of a truth your God is the moste excellent of al Gods. And he is Lord of kinges and onelyonly he that reuealeth the secretes, seeing that thou couldest open this secret.

And when the king after, puffed vp in pride by the counsell of his wicked nobilitie, would make an Image, before the which he would that al tongues and nations subiect to him should make adoration, & that Sydrack, Misacke and Abednago, woulde not obey his vniust commaundement, & so were cast in the flaming furnace of fyre, and yet by Godes Angels were so preserued, that no smell of fier remayned in their persons nor garments: this same king giueth a more notable confession, saying, the Lord God of Sydrack, Misack & Abednago is to be praysed, who hath sent his Angels and deliuered his worshippers, that put their trust in him, who hauehave done against the kings cōmaundement, who hauehave rather giuen their owne bodyes to torment,Daniell. 3. than that they woulde worship another God except their owne God. By me therfore is there made a decree, that whosoeuer shal blaspheme the God of Sydrack, Misack & Abednago, that he shall be cut in pieces, and his house shal be made detestable.

Thus we se how God began euen almoste in the beginning of their captiuitye, to notifie his name, to multiply his knowledge, & set forth aswel his power, as his wisedome & true worshipping, by those that were taken prisoners, yea that were dispised and of all men contempned. so that the name & feare of the God of Abrahā, was neuer before notified to so many realmes & nations. This wōderous worke of God proceeded from one Empire to another. For Daniel being promoted to great honor by Darius king of Perses and Medes, falleth into a desperat daūger. For he was cōmitted to prisō among Lyons,Daniell. 6. bicause that he was deprehended breaking the kings iniunctiō, not that the king desired the destruction of Gods seruants, but bicause the corrupt Idolaters, that in hatred of Daniell had procured that lawe to be made, vrged the king against his nature. But God by his Angell did stop the Lyons mouthes, and so preserued his seruant. Which considered with the soddaine destruction of Daniels enimies by the same Lyons, king Daryus besides his owne confession, wrote to all people, tongues, and nations after this forme. It is decreed by me that in all the dominions of my kingdom men shal feare and reuerence the God of Danyell, bicause he is the liuing God, abiding for euer, whose kingdome shall not be destroyed, and his dominion remayneth, who saueth and deliuereth, and sheweth signes and wonders in heauen and in earth: who hath deliuered Daniell from the Lyons.

This knowledge was yet further increased in the dayes of Cyrus, who giuing freedome to the captiues to returne to their owne natyue cuntry, giueth this confessiō. Thus sayth Cyrus the king of Persians, all the kingdomes of the earth hath the Lorde God of heauen giuen vntounto me,1. Esd. 1. and hath commaunded me that a house be built to him in Ierusalem, which is in Iuda. Whosoeuer therefore of you that are of his people, let the Lord his God be with him, and let him passe vp to Ierusalem, and let him builde the house of the Lord God of Israell, for he only is God that is in Ierusalem. Time will not suffer to intreate the poyntes of this confession, neyther yet did I for that purpose adduce the historie. But onelyonly to let vsus see howe constantlye God kept his promise in increasing of his people, and in augmēting of his true knowledge, when that both they that were the seede of Abraham, and that religion which they professed appeared vtterly to hauehave bene extinguished aboue mens expectation, I say, he brought fredome out of bondage, light out of darkenesse, and lyfe out of death. I am not ignoraunt that the building of the temple & reparation of the walles of Ierusalem, were long stayed, so that the worke had many enimies. But so did the hande of God preuayle in the ende, that a decree was giuen by Daryus (by him I suppose that succeded to Cambises) not onelyonly that all things necessarie for the building of the temple and for the sacrifices that were to be there brent,1. Esd. 6. shoulde be ministred vponupon the kings charges: but also, that whosoeuer shuld hinder that work, or change that decree, that a balke should be taken out of his house, and that he should be hanged thervpon. Yea that his house should be made a donghil: and therto he addeth a prayer saying.A prayer. the God of heauen, who hath placed his name there, roote out euerye king and people (O that kings and nations should vnderstande) that shall put his hande eyther to change or to hurte this house of God that is in Ierusalem, and so in dispite of Sathan was the temple builded, the walles repayred, and the city inhabited, and in the moste desperat daungers, it was preserued, til that the Messias promised, the glory of the seconde temple came, manyfested himselfe to the worlde, suffred and rose againe according to the scriptures. And so by sending forth his gospell from Ierusalem, did replenish the whole earth with the true knowledge of God, and so did God in perfectiō increase the nation aud the spirituall seede of Abraham.

Wherefore deare brethren, we hauehave no small consolation, if the estate of all thinges be this daye rightly considered, we see in what furie and rage the worlde for the moste parte is nowe raised against the pore Church of Iesus Christ, vntounto the which, he hath proclaymed liberty after this feareful bō dage of that spirituall Babylon, in the which we hauehave beene holden captiues of longer space, than Israell was prisoner in Babylon it selfe. For if we shall consider vponupon the one parte the multitude of those that liue without God: and vponupon the other parte, the blinde rage of the pestilent papistes, what shal we think of the small number of them that do professe Christ Iesus, but that they are as a poore sheepe already seazed in the clawes of the Lyon, yea, that they & the true religion which they professe, shall in a moment vtterly be consumed.

But against this fearefull temptation, let vsus be armed with the promise of our god, to wit, that he wil be the protector of his church, yea that he will multiply it, euen when to mans iudgement, it appeareth vtterly to be exterminate. This promise hath our God performed in the multiplication of Abrahams seede, in preseruation of it when Sathan labored vtterly to hauehave destroied it, in deliuerance of the same as we hauehave heard from Babilon. He hath sent his sonne Christ Iesus clad in our flesh, who hath tasted of all our infirmities, (sinne except) who hath promised to be with vsus to the ende of the worlde. He hath further kept promise in publication, yea in the restitution of his gloryous gospell. Shall we then thinke that he will leaue his church destitute in this moste daungerous age? OnelyOnly lee vsus sticke to his truth and studye to conforme our lyues to the same, and he shall multiply his knowledge and increase his people, but now let vsus heare what the Prophet sayth more.

Lorde in trouble hauehave they visited thee,Verse. 16. they poured out a prayer when they chastening was vponupon them.

The Prophet meaneth that such as in the time of quietnesse did not rightly regard God nor his iudgements, were compelled by sharpe corrections to seeke God, yea by cryes and dolorous complayntes, to visit him. True it is that suche obedience deserueth small praise before men, for who can prayse or accept that in good parte which commeth as it were of mere compulsion. And yet rare it is that any of Gods children doe giuegive vnsayned obedience vntill the hande of God turne them. For if quietnesse and prosperitie make them not vtterly to forget their duety both towardes God and man, as Dauid for a season, yet it maketh them carelesse, insolent, and in manye things vnmindeful of those things that God chiefly craueth of them, which imperfection espied, and the daunger that thereof might ensewe, our heauenly father visiteth the sinnes of his children, but in the rodde of his mercye, by the which they are moued to retourne to their God, to accuse their former negligence, and to promise better obedience in all times therafter,Psal. 119. as Dauid confesseth saying, before I fell in affliction I went astray, but now will I kepe thy statuts.

But yet for the better vnderstā ding of the Prophetes minde, we may consider how God doth visit man, and howe man doth visit God, and what difference there is, betwixt the visitation of God vponupon the reprobate, and his visitation vponupon the chosen.

God sometymes visiteth the reprobate in his hote displeasure, pouring vponupon them his plagues for their long rebellion, as we hauehave heard before, that he visited the proud, and destroyed their memorie. Other tymes, God is sayde to visit his people being in affliction, to whome he sendeth comforte or promise of deliuerance, as he did visit the seede of Abraham, being oppressed in Egipt: and Zacharie sayth, that God had visited his people and sent vntounto them hope of deliueraunce, when Iohn the Baptist, was borne. But of none of these visitations speaketh our Prophet here, but of that onelyonly which we hauehave already touched, to wit, when that God layeth his correction vponupon his owne childrē, to call them from the venemous beastes of this corrupt worlde, that they sucke not in ouer greate haboundance, the poyson therof, & doth as it were, weane them, from their mothers paps, that they may learne to receyue other norishmēt. True it is that this weaning (or spaning as we terme it) frō worldly pleasure, is a thing straunge to the flesh, and yet it is a thing so necessary to Gods children, that onlesse they be weaned frō the pleasures of the world, they can neuer feede vponupon that delectable milke of Gods eternall veritie. For the corruption of the one doth eyther hinder the other to be receyued, or else so trobleth the whole powers of man, that the soule can neuer so digest the truth of God, as that he ought to doe.

Albeit this appeareth harde, yet it is most euident. For what liquor can we receyue from the breasts of the world, but that which is in the worlde, and what that is, the Apostle Iohn teacheth,1. Iohn. 2. saying: what soeuer is in the world, is either the lustes of the eyes, the lustes of the fleshe, or the pride of lyfe. Nowe seeing that these are not of the father, but of the worlde, howe can it be, that our soules can feede vponupon chastitie, temperance, and humilitie, so longe, as that our stomaks are replenished with the corruption of these vices.

Now so it is that willingly fleshe can neuer refuse these forenamed, but rather still delyghteth it selfe in eueryevery one of them, yea, in them all as the examples are but to euident.

It behoueth therefore that God himself shal violently pul his children from these venemous breasts, that when they lacke the liquor & poyson of the one▪ they may visit him and learne to be nourished of him. Oh if the eies of worldly Princes shoulde be opened, that they might see with what humor and lyquor their soules are fed, while that their whole delight consisteth in pryde, ambition, and lustes of the stinking flesh. We vnderstande then how God doth visite men, aswell by his seuere iudgementes, as by his mercifull visitation of deliuerance from trouble or by bringing trouble vponupon his chosen for their humiliation. And now it res…th to vnderstand howe man visiteth God: man doth visite God, when he appeareth in his presence, be it to the hearing of his worde, or to the participation of his sacramentes, as the people of Israell, besides the obseruation of their Sabothes and dayly oblations were commaunded thrice a yeare to present them selues before the presēce of the tabernacle, and as we doe, as often as we present our selues to the hearing of the worde. For there is the fotestole, yea, there is the face and throne of God himself, whersoeuer the gospell of Iesus Christ is truely preached, and his sacraments rightly ministred.

But men maye on this sort visite God hipocritically, for they maye come for the fashion, they maye heare with deafe eares, yea they may vnderstand, and yet neuer determyne with themselues to obey that, which God requyreth. And let such mē be assured that he (who searcheth the secrets of hearts) wil be auēged of al such. For nothing can be to God more odyous, than to mock him in is owne presence. Let eueryevery man therefore examine himselfe, with what minde, and what purpose, he cōmeth to heare the worde of God, yea with what care he heareth it, and what testimonie his heart giueth vntounto him, when that God cōmaundeth vertue, and forbiddeth impietie.

Repinest thou when God requireth obedience? Thou hearest to thine owne cōdempnation. Mockest thou at Gods threatenings? Thou shalt feele the weight and truth of them, albeit to late, when flesh & bloude cannot deliuer thee from his hande. But the visitation (wherof our Prophet speaketh,) is only proper to the sonnes of God, who in the tyme when God taketh from them the pleasures of the world, or sheweth his angry countenaunce vntounto them, hauehave their recourse vntounto him, and confessing their former negligence with troubled hearts cry for his mercy. This visitation is not proper to all afflicted, but appertaineth onelyonly to Gods children. For the reprobate can neuer hauehave accesse to Goddes mercye in time of their tribulation, and that bicause they abuse as well his long pacience, as the manifolde benefits they receiue from his handes. For as the same Prophet heretofore sayth, let the wicked obtaine mercy, yet shal he neuer learne wisedome, but in the lande of righteousnesse, that is where the very knowledge of God aboundeth, he will doe wickedly, which is a cryme aboue all others abhominable. For to what ende is it that God erecteth his throne among vsus? but for that we shoulde feare him. Why doth he reueale his holy will vntounto vsus? but that we shoulde obey it. Why doth he deliuer vsus from trouble? but that we shuld be witnesses vntounto the world, that he is gracious, and mercifull.

Nowe when that men hearing their duety & knowing what God requireth of them doe malepertly fight against al equitie and iustice, what I pray you doe they else but make manifest warre against God, yea when they hauehave receiued from God suche deliuerance, that they cannot deny, but that God himselfe hath in his great mercye visited them, and yet that they continew wicked euen as before. What deserue they? but effectually to be giuen ouer into a reprobate sence, that hedlong they may runne to ruine both of body and soule. It is almost incredible that man should be so enraged against God, that neyther his plagues, nor yet his mercy shewed, should moue them to repentaunce, but bicause the scriptures beareth witnesse of the one, and the other. Let vsus cease to meruell, and let vsus firmely beleue that such things as hauehave bene, are euen presently before our eyes, albeit, manye blinded by affection can not see them.

Ahab as in the boke of the kings is written, receyued many notable benefits of the hande of God, who did visit him in diuers sortes, some tymes by his plagues, sometimes by his worde, and sometymes by his merciful deliuerance. He made him King: and for the Idolatry vsed by him and by his wife, he plagued whole Israell by famyne. He reuealed to him his will and true religion by the Prophet Helias, he gaue vntounto him sundry deliuerances, but one moste speciall, when proude Benhadab came to besiege Samaria, and was not content to receiue Ahabs gold, siluer, sonnes, daughters, and wyues, but also required, that his seruaunts shoulde hauehave at their pleasure whatsoeuer was delectable in Samaria: true it is, that his elders, and people willed him not to heare the proude tirant. But who made vntounto him the promise of deliuerance? and who appointed and put his armye in order, who assured him of victorie. The Prophet of God onelyonly, who assured him, that by the seruantes of the Princes of the prouinces, who in number were onelyonly 232 he should deface that great armie, in the which there were .32. Kings with all their forces: As the Prophete of God promised, so it came to passe. Victorie was obtained, not once only, but twice, and that by the mercifull visitation of the Lorde.

But howe did Ahab visite God againe▪ for his great benefit receyued. Did he remoue his Idolatry, did he correct his Idolatrous wife Iesabel? No we find no such thing, but the one, and the other, we find to hauehave continued & increased informer impietie.1. Reg. 22. But what was the ende hereof? The last visitation of God was, that dogges licked the bloud of the one,2. Reg. 9. and did eate the flesh of the other. In fewe wordes then we may vnderstand, what difference there is betwixt the visitation of God vpō the reprobate, and his visitation vpō his chosen. The reprobate are visited, but neuer truly humbled, nor yet amended. The chosē being visited, they sobbe, and they cry vntounto God for mercy (which obtained) they magnifie Gods name, and after declare the fruites of repentaunce. Let vsus …herefore that heare these iudge…ents of our God, call for the assistance of his holy spirit, that how soeuer it pleaseth him to visite vsus, that we may stoupe vnderunder his merciful hands, and vnfainedly cry to him when he correcteth vsus. And so shall we knowe in experience, that our cryes & complaintes were not in vayne, but let vsus heare what the Prophet sayth further.

Lyke as a woman (sayth he) with childe that draweth neere to the trauayle,Verse. 17. is in sorow and cryeth in her paines, so hauehave we bene in thy sight. O Lorde, we hauehave conceyued, we hauehave borne in vayne, as thoughe we shoulde hauehave brought forth the winde.

Saluations were not made to the earth, neyther,Verse. 18. did the Inhabitants of the earth fal.

This is the seconde parte of the Prophets complaint, in the which he in the person of Gods people complayneth, that of their great affliction there appeared no ende. This same similitude is vsed by our master Iesus Christ,Iohn. 16. for when he speaketh of the troubles of hys church, he compareth them to the paynes of a woman trauayling in her childe birth. But it is to another ende. For there he promiseth exceding and permanent ioy, after a sort, thoughe it appeare trouble. But here is the trouble long & vehement, albeit the fruite of it was not sodainely espied. He speaketh no doubt of that long & dolorous tyme of their captiuitie, in the which they continually trauayled for delyuerance, but obtained it not before the compleate ende of 70 yeares. During the which time, the earth, that is the land of Iuda, which sometymes was sanctified vntounto God, but was then giuen to be prophaned by wicked people, gat no helpe. Nor perceyued any deliuerance. For the Inhabitants of the world fell not, that is, the tirantes and oppressors of gods people, were not taken away, but still remayned and continued blasphemers of God an troublers of his church. But bicause I perceiue the houres to passe more swiftly then they hauehave done at other tymes, I mind to cōtract that which resteth of this text into certayne points.

The Prophet first fighteth against the present desperation.Verse.19. &. 20. After be introduceth God himselfe calling vponupon his people. And last of all he assureth his afflicted, that God will come, and require accompt of all the bloude thirstie tirants of the earth.

First fighting against the present desperation,Verse. 19. he sayth, thy dead shall liue, euen my bodye (or with my body shall they arise,) awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust. For thy dew is as the dew of herbes.

The Prophere here pierseth throughe all impedimentes that nature coulde obiect. And by the victorie of faith, he ouercōmeth, not onelyonly the common enimies; but the great and last enimie of al, to wit, death it self. For this would he say, Lorde I see nothing to thy chosen, but miserie, to follow miserie, and one affliction to succede another, yea in the ende I see, that death shal deuour thy dearest children. But yet, O Lorde, I see thy promise to be true, and thy louelove to remaine towards thy chosen, euen when death appeareth to hauehave deuoured them. For thy deade shall liue, yea not onelyonly shall they liue, but my verie dead careasse shall arise. And so I see honor and glory to succede this temporall shame. I see ioye permanent to come after trouble, order to spring out of this terrible confusion, and finallye, I see that lyfe shal deuoure death, so that death shall be destroyed, and so thy seruauntes shall hauehave lyfe. This I say is the victorie of faith, when in the middest of deathe throughout the light of Goddes worde the afflicted see lyfe: Hipocrites in the tyme of quietnesse & prosperitie can generally confesse that God is true in his promises, but bring them to the extremitie, and there ceasseth the hipocrite further to trust in God than he seeth naturall meanes whereby God vseth to worke. But the true faithfull, when all hope of naturall meanes fayleth, then flye they to God himselfe, and to the truth of his promise, who is aboue nature, yea whose workes are not so subiect to the ordinarie course of nature, that when nature fayloth, his power and promise fayle also therwith.

Let vsus further observe that the Prophete here speaketh not of all deade in generall, but sayth, thy dead O Lorde shall liue. In which wordes he maketh difference betwixt those that dye in the Lorde, and those that dye in their naturall corruption and in olde Adam. Die in the Lord can none except those that liue in him (I meane of those that attaine to the yeares of discretion) and none liue in him, except those that with the Apostle can say I liue, not I but Christ Iesus liueth in me. The lyfe that now I liue, I hauehave by the faith of the sonne of God.Gala. 2. Not that I meane that the faithfull hauehave at all houres suche sense of the lyfe euerlasting; that they feare not the deathe and the troubles of this lyfe, no not so, for the faith of all Goddes children is weake, yea and in manye thinges imperfect. But I meane, that such as in death, and after death shall liue, muste communicate in this lyfe with Iesus Christ, and must be regenerate by the sede of lyfe. That is,1. Pet. 1. by the worde of the liuing and euerlasting God, which whosoeuer dispiseth, refuseth lyfe and ioye euerlasting.

The Prophet transferreth all the promises of God to him selfe, saying, Euen my dead body shal arise, and imediately after, giueth commaundemēt & charge to the dwellers in the dust, that is, to the dead carcasses of those that were departed (for the spirit and soule of man dwelleth not in the dust) that they should awake, they should sing and reioyce. For they should arise and spring vp from the earth, euen as the herbes doe, after they hauehave receyued the dew from aboue.

Tyme will not suffer that these particulars be so largely intreated, as they merit, & as I gladly would, And therefore let vsus first consider, that the Prophet in trāsferring the power and promise of God to him self, doth not vendicate to himself, any perticular prerogatiue aboue the people of God, as that he alone should liue and arise, and not they also. But he doth it to let them vnderstande that he taught a doctrine whereof he was certayne, yea and whereof they shoulde hauehave experience after his death. As he should say, my words appeare to you now to be incredible, but the daye shall come, that I shal be taken frō you, my carcas shall be inclosed in the bosome of the earth, and therfore shall ye be ledde away captiues to Babylon, where ye shall remayne many dayes and yeares, as it were buryed in your sepulchres.

But then cal to minde that I sayd vntounto you before hand that my body shall arise. Euen so shall ye rise from your graues out of Babylon, and be restored to your owne cuntry and citie of Ierusalem. This I doubt not, is the true meaning of the Prophet. The charge that he giueth to the dwellers in the dust, is to expresse the power of Goddes worde. Whereby, he not onelyonly giueth life where death appa…antly had preuayled, but also by it he calleth things that are not, euen as if they were. Ture it is that the Prophete Isaiah sawe not the destruction of Ierusalem, much lesse could he se the restitutiō of it with his corporall eyes, but he leaueth this, as it were, in testament with them, that when they were in the extremitie of all bondage, they should call to minde what the Prophet of God had before spoken.

And lest that his doctrine, and this promise of God made vntounto them by his mouth, shoulde hauehave bene forgottē (as we are euer prone and ready to forget Gods promises when we are pressed with anye sorrow) God raysed vp vntounto thē in the midst of calamitie his Prophet Ezechiell, vntounto whome among manye other visions he gaue this. The hande of the Lorde first ledde him in a place which was ful of dry and dispersed bones.Ezech. 37. The question was demaunded of the Prophet, if these bones being wonderous dry shuld lyue. The Prophet answered… the knowledge thereof appertained vntounto God. Charge was giuen vntounto him that he shoulde speake vntounto the dry bones, and saye, thus sayth the Lorde God to these bones, beholde I shall giuegive you breath, and ye shall liue: I shall giuegive vntounto you sinewes, fleshe, and skinne, and ye shall liue. And while the Prophete spake (as he was commaunded) he heard a voyce, and he sawe eueryevery bone ioyne in his marowe. He saw them couered with flesh and skin, albeit there was no spirit of lyfe in them, he was commaunded againe to speake and to say, thus sayth the Lorde God, come O spirite from the foure quarters, & blow in these that are slayne that they may lyue. And as he prophecied, the spirit of lyfe came. They liued and stoode vponupon their feete. Nowe doth the Lorde interprete what this vision ment, saying, Sonne of man these bones are the whole house of Israell. Behold they say our bones are dryed, our hope is perished, we are playnely cut of, but beholde sayth the Lord, I will open your graues, I will bring you forth of them, ye shall liue and come vntounto the lande of Israell, and ye shall knowe that I am the Lorde.

This vision I say, giuen to the Prophete, and by the Prophete preached to the people when they thought that God had vtterly forgoten them, compelled them more diligently to aduert, what the former Prophetes had spoken. It is no doubt, but they caryed with them both the prophecie of Isaiah and Ieremie, so that the Prophete Ezechiel is a commentarie to these wordes of Isaiah, where he sayth, thy dead O Lorde shall liue, with my body they shall arise. The Prophet bringeth in this similitude of the deawe, to aunswere vntounto that part of their fidelitie, who can beleue no further of Gods promises, than they are able to apprehende by naturall iudgemēt. As he wold say, think ye this impossible, that God shall giuegive lyfe vntounto you and bring you to an estate of a commō wealth agayne, after that ye be dead, and as it were rased from the face of the earth. But why doe ye not consider what God worketh from yeare to yeare in the order of nature, sometimes ye see the face of the earth decked and beautified with herbes, floures, grasse, and fruites. Againe ye see the same vtterlye taken awaye by stormes and vehemencie of the winter. What doth God to replenishe the earth againe, and to restore the beauty thereof. He sendeth downe his small and soft dewe, the droppes whereof in their descending, are neyther great nor visible, and yet thereby are the pores and secrete vaynes of the earth, which before by vehemencie of frost and colde were shut vp, opened againe. And so doth the earth produce againe the like herbes, floures, and fruits. Shal ye then thinke? that the dew of Gods heauenly grace shall not be as effectuall in you to whome he hath made his promise, as that it is in the herbes and fruites that from yeare to yeare buddeth forth and decayeth? if ye doe so the Prophet would say your incredibility is inexcusable, bicause ye doe neyther rightlye waighe the power nor the promise of your God.

The like similitude vseth the Apostle Paule against such as called the resurrection in doubt, bicause that by naturall iudgement they coulde not apprehende that fleshe once putryfied and resolued, as it were in other substance shoulde arise againe and retourne againe to the same substance & nature.1. Corin. 16. O fole (saith he) that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it dy, & that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare corne, as it falleth, of wheate or some other, but God giueth it a body as it pleaseth him, euen to euerye seede his owne bodye. In which wordes and sentence, the Apostle sharpelye rebuketh the grosse ignorance of the Corinthians, who began to call in doubt the chiefe article of our faith, the resurrection of the fleshe after that it was once resolued, bicause that naturall iudgement (as saide is) reclaymed thereto. He reproueth (I say) their grosse ignoraunce, bicause that they might hauehave seene and considered some proufe and document thereof in the very order of nature. For albeit the wheat or other corne cast in the earth apeareth to die, to putrifie, and so to be lost, yet we see that it is not perished, but that it fructifieth according to Goddes will and ordinaunce.

Now if the power of God be so manifest in raysing vp of the fruits of the earth, vntounto the which no particuler promise is made by god, what shal be his power and vertue in raysing vp of our bodyes, seeing that thereto he is bound by the solempne promise of Iesus Christ his eternall wisdome, and the veritie it selfe that can not lye, yea, seeing that the members must once comm…nicate with the glorye of the head, howe shall our bodyes which are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones he stil for euer in corruptiō,Ephe. 5. seeing that our head Iesus Christ is now exalted in his glory. Noyther yet is this power land good will of God to be restrayned vntounto the last and generall resurrection onelyonly, but we ought to consider it in the maruellous preseruation of his church, and in the raysing vp of the same from the very bottome of death, when by titauntes it hath bene oppressed from age to age.

Nowe of the former wordes of the Prophet we hauehave to gather this comforte, that if at anye tyme we shal see the face of the church with in this realmeso defaced (as I think it shall be soner than we looke for) when we shall see, I say, vertue to be dispised, vice to be mayntayned, the veritie of God to be impugned, lyes and mens inuentions, holden in aucthoritie, and finally when we shall see the true religion of our God, and zelous obseruers of the same, to be troden vnderunder the feete of suche as in their heart saye there is no God:Psal.14. Let vsus then call to minde what hauehave bene the wonderous workes of our God from the beginning, that it is his proper office to bring forth lighte out of darkenesse, order out of confusion, lyfe out of death, & finally that it is he, that calleth thigs that are not, euen as if they were, as before we hauehave hard. And if in the day of our tēptation (which in my iudgemēt approcheth fast) we be thus armed. If our incredibilitie can not vtterly be remoued, yet shal it so be corrected, that dampnable desperation oppresse vsus not.

But nowe let vsus heare howe the Prophete proceedeth, Come (sayth he,) thou my people enter within thy chambers, shut thy dore after thee, hide thy selfe a very little while vntil the indingnation passe ouer.

Here the Prophet bringeth in God amiably calling vponupon his people to come to himselfe, and to rest with him vntounto suche time as the furie & sharpe plagues should be executed vponupon the wicked and inobedient. It maye appeare at the first sight, that all these words of the Prophet in the person of God calling the people vntounto rest, are spoken in vaine. For we neyther finde chambers nor rest more prepared for the dearest children of God (so farre as mans iudgemēt can discerne) than there was for the rebellious and inobedient. For such as fel not in the edge of the sworde, or dyed not of pestilence, or by hunger, were eyther caryed captiues into Babylō, or else departed after into Egipt, so that none of Abrahams feede, had eyther chamber or quiet place to remayne within the lande of Canaan. For the resolution hereof we must vnderstand that albert the chambers whereunto God called his chosen, be not visible. Yet notwithstanding they are certaine, & offer vntounto Gods children quiet habitation in spirite, howsoeuer the flesh be trauayled and tormented.

The chambers are then Goddes sure promises, vntounto the which gods people is commaunded to resorte, yea within the which they are cō inaunded to close them selues in the time of greatest aduersitie. The maner of speaking is borowed frō that iudgement & foresight, which God hath printed in this our nature. For whe! that men espie great tempestes appearing to come, willingly, they will not remayne vncouered vpō the fields, but straight way, they will drawe them to their houses or holdes, that they maye escape the vehemency of the same. And if they feare any enimy to pursue them, they wil shut their dores, to the ende that sodainely the enimie shall not hauehave entry. After this same maner God speaketh to his people, as he shoulde saye, the tempest that shall come vponupon this whole nation shall be so terrible, that nothing shall appeare but exterminatiō to come vpō the whole bodye. But thou my people, thou I saye, that hearest my worde, beleuest the same, and tremblest at the threatenings of my Prophetes, now when the world doth insolētly resist, let such I say, enter within the secrete chamber of my promises. Let them conteyne themselues quietly there, yea let them shut the dore vponupon them, and suffer not infidelitie, the mortall enimie of my truth and of my people that depend therupon, to hauehave free entrie to trouble (yea rather to murther) my promise. And so shall they perceyue that my indignation shall passe, and that such as depend vpō me, shall be saued.

Thus we may perceyue the meaning of the Prophete. Whereof we hauehave first to obserue, that God acknowledgeth them for his people, that are in greatest affliction, yea such as are reputed vnworthy of mens presence, are yet admitted with the secrete chamber of God. Let no man thinke that fleshe and bloude can sodaynely attayne to that comfort, & therfore most expediēt it is, that we be frequentlye exercised in meditatiō of thesame. Easie it is I graūt in time of prosperitie, to saye and to thinke, that God is our God, and that we are his people. But when he hath giuē vsus ouer in the handes of oure enimies, and tourned (as it were) his back vntounto vsus, then I say, stil to reclayme him to be our God, and to hauehave this assurance that we are his people, procedeth wholly frō the holy spirite of God,1. Iohn. 5. as is the greatest victorie of faith, which ouercommeth the worlde, for increase whereof we ought continuallye to pray.

This doctrine we shall not think straunge, if we shal cōsider how sodainely our spirites are caryed away from our God, and from beleuing his promise, so sone as anye great temptation doth apprehend vsus, then begin we to doubt if euer we beleued Gods promises, if God will fullfill them to vsus, if we abide in his fauour, if he regardeth and loketh vponupon the violence and iniurie that is done vntounto vsus, and a multitude of suche cogitations, which before lurked quietlye in our corrupted heartes, burst violently forth when we are oppressed with any desperate calamitie. Against the which, this is the remedie, once to apprehend and still to retayne, God to be our God, and firmelye to beleue, that we are his people whome he loueth, and will defende, not onelyonly in affliction, but euen in the middest of death it selfe.

Secondly let vsus obserue, that the iudgemēts of our God neuer were, nor yet shall be so vehement vponupon the face of the earth, but that there hath bene and shall be some secrete habitation prepared in the sanctuary of God for some of his chosen, where they shall be preserued vntill the indignation passe by, and that God prepareth a tyme, that they maye glorifie him againe before the face of the worlde, that sometimes despised them: and this ought to be vntounto vsus no small comfort in these appearing daungers, to wit, that we be surely persuaded that howe vehement that euer the tēpest shal be, that it yet shall passe ouer, and some of vsus shall be preserued to glorifie the name of oure God as is aforesaide.

Two vices lurke in this our nature, the one is, that we can not tremble at Gods threatninges before that the plagues apprehende vsus, albeit that we see cause moste iust why that his fierce wrath shuld burne as a deuouring fire. The other is, that when calamities before pronounced fal vponupon vsus, then begin we to sincke downe in desperation, so that we neuer loke for any comfortable end of the same. To correct this our mortall infirmitie in time of quietnesse, we ought to consider what is the iustice of our God, and howe odious sinne is. And aboue all other, how odyous Idolatry is in his presence who hath forbidden it, and who hath so seuerelye punished it in all ages from the beginning. And in the tyme of our afflictiō we ought to consider, what hauehave beene the wonderous workes of our God in preseruation of his churche, when it hath bene in vttermost extremitie. For neuer shall we finde the church humbled vnderunder the hands of tirantes and cruellye tormented by them, but therewith we shall finde Goddes iuste vengeance to fall vponupon the cru…ell persecuters, and his merciful deliuerance to be shewed to the afflicted▪ And in taking of this tryall, we shoulde not onelyonly cal to minde the histories of auncient times, but also we should diligentlye marke what notable workes God hath wrought euen in this our age, aswell vponupon the one, as vponupon the other. We ought not to thinke that oure God beareth lesse louelove to his church this daye, than that he hath done from the beginning. For as our God in his owne nature is immutable, so remayneth his louelove towardes his elect, alwaies vnchangeableEphe. 1. For as in Christ Iesus he hath chosen his Church before the beginning of al ages, so by him will he mayntayne & preserue the same vntounto the end. Yea, he will quiet the stormes, and cause the earth to open her mouth and receyue those raging flouds of violent waters, caste out by the Dragon, to drowne and cary away the woman which is the spouse of Iesus Christ, vntounto whom,Apocal. 1… God for his owne names sake will be the perpetuall protector.

This sawe that notable seruaunt of Iesus Christ Athanasius,…ele. histo. …omoni. … 5. ca. 5. who (being exiled from Alexandria by that blasphemous Apostata Iulian the Emperor) sayd vntounto his flock, who bitterly wept for his enuious banishment: Weepe not but be of good comforte saide he, for this little cloude wil sodainely vanish. A little cloude he called both the Emperor himselfe, and his cruell tirannie. And albeit that small appearance there was of any deliuerance to the church of God, or yet of any punishment to hauehave apprehended the proude tirants, when the man of god pronounced these wordes, yet shortely after, God did giuegive witnesse that those words did not procede from flesh nor bloud, but from Gods verie spirite. For not long after, being in warfarre, he receyued a deadly wound, whether by his owne hande or by one of his owne souldiers, the writers clearely conclude not, but casting his owne bloud against the heauē, he sayde, Vicisti tandem Galilee, That is, at last thou hast ouercome thou Galilean, so in despite he termed the Lorde Iesus, and so perished that tiraunt in his owne iniquitie, the storme ceassed and the church of God rceyued now comfort.

Such shall be the ende of all cruell persecuters, their raigne shal be short their ende miserable, & their name shall be left in execratoni to Goddes people. And yet shall the Church of God remayne to Gods glory after all stormes.

But nowe shortely let vsus come to the laste point. For behold saith the Prophet,Verse. 2… the Lord wil come out of his place to visite the iniquitie of the inhabitants of the earth vpō them. And the earth shall disclose her bloude and shall no more hide her stayne, bicause that the finall ende of the troubles of Goddes chosen, shall not be before that the Lorde Iesus shall retourne to restore al things to their ful perfection.

The Prophet bringeth forth the eternall God, as it were from his owne place and habitation, and therewith sheweth the cause of his comming to be, that he may take accōpt of al such as hauehave wrought wickedlye, for that he meaneth, where that he sayth: He will visite the iniquitie of the inhabitants of the earth vponupon them. And lest that any shoulde think that the wrong doers are so manye that they can not be called vntounto accompt, he giueth vntounto the earth as it were an office and charge to beare witnesse against al those that hauehave wrought wickedly, and chiefly, against those that hauehave shed innocent bloud frō the beginning. And saith, that the earth shall disclose her bloude, and shall no more hide her slayne men.

Yf the tirants of the earth & such as delight in shedding of bloude should be persuaded that this sentence is true, they shoulde not so furiouslye come to their owne destruction. For what man can be so enraged, that he woulde willingly doe euen before the eyes of God, that which might prouoke his maiestie to anger. Yea prouoke him to becōe his enimy for euer, if that he vnderstode how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the liuing God. The cause then of this blind furie of the world, is the ignorance of God, and that men thinke that God is but an Idoll, and that there is no knowledge aboue, that beholdeth their tirannie, neither yet iustice that will, nor power that maye represse their impietie. But yet the spirite of truth doth witnesse, the contrary, affirming, that as the eyes of the Lorde are vponupon the iust,…al. and as his eares are ready to receiue their sobbing & prayers, so is his angry visage against such, as worke iniquitie. He hateth and holdeth in abhomination euerye disceitful and bloud thirstie man. Whereof he hath giuen sufficient document from age to age in preseruing the one, or at the lest in reuenging of their cause, and in punishing of the other. Where it is sayde that the Lorde will come frō his place, and that he wil visite the iniquitie of the inhabitants of the earth vppon them, and that the earth shall disclose her bloude.

We hauehave to consider what moste commonly hath beene, and what shal be the condition of the church of God, to wit, that it is not onelye hated, mocked, and dispised, but that it is exposed, as it were in a pray, vntounto the furie of the wicked, so that the bloud of the children of God,Psal. is spilt like water vponupon the face of the earth. The vnderstanding whereof, albeit it be vnpleasaunt to the flesh. Yet to vsus it is most profitable, least that we, seing the cruel entreatings of Gods seruauntes, beginne to misknowe the spouse of Iesus Christ, bicause that she is not intreated in this vnthankfull worlde, as that the iust and vpright dealing of Gods children doth deserue. But contrarywise, for mercy, they receyue crueltie, for doing good to manye, of al the reprobate they receyue euil. And this is decreed in Gods eternal councell, that the members maye follow the trace of the head, to the ende, that God in his iust iudgements, should finally condempne the wicked. For howe shoulde he punish the inhabitāts of the earth, if their iniquitie deserued it not▪ How should the earth disclose our bloude, if it should not be vniustly spilt? We must then commit our selues into the handes of our God, and laye downe our neckes, yea & pacientlye suffer our bloude to be shed, that the righteous iudge may require accompt, as most assuredly he shall of all the bloude that hath bene shed, from the bloud of Abell the iust, till the day that the earth shall disclose the same.A terrible, but moste true sentēce. I say eueryevery one that sheddeth or consenteth to shed the bloude of Gods children, shal be giltie of the whole. So that all the bloude of Goddes children shall crye vengeance, not onelyonly in general, but also in particuler, vponupon euerye one, that hath shed the bloude of anye that vniustly suffered.

And if any thinke it strange that such as liue this daye, can be giltie of the bloude that was shed in the dayes of the Apostles. Let them cō sider that the veritie it selfe pronounced, that all the bloude that was shedde from the dayes of Abel vntounto the dayes of Zacharie should come vponupon that vnthankefull generation, that heard his doctrine, and refused it. The reason is euident, for as there is two heads and and captaines that rule vponupon the whole worlde, to wit, Iesus Christ, the Prince of iustice and peace, & Sathan, called the Prince of the worlde, so are they but two armies, that hath continued battaile from the beginning, and shall fight vntounto the ende. The quarell is one which the armie of Iesus Christ susteine, which the reprobate doe persecute, to wit, the eternal truth of the eternall God, and the image of Iesus Christ, printed in his elect, so that whosoeuer in any age persecuteth any one member of Iesus Christ for his truth sake, subscribeth as it were with his hande, the persecution of all that hauehave passed before him. And this ought the tirantes of this age deepely to consider, for they shal be giltye not only of the bloud shed by themselues, but of al (as saide is) that hath bene shed for the cause of Iesus Christ from the beginning of the worlde.

Let the faithfull not be discouraged although they be appointed as shepe to the slaughter house, for he, for whose sake they suffer, shal not forget to reuenge their cause. I am not ignoraunt that fleshe and bloude will thinke that kinde of suporte, too too late. For we had rather be preserued stil aliue, than to hauehave our bloud to be reuenged after our death. And truely if our felicitie stoode in this lyfe, or if death temporall should bring vntounto vsus anye damage, our desire in that behalfe were not to be dampned. But seeing that death is common to al, and that this temporall lyfe, is nothing but miserie, & that death doth fully ioyne vsus with our God, and giueth vntounto vsus the possession of our inheritaunce, why shuld we think it straunge to leaue this worlde and goe to our head & soueraigne captayne Iesus Christ?

Now last we hauehave to obserue this maner of speaking, where that the Prophet sayth. The earth shall disclose her bloud. In which wordes, the Prophet would accuse the crueltie of those that dare so vnmercifully ryue from the breastes of the earth, the dearest children of God, and cruelly cut their throts in her bosome, who is by God appointed the common mother of mankinde, so that she vnwillingly is compelled led to open her mouth, & receyue their bloud.

If such tirannie were vsed against any naturall woman, as violently to pull her infant frō her breastes, cut the throte of it in her own bosome, and compell here to receyue the bloude of her deare childe in her owne mouth, al nations would holde the fact so abhominable, that the like had neuer beene done in the course of nature. And no lesse wickednesse cōmit they that shedde the bloud of Gods children vponupon the face (as I hauehave saide) of their common mother the earth. But be of good courage (O little & dispised flocke of Christ Iesus) for he that seeth your griefe hath power to reuenge it. He that will not suffer one teare of yours to fal, but that shall be kept and reserued in his bottle, till the fulnesse thereof be poured downe from heauen vponupon th…se that caused you to weepe and mourne, this your mercifull God (I saye) will not suffer your bloud for euer to be couered with the earth, naye the flaming fiers that hauehave licked vp the bloude of any of our brethren, the earth that hath beene defiled with it, I saye with the bloude of Gods children, for otherwise, to shed the bloud of the cruel bloudshedders, is to purge the land from bloud, and as it were to sanctifie it. The earth (I say) shal purge her selfe of it and shew it before the face of god, yea the beasts, foules, and other creatures whatsoeuer shall be compelled to render that which iniustly they hauehave receyued, be it flesh, bloude, or bones that appartained to thy children O Lorde, which altogether thou shalt glorifie, according to thy promise made to vsus in Iesus Christ thy sonne, to whom with thee and the holy Ghost be honor, praise, and glory, for euer and euer. Amen.

Let vsus now humble our selues in the presence of our God, and from the bottome of oure heartes, let vsus desire him to assist vsus with the power of his holy spirite, that albeit for our former negligences, God giuegive vsus ouer in the handes of other than suche as rule in his feare, that yet he let vsus not forget his mercy, and that glorious name, that hath bene proclaymed amongst vsus: but that we may loke throughout the dolorous storme of his present displeasure, and see aswell what punishment he hath appointed for the cruell tirants, as what rewarde he hath layde in store for such as continue in his feare, to the ende: that it would further please him to assist, that albeit we see his Church so diminished, that it shal appeare to be brought, as it were, to vtter extermination, that yet we maye be assured, that in our God, there is power and will, to increase the number of his chosen, euen while they be inlarged, to the vttermost coastes of the earth. GiueGive vsus O Lorde, hearts to visite thee in time of our affliction. And that albeit we see none ende of our dolors, that yet our faith and hope maye conduct vsus to the assured hope of that ioyfull resurrection. In the which, we shal possesse the fruite of that, for the which nowe we trauaile. And in the meane season, graunt vntounto vsus O Lorde, to repose our selues in the sanctuary of thy promise, that in thee, we may finde comforte, till that this thy great indignation (begonne amongst vsus) may passe ouer, and thou thy selfe, appeare to the comfort of thy afflicted, and to the terrour of thine enimies. Let vsus pray with heart & mouth. Almighty God and merciful father, &c. Lord in thy hands I commend my spirit.The castle …f Eden…rough was …ooting a…ainst the …xiled for …hrist Iesus …ake For the terrible roring of Gunnes and the noyce of armour doe so pierce my heart, that my soule thirstith to depart. The last of August. 1565. at .4 at after noone written indigestly, but yet truely, so far as memory would serue, of those things that in publike preaching I spake vponupon Sondaye the .19. of August. For the whych I was discharged to preach.

Be mercifull to thy flocke, O Lorde, and at thy good pleasure, put ende to my miserie.

Iohn Knoxe.

Sermon in Edinburgh, Sermon

A SERMON PREACHED by Iohn knoxe.