A Fruitful Treatise, Title page – Dedication
A fruitful treatise of fasting, wherin is declared what ye Christen fast is, how we ought to fast, & what ye true vse of fastyng is. Newlye made by Thomas Becon.
Mathew. vi. VVhen ye faste, be not sad, as the hipocrites are
¶The sayinges of the holye Scripturee.
Eccles. xxxvii.
BE not gredy in eueryevery eating and be not to hasty vponupon al meates. For exces of meats bringeth sicknes, & glo…o…y cōmeth at the last to an vnmeasurable heate. Thorow surfet hauehave many one peryshed, but he that dyeteth him selfe tēperatly, prolongeth his life.
Luke. xxi. Take hede to your selues, lest at any tyme youre heartes be ouercome wyth surfetyng and dronkennes.
Roma. xiii. Make not prouision for the fleshe to fulfyl the lustes of it.
ii. Cor. vi. Let vsus gi…e no occasion of euil, that our offyce be not euyl spoken of, but in al thynges let vsus behaue oure selues as the ministers of God in much pacyence in watchynges and fastynges.
Ephe. v. Be not dronke with wyne, wherin is excesse, but be fylled wyth the spirit.
ii. Thes. v. Let vsus watche and be sober.
i. Peter. iiii. Be ye sober and watche vntounto prayer.
¶To the moste reuerende father in God, Thomas Archbishop of Caunterburie, Primate of al Englande and Metropolitane, Thomas Beacon his humble and faythefull seruaunte wisheth the fauoure of God, longe lyfe, contynuall healthe and prosperous felicitie.
OUre Lorde and alone sauioure.Math. xiii Iesu Christe declareth in a parable of the gospell, that after a certayne houshoulder had sowed good seede in hys fielde, whyle hys seruauntes slepte, hys ennemye came and sowed tares amonge the wheate and wente hys waye, Thys houshoulder is Christ the lord. The good sede is y• children of god & gods worde. The seruauntes that slepte are negligente Prelates and sleepye shepheardes, whiche watche not ouer the Lordes flocke. The enemy is the deuil. The tares are the children of the wicked, & errours and heresies, which? Satan soweth in the heartes, of the vnbeleuinge. Of this parable as wee learne the goodnes of Christe toward vsus in be getting vsus a new,i. Peter. i. not of mortal sede but of immortall by the worde of God, whiche liueth and lasteth for euer, so like wyse learne we the maliciousnes of Sathan, whiche lyke a subtile serpente and olde enemye of mā kinde, neuer sleepeth, but contynuallye walcketh vp and downe lyke a roryng lion, seking whom he may deuoure and warely watcheth hys tyme to destroye,ii. Pete. v. when souer anye occasion is geuen, be it neuer so little. Not wythoute a great cause therefore did out sauioure. Christ exhort vsus to watch and praye, that wee fall not into temptatiō.Mat. xxvi. And albeit in this our frayle and synnefull lyfe manye occasions of doinge myscheife be offered to the ennemy on our behalfe such is our negligence and vncircumspecte beha…youre, yet the gratest occasion wherin Satan most gloryeth and soonest hopeth for the victorye, is when the shepheardes of Christes flocke giuegive no atēdaūce to theyr charge but lye sleepynge and snortyng, walowynge and welterynge in theyr pleasures, and suffer the wolf to scatter, yea to catch, to kil and to destroye the shepe.Esaye. lvi. Ihon. x. For although the deuil leteth go no profer, whiche maye moue him to do euil, but laieth hād on it streight waies, yet as the histories both of the holye scriptures & of credible writers do testify, he neuer sheweth him selfe so right a deuil nor so liuely setteth forth him selfe in his true colours, as whē y• guids of the Lords flocke be either absent frō their shepe, orels are negligēt in doīg theyr dutie, I mean in preching gods word, & in writing godly bokes, if nede require for the confutacion of erroures and heresies and for y• establishment of gods holi religion. How sone had the people of Israel for gotten god and his goodnes toward the, after Moses was gone from them into the moūt Sina… to talke with god & to receiue the lawe?Exo. xxxii Fel they not streightwaies from the one and alone true and liuing god vntounto abhominable idolatri, and worshipped a golden calfe? After the daies of Moses & of other godly Prophetes & preachers when wicked kinges reigned, and the preachinge of gods worde ceased, did not ye people of Israel fal to the worshipping of straūge gods, & made of the brasē serpēt (which was but a sacramēt and figure of Christe) a God and brent sacrifice vntounto it?Ihon. iii. iiii. re. xviii Certayne yeres before ye cōmīg of christ into this world, into how mani sectes & sōdry religiōs were the Iewes deuided amōg thē selfs, whiche not wt stādīg coūted thēselfes onli the people of god & hated al other naciōs, as abhominable Idolatours? Yea in the time of the Apostles, were ther not y• denied Christe to be eyther true God or true man? How sone wer the Corrinthians and Galathians seduced by false Apostles, after that the mooste worthye Apostle. S. Paul was departed from them? Howe many kynde of Heretikes rose there vppe in the churche of Christe after the Apostles tyme? What greate and howe manye contencions both in sermons, disputacions and wrightinges had the holye Bishops and godly fathers of the primatiue church wt the heretikes of theyr time for the maintenaunce of gods truth and for plucking vp y• enemies tares? Since the time yt those verteous Bishops and learned fathers of Christs church died, into how many sects hauehave the people y• profes god be deuided? The number of sectes and counterfait religious, which yet liue vnderunder the Bishop of Rome, are almoste innumerable. Neither ceaseth Sathan euē in this most clear light of the gospel to play the right deuil, and to cast mistes before the eies of the vnfaithful. Into how many sects is Christendome yet deuided? Ar not some called papists, some protestants, some Anabaptists, some sacramentaries? Whence come al these abhominacions but only from sathan the author of al euil? Moreouer in what fielde, where good sede hath bene sowed, hath not the ennemie sowed his tares also? howe pestilentlye hathe he corrupted the pure wheate of goddes woorde wyth myngeling hys chaffe, drosse, darnell, cockell and tares, I mean the false gloses, and vnsauery exposicions of the papistes, Anabaptistes, and suche other sec…aries? Howe wickedlye hathe hee peruerted the righte vse of the sacramentes, specially the sacrament of Christes bodye and bloude? fastinge, praier and almes deede, howe hathe he made thē to be abused? There is no pointe of Christen religion, which Sathan hath not attempted too ouerthrowe by hys ministers. And albeit as I said before the enemy laboureth at all times to sowe hys tares in the Lordes fielde, yet when the shepheardes of Christes flocke be negligēt in doing their dutye, fal a slepe and loke not to the Lordes field, then doth he most of al play his parte and bestoure him like a right deuil, as Salomon saythe. When the preahing of gods word fai… leth,Pro. xxix. the people pearishe. It therfore becommeth al men that tender the glorye of God, but specyallye the Lordes Ministers to loke diligentlye vntounto theyr lords fielde, and earnestly to take hede that the enemy sow not his tares amonge the Lordes wheate. If any be sowed, it is their duti to laboure euen to the vttermooste of theyr power not with violence & corporal armours (for the vse of the seculare swearde is not commytted to the preachers of gods worde,Luk. xxi…. Roma. xiii but to the temporal rulers onlye to punysh malefactoures) but with the swearde of the spirit whyche is the woorde of God,Ephes. vi. wyth prayers, supplycacions and …eares to weede theym oute.
The weapons of our warfar, saieth S. Paule,ii. Cori. x. ar not carnal thinges, but thynges myghty in god to cast down strong holds, wherwyth we ouerthrow coūsels, and eueryevery hye thyng that exalteth it selfe agaynste the knowledge of God, and bryng into captiuity al imaginacion to the obedience of Christe. And in thys behalfe, I meane, in pluckinge vp the enemyes tares, and in purgyng the Lordes fielde that nothyng may growe therin but pure wheate, your both godly and vnreastfull paines (most reuerend father) a… well knowen in thys churche of England, and thanckefullye accepted of all faythfull Christen heartes, insomuch that very manye do daylye render vntounto God most humble and harty thankes for the singuler and great benefites, whiche they hauehave receiued of him thorowe your vertuous trauaile, in attayninge vntounto the true knowledge of iustification, of the sacrament of Christes bodye and bloud, and such other holye misteries of oure profession.
And al be it the deuill roare, the worlde rage, and the hipocrites swell at these your most Christen labourers, whiche you willinglye take for the glory of God and the edifyinge of hys congregacyon, yet as ye hauehave godlye begunne, so without ceasinge continew vntounto the ende.i. Peter. v. By this meanes shal it come to passe, yt when the cheife shepheard shall appeare, ye shal receiue an incorruptyble crowne of glorye.
And forasmuch as so many as the Lord hath appoynted watchmenne ouer hys flocke, oughte euerye one accordynge to theyr talente to folowe youre Godlye example in weedynge oure erroures and plantynge true and Christen opynyons in the heartes of the people, seinge that Sathan hath not a lyttle corrupted the true vse of fastynge, whyche beynge ryghtelye vsed doeth hyghelye please God, and abused, displeaseth hym: I thoughte it good agaynste thys tyme of Lente, whyche of longe contynuaunce hathe bene appoynted to abstinence, to write some what of fastynge, that myghte both openne awaye too the faythefull howe they maye faste to please God, and also dysclose the falsse manner of fastynge broughte in by the deuyl and his Ministers. And in thys my treatyse I hauehave fyrste declared what the Christen faste is,The Contentes of this boke. secondly how we oughte to fast, and thyrdly what the true vse of fastinge is. I toke thys laboure vppon me the more gladlye, partelye because no manne hytherto hath writen of that matter in oure Englyshe tonge partlye to satysfye the heartye requestes of dyuers faithefull brethrene, whyche ceased not to requyre me in the Lordes name to wryghte some what, that myghte enstructe theym in the true vse of fastinge. The matter, I graunt. requyreth a woorke manne of riper iudgemente, and more exercysed in the Lordes haruest then I am, whyche myghte according to the worthynesse of the matter, hauehave set it forth pleasauntly and learnedly, but seing no mā hath hitherto takē it in hād, I thought it my part not to deny the godlye requestes of the brethrē but gladly to bestowe vponupon them what so euer the Lord hath geuen me in thys behalfe.
Thys treatyse what so euer it is, I your humble and faythfull seruaunt, not hauyng otherwyse wherwyth to testify the thankfulnes of my hart toward your most honorable Lordship, for the manyfold benefytes whych ye hauehave bounteously bestowed vponupon me, do dedicate to your name, moste humblye besechynge you accorto your accustomed gentlenesse to take in good part this my rude and grosse woorke, whych to polyshe and to make nete (if habylitie had serued) shortnes of time wolde not suffer,
God, whose honoure you most desirouslye seke, moughte vouch safe to preserue youre grace, in continuall healthe and prosperous felicitie vntounto the glorye of his mooste blessed name, and the profyt of hys holy congregacyon.
Amen.
B. I.