A Fruitful Treatise, Chapter 23
¶The .xxiii. Chapter.
FOurthelye and finally forasmuche as the word of God is the singuler and vnspeakeable gift of God,Psalm. …ix geuen of him to be a lantarne to oure feete and a light to our pathwaies,Psal. xix. to tourne souls from idolatri vntounto true god lines, to giuegive wisdom to the humble, to make the faithful penitent heartes glad, to lighten the eies of the ignoraunt, to teach the true relygyon, to i…proue errourres and heresies,ii. Tim. iii. to amend sinners, & to instruct all degrees in righteousnes, that the man of God may be perfect and prepared vntounto all good worckes: it is conueniente, whither wee heare …t of other or reade it oure selues, that we both heare and reade it wyth greate reuerence and all humilitie, seinge that not man, but the holye ghoste is the authoure of it, whiche breathed into the heartes of holye m…nnethe knowledge of it, and putte in theyr myndes what they oughte to wryghte as .S. Paule sayeth, the whole scrypture was geuen of God by inspiracion.ii. Tim. iii. And .S. Peter recordeth the same,…i. Peter. i. sayinge. The scrypture came neuer by the wyl of manne, but holye men of God spake, as they wer moued by y• holy ghost. If the holye scripture then commeth frō god, & god be the author of it, who dare presume either to heare or to reade it, but wyth an humble reuerence and reuerent humilitie?Ad Iulianum, ep. …. As .S. Austen sayeth, by the bookes of the holye scrypture God hym self and oure lord speaketh vntounto vsus, and sheweth vntounto the effecte of a godlye wyll▪ Let vsus then consider and marke well, with what honoure the message of that god and Lord ought to be receiued of vsus. What if a message came vntounto vsus very earlye in the mornyng from a kyng, wold we not streight waies (al other cares laied aside) receiue the letters with a readye wil & withal deuociō, and after we had red theym, laboure to fulfill the kynges request to y• vttermoste? And beholde from the heauen of heauens the Kynge of kynges and Lorde of Lordes, yea and our redemer hathe vouched safe to dyrecte hys letters vntounto vsus by the Prophetes and Apostles, not that hee shoulde commytte vntounto vsus anye seruyce necessarye for hym, but sygnifye, what thynges maye dooe vsus good vntounto saluacion and glorye. O wyth what, reuerence and greate honoure oughte we then to receiue, reade or heare the letters of thys euerlastinge king and immortal god sente for oure glorye and for our saluation, seing that by them not man, b…t God speaketh vntounto vsus as oure sauioure Christe testifieth, he that heareth you (he speaketh of the preachers of goddes word) heareth me,Luke. x. & he that despyseth you, despiseth me, & he that despiseth me, despiseth hym that sent me. Now y• we may come reuerētly & humblye to the hearinge of gods worde, it shal not be vnsitting to vse our fast vntounto this end also, that we maye come vntounto it with fasting & empty stomackes, that oure mynde and inwarde mā mai hauehave the purersenses to vnderstande, the cleare sighte to beholde, the more open eares to heare, and the gredier stomacks to digest the holi misteries of god For likewise as he is no mete mā to pray vntounto God, that commeth out of the Tauern sweating and set on fire with drincking of whot wine & eatīg of delicious meats, so in like maner is he no fit man either to reade or to hear y• word of god, that hath a ful gorge and stuffed belly. The more the body is filled, the more is the mind dulled, & made vnapt to receiue any message from god.ii. Cor. iiii. But albe it y• outward man decay & be made feble for a tyme, yet the inwarde man is renewed day by day, and made strong. And this meant the holy fathers & godlye bishops of Christes churche in tymes paste, when they appointed fastinge on the euēs of solempne feastes, that the people by their fasting might be made the more apt the day folowing, when they came to the tē ple, to heare the blessed worde of theyr saluacion.
The holy letters do testify,Exo. xxiii… that when Moses receiued the law, he was in the mount with God, and fasted .xl. daies and .xl. nights before the ta…les of the law wer deliuered vntounto him,Belly be…stes ar not mete to receyue the woorde of God. where of wee maye learne howe reuerently we oughte to take the word of god, au… not to come vntounto it with vnwashed fete, as they vse to say, And this is to be noted by y• way, that as Moses fasting was foūd worthy to receiue the law of god, so likewise when he came downe from the mount & saw the people droncke and mad,Exo. xxxii singinge & piping, daūcīg & lea…ing, he threw down the tables of ye law, & brake them on peces, by this declaring that Epicures and belly gods be no worthy and mete vessels to receiue the new wine of gods word
When the children of Israellii. Esd. ix. at a certaine time came together to read the boke of the law of the Lord, they fasted the whole day, that they mighte reade the holye scriptures with the more reuerēce and bee made the more mete to hauehave the holy ghost present with them to teache them by hys godlye inspiracion.
Esdras also being greatly desirousiiii. Esd. v. to hauehave certaine secretes opened vntounto him, was commaunded of Uriel the angel to fast. vii daies first of al. Whych thing he did, and had hys desyre satisfied.
In like manner after the Prophet Daniel had fasted and praiedDan. ix. x vntounto the Lord for knowledge of certain misteries, Gabriel the aungell of God came and reueled vntounto him the secretes of Christes incarnatiō, passion, death. &c
When Baruche red hys bokeBaruch. i. before the kinge and the kinges councell and before all the people, they all wepte fasted & prayed before the Lorde.Math. iiii.
Before that oure sauyoure Christe tooke vppon hym the office of preachinge to declare vntounto the people the ioyfull tidinges that he broughte frome heauen, he fasted .xl. daies and .xl. nights and dyd eate nothinge at all, geuinge vsus example by his fasting not to faste the like fast, which is impossible and aboue ye natural strengthes of ani mā, but to come vntounto the word of god thorow fasting with al reuerence & humilitie, whither we reade or heare it.
The Apostles of Christ lykewiseActes i. ii. before they vniuersally preached the kyngdom of Christ, fasted and praied, and as they wer fastyng and prayinge, the hollye Ghoste came downe vponupon them and endued them with the knowledge of al languages, & taught them the true vnderstandynge of Gods holy misteries.
To ende,…. x. Cornelius being very desierous to knowe y• true and approued religiō before God, fasted & praied vntounto the Lord, and god gracious… satisfied his desire