The Cohabitation of the Faithful with the Unfaithful, Sermon

The Cohabitation of the Faithful with the Unfaithful · Sermon

p. 66A Sermon of the true confessinge of Christe / and the truithe of the gospell: and of the foule denyinge of the same / made in the conuocacion of the clergie at Zurich the 28. daye of Ianuarie in the yeare of the lorde 1555.

By. H. B.

OVr lorde Iesus Christ hath forsayed that ther shuld be persequutions / and cheifly in the later tymes / through which sum shuld be despoiled of their goodes / sum also thrown out of their dwellinges / and other shuld be shut vpp in prisō / agayn that other shuld be fried in the fire and put to other punishmentes / and executed with infamus deathes / And that for the lord Christe himself / and for the doctrine / and confessiō of the truith of the gospell. The same lord did then also forsaye / that not a few shuld fall from the truithe known. All which thinges truly we hauehave herd and seene fulfilled / not in this tyme only / but in tymes long passed. For ther are sum which at this daye do openly / and that without shame / curs and bydd adew to the truith of the gospell / which with demas do embrace this present worlde. There are other / and not afew / which do themselues also denie the truith known / and yet wyll they not be accōpted to be forsakers of it. Thy do stayne themselues with dyuers glosses and colours that they might not be known of the godly and more simple sorte of men. One faynith that he doth not go out of Egipt and Babilon / bicause he may wynne many vntounto Christe: when as in the meane tyme he doth both withdrawe himself from Christ / and doth cōfirme manye that be weaker men in the filthes of babilon so, that they do not at ony tyme thincke ernestly of true repentaunce. Other do fantisie that ther is no neade opēly to cō fes religion / but that the inward beleif of the hart doth suffice: And if it be of vrgēt necessite to confes ony thinge openly / yet that the confession sufficith which is made amonge the brithern which are well known and companions in Religion: Neither that the confession amonge the aduersaires is straitly required / which shall put them in daūger of lyfe. And therfore thou shalt finde sum men of exercise which cā conningly dispute of papisticall ceremonies and make meruailus interpretacions of theim / laboring by all meanes to proue that the godly by the partaking of them neither are defiled / nor yet that the religiō of the gospell is denied. Thus wittye and subtill doth that trembling feare / and gret desire of this world make them. Truly when the tyme serued that they might lyue without daūger in rest and quiet at ease / they then wold neuer hauehave thought / no not so mutch as dreamed ony of this matier / Yea of theis thinges they wold hauehave bēloth but euē to hauehave spo kē / as thinges playne cōtrary to simplicite / and true religion. But now when the lord hath sent amonge p. 67them the fire of persequution or rather of probatiō / and they do se that either they must flye out of their countrie / or that they must put ther lyfe in extreme ieoperdie / and yet hauehave no will to leaue either ease or their riches / or to committ themselues to daūgers / they turn themselues into all formes / and craftyly creping backe by clokinge and dissemblinge they do seeke wayes / by which they may slypp awaie out of the conflict. Which when it happenith as they wold hauehave it / thē without all doubt / ther lyues / their substaunce / and goode estimaciō do vtterly perishe. For this cause I thincke that I can not entreate a more profitable mater and more meete and necessarie for this our world / then of the true cōfessing of Christe The argu ment and matier.and the truithe of the gospell / and of the foule denyinge of the same. This matier truly is copius / and most āple / wherthrough I doubt nothing at all but sum of you be all redy made afraide with the largenes of it / which do consider the end of the sermon by the begynning / and of the mater it self: But I will at this present touche but certayn pointes of this matier hauing cōsideraciō of the tyme / and especially of you / reuerend fathers and beloued brethern in in Christ. The lord gyue me grace omitting thinges not necessarie / to prosequnte only all thos thinges which be necessarie. Thos shameles men / which affirme (without doubt against their own consciēce) The cloke of them that deny true religion.that ther is no neade at all of the outward and daū gerus confession among the aduersaries of the religion of the gospell / they do wrast the ordinaunces of Godd to make a cloke for their malice. And they saye / that Godd will not hauehave holy mariages broken / or that the honor due vntounto parēts shuld be vndoone / that Godd will not hauehave the gouernemēt of polities or how sholds disturbed / ād to be short that he will not hauehave a mans death and destruction. For what encreace shall happen to the glorie of God by the vnrecouerable miserie of me and my houshold? what profyt shuld come of my chaynes / or of my pouertie vntounto my neighburr? And who is it that knowith not that all thinges which we do are to be referred to the glorie of Godd / and to the profit of our neighburr? Yea and if I be burned / or cast into exile for the confession of the gospell / do I not take miself awaie frō myne by deathe / before my tyme? Do I not throw all myn with me in to extreme pouertie and beggerie? And thē after all my goodes be loste I am compelled to be burdenus vntounto others. The towardlynes of my Sonnes shalbe brought in daunger. The chastitie of my wyfe and doughters shalbe brought into hazarde. For they being pressed with most hard necessitie shall learne by euell artes to gett necessaries for their lyfe. And who will thīcke that Godd doth allowe theise thinges? who doth so mutche cōmend the faith of mariage / the godly bringing vp of childrē / and an howshold wel ordered / that Paule his apostle fearith not to saye, That if ony prouide nor for his and especially for theim of 1. Timo. 5.his houshold / the same hathe denied the faith / ād is worse then an infidell. Wherfor les I shuld be constrayned p. 68to confession / and so denie the faithe / I retayne faithe in my harte / and by holding my peace I do dissemble for a tyme / I do nor vtterly denye nor throw awaye all Religiō. All theise thinges (I saye) they do most wickedly wraste against their naturall and godlye sense / to defend their desires / and to retayne their wordly commodities.

But against all theis we do sett the sentēce of our lord and Sauiour Iesus Christe / which is neither Confessiō is necessariedarcke nor doutfull / that by it all the subtilties of theise men maye at ones be confuted / and vanishe awaye. In the gospell of Mathewe he confirming the mynds of his disciples against the thretts and terrors of this wicked world / amōg other thinges / Are not (sayth he) two lytle sparowes solde for a Matth. 10.Matt 10farthinge. And one of them shall not lyghte on the grownd withe out your father: yea euen all the heares of your heade are nombred. feare ye not therfor: ye are of more value then many sparowes. EueryEvery one therfor that shall knowledge me before men hym wyll I knowledge also before my father which is in heauen. But whosoeuer shall denye me before men / hym wyll I also denye before my father which is in heauen; the same lord in the gospell of Marcke / Whosoeuer (saythe he) shall lose hys lyfe for my sake and the gospell …He same shall saue it. Mare. 8.For what shall it profyte a man / if he wynne al the worlde and lose his owne soule? or what shall a mā gyue to redeme hys soule wythall agayn? Whosoeuer therfor shalbe ashamed of me ād of my wordes / in this aduowtrus and synfull generation: of hym also shall the sonne of mā be ashamed whē he commith in the glorie of his father withe the holy angels. Theis wordes of the lorde are playne / ād spokē without ony darcknes. The lord requirith of eiche one of vsus that symple and open confessiō which we make before men / and that such men as are synnars and adulterars / the enemies / I saye / of Godd / and of all true religiō. for such men do the prophets also call fornicatours and adulterars. He requirith / I saye / that we shuld cōfes hym and his worde / That is / that we shuld simply cōfes that he is Christ / and that we shuld not denye ony thing of his worde either Examples of true confession. Mat. 16.Matt 16by our wordes or deedes. We read that Peter did confes Christ the lorde sincerely and with a true cōfession when he answered vntounto the lorde / which asked and sayed. But whō saye ye that I am / he answered. Thow art Christe the sonne of the lyuinge Godd. Agayn whē many did fall from the lorde for that sermon in which he declared in the Synagoge Ioan. 6.John 6of the Capernaites / that he only was the foade of lyfe / and for that cause the lorde saide to his disciples: Wyll ye also go awaye? Peter answered / and cōfessing the lorde with a notable cōfession he said / lorde to whom shall we go? Thow hast the wordes of eternal lyfe / And we beleue and are sure / that thow art Christe the sonne of the lyuinge Godd. Such like cōfession absolute and true doth the blessed apostle and Euangelist Iohn commēd vntounto vsus sayinge. Dearly beloued / beleue not eueryevery sprit / but p. 691. Ioan. 4.1 John 4proue the sprites / whether they are of Godd or not. For many false prophetes are gone out into the worlde. Hereby shall ye know the spirite of Godd: EueryEvery sprite that confessith that Iesu Christe is cō me in the flesh / is of Godd. And eueryevery sprite which confessith not that Iesu Christe is come in the fleshe is not of Godd. And this is that spirite of Antichriste / of whom ye hauehave herde / howe that he shuld comme and euen now alreadi is he in the worlde. Furthermor this true and catholike confession / doth so attribute all our whole lyfe and saluaciō vntounto the lorde Christe / that it doth take the same from al other meanes and thinges with which mās doctrine hathe ony part: wherfor it is not sufficiēt only to hauehave cōfirmed the part affirmatiue (as they call it) except thow do also expres the negatiue / and dost so ascribe vntounto Christe our lorde all the thinges of our lyfe and saluaciō / that all men may vnderstōd that thow dost clayme to hym al the partes of our saluacion / and that thow dost not gyue ony part therof to ony other. For we do fynd that the lord Iesus did teache such a confession / and that his apostles made the lyke. For whē the lorde in the gospell of Iohn speakīg plainly inough hadd sayed. I am the dore / by me if any mā entre in / he shall be safe and shall go in and Ioan. 10.John 10oute / and finde pasture. A thefe cōmith not but for to steale / kyll / and to destroye: I am come that they might hauehave lyfe / and that they might hauehave it more abūdantly: I am the goode shepeherd / a goode shepeherd gyueth his lyfe for the shepe. Yet was he not contēt with theis though they be most playne wordes / but he ioyned also a Negatiue / with a most pitthie asseueraciō / sayīg: Verely verely I saye vntounto yowe he that enterith not in by the dore into the shepefolde / but clymbeth vp some other waye / the same is a theife and a murtherer. He likewise saith playnly in the same chapter / A goode shepeherd goeth before his shepe / and the shepe folowe hym bicause they knowe his voice. Yea forthewith he addith this also / A straunger will they not folowe / but wil flie frō him / for they know not the voice of stran̄gers. Agayn in an other place / I am the waye (saithe he) the truithe and the lyfe: Yet he not being Ioan. 14.John 14content wyth this so playn a doctryne doth adde agayne the exclusyue and saithe / No mā commith to the father but by me. Wherfor Peter thought it not inoughe that he sayde in that full senate of Hierusalem / That Christe is that Rocke which doth by his dethe and resurrection establishe and preserue the beleauers / onles moreouer he hadd Vindicated to Act. 4.Acts 4Christ alone all thinges that concerne saluaciō / and taken the same awaye from others / saying. Neither is there saluacion in ony other: For among men vnderunder heauen ther is gyuen none other name wherin we must be saued. After which manier likewise saīt Paul doth proue that faith in Christ through grace Roma. 3. Ephe. 2.Eph 2doth iustifie / neither doth he saye this only / but he doth also remoue all that which might seeme to gyue iustice vntounto men / the lawe I meane and worckes / sayinge. We knowe that a man is not iustified p. 70by the dedes of the lawe / but by the faith of Iesus Gala. 2.Gal 2Christe. And we hauehave beleued on Iesus Christ that we might be iustified by the faythe of Christe / and not by the dedes of the lawe / bicause that by the dedes of the lawe no fleshe shalbe iustified. And in an other place the same Paule: Behold (saith he) I Paul saye vntounto yowe / that if ye be circūcised / Christe Gala. 5.Gal 5shall profite yow nothing at all. I testifie agayn to eueryevery man which is circumcised / that he is bownd to keape the whole lawe. Christe is become but in vayn to yowe / as many of yow as are iustified by the lawe are fallen from grace / we loke for and hope in the spirite to be iustified thorow faithe. Theis cleare examples of Christ and the apostles / and doctrine of the sincere and sounde confession of Christe do suffice to yow reuerend and godly hearers. Out of which we do gather / that their cōfessions are neither full / nor sincere / which do confes that indeede Christe is their saluaciō and rightuisnes / their preist and sacrifice / their aduocate and mediator / yet so Impersaite confessiōs.that it notwithstōding they do gyue the very same / and cōmunicate them to synneful men / to thinges also and meanes which are in no place instituted nor approued of Godd. And no les corrupt is their confession also / which do confes wyth the mouthe that Godd alone is to be adored and worshipped / that Christe is the only preiste and true aduocate with the father / but yet in their deedes they do denye that same confession of their mouthe / bowinge their knees to Images / worshippinge creatures / callinge vppon their patrons and fayned saynts of The hole doctryne of Christe is to be confessed.heauen. But the Apostles did not only confes Christe himself / but also all Christes doctrine / all Christes wordes / the whole gospell (I saye) of saluacion: of which Christe is the only Marcke. And therfor when the preistes and senators of Hierusalem did forbidd the apostles that they shuld no more preache the gospell / they …ered hartily and playnly: whether it be right in the sight of Godd to herken vntounto yow more thē vntounto Godd / iudgeye. For we can not but speke that which we hauehave seene and herde. And Act. 4.Acts 4when they were shutt vp in prison for free preching of the gospell / and werin dan̄ger of their lyues / they are delyuered of the angell / of whō by the cōmaundement of Godd they do heare. Go and stande and Act. 5.Acts 5speake in the temple to the poeple all the wordes of this lyfe. Therfor all thos thinges which are cōtayned in the holy gospell / and holy scriptures / must be confessed of them which are faithfull indeede: for all thos are the wordds of Godd / and the wordds of saluacion / And all thos do sauer of Christe and do bringe vntounto Christe. In whom only it hath pleased God the father that all fulnes shuld dwell / in whō Ioan. 1. Colos. 1. 2.John 1Col 1:2(as Paule doth witnes) we are made perfite so that we want nothinge / as agayn the lorde himself doth testifie: he that eateth or drincketh me shall not be hungry or thrustie for euer / but he shall hauehave in hym Ioā. 4. 5. 7.self the healthefull waters of euerlastinge lyfe. Yf we do knowe / beleaue / and vnderstonde theise thinges p. 71let vsus gyue glorie to our only Sauiour Christe / and not gyue it awaye vntounto other / But let vsus frely confes hym only / and alone / in mouth / and deedes / to be our saluacion iustice sanctificacion absolution or rather perfectiō / the peace of our soules / and lyfe euerlasting. But the lord doth sett denying against confessinge. Ther are diuers kinds of denyinge / which beinge but lightly rehersed it shall again appeare what is the sowndnes and simplicitie of confessinge. Furst Christe and Godds worde is denyed / when our redeamer Christe / and the worde of lyfe is opēly blasphemed in playne wordes / whē he is not acknowledged to be the only Sauiour / ād when the due dignitie and auctoritie of the scriptures is not adscribed vntounto them. Then by silence also is Christe and Christes worde denyed / namely whē vppō occasion offered we do not deffende the glorie of the name of Godd and of the truythe known againste the ennemis of Godd and sclaunderers of the worde of Godd. For in this case it is lawfull for no man to be a / neuter / as they call it. In A. Neuter.the most auncient lawes of Solon which were at Athens grauen in postes of woode / the which also ons made by hym the Athenienses ordeygned vnderunder great religiō and punishmēt that they shuld contynue for euer: one lawe Aristotle doth report to be writon in this sence. That if throughe discorde the poeple shuld be deuided into too partes / and eich partie shuld take armour / then he which did not ioyne himself to the one partie / but slipp asyde separated from the common euell of the cytie / he shall lose howse / countrithe / and goodes / and be an exile and a banished mā. Mutch les is it lawfull for them which hauehave professed the name of Christe / and are signed with holy baptisme / in that fierce fight betwene Christe and Antichriste to slippe a syde / and to ioyne himself vntounto neither partye. That same newtralitie doth seame truly to be wisoō to many childrē of this worlde / but indeede it is folyshnes / yea it is a very denying of Christ / by which they do exclude thēselues out of that heauenly coun trithe / they spoile themselues of all spirituall riches / and make themselues exiles and banished men. For Christe and his truithe is denyed either by dissemblinge: Math. 26.Matt 26as when Peter was charged by the mayde that he was one of the nūber of the disciples / ād he answered I wote not what thow sayest. He knew verily what she sayed / but being bewitched with a certayne feare / he fayned that he knewe not the thīg which he did know very well. Euen so truly at this daye many do saye that they are more simple then that they can vnderstond the dissension in religion and gyue answer of all controuersies: But they do vnderstond so mutch as sufficith: yet for the ieoperdies which be at hand / or for sum vayne feare / they do fayne that they do not vnderstonde. Neither wer it necessarie for eueryevery one to answer to all darcke or hard thīges / which thing they which are well exercised can not do / it sufficith to confesse thos thinges which be opē and playne. Ther is also a coloured denyinge p. 72whē we playyng the foxes with foxes do cofes verely sumwhat of our religion / yetwe / do so enwrapp it with such darcke wordes and doutfull sentēces / that vntounto thē which are most subtill and conning in quidities / it shall not playnly appeare what we do thincke. But the cōfessiō shuld be simple / and playne. In making of it Godd / and not Man were Glorie is to be gyuē to Godd.to be considered. Man maye be deceyued / but no man cādeceyne Godd. And also we are commaunde to render vntounto God his glorie franckly before men. But I do not see how thow haste glorified Godd before men / when thow dost so temper thy confession that it sumwhat sauerith indeede of the truithe of the gospell / and yet they which be superstitius shall not see their supersticions vtterly reiected / nor their errors condemned by thy confession / but maye iudge that thou dost yet holde on their syde. Agayn many do confes Christe in wordes and his gospell frely / and openly inoughe / but euē they themselues do forthwith defile and ouerthrow this Christiā and gospellike cōfession with vngospellike deedes. I do speake nothing heere of thos synnes and wickednesses by which they do vnhallow the doctrine of our Sauiour / but of thos supersticius ceremonies and wicked cōgregacions with which they do cōmunicate / by which communiō or partakinge indeede they do denye that which they did cō fes before. For he which doth cōfes by mouthe that they which do depart out of this lyfe in true faithedo not (throughe the mediacion of Christe) comme into Iudgment / but do strayte waye passe from the bodily deathe vntounto lyfe euerlasting / euen as the doctrine of the gospell doth enstruct vsus / and we do playnly confes in the articles of the apostles Crede / this namely that we do beleaue the forgyuenes of synnes / the rising again of the fleshe / and lyfe euerlasting: And yet so sone as ony of their elders or familiars do depart out of this worlde / they go strait to sacrificing prestes / and do demāde of them churche assemblees / supplicacions / dirges / weake myndes / trētalles / to be short / yearemynds / ād prayers and sacrifices expiatorie for the deade / to whom he doth ioyne hymself / and doth obserue thos rites / hath he not playnly denyed in deede that which he hadd confessed in worde? He that doth confes that Christe was ons only offered for the synnes of the whole world / ād that he is not therfore to be offerred any moore / And that the holy Supper is a rememberaūce of this only and euerlasting sacrifice / and not the sacrifice it self / and yet neuertheles doth go vntounto ther gods seruice / which do stoutly asseuere that they do offer vp Christ in substaūce for the synnes of the lyuing ād the deade: doth he not by goīg to and cōmunicatinge with this seruice / denye that which by speaking and professing he hadd cōfessed? Theis truly are wayes of denyinge / which they do not fully vnderstonde which are almost persuaded / th… Religiō is but a playe / and as it were a slipper fitte for eueryevery foote. Theis mē do knowe how to rule all religiōs vnderunder a certayn colour of holy concord / p. 73but indeede for earthly cōmoditie / that among whō so euer they do lyue like vntounto a Cameleon they do take vntounto themselues their coloure and ceremonies / being mutch more changeable then Protheus / of whom it is but folly to beleaue / that they do passe for ony religiō at all. But let vsus passe ouer theis vnstable chāgelinges / and establishe our mynds / that they be not lewse nor waueringe / but being knytte vpp and cōfirmed in the lorde / they maye hauehave sum suretie and stablenes of the sure and stable, worde of Godde / which we may both in mowthe and deedes confes / and in which we may finally reste. That maruailus and heauenly and therwith thōderinge prophet Helias / howe longe (saithe he) halte ye betwene 3. Reg. 18.1 Kgs 18two opinions. Ifthe lorde be Godd folowe hym: but if Baal be he / then go after hym. Euen so truly our lorde hymself doth saye in the …gospell / that no man can serue two masters. Let vsus therfor forsake all other Godds and religions / and cleaue only to our Godde / which is the father of our lorde Iesus Christ / and let vsus sticke faste in the only Christen religiō / which is delyuered vntounto vsus in the holy scriptures. For it is euerlasting and most certayne. But if it be sufficient to confes Christe and his gospell It sufficith not to con fes Christe amōge the brethern. Mat. 10.Matt 10amonge our felows and brethern in religion / wherto I praye you will theis our men refer thos wordes which do go before this place of confession in the gospell? Behold I send you forthe as shepe amōge wolues. rc. They shall delyuer yow vp to the cowncelles and shall scourge yow for me. rc. But whēthey delyuer yow vpp take ye no thought how or what ye shall answer: for it shalbe gyuē yow / euē in that same houre / what ye shall speake. &c. Feare ye not thē which kyll the bodye / but are not able to kyll the soule. He which doth denye that all theis sayinges must be vnderstond of persequutors / he saithe that darcknes is lighte. Yea and in Marc he doth playnly saye. Whosoeuer therfor shalbe ashamed of me and of my wordes in this aduoutrus and synefull Marc. 8.Mark 8generacion / of hym also shall the sonne of man be ashamed. He requirith therfor a confession of the truithe not only in the companye of the godly / but also in the companye of the vngodly and persequutours / howsoeuer it be ioyned with the ieoperdie of lyfe and of all the substaunce. The lord speaking in Apocal. 2.Rev 2the boke of the reuelacion with the church of pergamos / I knowe (saith he) where thow dwellest / euē where Sathans seate is / and thow keapest my name / and haste not denyed my faythe: And in thos dayes in which Antipas was a faythfull witnes of myn / which was slayne amōge yow where Sathā dwellithe. In which wordes truly the confession made in persequution is allowed / made I saye in that place / wher Sathan did beare rule / wher euen very then Antypas that notable Martir of Christe was slayn for confessinge of religion. Otherwise when all thinges are quiet it is not so harde a thing to confes the name of Godde. For if so be that the lord will not hauehave vsus be ī ieoperdie of bodie goodes and lyfe / if it seme to be euill and a synne for a man / p. 74as it wer to procure deathe to hymself by the confessinge of truithe / wherfor dothe the lorde (I praye yow) exhorte thos his disciples / that they shuld not feare them which do kill the bodie / and can not kill the soule? Whidoth he by playne wordes saye / as it wer prouoking vsus to martirdome? Whosoeuer will Marc. 8.Mark 8folow me / let hym forsake hymselfe / and take vp his crosse / and folowe me. For whosoeuer will saue his lyfe shal lose it. But whosoeuer shall lose his lyfe for my sake / and the gospelles the same shall saue it. Be addith forthwithe wordes which do make for the contempt of thos thinges / for which theis men do thincke that in religion silence maye be kept and dissimulacion vsed / sainge. What shall it profite a mā / yfhe wynne al the worlde / and lose his own sowle. Therwith also doth he adde through what thinge we do lose our soules / that is through Shame. For he saithe. Whosoeuer therfor shalbe ashamed of me and of my wordes / in this aduowtrus and synefull generacion / of hym also shall the sonne of man be ashamed when he commithe in the glorie of his father withe the holy Angelles. Therfor Paule that chosen vesell of Christe / and a most faithfull teacher of the churche / who gyueth euell councell to no mā / neither leadith he ony man from the true waye / it is (saith he) a true sayinge: for if we be deade with 2. Tim. 2.2 Tim 2hym / we shall also lyue with hym: if we be pacient / we shal also raigne with hym. If we denye hym / he shall also denye vsus. The same Paul to the Bebrues / Call to remēberaunce (saithe he) the dayes that are Heb. 10.Heb 10passed / in the which after ye hadd receyued light / ye endured a great fighte of aduersities / partely while all men wondered and …ased at yowe for the shame and tribulacion that was done vntounto yow / partely while ye became companions of them which so passed theyr tyme. For ye became partakers also of the afflictions which happened thorow my bondes / ād toke in worthe the spoyling of your goodes / and that with gladnes / Knowing in yourselues / how that ye hauehave in heauē a better ād an enduring substaunce. Caste not awaye therfor your confidence / which hath a greate recompense of rewarde. For ye hauehave neade of pacience / that after ye hauehave doone the will of God / ye might receyue the promise. For yet a very litill while / and he that shall comme / will comme / and wyll not tarye. But the iuste shall lyue by faithe. And if he withdrawe hymself my soule shall hauehave no pleasure in hym. It is not we that withdrawe oúrselues vntounto damnaciō / but we partayne vntounto fayth / to the wynning of the soule. This truly is a sownde and wholsome doctrine / to cleane faste vntounto this / is to pleas Godd / and to glorifie hym / adde also to promote the saluacion of the brethern. Therfor whils theise men do replie / what The deathe ād persequution of the sain ctes doth glorifie Godd.shuld come to the encreace of glorie of Godd / or what commoditie shuld comme to Christe of thos my labors and daungers which I shuld sustayne for religion? wittingly and willingly they do disproue the doctrine of the apostle / which doth playnly witnes / not in theis places only which we hauehave p. 75alledged / but in many others also / that both Godd is glorified by our sufferinges ād calamities which we do sustayne for religions sake / and also that the weake brethern are therby edified / of whom it is certayne that by dissemblinge and denyinge of Religion they be offended / confirmed in ther errours / and indeede destroyed. For that most excellent prophete Dauid / Righte deere (saithe he) in the sighte of the lorde / is the dathe of his sainctes. Psal. 116.Ps 116And sainct Peter saithe Dearly beloued / maruayle not that ye are proued by fyre / which thynge is to 1. Pet. 4.1 Pet 4trye yow as though sum stran̄ge thinge happened vntounto yow / but reioyce / in as mutch as ye are partakers of Christes passions / that when his glorie appearith / ye maye be mery and gladd. If ye be rayled vponupon / for the name of Christe / happie are ye / for the glorie and the sprite of Godd restith vponupon you. On ther parte he is euill spoken of / but on your parte he is glorified / and so furthe. And sainct Paule dothe pronounce that it is a most greuus synne if ony mā do offend the weake by his euell example. Thy brother doth perish (saithe he) for whom Christe died. When ye synne so against the brethern / and wounde their weake conscience / ye synne againste Christ. Again we are saied in the scriptures to hauehave saued hym whom we hauehave by sounde doctrine and our goode example / either reteyned in the waye of the lorde / or hauehave brought hym backe that wēt astraye. But if a greater regarde is to be had of wife / childrē and houshold then of pure religion / so that for that regard / religion seeme either to be dissembled or denyed: Yfit be euill for religions sake to dissente from them that be of kindred and alliaunce / yea and for religion to depart from a lawfull wyfe / and in sum / for faithe to disagree with all frēdes and familiars / shall we saye that the lorde did teache euill / which sayed in the gospell? Thincke not that I am come Mat. 10.Matt 10to sende peace into the earthe. I came not to send peace but a swearde. For I am come to sett a man at variance against his father / and the doughter against her mother / and the doughter in lawe against her mother in lawe. And a mānes foes shalbe they that are of his own housholde. For frō hence forthe ther shalbe fyue in one howse deuyded / thre against two / and two against thre. The father shalbe Luc. 12.Luke 12deuided against the sonne / and the sonne against the father. This is not spokē as though that dissension in it self did pleas Godd the autor of all peace / but bicause he will hauehave that peace which stondithe vppon euell and wicked thinges broken / and hauehave vsus all conioyned in that which is holy and goode. And therfor we do not allowe whē mariages frēdshippes and leagues are broken without necessitie / and vnderunder an vntrue pretence of religion. Agayn we do dissalowe thos which are kept againste the cōmaundement of Godd with playne hurte of true religion / and open denyinge of the faithe. All persons must bende themselues to peace and concorde so far as they maye / with retayninge of sowndnes in religiō: But whē it can not be retayned / let none thincke that to keape peace with them … he must p. 76cōmitt Idolatrie. And therfor the Apostle of Christ saith: If any brother hauehave a wyfe / whiche beleauith 1. Cor. 7.1 Cor 7not / if she be contēt to dwell with hym / let hym not putt her awaye. rc. But if the vnbeleauinge do departe let hym depart. A brother or a Syster is not in subiectiō to such. But Godd hathe called vsus in peace. Euen so truly it is an vnnatural thinge not to norishe the children / or to neglect the aged parētes / or to forsake frendes and familiars. Godds worde doth eueryevery wheare commaūde that we shuld do reuerence and dutie to them to whom by the lawe of Godd / and man / we owe it. In which sense we do willingly admitte that sayinge of the Apostle. That he which doth not prouide for them which be of his howshold / both denieth the faith / and is wors thē an infidele. We do acknowledg that they are deuels and not men whosoeuer they be / which do wickedly disturbe wel ordered policies / ād howsholdes. But yet in all theis we do also acknowledge this / ād we se it taughte in the whole scripture as for an vndoubted truithe / that the lord Godd is better thē all theise / that the couenant and bonde of religiō doth excede all other bondes in the world. And that the lord doth both so will and cōmaūde / that we shuld esteame him aboue all thīges / ād louelove hym aboue al thinges / and that when he speakith we all shuld holde our peace / that there we shuld not thincke at all of coloured expositions and excuses / but only of symple and playne obedience / such / as we reade that Abraham shewed vntounto Godd / whō Godd commaunding hym / did go out of his countrie into Gen. 12. Heb. 11. Gen. 22. Heb. 11. Luc. 14.Gen 12Heb 11Gen 22Luke 14a straunge lande / and when he did not refuse to sacrifice vntounto the lorde his only Sōne / without suspicion of crueltie. Truly in the holy gospell the lord dothe saye. If a man come to me / and hate not his father / and mother / and wyfe / and childrē / and brethern / and systers / yea and his own lyfe also / he can not be my disciple. And whosoeuer doth not beare his crosse and comme after me / can not be my disciple. They truly which hauehave beene content to beare this ioke of the lords / hauehave neither lost themselues / yea thoughe they hauehave beene slayne of persequutours / nor yet their familie / which they dyd leaue in trobles and penurie of thinges. For by teachinge of experience and witnessing of histories / we hauehave lerned / that Godd by such miracles as hauehave beene done at the graues of martirs hathe witnessed / that they which wer killed / wer not loste but saued / that they wer not deade but lyuing. Furthermore we cā not say nay but that Godd hathe blessed the families of such slayne martirs / and that he hath moued the hartes of goode men which hauehave receyued thos abiects and miserable persōs into their custodie / so that they wanted nothinge. Besids this the godly do knowe that in this world they must honger / and that they must be exercised with diuers aduersities / that they may be made like vntounto the image of Christ who was himself in all pointes tempted for vsus / lyke Heb. 4.Heb 4as we are / but yet without synne. But now this remaynith as yet to be discussed / which theis men do p. 77take as for an oracle / and most euidēt truithe. That Vvether it sufficith to kepe faith in the harte, and not confesse it vvith mouthe.it is sufficient if a mā do keape the true faithe in his harte / and that ther is no farther neade of outward confession / through which thow shuldest be drowned in the deape of afflictions. Yf it doth suffice to beleaue in harte / and the confession with the mowthe seme not necessarie / wherfor I praye you Hath the lorde sayed? EueryEvery one which confessithe me before Men. rc. Beholde he saythe before Men. But faith which stickith still in the harte is not brought forth before men. Yea it is not to be called a confession / when faith doth lurcke in the hart. For Confession doth properly bringe forth that which dyd lye hidden wythin. The Apostle therfor taking from vsus all doubt in this controuersie. The worde (sayth he) Rom. …0.is nyghe the / euen in thy mouthe / and in thy harte. This same is the worde of faythe / whiche we preache. For if thow knowledg with thy mouth that Iesus is the lorde / and beleaue in thy harte that God raysed hym vpp from deathe thow shalt be safe. For to beleaue with the harte iustifieth / and to knowledge with the mowthe maketh a man safe. what canst thow desire to be more playnly and euidently spokē in this matier? Thow dost clearely heare that thow takest awaye saluacion if thow dost cut of the confession of the mouthe from the beleif of the hart. Yea and the beleif of the harte is of that nature that it cā not lye hydd / but must of necessite breake forth to be confessed with the mouthe. Yf the confession of the mouthe neadith not / neyther then shall ther neade ony preachinge of the truithe. But the Apostles / bushopps and faithfull martirs of Christ / whē they preached euen amonge the wicked / hauehave most bitterly condemned Idolatrie / and all doctrine and worshipp which doth not agre with the holy gospell / and affirmed that the gospell only dothe teache the true worshipp of Godd. By that confession of mouthe they did glorifie Godd / they did disanull Iudaisme and paganisme / and did erecte many holy congregacions throughe the worlde / which by holdinge their peace and keapinge the true faithe within their harte they shuld neuer hauehave edified. Wherof eueryevery man seith that the confession of the mouthe is allwayes necessarie / and that it is required of eueryevery one of vsus. The notable examples also of the excellent seruauntes of Godd cōtayned in the scriptures do teache the same. That same gret prophet of Godd Helias was ones of that mynde that he only of all the true worshippers …. Reg. 19.of Godd was lefte alyue vppon the earthe. But he hearith euē of the lord hymself / which sayeth / I hauehave lefte me seuen thousand in Israel / of which neuer mā bowed his knee vntounto Baal nor Kyssed hym with his mouthe. Heere is nothinge spoken of the secret faithe of the harte / but of the outward fruites of true faithe. For theis wer outward thinges / to bowe the knees vntounto Baal / and to kisse his Image with their mouth. It is saied that they did not theis thinges / and therfor are they taken for true and veray worshippers of Godd. The lorde / if he hadd p. 78thoughte that which theise our men do thincke / he might hauehave made mencion of the faithe of the harte without the outward confession / especially seing thos tymes wer so daungerus that Helias himself did flie into the wildernes. But the lord doth praise in his faithfull the outwarde confessiō / which was made in worcke / rather thē in wordes. Wherfor we must shew forthe the faith of the harte both by deedes and wordes / after the exeample of theise seuen thowsande confessors whom God doth praise. We must not goo vntounto vnholy assemblees / we must not bowe our knees nor vncouer our heades before Idolls / we must not kisse thos thinges / which are contrarie to the gospell.

Yf ony other in the whole world / thos thre princes Dan. 3.Dan 3(of whom mencion is made in Daniell) might hauehave coloured ther Idolatrie / but they chose rather to submitt themselues to cruel punishment / then to bowe their knee before that Image which the kinge did sett vpp to be worshipped. Theis men of ours wold hauehave sayed. It shalbe better to kepe faithe in the harte for the profitinge of many / then rashly to poore it furthe to the hurte of an infinite number. For so longe as we are safe / the miserable captiues shall receyue gret and many benefites: Yea and also we priuely may promote the truithe in the princes courte. But by this same vnceasonable confession / confusion of all thinges shall euen at ons ouerwhelme all theise thinges. And with out doubt they wold hauehave added that the Image which the kyng hadd sett vp was not altogether to be deputed amōg prophane thinges / forbicause that the true God hadd shewed the kinge a visiō or an Image / which did conteyn great misteries of the kingdome of Godd / after the forme of which Image / Nabugodonozor hadd caus… this Image to be made and graued / which Image the faithfull for that cause might beholde and reuerence as the worke of Godd. But thos valiant / and glorius Martirs do make menciō of no suche thinge / and though they did knowe the kinges mynd Dan. 3.Dan 3well inough in this matier / yet they do playnly saye to the kinge. Be this known vntounto the (o kynge) that we will not serue thy goddes / nor do reuerēce vntounto that Image which thow hast sett vpp. Neither did they only vse this libertie of speache before the kyng / but willingly they offered ther bodies to all daungers / yea euē to most fearfull fires. Daniel also did not thicke that Godd was religiusly inough worshipped … Dan. 6.Dan 6and serued with the inwarde faithe of the harte / except he had added the outward confession also. For when thos hethen princes did laye snares for hym / of which he was not ignorant / and therfor might peaceably hauehave prayed to the lorde within his walles at home / yet wold he not dissemble in this matier. For what doth the scripture saye? This / that when Daniel perceyued what the kinge hadd cōmaunded / he wēte into his howse / and the windows of his wall towardes Hierusalē stode open. There kneled he down vponupon his knees thre tymes a p. 79daye / he made his petition and praised his Godd / and so opened he his confession to Godd. This same most holy prophet of Godd mighte seme to be beside hymself thus willingly to procure euill to hymself / and as it wer without neade to prouoke the enemies of Religion against hym: but the scripture doth not settfurth vntounto vsus ony error / no vncō sideratnes or rashe boldnes in this matier / but doth teache vsus playnly to yelde vntounto Godd confession in deedes and in wordes. VntoUnto theis examples of the holy scripture we will now adde other thinges which do agre with them (for thos thinges which do disagre from the scriptures we passe litill or nothing at all / what autoritie so euer they hauehave amonge mē) This we will do out of the Ecclesiasticall historie. Ecclesiast. hist. lib. 6. cap. 28.Eusebius entreating of such thinges as Origen did / makith mencion that Origen did mightily oppugn a new heresie which did springe vpp in his tyme / it was called the heresie of Helchesaites / and at lēghth he did happily extinguishe it. He shewith that they amōg many other thinges did holde this heresie / that if a man did denie in persequut… … synned not at all / forbicause that he which is stable and confirmed in his harte / although he doth denie with the mouthe for necessitie / yet as touching the harte he abidith in faithe. By which wordes truly eueryevery man may perceyue that the same pestilent errour is brought agayn as it wer out of hell / in our age / and se that he ought cheifly to beware of it as of an heresie condemned. The same Eusebius in the viij. booke doth sett furth notable exāples of many martirs of Christe which did frely confes the truith / out of whom I will recite vntounto your godlynes theise few thinges / wich without doubt will be acceptable vntounto all. They whos mynd (saithe he) was more readie and their faithe more stronge / suffered torments. Sum wer beaten with whippes / other were tormēted with irō houes / sum other wer burned with fierye plates / of whō many indeede being weried did gyue ouer. But other did abide paciently euen to the end. Sum of the persequutours them selues verely / as thoughe they hadd vsed pitie / did bringe many of our mē to the wicked sacrifices / and made a noise as though they hadd sacrificed / when indeede they hadd not sacrificed. Of sum other whē they hadd not so mutch as come nighe the vncleane sacrifices / they did crye out / that they had already sacrificed ād did now depart. Which wer only faultie (I praye you marcke theise wordes) in this / that they did with silence beare the fault which was obiected against them. Sum being taken vpp half alyue were thrown awaye as thoughe they hadd beene deade. Sum beinge drawn out by the feate / were accompted amonge them which hadd sacrificed. Sum cryed out againste the persequutors and denied with a mightie voice that they hadd sacrificed. Other cryed out that they were Christians / and dyd glorie in the confessinge of that healthfull name. Many also with a greater confidence did testifie that they neither hadd / neither wold sacrifice p. 80euer. Whos mouthes and eyes the tormētours did forthewith beate / to cause them to holde ther peace / and they wer with violence thrust forthe as though they hadd done the thinge. For so the enemies of godlynes did mutch esteame it / if atleast wise they did but seeme to bring to pas that which they wolde. Many other thinges like vntounto this / might I add / partly out of the Tripartita historia / partly out of Eutropius. But theis are sufficient: And theis do plainly and euidently inough proue / that the lord doth require of true Christiās / a true and playne confession of the mouthe / yea euen in the gretest daūgers and furies of the persequutors / and therfor that theise tenderlinges do most manifestly err / which do thincke otherwise / only to saue their filthie paunche.

It remaynith now right Reuerend fathers / and most deare brethern in Christe that I shuld breifly Of ceremo nies.touche also theis mens reasoninges of popishe Ceremonies / which I said at the begynning they do wittyly handle to persuade thēselues / and others / that no man by the partakinge of them doth either defile himself / or by it denie the religion of the gospell. And surly it is well known that the name of Ceremonies not being narowly weyed / hath bewitched the eyes of many / not only in this but in other controuersies of religion. It is therfor to be known that Ceremonies are nothinge els but holy rites. And of Ceremonies sum are called diuine which are instituted (I saye) of Godd himself / sum other are called humayne / such as are inuented by mās will. But of the dyuine or ceremonies of God / sum belonged Diuine ceremonies.to the olde poeple / of which the writinges of the prophetes and apostles do beare witnes that they wer abrogate in Christe. Sum do belonge to the new poeple that is to Christiās / which were delyuered vntounto them of Christe by the Apostles / and thos truly very fewe / as of holy assemblees / of sacramentes / and certayn ecclesiasticall obseruaciōs / which are declared in the writīges of the Apostles. Of ceremonies enuented by man ther is … almost Humaine ceremonies.neither measure nor end. For they wer enuēted and established at dyuerse tymes / ād that by diuers and sundry autors / and they were so delyuered and instituted of them / that they do not only not consent with the holy scriptures but they be contrary to thē / insomutch that they do deface and corrupt the ordinaunces which Godd hath instituted / and do put them out of place. Of this kinde is that churche deckinge and dressinge / in which Images hauehave the cheif place. Of the same sorte also is Massinge / straunge apparell / synging / and feastes appointed to saintes which be in heauen / and other innumerable of this sorte. All which truly the papistes do adorne with the title of ceremonies / which whē the simple and such as hauehave litill knowledge do heare / they do Imagine sum holy thinge as thoughe that all theis thinges were sent down out of heauē from the lord Godd hymself to be kept. But heere we do admonishe men that they must stey sumwhat / and p. 81must sumwhat more diligently make difference betwene ceremonies / and must more narowly loke / whether that theis ceremonies (of which we do cō tend) be of Godd or of man. EueryEvery man knowith that none is defiled by such ceremonies as are of Godd. And he which denieth that a man is defiled by humayn ceremonies / he seith nothing at all. For though I do not again vrge that which I saied euē nowe / that thos humayn ceremonies are contrary to Goddes worde / and do defile Godds ordinaunces / corrupt them and hyde them / can that be obscure or vnknown to ony mā which our lord Iesus Christe doth playnly with expressed wordes bringe out of Esaye? They do serue me in vaine / teachinge Mat. 15.Matt 15the doctrines and preceptes of men. Again that which Paule doth affirme that they be commaundements Tit. 1.Titus 1of men that tourn awaye the truithe? And that the holy Martir of Christe pronownced? It is Cypriani epist. lib. 1. epist. 8.adulterus / it is wicked / it is sacrilegus / whatsoeuer is jnstituted by mans furie to violate the ordinance of Godd. And for this cause the godly will not call theis ordināces ony lōger / ceremonies / simply / but rather mans institutions / and supersticions / which are reiected and forbidden of Godd. Wherfor howsoeuer theis men do beautifully set furth and adorn theise thinges / yet shall they neuer bringe this to passe / that the goddly will beleaue that it is lawful for thē to cōmunicate with supersticiōs / ād such institucions as are forbiddē of God: Neither will the godly beleaue but that theis thinges are forbiddē / except the papistes shall proue by playne testimonies of the scripture that they are so instituted of Godd as they do vse them. Which thinge when it can not be proued of them / nor yet at all of ony other of the papistes / sum of our false gospellers do turn thē selues hither / that they saye that Paule also did vse forbidden ceremonies / and that the prophetes Paul circū cised Timothe….of Godd did reproue the sacrifices / which they neuertheles did partake without synne. And if we do graunte thē this altogether / how can they (I praye yow) helpe or sett furth their cause? We reade that Paule vsed ceremonies instituted of Godd / circum cision and sacrifices / but theis men do contend for ceremonies instituted by men. Paul did ons circū cise his Timothie / and did ons ore twis take on him a vowe / and that for certayn and weightie causes. Actu. 16. 18. 21.But theise men couet to waxe old in their supersticions / and hauehave no lawfull causes to do so / except thow wilt call that lawfull which cōmith of the affe ctiōs of the fleshe. Without doubt Paule wold not hauehave one ore two of his actes to be sett against his whole doctrine. But wh… do they not rather folow Paule in that / when he refused to circūcise Titus? Gal. ….seing like causes are ministred vntounto them by thos which go about to spoile thē of their libertie / ād brīg Hovv the …rophetes …eproued …acrifices …nd vver …lso parta … thē.thē into bōdage. We do saye that ther were two sortes of the Sacrifices amōg the old poeple of Israel. Sum of them are redd to be instituted of Godd / which the poeple sum tyme abused / or els did not vse them with true faithe / which thing the prophetes p. 82did reproue / and not the Sacrifices thēselues / of which they did partake religiusly and without synne: Euen as we reade that Paule did worthely partake the supper of the lorde / although he doth reproue the abuse of the supper in the Corinthians. Other sacrifices ther were enuented by man / such were the sacrifices of Baal / and of Ieroboam / and thos which were done in the hilles. Theis truly the prophetes did reproue / but it is not redde that they did communicate with the same. This example therfor is offorce against them which will excuse themselues by the example of the prophetes / in that they do partake such sacrifices as are instituted of man.

Forthewith thē they saye / what is it to me though papistes do abuse the Masse? In their abuse I do Hovvsum do thinc…e that they may be at Masses, ād hovv the… vnderstōd the masse.call to mynd the true vse / and I cōme vntounto it with an other mynde and vnderstondinge then they do saye it. For when I see the breade and cupp / I do not thincke vppon the transubstāciation which the pope hath fayned / but on the sacrament of Christe. And therfor when I am at masse I do not regarde what ceremonies be ther / ore what the minister is / but I do remember the very institution of Christe and I do spiritually receyue that / wich he doth saye that he doth corporally offer and receyue / for the lyuinge and the deade. And seinge I know that the vertue of the sacramēt is not of les force for the varictie of ceremonies / ore the vnworthines of the ministers / I do suppose that I / which do well vse an euell thinge / am neither defiled / nor yet that by this my spirituall cōmunicating I do denie the gospell. By theise wordes a man wold iudge theis men to be madd / except he do consider that it is not they which do thus speake / but feare / and desire / which are affections playnly most trobled. They do simply acknowledge that papistes do abuse the supper of the lorde / but yet (they saye) that they themselues do wel vse their abuse / forbicause they do come enstructed with an other meaninge then the papistes do it / not to heare a popishe masse which the papistes saye / but to receyue the supper of the lorde / the self same which they in their masse do thīcke abhominable. I do not know whether ther cā be ony greter ab surditie spokē. Thow maiste saye that theis mē hauehave learned an arte which hetherto no man coulde attayne / to …bb a naked man of clothes / to wringe water out of a pumeise stone / and to bidde a man to get fishe in the aire / that is / at a table wher no meate is sett furth at all / to fare delicatly and to be filled. But go to / let them frely profes before them with whō they do thus cōmunicate / that they be of that mynd which they speake of / that is / that in cūminge to Masse they will not cōme to Masse / but that in it they will vnderstōd and consider breade / yea and that they will sett before their myndes the supper of the lorde / that they will not cōfes the popishe transubstātiatiō / but that they do here in acknowledge Christes Sacrament / and that they do well receyue that spiritually in the Masse / which the prest doth p. 83offer / and receyue bodily for the lyuing and the deade / which thinge he beleauith not. Will not all they forthewithe crye out / that ther holy Masse is vnhalowed / and that they which thinke so are heretikes / and that they which do cōmunicate with them are excommunicated? Truly they wold so behaue themselues / that eueryevery man might vnderstond / that ther is a grete difference betwene the Masse and the supper of the lorde / and that they do embrace the Masse / but the supper of the lord they do all wayes hate and reiect. With such a kinde of mē yet do theis men communicate / which wold thincke it a hurtefull and damnable thinge / if they shuld admitte vntounto their diuine seruice / the cōpanions of the religion of the gospell with their faithe. For they do take the approuinge of their doctrine / to be the condemnynge of the religion of the gospell: And they do take the communion in the Masse to be a certayn confession and approbation of their religion. Who is it then which doth not se / that theis mē do receyue no part of the lordes supper at all in the masse / but also that by comminge to the masse they do deny the supper of the lorde ād the whole faithe of the gospell? Theis men saye that they passe nothing what the ceremonies be / what the ministers / for that the vertue of the Sacramēt is not the wors for thē. But the cheif question heer is not of the worthines of the ceremonies or ministers / but of the true vse and institucion of the supper of the lorde / and whither that the Masse as it is at this daye vsed (I do not now speake ony thinge at all of that which was vsed aboue a thowsand yeares passed) wer so instituted of Christe / and be indeede the very supper of the lord? Yf the Masse be that misticall supper of the lorde / it must needes be allowed of the lorde / and thow (if so be thow dost come to it in faithe) canst not but receyue therof the foode of lyfe / forsomutch as the vnworthnes of the mynister doth not hinder th…. But if the Masse be not the supper of the lorde / if the supper of the lord be defaced, corrupted and … den vnderunder fote by the Masse / truly thow shalt receyue no fruite therof / but shalt rather purchase to thy self greate gilte of synne / for that the gaye glos…e of the ceremonies or ony worthines of the ministers shall not helpe the at all. Euen Ieroboam himself wold hauehave beene counted to hauehave sacrificed to the Godd of Israel: but yet bicause he did not sacrifice …fter the same manier which God had cōmaunded / but rather after that sorte which he himself hadd inuēted and instituted / godd did not accept his sacrifices / and thos did synne against godd and against true religiō / yea and against the lawfull Sacrifices of godd / as many as did cōmunicate with the sacrifices of Ieroboā. For both that Ieroboā synned / ād that he did leade Israel to synne / the scripture doth repeate very ofte / to beate ī to the heade of the whole worlde / that simple obediēce doth pleas the lorde / ī which we … his ordinaunces after that manier only which he hath instituted / addynge nothinge / dyminishing nothig / and chaūging nothīg in thē.

I will not now reason how that the Masse doth p. 84agre nothing at all with the lordes supper / for this is euē to the eyes of all men often tymes shewed in many bookes of most lerned and godly seruantes of Godd. Yea euē children which are but instructed in the priciples of faith / do know that Christe did institute a comō partaking / ore communiō / in which all the faithfull which are one bodie in Christe are knitt together in to one bodie / ād that the Masse is a dissipaciō of vnitie and a priuate deuowrīg of one lurching sacrificer. They knowe that Christ cōmaūded: Take / eate / diuide it amonge you / and drincke ye all of this. And that the Masse doth sett furth theis thinges to be gazed vppon / to be worshipped / to be caried about / and to be shutt vpp / to be hādeled and also receyued of preistes only: They know that Christe sayd: Do this in the rememberaunce of me. And that the preistes do saye Masse in the remēberaunce of sayntes / that they do sacrifice for the synnes of the quicke and the deade / and to be short that they do say masse for eueryevery thinge / for filthie lucres sake.

Ther were in the tyme of the Apostles certayn witty disputars which reasoned that it was lawful for Christians to eate meates offered vntounto Idols. Meates offered to Idolls / were sacrifices vsed in the temples of Idolls / to be offered vntounto Idols. Therfor thos faithfull men did contend / that it was lauful indifferently to communicate with the holy seruice of the Christians / and also to sytte down in the Idols feaste. They did add plausible expositiōs / that an I…oll was nothinge / bycause Godd was not represented by the Idoll / that ther is but one Godd / the same our true and euerlastinge Godd: Wherof it folowed that the Idoll was nothinge / that is to say a thinge of no valure or a very vanitie / that it could hurt no bodie / and that the very meate offered vntounto the Idoll was a thinge of nothinge / that it did defile no man. But Paule with many wordes doth confute that folery. 1. Cor. cap. 8. 9. and 10. In this tenth chapter amonge other thinges he gatherith of the nature of the supper of the lord that a man maye not bothe be partaker of the supper of the lorde and of the table of Idols / and saith: Ye cā not drincke of the cup of the lorde / and of the cup of deuils. Ye can not be partakers of the lordes table / and of the table of deuiles. Either do we prouoke the lorde? Are we strōger then he? Also the Apostles of Christe and elders of the churche of Hierusalem in that same greate and notable coūcell of Hierusalem / which of all that euer were was most holy and of most auctoritie / did playnly forbidd the Gentils / which were conuerted to Christe / thos meates offered to Idols. Yea and the lord Iesus hymself in the boke of the Reuelacion doth greuusly accuse and condemne them which do eate meate offered vntounto Idols. This may ye se in the epistles of the churche of Pergamos and Thiatira. In the furst he saithe: But I hauehave a few thinges againste the / bicause Apocal. 2.Rev 2thow hast there them that maintaine the doctrine of Balaam which taughte in balacke to put occaciō of synne before the childrē of Israel / that they shuld p. 85eate of meates dedicate vntounto Idolls and committ fornication / and so furth. I thincke here neadith not many wordes to shew wherfor I hauehave alledged theis sayinges of meates offered vntounto Idolls: for all the godly do plainly see / that by like reason all diuine seruice that is vnholy / or contrary to Godds worde / with what colour so euer they be stayned / are forbidden and condemned. They see that all such expositions are put awaye / by which theise fearefull mē / and such as do louelove the worlde and worldly pompe to mutch / do leade themselues away frō the right tracke / that they shuld not sincerely confes Christe.

All they which be godly do both see and perceyue The Conclusiō and adhortation to fre confessiō.that they which do desire to lyue euerlastingly hauehave neade to make a simple cleare and playne cōfession / they see that Christes name must be confessed / and that no man must communicate with Antichriste / how great so euer daungers do hange ouer them / and how gret so euer the aduan̄tages be which are offered vntounto them. They see that they must treade down the feare and desire of the fleshe. The most holy Apostle of Christe writith of Moses. By faith Moses when he was greate / refused to be called the sonne of Pharaos daughter / and chose rather to Heb. 11.Heb 11suffer aduersitie with the people of Godd / then to enioye the pleasures of synne for a ceason / and esteamed the rebuke of Christ greater riches / thē the treasures of Egypt. For he hadd respect vntounto the rewarde. Whos example (most goodely indeede) that we may folowe / we must alwais hauehave before our eyes ād (as I iudge) we must neuer lett slypp out of our myndes thos most holy most true and healthefull wordes of our lord Christe / which I see neade often tymes to be repeated and inculcate: EueryEvery one that shall knowledge me before men / hym wyll I knowledge Mat. 10.Matt 10also before my father which is in heauen. But whosoeuer shall denie me before men / hym will I also denie before my father which is in heauen. For who so is ashamed of me and my wordes / of hym shall the sonne of man be ashamed when he commith Luc. 9.Luke 9ī his maiestie / ād in the maiestie of his father / and of the holy Aungels. And therfor ther are in all places of the scripture most large promises sett furthe to them which do frely confes Christe / and deny Antichriste with a goode corage. Iohn in the boke of the Reuelacion / I sawe (saithe he) the sowles of them which wer killed for the name of Iesu and the Apocal. 6.Rev 6word of God. And wher as in this furst place he hadd writō / them which wer killed / he added. And as many as worshipped not the image of the beast / Apoc. 13. 19. 20.Rev 13:19Rev 13:20nor did take the marcke in their foreheade / or in their hande / all which / whom he did se in the very same place / he couplith together and saythe. And they lyued and reigned with Christe. He saith that they lyued and reigned with Christe / not only they which were killed / but they which abiding in the constaūtnes and confession of true faithe / did not worshipp the Image of the beaste / nor receyued ony markes of …. The blessed Apostle Paule doth proue that we p. 86do receyue more in the rewarde of sufferinge / then it is that we do heere suffer ī the afflictiō it self / saying: Rom. 8.Rom 8for I suppose that the afflictiōs of this lyfe / are not worthie of the glorie which shal be shewed vpō vsus. Who is it thē that will not labor with all his poure to come vntounto so greate an excellēcie / that he may become the frend of Godd / and forthwith ioye with Christ? that after famin ād banishemēt or tormētes and punishemētes / which are but earthely / he may attayn vntounto heauenly rewardes? Yf it be a glorius thinge for worldly souldiours to returne in to ther coūtrie triūphing after they hauehave vanquished their enemie / how mutch more worthi a thīg is it for vsus / after our fleshe the world and deuell beinge ouercō me / to go again with triūphe into paradise? And to offer vntounto Godd a gifte most acceptable / faith incor rupte / the sownd vertue of mynd / and sincere cōfession of faithe / a notable praise of deuotion. To cōme in his cōpanye when he cōmith to take vengeaunce of his enemies / To stond by his syde when he shall lytte down to iudge / to be made the felow heire of Christe / to be made equall with the angels / to reioyce in the possession of the heauenly kingdom with the patriarches / with thapostles / with the prophetes / and all confessours and martirs. What persequution can vanquishe theis thoughtes / which are not va… / but of force / and of poure / ī the holy ghoste? what tormentes can ouercome them? The mynd ons grownded in theis godly meditaciōs doth endure stronge and stable / and that mynd abydeth immutable against all the terrors of the deuell / and the threttes of the world / and of Antichriste / that mynd I saye which the certayn and sure faith of thinges to come doth strenghthē. The eyes be shutt vpp in theis persequutions of the earthe / but heauē is open. Antichriste threatneth / but the lord Christe defendith. The world is taken from him that is killed / but paradise is gyuen to him being therunto restored. Tēporall lyfe is taken awaye / but the euerlastinge lyfe is repayred. What a dignitie (o brethern) is it / how great a safetie / for a man to depart myrily from hens / to depart so through oppressions and trobles? It is a glorius thinge to shutt vpp the eyes in a moment / with which men and the world wer seene / and forthewith to open the same to se Godd and Christe. But that we maye behold theis thinges in mynde and thought / that we may (I saye) night and daye meditate theis thinges / and sincerly confes the holy name of Christ / and escape and treade down al thinges which are contrary to pure confession / we must diligentlly praye vntounto that same our heauenly father through Iesus Christe our lorde.

End of the text · Peter Martyr Vermigli, The Cohabitation of the Faithful with the Unfaithful (1555)