The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2 · Chapter 10
The. x. Chapter. ¶Of the likenesse of the olde and newe Testamen….
BY the thinges aforesaide it may now appere euidētly, that all the men whom from the beginning of the world God adopted into the estate of his people, were with the same law, & with the bond of the same doctrine, which now remaineth in force among vsus, bound in couenāt to him. But bicause it is of no smal importance that this point be wel established, I will adioyne vntounto it for an addition, sithe the fathers were partakers of al one inheritance with vsus, & hoped for all one saluatiō by the grace of al one mediatour, how farre their estate differed from oures in this felowship. But although the testimonies that we hauehave gathered out of the law and the Prophetes for profe therof, do make it playne that there was neuer any other rule of religion and godlinesse in the people of God: yet bicause in writers there are oftentimes many thinges spokē of the difference of the old and new Testament, that may make the reder yt is not of very sharp iudgement to be in doubte: therefore we shall rightfully apoint one peculiar place for the better and more exact discussyng of this matter: Yea & that thing also, which otherwise shuld hauehave bē very profitable for vsus, is now made necessarie by that mōstruous losel Seruettus, & by diuerse other mad mē of the sect of Anabaptistes, which hauehave no other opinion of the people of Israel, thā as of a heard or swine: which thei fondly faine to hauehave bē fatted vp by the Lord here in this earth, without any hope of heauenly immortalitie. Therfore that we maye kepe away this pestilent errour from godly mindes, and also to plucke out of them all doubtes whiche are wont by and by to arise vponupon hearyng mention of the diuersitie betwene the old and new Testament: let vsus by the way loke, what they hauehave in them like, and what vnlike one to the other: what couenant the Lord made with the Israelites in the olde time before the comyng of Christ, and what couenant he hath now made with vsus sins Christ hath ben openly shewed.
And bothe these pointes maye be made playne with one word. The couenant of al the fathers so differeth nothing frō oures in substance & in the matter it selfe, that it is altogether one and the selfe same: but the ministration is diuerse. But bicause of so great shortnesse no man were able to atteine a certaine vnderstādyng, we must needs procede on with a longer declaratiō if we meane to profit any thing at all. But in shewyng how they are like or rather all one, it shalbe superfluous to discourse againe of new vpō al the special particulars that hauehave alredy ben declared: and it shalbe out of season to mingle those thinges together that remayne yet to be spokē in other places. Here we must chiefly rest vponupon three principall pointes: Firste, that we holde, that carnal wealth and felicitie was not the marke apointed to the Iewes to aspire vntounto, but that they were by adoption chosen vntounto the hope of immortalitie: and that the truthe of this adoption was certainly assured vntounto them bothe by oracles, and by the lawe, and by the prophetes. Secondarily, that the couenāt whereby thei were ioyned to the Lord, was vpholden not by any merites of theires, but by the only merciemercy of God that called them. Thirdly, that they bothe had and knew Christ the mediatour, by whome they should bothe be ioyned to God and enyoye his promises. Of whiche pointes, bycause the seconde paraduenture is not yet sufficiently knowen, it shall in place appointed for it be declared at large. For we shall confirme by many and clere testimonies of the Prophetes, that it was of his owne mere goodnesse and tender fauour, what so euer good the Lord at any time did, and promised to the people of Israell. The third also hath alredy had here and there some plaine declaratiōs of it, and we hauehave not left the first altogether vntouched.
Therfore in settyng out of this point, bicause it moste specially belongeth to this present matter, and for that they make vsus moste controuersie about it, we will employe the more earnest trauaile: but yet so that if there wante yet any thyng of the explication of the other, it maye be by the way supplied, or in conuenient place be added. Truely the Apostle taketh awaye all doubt of them all,Rom. i.ij. when he sayth, that God the Father long before by the Prophetes in the holy Scriptures promised the Gospell, whiche he afterward published accordynge to the time apointed.Ro. iij.…xi. Agayne, that the righteousnesse of fayth whiche is caught by the Gospell it selfe, hath witnesse of the lawe and the Prophetes. For the gospell doth not hold the heartes of men in the ioye of this present life, but lifteth them vp to the hope of immortalitie: doth not fasten them to earthly delites, but preachyng to thē a hope layed vp in heauen, doth in a manner transport them thether. For thus he defineth in an other place.Eph. i.xiij Sins that ye beleued the Gospell, ye are sealed vp with the holy Spirit of prymise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession purchaced. Agayne, we hauehave heard of your faith in Christ Iesu,Col. i.iiii. and of your charitie toward the holy ones, for the hopes sake that is layed vp for you in heauen, wherof ye hauehave heard by the true speache of the gospell. Againe: He hath called vsus by the gospel to the partakynge of the glorie of our lord Iesus Christ.1. Thess. ii xiiii. Wherefore it is called, both the word of saluation, and the power of God to saue the faithfull, and the kingdome of heauen. Now if the doctrine of the gospell be spirituall, and openeth the entrie to the possession of an incorruptible life: let vsus not thinke that, they to whome it was promised and declared, did passe ouer and neglect the care of their soule, and lie dully like beastes in sekyng pleasures of the body. Neither let any man here cauill that the promises whiche are sealed in the law and the Prophetes, cōcernyng the gospel, were ordeyned for the new people. For within a litle after that which he spake of the Gospell promised in the lawe, he addeth, that all the thinges that the law conteineth, are without doubt properly directed to them that are vnderunder the lawe. I graunt in deede it is in an other argument. But he was not so forgetfull, that when he had ones sayd that all the thinges whiche the lawe conteineth belong to the Iewes,Ro. iii.xix. he did not remember what in a fewe verses before he had affirmed of the gospell promised in the lawe. Wherefore the Apostle sheweth most plainly, that the old Testament chiefly tended to the life to come, when he sayth, that vnderunder it are conteined the promisses of the gospel.
By the same reason foloweth, bothe that it stoode vponupon the free merciemercy of God, and also was confirmed by the meane of Christ. For the very preachyng of the gospell pronoūceth no other thing, but that sinners are iustified by the fatherly kindenesse of God, without their owned deseruyng: and the whole summe thereof is fulfilled in Christ. Whoe then dare make the Iewes without Christ, with whome we heare that the couenant of the gospell was made, whereof Christ is the only fundation? Whoe dare make them strangers from the benefite of free saluatiō, to whom we heare that the doctrine of the righteousnesse of fayth was ministred? But, that we dispute not longe of an euident matter,Ioh. viii.lvi. we hauehave a notable sentence of the Lord. Abraham reioysed that he might see my daye, he sawe it & was glad. And the same thing which Christ there testifieth of Abraham, the Apostle sheweth that it was vniuersal in the faithful people,Heb. xiii.viii. whē he sayth, that Christ abideth, yesterday, this daye, and for euer. For he speaketh not there only of the eternall godhed of Christe, but also of his power, whiche was continually opened to the faythfull. Wherefore bothe the blessed Uirgin and Zacharie in their songes,Luc. i.liiix & lxxii. do say, that the saluation reueled in Christ, is the performance of the promises, whiche God in olde time had made to Abraham and the Patriarches. If the Lord in geuyng his Christ, discharged his olde othe, it can not be sayd but that the ende therof was alway in Christ, and euerlasting life.
Yea and the Apostle doth make the Israelites egall with vsus, not only in the grace of the couenant, but also in signification of Sacramentes. For meanyng by examples of punishmentes, wherewith the Scripture reciteth that they were corrected in the olde time, to make the Corinthians afrayde,i. Cor. x.i. & xi. that they should not runne into the like offenses, he beginneth with this preface, that there is no cause why we should chalenge any prerogatiue vntounto our selues, to deliuer vsus from the vengeance of God which they susteined, for asmuch as the Lord did not only graunt vntounto them the same benefites, but he hath gloriously set forth his grace among them with the same tokens: As yf he should hauehave sayd: If ye trust that ye be out of peril, bicause both Baptisme wherewith ye be marked, and the Supper which ye dayly receyue, hauehave excellent promises, and in the meane time despisyng the goodnesse of God, ye are licētiously wanton: Know ye, that the Iewes also were not without such sacramentes, against whom yet the Lord did most seuerely put his iudgementes in execution. They were Baptized in passyng ouer the Sea, and in the cloude wherewith they were defended from the burnyng heate of the sonne. They saye, that that same passage was a carnall Baptisme, whiche after a certayne proportion answereth to our spirituall Baptisme. But yf that were allowed true, the Apostles argument could not procede, which meaneth here to hauehave this taken away from the Christians, that they thinke that they excell the Iewes by the prerogatiue of Baptisme. Neyther is that whiche by and by after foloweth, subiect to this cauillation: that they did eate the same spirituall meate that we eate, and dronke the same spiritual drinke, whiche he expoundeth to be Christ.
To ouerthrowe this sentence of Paule, they obiecte that whiche Christ sayth:Iohn. vi. Your fathers did eate Manna in the wildernesse, and are dead: he that eateth my fleshe, shall not dye for euer. Whiche two places are very easily made to agree together. The Lorde, bycause he then talked to hearers that sought only to bee filled with foode of their belly, but cared not for the meate of the soule, tempered his talke somewhat to their capacitie, but specially he frameth the comparison of Manna and of his bodye accordynge to their sense. They required that he, to gette himselfe some credite, woulde approue his power with doynge some suche miracle, as Moses dyd in the wildernesse, when he ob…eyned Manna from Heauen. But in Manna they conceyued nothynge but the remedie of carnall hunger, wherewith the people was then vexed: but they pearced not to that hyer misterie whiche Paule hath respect vntounto: Christ therefore, to shewe howe muche greater a benefite they ought to loke for at his hande, than that which they reported that Moses dyd bestow vponupon their fathers, frameth this comparison: If it were a great miracle in your opinion, and worthye to be remembred, that the Lorde by Moses ministred fonde from Heauen to his people, to susteine them for a smal time, that they should not perishe for hunger in the wildernesse: gather hereby howe muche more excellente is the meate that geueth immortalitie. We see why the Lord passed ouer that thyng whiche was principall in Manna, and spake onelyonly of the bacest profit of it: euen bycause the Iewes as it were of purpose to reproche hym, dyd caste Moses in his teeth, whiche succored the necessitie of the people with remedie of Manna: he answered that he is the minister of a muche hyer grace, in comparison whereof, the carnall fedynge of the people, whiche alone they so muche estemed, ought of righte to be nothyng regarded. But Paule, bycause he knewe that the Lord when he rayned Manna from heauen, dyd not only poure it downe for the seding of their belly, but also dyd distribute it for a spirituall misterie, to be a figure of the spi…ituall quickenynge that is had in Christ, dyd not neglecte that parte that was most worthy of consideration. Wherfore it certainely and clerely foloweth, that the same promises of eternall and heuē ly life, whiche nowe the Lord vouchesaueth to graunt vntounto vsus, were not only communicated vntounto the Iewes, but also sealed with very spiritual Sacramētes. Of whiche mater Augustine disputeth largely agaynst Faustus the Manichee.
But yf the readers had rather to hauehave testimonies alledged vntounto them out of the lawe and the Prophetes, whereby they may perceyue that the spirituall couenant was common also to the fathers, as we heare by Christ and the Apostles: I will also follow that desire, and so muche the more willingly, bycause by that meane the aduersaries shalbe more surely conuinced, so that they shall hauehave afterwarde no waye to dallye. And I will beginne at that profe, whiche although I knowe that the Anabaptistes pride will thinke verye fonde and in a manner to bee laughed at, yet shall muche auayle with suche reders as are willyng to learne and hauehave their sounde wit. And I take it as a principle confessed, that there is suche effectuall force of lyfe in the worde of God, that whome so euer God vouchesaueth to be partakers therof,1. Pet. i.xxiij. it quickeneth their soules. For this sayeng Peter hath alwaye ben of force, that it is the incorruptible seede whiche abideth for euer,Esa. xi.i… as he also gathereth out of the wordes of Esaye. Now sithe God in the old time bound the Iewes vntounto him with this holy boūd, it is no doubt that he did also seuer them into the hope of eternal life. For when I saye they embraced the worde, whiche should ioyne them …yer to God, I take it for the maner of cōmunicatyng it: not that generall manner, whiche is poured abrode throughout the heauen and earth and all the creatures of the world, whiche although it do quickē all thinges, eueryevery one after the proportion of their nature, yet it doth not deliuer them from necessitie of corruption: but I speake of this speciall manner, whereby the soules of the godly are bothe lightened vntounto the knowledge of God, and in a manner coupled to him. By this enlightenyng of the worde, sithe Adam Abel, Noe, Abraham, and the other fathers cleaued vntounto God, I saye that it is not doubtfull that they had an entrie into the immortall kingdome of God. For it was a sound partakyng of God, whiche can not be without the benefit of eternall life.
But yf this seme somewhat entangled: goe to, let vsus come to the very forme of the couenant, which shall not only satisfie sobre wittes, but also shall sufficiently conuince their ignorance that bende themselues to speake agaynst it. For God did alwaye thus couenant with his seruantes:Leu. xxvi.xij. I will be to you a God, and ye shalbe to me a people. In whiche wordes the Prophetes themselues are wont to expound, that both life and saluation, and the whole summe of blessednesse is cō prehended. For Dauid doth not without cause often pronounce,Ps. c.xliii… xv. Ps. xxxiii.xij. that blessed is the people, whose God is the lord: blessed is the natiō, which he hath chosen to be his inheritance: and that not for earthly felicities sake, but bycause he deliuereth them from death, he preserueth them for euer, and cōtinually sheweth them eternal merciemercy, whome he hath taken to his people:Abac. i.x… Esa. xxxiii.xxi. Deu. xxxii… xxix. as it is in the other Prophetes, Thou art our God, we shall not die: The Lord is our king, our lawmaker, he shall saue vsus. Blessed art thou, O Israel, bycause thou art saued in the lord God. But, not to labour ouermuch in a thynge needelesse, this admonition is sound eche where in the Prophetes, that we shall wante nothyng toward all abundance of good thinges, and assurance of saluatiō, so that the Lord be our God. And rightfully: For if his face so sone as it beginneth to shine, is a most present pledge of saluation, to what man shall he openly shewe himselfe for his God, but that he will also open to him his treasure of saluation?Leu xxvi.xij. For he is our God with this condition, to dwell in the middest of vsus: as he testified by Moses. But such presence can not be obteyned, but that life must be also together had in possessiō with it. And although there were no more expressed, yet had thei a promise of spiritual life plaine enough in these wordes: I am your God.Exod. vi.vij. For he did not declare that he would be a God vntounto their bodies alone, but principally to their soules. But soules, vnlesse they be ioyned to God by righteousnesse, remaine estranged from him in death. But on the other side, let that ioyning be present, it shal bring euerlastyng saluation with it.
Byside that, he did not only testifie that he was to them their God, but he also promised that he would be so alway: to the ende that their hope not contented with present benefites, should be extended to eternitie. And many sayenges do shewe, that the speakyng in the future time meant so much, as where the faithfull not only in present euels, but also for the time to come, doe comfort themselues with this, that God will neuer fayle them. Nowe as concernyng the seconde part of the promise, he yet more plainely assured them of the blessyng of God to be prolonged vntounto them beyond the boundes of this life, in sayeng: I will be the God of your seede after you.Gen. xvij.vij. For if he minded to declare his good will toward them beyng dead, in doyng good to their posteritie, much more would his fauour not faile toward themselues. For God is not like vntounto menne, whiche do therefore carry their louelove to their frendes children, bicause their power is interrupted by death, so that they can not employe their frendely doynges vpō them to whom they did beare good will. But God, whose bountifulnesse is not hyndered by death, taketh not awaye from the very dead the frute of his merciemercy, whiche for their sakes he poureth out into a thousand generations. Therefore the Lordes will was by a notable profe to set forth vntounto them the greatnesse and flowyng plētie of his goodnesse which they should fele after death,Exo. xx.vi when he described it to be such as should slowe ouer into all their posteritie. And the truthe of this promise the Lord did then seale, and as it were brought forth the fulfillyng of it, when he named himself the God of Abraham,Exo. iij.vi Isaac and Iacob, long after their death. For, what? had it not ben a fond naming, if thei had vtterly perished? For then had it ben all one, as if he had sayd, I am the God of them that are not.Mat. xxij.xxi…. Luc. xx.xxxi…. Deu. xxxiij iij. Wherefore the Euangelistes reherse, that with this one argument the Sadduces were so driuen to a streight, that they could not denie that Moses did testifie the resurrection of the dead, for that they had learned by Moses, that all the Saintes were in his hand. Wherupon it was easy to gather, that they are not destroyed by death, whome he that is the iudge of life and death had receyued into his sauegard, custodie, and protection.
Now (which is the principal point wherupon this cōtrouersie hangeth) let vsus loke, whether the faithfull themselues hauehave not ben so instructed of the Lord, that they perceiued that they shuld hauehave a better life els where, and so neglectyng this life, had an eye to the other. First the state of life that was enioyned them by God, was a continuall exercise, whereby they might be put in minde, that they were the moste miserable of all men,Gen. iij.xvij. if their happinesse were only in this life. Adam, most vnhappy, euen with only remembrance of the happynesse that he had lost, did with painfull labours hardly susteyne his nedynesse, and that he shuld not be pressed with the curse of God, in the only labours of his handes, euen there receyued he extreme sorrow of that whiche remayned for him to be his comfort. Of his two sonnes, the one was taken awaye by the wicked slaughter of his brother: the other he had lefte aliue,Gen. iiii.viii. whose sight he worthily detested & abhorred. Abel cruelly murthered in the very floure of his age, became an example of the wretchednesse of men.Gen. vi.xxii. Noe, while the whole world carelesly liued in pleasure, spent a good part of his age with great werinesse in bildyng the Arke. This that he escaped death, came to passe by his greater troubles,Gen. i….…iii. than yf he should hauehave died a hundred deathes. For byside that the Arke was to him as a graue for x. monethes, there is nothing more vnpleasaunt than to be holden so longe in manner drowned in dong of beastes. When he had passed ouer so great difficulties, he fell into newe matter of grefe, he saw him self scorned of his owne sonne, and was compelled with his owne mouth to curse him, whom by the great benefit of God he had receiued safe from the generall flood.
Abraham in deede may be one alone to be compared with a hūdred thousand,Gen. xii, iiii. if we consider his faith, which is set for… vntounto vsus for y• best rule of beleuing, of whose kinred we must be accōpted, that we maye be the children of God. But what more absurditie is there▪ than Abraham to be the father of all the faithfull, and not to possesse so much as the smalest corner among thē? but he can not be throwen downe out of the number, no not from the moste honorable degree, but that the whole churche muste be destroyed. Now as touchyng the experiences of his lyfe: When he was firste called by the cōmaundement of God, he was plucked away from his cōtrey, his parentes and his frendes, in whome menne thinke to bee the chiefe swetenesse of life: euen as if God of determined purpose meante to spoyle him of all the pleasures of life. So sone as he came into the lande where he was commaunded to dwell, he was dryuen out from thense with famine. Thither he fled for succour, where to saue himselfe, he was compelled to deliuer out his wife to be abused, whiche we knowe not whether it were not more bitter to him than many deathes. When he was returned into the lande of his owne dwellyng, he was driuen out agayne from thense with famine. What a felicitie is this, to dwell in that lande, wherein a man muste so oft be hungry, yea die for famine if he runne not awaye? And therewithall he was brought to that necessitie with Abimelech,Gen. xli.xii. that he muste needes redeme his life with the losse of his wife, while many yeres longe he wandred vncertainely hether and thether, he was compelled by the continuall brawlynges of his seruantes to put away his nephew, whome he loued as his owne sonne. Whiche departyng without doubt he dyd no otherwise take, than yf he had suffred the cutting of one of his limmes. A litle after, he heard that he was carried awaye captiue by his enemies. Whether so euer he wente, he founde neyghbours outrageously barbarous, whiche woulde not suffer him so muche as to drynke water out of the welles that himselfe had digged with great labour. For he woulde not hauehave redemed the vse of them at the hand of king Gerar, if he had not first ben forbidden. Now when he came to old age, he saw the thing which is the most vnpleasant and bitter that that age hath, himselfe punished with hauing no children, till beside all hope he begate Ismaell, whose birth yet he payed dere for, whē he was weried with the brawlyng of Sara, as yf he in maynteinyng the stubbornnesse of his bondwoman were himselfe the cause of the trouble of his household. At length Isaac was borne, but with this condition that his firste begotten Ismaell must, as forsaken, be cruelly caste out of dores. When only Isaac was left, in whome the weryed age of the silly good man might rest, within a litle after he was commaunded to kil him. What can mans wit deuise more miserable, than the father to be made the butcher of his owne sonne? If Isaac had dyed of any sickenesse, whoe woulde not hauehave thought the olde manne moste miserable, that had a sonne geuen him in mockeage, for whome his griefe of want of children should be doubled? If he had ben slayne by some straunger, the vnhappinesse of the thyng woulde hauehave muche encresed his miserie. But this passeth all examples of miserie, to hauehave him slayne with his fathers one hande. Finally, he was in all the whole course of his life so tossed and vexed, as if a man would in a table paint out an example of a miserable life, he could finde none more fit, than this of Abraham. And let no man obiect that he was not altogether vnhappy, for that he at length prosperously escaped from so many and so greate tempestes. For we can not saye that he liueth a blessed lyfe, whiche for a longe space together paynefully weareth out of infinite troubles, but him that without felyng of euels, quietly enioyeth present good thinges.
Isaac that was lesse troubled with euelles, yet scarce euer toke any taste of swetenesse. He also felt the same vexations, that doe not suffer a manne to be blessed in the earth. Famine chaced him out of the lande of Chanaan:Gen. xxvi xxxv. he had his wyfe violently plucked away from his bosome: his neighbours ofte troubled him, and by all meanes oppressed him, so that he was fayne to stryue for his water: at home in his owne house,Ge. xxviii i. he suffred muche troublesonnesse by his childrens wiues, he was greued wyth disagreementes of his sonnes, and could not remedie that so greate a mischiefe, but by the banishment of him whome he had blessed. But as for Iacob, he is nothynge els but a notable example of extreme infelicitie. He passed his childehod moste vnquietly at home amonge the threatenynges and terrors of his elder brother,Ge. xxviii v. to whiche at length he was cōpelled to geue place. When he was fled from his parentes and his natiue countrey,Ge. xxix.xx. biside that it was a greuous thing to liue in banishment, he was nothyng more kindly or gently receiued of his vncle Laban. Thē it sufficed not that he had serued seuen yere a hard & cruell seruice, but that also he muste be by guile defrauded of his wife. For an other wiues sake he was driuen into new seruice, where he was all the daye fried with heate of the sunne, and all the night laye wakyng and payned with froste and cold, as himselfe complayned. While he by the space of .xx. yeares suffred so hard a life, he was dayly vexed with newe iniuries of his father in lawe.Gen. xxxi.xxiii. Neyther was he quiet in his owne house, seyng it diuided and in a manner scattered abrobe with the hatred, brawling & enuye of his w…ues. When he was cōmaunded to returne into his coū trey, he was compelled to watche an auantage to take his iourney, much like a shamefull runnyng awaye: and yet could he not so escape the vniust dealyng of his father in lawe, but was fayne to suffer his reproches and rebukes in the middes of his iourney. Then fell he into a muche more cruell distresse.Gen. xxxii xi. For when he came nere to his brother, he had so many deathes before his eyes, as mighte be prepared by a cruell manne and a bent enemie. So was he aboue mesure tormented & as it were drawen in sonder with terrible feares, so long as he loked for his brothers comyng: whē he came ones in his sight, he fel downe as half dead at his feete, vntill he found him more fauorable than he durste hauehave hoped.Gen. xxxv xvi. Biside that, at his firste entrie into the lande, he lost Rachel his derely beloued wyfe. Afterwarde he heard word that the sonne whiche he had by her,Ge. xcj… xxx… ▪ and whome therefore he loued aboue the reste, was torne with wilde beastes: by whose death howe great griefe he conceyued, he himselfe declared in this, that after longe wepynge he obstinately stopped vp all wayes whereby comfort mighte come to him, leauyng hymselfe nothynge, but to goe downe to his sonne waylyng into the graue.Ge. xxx…ii… ij. In the meane time howe great causes of griefe, wayting and werinesse were the rauishment and deftourynge of his daughter, and the boldenesse of his sonnes in reuenging it, whiche not only made him to be abhorred in sight of all the inhabitantes of that countrey, but also procured him moste present perill of vtter destruction?Gen. xxxvi xij. Then followed that horrible outragious offense of Ruben his first begotten sonne, whiche was suche as their coulde not chaunce a more greuous. For wheareas the defilyng of a mans wyfe is reckened amonge the hyest yll fortunes: what is to be sayde of it, when that wickednesse is committed by a mans owne sonne? Within a litle whyle after,Ge. xxxvi… xviii. his house is spotted with an other vunaturall adulterie: so that so many shames might well breake a heart, that otherwise were most constant and vnable to be vanquished with calamities. Nere before the ende of his life, while he sought to prouide succour for the famine of himself and other, he was striken with tidynges of a newe misfortune, vnderstandynge that an other of his sonnes was kepte in pryson,Gen. xl…, xxxii. for recoueryng of whome he was compelled to leaue to the rest Beniamin his only dearling. Who cā think, that in suche a heape of mischeues he had any one moment geuen hym safely to take breath in? And therefore he himselfe the beste witnesse of himselfe,Gen. x…vii ix. affirmed to Pharao, that his dayes were shorte and …uell vponupon the earth. Nowe truely he that declareth that he hath passed his lyfe by continuall miseries, denieth that he felte that prosperitie whiche the Lorde had promised him. Therefore eyther Iacob did vnkindely and vnthankefully weye the grace of God, or he truely professed that he had ben miserable vponupon the earth. If his affirmation were true, then it foloweth, that he had not his hope fastened vponupon earthly thinges.
If these holy fathers loked for (as vndoubtedly they did) a blessed lyfe at the hande of God, truely they bothe thought and sawe it to bee an other manner of blessednesse, than the blessednesse of earthly li…e. Whiche thynge the Apostle also doth shewe excellently well: Abraham (sayth he) direct by fayth in the lande of promise as in a strange land,Heb. xi.ix. dwellyng in tentes with Isaac and Iacob parteners with him of the same inheritaunce. For they loked for a citie set vponupon a good fundation, the maker and bilder whereof is God. All these are dead in fayth, not receyuyng the thinges promised, but loking at them a farre of, and beleuyng and confessyng that they were gestes and strangers vponupon the land. Whereby they declare that they sought for a coūtree. And yf they had ben moued with desire of that lande from whense they came, they had power to returne. But they sought for a better, that is the heauenly coūtree. Wherefore God is not a shamed to be called their God, for asmuch as he hath prepared them a citie. For they had ben duller than blockes, to followe promises to earnestly▪ wherof there appered no hope in earth, vnlesse they had loked for the fulfillynge of them els where. But this he chiefely enforceth, and that not without good reason, that thei called this life a iourney from home, euen as Moses reporteth. For if they were strangers and foreners in the lande of Chanaan, where is the Lordes promise wherby they were made heires of it?Gen. x…v… ix. He sheweth plainely therefore, that the Lordes promise, cōcernyng the possessiō therof, had a further respect. Wherefore they purchaced not one foote in the land of Chanaan, but for burial, wherby they testified, that they did not hope that they shuld receiue the frute of the promise till after death. And that is the cause why Iacob so much estemed to be buried there,Gen. x…vij …x…x. &. xxx. that he compelled his sonne Ioseph to promise it him, and to swere to performe it: and why Ioseph willed his bones,Ge. l.xxv. certayne ages after, when they were longe before fallen into powder, to be remoued thither.
Finally, it appereth plainely, that in all the trauailes of this life they had alway set before them the blessednesse of the life to come. For to what purpose should Iacob hauehave so much desired, & with so great danger sought the preeminence of the first begotten, whiche shoulde procure him nothyng but banishment, and in a manner to be caste of from beyng his childe: but no good at all, vnlesse he had respecte to a hyer blessyng. And he declared, yt he had this meanyng by the wordes which he spake among his last breathinges:Gen. xlix.xviij. Lord, I will loke for thy saluation. What saluation could he hauehave loked for, whē he sawe that he laye ready to geue vp the ghost, vnlesse he had seene in death the beginnyng of a newe life? But what dispute we of the holy ones and chrildren of God, when euen he was not without a taste of suche vnderstandyng, whiche otherwise was enemie to the truthe? For what meant Balaam whē he sayd:Num. xxiij x. Psa. cxvi.xv. Ps. xxxiiij.xx…j. Let my soule dye the death of the righteous, and let my laste times be like vntounto theires? but that he meante the same thynge that Dauid afterwarde vttered, that the death of the Sainctes is precious in the sighte of the Lorde, but the death of the wicked, is very euell? If the furthest bounde and ende were in death, there coulde in it be noted no difference betwene the righteous and vnrighteous, they differ one from the other by the diuersite of the estates, that after death shall befall to them bothe.
We are not yet come beyonde Moses: Whiche (as these menne saye) had no other office, but to perswade the carnall people to worship God by the frutefulnesse of the ground and plentie of all thinges. And yet (vnlesse a manne will flee the light that willyngly offreth it selfe) there is alredy a playne declaration of the spirituall couenant. But yf we come downe to the Prophetes, there with most full brightnesse bothe the lyfe euerlastyng and the kyngdome of Christ do vtter themselues. And first of all Dauid, which as he was before the other in time, so accordyng to the order of Gods distribution, he shewed the heauenly misteries in shadowes more darkely than the rest, yet with what plainnesse & certaintie directeth he al his sayenges to that end? How he estemed ye earthly dwelling,Ps. xxx x.xiii. this sentēce testifieth: I am here a forener & strāger, as al my fathers were. EueryEvery liuing mā is vanitie, eueryevery one walketh about as a shadow. But now what is my exspectatiō, Lord? euen to thee is my hope. Truely he yt cōfessyng that in the earth there is nothinge sounde or stedfast, kepeth still a stedfastnesse of hope in God, cōsidereth his felicitie layed vp in an other place. To such consideration is he wont to call all ye faithefull, so oft as he meaneth to comforte them truely. For in an other place, after he had spoken of the shortenesse, and the transitorie and vanishing image of mans life, he addeth:Psal. ….xvii. but the merciemercy of the Lorde is for euer vponupon them that feare him. Like wherevnto is that which is in the hundred and seconde Psalme. At the beginning Lorde thou didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heauens are the workes of thy handes. Thei shal perishe, but thou abidest: thei shal waxe olde like a garment, and thou shalt change them as apparell, but thou remaine the selfe same, and thy yeares shall not faile: the sonnes of thy seruantes shall dwell, and thy posteritie shalbe stablished before thee. If the Godly cesse not for the decay of heauen & earth to be stablished before the Lorde, it foloweth, that their saluaciō is ioyned with the eternitie of God. But that hope can not stand at all, vnlesse it rest vponupon the promise that is set forth in Esaic:Esai. li.vi The heauens (sayth the Lorde) shall vanish away like smoke, the earth shalbe worne out like a garment, & the inhabitantes of it shall perish like those thynges. But my saluacion shalbe for euer, and my righteousnesse shall not faile: where euerlastingnesse is geuen to righteousnesse and saluacion, not in respect that thei remaine with God, but in respect that thei are felte of men.
Neither may we otherwyse take those thynges, that he commonly speaketh of the prosperous successe of the faithfull, but to applie them to ye open shewing of ye heauenly glorie. As these saienges: The Lorde kepeth the soules of the righteous,Psa. xcvii.x. he shal deliuer them from the hand of the sinner. Light is arisen to the righteous, and ioye to the vpright in hearte.Psal. cxii.vii.ix. Ps. c.xl.x i Ps. c.xii.vi Ps. xxxiiii.xxiii. The righteousnesse of the Godly man abideth for euer: hys horne shalbe exalted in glorie, the desire of the sinner shal perish. Again: but the righteous shall confesse vntounto thy name, the vpright shall dwell with thy countenance. Againe ye righteous shall be in eternall remembrance Againe. The Lorde shall redeeme the soules of hys seruantes. For the Lorde oftentimes leaueth his seruantes to the lust of the wycked, not onelyonly to be vexed, but also to be torne in peeces and destroied: he suffereth the good to lye languishing in darkenesse and filth, whyle the wicked do in a manner shine among the starres. And he doth not so chere them with the brightnesse of his countenance, that they enioye long continuing gladnesse. Wherefore euen he also hideth not, that yf the faithfull fasten their eyes vponupon the presente state of thynges, they shalbe striken with a sore temption, as though there wer no fauoure or reward of innocencye with God. So much doth wickednesse for ye most part prosper & florish, while ye companie of the Godly is oppressed with shame,Ps. lxxiii.xvii. pouertie, contempt and all kyndes of crosses. It wanted but little (saith he) that my foote slipped not, and my steppes fell not abroade, while the fortune of fooles greueth me, and while I see the prosperitie of the wicked. At length after rehersall of it he concludeth. I bente my thought, if I coulde vnderstand these thinges. But it is tormente to my spirit, till I enter into the sanctuarie of the Lorde, and vnderstand the last ende of them.
Let vsus therfore learne, yet by this confession of Dauid, that the holy. fathers vnderunder the old testament were not ignorant, how seldome or neuer God doth in this world performe to his seruantes those thinges that he promiseth them, and that therefore they dyd lifte vp theyr mindes to Gods sanctuarie, wherein thei had that laied vp in store, whiche appeareth not in the shadowe of this present life. That was, the last iudgement of God, which when thei coulde not see with eyes, they were content to vnderstande by faithe. Trustinge vponupon which affiance, whatsoeuer happened in the worlde, yet thei doubted not a time wold ones come, when the promises of God shoulde be fulfilled. As these sayengs do witnesse,Psa. xvij. Psa. l….x. Psa. x…ij.xiij. I wil behold the face of God in righteousnesse: I wil be satisfied with thy countenance. Againe. I as a greene Oliue tree in the house of the Lorde. Againe. The righteous shall florish as a Date tree, and shal sprede in branches like the Ceder of Libanus, being planted in the house of the Lorde, thei shall florishe in the Palaces of oure God: They shall still beare frute, thei shall be fat and grene in their olde age. When he had saide a little before: Now deepe are thy thoughtes, O Lord, while the wicked do florish, thei budde out like an herbe, yt thei may perishe for euer. Where is that faire shew and beautie of the faithfull, but when the face of this worlde shall bee tourned in warde by dysclosing of the kingdome of God? When thei tourned their eyes to that eternitie, thei despised the hardnesse enduring but a moment of present miseries,Psal. lv.xxiix. and boldly burste forth into these woordes: Thou shalte not suffer for euer the righteous to dye, but thou shalte throwe downe the wicked hedlong into the pit of destruction. Where as in this worlde the pitt of eternall destruction that may swallowe vp the wicked? Amonge whose felicities, this is also reckened in an other place, that thei close vp the ende of their life in a moment,Iob. xxi.xiij. without long languishing. Where is that so greate stedfastnesse of the holly ones, whom Dauid himselfe eche where complaineth, not onelyonly to be shaken with trouble, but also to be oppressed, and vtterly broken in peeces? Forsoothe, he did set before his eyes, not what the altering course of the worlde beareth, whiche is vnstable & more vnstedfast than the ebbing and flowing of tides, but what the Lorde will do, when he shall one day sitte for the eternall settling of heauen and earth.Psa. xl.ix v…. As in an other place hee excellently well describeth it: The foolish do stay vponupon their welthinesse, and are proude bicause of their great riches. And yet no man, though he florish in neuer so great dignitie, can redeeme his brother from death, no man can paye to God ye price of his raunsome, but wheras thei see that bothe ye wyse do dye, and that the wicked also and fooles do perishe & leaue their ryches to strangers, yet thei thinke that thier houses shal abide for euer, & their dwellynges to the ende of ages, and thei aduaunce their names vponupon the earth, but man shall not continue in honore: he shalbe like to the beastes yt die. This imaginacion of theires is extremest folly, whyche yet their posteritie do gredyly folow. Thei shalbe placed like a flock in Hell, and deathe shall hauehave rule ouer them. When the lyght ariseth, the vpright shall hauehave dominion ouer them, the beautie of them shall perishe, Hell is their dwelling house. First this laughing to scorne of the foolish, for that thei rest on the slipperie and rollynge good thinges of the worlde, dothe shewe that the wyse must seeke a farre other felicitie. But there he more euidently discloseth the misterie of the resurrection, where after the destruction & extinguishmente of them, he erecteth the kingdome of the Godly. For what rising of light (I pray you) shall wee call that, but the reueling of the newe life whyche foloweth the ende of thys present life.
From thense did spring vp that consideration, whiche the faythfull oftentimes vsed for a comforte of thir miseries and remedie of patience: It is but a momente in the Lordes displeasure,Ps. xxx.v… and life in his mereye. Howe did they determine afflictions to ende in a moment, that were in affliction in a manner of their life longe? where dyd thei espye so longe an e…duringe of Godes kindenesse, whereof thei scarsely felt any lyttle taste? If thei hadde sticked faste vponupon the earthe, they coulde hauehave founde no such thing, but bicause thei loked vponupon heauen, thei acknowledged that it is but a moment of time, while the Lord exercise his holy ones by the crosse, but that his mercies, wherein thei are gathered together, do last the worldes age. Againe, they did …oresee the eternall and neuer endinge destruction of the vngodlye, whiche were as in a dreame happy for one daie.Pro. x.vij Wherevpon came these sayinges: The remembrance of the righteous shall be in blessing, butte the name of the wicked shall rotte. Precious is the deathe of the Saintes in the sighte of the Lorde,Ps. c.xvi & xxx.x…i. i. Sa. ….…x. but the deathe of the wicked, moste euell. Againe in Samuel. The Lorde shall keepe the feete of the holy, and the wicked shall be put to silence in darkenesse. Whiche do declare that thei well knewe, that howesoeuer the holy were diuersly carryed aboute, yet their laste ende is lyfe and saluation: and that the prosperitie of the wycked is a pleasaunt waye, whereby thei by little and little slide forwarde into the gulfe of deathe. Therefore thei called the deathe of suche, the destruction of the vncircumcised,E…. xx… x. & xxxi. Ps. lxix.xx…i. as of them from whome the hope of the resurrection was cutte awaie. Wherefore Dauid coulde not deuise a more greuous curse than this: Let them be blotted out of the boke of life, and not be written with the righteous.
But aboue all other, notable is that sayeng of Iob: I knowe that my redemer liueth, & in the last daie I shal rise againe out of the earth, and in my fleshe I shall see God my sauioure: This hope is layed vp in my bosome. Some that hauehave a mynde to make a shewe of their sharpe witte, do cauill that this is not to be vnderstanded of the last resurrection, but of the firste daye that Iob loked to hauehave God more gentle to him,Iob. x…x.xxv. whiche although we graunt them in parte, yet shall wee enforce them to confesse whether they wyll or noe, that Iob coulde not hauehave come to that largenesse of hope, if he had rested his thoughte vponupon the earthe. Therefore we muste needes confesse, that he lifted vp his eyes to the immortalitie to come, whiche sawe, that his redeemer would be present with him euen lyeng in his graue. For to them that thinke only of his present life, death is their vttermost desperation: whiche very death coulde not cutt of Iobs hope.Iob. …iij.xv. Yea though he kill me (said he) neuerthelesse I will still hope in him. And let no trifler here carpe against me and saie▪ that these were the sayenges but of a fewe, whereby ys not proued that suche doctrine was among the Iewes. For I wyll by and by answer him, that these fewe dyd not in these sayenges vtter any secret wisedome, wherevnto onelyonly certayne excellente wittes were seuerally and priuately suffred to atteine▪ but that as thei were by the holy Ghoste apointed teachers of the people, so they openly published those misteries of God that were to be vniuersally learned, and ought to be the principles of the common religion among the people. Therefore when we heare the publike oracles of the holy Ghoste, wherein he spake of the spirituall lyfe so clerely and plainely in the Churche of the Iewes, it were a pointe of vntolerable stubbournesse, to sende them away only to the fleshly couenant, wherin is mention made of nothing, but earth and earthly wealthinesse.
If I come downe to the latter Prophetes, there wee maye freely walke as is oure owne felde. For yf it were not harde for vsus to gett the vpperhande in Dauid, Iob, and Samuel, here it shall be muche more easye. For God kepte this distribution and ordre in disposinge the couenant of hys mercye, that howe muche the nearer it drewe on in processe of tyme to the full perfourmance thereof, with so muche greater encreasementes of reuelation hee dyd daye by daie more bryghtly shewe it. Therefore at the beginning when the firste promise of saluation was made vntounto Adam, there glystered oute but as it were smale sparkles of it. After, hauinge more added vntounto it, a greater largenesse of light began to be put forth: whiche from thense fourth brake out more and more, and displayed her bryghtnesse farther abroade, till at length all the cloudes were dryuen awaye, and Christe the sonne of righteousnesse fully lyghtned the whole woorlde. We neede not therfore to feare that wee fayle of testimonies of the Prophetes, if we seeke them to proue oure cause, but bicause I see that there wyll aryse a huge deale of matter, wherevpon I shoulde bee constrained of necessytie to tarrye longer than the proportio… of my purpose maye beare, for it woulde so growe to a worke of a great volume, and also bicause I hauehave already, by those thinges that I hauehave saide before, made plaine the waye, euen for a reader of meane capacitie, so as he maye goe forwarde wythoute stumbling: therefore I wyll at this present absteine from long tediousnesse: whyche to do ys no lesse necessarie: but geuing the readers warning before hande, that they remembre to open theyr owne waye with that key that we hauehave fyrste geuen them in theyr hande. That is, that so ofte as the Prophetes speake of the blessednesse of the faithfull people, whereof scarscely the leaste steppes are seen in this present life, thei maye resorte to this distinction: that the Prophetes, the better to e… presse the goodnesse of God, did as in a shadow expresse it to the people by temporall benefites, as by certaine rough drawing of ye portraiture therof: but that ye perfect image, yt thei hauehave painted therof, was suche as might rauish mens myndes out of the earh, and out of the elements of this worlde, and of the age that shal perishe, and of necessitie rayse it vp to the considering of the felicitie of the lyfe that ys to come and spirituall.
We wyll be content with one example. When the Israelites being carryed awaye to Babylon, sawe their scattering abroade to be like vntounto deathe, they coulde hardely be remoued from thys opinion that they thought that al was but fables that Ezechiel prophecied of their restitution:…. xxxv…j.iii…. bicause thei reckened it euen all one as if he had tolde them that rotten carcases shoulde be restored againe to lyfe. The Lorde to shewe, that euen that same difficultie coulde not stop him from bringing hys benefite to effect, shewed to the Prophete in a vision a field full of due bones, to the which in a moment with ye onelyonly power of hys worde he restored breath & liuelienesse. The vision in dede serued to correct the incredulitie at that present time: but in the meane season he did put the Iewes in minde how far ye power of the Lord extended beyond the accompt of the people, whyche so easyly quyckened with his onelyonly becke, bones already rotten and scattered abroade: wherefore you shall compare that wyth an other sayeng of Esaie.Esa. xxvi.xix. The deade shall rise, my carcase, thei shall rise againe. Awake ye and reioyse that dwell in the dust, bicause the deaw of the greene fyelde is thy deaw, and thou shalt pluck downe the lande of the Gyantes into ruine. So my people, enter into thy tentes: shutt thy dores vponupon thee: hide the a little whyle, tyll my displeasure passe ouer. For beholde, the Lorde shall goe out of hys place, to visite the iniquitie of the dweller vponupon the earthe agaiste hym, and the earth shal shewe forth her bloode, and shal no longer hide her slaine.
Albeith a man shoulde do fondly, that woulde goe about to drawe all to suche a rule. For there be some places that wythout any couering do shewe the immortalitie to come, that is prepared for the faithful in the kingedome of God, of whyche sorte we hauehave recited some, and of lyke sorte are the moste parte of the reste, specially these twoo, the one in Esaie.Esai. lxvi.xxj. As newe heauen, and a newe earthe which I make to stande before mee, so shal your seede stande, and there shal be monethmonth of monethmonth, and Sabbat of Sabbat: all fleshe shall come to worshippe before my face, faith the Lorde. And they shall goe out and see the deade carcases of the men that hauehave offended against mee, that their worme shall not dye,Da. xij.i. and their fyer shall not be quenched. The other of Daniel. In that time shal rise vp Michael the great prince, that standeth for the sonnes of his people, and there shall come a tyme of distresse, suche as was not syns nations fyrste began to be, and then shall all thy people be saued that shall be founde wrytten in thy boke. And of those that slepe in the duste of the earthe, there shall awake some to eternall life, and some to euerlastinge shame.
Nowe as for prouinge the other twoo pointes that the fathers had Christe for pledge of their couenant, and that they reposed in him all their affiance of bleesing, I wyll not trauaile therein at all, bicause they hauehave both lesse controuersie and more plainnesse. Let vsus therfore boldely determine thys, whych by no engines of the deuel may be remoued, that the olde Testament or couenant whiche the Lorde made with his people Israel, was not limited within the compasse of earthly thinges, but also conteyned the promyse of the spirituall and eternall life: the expectation whereof must nedes hauehave ben imprinted in all their mindes that truely consented to the couenant. But let vsus put farre awaye this madde and pernicious opinion, that either God did set forth in hys promise to the Iewes nothinge ells, or that the Iewes sought nothynge ells but syllynge of their belly, delites of the fleshe, floryshinge wealth, outwarde power, frutefullnesse of chyldren, and whatsoeuer a naturall man esteemeth.Mat. viij.xi. For at this daie Christe promiseth no other kingdome of heauen to his, but where thei shall rest with Abraham, Isaac, and Iacob.Act…. iii xxii And Peter affirmed, that the Iewes of his time were heires of the grace of the Gospel, for that thei wer the children of the Prophets, comprehended in ye couenant, which ye Lord had in the olde time made wyth his people. And, that the same shoulde not bee wittenessed wyth wordes onelyonly, the Lorde also approued it by deede. For in the very moment that he rose againe,Mat. xxvii li. he vouche saued to hauehave many of ye holy men to rise againe in companie with him, and made them to bee seen in the Citie: so geuing an assured token, that whatsoeuer he did and suffered for the purchacing of eternall saluacion, pertemeth no lesse to the faithful of the old testament,Ar. xv.vi…j than vntounto vsus. For as Peter testifieth, thei were also endued with the same spirit of faith, wherby we are regenerate into lyfe. Nowe, when we heare that the same spirit which is in vsus a certaine sparcle of immortalitie, wherevpon it is also in an other place called The earnest of our inheritance, did likewise dwel in them, how dare we take from them the inheritance of life? Whereby it is so muche the more maruell, that in the olde time the Sadduces fell to such grossnes of erroure, that they denyed bothe the resurrection & also the substance of soules, bothe whiche poyntes thei sawe sealed with so clere testimonies of Scriptur. And no lesse to be maruelled at, euē at this day, were the …olly of all that nation in loking for the earthly kingdome of Christ, if the Scriptures had not long before declared, that they shoulde hauehave that punishment for refusing the Gospell. For so it behoued, by the iuste iudgement of God, to strike those myndes with blindenesse, whiche in refusinge the lighte of heauen being offered them, dyd wylfully brynge them selues into darken…e.…. Cor. iii.xiiii. Therefore thei reade and continually turne ouer Moses, butte they are stopped wyth a veyle sette betweene them and him, that thei can not see the light that shineth in his countenance. And so shal it remaine couered & hidden from them, til he be turned to Christe, from whome nowe thei trauaile to leade and drawe him away so muche as in them lieth.