Sermons on Divinity Humanity and Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, Title page – Dedication
Diuers Sermons of Maſter Iohn Caluin, concerning the Diuinitie, Humanitie, and Natiuitie of our Lorde Ieſus Chriſte:
As alſo touching his Paſſion, Death, Reſurrection, Aſcention: togeather with the comming downe of the holy Ghoſte vponupon his Apoſtles: and the firſt Sermon of S. Peter.
The order of which you ſhall finde in the Page enſuing.
¶ At London printed for George Byſhop. 1581.
The order and number of the Sermons conteined in this Booke.
The firſt Sermon of the Diuinitie of Chriſte, taken out of the firſt Chapter of Saint Iohns Goſpel.
One Sermon of the Natiuitie of Chriſt taken out of the ſecond Chapter of Saint Luke.
Nine Sermons of his Paſſion, death, buriall, and reſurrection, taken out of the xxvj. of Saint Matthew.
Seuen Sermons of the myſterie of his death and paſſion, taken out of the Lij. and Liij. Chapters of Iſaiah.
Fower Sermons of his Aſcention, and of the commandement which hee gaue vntounto his Apoſtles, taken out of the firſt of the Actes.
Fowre Sermons of the deſcending of the holy Ghoſt at Whitſuntide, and of Peter his firſt Sermō, taken out of the ſecond of the Acts.
One Sermon of the latter comming of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt, taken out of the firſt Chapter of the ſecond Epiſtle to the Theſſalonians.
To the right honorable Edward de Veere, Earle of Oxonford, Vicunt Bulbacke, Lord of Eſcales, and Badleſmere, and Lorde great Chamberlaine of England. The Lorde God graunt increaſe a liuely and true faith, and continuance in the zeale of the bleſſed religion of our alone Sauiour Ieſus Chriſte for euer.
IT is impoſſible (right honorable) for a man to turne himſelfe any kinde of way heere in this world, either in calling to minde generally, the heauens and earth, either yet particulerly, the glorious garniſhing, light, brightnes, & mouings of the one, and the great plentie of all ſortes of beaſts, foules, and fruits of the other, together with the infinite diuerſitie of flowres, wherewith God, by his heauenly wiſedome and goodneſſe, eueryevery yeere afreſhe, meruellouſly clotheth, and repareth them, as it were with rich, and beautifull attyres and colours: But that hee, as often (I ſay) as hee beholdeth theſe ſo wonderful works of his maieſtie, muſte euen ſo often needes confeſſe that there is ſet before his eyes, a moſt large matter & argument for him, to glorifie thee altogether good, & only omnipotēt God, who hath not created all things for the vſe of man only, but alſo euen for his delight and pleaſure. For hee is ſo good and glorious a Father to all his children, as that his very meaning is) ſo wee take them modeſtly and thankfully) to hauehave vsus freely vſe his benefits for our neceſſitie, yea, and receiue them with pleaſure, and delight, without ſcruple of conſcience▪ For els, to what purpoſe ſhould we hauehave created ſuch a number of ſortes of fruites, differing in ſubſtance, ſtrength and nurriture, & of ſo ſundry ſhapes, in greatnes thicknes, & colour, in ſmel, taſt, & ſauor, except it had bin both to ſtrēghtē & delight vsus? For doth wine onelyonly ſtrengthen our bodies? doth it not likewiſe, as Dauid reckoneth it amōgſt the benefites of the Almighty, glad the heart of man. And therefore, what is hee that can bee ſo blockiſh, as not to thinke as much generally, of all the reſt of the benefites of God, which he dayly beſtoweth vponupon vsus, for the ſuſtening of our bodies. Yet notwithſtanding, this were not enough for vsus, hereupon to acknowledge, as our dutie is, the fatherly care which hee hath ouer our preſent life, in adminiſtring to vsus whatſoeuer is needfull for the ſame: except wee eftſoones learned alſo heereby, that hee alone, who principally is the father of our ſoules, (for, it is hee that hath created and regenerated them) giueth the foode of euerlaſting life vntounto them, by the bread of his holy word: to the end we might be drawn as it were by degrees, by our bodily food to attaine vntounto ſpirituall life: and thereby eternally liue in bliſſe, which neuer ſhal hauehave end. And in deed, the eternall God brought the children of Iſrael heereunto, by that Manna wherwith he fed them in the wilderneſſe. Whereupon, it will come to paſſe, that if we doe, as many of thē did, who made none other reckoning but of ſtuffinge their paunches, and thereby looked into none other matter: that wee alſo ſhal die, euen as they did. For as it is impoſſible for vsus to liue heere in this world, without the vſe of bread and other food, which God the Creator hath ordeined, as means wherby he adioyning thereto his heauenly power, would ſuſteine vsus in this corporal life: Euen ſo likewiſe is it as impoſſible for vsus to be partakers of euerlaſting life, except we be fed with this food of the ſoule: wherewith being appointed by God, to the ſame end, the holy Ghoſte ſerueth as it were for an inſtrument, to cauſe vsus poſſeſſe, through a liuely and true faith Chriſte Ieſus, who is alone giuen to vsus for life, and without whom, we continually abide in death. Wherefore, ſeeing the ſoule is more excellent then the body, the heauenly bread more precious then corruptible bread, and euerlaſting life, farre more worth, then the tranſitory life for a day, it is moſt certaine, that heauenly benefits are without al compariſon, a great deale more excellent then corporal, and to be preferred before them. Now, if wee woulde at the leaſt conſider, as in deede wee ought, what a benefite were it, to hauehave the true feare and knowledge of God, in ſteede of being altogether ignorant thereof, and contemning the ſame: to truſt ſurely in him alone, in ſtead of truſting too too muche vntounto our ſelues: vnfeinedlye to louelove our neighbors, in ſteade of enuying and hating of them, before wee are regenerate: and to hauehave a pure and ſounde heart belonging to euerlaſting life, in ſteade of all iniquitie, wherein wee bathe and feede our ſelues as fiſh in the water? To bee ſhort, if wee thinke it no ſmall matter, that all ſupernaturall giftes: altogether aboliſhed in man through ſinne, be reſtored to vsus, through Chriſt Ieſus alone: and that, reaſon, vnderſtanding, iudgement, will, and other ſuch naturall giftes, which man had of his Creator, howbeit, corrupted by the ſame fall, be likewiſe, through the ſame Sauiour renued in vsus: and to ſpeake in one word, if the image of God, which was defaced by man his diſobedience, bee repaired in vsus by our Redeemer, who alone hath recōciled vsus to God his Father, cleanſing vsus from our ſinnes, making vsus his brethren, and enheritors of the kingdome of heauen, freed from the tyranny of ſinne, and of the Deuill, empoueriſhing himſelfe to make vsus Princes, and companions with Angels, and by his death recouering vsus life: If theſe ineſtimable benefites (I ſay) be not lightly conſidered of vsus, we ſhould eſteeme of them, as it is good reaſon, aboue all other things, yea, we ſhould leaue & forſake all other things, to ſeeke and enioy them, and neuer bee wearied with any paine, neither yet faint hearted, ſeeing it is the bread of the word of God that wee muſt all, ſeeke after. And this bread, amongſt other vertues, hath this, that is, it maketh him who is daily fed therewith, more and more encreaſe in the vnitie of faith, vntill ſuch time as hee commeth to the fulneſſe of a perfect man. And without fayth there is no ſaluation, and fayth (as the Apoſtle witneſſeth) commeth by hearing, and hearing commeth by preaching of the word, ſo that without hearing of the word preached, there can be no fayth, and conſequently, no ſaluation. This bread alſo of the word hath ſo pleaſant a taſte, as that if the ſweetneſſe of honie it ſelfe, be compared with it, it ſhall be as bitter as Gal. Surely, the godlieſt and beſt fruits of the earth, in reſpect of this which reſtoreth the ſoule, reioyceth the heart, ſtrengtheneth the weake, and comforteth the afflicted, are all but rotten, and no whit pleaſant or delightfull. To be ſhort, ouer and beſides, that we are with ſo great pleaſure thereby in ſuch ſort ſtrengthened, as no tongue is able to expreſſe, we are moreouer ſo enriched therewith, as that all the treaſures in this world, in regard of it, can be but filthy and ſtinking. And therefore, eueryevery one is to conſider and vnderſtande, that the whole felicitie of man, reſteth in this ſpiritual foode. Here is likewiſe to be ioyned withall, that our labour in trauelling for the ſame, ſhal not be loſt: For, God the Creator, ſendeth vsus not at this day (thankes be giuen to him for it for euer) ſcarcitie of this Manna and heauenly doctrine: But moſt abundantly giueth and poureth it abroad without money, all the world ouer, to all ſuch as hunger after it: But vntounto ſuch as are full gorged and lothed therewith, ſo that they reiect it, and caſt it vp againe, by reaſon of their vnthankfulneſſe, it turneth to them in ſtead of good nutriment, into deadly poiſon. And contrariwiſe the more a man deſireth it, the more it nouriſheth, & doth him good. Wherefore our good God, and louing Father, knowing what neede we hauehave to be ſtrengthened with this ſpirituall foode, not for a day only, but euen ſo long as we ſhall creepe here vponupon the earth, and muſt hauehave it put into our mouthes like young children, hath appointed Paſtors, & Teachers in his Church, ſoundly and truly to breake vntounto al his faithful ones, this bread of his word, Euen as a father who giuing bread to his children, cutteth eueryevery one ſuch a morſel, as he ſeeth to bee moſt neceſſarie for him. And therefore in this behalfe (my good Lord) the Church of England, hath greatly to thanke the lord our God, in that hee hath furniſhed it, with ſuch a number of godly, faithfull, and ſound Miniſters, as diſtribute vntounto his people the worde of trueth: For they in ſtead of confuſedly heaping & hudling one thing in an others necke, doe verie familiarly and plainely handle and diſpoſe the matter by peece meale, and after an excellēt good order: and in ſtead of cutting, tearing in ſunder, wreaſting it into a wrong ſenſe, and reſting in the Barke without making a through entrance, doe ſoundly, perfectly, truely, verie reuerently, and without falſifiyng, deliuer it vntounto vsus, and feed our ſoules with the marow thereof.
Wherefore (right honourable) ſeeing this foode of the ſoule which is the word of God, is ſo precious a thing, as that all the kingdomes of the world are not valuable vntounto it, I hauehave takē boldneſſe to beſeech your honor to be the Patron and defender of this my poore trauell in the tranſlation of theſe Sermons following, which I hauehave done for the benefit & good of the meanly lettered ſort of my countrimen, verie notably & learnedly handled by M. Iohn Caluin, whoſe authoritie, & ſound dealing in ſuch cauſes, If I ſhould take in hand to commend, I ſhould ſeeme, (as we ſay) with a Lanterne to giuegive light vntounto the bright ſhining Sunne, & therfore wil hold my peace. Againe, the doctrine ſet down by him in them, affourdeth vntounto all the Readers therof ſo great commoditie of it ſelfe, as that it needeth not the commendation of any other. And I hauehave the rather dedicated this my rude tranſlatiō vntounto your Lordſhip, partly, for that I would ſhew ſome peece of my humble dutie vntounto your honour, as a publike teſtimony therof, in reſpect of being ſometimes, as then verie young, brought vp in your L. fathers houſe: but eſpecially & chiefly, becauſe (Syr) you ſeeke by al means poſsible, (the Lord bee thanked for it, & continue you in the ſame minde all your life long to his glorie) to vſe conference with a certeine godly learned man, for the better reforming of your ſelf and your whole family, to the obedience of the word. Which word as Solomon ſaieth, Shal guide you when you walke, watch for you when you ſleepe, and talke with you when you are awake. Prou. 6.22And in the verſe following hee ſaieth, That the word is a Lanterne, and Inſtruction, a light, & correction, for inſtructions, are the way of life &c. Thus hauehave I my good Lord, boldly preſumed of your noble and gracious cureſie, to preſent theſe Sermons vntounto your honour, beſeeching you in the behalfe of the Church of God to accept of them. In the meane while, I ſhall beſeech the Lord our God, the Father of all mercy and conſolation, to ſtrengthen you in that good courſe, which he of his meere louelove and ſingular goodneſſe, hath ſo lately begun in you, that you may bee like vntounto a confortable bright ſhining light in his Church, to ſhewe your ſelfe a conſtant mainteiner of the trueth of the glorious Goſpell of his deare Sonne Chriſt Ieſus our Lorde, for the ſtirring vp of many thereto. And becauſe I feare that I hauehave troubled your Lordſhip with an ouerlōg Epiſtle, I moſt humbly take my leaue, committing both you, and all your affayres, to the protection of the Almighties moſt ſacred Maieſtie. London, the vi. of May. 1581.
Your Lordſhips moſt duetifully to bee commaunded in the Lord Ieſus. Tho. Stocker.