Sermons on Deuteronomy, Sermons · Sermon 138
On Saturday the j. of Februarie, 1556. The Cxxxviii. Sermon, which is the third vponupon the foure & twentith Chapter.
7 If a man be found which hath stolen any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and he hath misused him or sold him: this thiefe shall die: and thou shalt put euill away from among you.
8 Take heede of the plague of leprosie, that thou marke it diligently, and doe according vntounto all that which the Priestes the Leuites shall teach you, take heed yee doe as I hauehave commaunded them.
9 Remember what the Lord thy God did vntounto Marie by the way, after that ye were come out of Egypt.
THe first thing that God declareth in this place is, that if any stole away a man of Israel and solde him, the offence which he committed in this behalfe, was to be punished by death. And heereby hee giueth vsus to vnderstand how dearelie hee loued that people which hee had chosen vntounto himselfe. For we knowe how God appointeth punishmentes accordinglie as he esteemeth of the greatnes of the sinne which is committed. So then whereas hee punisheth that man by death which had stolen away his brother, thereby we see that the life of the children of Israel was pretious vntounto him. And no maruaile. For if a father hauehave lost one of his children, especially if he be stolen from him, and he knoweth not what is become of him, wee know he would hauehave bin better contented to hauehave lost his goods, than his childe. Now seeing that God had adopted the stock of Abraham, he accounted those which descended from it, to be of his owne houshold, and named himself their father, and in very deed circumcision was a mark to separate yt people frō other nations. Therefore whosoeuer sold any one of the stocke of Abraham, he did wrong and iniurie not onelyonly to the person it selfe, but also vntounto God. Againe a man being solde vntounto another people, was in daunger of being constrained by force to commit idolatrie. In deed he were better suffer death; than doe so: but lyke as many are fraile & weake in this case, so might they also bee seduced, and turned aside frō ye law, & from ye seruice of God: & therefore by this means ensued not only ye destructiō of a mans body, but also of his soule. We see thē now that this law was grounded on great reason. And moreouer we know likewise, yt God had so redeemed this people, that they were called a royall priesthood. And therefore if this honour shoulde be abolished, it were all one as if a man shold rent in pieces the priuiledge which a prince had giuen: and like as God is greater than mortall men, so such an outrage committed against his maiestie, were more heinous and intollerable. But we must nowe returne vntounto our selues. For albeit there bee not nowadayes any certain people which God hath chosen, & shouled out from the rest of the worlde; yet are wee come by succession into the roome and place of the Iewes. For God hath receiued vsus into his Church, and we are at this day in the same degree of honour which the children of Abraham were in. Seeing it is so, he which stealeth away a man nowadayes, to cut him off from the Church of God, is in as great fault as he who in old time sold any one of the Israelits. And although earthly iustice hath established no lawe against it, yet doth it not cease to be a grieuous sinne stil in the sight of God. Let vsus therefore acknowledge the honor which God vouchsafeth vsus, when he maketh vsus of the number of his houshold, & taketh & aloweth vsus for his childrē. Now forasmuch as this is an inestimable benefit, we must endeuour to the vtmost of our power to preserue and keep it: and yt not eueryevery one for himselfe only; but for his neighbors also. Therfore when we see yt God hath assembled & gathered together any company of people to himselfe, let vsus seeke to keepe them so together, as none of thē may go astray. And if we be a cause and occasion that ye congregation of God bee deminished, and yt hee which was sometime of it, be estraunged from it by our meanes; we see that punishment ye lawe hath ordained. As touching ye outward policie and ciuil order, it remaineth not, yet neuertheles God hath declared yt such lewdnes shall not abide vnpunished. For he wil at ye least hauehave as great regard vntounto his house, as eueryevery of vsus woulde hauehave vntounto our own houses. And therfore let vsus learne by all meanes possible to keepe thē stil which are of Gods flock, and to stay men as much as we cā from departing from ye same. Yea and we knowe how we be commanded not only to nourish thē which are already begotten the children of god, but also to do our indeuor to win thē which are straungers: what wickednes then were it to turne thē out, which are already receiued vntounto ye church of God? I meane those which in very deede doe shew & declare thēselues to be ye children of god. For we know yt there is a regard to be had, yt al tag & …ag be not receiued into ye church. For there are many which seeke after Christ to hauehave their bodily ease, & there are many deceiuers: and if there be no discretion in receiuing thē in, it were altogether a mocking of god; as we hauehave too many examples in this case. Therfore we hauehave need of wisedom in this behalf. Neuertheles if we thorowe a cruelty, or wickednes, doe diminish the church of god, we must render an accoūt therof, and yt not as for som smal fault, but for so weighty a crime as we see God accounteth it, and as the paine which he ordained vnderunder the law of Moses, declareth it to be.
Yet notwithstanding wee finde many who for their owne profites sake doe in this sort disseuer their neighbors & cut thē off from ye Church of God. We see what marchādise of soules is made by them which seeke (as it seemeth) nothing els but to rent ye world: and many are not contented to steale their neighbours away, but they steale themselues too. For al they who for their tēporal & transitory profite, do turne aside and wtdrawe themselues from ye seruice of God, commit they not I beseech you this theft wherof I now speak? There is one which belongeth vntounto ye body of ye church, God hath vouchsafed him ye grace to cal him vntounto ye knowledge of his truth; & what doth he? Because yt nowadayes he which is knowen to be a faithful mā is persecuted in ye world, it were better to shrowd himself in a corner, thā to make a shew & countenāce of any thing: he reasoneth thus wt himself: what? Shal I take in hand so hard a thing? And is there any other likelihood but yt in ye end I shalbe put beside my liuing & my life? O this were too heauy a burdē for me to beare. Now he beareth himself in hand yt he is so excused. And thus mē steale thēselues away, both frō god & from his church. They make marchādise & sale of their own soules, as it were for a messe of potage,Gen. 25.32. as it is said of Esau: that is to say, for earthly foode they sel themselues & become the bondslaues of satan. And so we see yt this lawe is nowadays very ill kept: and therefore we ought so much ye more to note the intent & meaning of God, to the end yt eueryevery man after that god hath vouchsafed him ye grace to gather him into the number of his people, may keep himself among them: and ye better to maintaine ye libertie which wee hauehave, let vsus consider (as S. Paul saith) howe dearely it hath cost the son of God:Rom. 6 17. 1. Cor. 7.23. let vsus not enter againe into the bondage of satan and of sin, seeing we are freed thence by the bloude of the only sonne of God: but let vsus walke according vntounto that priuiledge which god hath giuen vntounto vsus, and hold fast the possession therof as long as we liue. And when euerie of vsus shall hauehave had such a regarde of himselfe, let vsus doe the like towardes all our brethren, that they whom God hath ioyned vntounto vsus depart not out of his house: but let vsus so imploy our paines as eueryevery of vsus may keepe his estate, that none bee diminished, that none wander nor go astray. And farther let vsus be afraid to make marchandise of those soules which hauehave beene redeemed by our Lord Iesus Christ with so deare a price, and let vsus not seeke after our owne commoditie in that behalfe, as we see howe retchlesly many giuegive themselues ouer in this point, and so they may finde the fatter fare, they care not one whit whether they remaine in the Church of God or no. Euen in this citie without seeking any farther, we hauehave examples hereof, namely y• men hauehave bin sold for redy mony: insomuch yt for ye pleasure of a drunkard or I know not of whō, one hath bin sold as an open marchādise, to ye same wickednes: such leaudnes hath bin seene heere at Geneua. But let vsus not take this example for a two or three: but let vsus know yt God ment in this place to giuegive a general rule and instruction, that wee ought asmuch as lieth in vsus to seeke and procure, yt they which are of the body of the Church may remaine therein euen vntounto ye end. Ye see in effect what we hauehave to beare in mind. And if the liberty of ye bodies was held so deare of God in ye time of ye lawe, let vsus at this day make far greater account of ye freedome which our soules hauehave obtained, by the bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ.
Let vsus come now vntounto ye second law which is mē tioned in this place. It is said: That men shal diligētly iudge of the leprosie, and take heede thereof, obseruing all the things which were commanded in the lawe: & that the priests of the stock of Leuie shalbe Iudges, & that the people shall stand to the iudgement which they shal giuegive: which they shall giuegive I say, not as they lust themselues, but as God had made a declaratiō thereof, as we may see in Leuiticus from ye thirteenth chapter to ye fifteenth, where it is fully treted of. Moses in this place speaketh of it as by ye way, and saith that they shal keepe al yt order. And for more ample confirmatiō he addeth: Remember what GOD did vntounto Marie by the way when ye came out of Egypt. For because Marie & Aaron murmured against their brother Moses for his wiues sake who was an Aethiopian;Numb. 12. they bare themselues in hand that they ought to bee aduanced in as high a degree as hee: in somuch that Mary became so arrogant & presumptuous: that shee would needs be a Prophetise in equall degree with Moses. But God punisheth her for such presumption: Aaron is born withal although he had in like sort deserued to be chastised. Mary therfore was striken with the leprosie, and was shut vp by ye space of seuendayes. And there she had bin like a rotten carrion all her life long but that Moses prayed for her, & her sin was pardoned. Neuerthelesse he addeth there: If her father had spit in her face, she ought to hauehave hiddē her self for hauing offended him: & therefore she must depart (saith he) from among ye people, that men may know the offence which she hath committed, and at ye end of seuen days let her returne into ye campe. Now God declareth by this example, that such as were striken with this disease, were shut vp.
Now let vsus first of al note, yt the leprosie wherof Moses speaketh in this place, and which ye law treateth of, is not yt which we cal ye leprosy nowadays: but a far diuersething from it. For this leprosie was not only in ye bodies of men & womē, but also in houses. And although we find yt other coū tries & nations were touched somtimes wt this disease,2. King. 5.10 as we see how Naaman ye Syrian was, yet was it neuertheles as a particular disease belonging only to ye Iewes: and yt was a notable vengeance of God vponupon them, to declare his anger & wrath by sending foorth this leprosie as a visible signe & tokē therof. Ye see then what we hauehave to beare in mind in ye first place. And yt verily which among ye Papists men call ye disease of S. Mayn or ye scurfe, was a kind of this leprosie. There were in deed many sorts of this disease, as a man may see by ye place which I hauehave alledged. And I speak no more of them in this place, than is expedient for the vnderstanding of the text, and not to make therof any great lesson. But yet neuertheles it is needefull for vsus to obserue yt which I hauehave touched as it shalbe anon more fully declared. Now then we see what the leprosie was: to wit, a certaine skurfe or somtimes a spot in the body which had no outward appearance of skurfe vponupon it: but was a certaine hid and inward disease, as it were a certaine scab within the flesh, wherin appeared some whitenes. Seeing that ye leprosie was after yt sort, we see nowe that God had a regard of the instructing of his people, when hee would hauehave them which were touched with this disease, set apart from the rest. And why? Euen to ye end yt men shold be in greater feare of yt punishment, which was knowen to proceede from the hand of God. If this chastisement had slipt away without any account made thereof, it could not hauehave profited so much. God therefore to ye intent hee might make this chastisement more notorious, straitly commaunded yt hee which was striken with the leprosie, should be shut vp, and yt he shold serue for a looking glasse for others to look in, yt they might bee afraide at ye sight of it & say, Alas, see ye this poore wretch which is striken wt the leprosie? And what signe is it? It is god yt hath wrought it, his hād hath done it; Alas, eueryevery one of vsus hath deserued asmuch, and therefore let vsus not tempt ye patience of our God: if hee spare vsus, let vsus for our part cease to prouoke him to anger. Ye see then ye admonition & warning which was giuen vntounto all mē whē they saw a man thus shut vp. And this order was obserued euen as farre as vntounto ye king himself, as we hauehave an example therof in Ozias, who being not content with y• kingdome,2. Chro. 2.… would be a priest & vsurpe ye spirituall regiment of the Church, and therfore God strake him with ye leprosie, & deposed him from his roial dignity, and he was according vntounto ye law shut vp all ye time of his life. There was yet a seconde reason of this shutting vp. For this disease might be contagious. And therfore Gods wil was that ye infection therof should be remoued from ye people, to ye intent ye al should not be infected with it. But ye principall cause was, to the end ye people might be put in mind, yt they ought to be remoued from vncleanesse, and from all manner of defilements. And yt is the cause also why ye iudging of the leprosie was giuen vntounto ye priests, who were of ye stocke of Leuy. God appointed not the phisitions nor surgeans iudges, but he wold hauehave the priests take a notice of ye leprosie. And if any were spotted therewt, they had autority to reiect them: & if any were healed thereof, he was likewise receiued by thē. For albeit yt this disease was hardly & seldom cured, yet was it not incurable. Therfore if so be yt any were healed, the priests were Iudges of it, & when they which were healed presented themselues, & had done certain solemnities which were required in yt behalfe, they came and offered their present in the temple, acknowledging what a singular benefite God had bestowed on them. For when a man was healed of that disease, it was very behoouefull yt he shoulde make a solemne acknowledgment of so great a benefite, and say: Lorde thou hast raised mee as it were from the deade: for I was a wretched and miserable carrion; thou hadest thrust mee out of all companie, and nowe behold Lord thou hast made me whole and sound, thou hast restored mee vntounto my former estate: therefore I acknowledge Lorde, that I hauehave receiued a kinde of resurrection, considering what weakenes & frailtie was in me. It was (I say) behooueful that such a solemne acknowledgement should be made. But (as I hauehave tolde you) the priestes were Iudges of this disease. And why? Because it appertained vntounto the ceremonies of the lawe.
Now here we hauehave to gather a good instruction, that is, that first although this order of excluding those from our companie which are striken with any euil disease be not obserued nowadays, yet notwithstanding wee must not cease to hauehave an eye vntounto the hand of God, that we may fare ye better by al ye chastisements which he layeth vponupon men; neither must any of vsus waite till he feele the blowes himself, but he must make his profite by ye correctiōs which our Lord sheweth vsus afar off. And therfore when we see any of our neighbors afflicted, let vsus take a view of our selues, and of our own faults, and let vsus iudge our selues before yt God iudge vsus. And thereupon being sorie for our sins, let vsus hasten to draw our selues out of them, and not stay vntill God visite vsus in the like maner. This is the thing which wee hauehave to note as touching ye first point. And for asmuch as we see that God ment to waken ye Iewes to ye intent they should the better know how to benefite themselues by this chastisement of ye leprosie, let vsus nowadayes in all diseases, not onelyonly in this or that sicknes, but in all afflictions which God sendeth vsus, know yt it is all one as if he gaue vsus a warning not to sleepe in our sins, and not to abuse his patience. Lo what we hauehave to beare in mind.
Now as touching ye ceremony it hath bin very fondly & foolishly abused in ye Popedome, & the abuse therof raigneth in yt synagogue yet stil to this day. First, for that hearing ye name of leprosie, they supposed it was ye scurfe, and so hauehave taken the one for the other. And therupon what hauehave they done? Forsooth their officers must iudge of this disease, whether any be touched wt it or no. And by what knowledge? They sende to the barbers and to the phisitians, and when they hauehave iudged therof, then they themselues afterward giuegive their verdit. And by what right? Because god ordained ye priests to be Iudges of ye leprosie. That is true. But ye priests, whom God orned were of ye stocke of Leuie. Now since ye comming of our Lorde Iesus Christ, this Priesthoode hath beene transferred vntounto him: as the Apostle saith in the Epistle to the Hebrewes.…. 5.5.I know the Papists are so shameles yt they stick not to mock God openly, in saying that it came from Leuie vntounto the Pope. But the Apostle expresly declareth, yt it belongeth vntounto him, who by a solemne oth was appointed according vntounto the order of Melchisedech. And because our lord Iesus Christ being now risen from the deade dieth no more; the priesthood likewise must remaine vntounto him in his own person, & he hath no successour. The Papists therfore rob Christ of his dignity, when they snatch in such wise vntounto themselues, that which is belonging vntounto him. And moreouer let vsus note (as I hauehave already touched) yt they play the beasts ouergrosly in this point: for god spake of the leprosie which was a disease which he sent vponupon the people of Israel, and they transfer it to the scurfe, a thing far different from it. But for al this, they hauehave not left to reare vp an other tyranny: for they say yt this is a ceremonial lawe: I grant it. Therfore it importeth a figure. Al this is true. We must come then now vntounto the trueth & substance which is correspōdent therunto. They say that sinne is the leprosie. Well let all this bee graunted vntounto them. It must be purged therfore (say they) & the priests must be Iudges of it. Yea but let them enter into the place of Iesus Christ, and then shall they be taken for Iudges: but vntill that Iesus Christ be deposed from his priestly dignity, whith God his father gaue him, it appertaineth not vntounto any liuing creature in the whole worlde. Wee must therefore conclude, that the Papists are trecherous traitours in that they beare vsus in hande that they are succeeded in the roome of Iesus Christ, to iudge the spirituall leprosie. And hereupon they hauehave ordained the law of Christ. That is the very ground of their confession or shrift. For there is not one worde for it in the holy scripture: but they vse this suttle cauilling: Sinne is the leprosie, & the priestes must bee Iudges of it, but we are priests, therefore the iudging is ours. But wee hauehave alreadie shewed that by vsurping the priesthood, they are theeues and treacherous traitours, and that they lift themselues vp against the sonne of God. Take that for one note. But let vsus proceede farther. A man cannot iudge (say they) without hee knowe the cause; and the cause cannot bee knowen, without there bee a confession of the sinne; and therefore it followeth that eueryevery one is bound to confesse his sinnes once a yeare. For al are stained with this spiritual leprosie, because al are sinners. As touching that which they say, that no mā can iudge except he know the cause, it is true: but he must not iudge by coniectures & vponupon vncertainty, as they doe. For I pray you, iudge they vponupon knowledge, when they cannot skill to discerne whether they which confesse themselues in their eares dissemble, with them or speak the truth? Behold, a man commeth to confession, and who knoweth what his minde or will is? Who knoweth any of these thinges, whether he mocke the priest or no; whether he speaketh any thing by constraint, whether he keepe any thing close for shame that he hath of it? What knowe they of all these thinges? And therefore these Popish Priestes cannot iudge vponupon knowledge of the cause. Againe it is well knowen how great clerks they be: insomuch that when a thing is told them; they can hardly discerne either the thing it selfe or the end or qualitie thereof. And though they coulde, yet were not that ynough: Men know what maner of Iudges & howe competent they be. And in very deede they say well, that in confession there must be some degree of knowledge: but a little after they say, that it skilleth not greatly whether there be any or no; for autority abideth still, albeit that knowledge bee wanting: they gainsay themselues manifestly, for first they say that there must bee a degree of knowledge, and afterwardes they say that it is
breake the ordinance of God, they shal be confounded. Therefore sith we see so notable an example in the person of Marie, let vsus knowe that God ment to warne vsus, that we ought not to take it in euill part to be chastised at his hand: but rather to know our faults and to be sorie for them, and thereupon to endeuor that the punishment which we hauehave suffered, may serue all others for an example.
Now let vsus kneele downe before the maiesty of our good God with acknowledgement of our faultes, praying him to make vsus to feele them better than we hauehave done, & that we may endeuor wt all our might, not only to keepe our selues in that holy vnion which he hath made with vsus, but also to win them which are yet estraunged, and to confirme those which are already called with vsus into his Church: and that therwithal we may not suffer the name of our God to be vnhallowed, but endeuour to remoue our selues from all filthes and defilementes, that seeing it hath pleased him to sanctifie vsus for himselfe, wee may remaine temples of his holy spirite, and sacred vessels to be applied vntounto any vse whereunto he hath appointed vsus, that is, that his righteousnes may shine in vsus, so as wee may neuer desire any other thing than to frame our selues in all points vntounto the obeying of his holy lawe. That it will please him to graunt this grace not onelyonly vntounto vsus but also vntounto all people and Nations of &c.