Sermons on Ephesians, Sermons · Sermon 2
¶The second Sermon vppon the first Chapter.
3. Blissed bee the God and father of our Lord Iesus Christ, which hath blissed vsus with all spirituall blissing in heauenly things in Christ:
4. According too his choozing of vsus in him before the foundation of the world, too the end wee should bee holy and vnblamable before him in charitie.
WEe hauehave seene heeretofore how S. Paule exhorted vsus too praise and blisse God, bycause he hath blissed vsus, and that not after an earthly maner, but after a spirituall maner, too the end wee should learne too holde our selues contented with Gods shewing of his fatherly goodnesse and louelove towards vsus, in opening the gate of the kingdome of heauen vntounto vsus by hope, in so much that although wee bee subiect too much miserie in this world, yit it is good reason that wee should content our selues with Gods choozing of vsus after that fashion, and with his calling of vsus too him, according as it is witnessed too vsus by the Gospell,Math. 6. b. 9. &. Luk. 11. …. that he is our father, namely in as much as he hath knit vsus too our Lord Iesus Christ as members too their head. And now S. Paule bringeth vsus too the originall & welspring, or rather too the principall cause tha… caused God too take vsus into his fauour. For it is not ynough that God hath vttered the …reasures of his goodnesse and mercy vppon vsus, too drawe vsus too the hope of the heauenly lyfe by the Gospell: and yit is that very much. For had not S. Paule added that which wee see presently: it myght hauehave bin … that Gods grace is common too al men, and that he offereth it too all without exception, and consequen…ly that it is in eueryevery mans … too receyue it through his owne freewill, by meanes whereof the…e should bee some deseruing in vsus. For if there were no … men, but that some receyue Gods grace and … what myght bee sayd, but that God hath shewed … to all mankynd? But they that are parttakers of the … Lord Iesus Christ, atteyne too it by fayth. And so yee see what might bee deemed of it. But S. Paule, too exclude all deseruing … behalfe, and too shew that all commeth of Gods onelyonly free … goodnesse: sayth that he hath blissed vsus according too his … of vsus aforehand. As if he should say, that too exalt Gods … as becommeth vsus, wee must looke vppon the difference that is … betweene man and man. For the Gospell is preached to some, and … wote not what it is, but are vtterly shet out from it, as if … should make it too rayne in one coast, and suffer another coast to … dry. Now if it bee demaunded why God pitieth the one part, … forsaketh and giueth ouer the other: there is none other answere … that it so pleaseth him. Uppon the preaching of the Gospell in a …, some shalbee touched with lyuely faith in their hartes, and … go away ageine as they came without faring any whit the …, or else they harden themselues ageinst God, and bewray the … that was hidden in them before, whereof commeth such …? Euen of this, that God amendeth the one sort by his holy …, and leaueth the other sort in their naturall corruption. Yee see … that the thing wherein Gods goodnesse shyneth foorth most vntoo … that by the preaching of the Gospell too vsus, wee hauehave as it were … that he pitieth vsus, loueth vsus, calleth vsus, and allureth vsus too him. … when the doctrine that is preached too vsus, is receyued of vsus … effectually: that is yit a further and more speciall token … wee perceyue that God intendeth too bee our father, and hath … vsus too bee his children. Not without cause then doth S. Paule say … this streyne, that wee bee blissed of God, euen according too his … of vsus aforehand. For wee of our selues come not too him, wee … selues seeke him not:Esai. 6…. …. …. but the saying of the Prophet Esay must … bee fulfilled in all: namely that God sheweth himselfe too such … sought him not: and that such as were farre of doo see him neere at …, and he sayeth too them, heere I am, heere I am; although you … despyzed mee, yit doo I voutsafe too come too you, bycause I hauehave … care of your welfare. Thus wee see what S. Paule amed at in this ….
Too bee short wee hauehave to marke heere, that wee shall neuer know … our saluation commeth, till we hauehave lifted vp our myndes too … Gods euerlasting purpose, wherby he hath chozen whom he thought …; and left the residew in their owne confuzion and fall. Now then … is no maruell though some men thinke this doctrine too be straunge and hard: for it agreeth no whit at all too mans naturall wit. If a man aske of the Philosophers: They wil alwayes tell him that God loueth such as are worthy of it, and that forasmuch as vertue pleaseth him, he dooth also marke out such as are giuen theretoo, too hold them for his people. Yee see then, that after our owne imagination, wee will deeme that God putteth none other difference between man and man, in louing some, and in hating other some, than eche mans owne worthinesse and deseruing. But by the waye, let vsus remember also, that in our owne vnderstanding there is nothing but vanitie, and that wee must not measure God by our meetyard, and that it is too excessyue an ouerweening too bynd God too the stake, so as he should not do any thing but that which wee could conceyue, and which myght seeme ryghtfull in our eyes. The matter therfore concerneth heere the reuerencing of Gods secrets which are incomprehensible too vsus, & without wee doo so, wee shall neuer taste the principles of fayth. For wee knowe that our wisdome ought alwayes too begin at humilitie: and this humilitie is as much too say, as that we must not fall too weying of Gods iudgments in our owne balance, nor take vpō vsus to be iudges and determiners of them, but that wee must bee sober, bycause of the weaknesse of our wit, and that forasmuch as wee bee grosse and dull, wee must magnifie God,Psal. 36. b. 6. and say as wee bee taught by the holy scripture, Lord thy determinations are as a great deepe, and no man is able too recken them vp vntoo thee. Yee see then, that the cause why some men fynd this doctrine hard and irksome, is for that they bee too much wedded too their owne opinion, and cannot submit themselues to Gods wisdome, to receiue his sayings soberly & modestly. And truly we ought too take warning by that which S. Paule sayeth:1. Cor. 2. d. 15. namely that man of his owne mother wit vnderstādeth not Gods secretes, but taketh them too bee starke foolishnesse. And why? For wee bee not of his c…unsell, but must hauehave things reueled too vsus by his holy spirit, or else we should neuer know them: & we must hauehave thē in such measure as he giueth thē vntounto vsus. S. Paule speaketh there of the things that wee know by experiēce: that is to wit, that we be Gods childrē, that he gouerneth vsus by his holy spirit, that he comforteth vsus in our aduersities, & that he strengtheneth vsus through pacience. We should not conceyue any of all these things, vnlesse we were inlyghtened by his holy Ghost. How then shall wee vnderstand the thing that is much hygher, namly that God choze vsus before the making of the world? Sith the cace standeth so: let vsus learne too put away all that wee conceyue of our owne …, & too lay it vnderunder foot, and let vsus receyue whatsoeuer God … vsus, discharging our selues vtterly of all selfweening, and … our selues that wee cannot bring any thing of our owne syde but … beastlynesse. Thus yee see what wee hauehave too beare in mynd. … in good sooth wee see how S. Paule exhorteth vsus to come too the … poynt.Rom. 9. d. 20. Who art thou o man (sayeth he) which standest in … with thy God? After he had set downe many replyes which we … to make, he sayeth, who art thou o man? By the word man he … to make vsus perceyue our owne fraylty:Psal. …03. c. 14. for we be but wormes of … earth and rottēnesse. Now then, what a malipertnesse is it too open … mouthes to dispute with God? Is it not a pe…uerting of the whole … of nature: Is it in our power too plucke the Sunne out of the …, or too latch the moone betwixte our teeth, as they say? much lesse … it lawful for vsus too contend with God, and too alledge reasons too … his iudgments, which wee cannot comprehend.
… are that will graunt this doctrine of Predestination too bee …, wherof S. Paule treateth heere: but yit they would it were so …, as it myght neuer bee spoken of. Yea, but they shew themselues … bee but fooles in controllyng the holie Ghoste, which spake it by … Prophets and Apostles, yea and euen by the mouth of Gods only ….Iohn. 6. g. 70. For when our Lord Iesus intendeth too assure vsus of our …: he sendeth vsus too this euerlasting election, and lykewise when he … too magnifie the gift of fayth,Iohn. 10. c. …4. the one in the tenth of Ihon, … the other in the sixth. And therefore those kynd of folke come too … too put God too silence, and too wype the things out of the holye … which are shewed there. For all the whole scripture is ….2. Tim. 3. d. 16. S. Paule spake that of the Lawe and the Prophets. Therfore mee also may conclude, that there is no superfluitie in the Gospell, nor any thing which serueth not too good purpose, and whereby wee may … bee edifyed both in faith and in the feare of God. But this doctrine … conteyned there, and the holy Ghost speaketh it lowd and shirle. … Therefore they must needes bee Manichies which intend too nip and … the Gospell. For looke what lyketh not them, they did set it aside, … forged a Gospell of diuerse peeces, allowing nothing but that … they themselues thought good of. Now if such maner of … hauehave shewed a diuelish stubbornnesse ageinst God, in separating … things which ought too go toogither in vnseparable bond, then are they malicious and froward also, which would now a dayes hauehave the doctrine of election kept in silence. For they woulde ouerrule God if it were possible, & stop his mouth as oft as he vttereth any thing that lyketh not them. Agein, a man may euidently see their beastlynesse, in that S. Paule had not a better proofe whereby too magnifie Gods goodnesse, than this. Then if there were none other reason, yit were it better that the whole world should go too confuzion, than that this doctrine should bee suppressed with silence. For is it reason that God should set the infinite treasures of his mercies before our eyes, and yit that they should not be spoken of, but bee thrust vnderunder foote? But there are yit twoo reasons mo, which shewe that this doctrine is most needefull too bee preached, and that wee reape so great profit by it, as it had bin much better that wee had neuer bin borne, than too bee ignorant of the thing that S. Paule sheweth heere. For there are twoo thinges wherat wee must chiefly ame, and whereuntoo it behoueth vsus too apply all our wittes and indeuers, and they bee the very summe of all the thinges which God teacheth vsus by the holy scripture. The one is the magnifying of God as he deserueth, and the other is the assurednesse of our saluation,…om. 8. c. 15. that wee may call vppon him as our father with full libertie. If wee hauehave not these twoo thinges, wo woorth vsus, for there is nother fayth nor religion in vsus. Well may wee talke of God, but it shalbee but a leazing. As touching the first poynt, I hauehave tolde you alreadie that Gods grace is not sufficiently knowen but by se…ting Gods election as it were before our eyes. For put the cace that God drawe all men alyke, and that such as intend too obteyne saluation, must come of their owne free will and selfmouing: if it be so, then is it certeine that wee deserue too bee receyued at Gods hand, and that he should handle eueryevery man according too his worthinesse. But wherin shall Gods goodnesse bee magnifyed? Euen in this, that he preuenteth vsus of his owne mere free good wil, and loueth vsus neuerthelesse without fynding any thing eyther in vsus or in our woorkes why he should louelove vsus. If this bee trew, then must there needes bee election, so as God must take the one sort bycause he thinketh it good so to doo, & leaue the other. Thus ye see it is a most assured point, that Gods glory doth not appeere & shyne foorth as were requisite, except it be knowen that he sheddeth foorth his goodnesse and louelove where it pleaseth him.
I sayd euen now that the preaching of his word is a singuler benefyte too vsus. And that is the cause why it is sayd so often in the Lawe & …, that God hath not delt so with any other nation, as he … the linage of Abrahā,Deut. 4. a. 7. in that he voutsaf…d too chooze & adopt … the lawe was a sure record. So then the children of … exhorted too prayse God, bycause he had vo…safed to gyue … law, and in the meane whyle had let the poore …entyles … folk that perteyned not too him at all. But it is yit a farre … specialler priuiledge, when he maketh vsus too fare the better … woord. For it is certeyne that our eares myght bee beaten … with the things that should bee told vsus, and wee bee neuer the … for it, vntill God speake to vsus by his holy spirit within vsus. Then … matter God sheweth a dubble grace.2. Cor. 2. d. 16. The one is when he … vp men to preache the Gospell too vsus: for no man is meete & … too doo it of himselfe. Needes therefore must they bee of Gods …, which doo call vsus too him, and offer vsus the hope of saluation. But yit for all that, let vsus marke well that wee cannot beleeue, except … himself too vsus by his holy spirit, and speake too our hartes … holy Ghost, as well as he hath spoken too our eares by the … of man.Esai. 53. a. 1. And that is the cause why the Prophet Esay sayeth, … beleeued our doctrine? or too whom is the arme of the Lord …? He sheweth that there is no fayth in the world, till God hauehave … in mennes myndes and hartes by the power of his holy … And for the very same cause also dooth our Lord Iesus say,Iohn. 6. c. 44. that … commeth too him except he bee drawen by the father: but … hath learned of my father (sayeth he) the same submitteth … mee. Too be short, wee see manifestly that God sheweth … too vsus, when he voutsafeth too inlyghten vsus by his holy … too the end wee should bee drawen too the fayth of his Gospell. If the same were doone commonly and indifferently too all men: yit … wee hauehave cause too magnify God. But now when wee see that … are hardened, and othersome vnconstant: and that some go their … without taking any profit by the things that they hauehave heard, … othersome bee altoogither blockishe: it is certaine that the same … Gods grace more apparant too vsus,Act. 13. g. 48. according as S. Luke …, that at S. Paules preaching, as many beleeued as were … too saluation. Uerily the number of people was great that … S. Paules Sermon: and out of all doubt he on his side had so … grace, as ought to hauehave moued euen the very stones. And yit …, a great sort continued in their vnbeleefe and stubbornnesse, and othersome beleeued. Now S. Luke sayeth playnly that the cause therof was not for that the one sort were more forewarde folke than the other, or for that there was any towardnesse of vertue more in the one than in the other: but for that God had foreordeyned them too saluation. Therefore at one woord, wee see that all mannes deseruing must ceasse and be layd vnderunder foote, or else God shall not hauehave his deserued praise. Yea and wee must vnderstand, that fayth commeth not of our selues: for if it did, then should there be some woorthinesse in our woorkes. Trew it is, that by fayth wee confesse that there is nothing but wretchednesse in vsus, that wee bee damned and accursed, and that wee bring not aught with vsus but onelyonly an acknowledgement of our sinnes. But yit should our fayth serue for some desert, if we had it of our owne breeding. Wee must therefore conclude, that it is impossible for men too beleeue, vnlesse it bee giuen them from aboue. And surely S. Paule declareth heere a thing well woorthie too bee marked, when he sayeth, blissed bee God. And for what cause? Euen for inriching vsus in such wise in Iesus Christ, that our lyfe is happie and blissed. And afterward he addeth, according too his choozing of vsus. Is not fayth comprehended among the spirituall riches whereof S. Paule maketh mention? Yis, and (which is more) it is the chiefe of them. For it is by fayth that wee receyue the holy Ghost, it is by fayth that wee become patient in our aduersities,H…b. 11 it is by fayth that we become obedient too God, it is by fayth that wee bee sanctifyed to his seruice. Too bee short, fayth continueth alwayes chiefe of the spirituall benefites that God bestoweth vppon vsus. Now let vsus remember well S. Paules order. He sayth that God hath giuen vsus fayth as well as any of all the rest, according too his choozing of vsus. Wee see then that fayth dependeth vppon Gods election, or else wee must make S. Paule a lyer. And so as touching the first poynt, yee see that all such as cannot abyde to hauehave predestination plainly and openly spoken of, are deadly enemies of Gods grace, and would deface it too the vttermost of their power. For (as I sayd afore) the hyding therof were the ouerthrowing of all religion.
The second poynt is the assurednesse of our Saluation. The Papists say wee must dout of it, and that wee cannot come vntoo God otherwyze than with an opinion that he wyll receyue vsus: but too assure our selues of it, that ought wee not too doo, for that were too great a presumtuousnesse. But when wee pray vntoo God, wee must call …, at leastwize if we be the scholers of our Lord Iesus Christ, … taught vsus so too doo. Now, doo wee call him father at …? or are we sure of it in our selues that he is our father? If … is there nothing but hipocrisie in our prayers, and the first … wee vtter shalbee a stark lye. The Papistes therfore neuer … it is too pray vntoo God, seing they say that they ought not … themselues of their saluation.Eph. 3. c. 12. But (as wee shall see in the … chapter specially) the scripture sheweth that if wee will pray too … ryghtly, wee must hauehave beleef in Iesus Christ, which giueth vsus … & vppon that trust wee by and by conceyue boldnesse. Then … the world go, wee must not bee in a mamering nor yet dout, but … be throughly resolued & perswaded in our selues, that God … vsus as his children. And how may that bee but by imbracing … through fayth, as he offereth it vsus in his Gospell, and by … our selues also that wee bee grounded in his euerlasting … if our fayth should depend vppon our selues: surely it would … from vsus, and it myght bee shaken of, if it were not … aboue. And although wee bee kept or preserued by fayth as … S. Peter:1. Pet. … a. 5. yit is it God that keepeth or preserueth vsus. Then if … were not grounded vppon Gods eternall election, it is … that Satan myght plucke it from vsus eueryevery minute of an houre. … wee were too day the constantest in the world,Luke. 2…. c. 31. yit myght wee … too morrowe. But our Lord Iesus sheweth vsus the remedie too … vsus ageinst all temptations, in that he sayeth, you come not … of your selues, but the heauenly father bringeth you too mee. … as I hauehave taken you intoo my keeping,Luke. 10. …. 32. bee no more …, for I acknowledge you for the inheritance of God my father, … that hath giuen me the charge of you and put you into my hand, … than all. Wee see then, that besides the setting foorth of … glory, our saluatiō also is warranted by Gods eternall …: which ought too bee sufficient cause too moue vsus too consider … at S. Paule treateth of it in this place.
Trew it is (as I hauehave touched alredie) that many men starkle at it … they heere that God hath chozen whom he thought good, and … all the rest. For wee see that the number of them that come vntounto … is very small: and why then hath he refuzed the rest? Uerily as … would say that Gods will ought not too stand for a rule towardes … It behoueth vsus too marke,Psal. 16. a. 2. first that God is not bound at all vntoo any person. For had wee once that foredeele at his hand, that he were neuer so little beholden vntoo vsus: then we might well go too lawe with hun. But forasmuch as he on his side is nothing at all bounde vntoo vsus, but wee altoogither vntoo him: let vsus see now what wee shall win by our contending with him. For if wee will needes constreyne God too deale alyke with all men, he should hauehave lesse libertie than mortall creatures. If a man bee riche, he may doo what he listeth with his owne goods: if he bee liberall too some one, is it reason he should bee sewed at the Lawe for it, and that eueryevery man should demaund the lyke summe of him? Behold, a man of his good will aduanceth one whom he loueth: now if all poore folke should come and require him too doo as much for them, as it were of bound dewtie, were it not a fond thing? Uerily a man may adopt the farthest straunger in the world too be his chyld and heire,Math. 5. g. 45. and it is free for him so too doo. Behold, God is liberall too all men: for he maketh his sunne too shyne both vppon good and bad. OnelyOnly he reserueth a certeine part of men on whom too bestowe the priuiledge of adopting them too his children. What shall wee now gayne by murmuring ageinst him? If any man say, that then he should seeme too bee an accepter of persons:Coloss. 3. d. 25. No, it is not so: for he choozeth not the riche, and letteth the poore go: he choozeth not noble men and gentlemen,1. Cor. 1. a. 26. rather than men of no estimation and bace degree. And therefore it cannot bee sayd that there is any accepting of persons before God. For in choozing those that are vnwoorthy, he hath no respect but only too his owne mere goodnesse: nother passeth he whether one bee more woorth than another, but he taketh whom he listeth. What would wee more? Then is it good reason that we should hold our selues contented with Gods will, and brydle our selues, and let him chooze whom he listeth, bycause his will is the souereine rule of equitie and right.Rom. 3. …. 19. And so yee see the mouthes of all the world stopped. And although the wicked and he athenish sort doo grudge and repyne at God, yea or blaspheme him for so dooing: yit is he myghtie ynough too maynteyne his owne rightuousnesse and infinite wisdome: and when they hauehave chattered their fill, yit must they bee confounded in the end. For our part, wee see what S. Paule sayeth heere: for it is no darke doctrine when he sayeth that God hath blissed vsus. Uerily inasmuch as he hath inlyghtened vsus with the fayth of the Gospell by his holy spirit, and made vsus parteners of the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ: euen therby (sayeth he) hath he shewed that he had choozen vsus … making of the world. And therefore let vsus vnderstand, that … Gods grace aryght, wee must (as I sayd afore) come too … and originall cause, that is too wit, vntoo Election.
… have wee too passe further: for too the i…tent the better too … respects and woorthynesse which men myght pretend, … wee bee inclyned too chalendge alwayes somwhat too our … and cannot abyde too bee brought to nothing: he sayeth, before … of the world. So then forasmuchas through such … wee think our selues too hauehave that which wee hauehave not: it was … that S. Paule should heere beate downe all such fantasticall …. And for that cause he sayeth wee could put our selues … when wee were not yet borne. Nay verily, God choze vsus before … taking of the world: and what could wee then bring vntoo him? In … the Papists hauehave a suttle shift in this behalfe: for they say that God chaze such vntoo saluation, as had not yet deserued it, but yit he … such as he foresawe shoulde deserue it. Thus confesse they … …eseruing at all went before election, eyther in order or in … but that God (as too whom all thinges are open) knewe who … bee worthie of it. After that maner doo the Papists speake of it … they deny not Gods election. And soothly, to shewe that these … which nowadayes cannot abyde too hauehave it spoken of, … diuells incarnate, and maynteyne a more outrageous and … wickednesse than the Papists do: wee must note that the … God to hauehave chozen and predestinated whom he thought … before the making of the world. They stand vntoo that: … thing these diuells deny, and would hauehave Gods maiestie vtterly …, by ouerthyowing his ordinaunce after that maner. The … leastwyze such of them as hauehave walked vprightest, & I speake … of the very Monks and Freers which are called schoole diuines) … yit further, that this election of Gods is free, and that he choze … man for any other respect, than for that it pleased himselfe: but … and by after, they mingle and turmoyle al: for they say that whē … choze whom he listed, he did it too make them deserue it. And … doo they ground all their merites, insomuch as they … that men may win the kingdome of heauen by their owne … They graunt in deede that as touching election, it is a free gift: … …lwayes they returne too their fantasticall surmyze, that God … who should doo good. But how should he foresee that which could not bee? For wee knowe that all Adams ofspring is corrupted, & that wee hauehave not the skill too thinke one good thought of doyng well, and much lesse therefore are able too doo well in deede. Although God should tarie for vsus a hundred thousand yeers, if wee could continew so long in the world: yit is it certeine that wee should neuer come vntoo him, nor doo any thing else than increase the mischiefe continually too our owne condemnation. Too bee short, the longer that men …yue in the world, the deeper doo they plundge themselues in their damnation. And therefore God could not foresee the thing, which was not in vsus, before he himselfe did put it intoo vsus. How then come wee vntoo God? How obey wee him? How hauehave we a quiet mynd that yeeldeth it selfe according too his fayth? All these things come of him. And so it followeth that he is fayne too doo all himselfe. Wherfore let vsus consider, that in saying that God choze vsus before the creation of the world, S. Paule presuppozeth the thing that is trew: namely that God could not see any thing in vsus, saue the euill that was there: for there was not one droppe of goodnesse for him too fynd. So then, seying he hath chozen vsus, yee see it is a very manifest record of his free goodnesse. And for the same cause,Rom. 9. … 11. in the nynth too the Romanes where he speaketh of the twoo twinnes Iacob and Esawe, at such time as they were yit in their moothers womb, before they had done eyther good or euill, too the intent that all shoulde come onelyonly of the caller, and not of the worker: it is sayd, that the elder should serue the yonger. Wee see then how S. Paule declareth there more at large, the thing that he toucheth heere briefly: that is too wit, that whereas God choze vsus before the creation of the world, therein he sheweth sufficiently, that one man is not more woorthie or excellent than another, that he had not respect too any deseruing. Therefore seyng that the putting of difference betweene Iacob and Esawe, was before they had doone eyther good or euill: it came not of the woorkes, but of the caller. Then must all praise bee yeelded vntoo God, and nothing at all bee reserued too man. And so yee see yit once ageine what wee hauehave too marke heere, when as S. Paule sayeth that wee were chozen before the makyng of the world.
He confirmeth the thing yit better in that he sayeth, that the same vvas doone in Iesus Christ. If wee had bin chozen in our selues, it myght be sayd, that God had found in vsus some secret vertue vnknowen too men. But seyng that he hath chozen vsus (that is too saye, … … our selues: what shall wee reply too that? If I doo a man … bycause I louelove him. And if the cause of my louelove bee sought … bee for that wee bee lyke of conditions, or else for some …. But wee must not imagine any lykelinesse in God, and … vsus expressly heere: for S. Paule sayeth that wee were … Christ. Had God then an eye vntoo vsus when he voutsafed …? No: for then should he hauehave vtterly abhorred vsus. It is … in respect of our miseries he had pitie and compassion vppon … vsus: but that was bycause he had loued vsus already in our … Christ. Then must God needes hauehave had his patterne … glasse before him wherin too behold vsus, that is too say, he … hauehave looked vppon our Lord Iesus Christ, before he could … vsus and call vsus. And so, too bee short, after S. Paule hath … wee could not bring any thing vntoo God, but that he … of his owne free goodnesse, in choozing vsus before the creation of … he addeth yit a more certeiner proofe: namely that he did … …ord Iesus Christ, who is as it were the trew booke of … Gods voutsafyng to chooze vsus, that is to wit, his voutsafyng … it before all euerlastingnesse, was as it were a registring of vsus … of Record. And the holy scripture calleth Gods election … of Lyfe. As I sayd afore, Iesus Christ serueth for a register: … whom wee bee ingraued, and in whom God acknowledgeth … children. Seyng then that God had an eye vntoo vsus in the … of Iesus Christ: it followeth that he fyndeth not any thing in … wee myght lay before him, too cause him too elect vsus. This … is the thing that wee hauehave too remember further.
… afterward, that it is too the end we should be pure … before God, namely in LoueLove. This woord LoueLove … referred vntoo God: as if it were sayd, that wee shall fynde … reason why God voutsafed too take vsus for his children, but … owne free louelove. Or else (as it is verye lyke) S. Paule … what the trew soundnesse and perfection of the faythfull is: … too walk in all rightuousnesse before God. Wee cannot laye … the whole as now, but it shall suffyze too tell breefly whertoo … had an eye. For he sheweth heere that although Gods … free, and doo beate downe and put away all the woorthinesse, …, and vertewes of men: yet notwithstanding it serueth not to … leaue too doo euill and too lead a disordered lyfe, or too runne at rouers, but rather too withdraw vsus from the euil wherin wee were plundged. For naturally wee can doo nothing e…se but prouoke Gods wrath, wickednesse will alwayes reigne in vsus, & wee bee hild downe vnderunder the bonds and tyranny of Satan. God therfore must bee fayne too woorke, & too change vsus: for all goodnesse cōmeth of his election, sayeth S. Paule. Yee see then that the thing wheruntoo he ment too bring the faythfull, was to make them knowe, that lyke as God choze them of his owne free goodnesse: so he gyueth them not leaue too yeeld themselues to naughtinesse, but intendeth too keepe and preserue them vndest…ed too himselfe. For Gods chozing of vsus and his calling of vsus therwithall vntounto holynesse, are things matched ins…perably togither:… Thess. 4. a. 7. accordingly also as S. Paule sayeth in another text, that wee be not called to vncle…enesse & f…thinesse, but to be dedicated too God in all godlynesse and holynesse. Now forasmuch as we cannot lay foorth the whole at this tyme, let vsus looke too make our profit of this Lesson. And seing wee bee now about too prepare our selues to the receyuing of our Lord Iesus Christs supper, which is a pawne vntoo vsus as well of our election as of the hope of our saluation, and of all the spiri…uall benefyts that come foorth of this welspring and fountaine of Gods free goodnesse: let vsus consider that there he vttereth his riches vntoo vsus, not too the end that wee should abuse them, but rather of purpose too be glorified for them at our hands, not only with our mouthes, but also with our whole lyues. And forasmuchas wee hold all things of him: let vsus also learne too bee his, and too giuegive ouer our selues too the obeying of him, that he may inioy vsus quietly. And let vsus alwayes shoote at this mark, namely too get a sure warrant that he taketh and auoweth vsus for his children, by bearing his marks, & by shewing in bery deede that wee bee rightly gouerned by his holy spirit, in calling vppon him as our father. Thus yee see in effect what wee hauehave too marke in this text till the residew may followe.
Now let vsus fall down before the maiestie of our good God with acknowledgme…t of our faults, praying him too make vsus feele them in such wise, as wee may continually profit in his feare, and be strengthened more and more in the same: & in the meane whyle so to beare with our weaknesse, as wee may alwayes inioy his grace, euen till he hauehave set vsus in possession of all things, at such time as he shall hauehave doone away our sinnes, and blotted them quite out for our Lord Iesus Christs …ake. And salet vsus all say, Almightie God heauenly father. &c.