Two Notable Sermons, Title page – To the reader 1
¶ Two notable Sermons. Made by that worthy Martyr of Chriſt Maiſter Iohn Bradford, the one of Repentance, and the other of the Lordes ſupper neuer before imprinted.
¶ Peruſed and allowed according to the Quéenes Maieſties Iniunction.
1574
¶ Imprinted at London by Iohn Awdely, and Iohn Wyght,
¶ TO THE CHRIſtian Reader Tho. Sampſon wiſheth the felicity of ſpéedy and full conuerſion to the Lord.
GOdly learned men doo wryte and publiſh bookes to profit the age in which they do liue, and the poſteritie. This deſire was in the Authour of this treatiſe Maiſter Iohn Bradford, who was the Preacher and publiſher of this Sermon of repentaunce. And now, to the ende that we which do liue in earth after him, and are the poſteritie, may take as much or more profit by it then they dyd, to and for whom in his lyfe tyme he did both preach and publiſh it, the ſame hys labour is by new emprintyng publiſhed againe. Nothing is added to toys Sermon, or altered in it: onelyonly to the ſermon of repentaunce before printed, is added an other Sermon of the Lords ſupper, which he alſo made, and was neuer printed before. And aptly ſhalt thou ſée, good Reader, theſe two Sermons ioyned together. For in diligent peruſing of the laſt, thou ſhalt ſée how neceſſarely he draweth the doctrine of repentaunce to them al, which do with due preparation receiue the holy Sacrament of Chriſt. I doo not knowe which of the Sermons I ſhoulde moſt prayſe. I wiſh that by reading both, thou mayeſt make thy great profite. In both theſe Sermons thou ſhalt reade Bradford preaching repentance with his own pen.
They are counted the moſt profitable Teachers, which hauehave themſelues good experiance by practiſe in themſelues, of that which they doe teach to others: ſuch as may ſafely ſay, Brethren be ye folowers of me, and looke on them which walke ſo …il. 3. 17.as ye hauehave vsus for an example. And ſurely ſuch a paterne was Maiſter Bradford in his lyfe tyme, of thys doctrine of repentaunce which in both theſe Sermons he teacheth, that I which did know him familiartye, muſt needes geue to God thys praiſe for hym, that among men I hauehave ſcarcely knowen …oue lyke vntounto hym. I dyd knowe when, and partlye howe it pleaſed God by effectuall callyng to turne his hart vntounto the true knowledge and obedience of the moſt holy Goſpell of Chriſt our Sauiour. Of which God dyd geue him ſuch an heauenly hold and liuely ſéeling, that as he did then know that many Luke. 7.ſynnes were forgeuen him: ſo ſurely he declared by déedes that he loued much. For where he had both giftes and calling to hauehave employed himſelfe in ciuill and wordly affaires profitably, ſuch was his louelove of Chriſt, and zeale to the promoting of his glorious Goſpell, that he chaunged not onelyonly the courſe of his former, lyfe, as the woman dyd. Luke. 7. but euen his former ſtudy, as Paule dyd chaunge his forprofeſſion and ſtudy.
Touching the firſt, after that God touched his hart with that holy and effectual calling, he ſold his chaines, rynges, brooches, and iuels of gold which before he vſed to weare, and did beſtow the price of this his former vanitie in the neceſſarye releife of Chriſtes poore members, which he could heare of or fynde lying ſicke or pining in pouertie. Touching the ſecond, he ſo declared his great zeale and louelove to promote the glory of the lord Ieſus, whoſe goodnes and ſauing health he had taſted, that to do the ſame more pithely, he chaū ged his ſtudye, and being in the inner Temple in London at the ſtudye of the common lawes, he went to Cambridge to ſtudy Diuinitie, where he heard D. Martin Bucer diligently, and was right familyar and deare vntounto hym. In thys godly courſe he dyd by Gods bleſſyng ſo profit, that that bleſſed Martyr D. Ridley then Biſhop of London dyd as it were inuite hym and hys godlye Companion Maiſter Thomas Horton to become fellowes of Penbrake hall in Cambrydge: And afterwardes the ſayd D. Ridley called our Bradford to London, gaue him a Prebend in Paules church, lodged hym in his own houſe there, and ſet hym on worke in preaching. And beſides often preachyng in London, and at Paules croſſe, and ſundry places in the countrey, and ſpeacially in Lankeſhire, he preached before King Edward the ſixt, in the Lent the laſt yeare of his raygne, vponupon the ſecond Pſalme, and there in one Sermon, ſhewing the tokens of Gods iudgement at hand for the contempt of the Goſpell, as that certayne Gentlemen vponupon the Sabboth day, going in a whirry to Paris garden to the Barebayting, were drowned: and that a Dog was met at Ludg…te carping a péece of a dead chylde in his mouth, he with a mighty and propheticall ſpirite: ſayd: I ſummon you all, euen eueryevery mothers chylde of you, to the indegement of God, for it is at hand as it followed ſhortly after in the death of King Edward. In which ſtate and labour of preaching he continued tyll the cruelty of the Papiſtes …ut him of: ſo an thou mayeſt reade in the hiſtorye of hys lyfe and death, compiled by that faythfull ſeruaunt of the Lord Ieſus M. Iohn Fox.
In déede he had many pulbackes, but God ſtyll helped forward his choſen ſeruāt in that trade of lyfe to y• which he had called hym: in which he ran forward ſo happely, that he did outrunne me & other hys companions. For it pleaſed God with great ſpéede …s make hym ready and ripe to martyrdome: in which through Chriſt he hath now gayned the crowne of lyfe. But in all ſtops and ſtayes hee was much helped forward by a continual meditation, and practiſe of repentaunce and …ayth in Chriſt, in which hee was kept by Gods grace, notable exerciſed all the dayes of his lyfe. Euen in this meane time he heard a Sermon which that noble Preather Maiſter Latimer made before King Edward the ſixt, in which he did earneſtly ſpeake of reſtitution to be made of thinges falſely gotten: whych dyd ſo ſtrike Bradford to the hart for one daſh with a pen which he had made without the knowledge of his Maiſter (as full often I hauehave heard him confeſſe with plentie of teares) beyng Clarke of the Treaſurer of the Kynges campe beyonde the teas, & was to the deceiuing of the King, hat he could neuer be quyet tyll by the aduiſe of the ſame Maiſter Latimer a reſtitution was made. Which thyng to bring to paſſe he did willingly forbeare and forgoe all the priuate and certaine patrimonie which he had in earth. Let all bribers & polyng offi…ers, which get to them ſelues great reuenues in earth by ſuch ſlibbery ſhiftes, folow this example, leſt in taking a contraryecourſe, they take a contrary waye, and neuer come where Bradford now is.
But beſides this, our Bradford had his dayly exerciſes and practiſes of repentance, His maner was to make to hym ſelfe a Cataloge of all the groſſeſt & moſt enorme ſynnes which in his lyfe of ignorance he had committed, and to lay the ſame before hys eyes when hes went to priuate praier, that by the ſight and remembraunce of them, he might be ſtirred vp to offer to God the ſacrifice of a contrite hart, ſéeke aſſurance of ſaluation in Chriſt by faith, thanke God for his calling from the waies of wickednes, and praye for encreaſe of grace to bee conducted in holy lyfe acceptable and pleaſing to God. Such a continuall exerciſe of cōſcience he had in priuate praier, that he did not count himſelfe to hauehave prayed to his contentacion, vnleſſe in it hee had felt inwardly ſome ſmyting of hart for ſynne, and ſome healing of that wound by faith, féeling y• ſauing health of Chriſt, with ſome chaunge of mynde into the deteſtation of ſynne and louelove of obeying the good wyll of God. Which thinges do require that inward entring into the ſacret parler of our hartes, of which Chriſt ſpeaketh, and is that ſmiting of the breſt which is noted in the Publicane Math. 7 and is the ſame to the which the Pſal miſt exhorteth thoſe men looſe in ſynne. Pſalme. 4. 5. Tremble ye and ſynne not: ſpeake in your ſelues, that is, enter into an accompt with your ſelues, when you are on your couches, that is, when ye are ſolitary and alone, and be quiet or ſilent, that is, when ye hauehave thus ſecretly and déepelye conſidereth of your caſe and dealing. ye ſhall ceaſe to thinke, ſpeake, and do wickedly. Without ſuche an inward exceriſe of praier our Bradford dyd not pray to his full contentacion, as appeared by this: He vſed in the morning to go to the common praier in the Colledge where he was, and after that he vſed to make ſome praier with his Puplls in his chameer. But not content wyth this, he then repaired to his own ſecretd praier, and exerciſe in praier by himſelfe, as one that had not yet praied to his own mynde. For he was wont to ſay to hys familiars: I hauehave prayed with my Pupils, but I hauehave not yet prayed with myſelfe. Let thoſe ſecure men marke this well, which pray without touch of breſt, as th… Phariſey dyd: and ſo that they hauehave ſayd an ordinary praier, or heard a common courſe of praier, they think they hauehave prayed well, and as the terme is, they hauehave ſerued God well, though they neuer féele ſtyng for ſynne, taſte of groning or broken hart, nor of the ſwéete ſauing health of Chriſt, thereby to be moued to offer the ſacrifice of thankes geuing: nor chaunge or renuing of minde, but as they came ſecure in ſynne & ſenſeles, ſo they do depart without any chaūge or affecting of the hart: Which is euen the cradle in which Satan rocketh the ſynnes of this age a ſleepe, who thinke they do ſerue God in theſe curſory prayers made onelyonly of cuſtome, when theyr hart is as farre from God as was the hart of the Phariſey. Let vsus learne by Bradfordes example to pray better, that is, with the hart, and not with ihe lyps aloue: Quia Deus uon vocis ſed cardis auditor eſt, as Cyprin ſaith, that is, becauſe God is the hearer of the hart, and not of the voyce, that is to ſay, not of the voyce alone without the hart, for that is but lyb labour. This conſcience of ſyn and exerciſe in prayer had Bradford, cleane contrary to that curſed cuſtome of thoſe graceles men, which do ioy to make large and long accompts of their lewdnes and glory therein, ſo feeling their delightes with their lyues paſſed, as the Dog returneth to ſmell to his caſt gorge, and the horſe to hys dung: ſuch as the Prophet …ſay 39. ſayth: They declare their ſyns as Sodome, they hide them not, wo be to their ſoules. It goeth with them as in the daies of Ieremiah it went with thoſe. Iere. 3. 3 Thou haddeſt a whores forehead: Thon wouldeſt not be aſhamed. God geue theſe men better grace, els let them be aſſured they ſhal find wo wo to their very ſoules.
An other of his exerciſes was this: He vſed to make vntounto him ſelfe an Ephemeris or a Iournal, in which hee vſed to write all ſuch notable thinges as either hee did ſée or heare eche day that paſſed. But what ſo euer he did heare or ſée, he did ſo pen it, that a man might ſée, in that booke the ſignes of his ſmitten hart. For if he did ſée or heare any good in any man, by that ſight he found & noted the want thereof in hym ſelfe, and added a ſhort prayer, crauing mercye and grace to amende. If he dyd heara or ſée any plague or miſery▪ he noted it as a thing procured by his own ſyns; and ſtyl added: Domine miſerere me…, Lord hauehave mercy vponupon me. He vſed in the ſame booke to note ſuch euyll thoughtes as did ryſe in him, as of enuying the good of other men, thoughtes of vnthankfulnes, of not conſidering God in his workes, of hardnes and vnſenſiblenes of hart when he dyd ſée other moued and affected. And thus hee made to him ſelfe and of himſelfe a booke of daily practiſes of repentance.
Beſydes this, they which were familiar with him, might ſee how he being in their company, vſed to fall often into a ſodaine and deepe meditation, in which he would ſyt with fixed countenaunce and ſpirite moued, yet ſpeaking nothing a good ſpace. And ſome times in thys ſilent ſytting, plentye of teares ſhould trickle downe his cheekes. Sometime he would ſytinit, and come out of it with a ſmyling countenaunce. Often times hauehave I ſytten at dinner and ſupper with hym in the houſe of that godly harbourer of manye Preachers and Seruauntes of the Lorde Ieſus, I meane Maiſter▪ Elſyng, when either by occaſion of talke had, or of ſome view of Gods benefites preſent, or ſome inward cogitation and thought of his own, he hath fallen into theſe déepe cogitacions, and he would tell me in the ende ſuch diſcourſes of them, that I eyd perceiue that ſomtimes his teares trickled out of his eyes, as well for ioy as for ſorow. Neither was he onelye ſuch a practiſer of repentance in himſelfe, but a continuall prouoker of others thereunto, not onelyonly in publike preaching, but alſo in priuate conference and company. For in all companies where he dyd come, he would fréely reproue any ſynne and myſbehauiour which appeared in any parſon, eſpecially ſwearers, filthy talkers, and popiſh praters. Such neuer departed out of his company vnreproued. And this he did with ſuch a diuine grace and Chriſtian maieſtie, that euer he ſtopped the mouthes of the gaynſayers: For he ſpake with power, and yet ſo ſweetely, that they might ſée their euyll to be euyll and hurtfull vntounto them, and vnderſtand that it was good in déede to the which he laboured to draw them in God.
To be ſhort, as his lyfe was, ſuch was his death. His life was a practiſe, and example, a prouocation to repentance. At his death, as the foreſayd hiſtory witneſſeth, when he was burned in Smitefield, and the flames of fire dyd ſlye about hys …ares, his laſt ſpéech publiklye noted and heard was this: Repent England, Thus was our Bradford a Preacher and an example of that repentance which he dyd preach. Ionas preached to Niniue repentance, and al Niniue, the King, Princes, people, old and yong repented, To England Bradford dyd peeache and yet doth preach repentaunce, and ſurely England hath now much more cauſe to repent then it had when Bradford lyued & preached repentance. For all ſtates & ſortes of parſons in England are now more corrupt ſhen they were then.
Let therefore now Bradfordes ſermon, his lyfe, his death moue thée O England, to repent al thy peryll. I wiſh & warne, that as in Niniuie ſo in England, al from the higheſt to the loweſt do vnfainedly repent: They which are of the Lourt, they which are of the Church, they whi…a are of the Citye, they which are of the cuntrey, Princes, Prelates, and people: let all and eueryevery one repent and depart from that euyll which he hath in hand, and turne wholy to the Lorde. And I do humbly beſéech thy Maieſty, oh glorious Lord Ieſus, which diddeſt come to bleſſe Iſraell, turniug eueryevery one of them from their ſynnes, to worke now by thy ſpirite in our hartes the ſame ſound repentance which the holynes dyd preache to men when thou ſaydeſt? Repent, for the kingdome of God is at hand. This worke in vsus, O gracious God our Sauionr. Amen. And uow Reader I leaue thée to the reading and practiſing of that repentance which Bradford heare teacheth.