A Hundred Sermons on Revelation, Sermons · Sermon 34
¶ The effecte of corrupte doctrine is expounded, and that the Aungels let that the winde blowe not. The .xxxiiij. Sermon.
ANd al mountaines and Iles were moued out of their places. And the Kinges of the earth, and the great men, and the riche men, and the chiefe Captaynes, and the mightie men, and eueryevery bondeman, and eueryevery free man hidde themſelues in dennes, and in rockes of the hilles, and ſayed to the hilles and rockes: fal vponupon vsus, and hide vsus from the preſence of him that ſitteth on the ſeate, and frō the wrath of the lambe: for the great daie of his wrath is come. And who can indure it?
Chapt. 7.And after this ſawe I .iiii. Aungels ſtand on the foure corners of the earth, holding the foure windes of the Earth: that the windes ſhould not blowe on the earth, nother on the See, nor on any tree.
Hilles and Iles are moued out of their place.Now followeth the effect of the corrupte doctrine in men. And hilles and Ilondes are moued out of their place: wherin is alſo a reſpecte had to the earthquake, as though by the earthquake thei were remoued from their place. And mountains and Iles do betoken, realmes, nations and people, ſo ſtedfaſt in faith, that as moūtaines and Iles be immouable, & are not ſhaken with the ſtormes of the Sea, ſo theſe might ſeme to be immutable. Neuertheles at the alteration and corrupting of doctrine, they are nowe alſo remoued out of their place, & quite ouerthrowen. And ſuch as reade Hiſtories ſhall finde eueryevery where, that ſuch hauehave ben diſceiued by craftes of heretickes, by the power of Mahomet, & by the hipocriſie of the pope, whom you would not hauehave thought ſhuld hauehave bē abuſed, in ſo much that whole Cities & Realmes hauehave cleane reuolted. For ſeducinge is of efficacitie namely in ſuche as nowe begin to ſlippe and ſlide from the rocke of the church.
They hide them in dennes.And they that beyng ſhaken, are remoued from the ſure foundation, get them into caues and rockes of Hilles. For it is vnpoſſible, for him that holdeth not Chriſt wt a ſure faithe, to be quiet. For like a raging Sea he is toſſed hither and thither. For where as he hath not the ſure and certayne maner of life, nother committeth him ſelfe to be only ruled by the Scriptures, that he might holde the certentie, he is contente to be led of eueryevery one that he meteth with. Wherfore we ſee them, vntounto whom Chriſt alone is not all, to ſeke ſaluation in Pilgrimages, in heremitages, in Monkerie, in more ſeuere diſcipline, in ſatiſfactions, and I know not in what other follies, or rather blaſphemies. And theſe in very dede are ſayed to hide themſelues in dennes and caues of ſtone. And thinke they may lie hidde ſafely in them, make ſatiſfaction for their ſinnes, and pleaſe the Lord.
But in reherſing many kindes of menne,Who hide thēſelues ſo? he compriſeth al ſtates in the worlde. For of all ſortes of men there hauehave ben founde not a fewe nor of meane ſtate, whiche hauehave not taken vponupon them the heremiticall and monaſticall life, and hauehave bounden thēſelues to a ſtraite kinde of liuyng. Here therfore are rekened vp kinges, foreign, greate men or princes, riche men, foreign, captaines ouer thouſandes or chieftaines, foreign, ſtrong or mightie men in this world, bonde mē chiefly, & free men, whom we cal at this daye gentlemen. But howe many kinges & princes and noble gentlemen are ſet forth to be ſene in the churches of Abbeyes, paincted in tables & hanged on trees, whiche hauehave liued ſome time a monaſticall life?
But entryng into monaſteries, woodes, and wildernes,Fall vponupon vsus Mountayns. and taking vponupon them a kinde of ſtraiter life, ſondry ſatiſfactions, pilgrimages, and other like diſciplines, hauehave not yet ſo atteyned to the quietnes of minde: yea they are now more affrayde than they were before, and are fallen into vtter diſpayre. For in theſe things wherin they ſought for quietnes, they hauehave founde none: no, beſides Chriſt there is founde no quiet nor reſt. That thing which I ſaye here, do they vnderſtande right well whiche liue in theſe ſtrayteneſſe vnderunder the vnhappie Papiſtrie. And the wordes whiche S. Iohn reciteth here be of ſuche as are in greateſt diſtreſſe, and euen in deſperation, where they crye vntounto the hilles, fal vponupon vsus, &c. For ſo this worde is vſed alſo with Oſee in the .10. Chapter. and with Luke in the .23. Chapt. And herby is ſignified a conſcience moſt afflicted and moſt intricated, ſeyng or perceyuyng no where any comforte or conſolation: but couetyng none other thing than preſent diſtruction, to the intent to be deliuered from the preſent euil & intollerable greue of mind. Such a thing is that of Turnus with Virgill in the .10. boke of Aeneidos.
Helas what ſhal I do? what earth will gape ſo wide
What Sea ſo depe to ſwallowe me vp, that I no longer bide.
Moſt mightie windes I you adore, than pitie ye my caſe
Driue ſhip on rocke or ſirties ſandes, that non may finde my place.
Cauſes of deſperatiō.Morouer the cauſes of this feare, diſpaire and hiding are, the face of him that ſitteth on the Throne, the wrath of the Lambe, and for that they perceiue how they can not abide to ſtande before God in the daie of wrath and gods vengeaūce. Therfore they flee from the face of God, they flee from the Lambe, that they might eſchewe the vēgeaunce, if they could eſcape it. The feare of God is commended to vsus in the ſcriptures, and thei which feare not God are condemned: but the ſcripture ſpeaketh of a feare ioyned with true faith and louelove. For S. Iohn ſayeth, louelove caſteth out feare. Euen ſo the ſame Scripture preacheth to vsus God as iuſte, and ſheweth him to be angry with ſinne: neuertheleſſe declareth him to be benigne and merciful to ſuch as acknowledge their ſinnes, and axe forgeuenes, that his only begotten ſonne is geuē of God to mankinde, by whoſe mediation we maye come to the Throne of God, whiche otherwiſe no man maye atteyne to. It preacheth Chriſt the ſonne of God to be the Lambe, that is a propiciation for the ſinnes of the whole worlde: and that the ſame calleth al vntounto him, excludeth no man, but promiſeth and offereth vntounto al, al things of life and ſaluation. But where as corrupte Preachers, Freres and popiſhe Prieſtes hauehave forſaken this ſimple and moſt pure doctrine, holeſome and ful of conſolation, ſhewe that God is like to Rhadamantus a iudge inexorable, and ſet forth Chriſt rather as one angrie than fauourable, they doe alienate doubtles the mindes of men from God: that now they maye ſaye expreſſely, who is worthie to come into the ſight of God? no man ſhal be ſaued before this God moſt ſeuere, and his ſonne a iudge moſt rightuouſe. They tourne them therfore to ſundry meanes of ſaluation thei chouſe them mediatours and interceſſours by whoſe mediation, meane and merites they maye redeme to thēſelues the fauour of the angry deitie. But ſins that with God the only mediation and interceſſion of the ſonne is of force theſe wretches are diſapointed of their pourpos, and at the length fall into that ſame deſperation. When they perceiue that the monaſtical life, and their merites, cā not ſtande before God, they flee from the face of God: and tourmented with the prickes of their conſcience knowe not what they maye do, whither they maye tourne them, where is the true ſaluation. Therfore we iudge thē rightly to be moſt bleſſed, whiche through Chriſt acknowledge the father as a father: and through Chriſt hauehave acceſſe to the father, as fauouryng them & louing them: acknoweledging verely in the feare of God their ſinnes, but yet with a trewe faith hoping for remiſſion of ſinnes, knowyng that they are through Chriſt reconciled to God the father. The monaſtical, heremiticall, ſatiſfactoriouſe, & phariſaical faction acknowledgeth fully this doctrine, therefore are they tourmented with ſorrowes that can not be vttered. If ſpeake not here of the monaſteries or Monkes of this our time, in whome we ſee almoſt no conſcience at al, nor other intent, than to be addicte to Idlenes, voluptuouſnes, and to beare rule. In times paſt were found men ful of conſcience, entring into celles and woods, for non other cauſe, than that they might ſo be ſaued. Of ſuche ſpake the Lord in the goſpel: when they ſhall ſaye, ſayeth he, Chriſt is in the wildernes, goe not forth, &c. And I doubte not, but that ſome ſimple alſo at this day for this intent take vponupon thē the monaſtical life: but they ſhall finde alſo, the ſame that S. Iohn here ſayed they ſhould proue and trie by experience.
Furthermore this place might ſeme that it ſhould be expounded of the tokens which go before the laſt iudgement,The place is to be expoūded of the laſte iudgemēt. and of the terrour of the wicked: of whom the Lord preached in maner to the ſame effect in the .21. of Luke. But of the laſte iudgement ſhal be ſpoken more at large, and in his place in the .11. and .19. Chapter. of this boke and els where. And as I do not diſcōmende that ſame expoſition, ſo ſeme there nowe to me the generall deſtenies of the church to be here ſet together, in the which, where the corrupte doctrine occupieth not the laſt place, there ſhould nothing be ſpoken herof in general, wherof many thinges in particular ſhal be ſpoken in the 8. chapter. and others followyng, vnleſſe this preſent place ſhould after the ſame ſorte be expounded, as it is. Furthermore thoſe thinges that followe ſhall better be ioyned together, which ſhall hauehave no place in the laſte iudgement: as the thing it ſelfe wil proue.
And the thinges that follow in the 7. Chapt. apperteyne to the expoſition of the ſixte ſeale, or vntounto the treatiſe thereof. And three thinges chiefly it reciteth, howe the Aungelles let the windes that they ſhoulde not blowe: an innumerable company to be ſealed in the middes of the corrupt doctrine, which ſhuld not periſh. And what the ſtate of them is, which are departed out of this world eyther by martirdom, or els beyng either vndefiled with ye corruption ſo ful of enormitie, or deliuered & pourged from the ſame: which are annexed becauſe of cōſolation. For this boke of Apocalipſe is wōderful Euangelical, moſt ful not only of prophecies, but alſo of admonitions, exhortations, and moſt cōfortable conſolations.
What winde is in the Scriptures.Firſt is to be expounded, that whiche is ſpoken of the reſtreinte of the windes by the Aungels, that they ſhould not blowe. Winde as alſo leauē in the ſcriptures, is vſed both in good and euil parte. For winde is called vaine and falſe doctrine, and an hope conceyued of erroneouſe doctrine: As in Oſee the .12. and the .5. and .22. of Ieremie. So is leauen called the Phariſaicall doctrine, and hipocriſie ſpringyng thereof. S. Paul in the .4. to the Epheſ. forbiddeth, that we be not caried about with eueryevery winde of doctrine. And the holy ghoſt is ſhaddowed by winde in the .3. chapt. of S. Iohn. And in the 2. chapt. of the Actes. Winde is ſubtile, it pearſeth, is felte, and is not ſene: greate is the force thereof, it doeth refrigerate, it drieth, gathereth clowdes, whiche rayne and make the earth fertile. Full rightly therfore by winde is ſignified the ſpirite of God, and the ſounde doctrine, whiche is of the ſpirite of God. Therfore is it one winde, the ſpirit of God whiche inſpireth: and there be foure windes, that is to witte many by the corners of Heauen and partes of the earth, that is to wit preachers diſperſed through out the whole world. Therfore the doctrine of the Goſpell inſpired from all partes of the world bloweth, or is preached: ſo that ther be many windes, yet all procedyng of one. For there is one and the ſame ſpirite, whiche ſpeaketh by the miniſters, and geueth them ſundry graces .1. Corinth. 12. Briefly, by the blaſte of windes we vnderſtand the free preachyng taken out of the holy Scriptures.
The preachyng of gods word is prohibited.Secondely we muſte knowe that there be both good and euil Aungels in the Scriptures. Aungels as appered before, are called miniſters. And there be good and euill miniſters: the good inſpired of God and the good Aungell: and the euil of the euil Aungell. And the enemie of the trueth ſtireth vp men in al places of the world, in the Courtes of Kinges, in the places of Iudgement, in Scholes, in Colledges, in Cities, Townes and Villages, whiche may let the free courſe of Gods worde. Therefore the proclamations of Kinges and Biſſhoppes flye to and froe, are proclamed and ſet vp, prohibiting the readyng of the Bible, the preaching of the Goſpell, &c. And to the intent to hauehave ſome pretence of their euill doyng, they forge that the Bible is corrupte in a thouſande places, & that hereſie is learned and taught out of the ſame. Therefore alſo they prohibite and condemne the Bible and the bokes of the Goſpell, of the vnworthines of the whiche thing it can not worthely enough be ſpokē before the church. They do the ſame that in times paſte Antiochus, Epiphanes, Diocleſian, and other men of the ſame ſorte are red to hauehave done. The expoſitours of the Bible in times paſte deſerued excedyng great prayſe: nother was there any faythfull that ſayed the holy boke to be corrupted, for that al tranſlations agreed not emonges themſelues. We liue therefore at this daye in a time moſt corrupt and moſt vnthankefull.
And the reſtrainte of reading holy Scripture, is the foundation of the corrupte doctrine, and of intanglyng the conſcience, and of diſpayre that followeth on the ſame. And by the Earth he vnderſtandeth men dwellyng in Earth: by the Sea and Iles, men of Ilandes, and that dwell on the Sea: by trees, men ſhadowed eueryevery where in the Scripture by trees. For vnleſſe the windes blowe, the trees floriſhe not, neyther the earth waxeth grene. The Prophet ſayeth, ſende forth thy ſpirite, and they ſhal be created, and thou ſhalt renewe the face of the earth. And excepte the worde of God be preached, the mindes of men waxe not grene, nother are the fruictes of good workes brought forth of men. And therfore the Aungelles prohibiting winde, are ſayed to hurt: as in dede there is nothing more peſtilent nor perniciouſe, than the ſuppreſſing of the free preachyng of Gods worde. The Lorde by his ſpirite renewe all partes of the worlde. Amen.