confirming the mynds of his disciples against the thretts and terrors of this wicked world / among other thinges / [] Are not (sayth he) two lytle sparowes solde for a farthinge. And one of them shall not lyghte on the grownd withe out your father: yea euen all the heares of your heade are nombred. feare ye not therfor: ye are if more value then many sparowes. Euery one therfor that shall knowledge me before men hym wyll I knowledge also before my father which is in heauen. But whosoeuer shall denye me before men / hym wyll I also denye before my father which is in heauen: the same lord in the gospell of Marcke / [] Whosoeuer (saythe he) shall lose hys lyfe for my sake and the gospell He same shall saue it. For what shall it profyte a man / if he wynne al the worlde and lose his owne soule? or what shall a man gyue to redeme hys soule wythall agayn? Whosoeuer therfor shalbe ashamed of me and of my wordes / in this aduowtrus and synfull generation: of hym also shall the sonne of man be ashamed when he commith in the glorie of his father withe the holy angels. Theis wordes of the lorde are playne / and spoken without ony darcknes. The lord requirith of eiche one of vs that symple and open confession which we make before men / and that such men as are synnars and adulterars / the emenies / I saye / of Godd / and of all true religion. for such men do the prophets also call fornicatours and adulterars. He requirith / I saye / that we shuld confes hym and his worde / That is / that we shuld simply confes that he is Christ / and that we shuld not denye ony thing of his worde either by out wordes or deedes.
[] We read that Peter did confes Christ the lorde sincerely and with a true confession when he answered vnto the lorde / which asked and sayed. But whom saye ye that I am / he answered. Thow art Christe the sonne of the lyuinge Godd.
[] Agayn when many did fall from the lorde for that sermon in which he declared in the Synagoge of the Capernaites / that he only was the foade of lyfe / and for that cause the lorde saide to his disciples: Wyll ye also go awaye? Peter answered / and confessing the lorde with a notable confession he said / lorde to whom shall we go? Thow hast the wordes of eternal lyfe / And we beleue and are sure / that thow art Christe the sonne of the lyuinge Godd. Such like confession absolute and true doth the blessed apostle and Euangelist Iohn commend vnto vs sayinge. [] Dearly beloued / beleue not euery sprit / but proue the sprites / whether they are of Godd or not. For many false prophetes are gone out into the worlde. Hereby shall ye know the spirite of Godd: Euery sprite that confessith that Iesu Christe is comme in the flesh / is of Godd. And euery sprite which confessith not that Iesu Christe is come in the fleshe is not of Godd. And this is that spirite of Antichriste / of whome ye haue herde / howe that he shuld comme and euen now alreadi is he in the worlde. Furthermor this true and catholike confession / doth so attribute all out whole lyfe and saluacion vnto the lorde Christe / that it doeth take the same from al other meanes and thinges with which mans doctrine hathe ony part: wherfor it is not sufficient only to haue confirmed the part affirmatiue (as they call it) except thow do also expres the negatiue / and dost so ascribe vnto Christe our lorde all the thinges of our lyfe and saluacion / that all men may vnderstond that thow dost clyme to him al the partes of our saluacion / and that thow dost not gyue ony part therof to ony other. For we do fynd that the lord Iesus did teache such a confession / and that his apostles made the lyke. For when the lorde in the gospell of Iohn speaking plainly inough hadd sayed.
[] I am the dore / by me if any man entre in / he shall be safe and shall go in and oute / and finde pasture. A thefe commith not but for to steale / kyll / and to destroye: I am come that they might haue lyfe / and that they might haue it more abundantly: I am the goode shepeherd / a goode shepeherd gyueth his lyfe for the shepe. Yet was he not content with theis though thy be most playne wordes / but he ioyned also a Negatiue / with a most pitthie asseueracion / saying: Verely verely I saye vnto yowe he that enterith not in by the dore into the shepefolde / but clymbeth vp some other waye / the same is a theife and a murtherer. He likewise saith playnly in the same chapter / A goode shepeherd goeth before his shepe / and the shepe folowe hym bicause they knowe his voice. Yea forthewith he addith this also / A straunger will they not folowe / but wil flie from him / for they know not the voice of straungers. Agayn in an other place / [] I am the waye (saithe he) the truthe and the lyfe: Yet he not being content wyth this so playn a doctryne doth adde agayne the exclusyue and saithe / No man commith to the father but by me. Wherfor Peter thought it not inoughe that he sayde in that full senate of Hierusalem / That Christe is that Rocke which doth by his dethe and resurrection establishe and preserue the beleauers / [] onles moreouer he had Vindicated to Christ alone all thinges that concerne saluacion / and taken the same awaye from others / saying. Neither is there saluacion in ony other: For among men vnder heauen ther is gyuen none other name wherin we must be saued. After which manier likewise saint Paul doth proue that [] faith in Christ through grace doth iustifie / neither doth he saye this only / [] but he doth also remoue all that which might seeme to gyue iustice vnto men / the lawe I meane and worckes / sayinge. We knowe that a man is not iustified by the dedes of the lawe / [] but by the faith of Iesus Christe. And we haue beleued on Iesus Christ that we might be iustified by the faythe of Christe / and not by the dedes of the lawe / bicause that by the dedes of the lawe no fleshe shalbe iustified. And in an other place the same Paule: Behold (saith he) I Paul saye vnto yowe / [] that if ye be circumcised / Christe shall profite yow nothing at all. I testifie agayn to euery man which is circumcised / that he is bownd to keape the whole lawe. Christe is become but in vayn to yowe / as many of yow as are iustified by the lawe are fallen from grace / we loke for and hope in the spirite to be iustified thorow faithe. Theis cleare examples of Christ and the apostles / and doctrine of the sincere and sounde confession of Christe do suffice to yow reuerend and godly hearers. Out of which we do gather / that their confessions are neither full / nor sincere / which do confes that indeede Christe is thier saluacion and rightuisnes / their preist and sacrifice / their aduocate and mediator / [] yet so that it notwithstonding they do gyue the very same / and communicate them to synneful men / to thinges also and meanes which are in no place instituted nor approued of Godd. And no les corrupt is their confession also / which do confes wyth the mouthe that Godd alone is to be adored and worshipped / that Christe is the only preiste and true aduocate with the father / but yet in their deedes they do denye that same confession of their mouthe / bowinge their knees to Images / worshippinge creatures / callinge vppon their patrons and fayned saynts of heauen.
[] But the Apostles did not only confes Christe himself / but also all Christes doctrine / all Christes wordes / the whole gospell (I saye) of saluacion: of which Christe is the only Marcke. And therfor when the preistes and senators of Hierusalem did forbidd the apostles that they shuld nomore preache the gospell / they answered hartily and playnly: whether it be right in the sight of Godd to herken vnto yow more then vnto Godd / iudge ye.
[] For we can not but speke that which we haue seene and herde. And when they were shutt vp in prison for free preching of the gospell / and wer in daunger of their lyues / they are delyuered of the angell / of whom by the commaundement of Godd they do heare.
[] Go and stande and speake in the temple to the poeple all the wordes of this lyfe. Therfor all thos thinges which are contayned in the holy gospell / and holy scriptures / must be confessed of them which are faithfull indeede: for all thos are the wordds of Godd / and the wordds of saluacion / And all thos do sauer of Christe and do bringe vnto Christe.
[] In whom only it hath pleased God the father that all fulnes shuld dwell / in whom (as Paule doth witnes) [] we are made perfite so that we want nothinge / as agayn the lorde himself doth testifie: [] he that eateth or drincketh me shall not be hungry or thrustie for euer / but he shall haue in hym self the healthefull waters of euerlastinge lyfe. Yf we do knowe / beleaue / and vnderstonde theise thinges let vs gyue glorie to our only Sauiour Christe / and not gyue it awaye vnto other / But let vs frely confes hym only / and alone / in mouth / and deedes / to be our saluacion iustice sanctificacion absolution or rather perfection / the peace of our soules / and lyfe euerlasting. But the lord doth sett denying against confessinge. Ther are diuers kinds of denyinge / which beinge but lightly rehersed it shall again appeare what is the sowndness and simplicitie of confessinge. Furst Christe and Godds worde is denyed / when our redeamer Christe / and the worde of lyfe is openly blasphemed in playne wordes / when he is not acknowledged to be the only Sauiour / and when the due dignitie and auctoritie of the scriptures is not adscribed vnto them. Then by silence also is Christe and Christes worde denyed / namely when vppon occasion offered we do not deffende the glorie of the name of Godd and of the truythe known againste the ennemis of Godd and sclaunderers of the worde of Godd.
[] For in this case it is lawfull for no man to be a / neuter / as they call it. In the most auncient lawes of Solon which were at Athens grauen in postes of woode / the which also ons made by hym the Athenienses ordeygned vnder great religion and punishment that they shuld contynue for euer: one lawe Aristotle doth report to be writon in this sence. That if throughe discorde the poeple shuld be deuided into too partes / and eich partie shuld take armour / then he which did not ioyne himself to the one partie / but slipp asyde separated from the common euell of the cytie / he shall lose howse / countrithe / and goodes / and be an exile and a banished man. Mutch les is it lawfull for them which haue professed the name of Christe / and are signed with holy baptisme / in that fierce fight betwene Christe and Antichriste to slippe a syde / and to ioyne himself vnto neither partye. That same newtralitie doth seame truly to be wisdom to many children of this worlde / but indeede it is folyshnes / yea it is a very denying of Christ / by which they do exclude themselues out of that heauenly countrithe / they spoile themselues of all spirituall riches / and make themselues exiles and banished men.
[] For Christe and his truithe is denyed either by dissemblinge: as when Peter was charged by the mayde that he was one of the number of the disciples / and he answered I wote not what thow sayest. He knew verily what she sayed / but being bewitched with a certayne feare / he fayned that he knewe not the thing which he did know very well. Euen so truly at this daye many do saye that they are more simple then that they can vnderstond the dissension in religion and gyue answer of all controuersies: But they do vnderstond so mutch as sufficith: yet for the ieoperdies which be at hand / or for sum vayne feare / they do fayne that they do not vnderstonde. Neither wer it necessarie for euery one to answer to all darcke or hard thinges / which thing they which are well exercised can not do / it sufficith to confesse thos thinges which be open and playne. Ther is also a coloured denyinge when we playyng the foxes with foxes do confes verely sumwhat of our religion / yetwe do so enwrapp it with such darcke wordes and doutfull sentences / that vnto them which are most subtill and conning in quidities / it shall not playnly appeare what we do thincke. But the confession shuld be simple / and playne.
[] In making of it Godd / and not Man were to be considered. Man maye be deceyued / but no man can deceyue Godd. And also we are commaunde to render vnto God his glorie franckly before men. But I do not see how thow haste glorified Godd before men / when thow dost so temper thy confession that it sumwhat sauerith indeede of the truithe of the gospell / and yet they which be superstitius shall not see their supersticions vtterly reiecrted / nor their errors condemned by thy confession / but maye iudge that thou dost yet holde on their syde. Agayn many do confes Christe in wordes and his gospell frely / and openly inoughe / but euen they themselues do forthwith defile and ouerthrow this Christian and gospellike confession with vngospellike deedes. I do speake nothing heere of thos synnes and wickednesses by which they do vnhallow the doctrine of our Sauiour / but of thos supersticius ceremonies and wicked congregacions with which they do communicate / by which communion or partakinge indeede they do denye that which they did confes before. For he which doth confes by mouthe that they which do depart out of this lyfe in true faithe do not (throughe the mediacion of Christe) comme into Iudgment / but do strayte waye passe from the bodily deathe vnto lyfe euerlasting / euen as the doctrine of the gospell doth enstruct vs / and we do playnly confes in the articles of the apostles Crede / this namely that we do beleaue the forgyuenes of synnes / the rising again of the fleshe / and lyfe euerlasting: And yet so sone as ony of their elders or familiars do depart out of this worlde / they go strait to sacrificing prestes / and do demande of them churche assemblees / supplicacions / dirges / weake myndes / trentalles / to be short / yearemynds / and prayers and sacrifices expiatorie for the deade / to whom he doth ioyne hymself / and doth obserue thos rites / hath he not playnly denyed in deede that which he hadd confessed in worde? He that doth confes that Christe was ons only offered for the synnes of the whole world / and that he is not therfore to be offerred any moore / And that the holy Supper is a remembraunce of this only and euerlasting sacrifice / and not the sacrifice it self / and yet neuertheles doth go vnto ther gods seruice / which do stoutly asseuere that they do offer vp Christ in substaunce for the synnes of the lyuing and the deade: doth he not by going to and communicatinge with this seruice / denye that which by speaking and professing he hadd confessed? Theis truly are wayes of denyinge / which they do not fully vnderstonde which are almost persuaded / that Religion is but a playe / and as it were a slipper fitte for euery foote. Theis men do knowe how to rule all religions vnder a certayn colour of holy concord / but indeede for earthly commoditie / that among whom soeuer they do lyue like vnto a Cameleon they do take vnto themselues their coloure and ceremonies / being mutch more changeable than Protheus / of whom it is but folly to beleaue / that they do passe for ony religion at all. But let vs passe ouer theise vnstable changelinges / and establishe our mynds / that they be not lewse nor waueringe / but being knytte vpp and confirmed in the lorde / they maye haue sum suretie and stablenes of the sure and stable worde of Godde / which we may both in mowthe and deedes confes / and in which we may finally reste. That maruailus and heauenly and therwith thonderinge prophet Helias / [] howe longe (saithe he) halte ye betwene two opinions. If the lorde be Godde folowe hym: but if Baal be he / then go after hym. Euen so truly our lorde hymself doth saye in the gospell / that no man can serue two masters. Let vs therfor forsake all other Godds and religions / and cleaue only to our Godde / which is the father of our lorde Iesus Christ / and let vs sticke faste in the only Christen religion / which is delyuered vnto vs in the holy scriptures. For it is euerlasting and most certayne. [] But if it be sufficient to confes Christe and his gospell amonge our felows and brethern in religion / wherto I praye you will theis our men refer thos wordes which do go before this place of confession in the gospell? Behold I send you forthe as shepe amonge wolues. &c. They shall delyuer yow vp to the cowncelles and shall scourge yow for me. &c. But when they delyuer yow vpp take ye no thought how or what ye shall answer: for it shalbe gyuen yow / euen in that same houre / whal ye shall speake. &c. Feare ye not them which kyll the bodye / but are not able to kyll the soule. He which doth denye that all theis sayinges must be vnderstond of persequutors / he saithe that darcknes is lighte. Yea and in Marc he doth playnly saye.
[] Whosoeuer therfor shalbe ashamed of me and of my wordes in this aduoutrus and synefull generacion / of hym also shall the sonne of man be ashamed. He requirith therfor a confession of the truithe not only in the companye of the godly / but also in the companye of the vngodly and persequutours / howsoeuer it be ioyned with the ieoperdie of lyfe and of all the substaunce. The lord speaking in the boke of the reuelacion with the church of pergamos / [] I knowe (saith he) where thow dwellest / euen where Sathans seate is / and thow keapest my name / and haste not denyed my faythe: And in thos dayes in which Antipas was a faythfull witnes of myn / which was slayne amonge yow where Sathan dwellithe. In which wordes truly the confession made in persequution is allowed / made I saye in that place / wher Sathan did beare rule / wher euen very then Antypas thaty notable Martir of Christe was slayn for confessinge of religion. Otherwise when all thinges are quiet it is not so harde a thing to confes the name of Godde. For if so be that the lord will not haue vs be in ieoperdie of bodie goodes and lyfe / if it seme to be euill and a synne for a man / as it wer to procure deathe to hymself by the confessinge of truithe / wherfor dothe the lorde (I praye yow) exhorte thos his disciples / that they shuld not feare them which do kill the bodie / and can not kill the soule? Whi doth he by playne wordes saye / as it wer prouoking vs to martirdome?
[] Whosoeuer will folow me / let hym forsake hymselfe / and take vp his crosse / and folowe me. For whosoeuer will saue his lyfe shal lose it. But whosoeuer shall lose his lyfe for my sake / and the gospelles the same shall saue it. He addith forthwithe wordes which do make for the contempt of thos thinges / for which theis men do thincke that in religion silence maye be kept and dissimulacion vsed / sainge. What shall it profite a man / yf he wynne al the worlde / and lose his owne sowle. Therwith also doth he adde through what thinge we do lose our soules / that is through Shame. For he saithe. Whosoeuer therfor shalbe ashamed of me and of my wordes / in this aduowtrus and synefull generacion / of hym also shall the sonne of man be ashamed when he commithe in the glorie of his father withe the holy Angelles. Therfor Paule that chosen vesell of Christe / and a most faithfull teacher of the churche / who gyueth euell councell to no man / neither leadith he ony man from the true waye / it is (saith he) a true sayinge: [] for if we be deade with hym / we shall also lyue with hym: if we be pacient / we shal also raigne with hym. If we denye hym / he shall also denye vs. The same Paul to the Hebrues / [] Call to rememberaunce (saithe he) the dayes that are passed / in the which after ye hadd receyued light / ye endured a great fighte of aduersities / partely while all men wondered and gased ay yowe for the shame and tribulacion that was done vnto yow / partely while ye became companions of them which so passed theyr tyme. For ye became partakers also of the afflictions which happened thorow my bondes / and toke in worthe the spoyling of your goodes / and that with gladnes / Knowing in your selues / how that ye haue in heauen a better and an enduring substaunce. Caste not awaye therfor your confidence / which hath a greate recompense of rewarde. For ye haue neade of pacience / that after ye haue doone the will of God / ye might receyue the promise. For yet a very litill while / and he that shall comme / will comme / and wyll not tarye. But the iuste shall lyue by faithe. And if he withdrawe hymself my soule shall haue no pleasure in hym. It is not we that withdrawe ourselues vnto damnacion / but we partayne vnto fayth / to the wynning of the soule. This truly is a sownde and wholsome doctrine / to cleaue faste vnto this / is to pleas Godd / and to glorifie hym / adde also to promote the saluacion of the brethern.
[] Therfor whils theise men do replie / what shuld come to the encrease of glorie of Godd / or what commoditie shuld comme to Christe of thos my labors and daungers which I shuld sustayne for religion? wittingly and willingly they do disproue the doctrine of the apostle / which doth playnly witnes / not in theis places only which we haue alledged / but in many others also / that both Godd is glorified by our sufferinges and calamities which we do sustayne for religions sake / and also that the weake brethern are therby edified / of whom it is certayne that by dissemblinge and denyinge of Religion they be offended / confirmed in ther errours / and indeede destroyed. For that most excellent prophete Dauid / [] Righte deere (saithe he) in the fighte of the lorde / is the dathe of his sainctes. And sainct Peter saith Dearly beloued / [] maruayle not that ye are proued by fyre / which thynge is to trye yow as though sum straunge thinge happened vnto yow / but reioyce / in as mutch as ye are partakers of Christes passions / that when his glorie appearith / ye maye be mery and gladd. If ye be rayled vpon / for the name of Christe / happie are ye / for the glorie and the sprite of Godd restith vpon you. On ther parte he is euill spoken of / but on your parte he is glorified / and so furthe. And sainct Paule dothe pronounce that it is a most greuus synne of ony man do offend the weake by his euell example. Thy brother doth perish (saithe he) for whom Christe died. When ye synne so against the brethern / and wounde thier weake conscience / ye synne againste Christ. Again we are saied in the scriptures to haue saued hym whom we haue by sounde doctrine and our goode example / either reteyned in the waye of the lorde / or haue brought hym backe that went astraye. But if a greater regarde vs to be had of wife / children and houshold then of pure religion / so that for that regard / religion seeme either to be dissembled or denyed: Yf it be euill for religions sake to dissente from them that be of kindred and alliannce / yea and for religion to depart from a lawfull wyfe / and in sum / for faithe to disagree with all frendes and familiars / shall we saye that the lorde did teach euill / which sayed in the gospell?
[] Thincke not that I am come to sende peace vnto the earthe. I came not to send paeace but a swearde. For I am come to sett a man at variance against his father / and the doughter against her mother / and the doughter in lawe against her mother in lawe. And a mannes foes shalbe they that are of his own housholde. For from hence forthe ther shalbe fyue in one howse deuyded / thre against two / and two against thre.
[] The father shalbe deuided against the sonne / and the sonne against the father. This not spoken as though that dissension in itself did pleas Godd the autor of all peace / but bicause he will haue that peace which stondithe vppon euell and wicked thinges broken / and haue vs all conioyned in that which is holy and goode. And therfore we do not allowe when mariages frendshippes and leagues are broken without necessitie / and vnder an vntrue pretence of religion. Agayn we do dissalowe thos which are kept againste the commaundement of Godd with playne hurte of true religion / and open denyinge of the faithe. All persons must bende themselues to peace and concorde so far as they maye / with retayninge of sowndnes in religion: But when it can not be retayned / let none thincke that to keape peace with them he must committ Idolatrie.
[] And therfor the Apostle of Christ saith: If any brother haue a wyfe / whiche beleauith not / if she be content to dwell with hym / let hym not putt her awaye. &c. But if the vnbeleauinge do departe let hym depart. A brother or a Syster is not in subiection to such. But Godd hathe called vs in peace. Euen so truly it is an vnnatural thinge not to norishe the children / or to neglect the aged parentes / or to forsake frendes and familiars. Godds worde doth euery wheare commaunde that we shuld do reuerence and dutie to them to whom by the lawe of Godd / and man / we owe it. In which sense we do willingly admitte that sayinge of the Apostle. That he which doth not prouide for them which be of his howshold / both denieth the faith / and is wors then an infidele. We do acknowledg that they are deuels and not men whosoeuer they be / which do wickedly disturbe wel ordered policies / and howsholdes. But yet in all theis we do also acknowledge this / and we se it taughte in the whole scripture as for an vndoubted truithe / that the lord Godd is better then all theise / that the couenant and bonde of religion doth excede all other bondes in the world. And that the lord doth both so will and commaunde / that we shuld esteame him aboue all thinges / and loue hym aboue al thinges / and that when he speakith we all shuld holde our peace / that there we shuld not thincke at all of coloured expositions and excuses / but only of symple and playne obedience / such / as we reade that Abraham shewed vnto Godd / whom Godd [] [] [] [] commaunding hym / did go out of his countrie into a straunge lande / and when he did not refuse to sacrifice vnto the lorde his only Sonne / withough suspicion of crueltie. Truly in the hold gospell the lord dothe saye.
[] If a man come to me / and hate not his father / and mother / and wyfe / and children / and brethern / and systers / yea and his own lyfe also / he can not be my disciple. And whosoeuer doth not beare his crosse and comme after me / can not be my disciple. They truly which haue beene content to beare this ioke of the lords / haue neither lost themselues / yea thoughe they haue beene slayne of persequatours / nor yet their familie / which they dyd leaue in trobles and penurie of thinges. For by teachinge of experience and witnessing of histories / we haue lerned / that Godd by such miracles as haue beene done at the graues of martirs hathe witnessed / that they which wer killed / wer not loste but saued, that they wer not deade but lyuing. Furthermore we can not say nay but that Godd hathe blessed the families of such slayne martirs / and that he hath moued the hartes of goode men which haue receyued thos abiects and miserable persons into their custodie / so that they wanted nothinge. Besids this the godly do knowe that in this world they must honger / and that they must be exercised with diuers aduersities / that they may be made like vnto the image of Christ who was himself in all pointes tempted for vs / [] lyke as we are / but yet without synne. But now this remaynith as yet to be discussed / which theis men do take as for an oracle / and most euident truithe.
[] That it is sufficient if a man do keape the true faithe in his harte / and that ther is no farther neade of outward confession / through which thow shuldest be drowned in the deape of afflictions. Yf it doth suffice to beleaue in harte / and the confession with the mowthe seme not necessarie / wherfor I praye you Hath the lorde sayed? Euery one which confessithe me before Men. &c. Beholde he saythe before Men. But faith which stickith still in the harte is not brought forth before men. Yea it is not to be called a confession / when faith doth lurcke in the hart. For Confession doth properly bringe forth that which dyd lye hidden wythin. The Apostle therfor taking from vs all doubt in this controuersie.
[] The worde (sayth he) is nyghe the / euen in thy mouthe / and in thy harte. This same is the worde of faythe / whiche we preache. For if thow knowledg with thy mouth that Iesus is the lorde / and beleaue in thy harte that God raysed hym vpp from deathe thow shalt be safe. For to beleaue with the harte iustifieth / and to knowledge with the mowthe maketh a man safe. what canst thow desire to be more playnly and euidently spoken in this matier? Thow dost clearely heare that thow takest awaye saluacion if thow dost cut of the confession of the mouthe from the beleif of the hart. Yea and the beleif of the harte is that nature that it can not lye hydd / but must of necessite breake forth to be confessed with the mouthe. Yf the confession of the mouthe neadith not / neyther then shall ther neade ony preachinge of the truithe. But the Apostles / bushopps and faithfull martirs of Christ / when they preached euen amonge the wicked / haue most bitterly condemned Idolatrie / and all doctrine and worshipp which doth not agre with the holy gospell / and affirmed that the gospell only dothe teache the true worshipp of Godd. By that confession of mouthe they did glorifie Godd / they did disanull Iudaisme and paganisme / and did erecte many holy congregracions throughe the worlde / which by holdinge their peace and keapinge the true faith within their harte they shuld neuer haue edified. Wherof euery man seith that the confession of the mouthe is allwayes necessarie / and that it is required of euery one of vs. The notable examples also of the excellent seruauntes of Godd contayned in the scriptures do teache the same.
[] That same gret prophet of Godd Helias was ones of that mynde that he only of all the true worshippers of Godd was lefte alyue vppon the earthe. But he hearith euen of the lord hymself / which sayeth / I haue lefte me seuen thousand in Israel / of which neuer man bowed his knee vnto Baal nor Kyssed hym with his mouthe. Heere is nothinge spoken of the secret faithe of the harte / but of the outward fruites of true faithe. For theis wer outward thinges / to bowe the knees vnto Baal / and to kisse his Image with their mouth. It is saied that they did not theis thinges / and therfor are they taken for true and veray worshippers of Godd. The lorde / if he hadd thoughte that which theise our men do thincke / he might haue made mencion of the faithe of the harte without the outward confession / especially seing thos tymes wer so daungerous that Helias himself did flie into the wildernes. But the lord doth praise in his faithfull the outwarde confession / which was made in worcke / rather then in wordes. Wherfor we must shew forthe the faith of the harte both by deedes and wordes / after the exeample of theise seuen thowsande confessors whom God doth praise. We must not goo vnto vnholy assemblees / we must not bowe our knees nor vncouer our heades before Idolls / we must not kisse thos thinges / which are contrarie to the gospell.
[] Yf ony other in the whole world / thos the princes (of whom mencion is made in Daniell) might haue coloured ther Idolatrie / but they chose rather to submitt themselues to cruel punishment / then to bowe their knee before that Image which the kinge did sett vpp to be worshipped. Their men of ours wold haue sayed. It shalbe better to kepe faithe in the harte for the profitinge of many / then rashly to poore it furthe to the hurte of an infinite number. For so longe as we are safe / the miserable captiues shall receyue gret and many benefites: Yea and also we priuely may promote the truithe in the princes courte. But by this same vnceasonable confession / confusion of all thinges shall euen at ons ouerwhelme all theise thinges. And with out doubt they wold haue added that the Image which the kyng hadd sett vp was not altogether to be deputed among prophane thinges / forbicause that the true God had shewed the kinge a vision or an Image / which did conteyn great misteries of the kingdome of Godd / after the forme of which Image / Nabugodonozor hadd caused this Image to be made and graued / which Image the faithfull for the cause might beholde and reuerence as the worke of Godd. But thos valieant / and glorious Martirs do make mention of no suche thinge / [] and though they did knowe the kinges mynd well inough in this matier / yet they do playnly saye to the kinge. Be this known vnto the (o kynge) that we wil not serue they goddes / nor do reuerence vnto that Image which thow hast sett vpp. Neither did they only vse this libertie of speache before the kyng / but willingly they offered ther bodies to all daungers / yea euen to most fearfull fires.
[] Daniel also did not thincke that Godd was religiusly inough worshipped and serued with the inwarde faithe of the harte / except he had added the outward confession also. For when thos hethen princes did laye snares for hym / of which he was not ignorant / and therfor might peaceably haue prayed to the lorde within his walles at home / yet wold he not dissemble in this matier. For what doth the scripture saye? This / that when Daniel perceyued what the kinge hadd commaunded / he wente into his howse / and the windows of his wall towardes Hierusalen stode open. There kneled he down vpon his knees thre times a daye / he made his petition and praised his Godd / and so opened he his confession to Godd. This same most holy prophet of Godd mighte seme to be beside hymself thus willingly to procure euill to hymself / and as it wer without neade to prouoke the enemies of Religion against hym: but the scripture doth not settfurth vnto vs ony error / no vnconsideratnes or rashe boldnes in this matier / but doth teache vs playnly to yelde vnto Godd confession in deedes and in wordes. Vnto theis examples of the holy scripture we will now adde other thinges which do agre with them (for thos thinges which do diagre from the scriptures we passe litill or nothing at all / what autoritie so euer they haue amonge men) [] This we will do out of the Ecclesiasticall historie. Eusebius entreating of such things as Origen did / makith mencion that Origen did mightily oppugn a new heresie which did springe vpp in his tyme / it was called the heresie of Helchesaites / and at lenghth he did happily extinguishe it. He shewith that they among many other things did holde this heresie / that if a man did denie in persequution he synned not at all / forbicause that he which is stable and confirmed in his harte / although he doth denie with the mouthe for necessitie / yet as touching the harte he abidith in faithe. By which wordes truly euery man may perceyue that the same pestilent errour is brought agayn as it wer out of hell / in our age / and se that he ought cheifly to beware of it as of an heresie condemned. The same Eusebius in the viij. booke doth sett furth notable examples of many martirs of Christe which did frely confes the truith / out of whom I will recite vnto your godlynes theise few thinges / wich without doubt will be acceptable vnto all. They whos mynd (saithe he) was more readie and their faithe more stronge / suffered torments. Sum wer beaten with whippes / other were tormented with iron houes / sum other wer burned with fierye plates / of whom many indeed being weried did gyue ouer. But other did abide paciently euen to the end. Sum of the persequutours them selues verely / as thoughe they hadd vsed pitie / did bringe many of our men to the wicked sacrifices / and made a noise as though thay hadd sacrificed / when indeede they hadd not sacrificed. Of sum other when they hadd not so mutch as come nighe the vncleane sacrifices / they did crye out / that they had already sacrificed and did now depart. Which wer only faultie (I praye you marcke theise wordes) in this / that they did with silence beare the fault which was obiected against them. Sum being taken vpp half alyue were thrown awaye as thoughe they hadd beene deade. Sum beinge drawn out by the feate / were accompted amonge them which hadd sacrificed. Other cryed out that they were Christians / and dyd glorie in the confessinge of that healthfull name. Many also with a greater confidence did testifie that they neither hadd / neither wold sacrifice euer. Whos mouthes and eyes the tormentours did forthewith beate / to cause them to holde ther peace / and they wer with violence thrust forthe as though they hadd done the thinge. For so the enemies of godlynes did mutch esteame it / if at least wise they did but seeme to bring to pas that which they wolde. Many other thinges like vnto this / might I add / partly out of the Tripartita historia / partly out of Eutropius. But theis are sufficient: And theis do plainly and euidently inough proue / that the lord doth require of true Christians / a true and playne confession of the mouthe / yea euen in the gretest daungers and furies of the persequutors and therfor that theise tenderlinges do most manifestly err / which do thincke otherwise / only to saue their filthie paunche.
[] It remaynith now right Reuerend fathers / and most deare brethern in Christe that I shuld breifly touche also theis mens reasoninges of popishe Ceremonies / which I said at the begynning they do wittyly handle to persuade themselues / and others / that no man by the partakinge of them doth either defile himself / or by it denie the religion of the gospell. And surly it is well known that the name of Ceremonies not being narowly weyed / hath bewitched the eyes of many / not only in this but in other controuersies of religion. It is therfor to be known that Ceremonies are nothinge els but holy rites. And of Ceremonies sum are called diuine which are instituted (I saye) of Godd himself / sum other are called humayne / such as are inuented by mans will.
[] But of the dyuine or ceremonies of God / sum belonged to the olde poeple / of which the writinges of the prophetes and apostles do beare witnes that they wer abrogate in Christe. Sum do belonge to the new poeple that is to Christians / which were delyuered vnto them of Christe by the Apostles / and thos truly very fewe / as of holy assemblees / of sacramentes / and certayn ecclesiasticall obseruacions / which are declared in the writinges of the Apostles.
[] Of ceremonies enuented by man ther is almost neither measure nor end. For they wer enuented and established at dyuerse tymes / and that by diuers and sundry autors / and they were so delyuered and instituted of them / that they do not only not consent with the holy scriptures but they be contrary to them / insomutch that they do deface and corrupt the ordinaunces which Godd hath instituted / and do put them out of place. Of this kinde is that churche deckinge and dressinge / in which Images haue the cheif place. Of the same sorte also is Massinge / straunge apparell / synging / and feastes appointed to saintes which be in heauen / and other innumerable of this sorte. All which truly the papistes do adorne with the title of ceremonies / which when the simple and such as haue litill knowledge do heare / they do Imagine sum holy thinge as thoughe that all theis thinges were sent down out of heauen from the lord Godd hymself to be kept. But heere we do admonishe men that they must stey sumwhat / and must sumwhat more diligently make difference betwene ceremonies / and must more narowly loke / whether that theis ceremonies (of which we do contend) be of Godd or of man. Euery man knowith that none in defiled by such ceremonies as are of Godd. And he which denieth that a man is defiled by humayn ceremonies / he seith nothing at all. For though I do not again vrge that which I saied euen nowe / that thos humayn ceremonies are contrary to Goddes worde / and do defile Godds ordinaunces / corrupt them and hyde them / can that be obscure or vnknown to ony man which our lord Iesus Christe doth playnly with expressed wordes bringe out of Esaye?
[] They do serue me in vaine / teachinge the doctrines and preceptes of men.
[] Again that which Paule doth affirme that they be commaundements of men that tourn awaye the truthe? And that the holy Martir of Christe propownced?
[] It is adulterus / it is wicked / it is sacrilegus / whatsoeuer is instituted by mans furie to violate the ordinance of Godd. And for this cause the godly will not call theis ordinances ony longer / ceremonies / simply / but rather mans institutions / and supersticions / which are reiected and forbidden of Godd. Wherfor howsoeuer theis men do beautifully set furth and adorn theise thinges / yet shall they neuer bringe this to passe / that the goddly will beleaue that it is lawful for them to communicate with supersticions / and such institucions as are forbidden of God: Neither will the godly beleaue but that theis thinges are forbidden / except the papistes shall proue by playne testimonies of the scripture that they are so instituted of Godd as they do vse them. Which thinge when it can not be proued of them / nor yet at all of ony other of the papistes / sum of our false gospellers do turn them selues hither / that they saye that Paule also did vse forbidden ceremonies / [] and that the prophetes of Godd did reproue the sacrifices / which they neuertheles did partake without synne. And if we do graunte them this altogether / how can they (I praye yow) helpe or sett furth their cause? We reade that Paule vsed ceremonies instituted of Godd / circumcision and sacrifices / but theis men do contend for ceremonies instituted by men. Paul did ons circumcise his Timothie / [] and did ons ore twis take on him a vowe / and that for certayn and weightie causes. But theise men couet to waxe old in their supersticions / and haue no lawfull causes to do so / except thow wilt call that lawfull which commith of the affections of the fleshe. Without doubt Paule wold not haue one ore two of his actes to be sett against his whole doctrine. But whi do they not rather folow Paule in that / [] when he refused to circumcise Titus? seing like causes are ministred vnto them by thos which go about to spoile them of their libertie / and bring them into bondage.
[] We do saye that ther were two sortes of the Sacrifices among the old poeple of Israel. Sum of them are redd to be instituted of Godd / which the poeple sum tyme abused / or els did not vse them with true faithe / which thing the prophetes did reproue / and not the Sacrifices themselues / of which they did partake religiusly and without synne: Euen as we reade that Paule did worthely partake the supper of the lorde / although he doth reproue the abuse of the supper in the Corinthinians. Other sacrifices ther were enuented by man / such were the sacrifices of Baal / and of Ieroboam / and thos which were done in the hilles. Theis truly the prophetes did reproue / but it is not redde that they did communicate with the same. This example therfor is of force against them which will excuse themselues by the example of the prophetes / in that they do partake such sacrifices as are instituted of man.
[] Forthewith then they saye / what is it to me though papistes do abuse the Masse? In their abuse I do call to mynd the true vse / and I comme vnto it with an other mynde and vnderstondinge then they do saye it. For when I see the breade and cupp / I do not thincke vppon the transubstanciation which the pope hath fayned / but on the sacrament of Christe. And therfor when I am at masse I do not regarde what ceremonies be ther / ore what the minister is / but I do remember the very institution of Christe and I do spitiually receyue that / wich he doth saye that he doth corporally offer and receyue / for the lyuinge and the deade. and seinge I know that the vertue of the sacrament is not of les force for the varietie of ceremonies / ore the vnworthines of the ministers / I do suppose that I / which do well vse an euell thinge / am neither defiled / nor yet that by this my spirituall communicating I do denie the gospell. By theise wordes a man wold iudge theis men to be madd / except he do consider that it is not they which do thus speake / but feare / and desire / which are affections playnly most trobled. They do simply acknowledge that papistes do abuse the supper of the lorde / but yet (they saye) that they themselues do wel vse their abuse / forbicause they do come enstructed with an other meaninge then the papistes do it / not to heare a popishe masse which the papistes saye / but to receyue the supper of the lorde / the self same which they in their masse do thincke abhominable. I do not know whether ther can be ony greter absurditie spoken. Thow maiste saye that theis men haue learned an arte which hetherto no man coulde attayne / to robb a naked man of clothes / to wringe water out of a pumeise stone / and to bidde a man to get fishe in the aire / that is / at a table wher no meate is sett furth at all / to fare delicatly and to be filled. But go to / let them frely profes before them with whom they do thus communicate / that they be of that mynd which they speake of / that is / that in cumminge to Masse they will not comme to Masse / but that in it they will vnderstond and consider breade / yea and that they will sett before their myndes the supper of the lorde / that they wil not confes the popishe transubstantiation / but that they do here in acknowledge Christes Sacrament / and that they do well receyue that spiritually in the Masse / which the prest doth offer / and receyue bodily for the lyuing and the deade / which thinge he beleauith not. Will not all they forthewithe crye out / that ther holy Masse is vnhalowed / and that they which thinke so are heretikes / and that they which do communicate with them are excommunicated? Truly they wold so behaue themselues / that euery man might vnderstond / that ther is a grete difference betwene the Masse and the supper of the lorde / and that they do embrace the Masse / but the supper of the lord they do all wayes hate and reiect. With such a kinde of men yet do theis men communicate / which wold thincke it a hurtefull and damnable thinge / if they shuld admitte vnto their diuine seruice / the companions of the religion of the gospell with their faithe. For they do take the approuinge of their doctrine / to be the condemnynge of the religion of the gospell: And they do take the communion in the Masse to be a certayn confession and approbation of their religion. Who is it then which doth not se / that theis men do receyue no part of the lordes supper at all in the masse / but also that by comminge to the masse they do deny the supper of the lorde and the whole faithe of the gospell? Theis men saye that they passe nothing what the ceremonies be / what the ministers / for that the vertue of the Sacrament is not the wors for them. But the cheif question heer is not of the worthines of the ceremonies or ministers / but of the true vse and institucion of the supper of the lorde / and whither that the Masse as it is this daye vsed (I do not now speake ony thinge at all of that which was vsed aboue a thowsand yeares passed) wer so instituted of Christe / and be indeede the very supper of the lorde? Yf the Masse be that misticall supper of the lorde / it must needes be allowed of the lorde / and thow (if so be thow dost come to it in faithe) canst not but receyue therof the foode of lyfe / forsomutch as the vnworthnes of the mynister doth not hinder the. But if the Masse be not the supper of the lorde / if the supper of the lord be defaced corrupted and troden vnder fote by the Masse / truly thow shalt receyue no fruite therof / but shalt rather purchase to thy self greate gilte of synne / for that the gaye glosse of the ceremonies or ony worthines of the ministers shall not helpe the at all. Euen Ieroboam himself wold haue beene counted to haue sacrificed to the Godd of Israel: but yet bicause he did not sacrifice after the same manier which God had commaunded / but rather after that sorte which he himself hadd inuented amd instituted / godd did not accept his sacrifices / and thos did synne against godd and against true religion / yea and against the lawfull Sacrifices of godd / as many as did communicate with the sacrifices of Ieroboam. For both that Ieroboam synned / and that he did leade Israel to synne / the scripture doth repeate very ofte / to beate in to the heade of the whole worlde / that simple obedience doth pleas the lorde / in which we keape his ordinaunces after that manier only which he hath instituted / addynge nothinge / dyminishing nothing / and chaunging nothing in them.
I will not now reason how that the Masse doth agre nothing at all with the lordes supper / for this is euen to the eyes of all men often tymes shewed in many bookes of most lerned and godly seruantes of Godd. Yea euen children which are but instructed in the principles of faith / do know that Christe did institute a comon partaking / ore communion / in which all the faithfull which are one bodie in Christe are knitt together into one bodie / and that the Masse is a dissipacion of vnitie and a priuate deuowring of one lurching sacrificer. They knowe that Christ commaunded: Take / eate / diuide it amonge you / and drincke ye all of this. And that the Masse doth sett furth theis thinges to be gazed vppon / to be worshipped / to be caried about / and to be shutt vpp / to be handeled and also receyued of preistes only: They know that Christe sayd: Do this in the rememberaunce of me. And that the priestes do saye Masse in the rememberaunce of sayntes / that they do sacrifice for the synnes of the quicke and the deade / and to be short that they do say masse for euery thinge / for filthie lucres sake.
Ther were in the tyme of the Apostles certayn witty disputars which reasoned that it was lawful for Christians to eate meates offered vnto Idols. Meates offered to Idolls / were sacrifices vsed in the temples of Idolls / to be offered vnto Idols. Therfor thos faithfull men did contend / that it was lauful indifferently to communicate with the holy seruice of the Christians / and also to sytte down in the Idols feaste. They did add plausible expositions / that an Idoll was nothinge / bycause Godd was not represented by the Idoll / that ther is but one Godd / the same our true and euerlastinge Godd: Wherof it folowed that the Idoll was nothinge / that is to say a thinge of no valure or a very vanitie / that it could hurt no bodie / and that the very meate offered vnto the Idoll was a thinge of nothinge / that it did defile no man. But Paule with many wordes doth confute that folery. 1. Cor. cap. 8. 9. and 10. In this tenth chapter amonge other thinges he gatherith of the nature of
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