{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_28104/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_28104","id":"gutenberg_28104","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28104","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Isaiah XXVI -- Sermons","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Judgment Day -- Sermons","Sermons, English"],"text":"The Pulpit of the Reformation;\n\n                         No. 1, October 30, 1834.\n\n                                Containing\n\n                            The Last Judgment,\n\n                              By John Welch.\n\n                           The Day Of Judgment,\n\n                            By Bishop Latimer.\n\n                         No. 2, December 1, 1834.\n\n                                Containing\n\n                     The Parable Of The Householders,\n\n                                 And The\n\n                          Parable Of The Tares,\n\n                            By Bishop Latimer.\n\n           No. 3, January 1, 1835, and No. 4, February 1, 1835.\n\n                                Containing\n\n                   A Sermon Preached Before Queen Mary\n\n                               By John Knox\n\n To Which Is Subjoined An Extract From Knox\u2019s Admonition To The People Of\n                                 England.\n\n                                Aberdeen:\n\n                               Published By\n\n                  George King, 28, St. Nicholas Street,\n\n                                   And\n\n                   Robert King, Broad Street, Peterhead\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nThe Last Judgment.\nBy The Rev. John Welch, A. D. 1570-1622.\nThe Day Of Judgment.\nExtracted From A Sermon By Hugh Latimer, Bishop Of Worcester, And Martyr,\n1555.\nThe Parable Of The Householder.\nA Sermon, By Bishop Latimer.\nThe Parable Of The Tares,\nBy Bishop Latimer, Preached On The 7th Of February, 1553.\nA Sermon On Isaiah XXVI.\nBy John Knox.\n\u201cIt Is I, Be Not Afraid.\u201d\nExtracted From Knox\u2019s Admonition To England.\nFootnotes\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAST JUDGMENT.\nBY THE REV. JOHN WELCH, A. D. 1570-1622.\n\n\n    REV. xx. 11.\u2014_And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on\n    it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away._\n\n\nThe security of all flesh is wonderous great, for there is a fearful sleep\nfallen both upon the good and the evil. The foolish virgins are sound\nasleep, and the wise are asleep also. And suppose the Lord be at the door,\nand the hour of judgment at hand, and the seventh angel ready to blow the\nlast trumpet, when time shall be no more; yet it is scarcely one of a\nthousand, yea, one of ten thousand, is to be found that is prepared, and\nbusying themselves to meet the Lord, who is making speed to come in the\nclouds: and how soon that fire shall break forth, which shall kindle the\nheavens above your head, and the earth under your feet, and shall set all\non fire; how soon the trumpet shall blow, and the shout shall cry, \u201cRise,\nDead, and come to judgment,\u201d is only known to God, and to no mortal man.\nWill ye not then be wakened till this trumpet waken you? And will none of\nyou take pains to look over the leaves of your conscience, and read what\nsins are written there, since ye came into the world, before that day of\ndoom come upon you? O that ye knew that eternity, and that terror of the\nday of the Lord, when the heavens above you, and the earth beneath you,\nshall not be able to stand before the face of him that sits on the throne!\nTherefore I hope the Lord has made choice to me of this text, at this\ntime, to give you warning before the judgment come. Ye know the watchman\nthat the Lord takes from among the people, that he sets over the city or\nhouse to credit to them, \u201cIf ye see the sword and pestilence coming, and\nwarn them not, the blood of them that perish under the judgment for lack\nof warning, will be required at his hand,\u201d that is, the watchman\u2019s;\ntherefore it is time for me to be making warning to you, and, in the\nmeasure of strength that God will give me, I am to make warning not of a\ntemporal judgment, but of an everlasting judgment that is coming on, (God\nwaken you and warn you in time!) that when ye shall see the Judge sit on\nhis throne, your hearts may not tremble at his awful countenance, having\ngotten your souls washed in his blood. But, to come to the purpose, there\nare many visions in this book, and there are many things done here, that\nthe Son shews to his servant John. He shews him first the present state of\nthe Church at that time in the world, under the name of seven stars, and\nhe tells, \u201cthey are suffering, and had patience; and they laboured for his\nname\u2019s sake, and fainted not; but yet he had somewhat against them,\nbecause they had forsaken their first love.\u201d Some were in tribulation and\npoverty, but yet rich in God; some kept the name of Jesus, and denied not\nthe faith, suppose they should had given their blood for it, as the\nfaithful martyr Antipas did; but yet he had a few things against them,\nbecause they maintained the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing he\nhated. Some had love, service, faith, and patience, and their work was\nmore at the last than at the first; but yet they suffered the false\nprophetess Jezebel to be among them, to whom he threatens he will cast her\ninto a bed of affliction, and them that commit fornication with her,\nexcept they repent them of their works. There were some whose works were\nnot found perfect before God; therefore he exhorts them to remember how\nthey had heard, and received; he bids them hold fast and repent,\notherwise, he tells, that he will come shortly against them. Some had a\nlittle strength, and kept his word, and denied not his name; therefore he\npromises to deliver them in the hour of temptation that shall come upon\nall the world to try the whole earth. Some were neither cold nor hot; and\ntherefore, because they were lukewarm, he tells them that it would come to\npass, that he would spew them out of his mouth; they thought they were\nrich and increased in goods, and had need of nothing, but they know not\nthat they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; and then he\ncounsels them to buy of him gold tried in the fire, that they might be\nrich, and white raiment, that they might be clothed, and eye-salve that\nthey might see. So what is your case this day? Have ye not forsaken your\nfirst love? But as for tribulation, it is not yet come; for our days have\nbeen days of peace, of light, liberty, and glory; but as for tribulation\nit is not yet come; but as the Lord lives, the days of tribulation are not\nfar off. As for false doctrine, God be praised, it is not among us yet,\nor, at least, if it be, it dare not be avowed yet; but I fear, that, who\nlives to see it, they shall see heresy and corruption in doctrine and\nreligion creep in piece and piece, in this Church; and if our works be\nfound perfect before God, or not, the Lord knows the contrary, and your\nown consciences bear witness to it; and if your life be answerable to your\nname, I leave it to your consciences to judge, if we have not a name that\nwe are living, and yet are dead; and whether this be not the doleful state\nof the generation that is neither cold nor hot. It is clear, the zeal of\nthe glory of God, being so worn out of the hearts of all, plainly declares\nthe same. But I leave this. After he had shewed him the present state of\nthe Church, at that time, then he tells him what shall be the state of the\nChurch unto the end of the world.\n\nAnd _first_, in the vision of a sealed book, containing these acts\nconcerning the Church, which none could open but the Lion of the tribe of\nJudah, for it was sealed with seven seals. Now, what was contained in\nthese seven seals? This will take a larger time to declare than now is\nmeet to ware upon it.\n\nMark always of these things spoken, there are three consolations to the\nChurch of God; howsoever it be that she be in tribulation, or poverty, and\naffliction; and albeit it come to pass, that the devil cast some of them\nin prison, that they may be tried, and some have tribulation ten days,\nwhich is but a short time; and howsoever it be that our adversary goes\nabout continually like \u201ca roaring lion, seeking whom to devour;\u201d but yet,\n\u201che that rides on the white horse,\u201d with the badge at his belt, and the\narrows at his side, he shall get the victory at the end of the world; and\nto them that are faithful to the death, he shall give them a crown of\nlife.\n\nMark _next_, suppose the sword, the famine, the pestilence, these temporal\njudgments, be common to the godly as well as to the wicked, yet there is\nconsolation to the \u201csouls of them that are slain for the testimony of\nJesus, they are lying under the altar, and they cry with a loud voice,\nLord, how long, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood\nupon them that dwell on the earth?\u201d Then it was said unto them, \u201cthat they\nshould rest for a little season, until their fellow-servants and brethren,\nthat should be killed, as they were, should be fulfilled.\u201d\n\nMark, _thirdly_, the sixth seal is opened, \u201cand there was a great\nearthquake, and the sun was as black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon\nwas like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, and heaven\ndeparted away as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain\nand island were moved out of their places; and then the kings of the\nearth, and the great men, and rich men, and the captains, and the mighty\nmen, and every bond man, and every free man, hid themselves in dens and\nrocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us,\nand hide us from the presence of him that sits on the throne, and from the\nface of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be\nable to stand?\u201d Then shall the Church of God be avenged on her enemies;\nthen she shall have power over the nations, and shall rule them with a rod\nof iron, and as the vessels of a potter they shall be broken; then shall\nthe saints of God be brought out of great tribulation, and have their long\nrobes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb; they shall be in the\npresence of the throne of God, and serve him both day and night in his\ntemple; and he that sits on the throne shall live among them, and he that\nis in the midst of the throne shall govern them, and shall lead them to\nthe lively fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from\ntheir eyes. Now, I go forward. After this, he tells him, before this day\nthe Gospel shall be wonderfully restrained; \u201cAnd the bottomless pit shall\nbe opened, and the smoke of that pit shall arise as the smoke of a great\nfurnace; and the sun and the air shall be made dark with that smoke: and\nout of that smoke shall come locusts upon the earth, and they shall have\npower as the scorpions of the earth have, and the pain of them shall be as\nthe pain of a scorpion, when he have stung a man. And in these days men\nshall seek death, and shall not find it, and shall desire to die, and\ndeath shall fly from them.\u201d Then he tells two woes that shall come upon\nthe earth, the one of the Antichrist, the other of the Turk, \u201cwho shall\nrun through the world and slay the third part of men, and shall lead their\ngreat army of twenty times ten thousand horsemen of war, and there should\nbe two witnesses raised up, and power should be given them to prophesy so\nmany days clothed in sackcloth; and if any man should hurt them, fire\nshould proceed out of their mouth and devour their enemies; and when they\nhave fulfilled their testimonies, they should be slain by the beast that\ncame out of the bottomless pit, but they should rise again; and the spirit\nof life coming up from God, should enter into them, and they should stand\nupon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that seized them, and then\nshall they ascend up to heaven in a cloud in the sight of their enemies.\u201d\n\nAnd at last, \u201cThe seventh angel shall blow his trumpet, and the dead shall\nrise, and every man shall receive according to his works.\u201d This he does\ntill he comes to the twelfth chapter, then he tells him, \u201cThe fights of\nthe dragon with the woman, and her seed that kept the commands of her God,\nand kept the testimony of Jesus Christ.\u201d Then he tells him, \u201cthe two\nempires of the two beasts, Antichrist and the Turk, and the manner of\nevery one of them.\u201d Then he tells, \u201cThe noble company of the Lamb that\nstands in mount Zion, even the hundred and forty and four thousand, having\ntheir Father\u2019s name written on their fore-heads; and how he heard a voice\nfrom heaven, like the sound of many waters, and as the sound of a great\nthunder; and he heard the noise of harpers harping with their harps; they\nsung, as it were, a new song before the throne, and no man could learn\nthat song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were brought\nfrom the earth.\u201d He tells what they were, saying, \u201cThese are they which\nwere not defiled with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb\nwherever he goes, and these were redeemed from among men, being the first\nfruits to God, and to the Lamb: and in their mouth was found no guile; for\nthey are without spot before the throne of God.\u201d Then he tells, \u201cThat\nanother angel flew in the midst of heaven, with the everlasting Gospel to\npreach unto them which dwell on the earth;\u201d and that is the same Gospel\nwhich I preach unto you, even this, \u201cFear God, and give glory to him, for\nthe hour of judgment is come; and worship him that made the heavens and\nthe earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.\u201d Then he tells, \u201cthat\nanother angel cried, It is fallen, it is fallen, Babylon that great city,\nshe made all the nations to drink of the wine of her fornication. Ay,\nRome, thou shalt be taken and burnt in a furnice of fire, and a mill-stone\nshall be bound about thy neck, and thou shalt be cast into the midst of\nthe sea, and shalt be drowned; there thou shalt fall, and thy fall shall\nmake heaven and earth, and all the angels and saints to rejoice at thy\nfall. Ay, God shall put it into the hearts of the kings to do it; we know\nnot what kings they are; and then the bride shall prepare her for the\nbridegroom\u2019s coming in the clouds.\u201d\n\nNext again, of _seven vials_ he sets down again almost the same things\nthat he prophesied before; and now here, last of all, he lets him see the\nlast judgment. Would you know then what is here? See ye yon great throne?\nYe shall see the Judge standing on the throne; ye shall all see both\nheaven and earth flee away from his face, ye shall all see the dead, great\nand small, and yourselves among the rest, standing before God; and ye\nshall all see the books opened, and the dead judged according to their\nworks, and death and hell cast into the lake of fire, even those that had\ntheir hands in his heart\u2019s blood, and those that pierced his side with a\nspear, and those that rivetted him with nails, both hands and feet, they\nshall see it also. The elect shall see it, as Job says, \u201cFor I know that\nmy Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the last day upon the\nearth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet I shall see\nGod in my flesh: whom myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not\nanother, though my reins were consumed in me.\u201d And this was his\nconsolation; even so those very eyes of yours, and no other, shall see\nwith terror or with joy, either to your endless comfort, or to your\nendless condemnation. Now, what sees he? First, he sees a throne; ye know\na throne is set for a judge to sit on; so he sees a throne whereon the\nJudge of the whole earth is to sit on; therefore he shall come to be a\nJudge. He came before, at his first coming, not to sit on a throne, nor to\nbe a Judge, but to be judged before thrones and tribunals of men; for John\nsays, \u201cThat he sent not his Son that he should condemn the world, but that\nthe world through him might be saved.\u201d Christ himself says, \u201cMan, who made\nme a judge, or a divider over you?\u201d And in another place, \u201cThe Son of man\ncame not to judge, but be judged himself.\u201d In his first coming, he comes\nfrom high majesty to baseness and humility; he came from his Father\u2019s\nglory to shame and ignominy; he came from a palace to a crib; from the\nseat of his majesty to a tree; he came like a Lamb to be slain, and as a\nSaviour to save sinners: as the Apostle says, it was a true saying, \u201cThat\nChrist came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief;\u201d\nChrist himself says, \u201cI came not to call the righteous, but sinners to\nrepentance;\u201d and therefore that is the name that the angel gives him, when\nhe appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, and \u201cthou shalt call his name\nJesus, for he shall save his people from their sins; and they shall call\nhis name Emmanuel, that is, God with us,\u201d our God made flesh, our God\nmanifested in the flesh. So I say, in his first testimony, he comes as a\nSaviour and Mediator between God and man; but in his last coming, he shall\nnot come as a Lamb, but as a Judge, convoyed with all his angels and\nsaints in heaven; he shall come in flaming fire, kindling the heavens\nbefore him, in melting the elements and earth beneath him; he shall come\nwith a blast of the trumpet, with the archangel, to gather all people from\nthe four corners of the earth; and he shall come with a peremptory\nsentence, from the which there shall be no appellation, and of which there\nshall be no revocation, ever again or again calling; and he shall come\nwith his reward in his hand, to every man according to his works which he\nhas done in this world, be they evil, be they good. Now, ye see he has a\nthrone, he has a throne of grace; as the Apostle to the Hebrews says, \u201cLet\nus go boldly to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find\ngrace in time of need.\u201d Now he is sitting on a throne of grace, that we\nmay receive mercy, and find grace in time of need; and now he holds the\ndoor of mercy open, and lets in every penitent sinner that comes;\ntherefore I testify unto you, if ye will flee from your sins, if ye will\ncast away the works of darkness, if ye will hate and detest all sort of\niniquity, and if thou wilt run to the throne of grace now, I will assure\nthee thou shalt find mercy, and grace in the time of need; so now is the\nthrone of grace and mercy, but afterwards thou shalt see the throne of\nglory and justice. Now is the good Shepherd seeking his lost sheep, and\nfinding them, to drink of the wells of the water of life, and to eat of\nthe fat things of his own house; but afterwards, such as would not be\ngathered of him, he shall bind them hand and foot, and cast them into\nouter darkness. Now he pities them that will not come home, as he said to\nJerusalem, \u201cO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered thee, as\na hen doth her birds under her wings, but thou wouldst not: behold, your\nhabitation shall be made desolate.\u201d So wo to the souls that repine and\nrefuse to be fetched within the sweet and loving arms of the Son of God,\neven those bloody arms which were stretched out upon a tree. Now, discern,\nI pray you, betwixt his first coming and his last coming; for now is the\ntime of grace, and now is the spirit of grace offered, and now is the\nthrone of grace set up, and now is the rainbow, which is the sign of the\ncovenant of life, round about the throne, and now the twelve ports of that\nnew Jerusalem are standing open, that all may come in; therefore, wo to\nthe soul that shall sit till this time of grace pass over, and will not\ncome in in time.\n\nBut I will go forward. Now, ye see two things in that throne, the one is a\n_great_ throne, the other is a _white_ throne. Let kings keep silence of\ntheir thrones, and speak of this throne. O ye kings, will ye look to the\nheavens above you, and see that white cloud, and upon the cloud one\nstanding like the Son of man, having upon his head a golden crown, and in\nhis hand a sharp sickle, who thrusts his sharp sickle in the earth, and\ncuts down the vine of the vineyards of the earth, and casts them into the\ngreat wine-press of the wrath of God; so he calls it a _great_ throne.\nSolomon\u2019s throne was great which he made of ivory, and had six steps, and\ntwelve lions, two on every step, and the queen of the South was astonished\nwhen she saw it; and it is said in the Canticles, \u201cCome forth, O daughters\nof Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother\ncrowned him in the day of his marriage, and in the day of the gladness of\nhis heart.\u201d But will ye come out, ye daughters of Zion, and see here\nanother throne nor Solomon\u2019s, another crown nor his crown? It is a _great_\nthrone, so that all the monarchs\u2019 thrones under heaven, what are they in\ncomparison with this throne? Nothing. Therefore no wonder that the\ntwenty-four elders take their own crowns, and cast them down before his\nthrone; and it is no wonder that they fall down before him that sits on\nthe throne, and worship him that lives for evermore, saying, \u201cThou art\nworthy to receive glory, honour, and power, for thou hast created all\nthings, and for thy will\u2019s sake they are created.\u201d O that the men of the\nworld saw this throne! And, O that ye did see the greatness of the majesty\nof his throne!\n\nNow he calls it _great_, because of him that sits on it; _great_, because\nof them that stand about it; _great_, because of them that shall be judged\nthere; and last of all, _great_, because of the judgment itself. Now, who\nsits on it? O! the Judge of the whole world, God himself, that infinite\nEssence that men and angels have borrowed their being from, even he whose\nglorious face the seraphims and cherubims cannot behold for the brightness\nthereof; and therefore they have wings to cover their faces, because they\ncannot bear to see him, much less so then can any mortal man see his face\nand live; he that rides on his white horse, and tramples under foot all\nhis enemies, and treads them in the wine-press of his wrath without the\ncity; therefore rejoice, all ye whose garments are made white in the blood\nof the Lamb, for his throne shall not terrify you, because of the Judge\nthat sits thereon: for he is thy brother, thy Advocate, and thy Saviour. O\nblessed for evermore is the soul of the righteous, and of such as are\nreconciled with the great God, before he come to sit on this throne.\n\nNow, I said, it was _great_ in respect of him that sits thereon; _next_,\nin respect of them that stand about it. Ye see a judge has his assizers\nthat sit in judgment with him, and consent to his sentence; so this great\nJudge has his assizers, for there is not one of his angels shall be left\nin heaven, but all shall stand about this throne, and all the saints on\nearth shall be caught up in the air, and they shall all have thrones set\nabout his throne. O the fairest parliament that ever was in the world! O!\nbehold the King crowned with many crowns, standing in the midst, and all\nthe King\u2019s servants with their crowns on their heads, and also the saints\nwith palms in their hands, sitting on thrones about that throne.\n\n_Thirdly_, Great is this throne, because great is the number of persons\nthat shall be there. All men and women in the world must be judged here;\nthere is never a reprobate that ever took life, but he shall be judged\nhere, and all the elect and saints of God shall be judged here also, (so\nfair is this parliament,) six thousand years\u2019 generations shall all stand\nthere, waiting to receive an eternal and final judgment.\n\n_Last_ of all, _Great_ is this throne, because great shall be the judgment\nthat shall come forth from this throne. Lords of the Session think their\njudgments great; but come out here, and see to whom the new city Jerusalem\nin heaven shall be given, and who shall be cast into the lake of fire.\nNow, compare all these together, and see if this throne be not great;\ngreat is he that sits on the throne, even the Prince of life, and God of\nglory, and the Judge of all the world; great is his synod, even all the\nelect angels and saints, from the beginning of the world to the end of the\nworld; for ye that are in Christ shall be glorified in the clouds, and the\nsight of your glory shall aggravate the torment of the reprobates, because\nthey might have had it, and would not take it; and then you shall rule\nthem with a rod of iron, and as a potter\u2019s vessel they shall be broken;\nand great is the number of them that shall be judged; for let all flesh\nprepare them for it, even kings and emperors, those that wore many crowns\non the earth, must appear naked before the throne. Alexander, thou worest\nmany crowns, conquered many nations, but yet thou must stand up naked as\nthou was born, and thou must render a reckoning of thy conquests.\n\nBut I leave this. Again, you see this throne is _white_. What means this\nwhiteness? It is innocency or righteousness, and full of shining\nbrightness, of an unspeakable joy. Innocent and righteous; how so? Because\nthe Judge is white, innocent, and righteous; all his assizers that shall\nsit round about him, they are white, innocent, white and righteous; all\nhis citations, summonses and convictions, sentences and executions, are\ninnocent and righteous; so all is white, the Judge, the unspotted innocent\nand undefiled Lamb of God, sitting on his throne of justice, and ordained\ndeputy of his Father, to judge both the quick and the dead, he in whose\nheart was never found guile; therefore Abraham said, \u201cShall not the Judge\nof the world judge righteously?\u201d So this Judge is white, innocent, and he\nis bright and glorious. Peter, James, and John, saw him white on the mount\nTabor, when he was transfigured, \u201cand his face shined as the sun, and his\nraiment white as the light; and when Peter said, Master, it is good for us\nto be here: if thou wilt, let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and\none for Moses, and one for Elias.\u201d Matth. xvii. 1, 2, 3. Ay, Peter, but\nthis shall be a whiter appearing, and thou shalt think it better to be\nwith him here. Ay, Lord, it is true, _white_ wast thou upon mount Tabor,\nbut whiter shalt thou be in the clouds.\n\nHe is _white_ again, in respect of his citations. O that our hearts were\nravished with the consideration of thy righteous and just citing and\nsummoning of all men, when thou shalt cause the earth, grave, hell, and\nthe sea, and all places, thrust out of them all their dead; just shalt\nthou be in glorifying the souls and bodies of them that glorify thee on\nearth; and just shalt thou be in glorifying thyself, by tormenting the\nsouls and bodies of them that dishonoured thee on earth.\n\nHe is _white_ in respect of his accusations, for there shall be nothing\nread in thy ditty, but that which shall be found written either in one\nleaf of thy conscience or other; there the sins of thy conception, there\nthe sins of thy youth, there the sins of thy ignorance, there the sins\nagainst the light of thy conscience, and there the sins against the law,\nand there the sins against the gospel, and all shall be presented to thy\nconscience. O! well is the soul and conscience that dare lift up the head\nwith rejoicing, and can say, \u201cThou Lamb of God, thou takest away the sins\nof the world,\u201d thou tookest away my sins when thou wast on the tree. And\ncan any body tell how ye will compear before this throne that were never\ncleansed with the blood of Jesus? O! that blackness and darkness, which is\nabiding that soul which never yet ran to the blood of the Lamb, to make\nitself white in it; so the raising of all, the compearing of all, the\naccusation of all, the conviction of all, shall be just, and God shall be\nglorified in all.\n\nThere is also the absolution of the righteous, and the condemnation of the\nwicked; and therefore the throne is called white, because of the innocency\nand righteousness of the Judge. Now, brethren, I will go no further at\nthis time than this that follows or remains to be spoken of, the majesty\nand terror of the Judge sitting on his throne, \u201cand him that sat on it.\u201d\nMany shall sit on thrones in that day, but one shall sit above all the\nrest, for the saints shall be caught up in the air, and shall all sit on\nthrones, and give out sentence both of absolution and condemnation, and\nthey shall say, \u201cHallelujah, salvation, and glory, and power, be to the\nLord our God, for true and righteous are his judgments.\u201d I could never yet\nrightly consider the majesty of this Judge. O heavens! what aileth thee to\nflee from the face of this Judge. O earth! what aileth thee to flee, and\nwhy art thou chased away, and never seen again? What ails thee, O heavens,\nthat never sinned, and, O earth, that never sinned neither, for they had\nnever understanding to be capable of a law, nor to be subject to keep a\nlaw. What means this? O but I must leave this! for who can but wonder at\nthis! Yet I will tell you the cause. You and I, and the generations before\nthat this firmament has seen, and this earth seen or born, since the first\nday that God made the earth, and established this heaven and earth, and\nsince that day that Adam eat of the forbidden tree, since that day heaven\nand earth have been eye-witnesses of our sins, and subject to vanity, and\nsince that day they have been defiled with our iniquities, and since that\ntime they have been subject to bondage and corruption, and therefore they\ngroan with us also, and travail with pain together until this present; and\ntherefore, in that great day, they cannot abide the face of the Judge.\n\nNow, what is the fruit ye should make of this? I thank my God that I\npreach unto you so sure a gospel, even the oracles of the eternal God; the\nearth and the heavens shall pass away, but this word and oracles shall\nnever pass away; therefore it is not a doubtsome message that I carry unto\nyou, for it is surer than the heavens, and surer than the earth; and these\neyes of yours, that have seen both the truth of this spoken here. O that\nthe Lord would fill my heart, with this verity, that I might eat it and\ndrink it, and feed upon it continually, and that he would fill me with the\nspirit of exhortation, that I might exhort you to meditate on this truth,\nboth day and night, that the remembrance of that day might never go out of\nyour hearts. O that you would do it, even for his sake that left you his\nheart\u2019s blood to slocken that fire which will burn both the heavens and\nthe earth: therefore hear, hear! What should you hear? things of the last\nimportance. Is hell, is heaven, is the terror of that day of any\nimportance? And this is not the blessing of mount Gerizim, but that\neverlasting blessing which the Judge of all the world shall pronounce out\nof his mouth, saying, \u201cYe blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom\nprepared for you before the foundation of the world.\u201d And it is nothing to\nthe curse of the mount Ebal, but it is that everlasting curse and\nmalediction which the Son of God shall pronounce, saying, \u201cDepart from me,\nye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.\u201d\n(And what shall I say to you?) This day is coming, and the Lord is\npreparing himself to come down through the clouds, to sit on a great white\nthrone, and the archangel is putting the trumpet to his mouth, and he is\nnear to the blowing of it, and the rest of the angels are but waiting when\nthey shall give the last shout, \u201cRise, dead, and come to judgment,\u201d the\nBridegroom is coming, and the heaven and the earth are waiting when the\nLord shall come in his glory, in flaming fire, to burn them up.\n\nNow, brethren, what should ye do then? It is but this one thing that I\nwill charge you with, hear what I am to say to you, I bear the message of\nGod, and I preach the Gospel that shall judge you; and I am here sent of\nGod to tell you what is his will towards you; therefore I charge you all\nbefore God, and his Son Christ Jesus, every man and woman, let this be\nyour occupation this day, turn over the leaves of your conscience, and see\nthere what is the ditty that thou hast pinned up against thyself, since\nthe day that thou wast born, and look on thy sins before the Lord, and\ncome and spread them before the Judge, and crave pardon of them, now in\nthe day of grace; for he is ready to forgive thee and thy sins, were they\nnever so great; for aye the redder that thy soul has been, the virtue of\nhis blood shall appear the greater in cleansing thee from thy sins;\ntherefore let none of you scare at the greatness of your sins; for here I\ntestify unto you, that if any of you be condemned, it shall not be for\nyour sins, but it shall be for contempt of that blood which shall condemn\nyou. O God! full of mercy and goodness, and of fatherly care and\nprovidence, and never a greater providence found I in my lifetime, than I\nfound this last time in my journey, I thank my God for it; and here I\navow, if this blood of mine should go for it, it was acceptable service to\nGod we did that day; I know there were many that sent up their prayers to\nGod for the maintenance of his liberty, I am sure the Lord heard you; for\nI say to you, the room was never that I came to, but I found the Lord\nmeeting me there, and confirming me that all was well and acceptable to\nhim; so that I never found sweeter providence since I was born; I see the\nLord\u2019s hand is not shortened. O Scotland! O that thou wouldst repent, and\nmourn for the contempt of this so great a light that has shined in thee;\nthen thou shouldst see as glorious a day on God\u2019s poor Church within this\nland, as ever was seen in any church before from the beginning; then the\nLord should be strong, and glorious, and wonderful in all the hearts of\nhis own. What is it to him to run sixteen or eighteen score of miles to\nLondon, and then run to the hearts of kings, princes, and nobles of the\nland, and humble them, and subject them to the crown and kingdom of Jesus\nChrist; but, let them think of it what they will, I know who has approven\nof us, for it is the running of the Gospel through the whole land, and it\nis that the net of Christ may be spread over all, that if it were possible\nwe may gather in a world in it, that they might not perish; it is that\nwhich we seek, and when I look to the eternity of wrath that is abiding\nthe wicked of this world, then I may say, who would not pity a world of\nsinners? But I leave this, and I will give God the praise of his own\nglory, that he can begin and he can perfect his own work in you: therefore\nthis is my petition to God, that ye may all be presented blameless before\nhim in that great day. Therefore I beseech you all, for Christ\u2019s sake,\nthat every one of you would come in time, by speedy repentance, and that\nyou would take up Christ in the arms of your souls, and that ye would take\na fill of his flesh and blood, that ye may never hunger and thirst any\nmore; and, in like manner, he may know you in that great day to be his own\nsheep, marked with his own blood. Will ye have any pleasure at his coming,\nwhen ye have eaten and drunken, and taken your pleasure here, and then\nshall be flung into hell hereafter? So I would beseech you, in all lenity\nand meekness of mind, for Christ\u2019s cause, ye would not delay at least to\nmint at repentance; and if ye cannot get your hearts melted as ye would,\nyet run to God, and say, \u201cFather have mercy upon me; Father, forgive me,\u201d\nand cause me to repent; Father, send down thy Spirit to soften my heart.\nNow, if ye would do this, ye should be welcome to him; for I assure you he\ndelights to shew mercy on poor penitent sinners, that would \u201crepent, and\nhunger, and thirst for righteousness.\u201d Now, I say no more now, but I\ncommend you all to him that is able to give you repentance and remission\nof sins in the blood of his Son Jesus Christ: to Father and with the Holy\nGhost, be all honour, Amen.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE DAY OF JUDGMENT.\nEXTRACTED FROM A SERMON BY HUGH LATIMER, BISHOP OF WORCESTER, AND MARTYR,\n1555.(1)\n\n\nLUKE XXI.(2)\n\nAs we die so we shall rise again. If we die in the state of damnation, we\nshall rise in that same state. Again, if we die in the state of salvation,\nwe shall rise again in that state, and come to everlasting felicity, both\nof soul and body. For if we die now in the state of salvation, then at the\nlast general day of judgment we shall hear this joyful sentence,\nproceeding out of the mouth of our Saviour Christ, when he will say,\n\u201cCome, ye blessed of my Father, possess that kingdom which is prepared for\nyou from the beginning of the world.\u201d (Matt. xxv.) And though we have much\nmisery here in this world, though it goeth hard with us, though we must\nbite on the bridle, yet for all that, we must be content, for we shall be\nsure of our deliverance, we shall be sure that our salvation is not far\noff. And no doubt they that will wrestle with sin, and strive and fight\nwith it, shall have the assistance of God; he will help them, he will not\nforsake them, he will strengthen them, so that they shall be able to live\nuprightly; and though they shall not be able to fulfil the law of God to\nthe uttermost, yet for all that, God will take their doings in good part,\nfor Christ his Son\u2019s sake, in whose name all faithful people do their good\nworks, and so for his sake they are acceptable unto God, and in the end\nthey shall be delivered out of all miseries and troubles, and come to the\nbliss of everlasting joy and felicity.\n\nI pray God, that we may be of the number of those who shall hear this\njoyful and most comfortable voice of Christ our Saviour, when he will say,\n\u201cCome, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom which is prepared for\nyou before the foundation of the world was laid.\u201d There are a great number\namongst the Christian people, who in the Lord\u2019s prayer, when they pray,\n\u201cThy kingdom come,\u201d pray that this day may come; but yet, for all that,\nthey are drowned in the world, they say the words with their lips, but\nthey cannot tell what is the meaning of it; they speak it only with their\ntongue: which saying indeed is to no purpose. But the man or woman that\nsaith these words, \u201cThy kingdom come,\u201d with a faithful heart, no doubt he\nor she desires in very deed that God will come to judgment, and amend all\nthings in this world, to pull down satan that old serpent under our feet.\n\nBut there are a great number of us who are not ready. Some have lived in\nthis world fifty years, some sixty, but yet for all that they are not\nprepared for his coming; they ever think he will not come yet. But I tell\nyou, that though his general coming be not yet, yet for all that he will\ncome one day, and take us out of this world: and, no doubt, as he finds\nus, so we shall have; if he find us ready, and in the state of salvation,\nno doubt we shall be saved for ever, world without end. But, if he find us\nin the state of damnation, we shall be damned, world without end, there is\nno remedy after we are once past this world; no penance will help then,\nnor anything that man is able to do for us.\n\n\u201cAnd then shall they see the Son of man come in a cloud with power and\ngreat glory.\u201d St. Paul to the Thessalonians setteth out the coming of\nChrist and our resurrection; but he speaks in the same place only of the\nrising of the good and faithful that shall be saved. But the Holy\nScripture in other places witnesses, that the wicked shall rise too, and\nshall receive their sentence from Christ, and so go to hell, where they\nshall be punished world without end. Now, St. Paul\u2019s words are these,\n\u201cThis say we unto you in the word of the Lord: that we which shall live\nand shall remain to the coming of the Lord, shall not come before them\nwhich sleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,\nand the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in\nChrist shall arise first: then we which shall live, even we which shall\nremain, shall be caught up with them also in the clouds to meet the Lord\nin the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord; wherefore comfort one\nanother with these words.\u201d 1 Thess. iv.\n\nBy these words of St. Paul it appears, that they which died in the\nbeginning of the world shall be by Christ as soon saved, as they who shall\nbe alive here at the time of his coming. I would have you to note well the\nmanner of speaking which St. Paul uses; he speaks as if the last day\nshould have come in his time. Now, when St. Paul thought that this day\nshould have come in his time, how much more shall we think that it shall\nbe in our time? For no doubt it will come, and it is not long thereunto;\nas it appears by all the scriptures which make mention of this day; it\nwill come, but it shall come suddenly, unawares, as a thief in the night.\nFor a thief when he intends a robbery, to rob a man\u2019s house, to break up\nhis chests, and take away his goods, gives him not warning, he lets not\nthe good man of the house know at what time he intends to come, but rather\nhe intends to spy such a time, that no man shall be aware of him. So, no\ndoubt, this last day will come one day suddenly upon our heads, before we\nare aware of it; like as the fire fell down from heaven upon the people of\nSodom when unlooked for; they thought that all things were well, therefore\nthey took their pleasures, till the time when fire fell down from heaven\nand burned them up all, with all their substance and goods.\n\n\u201cAnd he showed them a similitude, Behold the fig-tree and all the trees,\nwhen they shoot forth their buds, ye see and know of your ownselves that\nsummer is then near at hand.\u201d So when you see the tokens which shall go\nbefore this fearful day, it is time to make ready. But here a man might\nask a question, saying, I pray you wherein standeth this preparation? How\nshall I make ready? About this there has been great strife, for there have\nbeen an infinite number, and there are some yet at this time, who think\nthat this readiness standeth in masses, in setting up candles, in going of\npilgrimage; and in such things, they thought to be made ready for that\nday, and so to be made worthy to stand before the Son of man, that is,\nbefore our Saviour Christ. But I tell you, this was not the right way to\nmake ready. Christ our Saviour showeth us how we shall make ourselves\nready, saying, \u201cTake heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be\novercome with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this world, and so\nthis day come upon you unawares; for as a snare shall it come upon all\nthem that dwell upon the face of the whole world.\u201d\n\n\u201cWatch and pray:\u201d as if he had said, Be ye ever in readiness, lest you be\ntaken unawares. But those sluggards who spend their time vainly in eating\nand drinking, and sleeping, please not God, for he commands us to watch,\nto be mindful, to take heed to ourselves, lest the devil, or the world, or\nour own flesh, get the victory over us. We are allowed to take our natural\nsleep, for it is as necessary for us as meat and drink, and we please God\nas well in that, as we please him when we take our food. But we must take\nheed, that we do it according as he has appointed us; for like as he has\nnot ordained meat and drink that we should play the glutton with it, so\nlikewise sleep is not ordained that we should give ourselves to\nsluggishness, or over-much sleeping; for no doubt when we do so, we shall\ndisplease God most highly. For Christ saith not in vain, \u201cWatch and pray.\u201d\nHe would have us to be watchers, to have at all times in remembrance his\ncoming, and to give ourselves to prayer, that we may be able to stand\nbefore him at this great and fearful day. Meaning, that we should not\ntrust in ourselves but call unto God, saying, \u201cLord God Almighty, thou\nhast promised to come and judge the quick and the dead; we beseech thee\ngive us thy grace and Holy Ghost, that we may live according unto thy holy\ncommandments, that when thou comest, thou have not cause to bestow thy\nfearful anger, but rather thy lovingkindness and mercy upon us.\u201d\n\nSo likewise when we go to bed, we should desire God that we sleep not the\nsleep of sin and wickedness, but rather that we may leave them, and follow\nhis will and pleasure; that we be not led with the desires of this wicked\nworld. Such an earnest mind we should have towards him, so watchful we\nshould be. For I tell you it is not a trifling matter, it is not a money\nmatter: for our eternal salvation and our damnation hang upon it. Our\nnature is to do all that is possible for us to get silver and gold; how\nmuch more then should we endeavour to make ourselves ready towards this\nday, when it shall not be a money matter, but a soul matter, for at that\nday it will appear most manifestly who they are that shall enjoy\neverlasting life, and who shall be thrust into hell. Now as long as we are\nin this world, we have all one baptism, we go all to the Lord\u2019s Supper, we\nall bear the name of Christians, but then it will appear who are the right\nChristians; and again, who are the hypocrites or dissemblers.\n\nWell, I pray God grant us such hearts, that we may look diligently about\nus, and make ready against his fearful and joyful coming\u2014fearful to them\nthat delight in sin and wickedness, and will not leave them; and joyful\nunto those who repent, forsake their sins, and believe in him; who, no\ndoubt, will come in great honour and glory, and will make all his faithful\nlike unto him, and will say unto them that are chosen to everlasting life,\n\u201cCome, ye blessed of my Father, possess that kingdom which is prepared for\nyou from the beginning of the world.\u201d But, to the wicked who will not live\naccording unto his will and pleasure, but follow their own appetites, he\nwill say, \u201cGo, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.\u201d O what a horrible thing\nwill this be, to depart from him who is the fountain of all goodness and\nmercy, without whom is no consolation, comfort, nor rest, but eternal\nsorrow and everlasting death! For God\u2019s sake I require you let us consider\nthis, that we may be amongst those who shall hear, \u201cCome to me;\u201d that we\nmay be amongst those who shall enjoy eternal life.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE PARABLE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER.\nA SERMON, BY BISHOP LATIMER.\n\n\n    MATTHEW XX.\u2014_The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was an\n    householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers\n    into his vineyard._\n\n\nThis parable is written by the evangelist Matthew in the twentieth\nchapter, and is very dark and hard to be understood; yea, there is no\nharder piece of scripture written by any evangelist. Therefore it may well\nbe called hard meat; not meat for mowers nor ignorant people, who are not\nexercised in the word of God. And yet there is no other diversity between\nthis scripture and any other. For though many scriptures have diverse\nexpositions, (as is well to be allowed of, so long as they keep in the\ntenour of the catholic faith,(3)) yet they pertain all to one end and\neffect, and they are all alike. Therefore although this parable is harder\nto understand than the others at the first hearing or reading, yet when we\nwell advise and consider the same, we shall find it agreeable unto all the\nothers.\n\nNow to the principal cause, and to which our Saviour had respect in this\nparable, and that is, he teaches us hereby that all Christian people are\nequal in all things appertaining to the kingdom of Christ. So that we have\none Christ, one Redeemer, one baptism, and one gospel, one Supper of the\nLord, and one kingdom of heaven. So that the poorest man and most\nmiserable that is in the world, may call God his Father, and Christ his\nRedeemer, as well as the greatest king or emperor in the world. And this\nis the scope of this parable, wherein Christ teacheth us this equality.\nAnd if this is considered, the whole parable will be easily and soon\nunderstood.(4)\n\nHere is declared unto us that some laboured the whole day, which are hired\nfor a penny, that is of our money ten pence: for like as we have a piece\nof money which we call a shilling, and is in value twelve pence, so the\nJews had a piece that they called _denarium_, and that was in value ten of\nour pence. The first company wrought twelve hours, and the others wrought,\nsome nine hours, some six hours, some three hours, and some but one hour.\nNow when evening was come, and the time of payment drew on, the\nhouseholder said to his stewart, Go, and give to every man alike, and\nbegin at those that came last. And when the others that came early in the\nmorning perceived that they should have no more than those that had\nwrought but one hour, they murmured against the householder, saying,\n\u201cShall they which have laboured but one hour, have as much as we that have\nwrought the whole day?\u201d The householder, perceiving their discontented\nmind, said to one of them, \u201cFriend, wherefore grudgest thou? Is it not\nlawful for me to do with mine own what pleaseth me? Have I not given thee\nwhat I promised thee? Content thyself therefore, and go thy way, for it\nhath pleased me to give unto this man which hath wrought but one hour as\nmuch as unto thee.\u201d This is the sum of this parable, which Christ\nconcludes with this sentence, \u201cThe first shall be the last, and the last\nfirst.\u201d\n\nFirst consider who are these murmurers? The merit-mongers, who esteem\ntheir own works so much, that they think heaven scarcely sufficient to\nrecompense their good deeds; namely, for putting themselves to pain with\nsaying of our lady\u2019s psalter, and gadding on pilgrimage, and such like\ntrifles. These are the murmurers; for they think themselves holier than\nall the world, and therefore worthy to receive a greater reward than all\nother men. But such men are much deceived and are in a false opinion, and\nif they abide and continue therein, it shall bring them to the fire of\nhell. For man\u2019s salvation cannot be gotten by any work: because the\nScripture saith, \u201cLife everlasting is the gift of God.\u201d (Rom. vi.) True it\nis, that God requires good works of us, and commands us to avoid all\nwickedness. But for all that, we may not do our good works that we should\nget heaven withal; but rather to show ourselves thankful for what Christ\nhath done for us, who with his sufferings hath opened heaven to all\nbelievers, that is, to all those that put their hope and trust, not in\ntheir deeds, but in his death and suffering, and study to live well and\ngodly; and yet not to make merits of their own works, as though they\nshould have everlasting life for them; as our monks and friars, and all\nour religious persons were wont to do, and therefore may rightly be called\nmurmurers; for they thought they had so great a store of merits, that they\nsold some of them unto other men. And many men spend a great part of their\nsubstance to buy their merits, and to be a brother of their houses, or to\nobtain one of their coats or cowls to be buried in.\n\nBut there is a great difference between the judgment of God, and the\njudgment of this world. In this world they were accounted most holy above\nall men, and so most worthy to be first; but before God they shall be\nlast, when their hypocrisy and wickedness shall be opened. And thus much I\nthought to say of murmurers.\n\nNow I will not apply all the parts of this parable; for, as I said before,\nit is enough for us if we know the chief point and scope of the parable,\nwhich is, that there shall be an equality in all the things that appertain\nto Christ: insomuch, that the ruler of this realm hath no better a God, no\nbetter sacraments, and no better a gospel, than the poorest in the world;\nyea, the poorest man hath as good right to Christ and his benefits, as the\ngreatest man in this world.\n\nThis is comfortable to every one, and especially to such as are in misery,\npoverty, or other calamities; which, if it were well considered, would not\nmake us so desirous to come aloft, and to get riches, honour, and\ndignities in this world, as we now are, nor yet so malicious one against\nanother as we are. For then we should ever make this reckoning with\nourselves, each man in his vocation; the servant would think thus with\nhimself, I am a poor servant, and must live after the pleasure of my\nmaster, I may not have my free will; but what then? I am sure that I have\nas good a God as my master hath; and I am sure that my service and\nbusiness pleases God as much, when I do it with a good faith, as the\npreachers and curates, in preaching or saying of service. For we must\nunderstand that God esteems not the diversity of the works, but he hath\nrespect unto the faith; for a poor man who does his duty in faith, is as\nacceptable unto God, and hath as good right to the death and merits of\nChrist, as the greatest man in the world.\n\nSo go through all states of men, whosoever applieth to his business with\nfaith, considering that God willeth him so to do, surely the same is most\nbeloved of God. If this were well considered and printed in our hearts,\nall ambition and desire of promotion, all covetousness and other vices,\nwould depart out of our hearts. For it is the greatest comfort that may be\nunto poor people, especially such as are nothing regarded in this world\u2014if\nthey consider that God loves them as well as the richest in the world\u2014it\nmust needs be a great comfort unto them.\n\nBut there are some that say, that this sentence, \u201cThe first shall be\nlast,\u201d is the very substance of the parable. And here you shall\nunderstand, that our Saviour Christ took occasion to put forth this\nparable, when there came a young man demanding of him, \u201cWhat shall I do to\ncome to everlasting life?\u201d Our Saviour, after he had taught him the\ncommandments of God, bade him, \u201cGo, and sell all that he had, and give to\nthe poor; and come and follow him.\u201d He hearing this, went away heavily,\nfor his heart was cold. And then our Saviour spake very terribly against\nrich men, saying, \u201cIt is more easy for a camel to go through the eye of a\nneedle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven:\u201d\u2014a camel,\nor as some think, a great cable of a ship, which is more likely than the\nbeast that is called a camel. The disciples hearing this, said, \u201cWho then\ncan be saved?\u201d He made them answer, saying, \u201cGod is almighty, and that\nwhich is impossible to men, is possible with God;\u201d signifying, that he\ncondemns not all rich men, but only those who set their heart upon riches,\nwho care not how they get them, and when they have them, who abuse them to\nthe satisfying of their own carnal appetites and fleshly delights and\npleasures, and use them not to the honour of God.\n\nAnd again, such riches as are justly, rightly, and godly gotten, those are\nthe good creatures of God, when rightly used to the glory of God, and\ncomfort of their neighbours; not hoarding nor heaping them up, to make\ntreasures of them. For riches are not evil of themselves; but they are\nmade evil, when our hearts is set upon them, and we put hope in them; for\nthat is an abominable thing before the face of God. Now after these words\nspoken by our Saviour Christ, Peter came forth, saying, \u201cLo, we have\nforsaken all that we had, what shall be our reward?\u201d Peter had forsaken\nall that he had, which was but little in substance, but yet it was a great\nmatter to him, for he had no more than that little: like the widow who\ncast into the treasury two mites, yet our Saviour praised the gift above\nall that gave before her. Here thou learnest, that when thou hast but\nlittle, yet give of the same little; for it is as acceptable unto God, as\nthough it were a greater thing.\n\nSo Peter, in forsaking his old boat and net, was approved as much before\nGod, as if he had forsaken all the riches in the world; therefore he shall\nhave a great reward for his old boat; for Christ saith, that he shall be\none of them that shall sit and judge the twelve tribes of Israel; and to\nsignify them to be more than others, he giveth them the name of judges;\nmeaning, that they shall condemn the world: like as God speaketh of the\nqueen of Sheba, that in the last day she shall arise and condemn the Jews\nwho would not hear Christ, and she came so great a journey to hear the\nwisdom of Solomon. Then he answered and said, \u201cWhosoever leaveth father,\nor mother, or brethren, for my sake, shall receive an hundred-fold, and\nshall inherit everlasting life.\u201d Now what is this, to leave father and\nmother? When my father or mother would hinder me in any goodness, or would\npersuade me from the honouring of God and faith in Christ, then I must\nforsake and rather lose the favour and good-will of my father and mother,\nthan forsake God and his holy word.\n\nAnd now Christ saith, \u201cThe first shall be last, and the last shall be\nfirst,\u201d alluding to St. Peter\u2019s saying, which sounded as though Peter\nlooked for a reward for his deeds; and that is it, which is the let of\naltogether,(5) if a man come to the Gospel and hears the same, and\nafterwards looks for a reward, such a man shall be \u201cthe last.\u201d If these\nsayings were well considered by us, surely we should not have such a\nnumber of vain gospellers as we now have, who seek nothing but their own\nadvantage under the name and colour of the Gospel. Moreover, he teaches us\nto be meek and lowly, and not to think much of ourselves; for those that\nare greatly esteemed in their own eyes, are the least before God: \u201cFor he\nthat humbleth himself shall be exalted;\u201d according to the scripture, which\nsaith, \u201cGod resisteth the proud, and advanceth the humble and meek.\u201d And\nthis is what he saith, \u201cThe first shall be the last,\u201d teaching us to be\ncareful and not to stand in our own conceit, but ever to mistrust\nourselves; as St. Paul teacheth, saying, \u201cWhosoever standeth let him take\nheed he fall not; and therefore we may not put trust in ourselves, but\nrather in God.\u201d\n\nFurther, in this saying of our Saviour is comprehended a great comfort;\nfor those that are accounted by the world to be the vilest slaves and most\nabject, may by this saying have a hope to be made the first and the\nprincipal; for although they are ever so low, yet they may rise again, and\nbecome the highest. And so this is to us a comfortable sentence, which\nstrengthens our faith, and keeps us from desperation and falling from God.\nAnd at the end he saith, \u201cMany are called, but few are chosen.\u201d These\nwords of our Saviour are very hard to understand, and therefore it is not\ngood to be too curious in them, as some vain fellows, who seeking carnal\nliberty, pervert, toss and turn the word of God, after their own mind and\npurpose. Such, I say, when they read these words, make their reckoning\nthus; saying, \u201cWhat need I to mortify my body with abstaining from all sin\nand wickedness? I perceive God hath chosen some, and some are rejected.\nNow if I be in the number of the chosen, I cannot be damned; but if I be\naccounted among the condemned number, then I cannot be saved: for God\u2019s\njudgments are immutable.\u201d Such foolish and wicked reasons some have; which\nbring them either to desperation, or else to carnal liberty. Therefore, it\nis as needful to beware of such reasons, or expositions of the scripture,\nas it is to beware of the devil himself.\n\nBut if thou art desirous to know whether thou art chosen to everlasting\nlife, thou mayest not begin with God: for God is too high, thou canst not\ncomprehend him; the judgments of God are unknown to man; therefore thou\nmayest not begin there: but begin with Christ, and learn to know Christ,\nand wherefore he came; namely, that he came to save sinners, and made\nhimself subject to the law, and a fulfiller of the same, to deliver us\nfrom the wrath and danger thereof, and therefore was crucified for our\nsins, and rose again to show and teach us the way to heaven, and by his\nresurrection to teach us to arise from sin: so also his resurrection\nteaches and admonishes us of the general resurrection. He sitteth at the\nright hand of God and maketh intercession for us, and gives us the Holy\nGhost, that comforts and strengthens our faith, and daily assures us of\nour salvation.\n\nConsider, I say, Christ and his coming; and then begin to try thyself\nwhether thou art in the book of life or not. If thou findest thyself in\nChrist, then thou art sure of everlasting life. If thou be without him,\nthen thou art in an evil case. For it is written, \u201cNo man cometh unto the\nFather but through me.\u201d Therefore if thou knowest Christ, then thou mayest\nknow further of thy election. But when we are about this matter, and are\ntroubled within ourselves, whether we are elected or no; we must ever have\nthis maxim, or principal rule before our eyes; namely, that God beareth a\ngood-will towards us; God loveth us; God beareth a fatherly heart towards\nus.\n\nBut you will say, \u201cHow shall I know that? Or how shall I believe that?\u201d We\nmay know God\u2019s will towards us through Christ: God hath opened himself\nunto us by his Son Christ; for so saith John the Evangelist, \u201cThe Son\nwhich is in the bosom of the Father, he hath revealed.\u201d (John i.)\n\nTherefore we may perceive his good-will and love towards us; he hath sent\nhis Son into this world, who suffered a most painful death for us. Shall I\nnow think that God hates me? Or shall I doubt of his love towards me? Here\nyou see how you shall avoid the scrupulous and most dangerous question of\nthe predestination of God. For if thou wilt inquire his counsels, and\nenter into his consistory, thy wit will deceive thee; for thou shalt not\nbe able to search the counsels of God. But if thou begin with Christ, and\nconsider his coming into the world, and dost believe that God hath sent\nhim for thy sake, to suffer for thee, and deliver thee from sin, death,\nthe devil, and hell; then when thou art so armed with the knowledge of\nChrist, then, I say, this simple question cannot hurt thee; for thou art\nin the book of life, which is Christ himself.\n\nAlso we learn by this sentence, \u201cMany are called,\u201d that the preaching of\nthe gospel is universal; that it pertains to all mankind; that it is\nwritten, \u201cThrough the whole earth their sound is heard.\u201d Now seeing that\nthe gospel is universal, it appears that he would have all mankind saved,\nand that the fault is not in him if we are damned. For it is written thus,\n\u201cGod would have all men to be saved:\u201d his salvation is sufficient to save\nall mankind, but we are so wicked of ourselves that we refuse the same,\nfor we will not take it when it is offered unto us; and therefore he\nsaith, \u201cFew are chosen;\u201d that is, few have pleasure and delight in it; for\nthe most part are weary of it, they cannot abide it. And there are some\nthat hear it, but they will not abide any danger for it, they love their\nriches and possessions more than the word of God. And therefore few are\nelected, there are but a few that stick heartily unto it, and can find in\ntheir hearts to forgo this world for God\u2019s sake and his holy word.\n\nThere are some now-a-days that will not be reprehended by the gospel; they\nthink themselves better than it. Some again are so stubborn, that they\nwill rather forswear themselves, than confess their sins and wickedness.\nSuch men are the cause of their own damnation; for God would have them\nsaved, but they refuse it; like as did Judas the traitor, whom Christ\nwould have had to be saved, but he refused his salvation; he refused to\nfollow the doctrine of his master Christ. And so, whosoever heareth the\nword of God, and follows it, the same is elect by him. And again,\nwhosoever refuses to hear the word of God, and to follow the same, is\ndamned. So that our election is sure if we follow the word of God.\n\nHere is now taught you how to try out your election, namely, in Christ,\nfor Christ is the accounting book and register of God; even in the same\nbook, that is, Christ, are written all the names of the elect. Therefore\nwe cannot find our election in ourselves, neither yet in the high counsel\nof God; for \u201cSecret things belong to the most High.\u201d (Deut. xxix.) Where\nthen shall I find my election? In the counting book of God, which is\nChrist; for thus it is written, \u201cGod hath so entirely loved the world,\nthat he gave his only begotten Son, to that end, that all that believe in\nhim should not perish, but have life everlasting.\u201d Whereby appears most\nplainly that Christ is the book of life, and that all that believe in him\nare in the same book, and so are chosen to everlasting life; for only\nthose are ordained which believe.\n\nTherefore when thou hast faith in Christ, then thou art in the book of\nlife, and so art thou sure of thine election. And again, if thou art\nwithout Christ, and have no faith in him, neither art sorry for thy\nwickedness, nor have a mind and purpose to leave and forsake sin, but\nrather exercise and use the same, then thou art not in the book of life as\nlong as thou art in such a case; and therefore shalt thou go into\neverlasting fire, namely, if thou die in thy wickedness and sin, without\nrepentance.\n\nBut there are none so wicked but he may have a remedy. What is that? Enter\ninto thine own heart, and search the secrets of the same. Consider thine\nown life, and how thou hast spent thy days. And if thou find in thyself\nall manner of uncleanness and abominable sins, and so seest thy damnation\nbefore thine eyes, what shalt thou then do? Confess the same unto the Lord\nthy God. Be sorry that thou hast offended so loving a Father, and ask\nmercy of him in the name of Christ, and believe steadfastly that he will\nbe merciful unto thee in respect of his only Son, who suffered death for\nthee; and then have a good purpose to leave all sin and wickedness, and to\nwithstand and resist the affections of thine own flesh, which ever fight\nagainst the Spirit; and to live uprightly and godly, after the will and\ncommandment of thy heavenly Father. If thou go thus to work, surely thou\nshalt be heard. Thy sins shall be forgiven thee; God will show himself\ntrue in his promise, for to that end he sent his only Son into this world,\nthat he might save sinners. Consider therefore, I say, wherefore Christ\ncame into this world; consider also the great hatred and wrath that God\nbeareth against sin; and again consider his great love, showed unto thee,\nin that he sent his only Son to suffer most cruel death, rather than that\nthou shouldst be damned everlastingly.\n\nConsider therefore this great love of God the Father, amend thy life, fly\nall occasions of sin and wickedness, and be loath to displease him. And in\ndoing this thou mayest be assured that though thou hadst done all the sins\nof the world, they shall neither hurt nor condemn thee; for the mercy of\nGod is greater than all the sins of the world. But we sometimes are in\nsuch a case that we think we have no faith at all, or if we have any, it\nis very feeble and weak. And therefore these are two things; to have faith\nand to have the feeling of faith. For some men would fain have the feeling\nof faith, but they cannot attain unto it; and yet they may not despair,\nbut go forward in calling upon God, and it will come at length: God will\nopen their hearts, and let them feel his goodness.\n\nAnd thus may you see who are in the book of life, and who are not. For all\nthose that are obstinate sinners, are without Christ, and so not elect to\neverlasting life, if they remain in their wickedness. There are none of us\nall but we may be saved by Christ, and therefore let us stick hard unto\nit, and be content to forego all the pleasures and riches of this world\nfor his sake, who for our sake forsook all the heavenly pleasures, and\ncame down into this miserable and wretched world, and here suffered all\nmanner of afflictions for our sake. And therefore it is right that we\nshould do somewhat for his sake, to show ourselves thankful unto him; and\nso we may assuredly be found among the first, and not among the last; that\nis to say, among the elect and chosen of God, that are written in the\ncounting book of God, who are those that believe in Christ Jesus; to whom,\nwith God the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world\nwithout end.\u2014Amen.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE PARABLE OF THE TARES,\nBY BISHOP LATIMER, PREACHED ON THE 7TH OF FEBRUARY, 1553.\n\n\n    MATTHEW XIII.\u2014_The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which\n    sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came\n    and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way, &c._\n\n\nThis is a parable or similitude wherein our Saviour compared the kingdom\nof God, that is, the preaching of his word, wherein consisteth the\nsalvation of mankind, unto a husbandman who sowed good seed in his field.\n\nBut before we come unto the matter, you shall first learn to understand\nwhat this word parable, which is a Greek word, and used in the Latin and\nEnglish tongue, means; that is to say, \u201cA parable is a comparison of two\nthings that are unlike outwardly;\u201d while in effect they signify but one\nthing, for they appertain to one end; as in this place, Christ compared\nthe word of God unto seed: which two things are unlike, but yet they teach\none thing; for like as the seed is sown in the earth, so is the word of\nGod sown in our hearts: and thus much of this word parable.\n\nThe sum of this gospel is, first he speaks of a husbandman that sowed good\nseed; after that he mentions an enemy that sowed evil seed. And these two\nmanner of seeds, that is, the husbandman\u2019s seed that was good, and the\nenemy\u2019s seed which was naught, came up both together: so that the enemy\nwas as busy as the other in sowing his evil seed. And while he was busy in\nsowing it, it was unknown. And at the first springing up, it all seemed to\nbe good seed, but at length the servant of the husbandman perceived the\nevil seed sown amongst the good; therefore he came and told his master,\nshowing him all the matter, and required leave to gather the evil seed\nfrom amongst the other. The husbandman himself said, \u201cOur enemy hath done\nthis. But for all that, let it alone until the harvest, and then will I\nseparate the good from the evil.\u201d This is the sum of this gospel.\n\nFirst, note that he saith, \u201cWhen everybody was asleep, then he came and\nsowed his seed.\u201d Who are these sleepers? The bishops and prelates, the\nslothful and careless curates and ministers; they with their negligence\ngive the devil leave to sow his seed, for they sow not their seed. That\nis, they preach not the word of God, they instruct not the people with\nwholesome doctrine, and so they give place to the devil to sow his seed.\nFor when the devil cometh, and findeth the heart of man not weaponed nor\ngarnished with the word of God, he forthwith possesses the same, and so\ngetteth victory through the slothfulness of the spirituality, which they\nshall one day grievously repent. For the whole scripture, that is to say,\nboth the Old and New Testament, is full of threatenings against such\nnegligent and slothful pastors; and they shall make a heavy and grievous\naccount one day, when no excuse shall serve, but extreme punishment shall\nfollow, for a reward of their slothfulness.\n\nThis gospel gives occasion to speak of many things: for our Saviour\nhimself expounded this parable unto his disciples after the people were\ngone from him, and he was come into the house. For the disciples were not\nso bold as to ask him of the meaning of this parable in the presence of\nthe people; whereby we may learn good manners, to use in everything a good\nand convenient time. Also we may here learn to search and inquire\nearnestly, and with great diligence, for the true understanding of God\u2019s\nword. And when you hear a sermon and are in doubt of something, inquire\nabout it, and be desirous to learn; for it is written, \u201cWhosoever hath,\nunto him shall be given; and he shall have abundance.\u201d (Matt. xiii.) What\nmeans this saying?\u2014When we hear the word of God, and have tasted somewhat\nthereof, and are afterwards desirous to go forward more and more, then\nshall we have further knowledge; for God will give us his grace to come to\nfurther understanding. And so the saying of our Saviour shall be fulfilled\nin us.\n\nNow when our Saviour heard the request of his disciples, he performs their\ndesire, and begins to expound unto them the parable, saying, \u201cI am he that\nsoweth good seed: the adversary, the devil, is he who soweth evil seed.\u201d\nHere our Saviour, good people, makes known that he goeth about to do us\ngood; but the devil doth quite the contrary, and he seeks to spoil and\ndestroy us with his filthy and naughty seeds of false doctrine. The field\nhere is the whole world. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers\nare the angels of God, who are his servants: for as every lord or master\nhas his servants to wait upon him, and to do his commandments, so the\nangels of God wait upon Him to do his commandments. The angels at the time\nof the harvest shall gather first all such as have been evil and have\ngiven occasion of wickedness, and go forward in the same without\nrepentance or amendment of their lives. All such, I say, shall be gathered\ntogether and cast into the furnace of fire, \u201cwhere shall be weeping and\ngnashing of teeth.\u201d For in the end of this wicked world, all such as have\nlived in the delights and pleasures of the same, and have not fought with\nthe lusts and pleasures of their flesh, but are proud and stubborn, or\nbear hatred and malice unto their neighbours, or are covetous persons;\nalso all naughty servants that do not their duties, and all those that use\nfalsehood in buying and selling, and care not for their neighbours, but\nsell unto them false wares, or otherwise deceive them; all these are\ncalled \u201cthe offenders of this world,\u201d and all such shall be cast into the\nfurnace where shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.\n\nIn like manner, all idle persons that will not work for their living, but\ngo about loitering and are chargeable unto others; and also drunken\npersons that abuse the benefits of God in dishonouring themselves, so that\nthey lose the use of reason, and their natural wits wherewith God has\nendued them, and make themselves like swine and beasts; also those who\nbreak wedlock, and despise matrimony, which is instituted of God himself.\nHereunto add all swearers, all usurers, all liars, and deceivers; all\nthese are called the seed of the devil; and so they are the devil\u2019s\ncreatures through their own wickedness.\n\nBut yet it is true that wicked men have their souls and bodies of God, for\nhe is their Creator and Maker: but they themselves, in forsaking God and\nhis laws, and following the devil and his instructions, make themselves\nmembers of the devil, and become his seed; therefore in the last day they\nshall be cast out into everlasting fire, when the trumpet shall blow, and\nthe angels shall come and gather all those that offend from among the\nelect of God.\n\nThe form of judgment shall be in this manner: Christ our Saviour at the\nday of judgment, being appointed of God, shall come down with great\ntriumph and honour, accompanied with all his angels and saints that\ndeparted in faith out of this world before time: they shall come with him\nthen, and all the elect shall be gathered to him, and there they shall see\nthe judgment; but they themselves shall not be judged, but shall be like\nas judges with him. After the elect are separated from the wicked, he\nshall give a most horrible and dreadful sentence unto the wicked,\ncommanding his angels to cast them into everlasting fire, where they shall\nhave such torments as no tongue can express.\n\nTherefore our Saviour, desirous to set out the pains of hell unto us, and\nto make us afraid thereof, calls it fire, yea, a burning and unquenchable\nfire. For as there is no pain so grievous to a man as fire is, so the\npains of hell pass all the pains that may be imagined by any man. There\nshall be sobbing and sighing, weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth,\nwhich are the tokens of unspeakable pains and griefs that shall come upon\nthose that die in the state of damnation. For you must understand that\nthere are but two places appointed by Almighty God, for all mankind, that\nis, heaven and hell. And in what state soever a man dieth, in the same he\nshall rise again, for there shall be no alteration or change. Those who\ndie repentant and are sorry for their sins\u2014who cry to God for mercy, are\nashamed of their wickedness, and believe with all their hearts that God\nwill be merciful unto them through the passion of our Saviour Christ;\nthose who die in such a faith, shall come into everlasting life and\nfelicity, and shall rise in the last day in a state of salvation. For\nlook\u2014as you die, so shall you arise. Whosoever departeth out of this world\nwithout a repentant heart, and has been a malicious and envious man, and a\nhater of the word of God, and so continues, and will not repent and be\nsorry, and call upon God with a good faith, or has no faith at all; that\nman shall come to everlasting damnation; and so he shall arise again at\nthe last day. For there is nothing that can help a soul when departed out\nof its damnation, or hinder it of its salvation.\n\nFor when a man dies without faith in Christ, all the masses in the whole\nworld are not able to relieve him; and so to conclude, all the travails\nthat we have had in time past by seeking of remedy by purgatory, and all\nthe great costs and expenses that may be bestowed upon any soul lying in\nthe state of damnation, can avail nothing, neither can it do any good. For\nas I said before, the judgments of God are immutable, that is\u2014as you die,\nso shall you rise. If you die in the state of salvation, you shall rise so\nagain, and receive your body, and remain in salvation. Again, if you die\nin damnation, you shall rise in the same state, and receive your body, and\nreturn again to the same state, and be punished world without end, with\nunspeakable pains and torments. For our natural fire, in comparison to\nhell-fire, is like a fire painted on a wall; but that shall be so extreme,\nthat no man is able to express the terrible horror and grief thereof.\n\nO what a pitiful thing is it, that man will not consider this, and leave\nthe sin and pleasure of this world, and live godly; but is so blind and\nmad, that he will rather have a momentary, and a very short and small\npleasure, than hearken to the will and pleasure of Almighty God; who can\ntake away everlasting pain and woe, and give unto him everlasting\nfelicity! That a great many of us are damned, the fault is not in God, for\n\u201cGod would have all men be saved.\u201d But the fault is in ourselves, and in\nour own madness, who had rather have damnation than salvation. Therefore,\ngood people, consider these terrible pains in your minds, which are\nprepared for the wicked and ungodly, avoid all wickedness and sin: set\nbefore your eyes the wonderful joy and felicity, and the innumerable\ntreasures which God hath laid up for you that fear and love him, and live\nafter his will and commandments; for no tongue can express, no eye hath\nseen, no heart can comprehend, nor conceive the great felicity that God\nhath prepared for his elect and chosen, as St. Paul witnesses. Consider,\ntherefore, I say, these most excellent treasures, and exert yourselves to\nobtain the fruition of the same. Continue not, neither abide nor wallow\ntoo long in your sins, like as swine lieth in the mire. Make no delay to\nrepent of your sin, and to amend your life, for you are not so sure to\nhave repentance in the end. It is a common saying, \u201cLate repentance is\nseldom sincere.\u201d Therefore consider this thing with yourself betimes, and\nstudy to amend your life: for what avails it to have all the pleasures of\nthe world for a while, and after that to have everlasting pain and\ninfelicity?\n\nTherefore let every one examine his own conscience when he finds himself\nunready. For all such as through the goodness of God have received faith,\nand then wrestling with sin, consent not unto it, but are sorry for it\nwhen they fall, and do not abide nor dwell in the same, but rise up again\nforthwith, and call for forgiveness thereof, through the merits of our\nSaviour Jesus Christ\u2014all such are called just: that is to say, all that\ndie with a repentant heart, and are sorry that they have sinned, and are\nminded if God give them longer time to live, to amend all faults, and lead\na new life; then are they just; but not through their own merits or good\nworks. For if God should enter into judgment with us, none are able to\nstand before his face; neither may any of his saints be found just;\nneither St. John Baptist, St. Peter, nor St. Paul; no nor is the mother of\nour Saviour Christ herself just, if she should be judged after the rigour\nof the law. For all are and must be justified by the justification of our\nSaviour Christ, and so we must be justified, and not by our own\nwell-doing, but our justice standeth in this, that our righteousness is\nforgiven us through the righteousness of Christ, for if we believe in him,\nthen are we made righteous. For he fulfilled the law, and afterwards\ngranted the same to be ours, if we believe that his fulfilling is our\nfulfilling; for the apostle Saint Paul saith, \u201cHe hath not spared his own\nSon, but hath given him up for us; and how then may it be, but that we\nshould have all things with him?\u201d\n\nTherefore it must needs follow, that when he gave us his only Son, he gave\nus also his righteousness, and his fulfilling of the law. So that we are\njustified by God\u2019s free gift, and not of ourselves, nor by our merits: but\nthe righteousness of Christ is accounted to be our righteousness, and\nthrough the same we obtain everlasting life, and not through our own\ndoings; for, as I said before, if God should enter into judgment with us,\nwe should be damned.\n\nTherefore take heed and be not proud, and be humble and low, and trust not\ntoo much in yourselves; but put your only trust in Christ our Saviour. And\nyet you may not utterly set aside the doing of good works; but especially\nlook that you have always oil in readiness for your lamps, or else you may\nnot come to the wedding, but shall be shut out, and thrust into\neverlasting darkness. This oil is faith in Christ, which if you lack, then\nall things are unsavory before the face of God: but a great many people\nare much deceived, for they think themselves to have faith when indeed\nthey have it not. Some peradventure will say, How shall I know whether I\nhave faith or not? Truly you shall find this in you, if you have no mind\nto leave sin; then sin grieves you not, but you are content to go forward\nin the same, and you delight in it, and hate it not, neither do you feel\nwhat sin is: when you are in such a case, then you have no faith, and\ntherefore are like to perish everlastingly. For that man who is sore sick,\nand yet feels not his sickness, he is in great danger, for he has lost all\nhis senses; so that man who has gone so far in sin, that he feels his sin\nno more, is like to be damned, for he is without faith.\n\nAgain, that man is in good case, who can be content to fight and strive\nwith sin, and to withstand the devil, and his temptations, and calls for\nthe help of God, and believes that God will help him, and make him strong\nto fight. That man shall not be overcome by the devil. And whosoever feels\nthis in his heart, and so wrestles with sin, may be sure that he has\nfaith, and is in the favour of God.\n\nBut if you will have a trial of your faith, then do this\u2014Examine yourself\nconcerning your enemy; he does you harm, he slanders you, or takes away\nyour living from you. How shall you conduct yourself towards such a man?\nIf you can find in your heart to pray for him, to love him with all your\nheart, and forgive him with a good-will all that he has sinned against\nyou\u2014if you can find this readiness in your heart, then you are one of\nthose who have faith, if you would have him to be saved as well as\nyourself. And if you can do this you may argue that your sin is forgiven,\nand that you are none of those that shall be cast out, but shall be\nreceived and placed among the number of the godly, and shall enjoy with\nthem everlasting life. For St. Paul saith, \u201cThose that are just,\u201d that is,\nthose that are justified by faith, and exercise faith in their living and\nconversation, \u201cthey shall shine like unto the sun in the kingdom of God;\u201d\nthat is to say, they shall be in exceeding great honour and glory. For\nlike as the sun exceeds in brightness all other works of God, and is\nbeautiful in the eyes of every man; so shall all the faithful be beautiful\nand endued with honour and glory: although in this world they are but\noutcasts, and accounted as \u201cThe dross and filth of the world;\u201d but in the\nother world, when the angels shall gather together the wicked, and cast\nthem into the fire, then shall the elect shine as the sun in the kingdom\nof God. For no man can express the honour and glory that they shall have,\nwho will be content to suffer all things for God\u2019s sake, and reform\nthemselves after his will; or are content to be told of their faults, and\nglad to amend the same, and humble themselves under the mighty hand of\nGod.\n\nAlso the householder said unto his servants, \u201cLet them alone until\nharvest.\u201d Here you may learn that the preachers and ministers of the word\nof God, have not authority to compel the people with violence to goodness,\nalthough they are wicked. But they should admonish them only with the word\nof God, not pull the wicked out by the throat; for that is not their duty.\nAll things must be done according as God has appointed. God has appointed\nthe magistrates to punish the wicked; for so he saith, \u201cThou shalt take\naway the evil from amongst the people, thou shalt have no pity of him.\u201d If\nhe be a thief, an adulterer, or a whore-monger, away with him. But when\nour Saviour saith, \u201cLet them grow;\u201d he speaks not of the civil\nmagistrates, for it is their duty to pull them out; but he signifies that\nthere will be such wickedness in spite of the magistrates, and teaches\nthat the ecclesiastical power is ordained, not to pull out the wicked with\nthe sword, but only to admonish them with the word of God, which is called\n\u201cThe sword of the Spirit.\u201d So did John Baptist, saying, \u201cWho hath taught\nyou to flee from the wrath of God that is at hand?\u201d\n\nSo did Peter in the Acts of the Apostles; \u201cWhom you have crucified,\u201d he\nsaid unto the Jews. What follows? \u201cThey were pricked in their hearts;\u201d\ncontrition and repentance followed as soon as the word was preached unto\nthem. Therefore they said, \u201cBrethren, what shall we do? How shall we be\nmade clean from our sins, that we may be saved?\u201d Then he sends them to\nChrist. So that it appears in this gospel, and by these examples, that the\npreacher has no other sword, but the sword of the word of God: with that\nsword he may strike them. He may rebuke their wicked living, and further\nhe ought not to go. But kings and magistrates have power to punish with\nthe sword the obstinate and vicious livers, and to put them to due\npunishment.\n\nNow to make an end, with this one lesson, which is, If you dwell in a town\nwhere are some wicked men that will not be reformed, nor in anywise amend\ntheir lives, as there are commonly some in every town; run not therefore\nout of the town, but tarry there still, and exercise patience amongst\nthem, exhort them, whensoever occasion serves, to amendment. And do not as\nthe fondness of the monkery first did, for they at the first made so great\naccount of the holiness of their good life, that they could not be content\nto live and abide in cities and towns where sinners and wicked doers were,\nbut thought to amend the matter; and therefore ran out into the\nwilderness, where they fell into great inconveniences. For some despised\nthe communion of the body and blood of our Saviour Christ, and so fell\ninto other errors, so God punished them for their foolishness and\nuncharitableness. We are born into this world, not for our own sakes only,\nbut for every Christian\u2019s sake. They forgetting this commandment of love\nand charity, ran away from their neighbours, like beasts and wild horses,\nthat cannot abide the company of men. So there have been some in our time\nwho follow their example, separating themselves from the company of other\nmen, and therefore God gave them a perverted judgment. Therefore when you\ndwell in any evil town or parish, follow not these examples; but remember\nthat Lot, dwelling in the midst of Sodom, was nevertheless preserved from\nthe wrath of God, and such will be preserved in the midst of the wicked.\nBut for all that, you must not flatter them in their evil doings and\nnaughty livings, but rebuke their sins and wickedness, and in nowise\nconsent unto them. Then it will be well with you here in this world, and\nin the world to come you shall have life everlasting: which grant both to\nyou and me, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.\u2014Amen.\n\n\n\n\n\nA SERMON ON ISAIAH XXVI.\nBY JOHN KNOX.\n\n\n[In the Prospectus of our Publication it was stated, that one discourse,\nat least, would be given in each number. A strict adherence to this\narrangement, however, it is found, would exclude from our pages some of\nthe most talented discourses of our early Divines; and it is therefore\ndeemed expedient to depart from it as occasion may require. The following\nSermon will occupy two numbers, and we hope, that from its intrinsic\nvalue, its historical interest, and the illustrious name of its author, it\nwill prove generally acceptable to our readers. For the information of\nthose who may not be acquainted with the circumstances attending its\ndelivery, we subjoin the following extract from a late edition of the\nselect works of Knox:\u2014\n\n\u201cHenry Darnley (king of Scotland by his marriage with queen Mary,) went\nsometimes to mass with the queen, and sometimes attended the protestant\nsermons. To silence the rumours then circulated of his having forsaken the\nreformed religion, he, on the 19th of August, 1565, attended service at\nSt. Giles\u2019s church, sitting on a throne which had been prepared for him.\nKnox preached that day on Isaiah xxvi. 13, 14, and happened to prolong the\nservice beyond the usual time. In one part of the sermon, he quoted these\nwords of scripture, \u2018I will give children to be their princes, and babes\nshall rule over them: children are their oppressors, and women rule over\nthem.\u2019 In another part he referred to God\u2019s displeasure against Ahab,\nbecause he did not correct his idolatrous wife Jezebel. No particular\napplication of these passages was made by Knox, but the king considered\nthem as reflecting upon the queen and himself, and returned to the palace\nin great wrath. He refused to dine, and went out to hawking.\n\nThat same afternoon Knox was summoned from his bed to appear before the\ncouncil. He went accompanied by several respectable inhabitants of the\ncity. The secretary informed him of the king\u2019s displeasure at his sermon,\nand desired that he would abstain from preaching for fifteen or twenty\ndays. Knox answered, that he had spoken nothing but according to his text,\nand if the church would command him either to preach or abstain, he would\nobey so far as the word of God would permit him. The king and queen left\nEdinburgh during the week following, and it does not appear that Knox was\nactually suspended from preaching.\u201d\n\nThe following are Knox\u2019s reasons for the publication of this Sermon,\nextracted from his preface to the first edition.\n\n\u201cIf any will ask, To what purpose this sermon is set forth? I answer, To\nlet such as satan has not altogether blinded, see upon how small occasions\ngreat offence is now conceived. This sermon is it, for which, from my bed,\nI was called before the council; and after long reasoning, I was by some\nforbidden to preach in Edinburgh, so long as the king and queen were in\ntown. This sermon is it, that so offends such as would please the court,\nand will not appear to be enemies to the truth; yet they dare affirm, that\nI exceeded the bounds of God\u2019s messenger. I have therefore faithfully\ncommitted unto writing whatsoever I could remember might have been\noffensive in that sermon; to the end, that the enemies of God\u2019s truth, as\nwell as the professors of the same, may either note unto me wherein I have\noffended, or at the least cease to condemn me before they have convinced\nme by God\u2019s manifest word.\u201d]\n\nA SERMON ON ISAIAH XXVI.\n\n\n    ISAIAH XXXVI. 13, 14, 15, 16, &c.\u2014_O Lord our God, other lords\n    besides thee have had dominion over us; but by thee only will we\n    make mention of thy name._\n\n    _They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall\n    not rise; therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made\n    all their memory to perish._\n\n    _Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the\n    nation, thou art glorified; thou hast removed it far unto the ends\n    of the earth._\n\n    _Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer\n    when thy chastening was upon them, &c._\n\n\nAs the skilful mariner (being master,) having his ship tossed with a\nvehement tempest, and contrary winds, is compelled oft to traverse, lest\nthat, either by too much resisting to the violence of the waves, his\nvessel might be overwhelmed; or by too much liberty granted, might be\ncarried whither the fury of the tempest would, so that his ship should be\ndriven upon the shore, and make shipwreck; even so doth our prophet Isaiah\nin this text, which now you have heard read. For he, foreseeing the great\ndesolation that was decreed in the council of the Eternal, against\nJerusalem and Judah, namely, that the whole people, that bare the name of\nGod, should be dispersed; that the holy city should be destroyed; the\ntemple wherein was the ark of the covenant, and where God had promised to\ngive his own presence, should be burnt with fire; and the king taken, his\nsons in his own presence murdered, his own eyes immediately after be put\nout; the nobility, some cruelly murdered, some shamefully led away\ncaptives; and finally, the whole seed of Abraham rased, as it were, from\nthe fate of the earth. The prophet, I say, fearing these horrible\ncalamities, doth, as it were, sometimes suffer himself, and the people\ncommitted to his charge, to be carried away with the violence of the\ntempest, without further resistance than by pouring forth his and their\ndolorous complaints before the majesty of God, as in the 13th, 17th, and\n18th verses of this present text we may read. At other times he valiantly\nresists the desperate tempest, and pronounces the fearful destruction of\nall such as trouble the church of God; which he pronounces that God will\nmultiply, even when it appears utterly to be exterminated. But because\nthere is no final rest to the whole body till the Head return to judgment,\nhe exhorts the afflicted to patience, and promises a visitation whereby\nthe wickedness of the wicked shall be disclosed, and finally recompensed\nin their own bosoms.\n\nThese are the chief points of which, by the grace of God, we intend more\nlargely at this present to speak;\n\n_First_, The prophet saith, \u201cO Lord our God, other lords besides thee have\nruled us.\u201d\n\nThis, no doubt, is the beginning of the dolorous complaint, in which he\ncomplains of the unjust tyranny that the poor afflicted Israelites\nsustained during the time of their captivity. True it is, that the prophet\nwas gathered to his fathers in peace, before this came upon the people:\nfor a hundred years after his decease the people were not led away\ncaptive; yet he, foreseeing the assurance of the calamity, did before-hand\nindite and dictate unto them the complaint, which afterward they should\nmake. But at the first sight it appears, that the complaint has but small\nweight; for what new thing was it, that other lords than God in his own\nperson ruled them, seeing that such had been their government from the\nbeginning? For who knows not, that Moses, Aaron, and Joshua, the judges,\nSamuel, David, and other godly rulers, were men, and not God; and so other\nlords than God ruled them in their greatest prosperity.\n\nFor the better understanding of this complaint, and of the mind of the\nprophet, we must, _first_, observe from whence all authority flows; and,\n_secondly_, to what end powers are appointed by God: which two points\nbeing discussed, we shall better understand, what lords and what authority\nrule beside God, and who they are in whom God and his merciful presence\nrules.\n\nThe _first_ is resolved to us by the words of the apostle, saying, \u201cThere\nis no power but of God.\u201d David brings in the eternal God speaking to\njudges and rulers, saying, \u201cI have said, ye are gods, and sons of the Most\nHigh.\u201d (Psal. lxxxii.) And Solomon, in the person of God, affirmeth the\nsame, saying, \u201cBy me kings reign, and princes discern the things that are\njust.\u201d From which place it is evident, that it is neither birth, influence\nof stars, election of people, force of arms, nor finally, whatsoever can\nbe comprehended under the power of nature, that makes the distinction\nbetwixt the superior power and the inferior, or that establishes the royal\nthrone of kings; but it is the only and perfect ordinance of God, who\nwilleth his terror, power, and majesty, partly to shine in the thrones of\nkings, and in the faces of judges, and that for the profit and comfort of\nman. So that whosoever would study to deface the order of government that\nGod has established, and allowed by his holy word, and bring in such a\nconfusion, that no difference should be betwixt the upper powers and the\nsubjects, does nothing but avert and turn upside down the very throne of\nGod, which he wills to be fixed here upon earth; as in the end and cause\nof this ordinance more plainly shall appear: which is the _second_ point\nwe have to observe, for the better understanding of the prophet\u2019s words\nand mind.\n\nThe end and cause then, why God imprints in the weak and feeble flesh of\nman this image of his own power and majesty, is not to puff up flesh in\nopinion of itself; neither yet that the heart of him, that is exalted\nabove others, should be lifted up by presumption and pride, and so despise\nothers; but that he should consider he is appointed lieutenant to One,\nwhose eyes continually watch upon him, to see and examine how he behaves\nhimself in his office. St. Paul, in few words, declares the end wherefore\nthe sword is committed to the powers, saying, \u201cIt is to the punishment of\nthe wicked doers, and unto the praise of such as do well.\u201d Rom. xiii.\n\nOf which words it is evident, that the sword of God is not committed to\nthe hand of man, to use as it pleases him, but only to punish vice and\nmaintain virtue, that men may live in such society as is acceptable before\nGod. And this is the true and only cause why God has appointed powers in\nthis earth.\n\nFor such is the furious rage of man\u2019s corrupt nature, that, unless severe\npunishment were appointed and put in execution upon malefactors, better it\nwere that man should live among brutes and wild beasts than among men. But\nat this present I dare not enter into the description of this\ncommon-place; for so should I not satisfy the text, which by God\u2019s grace I\npurpose to explain. This only by the way\u2014I would that such as are placed\nin authority should consider, whether they reign and rule by God, so that\nGod rules them; or if they rule without, besides, and against God, of whom\nour prophet hero complains.\n\nIf any desire to take trial of this point, it is not hard; for Moses, in\nthe election of judges, and of a king, describes not only what persons\nshall be chosen to that honour, but also gives to him that is elected and\nchosen, the rule by which he shall try himself, whether God reign in him\nor not, saying, \u201cWhen he shall sit upon the throne of his kingdom, he\nshall write to himself an exemplar of this law, in a book by the priests\nand Levites; it shall be with him, and he shall lead therein, all the days\nof his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and to keep all\nthe words of his law, and these statutes, that he may do them; that his\nheart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not from the\ncommandment, to the right hand, or to the left.\u201d Deut. xvii.\n\nThe same is repeated to Joshua, in his inauguration to the government of\nthe people, by God himself, saying, \u201cLet not the book of this law depart\nfrom thy mouth, but meditate in it day and night, that thou mayest keep\nit, and do according to all that which is written in it. For then shall\nthy way be prosperous, and thou shall do prudently.\u201d Josh. i.\n\nThe _first_ thing then that God requires of him, who is called to the\nhonour of a king, is, The knowledge of his will revealed in his word.\n\nThe _second_ is, An upright and willing mind, to put in execution such\nthings as God commands in his law, without declining to the right, or to\nthe left hand.\n\nKings then have not an absolute power, to do in their government what\npleases them, but their power is limited by God\u2019s word; so that if they\nstrike where God has not commanded, they are but murderers; and if they\nspare where God has commanded to strike, they and their throne are\ncriminal and guilty of the wickedness which abounds upon the face of the\nearth, for lack of punishment.\n\nO that kings and princes would consider what account shall be craved of\nthem, as well of their ignorance and misknowledge of God\u2019s will, as for\nthe neglecting of their office! But now, to return to the words of the\nprophet. In the person of the whole people he complains unto God, that the\nBabylonians (whom he calls, \u201cother lords besides God,\u201d both because of\ntheir ignorance of God, and by reason of their cruelty and inhumanity,)\nhad long ruled over them in great rigour, without pity or compassion upon\nthe ancient men, and famous matrons: for they, being mortal enemies to the\npeople of God, sought by all means to aggravate their yoke, yea, utterly\nto exterminate the memory of them, and of their religion, from the face of\nthe earth.\n\nAfter the first part of this dolorous complaint, the prophet declares the\nprotestation of the people, saying, \u201cNevertheless in thee shall we\nremember thy name,\u201d (others read it, But we will remember thee only, and\nthy name;) but in the Hebrew there is no conjunction copulative in that\nsentence. The mind of the prophet is plain, namely, that notwithstanding\nthe long sustained affliction, the people of God declined not to a false\nand vain religion, but remembered God, who sometime appeared to them in\nhis merciful presence; which although they saw not then, yet they would\nstill remember his name\u2014that is, they would call to mind the doctrine and\npromise, which formerly they heard, although in their prosperity they did\nnot sufficiently glorify God, who so mercifully ruled in the midst of\nthem. The temptation, no doubt, of the Israelites was great in those days;\nthey were carried captives from the land of Canaan, which was to them the\ngage and pledge of God\u2019s favour towards them: for it was the inheritance\nthat God promised to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. The league and\ncovenant of God\u2019s protection appeared to have been broken\u2014they lamentably\ncomplain that they saw not their accustomed signs of God\u2019s merciful\npresence. The true prophets were few, and the abominations used in Babylon\nwere exceedingly many: and so it might have appeared to them, that in vain\nit was that they were called the posterity of Abraham, or that ever they\nhad received the law, or form of right religion from God. That we may the\nbetter feel it in ourselves, the temptation, I say, was even such, as if\nGod should utterly destroy all order and policy that this day is within\nhis church\u2014that the true preaching of the word should be suppressed\u2014the\nright use of sacraments abolished\u2014idolatry and papistical abomination\nerected up again; and therewith, that our bodies should be taken prisoners\nby Turks, or other manifest enemies of God, and of all godliness. Such, I\nsay, was their temptation; how notable then is this their confession that\nin bondage they make, namely, That they will remember God only; although\nhe has appeared to turn his face from them, they will remember his name,\nand will call to mind the deliverance promised!\n\nHereof have we to consider, what is our duty, if God bring us to the like\nextremity, as for our offences and unthankfulness justly he may. This\nconfession is not the fair flattering words of hypocrites, lying and\nbathing in their pleasures; but it is the mighty operation of the Spirit\nof God, who leaves not his own destitute of some comfort, in their most\ndesperate calamities. This then is our duty, not only to confess our God\nin time of peace and quietness, but he chiefly craves, that we avow him in\nthe midst of his and our enemies; and this is not in us to do, but it\nbehoves that the Spirit of God work in us, above all power of nature; and\nthus we ought earnestly to meditate before the battle rise more vehement,\nwhich appears not to be far off. But now must we somewhat more deeply\nconsider these judgments of God.\n\nThis people dealt with thus, as we have heard, were the only people upon\nthe face of the earth to whom God was rightly known; among them only were\nhis laws, statutes, ordinances, and sacrifices, used and put in practice;\nthey only invocated his name; and to them alone had he promised his\nprotection and assistance. What then should be the cause, that he should\ngive them over unto this great reproach; and bring them into such\nextremity that his own name, in them, should be blasphemed? The prophet\nEzekiel, who saw this horrible destruction, forespoken by Isaiah, put into\njust execution, gives an answer in these words, \u201cI gave unto them laws\nthat were good, in the which whosoever should walk, should live in them;\nbut they would not walk in my ways, but rebelled against me; and\ntherefore, I have given unto them laws that are not good, and judgments,\nin the which they shall not live.\u201d (Ezek. xx.) The writers of the books of\nKings and Chronicles declare this in more plain words, saying, \u201cThe Lord\nsent unto them his prophets, rising early, desiring of them to return unto\nthe Lord, and to amend their wicked ways, for he would have spared his\npeople, and his tabernacle; but they mocked his servants, and would not\nreturn unto the Lord their God to walk in his ways.\u201d (2 Kings xvii.) Yea,\nJudah itself kept not the precepts of the Lord God, but walked in the\nmanners and ordinances of Israel; that is, of such as then had declined to\nidolatry from the days of Jeroboam; and therefore, the Lord God abhorred\nthe whole seed of Israel, that is, the whole body of the people; he\npunished them, and gave them into the hands of those that spoiled them,\nand so he cast them out from his presence.\n\nHereof it is evident, that their disobedience unto God, and unto the\nvoices of his prophets, was the cause of their destruction. Now have we to\ntake heed how we should use the good laws of God; that is, his will\nrevealed unto us in his word; and that order of justice, which by him, for\nthe comfort of man, is established amongst men. There is no doubt but that\nobedience is the most acceptable sacrifice unto God, and that which above\nall things he requires; so that when he manifests himself by his word, men\nshould follow according to their vocation and commandment. Now so it is,\nthat God, by that great Pastor our Lord Jesus, now manifestly in his word\ncalls us from all impiety, as well of body as of mind, to holiness of\nlife, and to his spiritual service; and for this purpose he has erected\nthe throne of his mercy among us, the true preaching of his word, together\nwith the right administration of his sacraments: but what our obedience\nis, let every man examine his own conscience, and consider what statutes\nand laws we would have to be given unto us.\n\nWouldst thou, O Scotland! have a king to reign over thee in justice,\nequity, and mercy? Subject thou thyself to the Lord thy God, obey his\ncommandments, and magnify thou the word that calleth unto thee, \u201cThis is\nthe way, walk in it;\u201d (Isa. xxx.) and if thou wilt not, flatter not\nthyself; the same justice remains this day in God to punish thee,\nScotland, and thee Edinburgh especially, which before punished the land of\nJudah, and the city of Jerusalem. Every realm or nation, saith the prophet\nJeremiah, that likewise offendeth, shall be likewise punished. (Jer. ix.)\nBut if thou shalt see impiety placed in the seat of justice above thee, so\nthat in the throne of God (as Solomon complains, Eccles. iii.) reigns\nnothing but fraud and violence, accuse thine own ingratitude and rebellion\nagainst God; for that is the only cause why God takes away \u201cthe strong man\nand the man of war, the judge and the prophet, the prudent and the aged,\nthe captain and the honourable, the counsellor and the cunning artificer;\nand I will appoint, saith the Lord, children to be their princes, and\nbabes shall rule over them. Children are extortioners of my people, and\nwomen have rule over them.\u201d Isa. iii.\n\nIf these calamities, I say, apprehend us, so that we see nothing but the\noppression of good men, and of all godliness, and that wicked men without\nGod reign above us; let us accuse and condemn ourselves, as the only cause\nof our own miseries. For if we had heard the voice of the Lord our God,\nand given upright obedience unto the same, God would have multiplied our\npeace, and would have rewarded our obedience before the eyes of the world.\nBut now let us hear what the prophet saith further: \u201cThe dead shall not\nlive,\u201d saith he, \u201cneither shall the tyrants, nor the dead arise, because\nthou hast visited and scattered them, and destroyed all their memory,\u201d\nverse 14.\n\nFrom this 14th verse, unto the end of the 19th, it appears, that the\nprophet observes no order; yea, that he speaks things directly\nrepugning(6) one to another; for, _first_, he saith, \u201cThe dead shall not\nlive:\u201d afterwards, he affirms, \u201cThy dead men shall live.\u201d _Secondly_, he\nsaith, \u201cThou hast visited and scattered them, and destroyed all their\nmemory.\u201d Immediately after, he saith, \u201cThou hast increased thy nation, O\nLord, thou hast increased thy nation. They have visited thee, and have\npoured forth a prayer before thee.\u201d\n\nWho, I say, would not think, that these are things not only spoken without\ngood order and purpose, but also manifestly repugning one to another? For\nto live, and not to live, to be so destroyed that no memorial remains, and\nto be so increased that the coasts of the earth shall be replenished,\nseems to import plain contradiction. For removing of this doubt, and for\nbetter understanding the prophet\u2019s mind, we must observe, that the prophet\nhad to do with divers sorts of men; he had to do with the conjured(7) and\nmanifest enemies of God\u2019s people, the Chaldeans or Babylonians; even so,\nsuch as profess Christ Jesus have to do with the Turks and Saracens. He\nhad to do with the seed of Abraham, whereof there were three sorts. The\nten tribes were all degenerated from the true worshipping of God, and\ncorrupted with idolatry, as this day are our pestilent papists in all\nrealms and nations; there rested only the tribe of Judah at Jerusalem,\nwhere the form of true religion was observed, the law taught, and the\nordinances of God outwardly kept. But yet there were in that body, I mean,\nin the body of the visible church, a great number that were hypocrites, as\nthis day yet are among us that profess the Lord Jesus, and have refused\npapistry; also not a few that were licentious livers; some that turned\ntheir back to God, that is, had forsaken all true religion; and some that\nlived a most abominable life, as Ezekiel saith in his vision; and yet\nthere were some godly, as a few wheat-corns, oppressed(8) and hid among\nthe multitude of chaff: now, according to this diversity, the prophet\nkeeps divers purposes, and yet in most perfect order.\n\nAnd first, after the first part of the complaint of the afflicted as we\nhave heard, in vehemency of spirit he bursts forth against all the proud\nenemies of God\u2019s people, against all such as trouble them, and against all\nsuch as mock and forsake God, and saith, \u201cThe dead shall not live, the\nproud giants shall not rise; thou hast scattered them, and destroyed their\nmemorial.\u201d In which words he contends against the present temptation and\ndolorous state of God\u2019s people, and against the insolent pride of such as\noppressed them; as if the prophet should say, O ye troublers of God\u2019s\npeople! howsoever it appears to you in this your bloody rage, that God\nregards not your cruelty, nor considers what violence you do to his poor\nafflicted, yet shall you he visited, yea, your carcases shall fall and lie\nas stinking carrion upon the face of the earth, you shall fall without\nhope of life, or of a blessed resurrection; yea, howsoever you gather your\nsubstance, and augment your families, you shall be so scattered, that you\nshall leave no memorial of you to the posterities to come, but that which\nshall be execrable and odious.\n\nHereof the tyrants have their admonition, and the afflicted church\ninestimable comfort: the tyrants that oppress, shall receive the same end\nwhich they did who have passed before; that is, they shall die and fall\nwith shame, without hope of resurrection, as is aforesaid. Not that they\nshall not arise to their own confusion and just condemnation; but that\nthey shall not recover power, to trouble the servants of God; neither yet\nshall the wicked arise, as David saith, in the counsel of the just. Now\nthe wicked have their councils, their thrones, and finally handle(9) (for\nthe most part) all things that are upon the face of the earth; but the\npoor servants of God are reputed unworthy of men\u2019s presence, envied and\nmocked; yea, they are more vile before these proud tyrants, than is the\nvery dirt and mire which is trodden under foot. But in that glorious\nresurrection, this state shall be changed; for then shall such as now, by\ntheir abominable living and cruelty, destroy the earth, and molest God\u2019s\nchildren, see Him whom they have pierced; they shall see the glory of such\nas now they persecute, to their terror and everlasting confusion. The\nremembrance hereof ought to make us patient in the days of affliction, and\nso to comfort us, that when we see tyrants in their blind rage tread under\nfoot the saints of God, we despair not utterly, as if there were neither\nwisdom, justice, nor power above in the heavens, to repress such tyrants,\nand to redress the dolours of the unjustly afflicted. No, brethren, let us\nbe assured, that the right hand of the Lord will change the state of\nthings that are most desperate. In our God there is wisdom and power, in a\nmoment to change the joy and mirth of our enemies into everlasting\nmourning, and our sorrows into joy and gladness that shall have no end.\n\nTherefore, in these apparent calamities, (and marvel not that I say\n_apparent_ calamities, for he that sees not a fire is begun, that shall\nburn more than we look for, unless God of his mercy quench it,(10) is more\nthan blind,) let us not be discouraged, but with unfeigned repentance let\nus return to the Lord our God; let us accuse and condemn our former\nnegligence, and steadfastly depend upon his promised deliverance; so shall\nour temporal sorrows be converted into everlasting joy. The doubt that\nmight be moved concerning the destruction of those whom God exalteth,\nshall be discussed, if time will suffer, after we have passed throughout\nthe text. The prophet, now proceeds, and saith, \u201cThou hast increased the\nnations, O Lord, thou hast increased the nations; thou art made glorious,\nthou hast enlarged all the coasts of the earth. Lord, in trouble,\u201d &c.\nverses 15, 16.\n\nIn these words the prophet gives consolation to the afflicted, assuring\nthem, that how horrible soever the desolation should be, yet should the\nseed of Abraham be so multiplied, that it should replenish the coasts of\nthe earth; yea, that God should be more glorified in their affliction,\nthan he was during the time of their prosperity. This promise, no doubt,\nwas incredible when it was made; for who could have been persuaded, that\nthe destruction of Jerusalem should have been the means whereby the nation\nof the Jews should have been increased? seeing that much rather it\nappeared, that the overthrow of Jerusalem should have been the very\nabolishing of the seed of Abraham: but we must consider, to what end it\nwas that God revealed himself to Abraham, and what is contained in the\npromise of the multiplication of his seed, and the benediction promised\nthereto.\n\nFirst, God revealed himself to Abraham, to let all flesh understand, by\nthe means of his word, that God first called man, and revealed himself\nunto him; that flesh can do nothing but rebel against God; for Abraham, no\ndoubt, was an idolater, before God called him from Ur of the Chaldees. The\npromise was made, that the seed of Abraham should be multiplied as the\nstars of heaven, and as the sand of the sea; which is not simply to be\nunderstood of his natural seed, although it was sometimes greatly\nincreased; but rather of such as should become the spiritual seed of\nAbraham, as the apostle speaks. Now, if we be able to prove, that the\nright knowledge of God, his wisdom, justice, mercy, and power, were more\namply declared in their captivity, than at any time before, then we cannot\ndeny, but that God, even when to man\u2019s judgment he had utterly rased them\nfrom the face of the earth, did increase the nation of the Jews, so that\nhe was glorified in them, and extended the coasts of the earth for their\nhabitation. And, for the better understanding hereof, let us shortly try\nthe histories from their captivity to their deliverance; and after the\nsame, to the coming of the Messiah.\n\nNo doubt satan intended, by the dispersion of the Jews, so to have\nprofaned the whole seed of Abraham, that among them neither should have\nremained the true knowledge of God, nor yet the spirit of sanctification,\nbut that all should have come to a like contempt of God. For, I pray you,\nfor what purpose was it, that Daniel and his fellows were taken into the\nking\u2019s court, were commanded to be fed at the king\u2019s table, and were put\nto the schools of their diviners, soothsayers, and astrologers? It may be\nthought that it proceeded of the king\u2019s humanity, and of a zeal which he\nhad, that they should be brought up in virtue and good learning; and I\ndoubt not but it was so understood by a great number of the Jews. But the\nsecret practice of the devil was understood by Daniel, when he refused to\ndefile himself with the king\u2019s meat, which was forbidden to the seed of\nAbraham in the law of their God. Well, God began shortly after to show\nhimself mindful of his promise made by his prophet, and to trouble\nNebuchadnezzar himself, by showing to him a vision in his dream; which the\nmore troubled him, because he could not forget the terror of it, neither\nyet could he remember what the vision and the parts thereof were.\nWhereupon were called all the diviners, interpreters of dreams, and\nsoothsayers, of whom the king demanded, if they could let him understand\nwhat he had dreamed: but while they answered, that such a question used\nnot to be demanded of any soothsayer or magician, for the resolution\nthereof only appertained to the gods, whose habitation was not with men,\nthe charge was given, that they all should be slain: and amongst the rest,\nDaniel, whose innocence the devil envied, was sought to have suffered the\nsame judgment. He claimed, and asked time to disclose that secret; (I only\ntouch the history, to let you see by what means God increased his\nknowledge) which being granted, the vision was revealed unto him; he\nshewed the same unto the king, with the true interpretation of it; adding,\nthat the knowledge thereof came not from the stars, but only from the God\nof Abraham, who alone was and is the true God. Which being understood, the\nking burst forth in his confession, saying, \u201cOf a truth your God is the\nmost excellent of all gods, and he is Lord of kings, and only he that\nrevealeth secrets, seeing that thou couldst open this secret.\u201d And when\nNebuchadnezzar after that, being puffed up with pride by the counsel of\nhis wicked nobility, would make an image, before which he would that all\ntongues and nations subject to him should make adoration; and when\nShadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, would not obey his unjust commandment,\nand so were cast into the flaming furnace of fire; and yet by God\u2019s angels\nwere so preserved, that no smell of fire remained on their persons or\ngarments; this same king gave a more notable confession, saying, \u201cThe Lord\nGod of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, is to be praised, who hath sent\nhis angels, and delivered his worshippers that put trust in him, who have\ndone against the king\u2019s commandment; who have rather given their own\nbodies to torment, than that they would worship another god, except their\nown God. By me therefore is there made a decree, that whosoever shall\nblaspheme the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, he shall be cut in\npieces, and his house shall be made detestable.\u201d Dan. iii.\n\nThus we see how God began, even almost in the beginning of their\ncaptivity, to notify his name, to multiply his knowledge, and set forth as\nwell his power as his wisdom, and true worshipping, by those that were\ntaken prisoners, yea, that were despised, and of all men contemned; so\nthat the name and fear of the God of Abraham was never before notified to\nso many realms and nations. This wondrous work of God proceeded from one\nempire to another; for Daniel being promoted to great honour by Darius\nking of the Persians and Medes, fell into a desperate danger; for he was\ncommitted to prison among lions, because he was found breaking the king\u2019s\ninjunction; not that the king desired the destruction of God\u2019s servants,\nbut because the corrupt idolaters, who in hatred of Daniel had procured\nthat law to be made, urged the king against his nature; but God, by his\nangel, stopped the lions\u2019 mouths, and so preserved his servant; which\nbeing considered, with the sudden destruction of Daniel\u2019s enemies by the\nsame lions, king Darius, besides his own confession, wrote to all people,\ntongues, and nations, after this form; \u201cIt is decreed by me, That in all\nthe dominions of my kingdom, men shall fear and reverence the God of\nDaniel, because he is the Living God, abiding for ever, whose kingdom\nshall not be destroyed, and his dominion remaineth; who saveth and\ndelivereth, and sheweth signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath\ndelivered Daniel from the lions.\u201d\n\nThis knowledge was yet further increased in the days of Cyrus, who giving\nfreedom to the captives to return to their own native country, gave this\nconfession; \u201cThus saith Cyrus the king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the\nearth hath the Lord God of heaven given unto me, and hath commanded me,\nthat a house be built to him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever\ntherefore of you, that are of his people, let the Lord his God be with\nhim, and let him pass up to Jerusalem, and let him build the house of the\nLord God of Israel; for he only is God that is in Jerusalem.\u201d (Ezra i.)\nTime will not suffer me to treat the points of this confession, neither\nyet did I for that purpose adduce the history; but only to let us see, how\nconstantly God kept his promise in increasing his people, and in\naugmenting his true knowledge beyond men\u2019s expectation, when both they\nthat were the seed of Abraham, and the religion which they professed,\nappeared utterly to have been extinguished. I say, he brought freedom out\nof bondage, light out of darkness, and life out of death. I am not\nignorant, that the building of the temple, and the reparation of the walls\nof Jerusalem, were long stayed, so that the work had many enemies; but the\nhand of God so prevailed in the end, that a decree was made by Darius, (by\nhim I suppose that succeeded to Cambyses,) not only that all things\nnecessary for the building of the temple, and for the sacrifices that were\nto be burnt there, should be ministered upon the king\u2019s charges; but also,\nthat \u201cwhosoever should hinder that work, or change that decree, that a\ntree should be taken out of his house, and that he should be hanged\nthereupon; yea, that his house should be made a dunghill,\u201d (Ezra vi.); and\nthereto he added a prayer, saying, \u201cThe God of heaven, who hath placed his\nname there, root out every king and people, (O that kings and nations\nwould understand!) that shall put his hand, either to change or to hurt\nthis house of God that is in Jerusalem.\u201d And so, in despite of satan, was\nthe temple built, the walls repaired, and the city inhabited; and in the\nmost desperate dangers it was preserved, until the promised Messiah, the\nglory of the second temple, came, manifested himself to the world,\nsuffered and rose again, according to the scriptures; and so, by sending\nforth his gospel from Jerusalem, replenished the earth with the true\nknowledge of God; and so did God in perfection increase the nation, and\nthe spiritual seed of Abraham.\n\nWherefore, dear brethren, we have no small consolation, if the state of\nall things be this day rightly considered. We see in what fury and rage\nthe world, for the most part, is now raised, against the poor church of\nJesus Christ, unto which he has proclaimed liberty, after the fearful\nbondage of that spiritual Babylon, in which we have been holden captives\nlonger space than Israel was prisoner in Babylon itself: for if we shall\nconsider, upon the one part, the multitude of those that live wholly\nwithout Christ; and, upon the other part, the blind rage of the pestilent\npapists; what shall we think of the small number of them that profess\nChrist Jesus, but that they are as a poor sheep, already seized in the\nclaws of the lion; yea, that they, and the true religion which they\nprofess, shall in a moment be utterly consumed?\n\nBut against this fearful temptation, let us be armed with the promise of\nGod, namely, that he will be the protector of his church; yea, that he\nwill multiply it, even when to man\u2019s judgment it appears utterly to be\nexterminated. This promise has our God performed, in the multiplication of\nAbraham\u2019s seed, in the preservation of it when satan laboured utterly to\nhave destroyed it, and in deliverance of the same, as we have heard, from\nBabylon. He hath sent his Son Christ Jesus, clad in our flesh, who hath\ntasted of all our infirmities, (sin excepted,) who hath promised to be\nwith us to the end of the world; he hath further kept promise in the\npublication, yea, in the restitution of his glorious gospel. Shall we then\nthink that he will leave his church destitute in this most dangerous age?\nOnly let us cleave to his truth, and study to conform our lives to the\nsame, and he shall multiply his knowledge, and increase his people. But\nnow let us hear what the prophet saith more:\n\n\u201cLord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when\nthy chastening was upon them,\u201d verse 16.\n\nThe prophet means, that such as in the time of quietness did not rightly\nregard God nor his judgments, were compelled, by sharp corrections, to\nseek God; yea, by cries and dolorous complaints to visit him. True it is,\nthat such obedience deserves small praise before men; for who can praise,\nor accept that in good part, which comes as it were of mere compulsion?\nAnd yet it is rare, that any of God\u2019s children do give unfeigned\nobedience, until the hand of God turn them. For if quietness and\nprosperity make them not utterly to forget their duty, both towards God\nand man, as David for a season, yet it makes them careless, insolent, and\nin many things unmindful of those things that God chiefly craves of them;\nwhich imperfection being espied, and the danger that thereof might ensue,\nour heavenly Father visits the sins of his children, but with the rod of\nhis mercy, by which they are moved to return to their God, to accuse their\nformer negligence, and to promise better obedience in all times hereafter;\nas David confessed, saying, \u201cBefore I fell in affliction I went astray,\nbut now will I keep thy statutes.\u201d\n\nBut yet, for the better understanding of the prophet\u2019s mind, we may\nconsider how God doth visit man, and how man doth visit God; and what\ndifference there is betwixt the visitation of God upon the reprobate, and\nhis visitation upon the chosen.\n\nGod sometimes visits the reprobate in his hot displeasure, pouring upon\nthem his plagues for their long rebellion; as we have heard before, that\nhe visited the proud, and destroyed their memory. At other times God is\nsaid to visit his people, being in affliction, to whom he sends comfort or\npromise of deliverance, as he visited the seed of Abraham, when oppressed\nin Egypt. And Zacharias said, that God had visited his people, and sent\nunto them hope of deliverance, when John the Baptist was born. But of none\nof these visitations our prophet here speaks, but of that only which we\nhave already touched; namely, when God layeth his correction upon his own\nchildren, to call them from the venomous breasts of this corrupt world,\nthat they suck not in over great abundance the poison thereof; and he\ndoth, as it were, wean them from their mother\u2019s breasts, that they may\nlearn to receive other nourishment. True it is, that this weaning (or\nspeaning, as we term it) from worldly pleasure, is a thing strange to the\nflesh. And yet it is a thing so necessary to God\u2019s children, that, unless\nthey are weaned from the pleasures of the world, they can never feed upon\nthat delectable milk of God\u2019s eternal verity; for the corruption of the\none either hinders the other from being received, or else so troubles the\nwhole powers of man, that the soul can never so digest the truth of God as\nhe ought to do.\n\nAlthough this appears hard, yet it is most evident; for what can we\nreceive from the world, but that which is in the world? What that is, the\napostle John teaches; saying, \u201cWhatsoever is in the world, is either the\nlust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life.\u201d (1 John\nii.) Now, seeing that these are not of the Father, but of the world, how\ncan it be, that our souls can feed upon chastity, temperance, and\nhumility, so long as our stomachs are replenished with the corruption of\nthese vices?\n\nNow so it is, that flesh can never willingly refuse these fore-named, but\nrather still delights itself in every one of them; yea, in them all, as\nthe examples are but too evident.\n\nIt behoves therefore, that God himself shall violently pull his children\nfrom these venomous breasts, that when they lack the liquor and poison of\nthe world, they may visit him, and learn to be nourished of him. Oh if the\neyes of worldly princes should be opened, that they might see with what\nhumour and liquor their souls are fed, while their whole delight consists\nin pride, ambition, and the lusts of the corrupt flesh! We understand then\nhow God doth visit men, as well by his severe judgments, as by his\nmerciful visitation of deliverance from troubles, or by bringing trouble\nupon his chosen for their humiliation; and now it remains to understand\nhow man visits God. Man doth visit God, when he appears in his presence,\nbe it for the hearing of his word, or for the participation of his\nsacraments; as the people of Israel, besides the observation of their\nsabbaths and daily oblations, were commanded thrice a-year to present\nthemselves before the presence of the tabernacle; and as we do, and us\noften as we present ourselves to the hearing of the word. For there is the\nfootstool, yea, there is the face and throne of God himself, wheresoever\nthe gospel of Jesus Christ is truly preached, and his sacraments rightly\nministered.\n\nBut men may on this sort visit God hypocritically; for they may come for\nthe fashion, they may hear with deaf ears; yea, they may understand, and\nyet never determine with themselves to obey that which God requires: and\nlet such men be assured, that He who searches the secrets of hearts will\nbe avenged of all such; for nothing can be more odious to God, than to\nmock him in his own presence. Let every man therefore examine himself,\nwith what mind, and what purpose, he comes to hear the word of God; yea,\nwith what ear he hears it, and what testimony his heart gives unto him,\nwhen God commands virtue, and forbids impiety.\n\nRepinest thou when God requires obedience? Thou hearest to thine own\ncondemnation. Mockest thou at God\u2019s threatenings? Thou shalt feel the\nweight and truth of them, albeit too late, when flesh and blood cannot\ndeliver thee from his hand. But the visitation, whereof our prophet\nspeaks, is only proper to the sons of God, who, in the time when God takes\nfrom them the pleasures of the world, or shows his angry countenance unto\nthem, have recourse unto him, and, confessing their former negligence,\nwith troubled hearts, cry for his mercy. This visitation is not proper to\nall the afflicted, but appertains only to God\u2019s children: for the\nreprobates can never have access to God\u2019s mercy in time of their\ntribulation, and that because they abuse his long patience, as well as the\nmanifold benefits they receive from his hands; for as the same prophet\nheretofore saith, \u201cLet the wicked obtain mercy, yet shall he never learn\nwisdom, but in the land of righteousness,\u201d that is, where the true\nknowledge of God abounds, \u201che will do wickedly.\u201d Which is a crime above\nall others abominable; for to what end is it that God erects his throne\namong us, but that we should fear him? Why does he reveal his holy will\nunto us, but that we should obey it? Why does he deliver us from trouble,\nbut that we should be witnesses unto the world, that he is gracious and\nmerciful?\n\nNow, when men hearing their duty, and knowing what God requires of them,\ndo malapertly fight against all equity and justice, what I pray you, do\nthey else, but make manifest war against God? Yea, when they have received\nfrom God such deliverance, that they cannot deny but that God himself hath\nin his great mercy visited them, and yet they continue wicked as before;\nwhat deserve they but effectually to be given over unto a reprobate sense,\nthat they may headlong run to ruin, both of body and soul? It is almost\nincredible that a man should be so enraged against God, that neither his\nplagues, nor yet his mercy showed, should move him to repentance; but\nbecause the Scriptures bear witness of the one and the other, let us cease\nto marvel, and let us firmly believe, that such things as have been, are\neven at present before our eyes, albeit many, blinded by affection, cannot\nsee them.\n\nAhab, as it is written in the book of the Kings, received many notable\nbenefits of the hand of God, who visited him in divers sorts, sometimes by\nhis plagues, sometimes by his word, and sometimes by his merciful\ndeliverance. He made him king, and, for the idolatry used by him and his\nwife, he plagued the whole of Israel by famine; he revealed to him his\nwill, and true religion, by the prophet Elijah; he gave unto him sundry\ndeliverances, but one most special, when proud Benhadad came to besiege\nSamaria, and was not content to receive Ahab\u2019s gold, silver, sons,\ndaughters, and wives, but also required, that his servants should have at\ntheir pleasure whatsoever was delectable in Samaria. True it is, that his\nelders and people willed him not to hear the proud tyrant, but who made\nunto him the promise of deliverance? And who appointed and put his army in\norder? Who assured him of victory? The prophet of God only, who assured\nhim, that by the servants of the princes of the provinces, who in number\nwere only two hundred thirty-and-two, he should defeat the great army, in\nwhich there were two-and-thirty kings, with all their forces. And as the\nprophet of God promised, so it came to pass; victory was obtained, not\nonce only, but twice, and that by the merciful visitation of the Lord.\n\nBut how did Ahab visit God again for his great benefit received? Did he\nremove his idolatry? Did he correct his idolatrous wife Jezebel? No, we\nfind no such thing; but the one and the other we find to have continued\nand increased in their former impiety: but what was the end thereof? The\nlast visitation of God was, that dogs licked the blood of the one, and did\neat the flesh of the other. In few words then we understand, what\ndifference there is betwixt the visitation of God upon the reprobate, and\nhis visitation upon his chosen. The reprobate are visited, but never truly\nhumbled, nor yet amended; the chosen being visited, they sob, and they cry\nunto God for mercy; which being obtained, they magnify God\u2019s name, and\nafterwards manifest the fruits of repentance. Let us therefore that bear\nthese judgments of our God, call for the assistance of his Holy Spirit,\nthat howsoever it pleaseth him to visit us, we may stoop under his\nmerciful hands, and unfeignedly cry to him when he corrects us; and so\nshall we know in experience, that our cries and complaints were not in\nvain. But let us hear what the prophet saith further:\n\n\u201cLike as a woman with child, that draweth near her travail, is in sorrow,\nand crieth in her pains, so have we been in thy sight, O Lord; we have\nconceived, we have borne in vain, as though we should have brought forth\nthe wind. Salvations were not made to the earth, neither did the\ninhabitants of the earth fall,\u201d verses 17, 18.\n\nThis is the second part of the prophet\u2019s complaint, in which he, in the\nperson of God\u2019s people, complains, that of their great affliction there\nappeared no end. This same similitude is used by our Master Jesus Christ;\nfor when he speaks of the troubles of his church, he compares them to the\npains of a woman travailing in child-birth. But it is to another end; for\nthere he promises exceeding and permanent joy after a sort, though it\nappear trouble. But here is the trouble long and vehement, albeit the\nfruit of it was not suddenly espied. He speaks no doubt of that long and\ndolorous time of their captivity, in which they continually laboured for\ndeliverance, but obtained it not before the complete end of seventy years.\nDuring which time, the earth, that is, the land of Judah, which sometimes\nwas sanctified unto God, but was then given to be profaned by wicked\npeople, got no help, nor perceived any deliverance: for the inhabitants of\nthe world fell not; that is, the tyrants and oppressors of God\u2019s people\nwere not taken away, but still remained and continued blasphemers of God,\nand troublers of his church. But because I perceive the hours to pass more\nswiftly than they have seemed at other times, I must contract that which\nremains of this text into certain points.\n\nThe prophet first contends against the present despair; afterwards he\nintroduces God himself calling upon his people; and, last of all, he\nassures his afflicted, that God will come, and require account of all the\nblood-thirsty tyrants of the earth.\n\nFirst, Fighting against the present despair, he saith, \u201cThy dead shall\nlive, even my body (or with my body) shall they arise; awake and sing, ye\nthat dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs,\u201d verse 19.\n\nThe prophet here pierces through all impediments that nature could object;\nand, by the victory of faith, he overcomes, not only the common enemies,\nbut the great and last enemy of all, death itself; for this would he say,\nLord, I see nothing for thy chosen, but misery to follow misery, and one\naffliction to succeed another; yea, in the end I see, that death shall\ndevour thy dearest children. But yet, O Lord! I see thy promise to be\ntrue, and thy love to remain towards thy chosen, even when death appears\nto have devoured them: \u201cFor thy dead shall live, yea, not only shall they\nlive, but my very dead carcase shall arise;\u201d and so I see honour and glory\nto succeed this temporal shame, I see permanent joy to come after trouble,\norder to spring out of this terrible confusion; and, finally, I see that\nlife shall devour death, so that death shall be destroyed, and so thy\nservants shall have life. This, I say, is the victory of faith, when to\nthe midst of death, through the light of God\u2019s word, the afflicted see\nlife. Hypocrites, in the time of quietness and prosperity, can generally\nconfess, that God is true to his promises; but bring them to the\nextremity, and there the hypocrite ceases further to trust to God, than he\nseeth natural means, whereby God useth to work. But the true faithful,\nwhen all hope of natural means fail, flee to God himself, and to the truth\nof his promise, who is above nature; yea, whose works are not so subject\nto the ordinary course of nature, that when nature fails, his power and\npromise fail also therewith.\n\nLet us further observe, That the prophet here speaks not of all the dead\nin general, but saith, \u201cThy dead, O Lord, shall live:\u201d in which words he\nmakes a difference betwixt those that die in the Lord, and those that die\nin their natural corruption, and in the old Adam. Die in the Lord can\nnone, except those that live in him, (I mean, of those that attain to the\nyears of discretion;) and none live in him, but those that, with the\napostle, can say, \u201cI live, and yet not I, but Christ Jesus that dwelleth\nin me: the life that I now live, I have by the faith of the Son of God.\u201d\n(Gal. ii.) Not that I mean, that the faithful have at all hours such a\nsense of the life everlasting, that they fear not the death and the\ntroubles of this life; no, not so; for the faith of God\u2019s children is\nweak, yea, and in many things imperfect. But I mean, that such as in\ndeath, and after death shall live, must communicate in this life with\nJesus Christ, and must be regenerated by the seed of life; that is, by the\nword of the everlasting God, which whosoever despises, refuses life and\njoy everlasting.\n\nThe prophet transfers all the promises of God to himself, saying, \u201cEven my\ndead body shall arise;\u201d and immediately after, gives commandment and\ncharge to the dwellers in the dust, that is, to the dead carcases of those\nthat were departed, (for the spirit and soul of man dwells not in the\ndust,) \u201cThat they should awake, that they should sing and rejoice;\u201d for\nthey should arise and spring up from the earth, even as the herbs do,\nafter they have received the dew from above.\n\nTime will not suffer that these particulars be so largely treated as\nought, and as I gladly would do; therefore let us consider, that the\nprophet, in transferring the power and promise of God to himself, does not\nclaim to himself any particular prerogative above the people of God, as\nthat he alone should live and arise, and not they also; but he does it, to\nlet them understand that he taught a doctrine whereof he was certain; yea,\nand whereof they should have experience after his death. As if he should\nsay, My words appear to you now to be incredible, but the day will come,\nthat I shall be taken from you, my carcase shall be inclosed in the bosom\nof the earth; and you shall be led away captives to Babylon, where you\nshall remain many days and years, as it were buried in your sepulchres.\n\nBut then call to mind what I said unto you before hand, that my body shall\narise; even so shall you rise from your graves out of Babylon, and be\nrestored to your own country, and city of Jerusalem; this, I doubt not, is\nthe true meaning of the prophet. The charge that he gives to the dwellers\nin the dust, is to express the power of God\u2019s word, whereby he not only\ngives life, where death apparently had prevailed; but also, by it, he\ncalls things that are not, even as though they were. True it is, that the\nprophet Isaiah saw not the destruction of Jerusalem, much less could he\nsee the restitution of it with his corporeal eyes; but he leaves this, as\nit were, in testament with them\u2014that when they were in the extremity of\nall bondage, they should call to mind what the prophet of God had before\nspoken.\n\nAnd lest that his doctrine, and this promise of God made unto them by his\nmouth, should have been forgotten, as we are ever prone and ready to\nforget God\u2019s promises when we are pressed with any sorrow, God raised up\nunto them, in the midst of their calamity, his prophet Ezekiel, unto whom,\namong many other visions, he gave this\u2014The hand of the Lord first led him\nin a place, which was full of dry and dispersed bones. (Ezek. xxxvii.) The\nquestion was demanded of the prophet, If these bones, being wondrous dry,\ncould live? The prophet answered, The knowledge thereof appertained unto\nGod. Charge was given unto him, that he should speak unto the dry bones,\nand say, \u201cThus saith the Lord God to these bones, Behold, I will give you\nbreath, and you shall live: I will give unto you sinews, flesh, and skin,\nand you shall live.\u201d And while the prophet spake as he was commanded, he\nheard a voice, and he saw every bone join its fellow; he saw them covered\nwith flesh and skin, albeit there was no spirit of life in them. He was\ncommanded again to speak, and to say, \u201cThus saith the Lord God, Come, O\nSpirit, from the four quarters, and blow on these that are slain, that\nthey may live.\u201d And as he prophesied, the spirit of life came; they lived,\nand stood upon their feet. Then the Lord interprets what this vision\nmeant, saying \u201cO son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.\nBehold, they say, Our bones are dried, our hope is perished, we are\nplainly cut off. But behold, saith the Lord, I will open your graves, I\nwill bring you forth of them, ye shall live, and come unto the land of\nIsrael, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.\u201d\n\nThis vision, I say, given to the prophet, and by the prophet preached to\nthe people, when they thought that God had utterly forgotten them,\ncompelled them more diligently to advert to what the former prophets had\nspoken. It is no doubt but that they carried with them both the prophecy\nof Isaiah and Jeremiah, so that the prophet Ezekiel is a commentary to\nthese words of Isaiah, where he saith, \u201cThy dead, O Lord, shall live, with\nmy body they shall arise.\u201d The prophet brings in this similitude of the\ndew, to answer unto that part of their fidelity, who can believe no\nfurther of God\u2019s promises than they are able to apprehend by natural\njudgment; as if he would say, Think ye this impossible, that God should\ngive life unto you, and bring you to an estate of a commonwealth again,\nafter that ye are dead, and as it were rased from the face of the earth?\nBut why do you not consider what God worketh from year to year in the\norder of nature? Sometimes you see the face of the earth decked and\nbeautified with herbs, flowers, grass, and fruits; again you see the same\nutterly taken away by storms, and the vehemence of the winter: what does\nGod to replenish the earth again, and to restore the beauty thereof? He\nsends down his small and soft dew, the drops whereof, in their descending,\nare neither great nor visible, and yet thereby are the pores and secret\nveins of the earth, which before by vehemence of frost and cold were shut\nup, opened again, and so does the earth produce again the like herbs,\nflowers, and fruits. Shall you then think, that the dew of God\u2019s heavenly\ngrace will not be as effectual in you to whom he hath made his promise, as\nit is in the herbs and fruits which from year to year bud forth and decay?\nIf you do so, the prophet would say your unbelief is inexcusable; because\nyou neither rightly weigh the power, nor the promise of your God.\n\nThe like similitude the apostle Paul uses against such as called the\nresurrection in doubt, because by natural judgment they could not\napprehend that flesh once putrified, and dissolved as it were into other\nsubstance, should rise again, and return again to the same substance and\nnature: \u201cO fool,\u201d saith he, \u201cthat which thou sowest is not quickened,\nexcept it die; and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that\nshall be, but bare corn, as it falleth, of wheat, or some other, but God\ngiveth it a body as it pleaseth him, even to every seed his own body.\u201d In\nwhich words and sentence, the apostle sharply rebukes the gross ignorance\nof the Corinthians, who began to call in doubt the chief article of our\nfaith, the resurrection of the flesh after it was once dissolved, because\nthat natural judgment, as he said, reclaimed thereto.(11) He reproves, I\nsay, their gross ignorance, because they might have seen and considered\nsome proof and document thereof in the very order of nature; for albeit\nthe wheat, or other corn, cast in the earth, appears to die or putrify,\nand so to be lost, yet we see that it is not perished, but that it\nfructifies according to God\u2019s will and ordinance.\n\nNow, if the power of God be so manifest in raising up of the fruits of the\nearth, unto which no particular promise is made by God, what shall be his\npower and virtue in raising up our bodies, seeing that thereto he is bound\nby the solemn promise of Jesus Christ his Eternal Wisdom, and the Verity\nitself that cannot lie? Yea, seeing that the members must once communicate\nwith the glory of the Head, how shall our bodies, which are flesh of his\nflesh, and bone of his bones, lie still for ever in corruption, seeing\nthat our Head, Jesus Christ, is now exalted in his glory? Neither yet is\nthis power and good-will of God to be restrained unto the last and general\nresurrection only, but we ought to consider it in the marvellous\npreservation of his church, and in the raising up of the same from the\nvery bottom of death, when by tyrants it has been oppressed from age to\nage.\n\nNow, of the former words of the prophet, we have to gather this comfort;\nthat if at any time we see the face of the church within this realm so\ndefaced, as I think it shall be sooner than we look for\u2014when we shall see,\nI say, virtue to be despised, vice to be maintained, the verity of God to\nbe impugned, lies and men\u2019s inventions holden in authority\u2014and finally,\nwhen we see the true religion of our God, and the zealous observers of the\nsame, trodden under the feet of such as in their heart say, that \u201cThere is\nno God,\u201d (Psal. xiv.); let us then call to mind what have been the\nwondrous works of our God from the beginning\u2014that it is his proper office\nto bring light out of darkness, order out of confusion, life out of death:\nand finally, that this is He that calleth things that are not, even as if\nthey were, as before we have heard. And if in the day of our temptation,\nwhich in my judgment approaches fast, we are thus armed, if our\nincredulity cannot utterly be removed, yet shall it so be corrected, that\ndamnable despair oppress us not. But now let us hear how the prophet\nproceeds:\u2014\n\n\u201cCome, thou my people, enter within thy chamber, shut thy door after thee,\nhide thyself a very little while, until the indignation pass over.\u201d\n\nHere the prophet brings in God, lovingly, calling upon his people to come\nto himself, and to rest with him, until such time as the fury and sharp\nplagues should be executed upon the wicked and disobedient. It may appear\nat the first sight, that all these words of the prophet, in the person of\nGod, calling the people unto rest, are spoken in vain; for we neither find\nchambers, nor rest, more prepared for the dearest children of God, so far\nas man\u2019s judgment can discern, than for the rebellious and disobedient;\nfor such as fell not by the edge of the sword, or died not of pestilence,\nor by hunger, were either carried captives unto Babylon, or else departed\nafterwards into Egypt, so that none of Abraham\u2019s seed had either chamber\nor quiet place to remain in within the land of Canaan. For the resolution\nhereof, we must understand, That albeit the chambers whereunto God called\nhis chosen be not visible, yet notwithstanding they are certain, and offer\nunto God\u2019s children a quiet habitation in spirit, howsoever the flesh be\ntravailed and tormented.\n\nThe chambers then are God\u2019s sure promises, unto which God\u2019s people are\ncommanded to resort; yea, within which they are commanded to close\nthemselves in the time of greatest adversity. The manner of speaking is\nborrowed from that judgment and foresight which God has printed in this\nour nature; for when men espy great tempests appearing to come, they will\nnot willingly remain uncovered in the fields, but straightway they will\ndraw them to their houses or holds, that they may escape the vehemence of\nthe same; and if they fear any enemy pursues them, they will shut their\ndoors, to the end that the enemy should not suddenly have entry.\n\nAfter this manner God speaks to his people; as if he should say, The\ntempest that shall come upon this whole nation shall be so terrible, that\nnothing but extermination shall appear to come upon the whole body. But\nthou my people, that hearest my word, believest the same, and tremblest at\nthe threatenings of my prophets, now, when the world does insolently\nresist\u2014let such, I say, enter within the secret chamber of my promises,\nlet them contain themselves quietly there; yea, let them shut the door\nupon them, and suffer not infidelity, the mortal enemy of my truth, and of\nmy people that depend thereupon, to have free entry to trouble them, yea,\nfurther to murder, in my promise; and so shall they perceive that my\nindignation shall pass, and that such as depend upon me shall be saved.\n\nThus we may perceive the meaning of the prophet; whereof we have first to\nobserve, that God acknowledges them for his people who are in the greatest\naffliction; yea, such as are reputed unworthy of men\u2019s presence are yet\nadmitted within the secret chamber of God. Let no man think that flesh and\nblood can suddenly attain to that comfort; and therefore most expedient it\nis, that we be frequently exercised in meditation of the same. Easy it is,\nI grant, in time of prosperity, to say, and to think, that God is our God,\nand that we are his people; but when he has given us over into the hands\nof our enemies, and turned, as it were, his back unto us, then, I say,\nstill to reclaim him to be our God, and to have this assurance, that we\nare his people, proceeds wholly from the Holy Spirit of God, as it is the\ngreatest victory of faith, which overcomes the world; for increase\nwhereof, we ought continually to pray.\n\nThis doctrine we shall not think strange, if we consider how suddenly our\nspirits are carried away from our God, and from believing his promise. So\nsoon as any great temptation apprehends us, then we begin to doubt if ever\nwe believed God\u2019s promise, if God will fulfil them to us, if we abide in\nhis favour, if he regards and looks upon the violence and injury that is\ndone unto us; and a multitude of such cogitations which before lurked\nquietly in our corrupted hearts, burst violently forth when we are\noppressed with any desperate calamity. Against which this is the\nremedy\u2014once to apprehend, and still to retain God to be our God, and\nfirmly to believe, that we are his people whom he loves, and will defend,\nnot only in affliction, but even in the midst of death itself.\n\nAgain, Let us observe, That the judgments of our God never were, nor yet\nshall be so vehement upon the face of the earth, but that there has been,\nand shall be, some secret habitation prepared in the sanctuary of God, for\nsome of his chosen, where they shall be preserved until the indignation\npass by; and that God prepares a time, that they may glorify him again,\nbefore the face of the world, which once despised them. And this ought to\nbe unto us no small comfort in these appearing dangers, namely, that we\nare surely persuaded, that how vehement soever the tempest shall be, it\nyet shall pass over, and some of us shall be preserved to glorify the name\nof our God, as is aforesaid.\n\nTwo vices lurk in this our nature: the one is, that we cannot tremble at\nGod\u2019s threatenings, before the plagues apprehend us, albeit we see cause\nmost just why his fierce wrath should burn as a devouring fire; the other\nis, that when calamities before pronounced, fall upon us, then we begin to\nsink down in despair, so that we never look for any comfortable end of the\nsame.\n\nTo correct this our mortal infirmity, in time of quietness we ought to\nconsider what is the justice of our God, and how odious sin is; and, above\nall, how odious idolatry is in His presence, who has forbidden it, and who\nhas so severely punished it in all ages from the beginning: and in the\ntime of our affliction we ought to consider, what have been the wondrous\nworks of our God, in the preservation of his church when it hath been in\nuttermost extremity. For never shall we find the church humbled under the\nhands of traitors, and cruelly tormented by them, but we shall find God\u2019s\njust vengeance fall upon the cruel persecutors, and his merciful\ndeliverance shewed to the afflicted. And, in taking of this trial, we\nshould not only call to mind the histories of ancient times, but also we\nshould diligently mark what notable works God hath wrought, even in this\nour age, as well upon the one as upon the other. We ought not to think,\nthat our God bears less love to his church this day, than what he has done\nfrom the beginning; for as our God in his own nature is immutable, so his\nlove towards his elect remains always unchangeable. For as in Christ Jesus\nhe hath chosen his church, before the beginning of all ages; so by him\nwill he maintain and preserve the same unto the end. Yea, he will quiet\nthe storms, and cause the earth to open her mouth, and receive the raging\nfloods of violent waters, cast out by the dragon, to drown and carry away\nthe woman, which is the spouse of Jesus Christ, unto whom God for his own\nname\u2019s sake will be the perpetual Protector. Rev. xii.\n\nThis saw that notable servant of Jesus Christ, Athanasius, who being\nexiled from Alexandria by that blasphemous apostate Julian the emperor,\nsaid unto his flock, who bitterly wept for his envious banishment, \u201cWeep\nnot, but be of good comfort, for this little cloud will suddenly vanish.\u201d\nHe called both the emperor himself and his cruel tyranny a little cloud;\nand albeit there was small appearance of any deliverance to the church of\nGod, or of any punishment to have apprehended the proud tyrants, when the\nman of God pronounced these words, yet shortly after God did give witness,\nthat those words did not proceed from flesh nor blood, but from God\u2019s very\nSpirit. For not long after, being in warfare, Julian received a deadly\nwound, whether by his own hand, or by one of his own soldiers, the writers\nclearly conclude not; but casting his own blood against the heaven, he\nsaid, \u201cAt last thou hast overcome, thou Galilean:\u201d so in despite he termed\nthe Lord Jesus. And so perished that tyrant in his own iniquity; the storm\nceased, and the church of God received new comfort.\n\nSuch shall be the end of all cruel persecutors, their reign shall be\nshort, their end miserable, and their name shall be left in execrations to\nGod\u2019s people; and yet shall the church of God remain to God\u2019s glory, after\nall storms. But now shortly, let us come to the last point:\n\n\u201cFor behold,\u201d saith the prophet, \u201cthe Lord will come out of his place, to\nvisit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth upon them; and the\nearth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more hide her slain.\u201d (Verse\n21.) Because that the final end of the troubles of God\u2019s chosen shall not\nbe, before the Lord Jesus shall return to restore all things to their full\nperfection.\n\nThe prophet brings forth the eternal God, as it were, from his own place\nand habitation, and therewith shows the cause of his coming to be, that he\nmight take account of all such as have wrought wickedly; for that he\nmeans, where he saith, \u201cHe will visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of\nthe earth upon them.\u201d And lest any should think the wrong doers are so\nmany, that they cannot be called to an account, he gives unto the earth as\nit were an office and charge, to bear witness against all those that have\nwrought wickedly, and chiefly against those that have shed innocent blood\nfrom the beginning; and saith, \u201cThat the earth shall disclose her blood,\nand shall no more hide her slain men.\u201d\n\nIf tyrants of the earth, and such as delight in the shedding of blood,\nshould be persuaded that this sentence is true, they would not so\nfuriously come to their own destruction; for what man can be so enraged,\nthat he would willingly do even before the eyes of God that which might\nprovoke his Majesty to anger, yea, provoke him to become his enemy for\never, if he understood how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of\nthe living God?\n\nThe cause then of this blind fury of the world is the ignorance of God,\nand that men think that God is but an idol; and that there is no knowledge\nabove, that beholds their tyranny; nor yet justice that will, nor power\nthat can, repress their impiety. But the Spirit of truth witnesses the\ncontrary, affirming, that as the eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and\nas his ears are ready to receive their sobbing and prayers, so is his\nvisage angry against such as work iniquity; he hateth and holdeth in\nabomination every deceitful and blood-thirsty man, whereof he has given\nsufficient document from age to age, in preserving the one, or at least in\navenging their cause, and in punishing the other.\n\nWhere it is said, \u201cThat the Lord will come from his place, and that he\nwill visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth upon them, and\nthat the earth shall disclose her blood;\u201d we have to consider, what most\ncommonly has been, and what shall be, the condition of the church of God,\nnamely, that it is not only hated, mocked, and despised, but that it is\nexposed as a prey unto the fury of the wicked; so that the blood of the\nchildren of God is spilt like unto water upon the face of the earth.\n\nThe understanding whereof, albeit it is unpleasant to the flesh, yet to us\nit is most profitable, lest that we, seeing the cruel treatment of God\u2019s\nservants, begin to forsake the spouse of Jesus Christ, because she is not\nso dealt with in this unthankful world, as the just and upright dealings\nof God\u2019s children do deserve. But contrariwise, for mercy they receive\ncruelty, for doing good to many, of all the reprobate they receive evil;\nand this is decreed in God\u2019s eternal council, that the members may follow\nthe trace of the Head; to the end that God in his just judgment should\nfinally condemn the wicked. For how should he punish the inhabitants of\nthe earth, if their iniquity deserve it not? How should the earth disclose\nour blood, if it should not be unjustly spilt? We must then commit\nourselves into the hands of our God, and lay down our necks; yea, and\npatiently suffer our blood to be shed, that the righteous Judge may\nrequire account, as most assuredly he will, of all the blood that hath\nbeen shed, from the blood of Abel the just, till the day that the earth\nshall disclose the same. I say, every one that sheds, or consents to shed\nthe blood of God\u2019s children, shall be guilty of the whole; so that all the\nblood of God\u2019s children shall cry vengeance, not only in general, but also\nin particular, upon every one that has shed the blood of any that unjustly\nsuffered.\n\nAnd if any think it strange, that such as live this day can be guilty of\nthe blood that was shed in the days of the apostles, let them consider,\nthat the Verity itself pronounced, That all the blood that was shed from\nthe days of Abel, unto the days of Zacharias, should come upon the\nunthankful generation that heard his doctrine and refused it. (Matt.\nxxiii.)\n\nThe reason is evident; for as there are two heads and captains that rule\nover the whole world, namely, Jesus Christ, the Prince of justice and\npeace, and satan, called the prince of the world; so there are but two\narmies that have continued battle from the beginning, and shall fight unto\nthe end. The quarrel which the army of Jesus Christ sustains, and which\nthe reprobate persecute, is the same, namely, The eternal truth of the\neternal God, and the image of Jesus Christ printed in his elect\u2014so that\nwhosoever in any age persecutes any one member of Jesus Christ for his\ntruth\u2019s sake, subscribes, as it were with his hand, to the persecution of\nall that have passed before him.\n\nAnd this ought the tyrants of this age deeply to consider; for they shall\nbe guilty, not only of the blood shed by themselves, but of all, as is\nsaid, that has been shed for the cause of Jesus Christ from the beginning\nof the world.\n\nLet the faithful not be discouraged, although they be appointed as sheep\nto the slaughter-house; for He, for whose sake they suffer, shall not\nforget to avenge their cause. I am not ignorant that flesh and blood will\nthink that kind of support too late; for we had rather be preserved still\nalive, than have our blood avenged after our death. And truly, if our\nfelicity stood in this life, or if temporal death should bring unto us any\ndamage, our desire in that behalf were not to be disallowed or condemned:\nbut seeing that death is common to all, and that this temporal life is\nnothing but misery, and that death fully joins us with our God, and gives\nunto us the possession of our inheritance, why should we think it strange\nto leave this world and go to our Head and sovereign Captain, Jesus\nChrist?\n\nLastly, We have to observe this manner of speaking, where the prophet\nsaith, that \u201cthe earth shall disclose her blood:\u201d in which words the\nprophet would accuse the cruelty of those that dare so unmercifully and\nviolently force, from the breasts of the earth, the dearest children of\nGod, and cruelly cut their throats in her bosom, who is by God appointed\nthe common mother of mankind, so that she unwillingly is compelled to open\nher mouth and receive their blood.\n\nIf such tyranny were used against any woman, as violently to pull her\ninfant from her breasts, cut the throat of it in her own bosom, and compel\nher to receive the blood of her dear child in her own mouth, all nations\nwould hold the act so abominable, that the like had never been done in the\ncourse of nature. No less wickedness commit they that shed the blood of\nGod\u2019s children upon the face of their common mother, the earth, as I said\nbefore. But be of good courage, O little and despised flock of Christ\nJesus! for He that seeth your grief, hath power to revenge it; he will not\nsuffer one tear of yours to fall, but it shall be kept and reserved in his\nbottle, till the fulness thereof be poured down from heaven, upon those\nthat caused you to weep and mourn. This your merciful God, I say, will not\nsuffer your blood for ever to be covered with the earth; nay, the flaming\nfires that have licked up the blood of any of our brethren; the earth that\nhas been defiled with it, I say, with the blood of God\u2019s children; for\notherwise, to shed the blood of the cruel blood-shedders, is to purge the\nland from blood, and as it were to sanctify it: the earth, I say, shall\npurge herself of it, and show it before the face of God; yea, the beasts,\nfowls, and other creatures whatsoever, shall be compelled to render that\nwhich they have received, be it flesh, blood, or bones, that appertained\nto thy children, O Lord! which altogether thou shalt glorify, according to\nthy promise, made to us in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, thy\nwell-beloved Son; to whom, with thee, and the Holy Ghost, be honour,\npraise, and glory, for ever and ever. Amen.\n\nLet us now humble ourselves in the presence of our God, and from the\nbottom of our hearts let us desire him to assist us with the power of his\nHoly Spirit; that albeit, for our former negligence, God gives us over\ninto the hands of others than such as rule in his fear; that yet he let us\nnot forget his mercy, and the glorious name that hath been proclaimed\namongst us; but that we may look through the dolorous storm of his present\ndispleasure, and see as well what punishment he has appointed for the\ncruel tyrants, as what reward he has laid in store for such as continue in\nhis fear to the end. That it would further please him to assist, that\nalbeit we see his church so diminished, that it appears to be brought, as\nit were, to utter extermination, we may be assured, that in our God there\nis great power and will, to increase the number of his chosen, until they\nare enlarged to the uttermost parts of the earth. Give us, O Lord! hearts\nto visit thee in time of affliction; and albeit we see no end of our\ndolours, yet our faith and hope may conduct us to the assured hope of that\njoyful resurrection, in which we shall possess the fruit of that for which\nwe now labour. In the mean time, grant unto us, O Lord! to repose\nourselves in the sanctuary of thy promise, that in thee we may find\ncomfort, till this thy great indignation, begun amongst us, may pass over,\nand thou thyself appear to the comfort of thine afflicted, and to the\nterror of thine and our enemies.\n\n_Let us pray with heart and mouth,_\n\nAlmighty God, and merciful Father, &c. Lord, into thy hands I commend my\nspirit; for the terrible roaring of guns,(12) and the noise of armour, do\nso pierce my heart, that my soul thirsteth to depart.\n\n                  -------------------------------------\n\n\n    _The last day of August, 1565, at four of the clock in the\n    afternoon, written indigestedly, but yet truly so far as memory\n    would serve, of those things that in public I spake on Sunday,\n    August 19; for which I was discharged_(_13_)_ to preach for a\n    time._\n\n\nBe merciful to thy flock, O Lord! and at thy good pleasure put an end to\nmy misery.\n\nJOHN KNOX.\n\n\n\n\n\n\u201cIT IS I, BE NOT AFRAID.\u201d\nEXTRACTED FROM KNOX\u2019S ADMONITION TO ENGLAND.\n\n\n\u201cJesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good comfort, it is I, be not\nafraid.\u201d The natural man that cannot understand the power of God, would\nhave desired some other present comfort in so great a danger; as, either\nto have had the heavens opened, to show unto them such light in that\ndarkness, that Christ might have been fully known by his own face; or\nelse, that the winds and raging waves of the seas suddenly should have\nceased; or some other miracle which had been subject to all their senses,\nwhereby they might have perfectly known that they were delivered from all\ndanger. And truly, it had been the same to Christ Jesus to have done any\nof these, or any greater work, as to have said, \u201cIt is I, be not afraid:\u201d\nbut willing to teach us the dignity and effectual power of his most holy\nword, he uses no other instrument to pacify the great and horrible fear of\nhis disciples but his comfortable word, and lively voice. And this is not\ndone only at one time, but whensoever his church is in such a strait and\nperplexity, that nothing appears but extreme calamity, desolation, and\nruin; then the first comfort that ever it receives, is by the means of his\nword and promise; as may appear in the troubles and temptations of\nAbraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and Paul.\n\nTo Abraham was given no other defence, after he had discomfited four\nkings, whose posterity and lineage, no doubt, he, being a stranger,\ngreatly feared, but only this promise of God made to him by his holy word,\n\u201cFear not, Abraham, I am thy buckler;\u201d that is, thy protection and\ndefence.\n\nThe same we find of Isaac, who flying from the place of his accustomed\nhabitation, compelled thereto by hunger, got no other comfort nor conduct\nbut this promise only, \u201cI will be with thee.\u201d\n\nIn all the journeys and temptations of Jacob the same is to be espied; as\nwhen he fled from his father\u2019s house for fear of his brother Esau; when he\nreturned from Laban; and when he feared the inhabitants of the region of\nthe Canaanites and Perizzites for the slaughter of the Shechemites\ncommitted by his sons; he received no other defence, but only God\u2019s word\nand promise.\n\nAnd this is most evident in Moses, and in the afflicted church under him\nwhen Moses himself was in such despair, that he was bold to chide with\nGod, saying, \u201cWhy hast thou sent me? For since that time I have come to\nPharaoh, to speak in thy name, he hath oppressed this people; neither yet\nhast thou delivered thy people.\u201d\n\nThis same expostulation of Moses declares how sorely he was tempted; yea,\nand what opinion he had conceived of God; that is, That God was either\nimpotent, and could not deliver his people from such a tyrant\u2019s hand; or\nelse, That he was mutable, and unjust in his promises. And this same, and\nsorer temptations, assaulted the people; for in anguish of heart, they\nboth refused God and Moses. And what means did God use to comfort them in\nthat great extremity? Did he straightway suddenly kill Pharaoh, the great\ntyrant?\u2014No. Did he send them a legion of angels to defend and deliver\nthem?\u2014No such thing: but he only recites and beats into their ears his\nformer promises to them, which oftentimes they had before: and yet the\nrehearsal of the same wrought so mightily in the heart of Moses, that not\nonly was bitterness and despair removed away, but also he was inflamed\nwith such boldness, that without fear he went in again to the presence of\nthe king, after he had been threatened and repulsed by him.\n\nThis I write, beloved in the Lord, since you know the word of God not only\nto be that whereby heaven and earth were created, but also to be the power\nof God to salvation to all that believe, the bright lantern to the feet of\nthose who by nature walk in darkness, the life to those that by sin are\ndead, a comfort to such as are in tribulation, the tower of defence to\nsuch as are most feeble, the wisdom and great felicity of such as delight\nin the same. And, to be short, you know God\u2019s word to be of such efficacy\nand strength, that thereby sin is purged, death vanquished, tyrants\nsuppressed; and, finally, the devil, the author of all mischief,\noverthrown and confounded. This, I say, I write, that you, knowing this of\nthe holy word, and most blessed gospel and voice of God, which once you\nhave heard, I trust to your comfort, may now, in this hour of darkness,\nand most raging tempest, thirst and pray, that you may hear yet once again\nthis amiable voice of our Saviour Christ, \u201cBe of good comfort, it is I,\nfear not.\u201d And also, that you may receive some consolation from that\nblessed gospel which before you have professed, assuredly knowing, that\nGod shall be no less merciful unto you, than he has been to others\nafflicted for his name\u2019s sake before you; and albeit God speedily removes\nnot this horrible darkness, neither suddenly pacifies this tempest, yet\nshall he not suffer his tossed ship to be drowned.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n    1 The Editor may here state, what cannot be unknown to many of his\n      readers, that there are some of the sermons of our early Divines,\n      which, from various circumstances, are not, as entire discourses,\n      available for a publication like the present. From such, however, as\n      also from works which do not come under the appellation of Pulpit\n      discourses, striking and useful passages will be given from time to\n      time, when they can be inserted without interfering with those\n      complete discourses which will form the body of this work.\n\n    2 The Sermon is founded on the whole Chapter, which was the lesson for\n      the day, in the Church of England service.\n\n    3 Universal faith.\n\n    4 It should be observed that other commentators have taken other views\n      of the meaning of this parable.\n\n    5 Greatest or entire hinderance.\n\n    6 Opposing.\n\n    7 Combined.\n\n    8 Covered over, weighed down.\n\n    9 Manage.\n\n   10 Alluding to the political troubles of that day.\n\n   11 Cried out against it.\n\n   12 The cattle of Edinburgh was shooting against the exiled for Christ\n      Jesus\u2019 sake.\n\n   13 Forbidden.","title":"The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4.","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":32065}