Obrazy na stronie
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and all men be liars, and no man is of his counsel, to teach thee what pleases or displeases him, except he speak himself. And although rulers may ordain some things for an order in the church, yet none of their decrees are articles of our faith; but they may and ought to be changed, when they be hurtful, or turn to any misuse or superstition.

And for all that, that the people had grievously sinned in not building the Lord's house so many years; yet while God did vouchsafe to speak unto them by his prophets and rebuke their sin, there was hope enough of forgiveness, so that they would amend and turn unto God. For like as long as the physician doth appoint the sick man what he shall do, how to diet himself, and what medicines to take, there is hope of life; but if he forsake him, and will not speak unto him, we look for present death: so as long as God of his While God goodness lets his word be among us, there is good hope of his word, it forgiveness; but if he take away his word, there is no com- of his love; fort left. Saul, when Samuel was dead, asked counsel of taking it God, but he would not speak to him, neither by dreams, displeasure. nor at the ark of God, nor by visions or prophets; and then xxviii. he runs to witches: so we, when God teaches not, but are left to ourselves, seek such unlawful means.

The Jews had lien almost forty years in this negligence of building God's house: it is almost as many years, since we under pretence of receiving the gospel, and building God's house, have pulled it down; and to root out all the rabble of monks, friars, nuns, canons, &c., we for the most part have sought to enrich ourselves, and one (like thieves) robbed another, and have not of pure love destroyed God's enemies, nor provided for the poor, and furthered learning, nor placed preaching ministers in place of dumb dogs, after the rule of his word, as we should have done, and builded his house.

And what remedy do the wicked papists find to redress this withal? They pull away God's word, and say it was never good world since it came abroad, and that it is not meet for the people to have or read it, but they must receive it at their mouths. They are the nurses, they say, and must chew the meat afore the children eat it. Woe be unto such dissemblers, as under pretence of chewing eat all up; or else, that little which they give (for they say it

lets us have

is a token

and the

away, of his

1 Sam.

Pambo.

Psal. cxix.

is not necessary to preach often, by the example of Pambo', which when he had heard one lesson, the first verse of the thirty-ninth Psalm, which begins thus, "I thought with myself, I will keep my ways, that I offend not in my tongue," would hear no more until he had in many years learned to practise that one: which example rather proves that we should diligently learn, than seldom preach;) it is, I say, so poisoned in their filthy mouths and stinking breaths, that it poisons and feeds not the hearer. David says: "By what things shall a young man amend his evil ways?" and he answers: "by keeping the sayings of God." And how shall we see to do this? "Thy word, O Lord,” he says, "is a lantern for my feet, and a light to my paths." But these thieves that take away the word of God from the people, which is the lantern and light to teach them to go aright, would have them in darkness still, that they should neither see their own faults nor others'. When the fault is not seen, how can it be amended? And how can it be seen, seeing it is in darkness, except the light of God's Deut. vi. truth do open it unto us? Moses bids the fathers tell their children the law of God oftentimes, and to study on it in David bids the same, Paul bids fathers bring up their children in the nurture and learning of God; and 1 Cor. xiv. wives, if they will learn anything, ask their husbands at home. Then if the father must teach the son, and the son must ask the father, and the wife must learn of the husband; how shall those fathers and husbands teach, except they be learned? and how can they be learned, having none to teach them but Sir John Mumble-matins, nor cannot be suffered to read themselves? But it is true that St John saith: "He that doeth evil hateth the light, and will not come to the light, lest his evil doings be reproved." And this to be true their common sayings declare, when they said, it was never good world since every shoemaker could tell the priest's duty. They were ashamed of their faults, and therefore would have you in blindness still, that ye should see neither your own faults, nor tell them of theirs;

Psal.lxxviii. their houses, in going by the way.
Ephes. vi. and the children to ask the fathers.

All sorts must learn the scriptures.

John iii.

[Pambo: a monk of great reputed sanctity in the 4th century. Palladius, Hist. Lausiac. Cap. x. ED.]

for that specially they cannot abide. But our good God when he blessed his people, and offereth his pardons, he sends many teachers and opens divers ways to learn; and when he is most angry, he takes away his word, that they shall not see how to amend, as Amos sayeth: "I will send Amos viii. a hunger unto the earth, not a hunger of bread, but of the word of God, that they shall seek it from east to west, and not find it." Therefore they which take away his word, or be hinderers thereof, are nothing else but instruments of his wrath and God's scourge to his people.

What Jeho

say vah signi

[14.]

[28.]
[29.]

And that they should the more diligently mark the message which he brought, he tells them in whose name he spake, and saith, "The Lord of hosts spake those words,' or, as the Hebrew is, JEHOVA: which is as much to as, that God of might, majesty and power, which hath his fies. being and substance of himself, and by whom all other things Exod. iii. stand and be, and without whom all things fall to nothing Acts xvii. if he do not uphold them, he speaks these words. The Psal. civ. other word joined withal, when he calls him the God of hosts, is a word of fear and reverence, as JEHOVA is a name of love and power: so that if either they loved him as a father and God of power, or else feared him as a Lord and master, and one that had many hosts of soldiers to conquer them withal, if they did rebel against him still, they should receive and obey this message. In like manner God Malach. i. by Malachy rebukes the people, which called him father and master in words, but in deeds would nothing do as he taught them, and saith: "If I be your father, where is my love that you owe me? If I be your master, where is the fear that is due to me?" This word and name is seldom read in the New Testament, to call him the God of hosts, because it is a word of fear more than of love, and rather threatens than comforts, which the New Testament doth not commonly. St James says: "The withholden wages of them James v. that have reaped your fields cries vengeance in the ears of Why God is the Lord of hosts." It is as much to say in this place as, Lord of Thus says that mighty Lord of hosts, whom if ye hear and how he obey, he will make all his creatures to serve and obey you: weakest but if you be disobedient to him still, he hath many armies pull down and hosts to fight with against you, and all his creatures withal.

called the

hosts, and

useth his

creatures to

the proud

Gen. xix.

Josh. x.

Exod. x.

from the highest to the least shall be harnessed against you. Think not, that if ye escape one plague, that ye shall escape the rest for deferring or escaping one is but to see whether ye will amend before the next come. His arrows and thunderbolts are never spent, but he hath new in store: and in the end the victory shall be his, and all disobedient shall perish. And for the better understanding of this to be true, the scripture hath set out divers examples, where God hath fought against man with all his creatures, to let him see how divers kinds of hosts he hath to beat him down withal. The angels destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah 2 Sam. xxiv. with fire and brimstone, and killed with pestilence in three days' space seventy thousand for David's offence; and also 2 Kings xix. in one night destroyed in the tents of Sennacherib one hundred and eighty-five thousand. The sun at the commandment of Josua stood still, giving him light, until God's enemies, the Amorites, in the chase were killed by him, so that one day was as long as two. In Egypt the stars and sun gave no light to the Egyptians; but the darkness was so great, gross and thick mists, that no man stirred out of his place, and men might grope the mists, and feel them with their hand: but where the children of Israel were, the sun shone bright and pleasantly. Against Sisara God fought out of heaven. The water drowned the Exod. xiv. whole world, save eight persons under Noe. The Red Sea suffered God's people to pass, but it drowned Pharao and all Num. xvi. his host. The earth swallowed up quick Dathan, Corah and Abiron, and all those rebels with them. In Egypt storms of hail killed the Egyptians' beasts, and destroyed their corn; but harmed not the Israelites. So the tower in Siloe 1 Kings xvii. fell and killed eighteen within it. Such drought was in the time of Elias, that it rained not for the space of three years Gen. xlvii. and a half. Such hunger in all countries, that Jacob with all his house went into Egypt; and there also the Egyptians for hunger sold their land, their cattle, wives, children, and themselves, to be bondmen and slaves to their king.

Judg. v.
Gen. vii.

Exod. ix.
Luke xiii.

2 Kings vi.

Joel i.

In the besiege of Samaria for hunger an ass's head and dove's dung was sold dear, and women did eat their own children. Joel threatens that God will send four hosts, one of grasshoppers, another of caterpillars, blasting, and locusts,

to devour all the fruit of the ground; and all that which one of these left the next should destroy. In Egypt, mark Exod. viii. what mighty men of war God chose to fight withal: it rained frogs even into the king's privy chamber and his bed, and flies' fought against Pharao and the whole country, and made them weary, and a murrain fell among the beasts; but by these means God gat the victory. When the ten 2 Kings xvii. tribes were led away prisoners, the wild beasts increased, so that they devoured the dwellers in the country, because they feared not God. God closed up the wombs of all Gen. xx. Abimelech's women, that they should not bear children, because he had taken Abraham's wife. When the Philistians 1 Sam. v. had taken the ark of God and misused it, God smote them with emorraides in their secret parts. Herod and divers Acts xii. emperors were worried with lice. Arius sitting on the privy avoided all his bowels3. Nabuchodonozor of a king Dan. iv. was made a beast, eat hay, and lived in woods.

Gedeon with three hundred men, knocking their pot- Judg. vii. sherds together, made his enemies (which were so many, that they lay as thick as grasshoppers use to lie on the ground) so afraid, that they strove who might run away first; and if his fellow stood in his way, he killed him straight. The Josh. vi. walls of Jericho fell without violence or hand laid on them: the Syrians thinking they heard a noise in the night, and 2 Kings vii. that their enemies came against them (where there was none such indeed), ran all away. Judith, a weak woman, cut off Holophernes' head. Jonathan and his man alone 1 Sam. xiv. put to flight all the Philistians, whereof many were slain

[In the second edition flees; in the first the former vowel is indistinct, e or i. ED.]

[The expression of Scripture, 1 Sam. v. 9, is here substituted for the word used by the Author. ED.]

[This word is also a variation from the original.-The historical fact is recorded as follows: Σύν τε τῷ φόβῳ τῆς γαστρὸς ἐκινεῖτο χαύνωσις, ἐρόμενός τε εἰ ἀφεδρών που πλησίον, μαθών τε εἶναι ὄπισθεν τῆς ἀγορᾶς Κωνσταντίνου, ἐκεῖσε ἐβάδιζε. λαμβάνει οὖν λιποθυμία τὸν ἄνθρωπον. καὶ ἅμα τοῖς διαχωρήμασιν ἡ ἕδρα τότε παραυτίκα ἐκπίπτει, καὶ αἵματος πλῆθος ἐπηκολούθει, καὶ τὰ λεπτά τῶν ἑτέρων [ἐντέρων]. συνέτρεχε δὲ αἷμα αὐτῷ τῷ σπληνί τε καὶ τῷ ἔπατι. αὐτίκα οὖν ἐτεθνήκει. Socrat. Eccles. Hist. lib. 1. c. 38. p. 190. Paris. 1544. ED.]

Judith xv.

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