A Treatise of the Cohabitation Of the Faithful with the Unfaithful Part 12

I am the dore / by me if any m entre in / he shall be safe and shall go in and oute / and finde pasture. A thefe cmith not but for to steale / kyll / and to destroye: I am come that they might haue lyfe / and that they might haue it more abudantly: I am the goode shepeherd / a goode shepeherd gyueth his lyfe for the shepe. Yet was he not cont?t with theis though thy be most playne wordes / but he ioyned also a Negatiue / with a most pitthie a.s.seueraci / sayig: Verely verely I saye vnto yowe he that enterith not in by the dore into the shepefolde / but clymbeth vp some other waye / the same is a theife and a murtherer. He likewise saith playnly in the same chapter / A goode shepeherd goeth before his shepe / and the shepe folowe hym bicause they knowe his voice. Yea forthewith he addith this also / A straunger will they not folowe / but wil flie fr him / for they know not the voice of straugers. Agayn in an other place /

[[Ioan. 14.]]

I am the waye (saithe he) the truthe and the lyfe: Yet he not being content wyth this so playn a doctryne doth adde agayne the exclusyue and saithe / No m commith to the father but by me.

Wherfor Peter thought it not inoughe that he sayde in that full senate of Hierusalem / That Christe is that Rocke which doth by his dethe and resurrection establishe and preserue the beleauers /

[[Act. 4.]]

onles moreouer he had Vindicated to Christ alone all thinges that concerne saluaci / and taken the same awaye from others / saying. Neither is there saluacion in ony other: For among men vnder heauen ther is gyuen none other name wherin we must be saued. After which manier likewise sait Paul doth proue that

[[Roma. 3.]]

faith in Christ through grace doth iustifie / neither doth he saye this only /

[[Ephe. 2.]]

but he doth also remoue all that which might seeme to gyue iustice vnto men / the lawe I meane and worckes / sayinge. We knowe that a man is not iustified by the dedes of the lawe /

[[Gala. 2.]]

but by the faith of Iesus Christe. And we haue beleued on Iesus Christ that we might be iustified by the faythe of Christe / and not by the dedes of the lawe / bicause that by the dedes of the lawe no fleshe shalbe iustified. And in an other place the same Paule: Behold (saith he) I Paul saye vnto yowe /

[[Gala 5.]]

that if ye be circucised / Christe shall profite yow nothing at all. I testifie agayn to euery man which is circ.u.mcised / that he is bownd to keape the whole lawe. Christe is become but in vayn to yowe / as many of yow as are iustified by the lawe are fallen from grace / we loke for and hope in the spirite to be iustified thorow faithe. Theis cleare examples of Christ and the apostles / and doctrine of the sincere and sounde confession of Christe do suffice to yow reuerend and G.o.dly hearers. Out of which we do gather / that their cfessions are neither full / nor sincere / which do confes that indeede Christe is thier saluaci and rightuisnes / their preist and sacrifice / their aduocate and mediator /

[[Imperfaite confessis.]]

yet so that it notwithstding they do gyue the very same / and cmunicate them to synneful men / to thinges also and meanes which are in no place inst.i.tuted nor approued of G.o.dd. And no les corrupt is their confession also / which do confes wyth the mouthe that G.o.dd alone is to be adored and wors.h.i.+pped / that Christe is the only preiste and true aduocate with the father / but yet in their deedes they do denye that same confession of their mouthe / bowinge their knees to Images / wors.h.i.+ppinge creatures / callinge vppon their patrons and fayned saynts of heauen.

[[The hole doctryne of Christe is to be confessed.]]

But the Apostles did not only confes Christe himself / but also all Christes doctrine / all Christes wordes / the whole gospell (I saye) of saluacion: of which Christe is the only Marcke. And therfor when the preistes and senators of Hierusalem did forbidd the apostles that they shuld nomore preache the gospell / they swered hartily and playnly: whether it be right in the sight of G.o.dd to herken vnto yow more th? vnto G.o.dd / iudge ye.

[[Act. 4.]]

For we can not but speke that which we haue seene and herde. And when they were shutt vp in prison for free preching of the gospell / and wer in dauger of their lyues / they are delyuered of the angell / of wh by the cmaundement of G.o.dd they do heare.

[[Act. 5.]]

Go and stande and speake in the temple to the poeple all the wordes of this lyfe. Therfor all thos thinges which are ctayned in the holy gospell / and holy scriptures / must be confessed of them which are faithfull indeede: for all thos are the wordds of G.o.dd / and the wordds of saluacion / And all thos do sauer of Christe and do bringe vnto Christe.

[[Ioan. 1.]]

In whom only it hath pleased G.o.d the father that all fulnes shuld dwell / in wh (as Paule doth witnes)

[[Colos. 1. 2.]]

we are made perfite so that we want nothinge / as agayn the lorde himself doth testifie:

[[Io. 4. 5. 7.]]

he that eateth or drincketh me shall not be hungry or thrustie for euer / but he shall haue in hym self the healthefull waters of euerlastinge lyfe. Yf we do knowe / beleaue / and vnderstonde theise thinges let vs gyue glorie to our only Sauiour Christe / and not gyue it awaye vnto other / But let vs frely confes hym only / and alone / in mouth / and deedes / to be our saluacion iustice sanctificacion absolution or rather perfecti / the peace of our soules / and lyfe euerlasting. But the lord doth sett denying against confessinge. Ther are diuers kinds of denyinge / which beinge but lightly rehersed it shall again appeare what is the sowndness and simplicitie of confessinge.

Furst Christe and G.o.dds worde is denyed / when our redeamer Christe / and the worde of lyfe is op?ly blasphemed in playne wordes / wh? he is not acknowledged to be the only Sauiour / d when the due dignitie and auctoritie of the scriptures is not adscribed vnto them. Then by silence also is Christe and Christes worde denyed / namely wh? vpp occasion offered we do not deffende the glorie of the name of G.o.dd and of the truythe known againste the ennemis of G.o.dd and sclaunderers of the worde of G.o.dd.

[[A. Neuter.]]

For in this case it is lawfull for no man to be a / neuter / as they call it. In the most auncient lawes of Solon which were at Athens grauen in postes of woode / the which also ons made by hym the Athenienses ordeygned vnder great religi and punishm?t that they shuld contynue for euer: one lawe Aristotle doth report to be writon in this sence. That if throughe discorde the poeple shuld be deuided into too partes / and eich partie shuld take armour / then he which did not ioyne himself to the one partie / but slipp asyde separated from the common euell of the cytie / he shall lose howse / countrithe / and goodes / and be an exile and a banished m. Mutch les is it lawfull for them which haue professed the name of Christe / and are signed with holy baptisme / in that fierce fight betwene Christe and Antichriste to slippe a syde / and to ioyne himself vnto neither partye. That same newtralitie doth seame truly to be wisd to many childr? of this worlde / but indeede it is folyshnes / yea it is a very denying of Christ / by which they do exclude themselues out of that heauenly countrithe / they spoile th?selues of all spirituall riches / and make themselues exiles and banished men.

[[Math. 26.]]

For Christe and his truithe is denyed either by dissemblinge: as when Peter was charged by the mayde that he was one of the nuber of the disciples / d he answered I wote not what thow sayest.

He knew verily what she sayed / but being bewitched with a certayne feare / he fayned that he knewe not the thig which he did know very well. Euen so truly at this daye many do saye that they are more simple then that they can vnderstond the dissension in religion and gyue answer of all controuersies: But they do vnderstond so mutch as sufficith: yet for the ieoperdies which be at hand / or for sum vayne feare / they do fayne that they do not vnderstonde. Neither wer it necessarie for euery one to answer to all darcke or hard thiges / which thing they which are well exercised can not do / it sufficith to confesse thos thinges which be op? and playne. Ther is also a coloured denyinge wh? we playyng the foxes with foxes do cfes verely sumwhat of our religion / yetwe do so enwrapp it with such darcke wordes and doutfull sent?ces / that vnto th? which are most subtill and conning in quidities / it shall not playnly appeare what we do thincke. But the cfessi shuld be simple / and playne.

[[Glorie is to be gyu? to G.o.dd.]]

In making of it G.o.dd / and not Man were to be considered. Man maye be deceyued / but no man c deceyue G.o.dd. And also we are commaunde to render vnto G.o.d his glorie franckly before men. But I do not see how thow haste glorified G.o.dd before men / when thow dost so temper thy confession that it sumwhat sauerith indeede of the truithe of the gospell / and yet they which be superst.i.tius shall not see their supersticions vtterly reiecrted / nor their errors condemned by thy confession / but maye iudge that thou dost yet holde on their syde. Agayn many do confes Christe in wordes and his gospell frely / and openly inoughe / but eu? they themselues do forthwith defile and ouerthrow this Christi and gospellike cfession with vngospellike deedes. I do speake nothing heere of thos synnes and wickednesses by which they do vnhallow the doctrine of our Sauiour / but of thos supersticius ceremonies and wicked cgregacions with which they do cmunicate / by which communi or partakinge indeede they do denye that which they did cfes before. For he which doth cfes by mouthe that they which do depart out of this lyfe in true faithe do not (throughe the mediacion of Christe) comme into Iudgment / but do strayte waye pa.s.se from the bodily deathe vnto lyfe euerlasting / euen as the doctrine of the gospell doth enstruct vs / and we do playnly confes in the articles of the apostles Crede / this namely that we do beleaue the forgyuenes of synnes / the rising again of the fleshe / and lyfe euerlasting: And yet so sone as ony of their elders or familiars do depart out of this worlde / they go strait to sacrificing prestes / d do demde of them churche a.s.semblees / supplicacions / dirges / weake myndes / tr?talles / to be short / yearemynds / d prayers and sacrifices expiatorie for the deade / to whom he doth ioyne hymself / and doth obserue thos rites / hath he not playnly denyed in deede that which he hadd confessed in worde? He that doth confes that Christe was ons only offered for the synnes of the whole world / d that he is not therfore to be offerred any moore / And that the holy Supper is a remembrauce of this only and euerlasting sacrifice / and not the sacrifice it self / and yet neuertheles doth go vnto ther G.o.ds seruice / which do stoutly a.s.seuere that they do offer vp Christ in substauce for the synnes of the lyuing d the deade: doth he not by goig to and cmunicatinge with this seruice / denye that which by speaking and professing he hadd cfessed? Theis truly are wayes of denyinge / which they do not fully vnderstonde which are almost persuaded / that Religi is but a playe / and as it were a slipper fitte for euery foote.

Theis m? do knowe how to rule all religis vnder a certayn colour of holy concord / but indeede for earthly cmoditie / that among wh soeuer they do lyue like vnto a Cameleon they do take vnto themselues their coloure and ceremonies / being mutch more changeable than Protheus / of whom it is but folly to beleaue / that they do pa.s.se for ony religi at all. But let vs pa.s.se ouer theise vnstable chgelinges / and establishe our mynds / that they be not lewse nor waueringe / but being knytte vpp and cfirmed in the lorde / they maye haue sum suretie and stablenes of the sure and stable worde of G.o.dde / which we may both in mowthe and deedes confes / and in which we may finally reste. That maruailus and heauenly and therwith thderinge prophet Helias /

[[3. Reg. 18.]]

howe longe (saithe he) halte ye betwene two opinions. If the lorde be G.o.dde folowe hym: but if Baal be he / then go after hym. Euen so truly our lorde hymself doth saye in the gospell / that no man can serue two masters. Let vs therfor forsake all other G.o.dds and religions / and cleaue only to our G.o.dde / which is the father of our lorde Iesus Christ / and let vs sticke faste in the only Christen religi / which is delyuered vnto vs in the holy scriptures. For it is euerlasting and most certayne.

[[It sufficith not to confes Christe amonge the brethern.

Mat. 10.]]

But if it be sufficient to confes Christe and his gospell amonge our felows and brethern in religion / wherto I praye you will theis our men refer thos wordes which do go before this place of confession in the gospell? Behold I send you forthe as shepe amge wolues. &c. They shall delyuer yow vp to the cowncelles and shall scourge yow for me. &c. But wh? they delyuer yow vpp take ye no thought how or what ye shall answer: for it shalbe gyu? yow / eu? in that same houre / whal ye shall speake. &c.

Feare ye not th? which kyll the bodye / but are not able to kyll the soule. He which doth denye that all theis sayinges must be vnderstond of persequutors / he saithe that darcknes is lighte.

Yea and in Marc he doth playnly saye.

[[Marc. 8.]]

Whosoeuer therfor shalbe ashamed of me and of my wordes in this aduoutrus and synefull generacion / of hym also shall the sonne of man be ashamed. He requirith therfor a confession of the truithe not only in the companye of the G.o.dly / but also in the companye of the vnG.o.dly and persequutours / howsoeuer it be ioyned with the ieoperdie of lyfe and of all the substaunce. The lord speaking in the boke of the reuelacion with the church of pergamos /

[[Apocal. 2.]]

I knowe (saith he) where thow dwellest / eu? where Sathans seate is / and thow keapest my name / and haste not denyed my faythe: And in thos dayes in which Antipas was a faythfull witnes of myn / which was slayne amge yow where Sath dwellithe. In which wordes truly the confession made in persequution is allowed / made I saye in that place / wher Sathan did beare rule / wher euen very then Antypas thaty notable Martir of Christe was slayn for confessinge of religion. Otherwise when all thinges are quiet it is not so harde a thing to confes the name of G.o.dde.

For if so be that the lord will not haue vs be i ieoperdie of bodie goodes and lyfe / if it seme to be euill and a synne for a man / as it wer to procure deathe to hymself by the confessinge of truithe / wherfor dothe the lorde (I praye yow) exhorte thos his disciples / that they shuld not feare them which do kill the bodie / and can not kill the soule? Whi doth he by playne wordes saye / as it wer prouoking vs to martirdome?

[[Marc. 8.]]

Whosoeuer will folow me / let hym forsake hymselfe / and take vp his crosse / and folowe me. For whosoeuer will saue his lyfe shal lose it. But whosoeuer shall lose his lyfe for my sake / and the gospelles the same shall saue it. He addith forthwithe wordes which do make for the contempt of thos thinges / for which theis men do thincke that in religion silence maye be kept and dissimulacion vsed / sainge. What shall it profite a m / yf he wynne al the worlde / and lose his owne sowle. Therwith also doth he adde through what thinge we do lose our soules / that is through Shame. For he saithe. Whosoeuer therfor shalbe ashamed of me and of my wordes / in this aduowtrus and synefull generacion / of hym also shall the sonne of man be ashamed when he commithe in the glorie of his father withe the holy Angelles.

Therfor Paule that chosen vesell of Christe / and a most faithfull teacher of the churche / who gyueth euell councell to no m / neither leadith he ony man from the true waye / it is (saith he) a true sayinge:

[[2. Tim. 2.]]

for if we be deade with hym / we shall also lyue with hym: if we be pacient / we shal also raigne with hym. If we denye hym / he shall also denye vs. The same Paul to the Hebrues /