saith the Preacher, how glad soever thy heart be in thy Eccles. xì. young days, how fast and freely soever thou follow the ways of thine own heart, and the lust of thine own eyes; yet be thou sure that God shall bring thee into judgment for all these things. God of his merey put it into the hearts and minds of all them that have the sword of punishment in their hands, or have families under their governance, to labour to redress this great enormity, of all such as live idly and unprofitably in the commonweal, to the great dishonour of God, and the grievous plague of his silly people. To leave sin unpunished, and to neglect the good bringing up of youth, is nothing else but to kindle the Lord's wrath against us, and to heap plagues upon our own heads. As long as the adulterous people were suffered to live licentiously without reformation, so long did the plague continue and increase in Israel, as you may see in the book of Numbers. But when due correction was done upon them, the Lord's anger was straightway pacified, and the plague ceased. Let all officers therefore look straitly to their charge. Let all masters of households reform this abuse in their families; let them use the authority that God hath given them; let them not maintain vagabonds and idle persons, but deliver the realm and their households from such noisome loiterers, that idleness, the mother of all mischief, being clean taken away, Almighty God may turn his dreadful anger away from us, and confirm the covenant of peace upon us for ever, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our only Lord and Saviour: to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen. Numb AN HOMILY of repentance sary. OF Repentance, and of true Reconciliation unto God. HERE is nothing that the Holy Ghost doth so much labour in all the Scriptures to beat into men's heads, as repentance, amendment of life, and speedy returning unto the Lord God of Hosts. And no marvel why; for we do daily and hourly, by our wickedness and stubborn disobedience, horribly fall away from God, thereby purchasing unto ourselves (if he should deal with us according to his justice) eternal damnation. So that no The doctrine doctrine is so necessary in the church of God, as is the is most neces doctrine of repentance and amendment of life. And verily the true preachers of the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and of the glad and joyful tidings of salvation, have always in their godly sermons and preachings unto the people, joined these two together: I mean repentance and forgiveness of sins, even as our Saviour Jesus Christ did appoint himself, saying, So it behoveth Christ to suffer, and to rise again the third day; and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name among all nations. And therefore the holy Apostle doth in the Acts speak after this manner: I have witnessed both to the Jews and to the Gentiles, the repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. Did not John Baptist, Zacharias's son, begin his ministry with the doctrine of repentance, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand? The like doctrine did our Saviour Jesus Christ preach himself, and commanded his Apostles to preach the same. I might here allege very many places out of the prophets, in the which this most wholesome doctrine of repentance is very earnestly urged, as most needful for all decrees and orders of men: but one shall be sufficient at this present time. The first Part of the Sermon of Repentance. 417 A perpetual must follow. These are the words of Joel the Prophet. Therefore Joel ii. also now the Lord saith, Return unto me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Rend your hearts, and not your clothes, and return unto the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, of great compassion, and ready to pardon wickedness. Whereby it is given us to understand, that we have here a perpetual rule appointed unto us, which ought to be observ- rule, which all ed and kept at all times, and that there is none other way, whereby the wrath of God may be pacified, and his anger assuaged, that the fierceness of his fury, and the plagues of destruction, which by his righteous judgment he had determined to bring upon us, may depart, be removed, and taken away. Where he saith, But now therefore, saith the Lord, return unto me: it is not without great importance, that the Prophet speaketh so. For he had before set forth at large unto them the horrible vengeance of God, which no man was able to abide, and therefore he doth move them to repentance, to obtain mercy; as if he should say, I will not have these things to be so taken, as though there were no hope of grace left. For although ye do by your sins deserve to be utterly destroyed, and God by his righteous judgments hath determined to bring no small destruction upon you, yet know that ye are in a manner on the very edge of the sword: if ye will speedily return unto him, he will most gently and most mercifully receive you into favour again. Whereby we are admonished, that repentance is never too late, so that it be true and earnest. For sith that God in the Scriptures will be called our Father, doubtless he doth follow the nature and property of gentle and merciful fathers, which seek nothing so much, as the returning again, and amendment of their children, as Christ doth abundantly teach in the parable of the Prodigal Son. Doth not the Lord himself say by the Prophet, I will not the death of the wicked, but that he turn from his wicked ways, and live? And in another place, If we confess our sin, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to make us clean from all wickedness. Which most comfortable promises are confirmed by many examples of the Scriptures. When the Jews did willingly receive and embrace the wholesome counsel of the Prophet Isaiah, God by and by did reach his helping hand Isaiah. unto them, and by his angel did in one night slay the most worthy and valiant soldiers of Sennacherib's camp. Whereunto may King Manasses be added, who after all Chronavi¡, Luke sv hi Ezek. xviii. 1 Jolan ii. Luke vii xvi. From whence manner of damnable wickedness, returned unto the Lord, and therefore was heard of him, and restored again into his kingdom. The same grace and favour did the sinful woman Magdalen, Zaccheus, the poor thief, and many other feel. All which things ought to serve for our comfort against the temptations of our consciences, whereby the Devil goeth about to shake, or rather to overthrow our faith. For every one of us ought to apply the same unto himself, and say, Yet now return unto the Lord: neither let the remembrance of thy former life discourage thee; yea, the more wicked that it hath been, the more fervent and earnest let thy repentance or returning be, and forthwith thou shalt feel the ears of the Lord wide open unto thy prayers. But let us more narrowly look upon the commandment of the Lord touching this matter. Turn unto me, saith he by the holy Prophet Joel, with all your hearts, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Rend your hearts, and not your garments, &c. In which words he comprehendeth all manner of things that can be spoken of repentance, which is a returning again of the whole man unto God, from whom we be fallen away by sin. But that the whole discourse thereof may the better be borne away, we shall first consider in order four principal points; that is, from what we must return, to whom we must return, by whom we may be able to convert, and the manner how to turn to God. First, from whence, or from what things, we must rewe must turn. turn. Truly, we must return from those things, whereby we have been withdrawn, plucked, and led away from God. And these generally are our sins, which, as the holy Prophet Isaiah doth testify, do separate God and us, and hide his face, that he will not hear us. But under the name of sin, not only those gross words and deeds, which by the common judgment of men are counted to be filthy and unlawful, and so consequently abominable sins; but also the filthy lusts and inward concupiscences of the flesh, which, as St. Paul testifieth, do resist the will and spirit of God, and therefore ought earnestly to be bridled and kept under. We must repent of the false and erroneous opinions that we have had of God, and the wicked superstition that doth breed of the same, the unlawful worshipping and service of God, and other like. All these things must they forsake, that will truly turn unto the Lord, and repent aright. For sith that for such things the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience, no end of punishment Gal. v. Ephes. We onght to be looked for, as long as we continue in such Unto whom we ought to re turn. By whom we unto God. must return But this must be done by faith. For sith that God is a spirit, he can by no other means be apprehended and taken hold upon. Wherefore, first, they do greatly err, which do not turn unto God, but unto the creatures, or unto the inventions of men, or unto their own merits. Seeondly, they that do begin to return unto the Lord, and do faint in the midway, before they come to the mark that is appointed unto them. Thirdly, because we have of our own selves nothing to present us to God, and do no less flee from him after our fall, than our first parent Adam did, who, when he had sinned, did seek to hide himself from the sight of God, we have need of a Mediator for to bring and reconcile us unto him, who for our sins is angry with us. The same is Jesus Christ, who being true and natural God, equal and of one substance with the Father, did at the time appointed take upon him our frail nature, in the blessed Virgin's womb, and that of her undefiled substance, that so he might be a Mediator between God and us, and pacify his wrath. Of him doth the Father himself speak from heaven, saying, This is my well-beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Matt. i. And he himself in his Gospel doth cry out and say, I am John xiv. the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. For he alone did with the sacrifice of his body and blood make satisfaction unto the justice of God for our sins. The Apostles do testify that he was exalted Acts v. for to give repentance and remission of sins unto Israel. John xv. Both which things he himself did command to be preached in his name. Therefore they are greatly deceived that preach repentance without Christ, and teach the simple and ignorant that it consisteth only in the works of men. They may indeed speak many things of good works, and of amendment of life and manners: hut without Christ they be all vain and unprofitable. They that think that they have done much of themselves towards repentance, are so John i. 1 Pet.i. Luke xxiv. |