images, bought with no less price than with his most precious blood, alas, alas, to be an hungred, a thirst, a cold, and to lie in darkness, wrapped in all wretchedness, yea, to lie there until death take away their miseries. While they preached these will-works, that come but of our own devotion, although they be not so necessary as the works of mercy, and the precepts of God, yet they said and in the pulpit, that will-works were more principal, more excellent, and, plainly to utter what they mean, more acceptable to God, than works of mercy: as though now man's inventions, and fancies, could please God better than God's precepts, or strange things better than his own: while they thus preached, that more fruit, more devotion cometh of the beholding of an image, though it be but a Paternoster while, than is gotten by reading and contemplation in scripture, though ye read and contemplate therein seven years' space. Finally, while they preached thus, souls tormented in purgatory to have most need of our help, and that they can have no aid, but of us in this world: of the which two, if the one be not false, yet at the least it is ambiguous, uncertain, doubtful, and therefore rashly, and arrogantly with such boldness affirmed in the audience of people; the other by all men's opinions, is manifestly false. I let pass to speak of much other such like counterfeit doctrine, which hath been blasted and blown out by some for the space of three hours together. Be these the Christian and divine mysteries, and not rather the dreams of men? Be these the faithful dispensers of God's mysteries, and not rather false dissipators of them? whom God never put in office, but rather the devil set them over a miserable family, over an house miserably ordered and intreated. Happy were the people, if such preached seldom. And yet it is a wonder to see these, in their generation, to be much more prudent and politic, than the faithful ministers are in their generation; while they go about more prudently to stablish men's dreams, than these do to hold up God's commandments. Thus it cometh to pass, that works lucrative, will-works, men's fancies, reign; and Christian works, necessary works, fruitful works, be trodden under the foot. Thus the evil is much better set out by evil men, than is the good by good men: because the evil be more wise, than be the good in their genera tion. These be the false stewards, whom all good and faithful men every day accuse unto the rich master of the household, not without great heaviness, that they waste his goods; whom he also one day will call to him, and say to them as he did to his steward, when he said, "What is this that I hear of thee?" Here God partly wondereth at our ingratitude and perfidy, partly chideth us for them, and being both full of wonder and ready to chide, asketh us, "What is this that I hear of you?" As though he should say unto us; "All good men in all places complain of you, accuse your avarice, your exactions, your tyranny. They have required in you a long season, and yet require, diligence and sincerity. I commanded you that with all industry and labour, ye should feed my sheep: ye earnestly feed yourselves from day to day, wallowing in delights and idleness. I commanded you to teach my commandments, and not your fancies; and that ye should seek my glory and my vantage: you teach your own traditions, and seek your own glory and profit. You preach very seldom, and when ye do preach, do nothing but cumber (or hinder) them that preach truly, as much as lieth in you; that it were much better such were not to preach at all, than so perniciously to preach. Oh what I hear of you? You, that ought to be my preachers, what other thing do you, than apply all your study hither, to bring all my preachers to envy, shame, contempt? yea, more than this, ye pull them into perils, into prisons, and as much as in you lieth, to cruel deaths. To be short, I would that Christian people should hear my doctrine, and at their convenient leisure, read it also, as many as would; your care is not, that all men may hear it, but all your care is, that no lay man do read it. Surely being afraid lest they by the reading should understand it, and understanding, learn to rebuke our slothfulness. This is your generation, this is your dispensation, this is your wisdom. In this generation, in this dispensation, you be most politic, most witty. These be the things that I hear of your demeanour. I wished to hear better report of you. Have ye thus deceived me? or have ye rather deceived yourselves? Where I had but one house, that is to say, the church, and this so dearly beloved of me, that for the love of her, I put myself forth to be slain, and to shed my blood: this church at my departure I committed unto your charge, to be fed, to be nourished, and to be made much of. My pleasure was, ye should occupy my place; my desire was, ye should have born like love to this church, like fatherly affection, as I did: I made you iny vicars, yea, in matters of most importance. "For thus I taught openly. He that should hear you, should hear me; he that should despise you, should despise me. (Luke x. Matt. x. vi.) I gave you also keys, not earthly keys, but heavenly. I left my goods that I have evermore most highly esteemed, that is, my word and sacraments, to be dispensed of you. These benefits I gave you, and do you give me these thanks? Can ye find in your hearts thus to abuse my goodness, my benignity, my gentleness? Have ye thus deceived me? No, no, ye have not deceived me, but yourselves. My gifts and benefits toward you, shall be to your greater damnation. Because ye have contemned the lenity, and clemency of the master of the house, ye have right well deserved to abide the rigour and severity of the judge. an account of your stewardship. sentence: Ye may have no longer my goods in your hands. A voice to weep at, and to make men tremble." Come forth then, let us see You see, brethren, you see, what evil the evil stewards must come to. Your labour is paid for, if ye can so take heed, that no such sentence be spoken to you; nay, we must all take heed lest these threatenings one day take place in us. But lest the length of my sermon offend you too sore, I will leave the rest of the parable, and take me to the handling of the end of it; that is, I will declare you, how the children of this world, be more witty, crafty, and subtle, than are the children of the light in their generation. Which sentence, would God it lay in my poor tongue, to explicate with such light of words, that I might seem rather to have painted it before your eyes, than to have spoken it; and that you might rather seem to see the thing, than to hear it. But I confess plainly this thing to be far above my power. Therefore this being only left to me, I wish for that I have not, and am sorry that that is not in me which I would so gladly have, that is, power so to handle the thing that I have in hand, that all that I say may turn to the glory of God, your soul's health, and the edifying of Christ's body. Wherefore I pray you all to pray with me unto God, and that also in your petition you desire, that these two things he vouchsafe to grant us, first, a mouth for me to speak rightly: next, ears for you, that in hearing me, ye may take profit at my hand: and that this may come to effect, you shall desire him, unto whom our master Christ bad we should pray, saying even the same prayer that he himself did institute, Pater-noster, &c. Wherein ye shall pray for our most gracious sovereign Lord the King, chief and supreme head of the Church of England, under Christ, and for the most excellent, gracious, and virtuous Lady Queen Jane*, his most lawful wife, and for all his, whether they be of the clergy or laity, whether they be of the nobility, or else other his Grace's subjects; not forgetting those, that being departed out of this transitory life, now sleep in the sleep of peace, and rest from their labours, in quietness and in peaceable sleep, faithfully, lovingly, and patiently looking for that that they clearly shall see, when God shall be so pleased. For all these, and for grace necessary ye shall say unto God, God's prayer, Paternoster, &c. *Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII., she died in childbed of Edward VI., October 14, 1537. + It was the custom of preachers in popish times, in some part of their sermons, but generally about the beginning, "to hid the beads,” or to call upon the auditory to say an Ave Maria or a Pater-noster, for a blessing upon all ranks and orders of men. From hence Henry VIII. took occasion to introduce a public acknowledgment of his being supreme head of the church of England, by giving out, in 1534, an order both for preaching and bidding of the beads. In the following reign another injunction was issued, called, “A form of bidding the common prayers;" in which the praying upon beads is reckoned among the "works devised by men's phantasies and beside scripture." The bidding, or invitatory form of prayer before sermon was subsequently settled in the fifty-fifth canon; and ought still to be observed by all the clergy. THE SECOND SERMON IN THE AFTERNOON. Filii hujus seculi, &c.—Luc. xvi. CHRIST in this saying touched the sloth and sluggishness of his, and did not allow the fraud and subtlety of others; neither was glad that it was indeed as he had said, but complained rather that it should be so: as many men speak many things, not that they ought to be so, but that they are wont to be so. Nay, this grieved Christ, that the children of this world should be of more policy than the children of light; which thing was true in Christ's time; and now in our time is most true. Who is so blind but he seeth this clearly, except perchance there be any that cannot discern the children of the world from the children of light? The children of the world conceive and bring forth more prudently, and things conceived and brought forth they nourish and conserve with much more policy, than do the children of light. Which thing is as sorrowful to be said, as it seemeth absurd to be heard. When ye hear the children of the world, you understand the world as a father. For the world is father of many children, not by first creation and work, but by imitation of love. He is not only a father, but also the son of another father. If ye know once his father, by and by ye shall know his children. For he that hath the devil to his father, must needs have devilish children. The devil is not only taken for father, but also for prince of the world, that is, of worldly folk. It is either all one thing, or else not much different, to say, children of the world, and children of the devil; according to that that Christ said to the Jews, "Ye are of your father the devil:" (John viii.) whereas |