m men, Jews and Gentiles, are under sin there is none righteous, no not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God: they are all gone out of the way, they are all unprofitable; there is none that doth good, no not one: Their throat is an open sepulchre, with their tongues they have used craft and deceit, the poison of serpents is under their lips, their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and wretchedness are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. And in another place St. Paul writeth Rom. 11. thus, God hath wrapped all nations in unbelief, that he might have mercy on all. The scripture shutteth up all Gal. 3. under sin, that the promise by the faith of Jesus Christ should be given unto them that believe. St. Paul in many places painteth us out in our colours, calling us the children Ephes. 2. of the wrath of God, when we be born: saying also, that we cannot think a good thought of ourselves, much less can we sayn well, or do well of ourselves. And the wise man saith in the book of Proverbs, The just man falleth seven Prov. 24. times a day. The most tried and approved man Job feared all his works. St. John the Baptist being sanctified in his Luke 1. mother's womb, and praised before he was born, being called an angel, and great before the Lord, filled P even from his birth with the Holy Ghost, the preparer of the way for our saviour Christ, and commended of our saviour Christ to be more than a prophet, and the greatest that ever was born of a woman: yet he plainly granteth, that he had need to be washed of Christ: he worthily extolleth and glorifieth his lord and master Christ, and humbleth Matth. 3. himself as unworthy to unbuckle his shoes, and giveth all honour and glory to God. So doth St. Paul both oft and evidently confess himself, that he was 9 of himself, ever giving (as a most faithful servant) all praise to his master and saviour. So doth blessed St. John the evangelist, in the name of himself, and of all other holy men, (be they never so just,) make this open confession: If we say we have no 1 John 1. sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us: if we acknowledge our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive uss our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. r Wherefore the wise man, in the book m shutteth up] concludeth A. B. n can we say] we can say A. o being called] called A. B. p filled] replenished A. B. C. q that he was] what he was A.B. r acknowledge] knowledge A.B. C. called Ecclesiastes, maketh this true and general confession, There is not one just man upon the earth, that doth good, Psalm 51. and sinneth not. And David is ashamed of his sin, but Eccles. 7. not to confess his sin. How oft, how earnestly, and lamentably doth he desire God's great mercy for his great Psalm 143. offences, and that God should not enter into judgment with him? And again, how well weigheth this holy man his sins, when he confesseth, that they be so many in number, and so hid, and hard to understand, that it is in a manner u Psalm 19. unpossible to know, utter, or number them? Wherefore, he having a true, earnest, and deep contemplation and consideration of his sins, and yet not coming to the bottom of them, he maketh supplication to God to forgive him his privy, secret, hid sins: to the knowledge of which hey cannot attain unto. He weigheth rightly his sins from the original root and spring-head, perceiving inclinations, provocations, stirrings, stingings, buds, branches, dregs, infections, tastes, feelings, and scents of them to continue in him Psalm 51. still. Wherefore he saith, Mark, and behold, I was conceived in sins: he saith not sin, but in the plural number, sins, forasmuch as out of one, as a fountain 2, springeth all the rest. Our savioura Christ saith, There is none good but God: and that we can do nothing that is good without him, nor no man can come to the Father but by him. He commandeth, us also b to say, that we be unprofitable servants, when we have done all that we can do. He preferreth the penitent_publican before the proud, holy, and Luke 18. glorious Pharisee. He calleth himself a physician, but not to them that be whole, but to them that be sick, and have need of his salve for their sore. He teacheth us in our prayers to reknowledge ourselves sinners, and to ask righteousness, and deliverance from all evils, at our heavenly Father's hand. He declareth that the sins of our own hearts do defile our own selves. He teacheth that an evil word or thought deserveth condemnation, affirming, that Matt. 12. we shall give account for every idle word. He saith, He came not to save, but the sheep that were utterly lost and cast away. Therefore few of the proud, just, learned, wise, perfect, and holy Pharisees were saved by him, because they justified themselves by their counterfeit holiness before men. Mark 10. Luke 18. John 14. Luke 17. Matt. 9. Matt. 15. Wherefore, good people, let us beware of such hypocrisy, vain-glory, and justifying of ourselves. The Second Part of the Sermon of the Misery of FORASMUCH as the true knowledge of ourselves is e The following sentence is added in A. B. Let us look down upon our feet, and then, down peacock's feathers, down proud heart, down vile clay, frail and brittle vessels. f The second part] The homily is not divided in A. g Forasmuch as- -by his holy word] h For of ourselves] Of ourselves A. k unperfectly] imperfectly D. c 3 Luke 5. Let confess imperfection, even in all our best works m. none of us be ashamed to say with holy saint Peter, I am a sinful man. Let us all say with the holy prophet David, Psalm 106. We have sinned with our fathers; we have done amiss, and dealt wickedly. Let us all make open confession with the Luke 15. prodigal son to our Father, and say with him, We have sinned against heaven, and before thee, O Father: we are not worthy to be called thy sons. Let us all say with holy Barnch 2. Baruch, O Lord our God, to us is worthily ascribed shame and confusion, and to thee righteousness: we have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have behaved ourselves ungodly in all thy righteousness. Let us all say with the holy prophet Daniel, O Lord, righteousness belongeth to thee, unto us belongeth confusion. We have sinned, we have been naughty, we have offended, we have fled from thee, we have gone back from all thy precepts and judgments. So we Tearn of all good men in holy scriptures, to humble ourselves, and to exalt, extol, praise, magnify, and glorify God. Dan. 9. 2 Cor. 3. Thus we have heard how evil we be of ourselves, how of ourselves, and by ourselves, we have no goodness, help, nor salvation; but contrariwise, sin, damnation, and death everlasting: which if we deeply weigh and consider, we shall the better understand the great mercy of God, and how our salvation cometh only by Christ. For in ourselves (as of ourselves) we find nothing, whereby we may be delivered from this miserable captivity, into the which we were cast, through the envy of the devil, by breaking P of God's comPsalm 49. mandment in our first parent Adam. We are all become unclean; but we all are not able to cleanse ourselves, nor to make one another of us clean. We are by nature the children of God's wrath: but we are not able to make ourselves the children and inheritors of God's glory. We are sheep that run astray: but we cannot of our own power come again to the sheepfold, so great is our imperfection and weakness. In ourselves therefore may we not 9 glory, which, of ourselves, are nothing but sinful: neither may wer rejoice in any works that we do, which all be so unperfect and unpure, that they are not able to stand before the righteous judgment-seat of God, as the holy prophet Psalm 144. David saith, Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Ephes. 2. 1 Pet. 2. m our best works] our own best n Let us all say] Let us say D. q may we not] may not we A. B. C. r neither may we] neither we may A. B. C. s judgment-seat] throne A. B. Lord: for no man that liveth shall be found righteous in thy sight. To God therefore must we flee, or else shall we never find peace, rest, and quietness of conscience in our hearts. For he is the Father of mercies, and God of all 2 Cor. 1. consolation. He is the Lord, with whom is plenteous re- Psalm 130. demption: he is the God, which of his own mercy saveth us, and setteth out his charity and exceeding love towards " us, in that of his own voluntary goodness, when we were perished, he saved us, and provided an everlasting kingdom for us. And all these heavenly treasures are given us, not for our own deserts, merits, or good deeds, (which of ourselves we have none,) but of his mere mercy freely. And for whose sake? Truly for Jesus Christ's sake, that pure and undefiled lamb of God. He is that dearly beloved son, for whose sake God is fully pacified, satisfied, and set at one with man. He is the lamb of God which taketh away John 1. the sins of the world; of whom only it may be truly spoken that he did all things well, and in his mouth was found no 1 Pet. 2. craft nor subtilty. None but he alone may say, The prince of the world came, and in me he hath nothing. And he alone may also sayy, Which of you shall reprove me of any John 8. fault? He is the high and everlasting priest, which hath offered himself once for all upon the altar of the cross, and with that one oblation hath made perfect for evermore them Heb. 7. that are sanctified. He is the alone Mediator between God 1 John 2. and man, which paid our ransom to God with his own blood, and with that hath he cleansed us all from sin. He is the physician, which healeth all our diseases. He is that saviour, which saveth his people from all their sins: to be Matt. 1. short, he is that flowing and most plenteous fountain, of whose fulness all we have received. For in him alone are all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God hidden. And in him, and by him, have we from God the father all good things, pertaining either to the body or to the soul. O how much are we bound to this our heavenly father for his great mercies, which he hath so plenteously declared unto us in Christ Jesu our lord and saviour ! What thanks worthy and sufficient can we give to him? Let us all with one accord burst out with joyful voice a, ever praising and magnifying this lord of mercy, for his t the God] that God B. u towards] toward A. x Jesus Christ's sake] Jesus Christ sake A. y may also say] may say also A. B. z the high] that high A. B. C. C 4 |