Hugh Latimer · 17 of 26

LAST SERMON PREACHED BEFORE KING EDWARD THE SIXTH · Part 3

On a time when Christ was going to Jerusalem, his disciples said unto him, “They there would have stoned thee, and wilt thou now go thither again?” What saith he again to them? Nonne duodecim sunt horae die, &c., “Be there not twelve hours in the day?” saith he: God hath appointed his times, as pleaseth him; and before the time cometh that God hath appointed, they shall have no power against you. Therefore stick to God and forsake him not; but fear him, and fear not men. And beware chiefly of two affections, fear and love: fear, as Ahaz, of whom I have told you, that for fear of the Assyrian king he changed his religion, and thereby purchased God’s high indignation to him and to his realm; and love, as Dina, Jacob’s daughter, who caused a change of religion by Sichem and Hemor, who were contented for lust of a wife to the destruction and spoiling of all the whole city. Read the chronicles of England and France, and ye shall see what changes of religion hath come by marriages, and for marriages. “Marry my daughter, and be baptized, and so forth, or else.” Fear them not. Remember the sparrows. And this rule should all estates and degrees of men follow; whereas now they fear men and not God. If there be a judgment between a great man and a poor man, then must there be a corruption of justice for fear. “Oh, he is a great man, I dare not displease him.” Fie upon thee! art thou a judge, and wilt be afraid to give right judgment? Fear him not, be he never so great a man; but uprightly do true justice. Likewise some pastors go from their cure; they are afraid of the plague, they dare not come nigh any sick body, but hire others; and they go away themselves. Out upon thee! The wolf cometh upon thy flock to devour them, and when they have most need of thee thou runnest away from them! The soldier also, that should go on warfare, he will draw back as much as he can. “Oh, I shall be slain! Oh, such and such went, and never came home again. Such men went the last year into Norfolk, and were slain there.” Thus they are afraid to go: they will labour to tarry at home. If the king command thee to go, thou art bound to go; and serving the king thou servest God. If thou serve God, he will not shorten thy days to thine hurt. “Well,” saith some, “if they had not gone, they had lived unto this day.” How knowest thou that? Who made thee so privy of God’s counsel? Follow thou thy vocation, and serve the king when he calleth thee. In serving him thou shalt serve God; and till thy time come, thou shalt not die. It was marvel that Jonas escaped in such a city: what then? Yet God preserved him, so that he could not perish. Take therefore an example of Jonas, and every man follow his vocation, not fearing men, but fearing God.

Another seed that Christ was sowing in the sermon was this: Qui confessus me fuerit hominibus, confitebor et ego illum coram Patre meo; “He that confesseth me before men, I shall also confess him before my Father.” We must confess him with mouth. It was of a bishop not long ago asked as touching this: “Laws,” saith he, “must be obeyed, and civil ordinance I. will follow outwardly; but my heart in religion is free to think as I will.” So said Friar Forest, half a papist, yea, worse than a whole papist.

Well, another seed was, “He that sinneth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come.” What is this same sin against the Holy Ghost, an horrible sin that never shall be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come? What is this sin? Final impenitency: and some say, impugning of the truth. One came to me once, that despaired because of sin against the Holy Ghost. He was sore troubled in his conscience, that he should be damned; and that it was not possible for him to be saved, because he had sinned against the Holy Ghost. I said to him, “What, man,” quoth I, “comfort yourself in these words of the apostle, Christus est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris: and again; Ideo me misit Pater in mundum, ut qui credit in me non pereat, sed habeat vitam aeternam; ‘My Father hath for this purpose sent me into the world, that he which believeth in me may not perish, but may have the life everlasting.’ Also, Quacunque hora ingemuerit peccator salvus erit; ‘In what hour soever the sinner shall mourn for sin, he shall be saved.’” I had scriptures enough for me, as methought; but say what I could say, he could say more against himself, than I could say at that time to do him good withal. Where some say that the sin against the Holy Ghost is original sin; I alleged against that the saying of St Paul, Sicut per unius delictum, &c., and si quis egerat poenitentiam; “If a man had done all the sins in the world, and have true repentance, with faith and hope in God’s mercy, he shall be forgiven.” But whatsoever I said, he could still object against me, and avoid my reasons. I was fain to make another day, and did so. “Let me go to my book,” quoth I, “and go you to your prayers, for ye are not altogether without faith.” I got me to my study; I read many doctors, but none could content me; no expositor could please me, nor satisfy my mind in the matter. And it is with me as it was with a scholar of Cambridge, who being demanded of his tutor how he understood his lesson, and what it meant, “I know,” quoth he, “what it meaneth but I cannot tell it; I cannot express it.” So I understood it well enough, but I cannot well declare it. Nevertheless I will bungle at it as well as I can.

Now to tell you, by the way, what sin it was that he had committed: he had fallen from the truth known, and afterward fell to mocking and scorning of it; and this sin it was that he thought to be unforgiveable. I said unto him, that it was a vehement manner of speaking in scripture; “Yet,” quoth I, “this is not spoken universally; nor it is not meant that God doth never forgive it; but it is commonly called irremissible, unforgiveable, because that God doth seldom forgive it. But yet there is no sin so great but God may forgive it, and doth forgive it to the repentant heart, though in words it sound that it shall never be forgiven: as, privilegium paucorum non destruit regulam universalem, The privilege of a few persons doth not destroy an universal rule or saying of scripture. For the scripture saith, Omnes moriemur, ‘We shall die every one of us:’ yet some shall be rapt and taken alive, as St Paul saith; for this privilege of a few doth not hurt a generality. An irremissible sin, an unexcusable sin; yet to him that will truly repent, it is forgiveable; in Christ it may be remitted. If there be no more but one man forgiven, ye may be that same one man that shall be forgiven: Ubi abundavit delictum, ibi abundavit et gratia; Where iniquity hath abounded, there shall grace abound.’” Thus by little and little this man came to a settled conscience again, and took comfort in Christ’s mercy. Therefore despair not, though it be said it shall never be forgiven. Where Cain said, “My wickedness is so great that God cannot forgive it;” Nay, thou liest, saith Austin to Cain, Major est Dei misericordia, quam iniquitas tua; “The mercy of God is greater than thine iniquity.” Therefore despair not; but this one thing I say: beware of this sin that ye fall not into it; for I have known no more but this one man, that hath fallen from the truth, and hath afterward repented and come to grace again. I have known many since God hath opened mine eyes to see a little; I have known many, I say, that knew more than I, and some whom I have honoured, that have afterwards fallen from the truth; but never one of them, this man except, that have returned to grace and to the truth again. But yet, though God doth very seldom forgive this sin, and although it be one of the sins that God doth hate most of all others, and such as is almost never forgiven, yet it is forgiveable in the blood of Christ, if one truly repent; and lo! it is universal. As there is also another scripture, Vae terrae cujus rex puer est, “Wo be to the land, to the realm whose king is a child;” which some interpret and refer to childish conditions: but it is commonly true the other way too, when it is referred to the age and years of childhood. For where the king is within age, they that have governance about the king have much liberty to live voluptuously and licentiously; and not to be in fear how they govern, as they would be if the king were of full age; and then commonly they govern not well. But yet Josias and one or two more, though they were children, yet had their realms well governed, and reigned prosperously; and yet the saying, Vae terrae cujus rex puer est, is nevertheless true for all that. And this I gather of this irremissible sin against the Holy Ghost, that the scripture saith it is never forgiven, because it is seldom forgiven. For indeed I think that there is no sin, which God doth so seldom nor so hardly forgive, as this sin of falling away from the truth, after that a man once knoweth it. And indeed this took best place with the man that I have told you of, and best quieted his conscience.

Another seed was this: “Be not careful,” saith Christ, “what ye shall say before judge and magistrates, when ye are brought afore them for my name’s sake; for the Holy Ghost shall put in your minds, even at that present hour, what ye shall speak.” A comfortable saying, and a goodly promise of the Holy Ghost, that “the adversaries of the truth,” saith he, “shall not be able to resist us.” What? shall the adversaries of the truth be dumb? Nay; there be no greater talkers, nor boasters, and facers than they be. But they shall not be able to resist the truth to destroy it.

Here some will say, “What needeth universities then, and the preservation of schools? The Holy Ghost will give always what to say.” Yea, but for all that we may not tempt God; we must trust in the Holy Ghost, but we must not presume on the Holy Ghost. Here now should I speak of universities, and for preferring of schools: but he that preached the last Sunday spake very well in it, and substantially, and like one that knew the state and condition of the universities and schools very well. But thus much I say unto you, magistrates: if ye will not maintain schools and universities, ye shall have a brutality. Therefore now a suit again to your Highness. So order the matter, that preaching may not decay: for surely, if preaching decay, ignorance and brutishness will enter again. Nor give the preachers’ livings to secular men. What should the secular men do with the livings of preachers? I think there be at this day ten thousand students less than were within these twenty years, and fewer preachers; and that is the cause of rebellion. If there were good bishops, there should be no rebellion.

I am now almost come to my matter, saving one saying of Christ which was another seed: Date, et dabitur vobis; “Give, and it shall be given unto you,” &c. But who believeth this? If men believed this promise, they would give more than they do; and at leastwise they would not stick to give a little: but nowadays men’s study is set rather to take gifts, and to get of other men’s goods, than to give any of their own. So all other the promises are mistrusted and unbelieved. For if the rich men did believe this promise of God, they would willingly and readily give a little to have the overplus. So where Christ saith of injuries, or offences and trespasses, Mihi vindicta, et ego retribuam, &c., “Leave the avenging of wrongs alone unto me, and I shall pay them home,” &c.: if the rebels had believed this promise, they would not have done as they did. So all the promises of God are mistrusted. Noah also after the flood feared at every rain lest the world should be drowned and destroyed again; till God gave the rainbow. And what exercise shall we have by the rainbow? We may learn by the rainbow, that God will be true of his promises, and will fulfill his promises. For God sent the rainbow; and four thousand years it is, and more, since this promise was made, and yet God hath been true of his promise unto this day: so that now when we see the rainbow, we may learn that God is true of his promise. And as God was true in this promise, so is he and will be in all the rest. But the covetous man doth not believe that God is true of his promise; for if he did, he would not stick to give of his goods to the poor. But as touching that I spake afore, when we see the rainbow, and see in the rainbow that that is like water, and of a watery colour, and as we may and ought not only to take thereof hold and comfort of God’s promise, that he will no more destroy the world with water for sin; but also we may take an example to fear God, who in such wise hateth sin: likewise when in the rainbow we see that it is of a fiery colour, and like unto fire, we may gather an example of the end of the world, that except we amend, the world shall at last be consumed with fire for sin; and to fear the judgment of God, after which they that are damned shall be burned in hell-fire. These were the seeds that Christ was sowing, when this covetous man came unto him.

And now I am come to my matter. While Christ was thus preaching, this covetous fellow would not tarry till all the sermon was done, but interrupted the sermon; even suddenly chopping in, “Master,” quoth he, “speak to my brother, that he may divide the inheritance with me.” He would not abide till the end of the sermon; but his mind was on his halfpenny; and he would needs have his matter despatched out of hand. “Master,” quoth he, “let my brother divide with me.” Yet this was a good fellow: he could be contented with part, he desired not to have all together alone to himself, but could be content with a division, and to have his part of the inheritance. And what was the inheritance Ager; a field: so that it was but one piece of ground, or one farm. This covetous man could be content with the half of one farm, where our men nowadays cannot be satisfied with many farms at once. One man must now have as many farms as will serve many men, or else he will not be contented nor satisfied. They will jar nowadays one with another, except they have all. “Oh,” saith the wise man, “there be three things wherein my soul delighteth: Concordia fratrum, amor proximorum, et vir ac mulier bene sibi consentientes; the unity of brethren, the love of neighbours, and a man and wife agreeing well together.” So that the concord of brethren, and agreeing of brethren, is a gay thing. What saith Salomon of this matter? Frater qui adjuvatur a fratre quasi civitas firma et turris fortis; “The brother that is holpen of his brother, is a sure and well-fenced city, and a strong tower,” he is so strong. Oh, it is a great matter, when brethren love and hold well together! But if the one go about to pull down the other, then are they weak both of them; and when one pulleth down his fellow, they must needs down both of them; there is no stay to hold them up.

Mark in the chronicles of England. Two brethren have reigned jointly together, the one on this side Humber, and the other beyond Humber, in Scotland, and all that way. And what hath come of it? So long as they have agreed well together, so long they have prospered; and when they have jarred, they have both gone to wrack. Brethren that have so reigned here in England, have quarrelled one with another; and the younger hath not been contented with his portion, (as indeed the younger brother commonly jarreth first,) but by the contention both have fared the worse. So when there is any contention between brother and brother for land, commonly they are both undone by it. And that crafty merchant, whatever he be, that will set brother against brother, meaneth to destroy them both. But of these two brethren, whether this man here were the elder or the younger, I cannot say; scripture telleth me not whether of these two was the younger: but a likelihood this was the younger; for once it was a plain law, that primogenitus, that is to say, the elder brother, had duplicia; and therefore of likelihood it should be the youngest brother that found himself aggrieved, and was not content. But Christ said unto him, “Thou man, who hath made me a judge or a divider between you?” Christ answered him by a question; and mark this question of Christ, “Thou man,” Quis me constituit judicem aut divisorem super vos; “Who made me a judge,” &c. It is no small matter, saith Augustine, of what intention one asketh a question; as Christ in another place of the gospel asketh who was neighbour to the pilgrim that was wounded. “There was,” saith Christ, “a man that went from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, and they wounded him, and left him for dead. And a priest came by, that was his own countryman, and let him lie; a Levite came by, and would shew no compassion upon him: at last a Samaritan came by, and set him on his horse, and conveyed him to the city, and provided surgery for him, &c. Now who was neighbour to this wounded man?” saith Christ. Qui fecit illi misericordiam, quoth the lawyer; “He that shewed mercy unto him.” He that did the office of a neighbour, he was a neighbour. As ye may perceive by a more familiar example of the bishop of Exeter at Sutton in Staffordshire. Who is bishop of Exeter? Forsooth, Master Coverdale. What, do not all men know who is bishop of Exeter? What? He hath been bishop many years. Well, say I, Master Coverdale is bishop of Exeter: Master Coverdale putteth in execution the bishop’s office, and he that doth the office of the bishop, he is the bishop indeed: therefore say I, Master Coverdale is bishop of Exeter. Alack! there is a thing that maketh my heart sorry. I hear that Master Coverdale is poisoned. Alack! a good man, a godly preacher, an honest fatherly man; and, if it be true, it is a great pity and a lamentable case, that he feeding them with God’s word, they should feed him again with poison.

But to the purpose of Christ’s question, “Who made me a judge between you?” Here an Anabaptist will say, “Ah! Christ refused the office of a judge; ergo there ought to be no judges nor magistrates among christian men. If it had been a thing lawful, Christ would not have refused to do the office of a judge, and to have determined the variance between these two brethren.” But Christ did thereby signify that he was not sent for that office; but if thou will have a trial and a sentence of that matter according to the laws, thou must go to the temporal judge that is deputed therefor. But Christ’s meaning was, that he was come for another purpose; he had another office deputed unto him than to be a judge in temporal matters. Ego veni vocare peccatores ad poenitentiam; “I am come,” saith he, “to call sinners to repentance:” he was come to preach the gospel, the remission of sin, and the kingdom of God; and meant not thereby to disallow the office of temporal magistrates. Nay, if Christ had meant that there should be no magistrates, he would have bid him take all: but Christ meant nothing so. But the matter is, that this covetous man, this brother, took his mark amiss; for he came to a wrong man to seek redress of his matter. For Christ did not forbid him to seek his remedy at the magistrate’s hand; but Christ refused to take upon him the office that was not his calling. For Christ had another vocation than to be a judge between such as contended about matters of land. If our rebels had had this in their minds, they would not have been their own judges; but they would have sought the redress of their grief at the hands of the king, and his magistrates under him appointed. But no marvel of their blindness and ignorance; for the bishops are out of their dioceses that should teach them this gear. But this man perchance had heard, and did think that Christ was Messias, whose reign in words soundeth a corporal and a temporal reign; which should do justice and see a redress in all matters of worldly controversy: which is a necessary office in a christian realm, and must needs be put in execution for ministering of justice. And therefore I require you, as a suitor rather than a preacher, look to your office yourself, and lay not all on your officers’ backs; receive the bills of supplication yourself: I do not see you do so nowadays as ye were wont to do the last year. For God’s sake look unto it, and see to the ministering of justice your own self, and let poor suitors have answer. There is a king in Christendom, and it is the king of Denmark, that sitteth openly in justice thrice in the week, and hath doors kept open for the nones. I have heard it reported of one that hath been there, and seen the proof of it many a time and oft: and the last justice that ever he saw done there, was of a priest’s cause that had had his glebe land taken from him, (and now here in England some go about to take away all;) but this priest had had his glebe land taken from him by a great man. Well; first went out letters for this man to appear at a day: process went out for him according to the order of the law, and charged him by virtue of those letters to appear afore the king at such a day. The day came: the king sat in the hall ready to minister justice. The priest was there present. The gentleman, this lord, this great man, was called, and commanded to make his appearance according to the writ that had been directed out for him. And the lord came, and was there; but he appeared not. “No,” quoth the king, “was he summoned as he should be? Had he any warning to be here?” It was answered, “Yea; and that he was there walking up and down in the hall; and that he knew well enough that that was his day; and also, that he had already been called; but he said, he would not come before the king at that time: alleging, that he needed not as yet to make an answer, because he had had but one summoning.” “No,” quoth the king, “is he here present?” “Yea, forsooth, sir,” said the priest. The king commanded him to be called, and to come before him: and the end was this, he made this lord, this great man, to restore unto the priest not only the glebe land which he had taken from the priest, but also the rent and profit thereof for so long time as he had withholden it from the priest; which was eight years or thereabout. Saith he, “When you can shew better evidence than the priest hath done, why it ought to be your land, then he shall restore it to you again, and the profits thereof that he shall receive in the mean time but till that day come, I charge ye that ye suffer him peaceably to enjoy that is his.”

This is a noble king; and this I tell for your example, that ye may do the like. Look upon the matter yourself. Poor men put up bills every day, and never the near. Confirm your kingdom in judgment; and begin doing of your own office yourself, even now while you are young, and sit once or twice in the week in council among your lords: it shall cause things to have good success, and that matters shall not be lingered forth from day to day. It is good for every man to do his own office, and to see that well executed and discharged.

Ozias. king in Juda, he would needs do the office of the priest, and he would needs offer incense in the sanctuary; which to do was the priest’s office. But he was suddenly stricken with the leprosy for his labour, and so continued a leper all the days of his life. St John’s disciples would have had their master to take upon him that he was Christ. But what said John? Nemo siai assumit quicquam nisi datum fuerit ei desuper; “No man may take any thing upon himself, except it be given unto him from above.” If the Devonshire men had well considered this, they had not provoked the plagues that they have had light upon them. But unpreaching prelacy hath been the chiefest cause of all this hurly-burly and commotions. But if Christ may challenge any kind of men for taking his office upon them, he may say to the mass-mongers, “Who gave you commission to offer up Christ? Who gave you authority to take mine office in hand?” For it is only Christ’s office to do that. It is a greater matter to offer Christ. If Christ had offered his body at the last supper, then should we do so too. Who is worthy to offer up Christ? An abominable presumption! Paul saith, Accepit panem; postquam gratias egisset, fregit, et dixit, Accipite, edite; “He took bread, and after that he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take ye, eat ye,” &c.: and so said, Hoc est corpus meum, “This is my body.” He gave thanks? Well then: in thanksgiving these is no oblation; and when he gave thanks, it was not his body.

When I was in examination, I was asked many questions, and it was said to me, What Christ did, that should we do: a bishop gathered that upon these words, Hoc facite in mei recordationem, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Then said he to me, “How know ye that they ate it, before he said, Hoc est corpus meum, ‘This is my body?’” I answered again and said, “How know ye that they did not it?” &c. So I brought unto him the place of Paul abovesaid; and that in thanksgiving is none oblation; and when he gave thanks it was not his body, for he gave thanks in the beginning of supper, before they eat any manner of thing at all; as his accustomed manner was to do. I wonder therefore, that they will or dare by this text take upon them to offer Christ’s body: they should rather say, Quisme constituit oblatorem, “Who made me an offerer?” But when Christ said, Quis me constituit judicem aut divisorem super vos, “Who hath made me a judge or a divider of lands among you?” Christ did refuse another man’s office; an office that he was not of his Father deputed unto. Christ’s kingdom was a spiritual kingdom, and his office was a spiritual office; and he was a spiritual judge. And therefore, when the woman taken in adultery was brought before him, he refused not to play the judge; but said, Quis te accusat, “Who accuseth thee?” And she said again, Nemo, Domine: “No man, Lord.” Then said he, Nec ego te condemno, “Nor I condemn thee not.” Vade et noli amplius peccare, “Go thy ways, and sin no more.” Here he took upon him his own office, and did his office; for his office was to preach, and bid sinners amend their evil living, and not to be a temporal judge in temporal causes. And here is another occasion of a suit to your highness, for the punishment of lechery; for lechery floweth in England like a flood.

But now to make an end in temporal causes. He said, Quis me constituit judicem, &c., “Who made me a judge of temporal causes among you, and of worldly matters?” Thus came this fellow in here with interrupting of Christ’s sermon, and received the answer which I have rehearsed. “Thou man, thou fellow,” quoth he, “who hath made me a judge among you?” And he said unto all the audience, Videte et cavete ab avaritia; “See and beware of covetousness.” Why so? Quia non in abundantia cujusquam vita ejus est ex his quae possidet; “For no man’s life standeth in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” We may have things necessary, and we may have abundance of things; but the abundance doth not make us blessed. It is no good argument, Quo plus quisque habet, tanto beatius vivit; “The more riches that a man hath, the more happily and the more blissfully he liveth.” For a certain great man, that had purchased much lands, a thousand marks by year, or I wot not what; a great portion he had: and so on the way, as he was in his journey towards London, or from London, he fell sick by the way; a disease took him, that he was constrained to lie upon it. And so being in his bed, the disease grew more and more upon him, that he was, by his friends that were about him, godly advised to look to himself, and to make him ready to God; for there was none other likelihood but that he must die without remedy. He cried out, “What, shall I die?” quoth he. “Wounds! sides! heart! Shall I die, and thus go from my goods? Go, fetch me some physician that may save my life. Wounds and sides! Shall I thus die?” There lay he still in his bed like a block, with nothing but, “Wounds and sides, shall I die?” Within a very little while he died indeed; and then lay he like a block indeed. There was black gowns, torches, tapers, and ringing pf bells; but what is be come of him, God knoweth, and not I.