HE that said the whole life of man was nothing else but a time of temptation , hee sayd very fearefullie , and yet very truelie ; for we are tempted in old age , and in our cradles wee are not free ; If any euil stand before vs , we are prouoked to do it , and when at any time we haue done well , we are euen tempted in it ; if wee abound as Adam did in Paradise , there be intismentes in that , or if we want as Christ did in the wildernes , there may be death in that ; so expert is the enemy whom God hath sent to exercise vs , that according to time and place , & to each mans state & nature , he hath wherin to allure vs , and serueth himself of al occasions . And because we are fallen into a time , wherein pouerty without patience hath much disordred vs , I haue therfore chosen to speake of the hungry temptation , & yet not of the temptation neither , each man being apt enough to tempt himselfe , but rather of the answer to it ; for the diuel finding Christ of late , first fasting , & then hungry in a desolate & barren wildernesse where nothing was to be had , aduiseth him not to looke vp to heauen , ( from whence in extreme want all help is to be waited for ) but rather to take the way that was next at hand , & by a new kind of Alchimy , of stones to make himselfe bread , & vnto this Christ answereth him with the text I haue read , man liueth not by bread onely , &c. and there is nothing in this whole story so sutable , or so aptly speaking to the occasion & season of the time as this ; for it is said before , that Christ fasted , meaning a religious fast , as few do now ; and it is saide likewise , that he was hungry , and no maruell , for he was in a place , where was neither bred nor corn , as may be now ; & it is said likewise , that them the tempter came , that is , the Diuell came , as all the world seeth he is vp and abroad now ; & some he tempteth to turne bread into stones , that is , to decay the plenty of the earth , as many rich & greedy minded men do now ; & some he tempteth to turne stones into bread , that is , to vse vnlawful means for their own releife , as the mad & rebelious multitude doth now ; but in this verse Christ sheweth a bettet way for mens reliefe , that is , by resting themselues in the pleasure & prouidence of God , which is for all men an apt & godly answer , to such a diuilish & vngodlie temptation . In which answer 3. things may bee considered ; first , that Christ would answer the Diuill , next the manner of his answer , which is by scriptum est , & then lastly the substance of his answer , which is , that man liueth not by bread onely , but by euery word which commeth out of the mouth of God . For the first , a question may be mooued , why Christ would vouchsafe to giue the diuil any answer at all ; why did hee not rather answer him with silence , as sometimes he answered Caiphas and Pilate ? to which I answer , that as hee was therefore lead into the wildernesse , that he might bee tempted , so was he therefore tempted that he might giue answer , and that partly to auouch his owne wisedome by his answer , and also to instruct vs , that we in the like case must bee able likewise to make answer ; Respondit tentatori docens te respondere tentatori , saith Saint Austin ; Christ did answer the tempter to teach thee , that thou must answer the tempter also ; that as Gedeon sayd to his souldiers , What yee see mee doe , do yee also . Iudg. 7. 17. So wee because wee see our Captaine to answer , might also learne not Implicitam fidem , a faith folded vp in the faith of our fathers , or to beleeue as the Church beleeueth , but be armed with reason to answer also : In the field it is lamentable when the defendors of a iust and lawfull cause are foyled & put to flight ; O Lord , what shall I say ( sayth Ioshua ) when Israel turne their backes vpon their enemies ? Ioshu . 7. In the Church it is shamefull when men shall maintaine a good cause as Iob did , and yet being opposed cannot find an answer : and God forbid we should auouch any things in points of faith , for which being opposed we cannot answer . But in the breast of man it is most fearefull , when Satan shall come to tempt or terifie , and we like Cain or Iudas are ouercome and cannot answer : for if we be bound to answer euery man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in vs . 1. Pet. 3. How much more to answer this tempting and destroying Serpent , from whose temptation no man can promise himselfe freedom or imunity . But say , Christ would answer the Diuell , yet why after so milde and gentle a fashion ; why rather did hee not bid him be packing , as he did somtime to Peter ? Get thee behind me Sathan , thou art an offence vnto me . Mat. 16. Yea why did he not torment him for his pride & presumption in tempting him ? why did he not throw him into the deepe for laying vnholy hands , & for breathing those impure blasts vpon him ? & thus we imagin God like our selues ; for Michael the Archangell though hee stroue against the Diuell , yet would not reuile him . Iud. 9. nor would Christ call for fire from heauen to consume the Samaritans , albeit they shut their dores vpon him . Luc. 9. for he came not now to iudge , but to saue ; he came not ( as one day he shall ) with fire before him , but he came like a Lambe , lowly to his inferiors , gentle to his enemies , and affable to all ; which first addeth strength to the faith of man , in the act of Inuocation , for if the enemy receiued a gentle answer , euen when he came to destroy , much more shall they that deuoutly seeke vnto him ; beside , it giueth to great personages , Iudges and Magistrates in their places , an honorable patterne of piety , cheerfully to accept , & gently to answer , the cries , petitions & iust complaints of the poore , which stand in need of them , as they stand in need of God , & come kneeling to them as they kneele to God ; & when at any time they grow weary of this , they may doubt they haue forgotten him who exalted them for this , & feare least they be forgotten when they faile in this . Now for the maner of Christs answer to the diuill ; ye see , he doth not teach vs to repell or chase him away ( as they do at Rome , with Tapers , & holy water , or with hanging out a crucifix , but by scriptum est , the written word of God ; for what cares the diuill for a candle , or for holy water , or what cares he for a Crucifix , which is but an image of Christ , who according to some of their own doctors did not feare to lay foule Hugo Cardin. sup. Math 4. Assumpsit eum bracchijs suis . hands vpon the sacred body of Christ : but as when Ioshua fained to run away from the men of Ai , hee did by that meanes disranke them , & bring a greater slaughter on them . Iohn 8. so when the diuill faineth to be afraide of such things , it is but a slie deuise , to wrappe men more deeply in the snares of superstition . Neither yet doth Christ answer the Diuill by Factum est , by doing the thing required , that is , turning stones into bread , but hee answereth him by scriptum est , by shewing him what is written ; no doubt Christ could haue turned the stones , and the stones being commanded must haue obeied him , for when the Prophet cryed out against Ieroboams altar , the ashes fell out , and the Altar rent in sunder . 1. King . 13. but behold a greater then the Prophet was here , who when himselfe cryed out his last crye vpon the Crosse , the vale of the Temple rent , the earth did quake , & the stones did cleaue in sunder Math. 27. yea surely hee that of water made wine , could also ( if it had so pleased him ) of stones haue made bread ; yea he could of stones haue made men , euen of stones to raise vp children vnto Abraham , Math. 3. but why then did he not ? surely the Friers tell vs a prety reason ; That Christ would not turne stones into bread at the diuels request , Royard . Dominica . 1. Quadragesimae . but rather stay a yeare longer to turne water into wine , at his Mothers request , that so to her , to the Virgin Mary , and not to the Diuill , might be dedicated the first fruites of his miracles , as if Christ had dedicated miracles to his Mother , or had in the miracle of water turned to wine , intended the magnifying of his Mother , who when shee mooued vnto him the want of wine , receaued an answer some-thing regardlesse of her ; Woman what haue I to doe with thee ? Ioh. 2. 4. but a better reason of that miracle is gathered out of the eleuenth verse , where it is sayde , the miracle being done , that his Disciples beleeued on him ; but how ? Nunquid crediturus erat diabolus ? saith Saint Austin , would the Diuill haue beleeued if Christ had turned stones into bread ? surely no ; and therefore as he would shew no miracle to Herod , because he asked it idly and curiously , Luc. 23. so neither is any miracle to bee shewed to the Diuill , nor any Pearle to be cast before such Swine , as there is no hope to conuert or edifie ; or say there were hope , yet Scriptum est , the Law and the Prophets are more effectuall ( saith Abraham ) then if one should rise from the dead ; yea if they will not heare Moses and the Prophets , neither will they bee perswaded , though one rise from the dead . Luc. 16. and generally by example of Christ , it is so much better to contend with authority of scriptures , then with powre of miracles , by how much Christ preferred Scriptum est , before turning stones into bread . Neither yet doth Christ answer the Diuill by vnwritten verities , as they do who thrust vpon the faith of men , dreames , and fables , and meere traditions , which is ( saith Theodoret ) like the Theodoret. quest. 9. in Leuit. sinne of Araons sonnes , to bring strange fire vpon the Altar . Leuit. 10. but he answereth him by Scriptum est , It is written ; & if it be not written , it is sure no matter of faith , but men may choose whether they wil beleeue it or no : but if it be written , men must beleeue it , and build their faith , their soules , and saluation vpon it ; for therefore yee erre ( saith Christ ) because yee know not the scriptures . Mat. 22. but he that knoweth them , knoweth also all needful wisdom in them ; for speake we of matters of faith ; Fidem Imperator queris ; saith Hilary to Constance Hilar : ad Constant : the Emperor , Seeke yee to know the faith ; then must ye vnderstand it , not by any new or late writings , but by the bookes of God . Or seeke yee to know which is the true & catholique church ? Nullo modo cognoscitur , nisi tantummodo per scripturas , there is no Chrisost. homil. super Math. & 46. way to know it saith S. Chrysost . but only by the scriptures : or groweth ther any doubt or controuersie of opinion in the church ? we may say to one another , as S. Austin to Aug. contra Maximin . lib. 3. ca. 14. Maximinus the Arrian , Nec ego Nicenum tibi , nec tu mihi Ariminense debes proferre concilium , &c. neither wil I obiect to you the councell of Nice , nor shall you to me the councell of Ariminum , but let the Scriptures end it ; for ( euen our enemies being iudges ) when it is in question whether such a thing bee lawfull or no , Ad sacram paginam recurrendum est , we must haue recourse to th' holy scriptures , saith Stella sup: Luc. 6. 3. because in them we may find , Sufficienter et veraciter , both sufficiently & truly , Omnia que ad salutem sunt necessaria , euen al things whatsoeuer are needfull to saluation , saith Bonauentura de profectu religiosor . lib. 1. cap. 6. both these men being Friers and fautors of the church of Rome , and yet against the church of Rome , maintaining sincerely the sufficiencie of the scriptures ; Therefore these are the weapons of our warfare ; scriptum est : the word of God ( saith S. Paul ) is the sword of the spirit . Ephes. 6. yea this is the sword of the Lord and of Gedeon .

The substance of this answer is , that Man liueth not by bread only , but by euery word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God . The place is found . Deut. 8. 3. where Moses exhorting the Israelits in al their wants to depend vpon the prouidence of God , putteth them in mind , how that being in the wildernes , where was neither bread nor water , yet were they neither famisht with want , nor yet compelled to vse vnlawfull means for their reliefe , but they had a bread which they knew not , euen Manna sent from heauen , as in a tipe to shew , that mans life is maintained not by the means of bread , nor by the fruitfulnesse of the earth , but from the house of Prouidence , that is , from heauen : and this doth Christ oppose as an answer to the Diuil , wherin 2. things may be distinctly considered , First that man liueth by bread , and then secondly that he liueth not by bread onely , that is , that God hath appointed man to liue by means , & yet he hath not tied his life vnto the meanes . That man liueth by bread , is inferred out of the very text ; for euen where he saith , Not by bread onely , it followeth of necessitie , that amongst other meanes , yet by bread for one & there be in these words three things likewise to be considered ; First the subiect of God ; prouidence , which is Man secondly the e●d of Gods prouidence , that man must liue : and thirdly the meanes of his prouidence , that he must liue by bread .

For the first , the diuil indeed propounded very cunningly a question concerning the sonne of God ; If thou bee the sonne of God , command , &c: which yet Christ neither denieth , nor affirmeth himselfe to bee , but cleane beside the matter , answereth of man ; man liueth not ; & sure Christ was not bound to giue direct answer to such an aduersary , who came not to bee satisfied , but to deceiue , and therfore to dazell and amaze him the more , he answereth him at randome , & where he asked him of the sonne of God , he answere●h him of man , and to let him see withal , what account God did make of man , whom he in tempting the sonne of God , sought fundamentally to ouerthrow . And surely man is a great marke in Gods eie , for God made man , & printed his owne image in man , & made the world for man , & ordained the Angels to gard man , was borne for man , and in the end dyed for man , that Dauid breakes out into admiration , What is man , that thou art so mindfull of him , or the Sonne of man that thou regardest him . Psal. 8. Onely man to man is vile and of no account , & man is Anthropomastix , one man the greatest scourge & plague of another . Man liueth , sayth Christ ; therefore prouision is here made for man , which may sustaine in this place a two-fold opposition , first with the beasts and brute creatures , before which in Gods prouidence Man is euer preferred , & then secondly with particular men , for Man is not here taken for this or that man , but for Humanum genus , Man for all mankind , & so it standeth with reason that the whole kinde be evermore preferred before any one or a few cormorants in their kinde .

If yee speak of the beasts ; surely to that question of S. Paul , Doth God take care for Oxen. 1. Cor. 9. We may answer affirmatiuely , yes sure euen for Oxen , and for sheep , for so saith Dauid . Psal . 36. Thou Lord dost saue Man and Beast ; yea and for little birds too , whereof two are sold for a farthing , Deut. 22. 6 euen the great God hath made protectiue lawes , that man should not deale vnmercifully with them : yet we must take this withall , that whatsoeuer God hath done for the beasts , yet is it not for their owne sakes principally , but for mans , for whose vse and seruice they were created , & not for them selues ; and is it not then vnnaturall ( thinke ye ) to see a man put out , to put in a beast , and men turned out to bring in sheepe , whereas God created the earth for men , and not for sheepe ; therefore if ye will maintaine large pastures and stock them with sheepe , then remember what God saith by the mouth of Ezechiel , The sheepe of my pasture are men . Eze. 34. 31. yea and we are his people and the sheepe of his pasture . Psal. 100. and the image of God in one man is more worth then all the sheep in the world : and it is time , yea high time to speake of this , the text of it already being written in bloud ; and no maruell if they which feele it , runne madde and wild vpon it , since wee which but see it are so much amazed at it ; for a stranger which coasteth these countries , and findeth heere and there so many thousands and thousands of sheepe , & nihil humani generis , in so many miles not a thing like a Man , might take vp a wonder , & say with himselfe ; what ? hath there bin some Sorceresse , or some Circe heere that hath transformed men into beasts ? or is it so , that men and beasts haue waged warre together ! but how was this battell fought , that sheepe got the field ? or what men were these that ranne away from sheepe ? yea rather what sheepe were these that throw down houses , townes , & churches ? oh no : these were no sheepe , they were hogges by their rooting , ye forget him that made the world for man .

Or be it that in this depopulation the beasts did not ouergo man , yet whatsoeuer is done to the wasting of mankind for the benefit of a few in the kind , is against the prouidence of God too : for God said not to Adam and to Eue at the first , Increase , but Increase and multiply , yea & fill the earth . Gen. 1. 28. Fill it : how ? not with clamors and with cries , with teares and with bloud , with mutinies and implacable rebellion as these men doe ; but fill it with men , with the image of God , with the precious seede of the diuine generation : and seeke not ( as the Prophet sayth ) by ioyning house to house , and land to land to bee alone vpon the earth . Esay . 5. Nor let your shepheardes say to you as Diogines sometime said to Timon , O that there were none but thou & I in the land ; for in the end Timon will say to Diogines againe , I like the wish well , so as when Diogines thy brother , that thy brother may liue with thee . Not meaning that vsury did kill men , but that it doth vndoe men , and vndoing is a wofull kinde of dying ; for when a man dies , he is buryed , and when he is buryed perhaps he is lamented , yet they that lamented him suruiue still , but when a man is vndon , hee dies in his estate , he dies in his reputation , he dies in his wife and children , & his whole house is like hell , euen a heape of misery , his cattell looke poorely like Pharaos leane Kine ; his Cartes driue heauilie like Pharaohs Chariots without wheeles ; and his creditors follow him , as Pharao followed the Isralites at their backs ; so as such a man may seeme to liue in Aegipt ; nay it were better by farre , to sit downe & make bricks in Aegipt ; for this is not liuing , but lingring death , & many to auoid this , choose rather to die . Therfore marke I beseech you ; yee , to whom God hath giuen the Earth in possession , & learne to be mercifull as your heauenlie Father is mercifull . For when God at the Luke . 6. 36 beginning made man , first he breathed in his face the breath of life , and then immediatlie he put him into the Garden which he had made Genes. 2. 7. 8. as much as to say , that first God gaue man life , and then presently gaue him liuing ; yea Paradise was planted first , and Man created after ; so carefull was God , not onely of Mans life , but also of his liuing , that the thing which maintained him was made before him , for if hee had giuen him life before liuing , the Father of prouidence should haue seemed to deale vnprouidently , but if he had giuen him life without liuing , the father of mercy should haue created his children vnto misery . And if ye thinke it no sin to take away the liuing where God hath giuen life , ye may think it a lesse sin to take away life , when ye haue taken away the liuing . And let it be a lesson for all states generally , not to grind the faces of the poore : but the master Esa. 3. so to wage his seruant that he may liue ; & the work-master so to wage the laborer , that he may liue , & the land-lord not to rack , but so to rate his tenant that he may liue , not miserably , for so it were better to die , but as themselues liue plentifully vnder God , so they sufficiently & contentedly vnder them ; For let men be so oppressed , that they cannot liue , & then they come to the cry of the Steward , when hee was put out off his Steward-ship ; What shall I do ! Luk. 16. and it is fearefull to thinke , what men will doe in the end . His Maister puttes him out off the Steward-shippe , and how then ? I cannot digge ( saith hee ) and yet now yee see men can digge when they bee put out : and to begge I am ashamed ; yet Men are now ashamed of nothing yea affrayd of nothing , but desperate estates breed they haue turned not stones into bread , but corne into grasse , and done for a practise that which God threatned for a plague , To take away the staffe of bread ; yea they haue turned as Achab did with Micaiah , the bread of food , into the bread of affliction . 1. King . 22. and worse then so , they haue turned men into beasts , and made them wilde and rebellious , which before were tame and obedient ; yea & worse then so , they haue turned liuing bodies into dead carkases , which though they haue iustly perisht in their rebellion ; yet as Christ saith , Luc. 17. Woe be to them by whom the offence commeth .

The next point of the answer is , that though God haue appointed man to liue by bread , yet not by bread onely . Commonly wee are thus affected to the outward meanes , that if at any time they faile vs , we are ready to curse , and finally to renounce them , as the Israelites for the sinew that shranke in Iacobs thigh , Gen. 32. vowed neuer to eate of the sinew any more : but when they stand vs in steed , and doe their seuerall offices to vs , we are ready , as the Aegiptians did with their Sheepe and Oxen , to deifie and make gods of them , & euen to say , as Exod. 32. These are thy Gods which brought thee , &c. Therefore to draw men from immoderate admiration of these inferior meanes , Christ telleth vs , that though by bread , yet not by bread onely ; for to effect things alone is proper to GOD onely , who onely can say , as Esa. 63. I haue troden the Wine-presse alone , and of all the people there was none with me : and if man should liue by bread onely , then were bread his God ; and therefore euen the same mouth which commendeth to vs the labours of our hands , condemneth likewise all confidence in our owne endeuours ; for euen in the Church where Gods owne worke is done , yet planting of it selfe , and watering of it selfe is nothing ; In policies , and in the common-wealth , Except the Lord keepe the Citty , the watch-man watcheth but in vaine : and they which asked a King to gouerne them , yet were no whit better , but rather in worse case when they had him ; Likewise in the field , A Horse is a vaine thing to saue a man ; and though a Bowe and a Sworde bee mighty weapons in the hands of the mightie , yet I will not trust in my Psal. 44. Bowe , nor shall my Sworde saue mee , saith the Psalmist .

Againe , in priuate Families , and in domesticall affaires , It is in vaine for men to rise earlie , and goe to bedde late : yea and in the very body of man , The Israelites which so lusted for meate , yet when they had meate , dyed with meate in their mouthes . Number . 11. yea and many , the more they haue , the worse they thriue , like Pharaohs leane Kine which did eate vp the fatte , and yet were neuer the fatter when they had done ; and therfore though much may be done by bread , yet nothing by bread onely .

Well then ; If not by bread onely , by what then ? By euery word that proceedeth out off the mouth of God ; where because mention is made of euery word , wee are to consider , that the word of God is manifold whereby wee liue , for first there is Verbum scriptum : the written word of God , which feedes vs with wisdom , secondly there is the word of his blessing , which strengthneth with goodnesse ; thirdly the word of especiall power which mayntaineth by miracle ; fourthly the word of promise which supporteth by faith ; & lastly euen the word of deniall which vpholdeth vs in patience .

If we speake of the written word or of the Scripture , it is true that man liueth not by bread onely , but by that too ; for Search the scriptures ( saith Christ ) for they are they which testifie of me , and in them yee shall haue life euerlasting . Iohn . 5. And it is a good barre against the Diuells temptation , when hee telleth vs of bread , and turning stones into bread , and all for bread , to tell him againe , that there is somewhat else to be cared for beside bread , that because God hath giuen vs a soule to saue , as well as a body to feed , and a belly to fill , that wee therefore should rather care to feed and instruct the soule , then to pamper the body ; especially to instruct the soule thus farre against the body , that we may learne to do no vnlawfull thing for natures necessity , nor to hazard an immortall soule , for a mortall and dying body ; And had many of vs beene as well instructed in the word of God , and in their duty to God , the King & Country , as they haue beene in the word of the diuill , and in vnlawfull meanes of recouering bread , I thinke want of bread could neuer haue raised such wicked tumults as it hath ; but a man may truly say to the most hungry soule of this tumultuous company , that when he was most oppressed , and most hungry , yet euen then he was better fed then taught .

Secondly if ye speake of , Verbum benedictionis , the word of his blessing ; it is true , that man liueth not by bread onely , but chiefelie by the blessing of God , for euery creature ( saith S. Paul ) is sanctified by the word of God . 1. Tim. 4. that is by the blessing of God , as Ambrose and Theodoret expound it . And this appeareth to vs three wayes , First because the very same thing blessed and not blessed , doth shew forth powre accordingly , as Exod. 16. when against the commandement of God they reserued of the Mannah till the morning , it putrified and stanke , yet the very same Mannah being kept by the commandement of God , was sweet & good many yeares in the Arke ; the reason of which difference was because God did giue his blessing to the one , and denied it to the other ; Secondly , whereas we by proportion feed our families , as Dauid when he feasted the people , gaue to euery one a peece of flesh , & a Cake of bread ; 2. Sam. 6. that is , so many Cakes of bread to so many people , yet God when hee pleaseth , without all proportion feedeth man ; for Math. 15. with seauen loues he fed 4000. which was much , but Math. 14. with 5. loaues he fed 5000. which was much more ; the miracle was great when it was at the least , but with the lesse prouision to feede the greater number maketh it much greater ; but the strangest miracle is in the fragments , yea in the fragments three great miracles appeared ; first that out of so small a portion feeding so many , there should come any fragments at al , next that out of the fewer loaues and the greater number to be fed , there did arise the more fragments ; & lastly that the redundance of the fragments was more then the first stock or principall store of bread ; & what is all this , but the blessing of God ? Thirdly , ( which the diuill here acknowledgeth ) God can when it pleaseth him , put the very strength of bread into a stone , yea he that can make a man of a stone , can feed him with a stone , & nourish him more with meate of lesse nourishment , then with the more , as Daniel & the rest , which liued with water & pulse , had their faces not so faire , but fairer then they which liued of the Kings owne table . Dan. 1. and what is this likewise but the blessing of God : And had we not tied our life to bread , and thought God could not haue blessed vs , but by filling our bellyes , wee should neuer haue forsaken the blessing of God , to haue falne into the curse of those conspiring brethren , Cursed be their wrath , for it was fierce , &c. Gen. 49. but it seemeth that these men when they had bread , they had it without the blessing of God , & wanted grace to vse it , and therefore now hauing no bread , they want another blessing , & know not how to want it .

Thirdly , if yee speake of verbum potentiae , the word of his powre ; that word whereof it is said , he spake the word , and it was done , it is true likewise that man liueth not by bread onely but many times by the special powre of God ; which appeareth also three waies ; first by raising vp of extraordinary meanes , as when the Israelites were in the wildernesse where the earth did yeeld no bread , the Lord did cause euen the heauen to do the office of the earth , & to raine downe bread . Secondly , as he doth strangely prouide bread , so when it pleaseth him hee can preserue life without bread , for Moses of faith ; for to him that beleeueth all things are possible . Mark . 9. Therefore if yee will haue bread , conspire not in mutinies , but conspire in mutuall prayers ; roote not vp harmelesse hedges , nor rend vp the bowells of the earth ; but looke vp to heauen from whence yee shall haue bread ; and though yee see no meanes how , yea though yee see reason to despayre , yet yee shall haue bread ; for hee hath said it who cannot deceiue , that hee will not affamish the soule of the righteous . Pro. 10.

Fiftly and lastly as there is Verbum promittens , a word of promise to rest vpon , and euery man of ordinary faith can stay himselfe on that , so is there likewise Verbum denegans , a word of deniall , whereby God saith sometimes , ye shall haue no bread at all , and ( which is the highest point of religion ) we must learne to stand fast euen in that too ; Thus stood Dauid in that great distresse by Absolon , If I shall finde fauour in the eies of the Lord , hee will bring me againe , but if he say thus I haue no delight in thee , behold heere I am , let him doe as seemeth him good . 2. Sam. 15. 25. 26. Thus affected likewise stood the three children in their fiery tryall , Our God whom we serue is able , yea and will deliuer vs out off thy handes , but if not , yet bee it knowne vnto thee , that wee will not serue thy Gods &c. Dan. 3 , 17. 18. And Iob in the highest stile and strength of patience , Though hee kill mee , yet will I trust in him . Iob. 13. 15. For though God bee alwayes mercifull to giue , yet in his wisedome hee will not giue alwayes , but sometime hee will suffer , yea hee will send men to take it from vs , for the exercise of our patience , the tryall of our fayth and for the consummating the sinnes of the cruell ; and no maruell if it be thus now , that the cruell and tyrannos , or as Eliphas sayth , The mighty , and men of authority haue the earth in possession . Iob. 22. 8. For thus it hath beene euer , and thus it will be alwayes ; and as the the Apostle sayth of the Church Oportet esse haereses , there must bee heresies . 1. Cor. 11. so saith Christ of the world , Vae mundo a scandalis , wo to the world because of offences , yet can it not bee auoyded but that offences will come . Mat. 18. yea it were rather to be maruailed at , if offences should not come , or that the world should bee in better state then it is , the Diuell beeing the God , and gouernor of it ; But how then ? shall wee therefore shake off patience , and renounce obedience , and take the sword into our owne handes , because GOD will not plant another paradise heere , and make the world as wee would haue it ? Now sure it is an easie thing to hope when we haue it at hand , and to bee patient and quiet when we lacke nothing , and euery man hath thus much religion , when God giueth him any thing , to blesse him for it : but to say with Iob , The Lord giueth , and the Lord taketh , and then Blessed be the name of the Lord : This is the perfection of religion , euen patience it selfe : and we must in pacience possesse our soules . Luke . 21. and if we be not patient in our triall , all other our Religion is nothing . Neither yet do famine and nakednes seperate vs from Christ . Rom. 8. 35. But they bring vs neerer vnto Christ , and death neerest of all , since it is the necessary office of Christian loue for Christs sake to be killed . vers . 36. and when wee are killed , yet are we more then conquerors , vers. 37. It was truely sayd , non sunt hoc tempore finita , sed mutata martyria , martyrdome is not now ended , but onely changed , for in time past men were martyred for profession of faith : but now they may bee martyrs in the preseruation of their charitie , yea wee may be Martyrs saith ( S. Gregorie ) sine ferro & sanguine , though neither sword touch vs , nor bloud come from vs : & how is that ? Si patientiam veraciter in animo custodimus , if faithfully we keepe patience in our mindes : and we may say to the oppressors of our time , as Ciprian said to the tyrants and persecutors of his time , Nobis ignominia non est pati a fratribus &c. It is no shame to vs to suffer of our bretheren what Christ suffered , nor glory to you to play that part which Iudas played ; yea rather with Tertullian , Crudelitas vestra gloria nostra , the more cruelly yee afflict vs , the more yee honor vs .