Others came afterward, and set up all these kinds of massing, all these kinds of iniquity. What an abomination is it! the foulest that ever was, to attribute to man's work our salvation. God be thanked that we have this blessed communion set forth so now, that we may comfort, increase, and fortify our faith at that blessed celebration. If he be guilty of the body of Christ, that takes it unworthily; he fetcheth great comfort at it, that eats it worthily: He doth eat it worthily, that doth eat it in faith. In faith? in what faith? Not long ago a great man said in an audience, "They babble much of faith, I will go lie with my whore all night, and have as good a faith as the best of them all." I think he never knew other, but the whoremonger's faith. It is no such faith that will serve. It is no bribing judge's, or justice's faith, no rent-raiser's faith, no whoremonger's faith, no lease-monger's faith, nor no seller of benefices's faith; but the faith in the passion of our Saviour Christ. We must believe that our Saviour Christ hath taken us again to his favour, that he hath delivered us his own body and blood, to plead with the devil, and by merit of his own passion, of his own mere liberality. This is the faith, I tell you, that we must come to the communion with, and not the whoremonger's faith. Look where remission of sin is, there is acknowledging of sin also. Faith is a noble duchess, she hath ever her gentleman-usher going before her, the confessing of sins: she hath a train after her, the fruits of good works, the walking in the commandments of God. He that believeth will not be idle, he will walk, he will do his business; have ever the gentlemanusher with you. So if ye will try faith, remember this rule, consider whether the train be waiting upon her. If you have another faith than this, a whoremonger's faith, you are like to go to the scalding-house, and there you shall have two dishes, weeping and gnashing of teeth; much good do it you, you see your fare. If ye will believe and acknowledge your sins, you shall come to the blessed communion of the bitter passion of Christ worthily, and so attain to everlasting life; to the which the Father of heaven bring you and me. Amen.

THE

LAST SERMON

PREACHED BEFORE KING EDWARD,

ANNO DOMINI, 1550.

LUKE xii. 15.

Videte et cavete ab avaritia.

Take heed and beware of covetousness.

TAKE heed and beware of covetousness:-Take heed and beware of covetousness:-Take heed and beware of covetousness. And what and if I should say nothing else, these three or four hours (for I know it will be so long, in case I be not commanded to the contrary) but these words, "Take heed and beware of covetousness;" it would be thought a strange sermon before a king, to say nothing else but Cavete ab avaritia, "Beware of covetousness. And yet as strange as it is, it would be like the sermon of Jonas, that he preached to the Ninevites; as touching the shortness, and as touching the paucity or fewness of the words. For his sermon was, Ad huc quadraginta dies, et Nineve subvertitur, "There is yet forty days to come, and Nineveh shall be destroyed." Thus he walked from street to street, and from place to place round about the city, and said nothing else; but "There is yet forty days, (quoth he,) and Nineveh shall be destroyed." There is no great odds nor difference, at the least-wise in the number of words, no nor yet in the sense or meaning between these two sermons; "There is, yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed;" and these words that I have taken to speak of this day: "Take heed, and beware of covetousness." For Nineveh should be destroyed for sin, and of their sins covetousness was one, and one of the greatest; so that it is all one in effect. And as they be like concerning the shortness, the paucity of

words, the brevity of words, and also the meaning and purpose; so I would they might be like in fruit and profit. For what came of Jonah's sermon? what was the fruit of it? Ad prædicationem Jona crediderunt Deo, "At the preaching of Jonas they believed God." Here was a great fruit, a great effect wrought. What is that same; they believed God? They believed God's preacher, God's officer, God's minister, Jonas, and were converted from their sin. They believed that, (as the preacher said,) if they did not repent and amend their life, the city should be destroyed within forty days. This was a great fruit! for Jonas was but one man, and he preached but one sermon, and it was but a short sermon neither, as touching the number of words: and yet he turned all the whole city great and small, rich and poor, king and all.

We be many preachers here in England, and we preach many long sermons, yet the people will not repent nor convert. This was the fruit, the effect, and the good that his sermon did, that all the whole city at his preaching converted, and amended their evil living, and did penance in sack-cloth. And yet here in this sermon of Jonas is no great curiousness, no great clerkliness, no great affectation of words, nor of painted eloquence; it was none other but, Ad huc quadraginta dies et Nineve subvertitur, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed:" it was no more. This was no great curious sermon, but this was a nipping sermon, a pinching sermon, a biting sermon; it had a full bite, it was a nipping sermon, a rough sermon, and a sharp biting sermon. Do you not here marvel that these Ninevites cast not Jonas in prison, that they did not revile him, and rebuke him? They did not revile him, nor rebuke him; but God gave them grace to hear him, and to convert and amend at his preaching. A strange matter, so noble a city to give place to one man's sermon. Now England cannot abide this gear, they cannot be content to hear God's minister, and his threatening for their sin, though the sermon be never so good, though it be never so true. It is, a naughty fellow, a seditious fellow, he maketh trouble and rebellion in the realm; he lacketh discretion. But the Ninevites rebuked not Jonas that he lacked discretion, or that he spake out of time, that his sermon was out of season made: But in England, if God's preacher, God's minister, be any thing quick, or do speak

sharply, then he is a foolish fellow, he is rash, he lacketh discretion. Now a days if they cannot reprove the doctrine that is preached, then they will reprove the preacher, that he lacketh due consideration of the times, and that he is of learning sufficient, but he wanteth discretion.

"What a time is this, picked out to preach such things! he should have a respect and a regard to the time, and to the state of things, and of the commonweal." It rejoiceth me sometimes, when my friend cometh and telleth me that they find fault with my discretion, for by likelihood, think I, the doctrine is true; for if they could find fault with the doctrine, they would not charge me with the lack of discretion, but they would charge me with my doctrine, and not with the lack of discretion, or with the inconveniency of the time.

I will now ask you a question; I pray you, when should Jonas have preached against the covetousness of Nineveh, if the covetous men should have appointed him his time? I know that preachers ought to have a discretion in their preaching, and that they ought to have a consideration and respect to the place, and the time that he preacheth in; as I myself will say here that I would not say in the country for no good. But what then? Sin must be rebuked, sin must be plainly spoken against. And when should Jonas have preached against Nineveh, if he should have forborn for the respect of the times, or the place, or the state of things there? For what was Nineveh? A noble, a rich, and a wealthy city. What is London to Nineveh? Like a village, as Islington, or such another, in comparison of London. Such a city was Nineveh, it was three days' journey to go through every street of it, and to go but from street to street. There were noblemen, rich men, wealthy men, there were vicious men, and covetous men, and men that gave themselves to all voluptuous living, and to worldliness of getting riches. Was this a time well chosen and discreetly taken of Jonas, to come and reprove them of their sin, to declare unto them the threatenings of God, and to tell them of their covetousness, and to say plainly unto them, that except they repented and amended their evil living, they and their city should be destroyed of God's hand within forty days? And yet they heard Jonas and gave place to his preaching. They heard the threatenings of God, and feared his stroke

and vengeance, and believed God, that is, they believed God's preacher and minister, they believed that God would be true of his word that he spake by the mouth of his prophet, and thereupon did penance, to turn away the wrath of God from them. Well, what shall we say? I will say this and not spare; Christ saith, Nineveh shall arise against the Jews at the last day, and bear witness against them; because that they hearing God's threatening for sin, Ad prædicationem Jona in cinere et sacco egerunt penitentiam," They did penance at the preaching of Jonas in ashes and sackcloth," (as the text saith there :) and I say Nineveh shall arise against England, thou England, Nineveh shall arise against England, because it will not believe God, nor hear his preachers that cry daily unto them, nor amend their lives, and especially their covetousness. Covetousness is as great a sin now as it was then; and it is the same sin now it was then. And he will as sure strike for sin now, as he did then. But ah, good God, that would give them a time of repentance, after his threatening. First, to see whether they would amend or not, or he would destroy them. For even from the beginning of the world they fell to sin. The first age from Adam, which was about two thousand years, they fell ever to sin, and they had preachers, Noah, and Enoch, and other holy fathers. And in that time a great multiplication was that grew in two thousand years; for that scripture saith, "The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives from among all that they had chosen." This is a long matter to speak of all. But what meaneth this, the sons of God saw the daughters of men? who were these sons of God?

The sons of God were those that came of the good men, of the good preachers, of the holy fathers, that were God's men; as they that came of Seth and Enoch, that were good men, and of others. For our grandmother Eve, when Cain had killed Abel, and when she had another son by Adam, who was called Seth, what did she? she gave thanks to God for him, and acknowledged that God it was which had given him unto her; for she said, Dedit mihi Deus semen pro Abel quem occidet Cain, "God (said she) hath given me another seed instead of Abel whom Cain slew."

Here is a long matter to talk on. Some will say, was this a