TheChurch why perfccuted. after Afhwednefdäy. .Serm.q.." This Shippewasa figure öfthe Churchswhich Godpermitteth tobe perfe-. 'cutéd, For his ownefake; For the Churches ; and For thofe that looke thereupon. ' For his ownefake ; For fhould ithaueno enemies to"perfecuteit,& hotly to affaile her Gods omnipotencie would not(hew it's glorious fplendorto the world. The forceof fire is Lene when the water cannot quench it of li h., whendarkeneffe cannot obfcure it; offweete odours, when the filthieft Tents cannot ouerconietheir fragrancie ; ofpower, when the wholeftrength of the world, nay the Deuill andHellit felfe cannot preuaile againftit. Aridthis fuc- ceedeth vnto God in the perfecution ofhis Church : for the enemies thereof haue beenmaimed and put to flight,Gods Arnie remainingfill ítrong& found. Pharaohcame brauelyonwith his Chariots and Horfemen,boafting ashee went, Perfequer,&comprehendamil!os,euaginahogladium meum, interficiet cos mamas mea, twillpurfiic them, andoutrtake them, Iwill vafheathmy Sword, andmy hand flay them : But Godbeckned vpon theewa ies,andthey (wallowedvp aliueboth him and all his Holt. Andthe Text faith That the Hebrewes faw the powerfull hand ofGodchargingvpon them,hauingplanted there in that fea theen'figne of his power. Tertullianfaithofiob,Thát Godmade hima triumphant Chariot of thefpoyles ofHell,andthat he dragged thereat along in the durt,his enemies en- liignes, to the greater difhonourof the Deuill. The like doth Goddoe in the Church,with Iewes, Moores, andHeretiches, himfelfe remaining iä11 firme againft all their furious violences,like a rock in themidst ofthe fea. Some rocks are tobe feeneeuen where the Seas are deepen ; which it feemeth God placed there ofpurpofc,in fcorne andcontempt ofthatouerfwelling pride andfurious raging ofthe fea : For though theyháue beene lathed andbeatenby them from thebeginning of theworld to this prefcnt day, theycould neuermooue, much leffe remoouethem, becaufe theyhaue fure rooting inthe bottomeof theSea. And this is aType of the Church, which Godhath placed in themiddeft of this Sea of the World, fortomake amockeof as manyas areher enemies. But Come one will fay, How can the Church becalled aRocke, beeing figu- redhereby this little Ship,which the waues thus toffevpand down in theaire? I anfwer, ThatEzechielin his twentiefeuenth Chapter,fpeaketh ofTyrus in the metaphorof an Ifle, My beautie is perfell,andmy abode is inthe midfloftheSea.And prefently changing that metaphor,hetermès it a Galley ; which is all one, as if he shouldhaue faid, ThatwithGodshelpe aGalleymaybean Ifle,and without God an Illemaybe a Galley.. So likewife the Church,albeit it bea Ship in the middeP ofthe tempeftuouswanesof the Sea, yet by the affìftanceofhis holy Spirit it may bee a perdurable Rocke. And (as Saint.luflen hath noted it) theExecutionershaue often wanted ftrength and inuentions to torment, but thereneuer wantedcouragein the Martyrsfor to fuffer,by thediuine power and fauourof God. Howföeuer thereforethe wauesfhallbeate againft this Bark; theymay wantforce toouerturne her, but the will neuer want fides to make re- fiftance. For theChurches fake ; becaufeit makesfor her goody and for her greater encreafe. This isexprefl'ed inthat Parable, Nifigranumfrumenti,Except4crain of Corne,&c. And in that other, Egofuns vitiavera,5vos palmitos, Iam the true Nine, yeeare the Branches. The happineffeof Corne confifteth in this,in that itis fowen, and inthat itdies ; That of theVine,in that it is pruned, andhath it's F ; boughes TheChurch why likened to a Rocke. The great& perfecutionof the Church,it to want perfe. cation.
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