A Breefe CONIECTVRALL discourse, vpon the Hierographicall letters & Caracters fovnd upon fower Fishes, taken neere Marstrand in the Kingdome of Denmarke, the 28. of Nouember 1587.
Treating by considerations Poligraphicall, Theologicall, Thalmudicall & Cabalisticall.
Seene & allowed.
AT LONDON Printed by Edward Allde, dwelling in the fore-streete without Cripple-gate, at the Signe of the golden Cup. 1589.
To the right reuerend and honorable my very good Lord, the Lord Arch-bishop of Dublin, Lord Chauncellour of Ireland, one of her Maiesties Counsell of estate within that Realme.
PIthagoras the first instructer of the Greekes in misticall and profound Philosophie, and the earnest aduoucher of vnum bonum and ens, (who deliuered vnto his hearers the pith and substance of that knowledge and science that the Egyptian prophets, the Assirian Chaldes, the Brittaine Bards, the French Druids, the Bactrian Samanaei, the Persian Magi, the Indian Gimnosophists, Anacharsis among the Scithians, in Thracia Zamolxis, and further East the Brachman Iewes did in his time and before professe) hath laide downe three thinges, (right reuerend and honorable) as steps and degrees vnto perfect, complete and absolute felicitie. Laborem virtutis, qui in actione consistit, meditationem, quae multis disciplinarum studiis nutritur, & amorem qui nos vt necessarium vinculum Deo connectit. The labour of vertue which consisteth in action, contemplation which is nourished by the studye of sundry sciences: and loue which as a necessarye knot, ioyneth vs vnto God: the first morall and ethicall, the second naturall and mathematicall, the third theologicall and deuine: All which three are so to be vnited and combined together, as none may be wanting or defectiue in him that shalbe so happie, as to attaine to the cheefest good, which though all men desire, yet the rough and narrowe waye of vertue and knowledge that leadeth ther-unto, dooth so deterre [Page]most, & the broad & plain path of pleasure & worldly vanities that withdraweth therfro, doth so allure them, that as men bewitched & depriued of true Iudgement, they willingly goe whether they would not, & willingly forgoe what they most desire, which as a mistery most deeply to be waied, Pithagoras included in a character, the better to present it to the viewe, and to imprint it in the minde of his hearers. The same vnto vs the eternall woord and wisedom of God, Christe Iesus the fountaine of true and heauenlye Philosophie, teacheth most cleerely in these woordes. Enter in at the straite gate, for it is the wide gate and broad way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which goe in therat, because the gate is straight and way narrow, that leadeth vnto life, and fewe there be that finde it. And that which Tullie reciteth of Hercules out of Xenophon: Hercules (vt est apud Xenophontem) Cum primum pubesceret (quod tempus a natura ad deligendum, quam quisque viam viuendi sit ingressurus datum est) exisse in solitudinem dicitur, atque ibi sedentem diusecum multumque dubitasse, cum duas cerneret vias; vnam voluptatis, alteram virtutis, vtram ingredi melius esset. Falleth now no doubt in question with many which neither are of so heroicall a minde, as to make Hercules choice, nor of so godlye disposition as to follow Christs counsell, bid the way of vertue and veritie farewell, and shake hands with the path of vanitie and pleasure, wherof as gracelesnes is the ground, so two speciall spurres ther-unto is fainthartednes and follye, not daring to oppose them-selues to the difficulties and incumbrances that they see in the one, sith virtus inuidiam; veritas odium parit, nor in wisdome foreseeing the mischeefe and misery wherin the other doth end, which is wel noted in the Greek Prouerbe. [...]: falsum in extremis nigrescit, Vanitie and falsehood in his extreams is black, that is, what coullour soeuer is cast ouer it, and how beautifull or faire soeuer it appeere, the ende of it will be wretched, wofull and miserable [Page]to the which, that precept of Pithagoras tendeth [...]: Ne gustes ex iis quibus est nigra cauda, that is, meddle not with those thinges whose end is doleful and lamenable. Clean contrary vnto these is vertue andveritie, which Homer represēteth by the hearb Moly, whose root is black, but whose flower is white, that is, whose beginning is dangerous and difficulte, but the end & euent sweet, pleasant and prosperous, wherfore by the guiding of his spirit, who is the authour of all grace & goodnes, endeuouring to passe through the narrowe way, what obstacles and dangers soeuer I finde in it▪ and with the labour of vertue (mencioned by Pithagoras as the first step) to exercise my selfe, holding that notable saying of Ciceroes, as a principle neuer to be forgotten, Magis est secundum naturam pro omnibus gentibus (si sieri possit) conseruandis, aut iuuandis, maximos labores molestiasque suscipere, imitantem Herculem illum (quem hominum fama beneficiorum memor in consilio coelestium collocauit, quam viuere in solitudine non modo sine vllis molestiis, sed etiam in maximis voluptatibus, abundantem omnibus copiis, vt excellas etiam pulchritudine et viribus. Quocirca optimo quisque splendidissimoque ingenio longe illam vitam huic anteponit. I haue added ther-unto some studie and meditation as the second degree, which not Pithagoras only in humaine wisdome thought necessary to be ioyned vnto action, but also by deuine instruction our Christian profession teacheth vs, which is a warfare vpon the earth euer contemplating by faith and hope, and woorking continualllye by charitie. The coupling of which two, that woorthy Souldier Monsieur Lanue, to lesse learned and vertuous, then martiall and valiant, which are the partes of a compleat Gentleman, (as Homer by assigning to Achilles, a Centaure for his Schoolmaister intimateth) in his discorses lately published, pithily perswadeth. Of which my contemplation I haue heere sent your honor some fruite, being a meditation and coniecturall discourse vpon the Hierographicall caracters and letters found on certaine fished the 28. of [Page]Nouember within six miles of Marstrand northward, neer vnto Solteror, in the Kingdome of Denmarke, the yeere 1587. in those northerne seas, whereof I haue entreated by considerations Polligraphicall, Theologicall, Thalmudicall, and Cabalisticall. and although in the last I might haue proceeded somewhat further by vnfolding the ten numerations, wherof I could haue shewed the first three to be sempiternall and to intimate the mistery of the trinitie of the next seauen, fiue to be past, and that we are now in the sixt, to the which they attribute these tearmes. Sadai, Fundamentum mundi, Sion, Deus viuus, Sabathum integrum, medium inter custodi & memento, Dies quinquagesima de Leuiathan, Ioseph, Iustus Salomon, Iusticia, robur, lignum scientiae boni & mali, foedus domini, areus testimonis gloria domini, fundamentum, Prophetiae Dauid, Redemptio Seculum animarum, & that we are hencefoorth to expect the seauenth numeration, which is the Kingdome of Heauen and eternall Sabaoth, which they expresse by these tearmes. Adonai Regnum, vita, posteriora, Finis, Ecclesia Israelis, Sponsa in canticis canticorum, Regina coeli, Virgo Israell, Mysterium legis ab ore datae, Aquila, littera quarta tetragrammati, Regnum domus Dauid, Templum Regis, Dei Ianua, Archa faederis, & duae tabulae in ea, Dominus vniuersae terrae. Yet for breuitie I haue desisted, for that euery woord is a misterie, and euery numeration would require a volume to expound it. These my slender conceipts I thought good to lay down in writing, wishing that the flint of my dull endeuours, striking on the steele of these misticaltruethes, some little sparkes might arise to enlighten our mindes, to acknowledge our dueties, and glorifie our God, that obeying him loyally, fearing him filially, and trusting in him effectuallye, we may loue him ardently, which is the third degree noted by Pithagoras, and the very next step vnto perfect blisse and eternall felicitie.
¶ A breefe coniecturall discourse Vpon the Hierographicall Letters and Caracters found vpon foure fishes: Taken neer Marstrand in the Kingdome of Denmarke, the 28. of Nouember 1587. Treating by considerations Poligraphicall, Theologicall, Thalmudicall, and Cabalisticall.
THe first two Letters J take to signifie sixe or the sixth, numerally so expressed [...] the third letter in like sorte expresseth an hundred or the hundreth. [...] the one that followeth as the fourth letter with [Page]the caracter of s & M ioyned thus: [...] I interpret vno simul millenario, also one thousand. The Caracter following is an I, hauing in it contained an F thus: [...] which beeing placed next the s M & not on the other side of the F, sheweth that it is to be pronoūced before the I: & on that side lesse annoyeth the proportion of the I, I conceiue it to signifie finitis or finientibus, ending or ended, the I. I take to stand for iuste. The next caracter is an V an M & an I ioyned & coupled [...] which may well signifie viuos mortuosque iudica turus, to iudge the quicke & the dead. The last letter on the left side is [...] with a tittle on his head, which I interpret to stand for Iesus. On the other side, the first letter is an v thus [...] the next wherin I finde an e thus [...] an N [...] a T thus [...] an V thus [...] an R thus [...] an other V thus: [...] an S thus [...], which all put togither, make this woord ƲENTVRVS. The last Caracter, is an V with a minum on the oneside & a tittle thus [...] the minum & the tittle make an s & an m, & so the woord is sum. which ioyned with the former: is venturus sum, I will come, if the tittle had been ioyned to the rest, the s had been perfect, but them no way intimated, but by the placing of it as it is, them by the tittle is expressed, & the s [...]ly intimated.
The nu [...]ber h [...] expressed of one thousand six hundreth, is well woorthy the consideracion, for besides that it is a square number of highest perfection, as beeing foure times foure: S. Iohn in the 14. of the Reuel: vers. 20. includeth in that number, very great misteries, mencioning therin both a time of the execution of Gods iudgement against his aduersaries, & also the eternitie of that execution, discoursing immediatly before of the end of the World, reciting the parable of Christe out of the 13. of Math. The haruest is the end of the world & the reapers be the Angelles. &c. [Page]the Sonne of man shal send foorth his Angells, & they shal gather out of his kingdome all thinges that offend, & them which doo iniquitie, and shall cast them into a furnace of fier, there shall be wayling and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the iust men shine as the Sunne in the Kingdome of their Father. He that hath eares to heare let him heare, he vseth also in a manner the very woordes of the Prophet Ioell.Ioel. 3.13. Put in your sithes, for the haruest is ripe, come get you down, for the wine presse is full: yea the wine presses runne ouer, for their wickednes is great, and then concludeth. And the wine presses were trodden without the Cittie, and blood came out of the wine presse, euen to the horsse bridles, (that is to the very princes & gouernors of the people) by the space of a 1000. and 600. furlonges. In the Scriptures besides there is found oftentimes comparisons betweene the first Adam and the second, betweene the ende of the world, and the flood of Noe, wherto Christe hath especiall relation in the gospell: Sith thē from the creation of the first Adam, to the flood of Noe, there were of hundreds of yeeres, but sixteene, what know we if the same number, or the like of yeeres shall be betweene the birth and in carnation of the second Adam, and the end of the world? Surely our best will be, to be alwaies readye, although of the daies and times we may not determine. Moreouer for our better comfort we are to note the woord VICI, which is cleare without obscuritie, that the language may appeere to be Lattin, wherin the mistery is to be sought, and especially to shewe that Antichrist is ouercome by the spirite of Christes mouth, and shortly shalbe abolished by his glorious comming. Lastly, that like a Grant he hath runne out his race in his militant Church, since his incarnation that his trueth is spread to the endes of the world, and as it is in the 19. Psal. That the heauens, Psal. 19. (that is, the Church and faithfull people of God) declare the glorye of God, and the firmament, that is the lawes sheweth his handy woork, that one day telleth another, that is, one plaine testimony confirmeth another, and one night [Page]certifieth another, that is, one mistery expoundeth another, that there is neither speeche nor language, but their voices are heard among them, their sound, that is the sounde of his woord and Ministers is gone out into all landes, and their woordes into the ends of the world. In them hath hee set a Tabernacle for the Sonne, euen for him selfe the sonne of righteousnes, which commeth foorth as a Bridegroome out of his chamber, and reioyceth as a Giant to run his course: it goeth foorth from the vttermost part of heauen, and runneth about to the end therof againe, and there is nothing hid from the heate therof. This misticall sence, of this Psalme, though by a singuler learned man whome I both rewe and reuerence, vndiscreetly reproued. The holy Ghost by S. Paule, hath taught vs in the Rom. 10. vers. 18.Rom. 10.18. n="*" Luk. 24.44. And Christe telleth vs that all must be fulfilled that is written of him in the lawe of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalmes, wherfore as our most bright glorious Sonne of righteousnes at his firste entrye into this Zodiake, discouered him selfe by the voice of Angells in the feelde vnto Shepheards, as it were in Ariete the firste signe, so he seemeth vnto me now, hauing in a manner finished the course of his Zodiake, and being realy to bring vs into the eternall sabaoth, to warne vs by diuine caracters, shewed [...]t Sea in fish vnto fishers, as it were in Piscibus, the last signe therof. And that Christe is likened vnto the Sunne, hath beene obserued by diuers learned men, and especiallye by that most famous and learned Gentleman, Iohn Picus Earle of Mirandula, in the 4. chap. of his seauenth book of his Heptaphis, or exposition vpon the firste of Genesis, his woordes are these. Si numerus quaternarius plenitudo est numerorum, nonne erit dies quartus plenitudo dierum? videte igitur quid nobis afferat quartꝰ dies. Coelum secundo die firmatum, id est, lex sine sole & luna, ac stellis erat, capax quidem futurae lucis, sed obscurum adhuc nec insigni aliquo lumine illustratum aduenit dies quartꝰ, quo sol, Dominus firmamenti, id est, Christꝰ, Dominus legis, & lunaris ecclesia Christi compar & sponsa, & qui multos [Page]ad iustitiam erudirent, Apostolici doctores in firmamento vti stellae in perpetuas aeternitates elucescerent ad aeternam scilicet vitam mundum vocantes. Of the same minde were the auncient Hebrewes and Thalmudistes, who holde it as a principle, that the sixe daies of the creation betokened the sixe thousand yeeres of the worlde, so that the first day should prefigure thinges to be doone in the firste thousand yeere, the second day the euentes of the second thousand yeere, and in like sorte the rest of the dayes, the rest of the other thousand yeeres, as hath beene obserued among the Hebrewes, by Moses Gerundinensis, a Deuine with thē of great account among the learned Fathers, by S. Hierom. in the exposition of the Psal. attributed to Moses, among the late writers by Stelco a Germaine, in his booke of the second comming of Christe, and very worthilye to be noted are the woordes of the Earle of Mirandula, to the Iewes. Quid caecisolem expectatis? adest sol & lucet sed lucet in tenebris & tenebrae vestrae illum non comprehendunt, preteriit dies quartus quo ortus est sol qui non dissoluit legemsed perfecit siout neque sol firmamentum destruit sed exornat, sed perficit, sed illustrat, probauimus ex or dine quarti diei & tempore aduentus Christi (qui in fine quarti millenarii quasi quarti diei advenerit) intelligenda de eo quae his dicuntur, quiaper nullam aliam rem imaginari Christum congruentius possumus, quam per solem. Nam & in sole posuit tabernaculum suum, & exiit de tribu Iuda, cuius signum est Leo, Solare animal & cum solem in republica Plato visibilem filium dei appellet, cur non intelligamus nos imaginem esse inuisibilis filii. Qui si lux vera est illuminans omnem mentem, expressissimum habet simulachrum, hunc solem, qui est lux imaginaria illuminans omne corpus, sed quid alia quaerimus, ipsum solem interrogemus qui patiente Christo aduersa luna deficiens, consensum nobis suae naturae euidenter ostendit, vt iure optimo nos ne tanquam altiorem causam diem, quam vocant mathematici, Solis, diem Domini vocauerimus & illius cultui totam mancipauerimus. Ʋel huic ostendentes non esse cur amplius corporeum solem (vt olim gentes) [Page]colamus quasi reg [...] caeli & Dominum, postquam sol innisibilis coaeternus patri & coaequalis, [...]er quem & coelum & terra condita su [...] sedentes in [...]mbra mortis homines illuminauit. Moreouer the Thalmudists by a tradition from Helias, attribute the time of Christes comming to the ende of the fourth thousand yeere, and the world after to continue for two thousand, but thereof some yeeres they saye shall be abridged, for the iniquitie that in those dayes shall raigne. The woordes are these. &c [...]
THe Sonnes or Schollers of Helias said, the world shall continue sixe thousand yeeres, two thousand void, two thousand the Lawe, two thousand Christ, and for our sins which are many, those yeeres are cut off, that are cut off. Most blinde therfore and peruerse are the Iewes that see not this most bright resplendent and euer glorious Sunne, shining in the firmament of his church, and with no lesse blindenesse are the Papists striken who acknowledge not the woordes of Esdras in this age to be perfourmed, where he prophesieth that after the third trumpet, the Sonne, that is Christe by his gospell and trueth shall sodainlye shine againe in the night, which after the third fiue hundred yeeres, after Christes firste comming we see accomplished. Of the errour and ignoraunce of former times, what can be plainer then his woordes preceeding, which are these. Beholde the time shall come, that they whi [...] dwell vpon the earth, shalbe taken in a great number, and the way of the trueth shall be hid, and the land shall be barren from faith, and iniquitie shall be increased more then thou hast seene now, or hast heard in time past, and it shall come to passe, that one shall set in foote, and thou shalt see the land desolate, which now raigneth. That is, Antichrist shall put in foot with his spirituall Babilon, and the other Babilon which then raigned, should be desolate. Yea if God graunt thee to liue, thou shalt see after the third trumpet that the Sunne shall sodenlye shine againe in the night, and the Moone three times a day. Which manifestlye [Page]sheweth, that the gospell and doctrine of Christe shalbe republished vpon earth, and giue vnto the church after long darkenes, wonderfull illumination: which also he sheweth in his 2. book, chap. 7. For my sonne Iesus shall appeere with those that be with him, and they that remaine shall reioyce within foure hundred yeeres. Which was performed by the peace and prosperitie of the church, after Constantine the Great, in whose time the cruell persecution of the church by the Romaine Emperours did cease, after the same yeeres, or the same number of yeeres, shall my Sonne Christ dye, and all men that haue life: that is, the trueth of the doctrine shalbe extinguished, and the faithfull teachers shal vtterly decay, by the end of the like number of yeeres▪ & the world shalbe turned into the olde silence, for seauen daies, as in the former iudgmentes, so that no man shal remain, that is, for seauen hundred yeeres the world shall returne to ignorance, superstition, & grosse idolatrie, as in the time of Paganisme, so that no man shall remaine sound and sincere in the trueth. But after seauen daies, the world that is yet a sleep, shalbe raised vp, and that shall dye, which is corrupt: that is, after those seauen hundred yeers, the world that slept in ignorance, shalbe raised vp vnto knowledge, the trueth shalbe republished, and that shall dye that is corrupt, that is Babilon shall fall, errour and Idolatrie shal perish and decay. Then the earth shal restore those that haue slept in her, and so shall the dust those that dwell therin in silence, and the secret places shall deliuer the soules that were committed vnto them, and the most high shall appeere vpon the seate of Iudgement, and miseries shall vanishe away, and long suffering shall haue an end, all which signifie the ende of the world, and finall iudgement. Fiue thinges are orderlye intimated vnto vs, by this prophesie, first the appeering of Christ in the fleshe with his Apostles and Disciples. Secondlye the persecutions of the Primitiue church, and the ende thereof. Thirdlye the obscuration and decay of the trueth, with the worlds returning into [Page]former ignorance and idolatrye. Fourthlye, the restitution of the trueth and decay of errour. Fiftly and lastly, which wee are now shortlye to expect: the resurrection of the dead, and last iudgement.
Heerunto may well be added the obseruation of some learned men of the misteries contained in the woord בראשית In principio, the firste woord of Genesis, and of Saint Iohns gospell, which waide, will not onlye acquainte vs with the Bresith of the Thalmudists, but also lift vp our mindes to the Cabalistes Mercana, and giue light vnto these secrets that we haue heere intreated off. If we ioyne the third letter of that woord vnto the firste, it maketh אב if doubling the first, we adde the second we finde בבר if besides the firste wee reade the rest, it is ראשית if the fourth be put to the first and last, it maketh שבת if the three first be read togeather, it is ברא if the first left out the three next be read, we finde ראש if we leaue the two first, and reade the two nexte, it is אש if we ioyne the fourth with the last, it maketh שת if the second with the firste, it produceth רב if the two first with the two last, it yeeldeth ברית if the last with the first, it maketh תב so that out of this one woord, thus varied and deuided according to the rules of the ancient Hebrewes, we finde twelue woords deduced. Thus interpreted in the English.
The Father in his Sonne and by his Sonne, hath created the beginning and ending, or Sabaoth, beeing the head, fire and foundation of the great man in & by a good league or couenaunt.
That God hath created all thinges in Christe Iesus his eternall wisdome: Saint Paule witnesseth in the firste to the Colossians, where he teacheth vs, that Christe is the Image of the inuisible God, the first begotten of euery creature, for by him were all thinges created, which are in heauen and earth, thinges visible and inuisible, whether they be thrones, or Dominions, or principallities, or powers, all things were created by him and for him, and he [Page]is before all thinges, and in him all thinges consist, and he is the head of the bodye of the Church, he is the beginning and the firste borne of the dead, that in all thinges he might haue the preheminence, for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullnes dwell.
Thus we see all thinges are created in him and by him, and that he is the beginning and ending or Sabaoth, as him selfe testifieth in the Reuelation, Chap 22. saying: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and ending, the first and the last.
Moreouer we are to consider what the great man is, whose head, fire and foundation is Christe, the Sonne of God. It is doubtlesse the Church his misticall bodye, most rightly tearmed magnus homo, and not the world, as Pious Earle of Mirandula, though singularly learned, erroniously dooth enterprete.
This great man, the Church, the misticall bodye of Christ hath the Sonne of God for his head, as Saint Paule before hath taught vs, as also we learne in the firste to the Ephesians, that Christe is set at the right hand of the Father in the heauenlye places, farre aboue all principalities and powers, might and domination, and euery name that is named, not in this world only, but also in that that is to come, & that God hath made al thinges subiect vnder his feet, & hath appointed him ouer al things to be head of the church. That he likewise is the foundation, the Apostle teacheth vs, 1. Cor. Chap 3. other foundation can no man lay then that which is laide, which is Christe Iesus. That he is the fire that tryeth and purgeth, that shineth and enlightneth, that warmeth and comforteth it, we are taught in the Scriptures: so learn we of Paule in the place last recited, euery mans woork shalbe made manyfest, for the day shall declare it, because it shalbe reuealed by the fire, and the fire shall try euery mans woork, of what sort it is, so Christ himselfe telleth vs, Luke chap 12. I am come to put fire on the earth, and what is my desire but that it be already kindled.
So reade we in Esdras. Lib 2. chap. 13. And this my Sonne shall rebuke the wicked inuentions of those nations which for their wicked life are fallen into the tempest, and into tormentes like to flame, wherby they shalbe tormented, and without any labour will he destroy them, euen by the Lawe which is compared to fire. And in Deutero. chap. 4. and to the Hebr. chap. 12. we are taught that our God is a consuming fier, and as hee before shewed, Christ is the Sun shining whose heate resembling the fier, enlightneth, warmeth, and comforteth the same of whome the Psalmist alluding to the sunne, telleth vs of: His going out, is from the end of the heauen, and his compasse is to the end of the same, and nothing is hid from the heate thereof. Thus Christ Iesus God and man is the head, fire, and foundation of the Church, and all this faedere bono, in or by a good league and couenaunt. This is the couenaunt which God made with the Patriarkes and Prophets, which was shadowed out in the Law and in the Leuiticall ceremonies, which was manifested in Christe, and publshed by the Apostles, and shalbe fully accomplished in the most blessed, happie, and neuer ending Sabaoth, vnto al those that are members of this misticall body, and therby pertakers of this couenaunt, which rightlye is tearmed good, both for that it proceedeth from the infinite and inexplicable mercie of God, the fountaine of all goodnes, and for that it leadeth vs into the fauour and fruition of God, the cheefe good, wherein consisteth our eternall blisse and euerlasting felicitie. It resteth that wee now by contemplation entring into the Cabalisticall Mercana, consider deepelye the course that this most glorious Sonne hath heald in this body magni hominis, of the great man his church, and therby shall we see in what time of the great yeere, not of Plato, but of Christe we liue in, and how neere wee approche to the eternall Iubile, and Sabaoth of Sabaoths, to the which, his yeere and annus solaris in this world finished, he will bring vs to raigne with him in his triumphant and euerlasting Kingdome, eternally & world [Page]without end. At his first incarnation, when as personallye hee was amongst vs, beeing the roofe and head of his body and temple the church, he shewed him selfe in him selfe, by the voice of Angells in the feeld vnto shepheards, as it were in ariete, the signe properlye attributed to the head, since: by his vertue and power hauing passed all the signes and partes magni hominis, of this great man his Church, hee now sheweth him selfe in the Sea vnto Fishers in Piscibꝰ the last and lowest signe, to signifie that he now is in the feete and foundation thereof, whereby his course in the militant church neere ending, he warneth vs to prepare our selues for his second comming, most terrible to the wicked, most comfortable to the Godly, who hauing ouerthrowne Antichrist and his host, and therby gotten victorye of the beast, and of his image, and of his mark, and of the number of his name: shall shortlye stand at the glassie Sea mingled with fire, hauing the Harpes of God, and shall sing the song of Moses the seruant of God, and of the Lambe, saying: great and merueilous are thy woorks, Lord God almightie, iust and true are thy waies, King of Saintes. Who shall not feare thee o Lord, and glorifie thy name, for thou only art holy, and all nations shall come and woorship before thee, for thy iudgementes are made manifest. Christ of his mercy graunt, that as he warneth vs sundry waies, that he will come, both by his woords and by his woorkes, and by his wonders, saying.Reue. 22.7. Beholde I come shortly, and againe, beholde I come shortlye; and my reward is with me, and againe, surely I come quickly, and now lastly if we vnderstand it aright, venturus sum, I am comming, so we with faithfull and reioycing hartes, may together with the spirit and the spouse, say come, and let him that heareth, say come, and let him that is a thirst come, and let whosoeuer will take the water of life freelye, euen so come Lord Iesus, and while we expect thy comming,Reue. 22.17. Reue. 22.20. instruct vs with the woord, defend vs with thy might, endue vs with thy grace, and enlighten vs with thy lawe.
THe Law of the Lord is an vndefiled Lawe, conuerting the soule, the testimonye of the Lord is sure, and giueth wisdome vnto the simple.
The statutes of the Lord are right and reioyce the hart: the commaundementes of the Lord are pure, and giueth light vnto the eyes.
The feare of the Lord is cleane, and endureth for euer: the iudgmentes of the Lord are trueth: they are righteous, alltogether.
And more to be desired then golde, yea, then much fine gold, sweeter also then honie, and the honye Combe.
More-ouer by them is thy seruant made circumspect, and in keeping of them there is great rewarde.
Who can vnderstand his faultes? cleanse me from secret faultes.
Keepe thy seruant also from presumptuous sinnes: let them not raigne ouer me: so shall I be vpright, and made cleane from much wickednes.
Let the woordes of my mouth, and the meditation of mine hart be alway acceptable in thy sight,
O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.