Seven godly and learned sermons preachedSeuen godly and learned sermons preached

This promise, good brethren, of the birth of Christ, and his coming into the world, to redeem mankind, was made long before, yea, it was promised by God the Father, even in the first beginning of the world, as I have already declared unto you. And therefore in hope ⟨image 73⟩of the performance of this promise, many a godly man did put his affiance in Christ, and long before his coming had a fixed trust in the merits of his passion. The Patriarchs, the Prophets, and all such as lived under the old law, had the same Law and Testament that we now have, they had the same doctrine, the same faith, the same prayer, the same Sacraments that we now have: we drink of Christ, and so the Jews drank of Christ:¹ Bibebant de petra, petra autem erat Christus, They drank of the rock, saith Saint Paul, and the rock they drank of was Christ. They were circumcised, and so are we: for, saith Saint Paul, ²We also are circumcised, but with circumcision without hands: We are circumcised, but we are circumcised in heart by the power of the holy ghost. The Patriarchs and the Prophets knew well, and believed, that by Christ they should be redeemed, that by his only blood, shed on the cross all the world should be saved: but this they knew, this they saw, only by faith, & in spirit, for then was not Christ borne: we ⟨image 73⟩have the lamb of God offered up for us, & so had they the same lamb offered up for them. For S. John saith,³ Agnus oblatus a principio mundi, Christ was the lamb offered up from the beginning of the world. ⁴And now therefore, forasmuch as the Patriarchs, the Prophets, & the holy men in old time, had the same ••••ament, the same doctrine, the same faith, the same prayer, the same Sacraments that we have: forasmuch as they drank of Christ, as we do: forasmuch as they were circumcised, and so are we: forasmuch as they did believe that they should be saved by the death of Christ, as we do, shall we think that they were not blessed? that their eyes were not as happy as ours? that they saw not as much as we do? Shall we think that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and divers other such good men, lacked any part of their felicity? Or if they were blessed, why said Christ only to his Apostles, Blessed are the eyes which see that ye see?