A06508:141
A fruitful and godly exposition and declaration of the kingdom of Christ and of…A frutefull and godly exposition and declaracion of the kyngdom of Christ and of…
A fruitful and godly exposition and declaration of the kingdom of Christ and of the christen liberty, made upo[n] the words of the prophet Jeremy in the xxij. chapter, with an exposition of the viij. Psalm, entreating of the same matter, by the famous clerk Doctor Martin Luther, whereunto is annexed A godly sermon, of Doctor Urbanus Regius, upon the ix. Chapter of Matthew of the woman that had an issue of blood & of the rulers daughter, newly translated out of high Almain.A frutefull and godly exposition and declaracion of the kyngdom of Christ and of the christen lybertye, made vpo[n] the wordes of the prophete Jeremye in the xxij. chapter, with an exposycyon of the viij. Psalme, intreatyng of the same matter, by the famous clerke Doctor Martyn Luther, whereunto is annexed A godly sermon, of Doctor Urbanus Regius, vpon the ix. Chapyter of Mathewe of the woman that had an issew of blood & of the rulers daughter, newly translated oute of hyghe Almayne.
London: printed by S. Mierdman for Gwalter Lynne, 1548
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The sons of this world can not find or know from whence that other is done that is to say, that the world believeth the resurrection, except they shall believe also the third point, that is to say, that it was done by the Apostles, men believing their preaching & sermons. Our faith dependeth not of opinions of men, ⟨image 69⟩nor hath causes set and grounded upon reason, as philosophy or worldly sciences, but it dependeth & consisteth all in the word of God. What things soever god hath promised, he may perform them, & no man may let it. The world knoweth nothing of the word & power of God, it believeth not the first article of the almighty power of God, and of the creation & conservation of all things, it hath regard only upon creatures & their mutations, it seeth death, but it can see nothing else here, than these things, which may be apprehended, with corporal & outward senses, that is to say, a wench their lying, stiff, horrible in sight, dead and destitute of all her strengths: It seeth also, that she being dead, can not help her self, that none in earth can call her again unto life. Reason thinketh upon nothing, but mans strengths, it can not go further, & therefore it mocketh the words of Christ. For as all worldly power may not make a creature of nothing, so it may not raise up again a dead man. Therefore if we look and regard ⟨image 70⟩only mans power & strengths, than our labour is in vain, and it is plainly impossible that a dead man be called again to life, & arise again. Wherefore it is necessary that we have regard here unto the divine power & strengths of the creator, except we desire to err and blaspheme with the wicked and mischievous world. Who is he that saith, the wench sleepeth? If I or any other pure tried man should say these words of him self, than should there be only consolation of the words, & nothing else. For we may not call again a dead man unto life of our proper strengths, as we call up a man sleeping naturally in his bed. But here speaketh that great man, that greatest noble Lord, which can order & rule death at his pleasure. Here speaketh the creator and first maker himself of all things of his own creature, which he made before of nothing of whom John and Paul bear witness, 1that all things be made by him, & they have there buying by him.