art also the head of the Elect that Israel of God Gal. 6.16 Ver. 4. Then said I I have laboured in vaine I have done little more than preached my hearers to hell The Pharisees and the Lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves Luk. 7.30 they would not be forewarned to flee from the wrath to come Mat. 3.7 to escape the damnation of hell Mat. 23.33 Our Saviour lost his sweet words upon them so did the Prophet Isaiah upon his untoward Countrymen who refused to be reformed hated to be healed Nothing was unconquerable to his pains who had as one saith of Jul. Scaliger a golden wit in an iron body but this matter was not malleable hence he spake to them to as little purpose as Bede did when he preached to an heap of stones Hence his complaint chap. 53.1 Who hath beleeved our report he might haply hope at first as holy Melanchthon did that it was impossible for his hearers to withstand the evidence of the Gospel but after he had been a Preacher a while 't is said be complained that old Adam was too hard for young Melanchthon Reverend Mr. Greenham besides his publike paines in season and out of season was wont to walk out into the fields and to confer with his neighbours as they were at plough But Dry-Draiton the place where he was Minister many years though so often watered with his teares prayers and paines was little the better for all Mr. Fullers Church-hist the generality of his parish remained ignorant and obstinate to their Pastours great grief and their own greater dammage and disgrace Hence the verses Greenham had pastures green But sheep full lean c. He might well cry out as many also do at this day Eheu quam pingui macer est mihi taurus in arvo Our people alasse are like Labans-lambs or Pharaohs kine they are even Ministrorum opprobria But if Ministers toyle all night and take nothing 't is to be feared saith one well that Satan caught the fish ere they came at their net Yet surely my judgement is with the Lord He will do me right and reward me howsoever The Physician hath his praise and pay though his Patient dyes The Lawyer hath his see though his Clients cause miscarry Curam exigeris non curationem saith Bernard to a frienk of his Jer. 20. it is the care not the cure of your charge that is charged upon you Jeremy was impatient and would preach no more but that might not be Mr. Greenham left Dry-Draiton upon friends importunity and removed to London but he afterwards repented it Latimer speaking of a certain Minister who gave this answer why he left off preaching because he saw he did no good This saith Latimer is a naughty a very naughty answer Ver. 5. To bring Jacob again to him To convert and reduce him to the fold this is the proper work of the Archshepherd 1 Pet. 2.25 and 3.18 and 5.4 Men may speak perswasively but Christ alone can perswade the heart Meum est docere saith Cyril vestrum auscultare Dei verò perficere Though Israel be not gathered Viz. By Gods Word which is his Arme chap. 53.1 or will not be gathered as Mat. 23.37 Yet I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord Who will reward me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to my paines and not according to my successe yea it is more than probable that such as patiently persist in the work of the ministery Secundum laborem non secundum proventum Bern. though few or none be converted thereby shall have a greater measure of glory than those that see much fruit of their labours and so have their honey-comb here to feed on Ver. 6. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles De vocatione gentium illustre testimonium and to this purpose it is cited by Paul and Barnabas Act. 13.47 See Joh. 12.46 Luk. 1.78 79. That thou mayst be my Salvation Vide quam Deo cordi curae sit salus nostra A Lap cum eam vocat suam See how God mindeth and fancieth our salvation when he calleth it here his salvation Ver. 7. To him whom man despiseth Christ was extreamly despised in the state of his humiliation Isa 53.2 3. his Soul was filled with scorn and contempt as Psal 123.3 4. he was hartily hated To him whom the Nation abhorreth Hierom saith that to this day that execrable nation curseth Christ three times a day in their Synagogues and professeth that if their Messiah should come rather than the Gentiles should share with them in his benefits they would crucifie him over and over To a servant of Rulers Christ was basely used by the Rulers of the Jews who never left till they had nailed him to the Tree which was a slaves death among the Romans Kings shall see and arise Princes also shall worship As did Constantine Theodosius Valentinian Charles the Great c. who called themselves vasallos Christi the vasals of Christ And he shall choose thee i. e. He shall declare that he hath chosen thee to be the Saviour of his people Ver. 8. In an acceptable time Heb. In a time of my good pleasure or goodwill i. e. when of free grace I am pleased to send thee into the world and to cause the Gospel to be preached all abroad thereby declaring my self fully appeased which the men of my good will as the Elect are called Luk. 2.14 Confer 2 Cor. 6.2 Have I heard thee Or will I hear thee sc interceding and will I help thee sc conflicting And give thee for a Covenant i. e. For a Mediatour of the New Covenant which is ratified by thy blood as was signified by the book sprinkled with the blood of the slain sacrifice To establish the earth Had not Christ undertook the shattered condition of the world to uphold it it had faln about Adams cares To cause to inherit the desolate heritages i. e. Heaven forfeited by us in our first Parents or as others the Countries of the Nations now converted Ver. 9. That thou mayst say to the prisoners i. e. To such as lie hampered and enthralled in the invisible chaines of the Kingdom of darkness To these Christ saith be refreshed with the light of saving knowledge and with the liberty of the sons of God They shall feed in the wayes As cattle do that are removed from place to place they shall have a subsistence till they get home to their Fathers house where is bread enough Ver. 10. They shall not hunger nor thirst A sufficiency the Saints have even of outward comfotts if not a superfluity and for inward sunt nobis pascua pocula panis coelestis they shall not want Psal 23.1 yea they shall over-exceedingly abound 2 Cor. 7.4 So little cause is there for the Jew to jear us as poor and forlorn spiritual alimony we are sure of and bread and water with the Gospel are good chear See Rev.
ingagements which when it was once done a most joyful man was hee saith Master Fox in his life For bills and obligations do mancipate the most free and ingenuous spirit and so put a man out of aim that hee can neither serve God without distraction nor do good to others nor set his own state in any good order but lives and dies intangled and puzled with cares and snares and after a tedious and laborious life passed in a circle of fretting thoughts hee leaves at last instead of better patrimony a world of intricate troubles to his posterity who are also taken with the words of his mouth Vers 3. When thou art come into the hand For the borrower is servant to the lender Hieron ad Celantiam Prov 22.7 And Facilè ex amico inimicum facies cui promissa non reddes saith Hierom. A friend will soon become a foe if unfriendly and unfaithfully dealt with Not keeping time makes a jarre in payments and so in friendship too as well as in Musick Ezek. 32.2 34.18 Go humble thy self Crave favour and further time of the Creditour say Doubt not of your debt onely forbear a while Cast thy self at his feet as to bee trodden so the Hebrew word here signifieth Stick not at any submission so thou mayest gain time and get off and not bee forced to run into the Usurers Books that Amalec or licking people which as Cormorants fall upon the borrowers and like Cur-doggs suck your blood onely with licking and in the end kill you and crush you rob you and ravish you Psal 10.8 9 10. And make sure thy friend For whom thou standest ingaged call upon him to save thee harmless For as Alphius the Usurer sometimes said of his Clients Horat. Epod. Colum. de re rust l. 1. c 7. Optima nomina non appellando mala fieri Even good Debters will prove slack pay-masters if they bee let alone if not now and then called upon Some read the words thus Multiply thy friends or sollicite them viz. to intercede for thee to the Creditor and to keep thee out of this brake Vers 4. Give not sleep to thine eyes c. Augustus wondred at a certain Knight in Rome that owed much and yet could sleep securely Dio. and when this Knight dyed hee sent to buy his bed as supposing there was something more than ordinary in it to procure sleep The opportunity of liberty and thriving is to bee well husbanded lest some storm arising from the cruelty of Creditors or mutability of outward things over-whelm a man with debt and danger as the whirlwind doth the unwary traveller upon the Alpes with snow Now if such care bee to bee taken that wee run not rashly in debt to men how much more to God If to undertake for others bee so dangerous how should wee pray with that godly man August From my other-mens sins good Lord deliver mee If wee are so to humble our selves to our fellow-creatures in this case how much more should wee humble our selves under the mighty hand of God Jam. 4.10 that hee may lift us up in due season If this bee to bee done without delay where the danger reacheth but to the outward man how much more speed and earnestness should bee used in making peace with God whose wrath is a fire that burns as low as hell and getting the black lines of our sins drawn over with the red lines of his Sons blood and so utterly razed out of the book of his remembrance Vers 5. As a Roe from the hand c. This creature may bee taken but not easily tamed It seeks therefore by all means to make escape Cald. Paraph. in Cant. 8.14 and when it fleeth looketh behinde it holding it no life if not at liberty And as a bird A most fearful creature and desirous of liberty Nititur in sylvas quaeque redire suas that Avis Paradisi especially that being taken never gives over groaning till let go again Vers 6. Go to the Ant thou sluggard Man that was once the Captain of Gods School is now for his truantliness turned down into the lowest form as it were to learn his A b c again yea to bee taught by these meanest creatures So Christ sends us to School to the birds of the air and Lilies of the field to learn dependence upon divine Providence Matth. 6. and to the Stork Crane and Swallow to bee taught to take the seasons of Grace and not to let slip the opportunities that God putteth into our hands Jer. 8.7 This poor despicable creature the Ant is here set in the chair to read us a Lecture of sedulity and good husbandry What a deal of grain gets she together in Summer What pains doth shee take for it labouring not by day-light onely but by Moon-shine also What huge heaps hath shee What care to bring forth her store and lay it a drying on a Sun-shine day left with moisture it should putrifie c. Not onely Aristotle Aelian and Pliny but also Basil Ambrose and Hierom have observed and written much of the nature and industry of this poor creature telling us withall that in the Ant Bee Stork c. God hath set before us as in a picture the lively resemblance of many excellent vertues which wee ought to pursue and practise These saith One are veri laicorum libri the true Lay-mens books the images that may teach men the right knowledge of God and of his will of themselves and their duties Vers 7. Which having no guide overseer c. How much more then should man who hath all these and is both ad laborem natus ratione ornatus born to labour and hath reason to guide him Only hee must take heed that hee bee not Antlike wholly taken up about what shall wee eat or what shall wee drink c. Vers 8. Provideth her meat in the Summer Shee devours indeed much grain made chiefly for the use of man But deserves saith an Interpreter for this very cause to bee fed with the finest wheat and greatest dainties that all men may have her alwayes in their eye Diligent men to quicken their diligence and sluggards to shame them for their slothfulness And gathereth her food in harvest That may serve in Winter It is good for a man to keep somewhat by him to have something in store and not in diem vivere Quintâ—l as the fowls of heaven do Bonus Servatius facit bonum Bonifacium as the Dutch Proverb hath it A good saver makes a well-doer Care must bee taken ne Promus sit fortior Condo that our layings-out bee not more than our layings-up Let no man here object that of our Saviour Care not for to morrow c. There is a care of diligence and a care of diffidence a care of the head and a care of the heart the former is needful the latter sinful Vers 9. How long wilt thou sleep O sluggard
But Gods eye is like the Sun yea far brighter and more peircing then that eye of the world neither needeth he a window in mans breast as Momus wisht to look in at for every man before God is all window totus totus transparens pellucidus This Thales and other Philosophers saw and confessed Ver. 11. As the Partridge sitteth on eggs and hatcheth them not Because either she is taken in an evil net or the eggs are marred by the male or otherwise before they can be hatched So he that getteth riches and not by right That cryeth Rem rem quocunque modo rem Vnde habeat nemo quaerit sed oportet habere Right or wrong many are resolved to be rich but are usually crossed or else cursed with a blessing for treasures of wickedness profit not but righteousness delivereth from death Prov. 10.2 God sometimes giveth wealth to the wicked as men put money into an earthen bottle which that they may get out again they break the bottle in pieces Shall leave them in the midst of his dayes Either they shall leave him or he them to his unmedicinable grief and heart-break A poor fool God will be sure to make of him He that trusteth in his riches as every Mammonist doth shall fall Prov. 11.28 for although he blesse himself as well underlaid and what should ayle such an one saith the world yet the Lord abhorreth him Psal 10.3 so that he many times cometh in the midst of his daies to an untimely end as did Judas Ahab Achan Balaam Ananias and Sapphira c. And thus many a rich wretch spinneth a fair thred to strangle himself both temporally and eternally he by his covetousness not onely killeth others Prov. 1.19 but himself too Ver. 12. A glorious high throne from the beginning Therefore its best to trust in God at all times ye people and to pour out your hearts before him sith God is a refuge for us Psal 62.8 All that do otherwise shall be ashamed ver 12. and worthily because having so glorious a God resiant amongst them they so basely forsake him to serve and seek to Idols Ver. 13. Shall be written in the earth i. e. Aeternâ morte damnabuntur they shall be hurled into hell as not having their names written in Heaven Luke 10.20 where all that are written among the living in Jerusalem Isa 4.3 are enrolled Heb. 12.23 non pro gloriosis sed pro probrosis habiti See Psal 17.14 Prudentius rightly saith that their names that are written in red letters of blood in the Churches Calendar are written in golden letters in Christs register in the book of life As on the contrary these Idolaters whose sin was with an Iron-pen ingraven on the tables of their hearts as ver 1. are justly written in the earth i. e. cast to hell Ver. 14. Heal me O Lord and I shall be healed viz. of that cordolium that my malicious country-men cause me The Prophet was even sick at heart of their unworthy usages and prayes help and healing ne totus ipse labascat inter auditores deploratissimos lest he should perish by them and with them Ver. 15. Behold they say unto me Heb. they are saying unto me it is their daily dicterium or jear Where is the Word of the Lord Whereby thou so oft threatenest us with desolation Thus prophane persons flear when they should fear Vbi est i. e. nusquam est Piscat See 2 Pet. 3 4. Isa 5.19 Amos 5.18 Ver. 16. I have not hastned from being a Pastor before thee I have neither rashly taken up the work of the Ministry quo secundus abe te essem Pastor wherein I have been thine under-shepheard but was rightly called by thee thereunto and have obeyed thy call neither have I been over-hasty to rid my hands of this so troublesom and thanklesse an employment Latimer in one of his Sermons speaking of a Minister who gave this answer why he left off preaching because he saw he did no good but got the hatred of many This saith He was a naughty a very naughty answer Neither have I desired the woful day The doleful or deadly day sc of their desolation or my denunciation of it Gods Ministers take no delight to fling daggers at the faces of gracelesse persons whatever they may think or to terrify them causelesly but as knowing the terrour of the Lord they seek to affright them by the menaces of Gods mouth from such sinful practises as will be their ruine and hence they are hated an expectes ut Quintilianus ametur Juven Thou knowest it See chap. 12 1. 15.15 2 Cor. 1.12 Ver. 17. Be not a terrour unto me Let me have fair weather over head how foul soever it be under foot If we have peace with God though trouble in the world we can take no hurt If vapours be not got into the bowels of the earth and stir not there storms and tempests abroad cannot cause an earth-quake so if there be peace within c. But like as all the letters in the Alphabet without a Vowel will not make one word nor all the Stars in the firmament without a Sun will make a day so neither can all this worlds good make one happy without God and his favour Ver. 18. Let them be confounded A heavy imprecation Let persecutours take heed how they move Ministers to make intercession to God against them as Elias did against Israel Rom. 11.2 as Jeremy here and elsewhere doth against the Jews as the Christian Churches did against Julian the Apostate God will set to his Fiat Let them be dismaied but let not me be dismaied Paveant illi non paveam ego So the Vulgar Latin hath it But what a Lack-latin dolt was that Popish Priest who alledged to his Parishioners this text to prove that not he but they were to pave the Church-way So Another of them finding it written in the end of Paul's Epistles Missa est c. bragged he had found the Masse in his bible So another reading Joh. 1.44 Invenimus Messiam made the same conclusion Ver. 19. Go and stand in the gate of the children The sheep-gate say some whereof see Neh. 3.1 32. 12.39 or as others the water-gate whereof Neh. 3.26 a place it was of great resort and concourse and therefore fittest for this new Sermon to be made in first though afterwards also he was to preach it in all the gates of Jerusalem forasmuch as it was about a matter of greatest importance even the serious sanctification of the Sabbath-day Diem septimum Opifex mundi natalem sibi sacravit observari praecepit That fourth Commandement saith Philo is a famous precept and profitable to excite to all kind of virtue and piety Ver. 20. Ye Kings of Judah Magistrates being Lord-keepers of both the Tables of the Law should carefully see to it that both be duely observed Our King Edgar made laws for the sanctification of the Lords-day-Sabbath