finde if with a single eye and without partialitie wee enquire thereinto that as in the former times so in all succeeding ages times euen to this of ours there was a Church of our Religion And although the Professors therof could not possesse whole Nations or Countries or Cities wherin they might freely openly professe their faith by reason of the great height tyranny of the church of Rome which not onely obscured them but did also cruelly persecute them Yet were there few Nations fevv Countries few Citties wherein there were not some from time to time yea and that also in the very bosome and midst of the Church of Rome that did learnedly and zealously and with the losse many times of their liues professe the same If any man shall heere call vpon vs to make a particular and precise bed-roll or catalogue of their names and aske vs who they vvere that so haue done I answere that besides all those which liuing in former ages and in the times of Popery who either could not by reason they were vnlearned be known publiquely to the world but onely to God and to their ovvne consciences to bee professors of our Religion or if they were learned did yet commit nothing to writing wherby the same might be known of them I say besides all those whose number no doubt was infinite great is the nūber of those godly and learned men of those faithfull witnesses which frō time to time both by writing by preaching and by dying haue shewed to the world that they groned vnder the burthen of Popery that they wished a reformation and that they were of our Church and professed our Religion The names of which men with the times in which they liued together with those passages and parts of their bookes and writings in which they witnesse that which I haue affirmed of them are collected together and set downe by many learned men of our part and therefore I will spare my selfe the labour of naming them vnto you at this time If any man shall further except and say They are but few that are named in comparison of the rest that their number is small let such a one know that the number is not small and if it were yet that it is no maruell that so few are named it is rather a maruell that so many are named seeing that the Church of Rome hath in all ages times so earnestly laboured to blot out and to deface the memory of all both men and matters which might speake for vs or beare witnesse vnto vs. For if at this day our Aduersaries wipe our very names out of bookes and command that no man shall name vs but in contempt wee may well assure our selues that their Ancestors haue done the like in former ages to the men of our Religion and hence it commeth that so few are mentioned and named in ancient stories The practice of the Papists at this day with vs defacing our names belying our opinions burying our memory corrupting our books suppressing the truth of things purging and razing all manner of Euidence by that diuelish deuice of their Indices expurgatorij their purging tables maketh vs assure our selues that in the same manner our Ancestors were vsed And this is a principall reason why wee yeeld not so perfect a catalogue as else we might doe 2. Proposition My second proposition vvhich I deliuered was this that They did not all die Papists which in their life time and in outward profession were Papists For seeing it pleaseth God sometimes euen at the eleuenth howre to call men to the knowledge of himself and to repentance and seeing Gods mercy is not bounded or confined to any times but that as hee will haue mercy on whom he wil haue mercy so also hee will shew mercy at vvhat time it pleaseth him to shevv mercie VVho can tell but that many of our Ancestors and forefathers being touched in conscience and renouncing themselues and all humane satisfactions haue at the time of their dissolution the approching of death changed their mindes and so in that faith and religion which wee professe yeelded vp their soules into the hands of God A thing the more probable and like to bee true because in these our dayes many Papists haue bin by most certaine and true experience obserued to haue done and to do the like who in articulo mortis beeing at the brink and point of death haue been content not onely to suspect and feare but to renounce their own merits and their owne works to disclaime the vvhole body of humane satisfactions and to cleaue onely and alone to the mercie of God in Christ for their saluation and so though they liued Papists haue died Protestants And no maruaile though many Papists haue so done and do so daily for alas what comfort or consolation can a wounded conscience and a soule laden with sinne now ready to depart the vvorld and to appeare before the maiestie of GOD in whose presence the Cherubins are polluted the Angels are vnholy and the heauens are vncleane there to answere the iustice of God and to giue an account for all things that it hath done in the bodie I say what comfort or consolation can such a sinfull and dying soule finde in reflecting it selfe vpon it selfe in the works of it owne hands in the worth of it owne merites in the fruites of it owne labours in crosses crucifixes Saints Agnus Dei's blessed graines holy reliques pilgrimages extreame vnction dirges trentalls masses in Priests absolutions in Bishops blessings in Popes pardons or in all or any of these or other the trash trumpery of Rome Will such Figge-leaues couer our shame will such sacrifices satisfie for sinne or can such stubble and strawe endure the fierie triall of Gods iustice and yet not be consumed Foolish Semele great was thy folly and thou art worthily taxed branded with a marke of folly and dangerous indiscretion euē by Poets themselues for desiring that Iupiter would in the selfe-same manner visit thee at his next comming in which hee vsed to visite Iuno by vvhich meanes it came to passe that thou wast not onely amazed at his brightnes but also by the lightning and thunder which attended him when he was in his maiestie wast burnt vp quick quite consumed So may I truly say and it is no poeticall fiction but an vndoubted truth which I am about to vtter to all proud Papists proud Pharisees and Iusticiaries whatsoeuer which gird themselues with their owne righteousnesse and arme themselues vvith their owne good deseruings and merites as it were with armour of proofe and coats of steele Foolish Papist great is thy folly thou art woorthily taxed and branded with a marke of folly and dangerous indiscretion who puffed vp with the winde of thine owne worth and being tickled in thine own heart with the wanton conceit of I wot not what proportionable agreement between thine owne proper inherent
Gentiles not onely Plato and many other of the more intelligent better sort of Philosophers but Poets also as Iustine Martyr writeth saw them became as he speaketh Fures Mosis Prophetarum theeues of Moses and of the Prophets And howsoeuer the Apostle Saint Paul affirmeth in the ninth to the Romans that to the Israelites pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the couenants and the giuing of the law and the seruice of God yet did it also please the Lord that the knowledge of his law and the manner of his holy worship and seruice should in some degree and proportion and that many times by diuerse accidents and strange meanes bee deriued and communicated in all ages to Heathen men and Gentiles So in the old Testament by reason of the two great Captiuities of the Israelits the one into Egypt the other into Babylon the knowledge of God was spred in those Nations and from thence both the Grecians and the Romans fetcht a great part of their best and most mysticall and diuiner kinde of learning And though the Israelites spoyled the Egyptians of their iewels and other costly raiments yet the Egyptians spoyled the Israelites of a far more precious iewell euen the knowledge of the true God Thus you see how by all or by some of these meanes some glimse or portion of the knowledge of GOD might come into Aethiopia To conclude this point It was promised to Abraham it was prayed for by Salomon it was prophesied by Esay fore-told by Dauid that strange Nations should knowe the Lord and should be made his sonnes and vvorship him in his holy Temple It was promised to Abraham In thy seed shall all the Nations of the earth be blessed Gene. 26.4 It was prayed for by Salomon and mark I pray you how Salomons prayer reacheth and fitteth the person of this Eunuch Touching the Stranger saith Salomon that is not of thy people Israel who shall come out of a far Country for thy Names sake and shal come pray in this House meaning the Temple heare thou in Heauen and doe according to all that the Stranger calleth for vnto thee 3 Kings 8.41.42.43 It was prophesied by Esay The Gentiles shall walke in thy light and Kings at the brightnes of thy rising vp thy sonnes shall come from far Esay 60.3.4 And Dauid more plainly and particularly pointeth at this Eunuch's Country saith Aethiopia shal haste to stretch her hand to God Psal 68.31 2 Secondly he is said to haue been an honourable Personage chiefe Gouernour and Treasurer to the Queene of that Country of Aethiopia This sheweth that Nobilitie may stand with Christianity and that honour and greatnes riches vvealth doe not in themselues hinder men either from the knowledge or from the worship and seruice of God Although Saint Paul saith 1 Cor. 1.26 that not many noble men not manie mighty men not many wise men after the flesh are called yet he doth not exclude all noble men all mightie men all wise men after the flesh from beeing called to the knowledge and seruice of God For if all things come to passe by the direction and appointment of God so that without him not a sparrovv lighteth on the ground Math. 10.29 If euery good gift come from aboue from the Father of lights Iam. 1.17 If preferment come neither from the East nor from the West but it is God that maketh lowe and maketh high Psal 75.6.7 Then to sit at the stearn of Common-wealths and to guide Kingdoms to be borne of royall bloud to come from the loynes of Princes to sit on seates of iudgement from thence to minister iustice to the people to be aduanced to the highest or to the subordinate and inferior places of power and authoritie to be rich and to haue this worlds goods in great abundance euen all of these and the like they come not by chance nor happen at aduenture nor is it Catch that catch may among the sonnes of men but it is the prouidence hand of God that dispenseth them at his owne pleasure many times to them to whom with them he giueth grace to vse them to his glory to the protection defence of his Church and to the behoofe and comfort of his Saints and seruants Domini est terra et plenitudo eius The earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof whether it be the fulnesse of soueraigne authoritie princely dignitie or the fulness of honor worldly prosperity or the fulnesse of wealth of riches or temporall abundance all these and the like as they come from God and are in themselues rich graces excellent ornaments and euident arguments of Gods gracious goodnes and fauour to them whom before aboue others hee there-with blesseth so are they also if in the vse of them they be sanctified to the owners of them excellent means of doing good and of glorifying God in the gracious vse and imployment of them He was a noble man he was chiefe Treasurer to a Queene a verie great man in his country yet he was also the seruant of God Nay as he was so are all such as are noble great and rich mē in that they are noble great rich the better fitted and the more bound to be the seruants of God The better fitted For gold siluer are metals far more fit to be wrought and to haue precious stones set placed in them than lead or iron so are the mindes of noble and great and rich men for the most part more fit to receiue into them the rich and precious graces the gifts of God than those that are vulgar men of meane condition And as they are for the most part better fitted than others so are they more bound than others to the seruice and worship of God In a ciuill life this is the greatest cōfort Meus sum I am mine owne man and at liberty but in a Christian life this is the greatest comfort euen of the most noble and greatest persons Non sum meus I am not mine owne man but Iesus Christs vvho hath bought mee with a price and hath therefore bound mee to glorifie and to serue him It is a true saying that Maior must be Melior the greater must be the better and to whom God giueth most at his hands he wil require most As therefore mortall men are most bound to honour God most because they are the excellentest of all mortall creatures so those amongst mortall men who are noble or rich or great men either by birth or by imployment or by their endeauours in the places where they liue are most boūd to serue God most because they are most excellent among mortall men Nobilitas ad virtutem obligat nobilitie bindes men as it were in an obligation to be vertuous and he that hath lost his vertue hath broken his bond hath lost his nobilitie argentum suum in scoriam conuertit hee hath changed his
liued in the time of ignorance but that as many among vs liuing in the light of the Gospell descend notwithstanding into the darknesse of hell so there were many liuing in the darknes of Poperie who ascended vp to the place of light to the kingdome of heauen and were partakers of eternall blessednesse To conclude this point Let vs not rashly enter into the iudgements of God for he saith I will haue mercy on whom I will haue mercy Sometimes God refuseth the father and chooseth the sonne as in Salomon to build the Temple and not Dauid Sometimes hee sheweth his iudgements on the sonnes and mercy on the father as in the children of Iob Sometimes he cutteth off both the father and the sonnes as he did Elie his children Sometimes hee saueth both the father and his children as Noah and his children in the Arke and this hee doth to the end that be we fathers or be we children be wee many or be we few we should learne to submit our selues to him and rather be carefull to obtaine our owne saluation than to bee curious in the disputing of the saluation of others I will close and shut vp this point with a saying of Ciprian in his 3. Epi. If any that went before vs either of ignorance or of simplicity hath not obserued that which the Lord commanded his simplicity through the Lords indulgence may bee pardoned but we whom the Lord hath taught and instructed cannot be pardoned 3 In the third place of my first generall diuision I thought it fit that we should cōsider how this noble Eunuch was busied imployed in his return homewarde and that is set downe in the 28. verse And as he returned sitting in his chariot he read Esaias the Prophet The Lord hauing touched the heart of this noble Eunuch and finding that hee desired to taste of the bread of life resolued in great mercy to feede him plentifully therwith and finding him to haue a holy thirst after the water of life was pleased to set open vnto him the very fountaine or conduits thereof and prouided that hee should bee fed with the very marow and fatness of his holy truth and that hee should drinke de torrente voluptatis at the very well-head the water of life and the sweet wine of the sauing knowledge of his Son Christ He prouided in his gratious prouidence that the booke of the Prophesie of Esay should come to his hands which he ioyfully receiued reuerently accounted of making it as Alexander did Homer his companion in his iourney and diligently read the same He read Esaias the Prophet And what followed thereof The Lord who as the blessed Virgin speaketh filleth the hungry with good things did fill his hungry soule with the best things and verefied in him that saying of Salomon Non perdet Dominus animam iusti fame The Lord will not famish the soule of a righteous man with hunger but will feed it for he fed him with the richest and most precious cates and iunkets of his most holy and heauenly truth Neither did it only please God that the Booke and Prophesie of Esay should onely and alone come to the hands and sight of this noble Personage but heerein also did Gods gratious goodnesse and rich mercy plainly appeare vnto him in that not by chance or at aduenture but by the prouidence of God his hand was turned and his eye directed to the reading of such a part and portion of that Prophesie as contained in it the summe and substance of the Gospell and from whence Philip might haue a good ground and take iust occasion beginning as hee did at that Scripture to open and expound vnto him the whole mystery of Gods mercy in Christ and mans saluation by Christ The words of the place he read are these ver 32. and 33. Hee was led as a sheep to the slaughter c. In which words the Prophet sheweth the manner and order which it pleased God to vse in the redeeming of his Church namely by the death of Christ as of a Lambe slaine as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sinnes of mankinde That as a sheepe he was led to the slaughter and like a lambe dumbe before his shearer hee opened not his mouth c. Whereby is signified that he willingly offered vp himselfe as a voluntary sacrifice or free-will offering for mans redemption vnto God More briefly in a word for I purpose not at this time to make any stay in the interpretation of these wordes in my Text howsoeuer they be most worthy to bee largely entreated of more briefly I say and in a word In these words of Esay which the Ennuch was now in reading when Philip came and spake vnto him two things especially are mystically and prophetically deliuered concerning the person of Christ the first his Humiliation and Passion the second his Exaltation or Glorification and that not for himselfe onely but for vs also Which words beeing a prophesie or prediction of a thing then to come when they were written by Esay are in effect repeated by Saint Paul who speaketh thereof as of a thing done past and now performed Hee was deliuered to death for our sinnes and is risen againe for our iustification Romans 4.25 And both of these appeare most plainely in the 53. of Esay through that whole chapter Of this argument or of this matter Esay speaketh as a Prophet Saint Paul as an Euangelist the one speaketh de futuro the other de praeterito the one of that which should come to passe the other of that which is come to passe and yet which is worthy your marking Esay though he speak thereof as of a thing long to come yet hee speaketh of it in the Preterperfect-tense or in the time past to shew the certainty thereof You see how this noble Eunuch was busied and you see also what end the Lord made and what course hee tooke with him He went vp to Ierusalem to worship and in his returne hee read the Prophet Esay and it pleased God that being so busied and imployed the foundation and ground-work of the sauing truth and knowledge of God in Christ should be laid and built in his soule to his eternall comfort and saluation Iesus Christ beeing the chiefe corner-stone of that holie and blessed building Tu vade fac similiter Goe thou and doe the like goe thou whosoeuer thou art that hearest me this day and doe the like goe vp to Ierusalem that is worship God in his holy Temple reade the Prophesie of Esay or some other part of the booke of God reade it when thou art at home reade it when thou art abroad reade it earely reade it late reade it with reuerence reade it with diligence reade it with an humble minde reade it with an hungry appetite reade it with a deuout desire to vnderstand it to conclude reade it with the like mind with which this noble Eunuch read it and thou shalt be partaker
eyes they beleeue nothing but what they see whereas faith hath indeed no greater enemy than sense Gregorie in his fourth booke of Dialogues and first chapter compareth him that will not belieue Christ or his Ministers preaching and telling him of the ioyes of heauen because he seeeth them not vnto a child borne of his mother in a darke prison and there brought vp whom shee telleth that abroad there is great light a Sunne and a Moone starres men beasts trees riuers and such like things but he belieueth none of these because hee seeeth none of these which things howsoeuer he thinketh they are not yet they are so indeed as his mother informed him So although they that haue no faith thinke there is no heauen no Christ no Angels no ioyes because they themselues are included and shut vp in a darke prison of ignorance and infidelitie and therefore see them not yet it doth not follow but that it is so and our Mother the Church that so teacheth vs doth not lie but speakes the truth and happy are all they that belieue her c. My exhortation for cōcluding this point shall be this As heere you see how this nobleman lent not onely his outward eare of hearing but his inward eare also of obeying and belieuing to that which Philip preached vnto him so ought wee also to doe as often as wee heare the word preached vnto vs c. And if it happen while wee are so busied and imployed either in the reading or in the hearing of Gods word preached and expounded vnto vs that wee feele any good motions of Gods Spirit mouing vs to faith let vs account of them as the Wise men did of the Starre that appeared vnto them in the East Math. 2. And as they followed the Starre so let vs follow those motions and inuitations of Gods Spirit to faith for as they following the Star were brought at last euen to the house where Christ was so if wee follow the motions and callings of Gods holy Spirit they will bring vs at the last to the house and place where hee is euen to the kingdom of heauen c. 2. Effect Hee was baptised First he beleeued and secondlie or after he had professed his faith and belieued he was baptised This is Christs owne ordinance to his Apostles Goe yee into all the world and preach the Gospell to euery creature Hee that shall beleeue be baptised shall be saued Mark 16.15 So was it in this Eunuch Hee first beleeued and after was baptised So must it be in all that are adulti grown to full age or come to yeeres of discretion before they come to baptisme they must openly professe their faith It is the ordinance of Christ himselfe who first instituted Baptisme did himselfe first sanctifie the element of water to that holy worke or businesse that water should be vsed in Baptisme To signifie thereby that as water cleanseth the outward filthinesse of the body so by the operation of Gods Spirit which worketh both mightily graciously with the outward element of water and with the word the originall guilt and vncleannesse of our soules should be purged and cleansed Vessels vncleane are vnfit to haue precious liquors put into them they be therfore first to be cleansed What liquors can be more precious than the graces of God What vessels can be more vncleane than our vnregenerate and vnbaptised soules Wee are brought to Baptisme therefore to be cleansed that our soules may be made the fitter to receiue graces from aboue For as in worldly things wee cannot be partakers of them vnlesse we be borne so neither can we be partakers of spirituall things except we be baptised and borne anew Wee come to Baptisme the sonnes of Adam sinners and accursed vvee returne from Baptisme the sonnes of God and blessed Saint Peter in his first Epistle third chapter and later part of the chapter compareth Baptisme to the Arke yet there is great difference for that creature which entred into the Arke a Lion was nothing altered but came forth a Lion that creature which entred into the Arke a Wolfe was nothing altered but came forth a Wolfe that bird which entred into the Arke a Crowe was nothing altered but came forth a Crowe c. But it is far otherwise in Baptisme for hee that before Baptisme entreth into the Church a Lion returneth frō thence after Baptisme a Lambe he that before Baptisme entereth into the Church a Wolfe returneth from thence after Baptisme a Kid he that before Baptisme entereth into the Church a Crowe returneth from thence after Baptisme a Doue So this Eunuch came from home a stranger to the couenant of grace but returned home a sonne and of the houshold of faith he came to Ierusalē an Aethiopian but returned a true Israelite This is the happy fruit and blessed benefit which redoundeth to all both men and Nations to whom the Lord is pleased in mercy to reueale himselfe in the power and might of his word and in the grace and efficacie of this Sacrament by which as by a stampe or marke set vpon our flesh by our Sauiour Christ Iesus his ovvne hand and institution like to the mark of Circumcision which was set vpon the flesh of Abraham and of his seede wee are not onely distinguished from other Infidels and heathen people but are also knowne and acknowledged by God himselfe to be of his houshold to belong to his couenant But as for others which haue not this seale or mark and are not washed in this Lauer of Regeneration it is not so with them but the corruption of their nature and the filthinesse guilt of sin cleaue as close to their soules as their skin doth to their flesh Many excellent things are spoken of Naaman the Syrian that hee was a great man honourable in the sight of his Lord mighty and valiant yet it is added that he was a Leper and therefore to be washed So although many excellent things may be spoken either of the nature of man in generall or of many excellent men in particular which either were or are meere naturall men vnbaptised and vnregenerat yet the conclusion must be It is a Leper and they all are Lepers and must be washed in the water of Baptisme And till such time as they be so cleansed and so washed the Lord seeeth nothing in them but that which hee disliketh and setteth not his heart or his loue vpon them All the Patriarches were the sonnes of Iacob yet he loued none of them so well as Ioseph Beniamin who were the sonnes of Rachel whom hee deerly loued So all men are the sonnes of God by creation but hee loueth none so well as his regenerate and baptised sonnes because they are the sonnes of Rachell the sonnes of his Church which he most deerly loueth The 3. effect He reioyced or hee went on his way reioycing The doctrine or preaching of Christ is rightly tearmed Euangelium a
Eunuch The maine scope principall drift of the Spirit of God in this Scripture and history which I haue read vnto you is to shew and shaddow out vnto vs the large extent of the doctrine of the Gospel the kingdom of Christ and how the same is by the counsell and mercifull purpose of God to be propagated extended to the vtmost borders of the earth And therefore in this present history which I haue chosen at this time to treat of you may bee pleased to beholde how God vouchsafed to poure vpon the head of this Honorable Eunuch the precious ointment of the sauing knowledge of Christ that like as the sweete and precious oyntment that was powred on the head of Aaron ran downe from his head and beard to the skirts of his garments so also this fragrant and sweete oyntment might stream downe and flowe to the skirts as it were of his cloathing to the vtmost borders of his Countrie and first to open to him the fountaine of life and to let him drinke thereof and then by him as it were by a conduit pipe to deriue and conuey the sweete streames and waters therof to his countrie-men that dwelt a farre off euen to the people and inhabitants of Aethiopia Which thing came accordingly to passe for he being conuerted conuerted many brethren and as wee receiue it by tradition brought many of his owne nation to the knowledge of Christ The chiefe and principall points which I obserue in this Scripture and whereof I purpose by Gods assistance to speake at this time are these 1. An Angel disposeth of Philip assigneth him a place for his employment ver 26. 2. Who what he was to whom by the direction of the Angell Philip was sent First hee was of Aethiopia Secondly hee was an honourable Personage chiefe Gouernor to the Queen of that coūtrie and had the rule of all her treasure Thirdly he came or he trauelled to Ierusalem to worship ver 27. 3. In the third place wee will consider how this noble Eunuch was busied emploied in his returne homeward as hee returned sitting in his chariot he read Esaias the Prophet ver 28. 4. The fourth thing that I intend to speake of is Philips performance of that duty and seruice to which he was appointed ver 30. 5. Fiftly and lastly the effectes which his owne reading and Philips preaching of Christ wrought in this Eunuch they are three first he beleeued secondly hee was baptised and thirdly after he beleeued and was baptised he went homeward reioycing In the first place in that an Angel is appointed by God to warne Philip to hasten and meete the Eunuch for his conuersion it may teach vs how gratious and mercifull God is to the sons of men who for their sakes for their good will haue his Angels to bee seruiceable and helpfull vnto them By the help of Angels Lot was deliuered and preserued in the destruction of Sodome ver 19. An Angel of God went before the hoast of Israel and behinde the hoast and did deliuer them defend them from the Egyptians Exod. 14.19 An Angell of the Lord opened the prison doores by night and brought forth the Apostles and set them at libertie Acts 5.19 An Angel directed Cornelius to send for Peter and here an Angel is sent to warne Philip to ioyne himselfe to the Chariot of this Eunuch and to expound the Scripture vnto him So true is that of the Apostle Saint Paul Angels are ministring spirits sent forth to minister for their sakes vvhich shall be heires of saluation Heb. 1. last Happy are they who by the blessing of God doe make a wise and gracious vse of the ministration of Angels who by the cleannesse of their life and holy conuersation make glad those holy and blessed spirits which are beholders and eye-witnesses of all their actions and by their vnfained repentance giue them cause of reioycing For there is ioy in the presence of the Angels of God for a sinner that cōuerteth Luke 15.10 Which thing if wee shall doe then shall those Angels which reioyce in our wel-dooing and are by Gods appointment content to loue vs and to minister vnto vs heere in sterquilinio mundi in this dūghill of the world much more honour and loue vs in aula coeli in the Palace and kingdome of heauen and beeing glad of our conuersion in this life will bee more glad of our assumption and saluation in heauen 1. In the second or next place we haue to consider the person to whom by the direction of the Angel Philip was sent and hee is here said first to be a man of Aethiopia If any man shall vvonder how any sparke of the knowledge true worship of God should giue light shine in Aethiopia by the light whereof this great and noble man might attaine to any glimse of the knowledge of God and thereby bee brought to desire to performe any seruice and worship to him and that in the place principallie appointed thereunto namely in his holy Temple at Ierusalem especially seeing that howsoeuer the Commission of preaching the Gospel to all Nations though it were giuen sealed to the Apostles and Disciples yet it was not yet sped or as yet executed If any man I say shall wonder hereat he must knowe that although the light of the Gospell did not as yet shine either in Aethiopia or in the remote and vtmost kingdoms of the earth yet besides that knowledge which men might haue by nature and by the beholding of the creatures and the frame of the world the light of the law and the knowledge of God did in some proportion either more or lesse shine or shimmer foorth to all Nations singulis generum though not generibus singulorum as the Schoole speaketh to some of all Nations though not to all particulars of euerie Nation God hath not left himselfe without witnesses in any place but hath left in all the Nations of the world some prints footsteps of his knowledge of his power and goodnes And although it might be said in regard of the eminencie thereof that in Iurie God was well known that his tabernacle was in Salem yet was he knowne in other Nations also and he made his Name glorious in all the quarters of the world The prayer or wish of Noah that Iaphet might dwell in the Tents of Shem was in some measure in all succeeding ages heard and granted Gedeons fleece was not onely and alone watered but the whole threshing floore the Land of Iury was not alone bedeawed moistned with the heauenly deaw of the knowledge of God but the whole earth with the Nations that were farre remooued euen to the vtmost bounds thereof Some part of this heauenly deaw might light vpon this Eunuch's head and with some part of this holy oyntment his heart might be anointed The bookes of Moses and of the Prophets came into the hands and Schooles of many of the
vnto vs silly creatures on the earth and how powerfully dost thou schoole vs and teach vs by thy example to goe vp to Ierusalem to worship God to reade not Esay the Prophet onely but euen the whole booke of God! that so vsing those and all such other gratious means which God offereth vnto vs for the illumination of our darke hearts by faith as thou here diddest we might also with thee in time be enriched with that precious and inestimable treasure of a true faith That so as the Spirit of God witnesseth of thee that thou diddest beleeue that Iesus Christ was the Son of God so the same Spirit might beare witnesse to our spirits that wee also beleeue But herein especially doth he school vs and in schooling vs reproue vs and in reproouing vs shame vs. For first if hee that had so fewe meanes to leade him to the knowledge and worshippe of God doe yet notwithstanding out-goe vs in his seruice and worship who doe abound with all gratious and needfull helpes that may leade vs thereunto how can it but be a shame vnto vs Secondly if he that dwelt so farre off as Aethiopia was from Ierusalem refused not to vndertake so long so tedious a iourney to trauell thither there to worship God How can it choose but be a shame to vs who will many of vs scarce goe out of doores or wet our foote in trauelling to the house of the Lord to heare his word and to worship him in his holy Temple Thirdly if he at one only Sermon of Philip were brought to knowe and to beleeue in Christ what a shame is it for vs that after so many yeares enioying the word of God pulickely taught and expounded vnto vs and after so many and almost infinite Sermons that haue bin preached amongst vs there should yet be so many of vs that are not wonne to the seruice of God and faith in Christ The Lord our God as much desireth our good as hee did the good of this Eunuch The word of God is as mighty in operation now as in former times the Spirit of God worketh with the word preached effectually now as in former times The industrie and desire of Gods Ministers though they be not equall to the Apostles and first Fathers of the Faith who because the Church was then newly to bee planted had Primitias spiritus sancti the first fruits and the more eminent and powerfull graces of Gods Spirit yet are they such as might in some degree of proportion serue to beget faith now as in former times and yet for all this they are but few in comparison of the multitude that profite in faith godlinesse by our labours The cause why we cannot write vpon the water is not the want of skill nor the fault of the pen but the vnfitnesse and indisposition of the water So the reason why Gods Spirit preuaileth not in vs is neither any default in God or defect in his Spirit or weakenesse in his word or disability in his Ministers but onely in men and women themselues who are not disposed fitted to receiue such stamps and impressions as they all would otherwise imprint and leaue in them For surely were men so willing so prepared as this noble Eunuch was to entertaine the Lord Iesus in their hearts and to receiue him into their soules by faith when we preach him vnto them then would our preaching bring forth in them the like precious effect and many more of them than now doe would by our preaching of Iesus vnto them be brought with this Eunuch to beleeue in him and to bee his seruants But alas the more is the pitie many of vs may truly say with Peter We haue launched out into the deep and haue let fal our nets to make a draught we haue trauelled all the night and laboured hard and yet haue taken nothing Many of vs like candles doe waste and consume our selues by studying and preaching to giue you light and yet many of you for all that doe still continue and remaine in darknes Many of vs like busie silke wormes weaue out our owne bowels as they doe in making of silke that you may be cloathed in silke and apparelled with the precious roabes of Christs righteousnesse and yet for all that many of you choose rather to be cloathed with your owne rags with the garments which are spotted with sin and stayned and defiled with iniquitie What can the husband-man doe more than till his land and sowe his seed what can the gardiner do more to his figge-tree than ditch round about it and dung it what can the dresser or planter of a vineyard doe more for it than place it in a fruitfull hill and hedge it and gather out the stones and plant it with the best plants what can we doe more than preach Iesus vnto you Nullus doctor est dator boni quod docuerit saith Bar. Wee can teach you good things we cannot giue you good things we may be doctores gratiae but not datores we may be teachers but we are not giuers of grace The Angel in the 5. of Iohn did but stirre the waters of the poole Bethesda and troubled the waters thereof hee thrust no man into the poole that was a worke to be performed by thēselues that would be healed Wee that are the Ministers of God wee open and expound the Scriptures vnto you by our diuiding the word of God and expounding the same vnto you wee moue and we stirre the water of life that floweth in them you must be carefull to step into them your selues c. And surely the very true reason why after so much stirring and troubling of these waters after so much preaching and teaching there are yet so many both men and women that lie diseased full of soares sinnes by this poole and by these waters not onely for the space of 38 yeeres but some for more yeeres and all their whole life long neuer once offering to step in much lesse to thrust themselues thereinto when the waters therof are stirred I say the very true reason hereof is either their infidelitie that they cannot or their lazinesse idlenesse that they will not or their pride vvhich suffereth them not to humble their hearts and to subiect their wills to the will and word of God They consult their owne sense and vnderstanding and suffer themselues to be caried away with the streame of their own naturall reason and corrupt affections whereas if they would submit themselues captiuate their vnderstanding and their willes to the will and word of God and be wholly led and directed thereby they might as here this noble Eunuch did attaine to some good proportion and comfortable measure of true faith But that which the Comicall Poet spake of hands in his time I may say of our hearts in these dayes Corda nostra sunt oculata non credunt nisi quod vident Our hearts are full of