Bernard out of that text reasoned thus with an Archbishop in France Let euery soule be subiect Ergo yours I pray who doth exempt you Bishops â—…i quiâ—… tentat excipere conatur decipere So Chrysostome Theodoret Oecumen Theophilact vpon the place Clergie men are not excepted Ergo not exempted Concerning causes Ecclesiasticall it is auowed and prooued by Protestant Diuines that a King and euery other supreame gouernour is Custos vtriusque tabulae the Lord-Keeper of both tables of Gods Law that wee may lead vnder him a quiet and a peaceable life in all godlinesse and honesty We doe not imagine this of our owne heads we find it annexed vnto the Crowne by God himselfe who when he first gaue his people leaue to chuse them a King withall appoynted that the Law truly coppied out of the Leuites originall which was keptin the Tabernacle should be deliuered vnto the King sitting on his Royal seat with this Charge that booke shall remaine with the King hee shall read in it all the dayes of his life that hee may learne to feare the Lord his God obserue all the words of the Law written therein and these statutes to doe them This was not done till hee was placed in his throne so saith the text therefore this touched not the Kings priuate conuersation as a man but his Princely function as a Magistrate which stands in commanding other and not in guiding his owne person as a man he serues God one way sayth Augustine as a King another way as a man in ordering well his own life but as a King in seeing that other liue soberly toward themselues righteously toward their neighbours holily toward God So that Kings as Kings serue God in doing that for his seruice which none but Kings can do Well then if the whole Law were committed to the King as King at his Coronation It is plaine that the publishing preseruing and executing of the first table touching the sincere worship of God is the chiefe part of the Princes Charge And according to this commission and authority the godly Kings of Israel and Iudah remoued Idols razed hill alters slew false Prophets purged the land from all abominations not sparing the brazen serpent made by Moses wheÌ„ they saw it abused and by the same power they caused the Temple to be cleansed the Law to bee read the Passeouer to be kept the Leuites to Minister in their courses inuented by Dauid and by the same power Solomon deposed Abiather the chiefe Priest and set Zadock in his roome And of the Christian Church it is sayd Esay 49. 23. Kings shall bee thy nursing Fathers and Queenes thy nursing mothers And it is apparant that Constantine Iustinian Charles the great and many moe religious Princes enacted Ecclesiasticall lawes and were super-visors of the Bishops in their seuerall Empires For although a King may not administer the Sacraments or preach the word or execute the Ministers office de facto Yet as our diuines haue determined it belongs to the Kings cure de iure to see that all things concerning Gods holy worship should bee done in the Church orderly vos intra sayd Constantine the great to his Bishops ego autem extra ecclesiam à Deo Episcopus constitutus sum The last enemies vnto ciuill Magistrates are such as arme themselues and stand in actuall rebellion against authority For whatsoeuer faire pretence of doing good traytors may seeme to haue the State doubtlesse is in a miserable case when as commotioners are become commissioners and coÌ„mon woe named common wealth and a Ket obeyed more then a King Rebels are like a Bile in a body or like a sinke in a rowne gathering together all the nastie vagabonds and idle loyterers to warre with almighty God and his lieurenants and so being a beast of many heads they place treason aboue reason and make might to rule right If thy gouernour bee good vse him as thy nursing Father If bad commanding as a Tyrant that which is euill simply take vp against him a buckler and not a sword obey ferendo non feriendo suffering the payne not resisting the power impetere or competere are both vnlawfull albeit Kings deface in themselues Gods first Image in their owne soules yet no man hath leaue to deface Gods second Image imprinted in their name iudelibly Hitherto touching the Magistrates authority now for his vtilitie For thy good Higher powers are protectours of Gods Church ordeined for our temporall good and spirituall good and so consequently for our eternall good all which our Apostle sheweth in his 1. Epist to Timothie Chap. 2. verse 2. Pray for Kings and for all in authority that wee may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all godlinesse and honesty our temporal good consists in a quiet and a peaceable life our spirituall good in godlinesse and honesty so that Magistrates are called of God to be Iustices of the peace for our temporall good and defenders of the faith for our spirituall good Concerning the first holy writ mentioneth a two-fold peace to wit an inward peace which is the peace of conscience proper onely to the Church and not commonicable to the world for there is no peace to the wicked saith my God and an outward peace which is common vnto both and therfore the Lord sayd to his people whom Nabuchodonosor had carried away captiue from Hierusalem to Babel seeke the prosperity of the city whither I haue caused you to bee carried away captiue pray for it for in the peace therof you shal haue peace This owtward peace may bee disturbed either by Domesticall enemies or by forreine foes as our Apostle sayd in another case fighting without and terrours within In respect of intestine iarres vnder the gouernment of Princes we lead a life a life which is quiet and in respect of forreine wars vnder the gouernment of Princes wee lead a life which is peaceable a Prince protects the persons of his subiects from murtherers and the goods of his subiects from theeues and the good name of his subiects from liâ—…ellers and slanderers hee beares not the sword for nought but is the Minister of God to take vengeance on such as are disturbers of his subiects quiet a-against his Crowne and Dignity Now that a Christian Magistrate may put to death a traytor a murtherer and other notorious offenders we proue first by the Scriptures secondly by the Fathers and thirdly by reason The Scriptures afford precepts and examples hereof afore the Law vnder the Law and after the Law before the Law Gen 9. 6. Who so sheddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed The which is not a meere Prophecy that euery murtherer should come to mischiefe but a plaine precept that the Magistrate being armed by Gods authority must execute such a bloody malefactor And we read a patterne hereof in the 38. of Gen verse 24. Iuda sayd bring her
being nothing else but a type of the new and the new nothing else but a trueth of the old The whole saith Iacobus de Valentia consists of one Syllogisme the Law and the Prophets are the Maior all that Christ did and sayd the Minor the writings of the blessed Euangelists and Apostles inferre the conclusion or the Gospell is hidden in the Law like the conclusion in the premises But albeit the Scriptures be deepe yet as Gregory speakes it is a riuer wherein the little lambe may wade so well as the great Elephant swimme it is the rolle of a booke spread abroad and written within and without Ezec. 2. 9. 10. In some places it is rolled vp from the most searching wits in other spread abroad to the capacities of the most simple Testamentum est testatio mentis Gods word therefore being his Testament reueales as much of his will as is to bee knowen In it wee may find the Father from whom and the Son by whom and the holy Ghost in whom are all things and therefore should bee much in our handes in our eyes in our eares in our mouthes but most of all in our hearts as Fulgentius saith it affordes enough abundantly for men to eate and children to sucke Maximus compares it to a man The old Testament resembling the body and the new Testament the soule or the letter of the Prophets is the body and the meaning is the soule and as the mortall part of man is seene but that which is immortall vnseene So the letter of the Scriptures is plaine but the spirit in some places inuolued and not easily discerned One deepe calling vpon another deepe S. Augustine and Hugo de S. Vict vnderstand it thus the depth of Gods knowledge findeth out the depth of mans heart for the Lord searcheth vs out he knoweth our downe-sitting and our vprising hee is about our paths and about our bed and spieth out all our wayes and vnderstandeth all our thoughts long before Psal 139. It is the duty then of euery Christian especially tempted to sinne to resolue with holy Ioseph How can I do this great wickednesse and so sinne against God Is there any thing so secret that shall not be disclosed If I commit it in the wood shall not a bird of the aire cary the voice that which hath wings declare the matter Ecclesiastes 10. 20. If I sinne in the forrest am I now to learne that a beast hath spoken Or if birdes and beasts happily should hold their peace would not as Christ sayd in the like case the very stones cry Luke 19. 40. If in my closet or study shall not my bookes of deuotion especially the Bible witnesse against mee There is one that accuseth you quoth our Sauiour to the Iewes euen Moses that is Moses law the which as it was once spoken by God so it dayly speakes in Gods cause to God Or if all these be silent shall not the sinne it selfe like the blood of Abel cry for reuenge Plutarch aduiseth vs so circumspectly to demeane our selues as if our enemies alway beheld vs. Seneca counselleth vs to liue so well as if Cato Laelius or some reuerend person of great wisedome and account ouerlooked vs. Thales Milesius in the committing of any sinne wished vs when wee were alone to bee afraid of our selues and our owne conscience which is instead of a thousand witnesses a thousand Iuries a thousand Iudges te sine teste time saith Ausonius S. Paul exhorts women to carry themselues in Gods house reuerently because of the Angels obseruing their behauiour But our text tels vs yet a better way then all these which is to remember alway that the depth of Gods science calleth vnto the depth of our conscience If any be deiected in his mind for that hee cannot remember the good lessons hee dayly reads in bookes and heares in sermons let him bee comforted againe because this one precept concerning Gods omni-presence comprehends amnia media et remedia all meanes and medicines for the curing of his sicke soule If he beare still in mind this one poynt that all things are naked to Gods eye Heb. 4. 13. Yea hell it selfe Iob 26. 6. To his eye which is all eye Ten thousand times brighter then the Sunne Ecclesiasticus 23. 19. He hath already commenced Doctor in Israel and is a liuing and a walking library knowing so much as may serue for the well ordering of his whole life Gregory the great construeth our text thus one iudgement of God calleth vp another for his iudgements are a great depth Psal. 36. 6. So deepe that they be past finding out Rom. 11. 33. When as therefore for feare of Gods iudgement we iudge our selues one deepe occasioneth another and that at the noyse of the water pipes or cloudes which are the preachers exhorting vs as S. Paul his Corinthians If yee would iudge your selues yee should not be iudged Arnobius expoundeth it thus one deepe calleth another deepe When Christ on earth and in the nethermost hell also called to God the Father in the Highest Heauen the strong crying of our Blessed Sauiour vnto God with teares Heb. 5. 7. Was a very deepe base and Gods counter-verse was sung with an exceeding high voyce from heauen of heauen This is my beloued sonne in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3 17. One deepe calleth another deepe when as truth flourished out of the earth and righteousnesse looked downe from heauen Psal. 85. 11. Hugo Cardinalis and Lyra thus Abyssus abyssum inuocat that is peccatum peccatum prouocat As one deepe calleth another deepe So one sinne prouoketh and calleth vp another sinne Pride to maintaine her selfe calleth vp Nigardise Gluttony calleth vp Wantonnesse Malice calls vp Murther Vnthriftinesse calls vp in great ones Oppression In the poore theeuery an vncleane thought calls vp vnsauoury wordes and bad wordes corrupt good manners and corruption in manners breeds a custome in sin and custome in sinne brings men to sencelesnesse in sinne such as giue themselues ouer or sell themselues to commit iniquity proceed from euill to worse Ieremy 9. 3. and fall from one wickednesse to another Psalme 69. 28. First there is walking in the counsell of the vngodly then standing in the way of sinners last of all sitting in the seate of the scornefull Hee that blowes a feather into the ayre or throwes a piece of paper into the riuer knowes not where it will settle So hee that begins with a sinne knowes not when or where it will end Herod happily began with a little dalliance but afterward he committed incest and that darling sinne caused him to adde yet this aboue all the rest of his faults to shut vp Iohn in prison And so Dania glutted with a large meale lusted after Bath saba and that fire did rage till hee had committed vncleannesse with her and for the couering of that foule fact
Pharisee standing vpon his typtoes in the Temple went home lesse iustified then a poore publican who stooping downe would not lift vp so much a his eye into heauen Luke 18. So Saul when he stooped downe being little in his owne eyes became the greatest euen the head of all the tribes of Israel appoynted and anoynted by God to be King yea the first King of his owne people On the contrary Nebuchadnezar in the contemplation of his might and Maiestie conceiting himselfe to be some diuine thing and thereupon enioyned his people to worship his golden Image was in the top of his pride cast out from the conuersation of men and his dwelling with the beastes of the field hee did eate grasse as oxen his body was wet with the dew of heauen his haires growen like the feathers of eagles and his nayles like the clawes of birds vntill hee knew that the Lord ruleth in the kingdome of men and giueth it to whomsoeuer hee will and Antichrist is therefore stiled the man of sinne for exalting himselfe aboue all that is called God Whereas Christ our patterne here being higher then the highest humbled himselfe and stooped so low that hee did appeare rather a worme then a worthy the very scorne of men and outcast of the people Psalm 22. 6. his first instruction in his first publique sermon is blessed are the poore in spirit and he did as he did quod iussit gessit as Bernard sweetely his whole life was nothing else but an open booke rather a free-schoole of humility His ingresse into the world was so stooping that he was layd in a cratch his egresse out of the world so stooping that he died on a crosse intrauit per stabulum exiuit per patibulum his progresse into the world so stooping that he was at once the first and the last Alpha for his Maiestie Omega for his meekenesse ringing as it were the bell himselfe to his owne Sermon of this argument learne of me for I am humble and meeke Proud Pharisee seeing I stoope why doest thou stroute looke down to the ground consider the rocke out of which thou wast hewen Et cum sis humillimus cur non humilimus The second action of Christ here to be considered is writing with his finger on the ground where two questions are to be discussed 1 Why he wrote on the ground 2 What he wrote on the ground The first hath in it If I may so speake the three questionets 1 Why he did write 2 Why with his finger 3 Why he wrote on the ground Hee did write to shew that he would not bee rash and light in his censure hereby teaching all iudges to deliberate and write their sentence before they deliuer publish it vnto the world Demosthenes vsed to say that he would if it were possible speake not only scripta but sculpta licking his phrases as the beare doeth her whelpes and weighing euery word in a prudentiall ballance which hee was to vent in the seates of Iustice. It is obserued truly that vertues are stronger in the aduerbe then in the adiectiue To doe that is well is better then to doe that is good for a man may doe that is honest against his will and knowledge whereas in all vertuous actions there is a free election and therefore that iudge who doth huddle his sentence before hee chew the câ—…d after all parties are fully heard may iudge the right but not aright 2 He wrote and deliberated a while before he spake that he might hereby giue them an occasion and space to repent them of their accusation and question O the depth of the riches of the mercies of Christ hee laâ—… ours to saue those who sought to destroy him Albeit their feete were swift to shed his blood yet is hee slow to wrath and ready to forgiue them and the same mind should be in vs as S. Peter exhorteth euer ready to follow his steps who is the way the trueth and the life To render good for good is the part of a man to render euill for euill is the part of a beast to render euill for good is the part of a deuill to render good for euill is the part of a Saint mercifull as our father in heauen is mercifull The second questionet is why he wrote with his finger and that as Augustine Rupert and Other doctours obserue was to shew that he was greater then Moses and worthy of more glory not a subiect to the law but Lord of the law for that it was his finger that wrote it and his hand that deliuered it vnto Moses Intimating hereby likewise that the law should bee considered in the Gospel and Moses consulted as accompanied with Christ. If wee contemplate Moses alone that will be terrible Exod. 34. 30. But if wee contemplate Moses in Christs company that will be comfortable Mat. 17. 4. Domine bonum est nos hic esse Master it is good for vs to be here this sight is pleasant and profitable The third questionet is why he wrote on the ground and that was first as Aretius obserues to shew the Pharisees how they trampled the commandements of Moses vnder their feet they had as Hugo de S. Vict writes legem in corde but they had not cor in loge they were Doctores Theoretici but not practici they knew the Lawes of God and preached them vnto the people yet hated to bee reformed by them or ruled after them 2 Christ wrote on the ground as Melancton notes to let the Pharisees vnderstand that they who depart from the Lord shal be written in the earth Ierem. 17. 13. The names of Gods elect are registred in the booke of life Philip 4. 3. recorded in heauen Luke 10. 20. But the wicked who make their heauen on earth are written in the dust and so they suddenly consume perish and come to a fearefull end their name rots and their seed is rooted out their stately pallaces are no where to be found and their memoriall is perished with them Psalm 9. 6. All their hope is like dust that is blowen away with the wind like a thinne froth that is driuen away with the storme like the smoke which is dispersed here and there with a tempest and passerh as the remembrance of a guest that tarryeth but a day Wisedome 5. 14. 3 Christ wrote on the ground saith Hugo Cardinalis insinuating that the sencelesse and speechlesse earth shall in the day of iudgement accuse the wicked put in articles and fight against them according to that of Iob If my land cry out against me or the furrowes thereof exclaime Iob 31. 38. God is the Lord of hostes and euery creature is a souldiour in pay with him hauing not only defensiue weapons ad muniendum to protect his seruants but offensiue likewise ad puniendum to punish his enemies
But instantly and that constantly resolue with Dauid here let vs fall into the hand of God and not into the hand of man As we feele more sensible comfort of the Sunnes heate when we are cold So the greater our danger and extremity the greater is that power and piety that deliuereth vs. These vertues are the brightest starres in the sphere of maiestie manifesting Dauids duty to God and man and the reason of all this high and holy resolution is because the mercies of the Lord are great great in their nature as being riches of his goodnesse Rom. 2. 4. Exceeding riches of his grace Ephes. 2. 7. Great in their number as being multitudes of mercies Psal. 51. 1. Great in their continuance as being for euer and euer Psal 103. 17. That is as the doctours expound it from euerlasting predestination to euerlasting glorification euery way so great that our Prophet saith in the 145. Psal. at the 9. verse His mercies are ouer all his workes Of which I find a two fold construction and each of them exceeding comfortable 1. His mercies are ouer That is greater then all his works not in propriety for all the vertues of God are equal as being essential attributes But in effect and extent greater For whereas Gods indignation is but vpon the 4. generation of such as hate him his mercies are vpon thousand generations of those that loue him and keepe his Commandements Among the 13. properties of God Exod. 34. Almost all of them appertaine to his mercy whereas one concernes his might and only two his lustice The 2 construct on is his mercies are ouer all that is shâ—…wed in all and towards all his works for the latter clause his mercies c is nothing else but a repeâ—…ition of the former The Lord is good vnto all His goodnesse is the same with his mercy and all is all his works The mercies of God then are great to the whole vniuerse more specially to the reasonable creatures and among those principally to such as loue him and feare him and call vpon him faithfully As our Prophet in the before cited Psalme verse 18. 19. 20. His mercies compasse them about on all sides and at all seasons on euery side for hee maketh an hedge about them and about their houses and about all they haue Iob. 1. 10. They bee his enclosed vineyards of whom hee saith Esa. 5. What could I haue done more for my vinyard which I haue not done for it and his mercies are toward them at al seasons as the blessed Virgin in her Magnificat throughout all generations To speake more distinctly the mercies of God toward vs are seene in two things especially donando et condonando That is in giuing vs whatsoeuer is good for vs and in forgiuing whatsoeuer is euill euill of sinne euill of punishment for sinne pardoning all our offences against himselfe against our other selfe against our owne selfe lastly his mercies are great in Inferendis Differendis Auferendis supplicijs Mercifull in inferring punishment for when as we deserue to be scourged with Scorpions he chastiseth vs only with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men 2. Sam. 7. 14. We confesse that we sinne greatly So Dauid verse 10. of this chapter But the Lord saith I was but a little displeased Mercifull in deferring punishment as being full of pitty slow to wrath long suffering of great goodnesse cito struit tarde destruit making the whole world in sixe dayes and yet was in destroying one citie seuen dayes Mercifull in remouing punishments as in this present example For the Rabbines haue a fable that the plague threatned here 3 dayes continued only for one houre Ioscphus writes that it continued only from morning till noone others conceiue that it continued onely till the time appointed for euening sacrifice that day when it begun They who stand vpon the precise letter of the text say that the time was shortned for the Lord repented him and sayd to the Angel that destroyed the people it is enough And that was in the beginning of the third day For had not the Lord stayed the Angels hand hee would haue gone on siniting till that day had beene expired and finished It is reported of one that hauing a booke of 2 leaues only hee could not in all his life read it ouer one leafe was red wherein was registred the Iudgements of God in consideration whereof he cryed out enter not into iudgement with thy seruant O Lord c. The other was white in which were written the mercies of God in admiration whereof hee cryed out what is man that thou art so mindfull of him as being lesse then the least of thy mercies If he could not read them in his whole life how shall I repeate them in this munite of time Giue mee leaue onely to conclude in the words of our mother Church O God whose nature and property is euer to haue mercy and to forgiue grant vs thy grace that in all time of our tribulation in all time of our wealth in the houre of death and as the day of iudgment we may put our whole trust and confidence in thee resoluing always as Dauid here let vs fall into the hand of the Lord and not into the hands of man for thy mercies are great 2. KINGS 19. 36. 37. So Senacherib King of Ashur departed and went his way and returned and dwelt in Niniue And as he was in the Temple worshipping Nisroth his god Adramelech and Sharezer his sons slew him with the sword THis scripture reports two things specially to wit the flight and fall of Senacherib King of Ashur a great Monarch and a great boaster of his greatnesse saying in the pride of his heart verse 23. By the multitude of my chariots I am come vp to the top of the mountaines by the sides of Lebanon and will cut downe the tall Cedars thereof and the firre trees thereof and I will goe into the lodging of his borders and into the forrest of his Carmel I haue digged and drunke the waters of others and with the plant of my feete haue dryed all the riuers of besieged cities Affronting Gods people with insolent language Let not Ezechia deceiue you neither let Ezechia make you to trust in the Lord saying the Lord wâ—…ll surely deliuer vs. Hath any of the gods of the nations deliuered his land out of the hand of the King of Ashur Where is the God of Hamath and of Arphad where is the God of Sepharuaim Hena and â—…ua How haue they deliuered Samaria out of mine hand Now the Lord when this huge Leuiathan had in his owne conceit swallowed vp Iuda put a hooke into his nostrils and a bit into his mouth and so brought him backe againe the same way that he came making him in the mids of his fury first to fly then afterward to fall His flight is reported here to bee full of
should Esay denounce woe to such as ioyne house to house and lay field to field till there bee no place for other vpon the earth and why should the remouing of land-markes be numbred among the notorious faults of the wicked Iob. 24. 2. It is obiected out of Acts 2. 43. and Acts 4. 32. that the primitiue Christians had all things common Answere is made that those deare seruants and Saints of God in that extreme persecution had all things common In cresi that is in vse but not in Thesi that is in occupation and possession It is sayd that the rich did sell their possessions and landes but not all their possessions and lands 2. This sale was not forced but voluntary so St. Peter told Ananias Acts. 5. 4. Whiles it remained appertained it not vnto thee And after it was sold was it not in thine owne power 3. Such as did sell and communicate did not giue to all men alike but as euery one had need The poore did not confusedly snatch vnto themselues as much as they would but the price of the things that were sold was layd downe at the Apostles feete and distribution of the same was made vnto euery man according to his necessity 4. The blessed Apostles themselues had not all things common in possession for St. Iohn tooke the blessed Virgin recommended vnto him by Christ into his owne home Iohn 19. 27. And St. Paul had bookes and apparrell of his owne for thus he writes to Timothie the cloake that I left at Troas with Carpus when thou commest bring with thee and the bookes but especially the parchments Lastly if all things ought to be common as our moderne Platonists and ancient Heritikes called Apostolici contend why did Christ and his Apostles exhort rich men of the world to be rich in good workes aduising that their abundance should supply the lacke of other and that they should doe good vnto all men especially vnto those which are of the houshold of faith distributing to the necessities of the Saints and giuing themselues to hospitality To make things common is to take away the subiect and occasions of bountifulnesse and liberality which are so highly commended in a christian 3 As wee may possesse lands and possesse them in priuat bounded and inclosed So wee may maintaine lawfully these boundes against all oppressours and intruders whatsoeuer 1. Soueraigne Princes may defend their marches and limits of their states and kingdomes against inuading neighbour kings and that by dint of sword and force of armes If one priuat man offend another the Iudge saith old Eli shall iudge it If one subiect remooue the land-markes of another appeale may bee made to superiour authority But if one King incroach vpon the Dominions of another they haue no common seat of Iustice where to complaine of wrongs and therefore they may reuenge publique quarrels and make the sword their Iudge and in such a case sayth Augustine the captaines and souldiers are the ministers of God and they fight his battaile with his sword to take vengeance on such as doe ill and herein as Bernard speakes they be not homicidae sed malicidae 2. It is the part of euery parishioner and party to preserue so much as lyeth in him all the liberties franchises boundes and priuiledges of the towne where hee dwels St Paul in a great extremity pleaded that he was a citizen of Rome and the chiefe captaine who had the charge of him answered with a great summe obtained I this freedome the Church of England in the fourth part of the Sermon for Rogation weeke doth aduise parishoners in walking their perambulation seriously to consider the boundes of their own Towne-ship and of all other neighbour parishes bordering vpon them on euery side that euery towne may be content with his owne and clayme no more then that in ancient right and custome our forefathers haue peaceably layd out for our comfort and commodity in the tides of contention betweene neighbour incorporations once vp there want not commonly stirring windes to make them more rough I remember Chaucer in his time gaue this character of a Sergeant at the law no where so busie a man as he there was and yet hee seemed busier then hee was to bee Causidicus a Barrister aduocate counsellour is an honest a worshipfull and a worthy calling but to be Causificus a barretour a setter of suites a copie-cut as it were to bring in gaine to the court christian or ciuill is a base trade that becomes not a man a gentleman lesse a christian least of all I beseech you therefore brethren marke them which cause diuisions and offences contrary to the doctrine yee haue learned and a◅oyd them and the way to shun their courses is exactly to marke the markestones and to stand in the old way for the prouerbe is true fast bind fast find euen reckoning makes long friends when boundes are certaine possessors are not vncertaine 3. As the soueraigne Prince which is the head and incorporations and townes which are bodies politique so in particular euery man and member of the same may defend his owne right and maintaine the boundes of his proper inheritance by wager of law before competent iudges Wee must as S. Paul exhorts follow peace with all men and haue peace with all if it bee possible so much as lyeth in our power But because the wicked are like the raging sea whose waters cast vp dirt and mire hauing no peace within themselues and alway stirring with other It is our duty to be so simple as doues in offending them and yet so wise as serpents in defending our selues It stands well enough with charity for a christian to stand vpon his iust title yea because charity begins with it selfe hee that prouides not for his owne denyeth the faith and is worse then an infidel Against this doctrine the fond Anabaptists obiect the word of Christ Mat. 5 40. If any man will take away thy coat let him haue thy cloake also S. Augustine answereth in lib. 1. de ser dom in monte That this iniunction ought to be construed de preparatione cordis and not de ostensione operis of our hearts intention and readinesse to forgiue an iniury rather then of our works extension and actuall induring the spoyling of our goods or as other more plainly these words are spoken of priuat retaliation and reuenge not of that remedy which wee may haue by publique iustice The meaning of Christ is that wee should bee so farre from auenging one wrong with another as that we should rather haue patience to suffer more as the Prophets expound the law so the Apostles expoūd the Gospel heare then how S. Paul interprets this precept Rom. 12. 19. Auenge not your selues saith hee but giue place to wrath for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord A priuate person ought not to render
whether it be good or bad A sweet speech according to Godsowne heart for as S. Ambrose doth auow whosoeuer speakes a thing which is true speaketh it from the spirit of trueth Not to trouble you with any further discourse the consideration of this one poynt that God is omni-present conteineth in it all other rules for the well ordering of whole life so that if any be deiected in his mind for that he cannot remember the good lessons hee dayly reades in bookes and heares in Sermons let him be con tented againe because this one prescript comprehends omnia media et remedia all meanes and medicines for the curing of his sicke soule but because Gershon a great clearke professeth hee hath sometimes beene foure houres together in working his heart ere hee could frame it to he Diuine meditation of God I purpose to treate first of the meanes how to get it and then of the fruites arising from it For the first euery good gift is from aboue comming downe from the Father of lights and prayer is like the fiery chariot of Elia where by we mount vp and conuerse with God on high It is the key of Paradise gates and the hand of a Christian able to reach from earth to heauen and to take foorth vnsearchable riches ouâ—… of the Lords treasure the Scripture saith as much in plaine termes aske and yee shall haue seeke and yee shall find knocke and it shall be opened vnto you what soeuer ye shall aske the Father in my Name he will giue it you Feruent prayer then vnto which almighty God denyes nothing is a maine meanes of this holy deuotion and pious exercise Another way to seeke Gods face continually is to haue some remarkeable sentences concerning this argument written in the roomes wee most vse for example that of Solomon Prou. 15. 3. The eyes of the Lord in euery place behold the euill and the good Or that of Dauid I haue set God alwayes before me Or that of Paul Heb. 4. 13. All things are naked and open to his eyes with whom wee haue to doe Or that of Augustine God is all eye Totus oculus qui minime fallitur quià minime clauditur saith Bernard Or that of Lipsius eum nulla vis humana elidet aut acumen eludet God commanded in the 15 of Numb 38. and Deut 22. 12. That his people throughout their generations should make them fringes vpon the borders of their garments and put vpon the fringes of the borders a ribband of blew silke that when they looked vpon them at any time they might remember all the commandements of the Lord and doe them He did inioyne likewise to bind the wordes of his Law for a memoriall vpon their hands and as fronâ—…lets betweene their eyes And these scrolles of paitchâ—…ents wherein the commandements were written are termed by the Hebrew Doctor Tephillim prayermonuments and by Christ Mat. 23. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Interpreters coniecture quasi conseruatoria because they kept and preserued men in awfull obedience to the law and howsoeuer the Pharisees abused these things vnto superstition and vaine-glory yet God assuredly will be well pleased if we shall vse sincerely the like monuments and figures for the like good purposes and ends especially to put vs in mind of his holy presence A third profitable meane to seeke Gods face continually is a particular examination of our selues at our vprising and downe-sitting and if wee find that wee haue walked all the day long in Gods sight to make songs of him and prayse him for his strength and grace If otherwise to be sory for this omission and hereafter to bee more studious of this good worke The last and best helpe to further this deuotion is our vnfeined loue of God for as S. Augustine sayd animus velut pondere amore fertur quocunque fertur ibi est vbi amat non vbi animat A man is where he loues not where he liues as Origene writes of Mary Magdalene visiting Christs Sepulchre ibi non erat vbi erat quià tota ibi erat vbi magister erat So beloued it is with vs al our mind is where our pleasure is and our heart is where our treasure is Matth. 6. 21. If then we loue God aboue all things our hearts will likewise reioyce in his holy Name more then in all things If wee remember the marueilous workes that hee hath done his wonders and the iudgement of his mouth what do we but seeke his strength and his face euermore The fruites rising from this holy deuotion are manifold The first is purenesse of heart which is such an excellent vertue that Solomon saith He that loueth purenesse of heart the King shall be his friend That is the King of glory the King of heauen and earth the King of kings is a louer of him Now that purenesse is attayned by this exercise as Dauid telleth vs in the 10. Psalme reporting the wayes of the wicked man to bee most impure because God is not in all his thoughts and the fathers of our law put these words into the enditement of a malefactour that in committing his foule fact he had not God before his eyes When Christ entred into my soule saith Bernard hee mooued and mollified and wounded mine hard and stony heart he did roote out and destroy throw downe build and plant he did enlighten that which was darke water that which was dry coole that which was too hot and inflame that which was too cold He did exalt valleys and depresse mountains the crooked wayes he made straight and the rough places plaine and so saith he with our Prophet Psalme 103. My soule did prayse the Lord and all that is within mee prayse his holy Name We find in Ecclesiasticall history that Paphnutius conuerted Thais and that Ephram conuerted another famous strumpet from vncleannesse onely with this argument that almighty God seeth all thinges in the darke when all doores are fast all windowes shut all curtaines close And as this exercise causeth vs to repent sin which is past so likewise to preuent sinne which is to come for if once we can contemplate God as present we shall instantly consider him as our Father and so honour him or as our Lord and so feare him and he that doeth either of these will flee sinne as a serpent as for example Ioseph assaulted by his mistrisle to lie with her answered How can I doe this great wickednesse and so sinne against God Susanna tempted by the libidiâ—…ous Elders to the like folly gaue the like answere sighing and saying I am in danger on euery side For if I doe this thing it is death vnto me and if I do it not I cannot escape your hanâ—… it is better for mee to fall into your hands and not to doe it then to sinne in the sight of the Lord A learned doctour in â—…ur time
such custome Mr Harding being hardly pursued is constrained in despite of his will and wit to grant that the termes of auricular and secret confession are seldome mentioned in the Fathers Erasmus and Rhenanus affirme they were neuer vsed in old time so that as reuerend Iewel sayd if Harding had left out the word seldome and sayd neuer his tale had beene the truer The challenge then of Caluin is iustifiable that the auricular Popish confession was not practised in the Church vntill twelue hundred yeeres after Christ 〈◊〉 first in the Laterane councell vnder 〈◊〉 the third 2 We say that auricular confession is not necessary for that it is an humane tradition not a diuine constitution as their owne Panormitan acknowledgeth and Maldonate their Iesuite writes expressely that many Catholiks are of the same opinion as namely Scotus among the schoolemen and the expounders of Gratian among the Canonists 3 Wee say that auricular confession of all faults is impossible for who can tell how oft he doth offend Psalme 19. 12. Our sinnes are more then the haires of our heads quoth Dauid and as King Manasses in his prayer more then the sand of the sea now quod sine numero est quomodo numerabo saith Bernard 4 Wee say that it is a pernicious practise by which a great many men are damnified if not damned many doubtlesse suffer dammages in their purses and personall estate because confessions euermore make worke for indulgences and indulgences are agreat support of the Popes triple Crowne There was a booke written Anno 1343. entituled Poenitentiarius asini Wherein are brought foorth the Wolfe the Foxe and the Asse comming to confession and doing penance First the Wolfe confessed himselfe to the Foxe who doth absolue him easily from his faults and excuse him in the same Then the Wolfe hearing the Foxes shrift affordes him the like fauour Lastly 〈◊〉 asse commeth to confession whose 〈◊〉 was this that hee being hungry tooke a straw from out the sheafe of one that went in peregrination vnto Rome the dull asse though repenting of this fact yet because hee thought it noâ—… so heinous as the faults of the other had immediatly the discipline of the law with all seuerity neither was he iâ—…dged worthy of any pardon or absolution but was apprehended vpon the same slaine and deuoured whosoeuer was the penner of this fabulous tale had a mysticall vnderstanding in the same For by the Wolfe no doubt was meant the Pope by the Foxe the Prelats and Priests and the rest of the spirituallity the Pope is soone absolued of the spirituallity and the spirituallity soone absolued of the Pope By the Asse is meant the poore Laytie vpon whose backe the strict censure of the law is executed sharpely Moreouer Popish aâ—…ricular confession is exceeding hurtfull vnto the souâ—…s of ignorant people who being beguiled with this blinding and benighting doctrine trust so much to their externall confession and externall absolution that they neglect inward and intire repentance This opinion assuredly breeds vp a sinner and makes him as it were fat in iniquity For as one sayd wittily the Papists account of confes sion as drunkards of vomiting and say When wee haue sâ—…nned wee must confesse and when we haue confessed wee must sâ—…nne againe that we may confesse againe So they sticke fast in their sinnes as thinking they haue done their parts wheâ—…â—…hey haue runne ouer the bed-roule of their 〈◊〉 and so receiued a formall absolution In our Churches history we read that a certaine Popish Priest named Nightingall Parson of Crondal in Kent who preaching vpon Shrove-Sunday to his parishioners and taking for his theame the words of S. Iohn If we say wee haue no sinne we deceiue our selues and the trueth is not in vs Told them he had receiued the Popes pardon from Cardinall Poole exhorting them also to receiue the same seeing that he stood now so free from sinne as he did at the fontstone and cared not now if he should die the same houre in the cleanesse of his conscience whereupon being suddenly stricken by the hand of God he immediatly shrunke downe into the Pulpit and so was found dead speaking not one word more Well then if S Iames here meant not auricular confession vpon constraint vnto the Priest euery yeare let vs examine what confession it is of which he sayth acknowledge your faults one to another Our Church in the second part of the homilie concerning repentance and Caluin institutionum lib. 3. cap. 4 sect 12. affirme that there is a two fold confession of faults one to another enioyned in the holy Scripture the first is for the satisfaction of our neighbours if wee haue trespassed against them and the second is for the satisfaction of our owne selues If at any time wee feele our consciences afflicted heauily with any grieuous crimes of both which our text may be consâ—…d as being Christian duties exceedâ—…y requisite not only in our sicknesse but in our health also LECTVRE 2. COncerning the first kind of confession it is a duty to be performed in sicknesse especially to which obseruation I am led with Aretius by the coherence for S. Iames in the words a little before sayd If any man be sicke among you let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray for him and then in our text Confesse your faults one to another insinuating that it is at such a time chiefly fit yea necessary that we should vnfainedly forgiue others and earnestly desire that others forgiue vs and so God of his infinite mercy forgiue all When Hezechias was sicke vnto death Esay the Prophet came unto him and sayd Put thy house in order for thou shalt die Dispose first of thy soule which is ill disposed if it bee not in loue which is the complement of the law Secondly dispose of thy body which is ill disposed If thou command not thy tongue to confesse thy faults and to doe right to those it hath abused and slandered â—…irdly dispose of thy temporall estate which is ill disposed if thou make not restitution vnto such as thou hast oppressed and iniured This confession is to be performed in our health also that if it be possible so much as in vsiâ—… we may haue peace with all men especially when as we go to the Lords Table so Christ instructeth vs. Matth. 5. 23. If thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leaue there thy offering before the Altar and goe thy way first be reconciled vnto thy brother and then come and offer thy gift By which it is apparant that wee must offer in loue being reconciled vnto our brother and much more vnto the Church which is the whole brotherhood of all Christian people for God expects and respects mercy more then sacrifice Hosea 6 6. It is a fashion among meane