Christian Man is that it causeth not a Man to be idle but to be occupied in bringing forth good Works No good Works can be done without Faith John 15. as occasion serveth Now by God's Grace shall be declared the Second thing that before was noted of Faith that without it can no good Work be done accepted and pleasant unto God For as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself saith our Saviour Christ except it abide in the Vine so cannot you except you abide in me I am the Vine and you are the branches he that abideth in me and I in him he bringeth forth much fruit for without me you can do nothing And St. Paul proveth that the Eunuch had Faith because he pleased God Heb. 11. For without Faith saith he it is not possible to please God And again to the Romans he saith Rom. 14. Whatsoever work is done without faith it is sin Faith giveth life to the Soul and they be as much dead to God that lack Faith as they be to the World whose Bodies lack Souls Without Faith all that is done of us is but dead before God although the work seem never so gay and glorious before Man Even as the Picture graven or painted is but a dead representation of the thing itself and is without life or any manner of moving So be the Works of all unfaithful Persons before God They do appear to be lively Works and indeed they be but dead not availing to the everlasting life They be but shadows and shews of lively and good things and not good and lively things indeed For true Faith doth give life to the Works and out of such Faith come good Works that be very good Works indeed and without Faith no Work is good before God as saith St. Augustine In Praefat. Psal 13. We must set no good Works before Faith nor think that before Faith a Man may do any good VVorks for such VVorks although they seem unto Men to be praise-worthy yet indeed they be but vain and not allowed before God They be as the Course of an Horse that runneth out of the way which taketh great labour but to no purpose Let no Man therefore saith he reckon upon his good Works before his Faith VVhereas Faith was not good VVorks were not The intent saith he maketh good VVorks but Faith must guide and order the intent of Man And Christ saith Matth. 6. In Praefat. Psal 31. If thine eye be naught thy whole body is full of darkness The Eye doth signifie the intent saith St. Augustine wherewith a Man doth a thing So that he which doth not his good VVorks with a godly intent and a true Faith that worketh by Love the whole Body beside that is to say all the whole number of his Works is dark and there is no light in them For good Deeds be not measured by the Facts themselves and so discerned from Vices but by the ends and intents for the which they were done If a Heathen Man cloath the Naked feed the Hungry and do such other like Works yet because he doth them not in Faith for the Honour and Love of God they be but dead vain and fruitless Works to him Faith it is that doth commend the Work to God For as St. Augustine saith whether thou wilt or no that Work that cometh not of Faith is naught Where the Faith of Christ is not the foundation there is no good Work what Building soever we make There is one Work in the which be all good Works that is Faith which worketh by Charity If thou have it thou hast the ground of all good Works For the virtues of Strength Wisdom Temperance and Justice be all referred unto this same Faith Without this Faith we have not them but only the names and shadows of them as St. Augustine saith All the life of them that lack the true Faith is Sin and nothing is Good without him that is the Author of Goodness Where he is not there is but feigned Virtue although it be in the best VVorks And St. Augustine De vocatione Gentium lib. cap. 3. declaring this Verse of the Psalm The Turtle hath found a nest where she may keep her young Birds saith that Jews Hereticks and Pagans do good VVorks they cloath the Naked feed the Poor and do other good works of Mercy But because they be not done in the true Faith therefore the Birds be lost But if they remain in Faith then Faith is the nest and safeguard of their Birds that is to say safeguard of their good VVorks that the reward of them be not utterly lost And this matter which St. Augustine at large in many Books disputeth St. Ambrose concludeth in few words saying He that by nature would withstand Vice either by natural VVill or Reason he doth in vain garnish the time of this Life and attaineth not the very true Virtues For without the worshipping of the true God that which seemeth to be Virtue is Vice And yet most plainly to this purpose writeth St. Chrysostome in this wife In Sermone de side lege spiritu Sancto You shall find many which have not the true Faith that be not of the flock of Christ and yet as it appeareth they flourish in good works of Mercy You shall find them full of Pity Compassion and given to Justice and yet for all that they have no fruit of their VVorks because the chief VVork lacketh For when the Jews asked of Christ what they should do to work good VVorks He answer'd John 6. This is the work of God to believe in him whom he sent So that he called Faith the VVork of God And as soon as a Man hath Faith anon he shall flourish in good VVorks For Faith of itself is full of good Works and nothing is good without Faith And for a similitude he saith That they which glister and shine in good Works without Faith in God be like dead Men which have goodly and precious Tombs and yet it availeth them nothing Faith may not be naked without good Works for then it is no true Faith And when it is adjoyned to Works yet it is above the Works For as Men that be very Men indeed first have life and after be nourished So must our Faith in Christ go before and after be nourished with good Works And life may be without nourishment but nourishment cannot be without life A Man must needs be nourished by good Works but first he must have Faith He that doth good Deeds yet without Faith he hath no Life I can shew a Man that by Faith without Works lived and came to Heaven But without Faith never Man had Life The Thief that was hanged when Christ suffer'd did Believe only and the most merciful God justified him And because no Man shall say a-again that he lacked time to do good Works for else he would have done them Truth it is and I will
and the warnings and remedies hard to know or come by if the stumbling-blocks lie continually in the way and poison be ready at hand every where and warnings and remedies but seldom given and if all men be more ready of themselves to stumble and be offended than to be warned all men more ready to drink of the poison than to taste of the remedy as is before partly and shall hereafter more fully be declared and so in fine the poison continually and deeply drunk of many the remedy seldom and faintly tasted of by a few How can it be but that infinite of the weak and infirm shall be offended infinite by ruine shall break their necks infinite by deadly venom be poisoned in their souls And how is the charity of God or love of our Neighbours in our hearts then if when we may remove such dangerous stumbling-blocks such pestilent poisons we will not remove them What shall I say of them which will lay stumbling-blocks where before there was none and set snares for the feet nay for the souls of weak and simple ones and work the danger of their everlasting destruction for whom our Saviour Christ shed his most precious Blood where better it were that the Arts of Painting Plaistering Carving Graving and Founding had never been found nor used than one of them whose souls in the sight of God are so precious should by occasion of Image or Picture perish and be lost And thus is it declared that preaching cannot possibly stay Idolatry if Images be set up publickly in Temples and Churches And as true is it that no other remedy as writing against Idolatry Councils assembled Decrees made against it severe Laws likewise and Proclamations of Princes and Emperours neither extream Punishments and Penalties nor any other remedy could or can be possibly devised for the avoiding of Idolatry if Images be publickly set up and suffered For concerning writing against Images and Idolatry to them committed there hath been alledged unto you in the Second Part of this Treatise a great many places out of Tertullian Origen Lactantius S. Augustine Epiphanius S. Ambrose Clemens and divers other learned and holy Bishops and Doctors of the Church And besides these all Histories Ecclesiastical and Books of other godly and learned Bishops and Doctors are full of notable examples and sentences against Images and the worshipping of them And as they have most earnestly written so did they sincerely and most diligently in their time teach and preach according to their writings and examples For they were then preaching Bishops and more often seen in Pulpits than in Princes Palaces more often occupied in his Legacy who said Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to all men than in Embassages and Affairs of Princes in this World And as they were most zealous and diligent so were they of excellent learning and godliness of life and by both of great Authority and Credit with the People and so of more force and likelihood to perswade the People and the People more like to believe and follow their Doctrine But if their Preachings could not help much less could their Writings which do but come to the knowledge of a few that be learned in comparison to continual Preaching whereof the whole multitude is partaker Neither did the Old Fathers Bishops and Doctors severally only by Preaching and Writing but also together great numbers of them assembled in Synods and Councils make Decrees and Ecclesiastical Laws against Images and the worshipping of them neither did they so once or twice but divers times and in divers Ages and Countries assembled Synods and Councils and made severe Decrees against Images and worshipping of them as hath been at large in the Second Part of this Homily before declared But all their Writing Preaching assembling in Councils decreeing and making of Laws Ecclesiastical could nothing help either to pull down Images to whom Idolatry was committed or against Idolatry whilst Images stood For those blind Books and dumb School-masters I mean Images and Idols for they call them Lay-mens Books and School-masters by their carved and painted Writings teaching and preaching Idolatry prevailed against all their written Books and preaching with lively voice as they call it Well if Preaching and Writing could not keep men from worshipping of Images and Idolatry if Pen and Words could not do it you would think that Penalty and Sword might do it I mean that Princes by severe Laws and Punishments might stay this unbridled affection of all men to Idolatry though Images were set up and suffered But experience proveth that this can no more help against Idolatry than Writing and Preaching For Christian Emperors whose Authority ought of reason and by Gods Law to be greatest above eight in number and six of them successively reigning one after another as is in the Histories before rehearsed making most severe Laws and Proclamations against Idols and Idolatry Images and the worshipping of Images and executing most grievous punishments yea the penalty of Death upon the maintainers of Images and upon Idolaters and Image-worshippers could not bring to pass that either Images once set up might throughly be destroyed or that men should refrain from the worshipping of them being set up And what think you then will come to pass if men of learning should teach the People to make them and should maintain the setting up of them as things necessary in Religion To conclude it appeareth evidently by all stories and writings and experience in times past that neither Preaching neither Writing neither the consent of the Learned nor authority of the Godly nor the decrees of Councils neither the Laws of Princes nor extream punishments of the Offenders in that behalf nor any other remedy or means can help against Idolatry if Images be suffered publickly And it is truly said that times past are School-masters of Wisdom to us that follow and live after Therefore if in times past the most vertuous and best learned the most diligent also and in number almost infinite ancient Fathers Bishops and Doctors with their Writing Preaching Industry Earnestness Authority Assemblies and Councils could do nothing against Images and Idolatry to Images once set up what can we neither in learning nor holiness of life neither in diligence neither in authority to be compared with them but men in contempt and of no estimation as the World goeth now few also in number in so great a multitude and malice of men What can we do I say or bring to pass to the stay of Idolatry or worshipping of Images if they be allowed to stand publickly in Tempâ—es and Churches And if so many so mighty Emperors by so severe Laws and Proclamations so rigorous and extream Punishments and Executions could not stay the People from setting up and worshipping of Images what will ensue think you when men shall commend them as necessary Books of the Lay-men Let us therefore of these latter days learn this Lesson
can lay his hands on the Lords anointed and be guiltless And David said furthermore As sure as the Lord liveth the Lord shall smite him or his day shall come to die or he shall descend or go down into Battel and there perish the Lord keep me from laying my hands upon the Lord 's anointed But take thou now the spear that is at his head and the cruse of Water and let us go And so he did Here is evidently proved that we may not withstand nor in any ways hurt an anointed King which is God's Lieutenant Vicegerent and highest Minister in that Country where he is King But peradventure some here would say that David in his own defence might have killed King Saul lawfully An Objection and with a safe Conscience But holy David did know than he might in no wise withstand An Answer hurt or kill his Sovereign Lord and King He did know that he was but King Saul's Subject though he were in great favour with God and his Enemy King Saul out of God's favour Therefore though he were never so much provoked yet he refused utterly to hurt the Lord 's anointed He durst not for offending God and his own Conscience although he had occasion and opportunity once lay his hands upon God's high Officer the King whom he did know to be a Person reserved and kept for his Office sake only to God's Punishment and Judgment therefore he prayeth so oft and so earnestly that he lay not his hands upon the Lord 's anointed And by these two Examples Holy David being named in Scripture a Man after God's own Heart Psal 88. giveth a general Rule and Lesson to all Subjects in the World not to withstand their Liege Lord and King not to take a Sword by their private Authority against their King God's anointed who only beareth the Sword by God's Authority for the Maintenance of the good and for the Punishment of the evil who only by God's Law hath the use of the Sword at his command and also hath all Power Jurisdiction Regiment Correction and Punishment as Supreme Governor of all his Realms and Dominions and that even by the Authority of God and by God's Ordinances Yet another notable Story and Doctrine is in the second Book of the Kings that maketh also for this purpose When an Amalekite 2 Kings 1. by King Saul's own consent and Commandment had killed King Saul he went to David supposing to have had great Thanks for his Message that he had killed David's deadly Enemy and therefore he made great haste to tell to David the chance bringing with him King Saul's Crown that was upon his Head and his Bracelet that was upon his Arm to persuade his tidings to be true But Godly David was so far from rejoycing at this news that immediately and forthwith he rent his Cloaths off his Back he Mourned and wept and said to the Messenger How is it that thou wast not afraid to lay thy hands on the Lords anointed to destroy him And by and by David made one of his Servants to kill the Messenger saying Thy blood be on thine own head for thine own mouth hath testified and witnessed against thee granting that thou hast slain the Lords anointed These examples being so manifest and evident it is an intolerable ignorance madness and wickedness for Subjects to make any Murmuring Rebellion Resistance or withstanding Commotion or Insurrection against their most dear and most dread Sovereign Lord and King ordained and appointed of God's Goodness for their Commodity Peace and Quietness Yet let us believe undoubtedly good Christian People that we may not obey Kings Magistrates or any other though they be our own Fathers if they would command us to do any thing contrary to God's Commanments In such a case we ought to say with the Apostle Acts 7. We must rather obey God than man But nevertheless in that case we may not in any wise withstand violently or rebel against Rulers or make any Insurrection Sedition or Tumults either by force of Arms or otherwise against the Anointed of the Lord or any of his Officers But we must in such case patiently suffer all wrongs and injuries referring the Judgment of our Cause only to God Let us fear the terrible Punishment of Almighty God against Traytors and rebellious Persons by the Example of Korah Dathan and Abiram who repined and grudged against God's Magistrates and Officers and therefore the Earth opened and swallowed them up alive Others for their wicked Murmuring and Rebellion were by a sudden Fire sent down from God utterly consumed Others for their froward behaviour to their Rulers and Governors God's Ministers were suddenly striken with a foul Leprosie Others were stinged to death with wonderful strange fiery Serpents Others were sore plagued so that there were killed in one day 2 Kings 18. the Number of Fourteen thousand and seven hundred for Rebellion against them whom God had appointed to be in Authority Absalom also rebelling against his Father King David was punished with a strange and notable Death The Third Part of the Sermon of Obedience YE have heard before in this Sermon of good Order and Obedience manifestly proved both by the Scriptures and Examples that all Subjects are bound to obey their Magistrates and for no cause to resist or withstand or rebel or make any Sedition against them yea although they be wicked Men. And let no Man think that he can escape unpunished that committeth Treason Conspiracy or Rebellion against his Sovereign Lord the King though he commit the same never so secretly either in Thought Word or Deed never so privily in his privy Chamber by himself or openly communicating and consulting with others For Treason will not be hid Treason will out at length God will have that most detestable Vice both opened and punished for that it is so directly against his Ordinance and against his high Principal Judge and Anointed on Earth The Violence and Injury that is committed against Authority is committed against God the Commonweal and the whole Realm which God will have known and condignly or worthily punished one way or the other For it is notably written of the wise Man in Scripture Eccl. 10. in the Book called Ecclesiastes Wish the King no evil in thy Thought nor speak no hurt of him in thy privy chamber For the bird of the air shall betray thy voice and with her feathers shall bewray thy words These Lessons and Examples are written for our Learning Therefore let us all fear the most detestable vice of Rebellion ever knowing and remembring that he that resisteth or withstandeth common Authority resisteth or withstandeth God and his Ordinance as it may be proved by many other places of Holy Scripture And here let us take heed that we understand not these or such other like places which so straitly command Obedience to Superiours and so straitly punished Rebellion and Disobedience to the same to be
convenient that the Scriptures of God and specially the Gospel of our Saviour Christ should be Read and Expounded unto us that be Christians in our Churches specially our Saviour Christ and his Apostles allowing this most godly and necessary usage and by their Examples confirming the same It is written in the Stories of the Gospel in divers places that Jesus went round about all Galilee Matth. 4. Mark 1. Luke 4. Matth. 13.20 Mark 6. Luke 13. Luke 4. teaching in their Synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom In which places is his great diligence in continual Preaching and Teaching of the People most evidently set forth In Luke ye read how Jesus according to his accustomed use came into the Temple and how the Book of Isaiah the Prophet was delivered him how he read a Text therein and made a Sermon upon the same Luke 19. And in the Nineteenth is expressed how he Taught daily in the Temple And it is thus written in the Eighth of John John 8. John 18. Jesus came again early in the Morning into the Temple and all the People came unto him and he sate down and Taught them And in the Eighteenth of John our Saviour testifieth before Pilate that he spake openly unto the World and that he always Taught in the Synagogue and in the Temple whither all the Jews resorted and that secretly he spake nothing Luke 21. And in Saint Luke Jesus Taught in the Temple and all the People came early in the Morning unto him that they might hear him in the Temple Here ye see as well the diligence of our Saviour in teaching the Word of God in the Temple daily and specially on the Sabbath-days as also the readiness of the People resorting all together and that early in the Morning into the Temple to hear him The same Example of diligence in preaching the Word of God in the Temple shall ye find in the Apostles and the People resorting unto them Acts the Fifth Where the Apostles although they had been whipped and scourged the day before and by the High Priest commanded that they should preach no more in the Name of Jesus yet the day following they entred early in the Morning into the Temple and did not cease to teach and declare Jesus Christ And in sundry other places of the Story of the Acts Acts 13.15.17 ye shall find like diligence both in the Apostles in Teaching and in the People in coming to the Temple to hear Gods Word And it is testified in the First of Luke that when Zachary the Holy Priest Luke 1. and Father to John Baptist did Sacrifice within the Temple all the People stood without a long time praying such was their zeal and fervency at that time And in the Second of Luke appeareth what great Journeys Men Luke 2. Women yea and Children took to come to the Temple on the Feast-day there to serve the Lord and specially the Example of Joseph the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother to our Saviour Jesus Christ and of our Saviour Christ himself being yet but a Child whose Examples are worthy for us to follow So that if we would compare our negligence in resorting to the House of the Lord there to serve him with the diligence of the Jews in coming daily very early somtimes by great Journeys to their Temple and when the multitude could not be received within the Temple the fervent zeal that they had was declared in standing long without and Praying We may justly in this Comparison condemn our slothfulness and negligence yea plain contempt in coming to the Lord's House standing so near unto us so seldom and scarcely at any time So far is it from a great many of us to come early in the Morning or give attendance without who disdain to come into the Temple And yet we abhor the very Name of the Jews when we hear it as of a most wicked and ungodly People But it is to be feared that in this point we be far worse than the Jews and that they shall rise at the day of Judgment to our Condemnation who in Comparison to them shew such slackness and contempt in resorting to the House of the Lord there to serve him according as we are of duty most bound And besides this most horrible dread of God's just Judgment in the great day we shall not in this Life escape his heavy Hand and Vengeance for this contempt of the House of the Lord and his due service in the same according as the Lord himself threatneth in the First Chapter of the Prophet Aggeus after this sort Agge 1. Because you have left my House desert and without Company saith the Lord and ye have made haste every Man to his own House for this cause are the Heavens stayed over you that they should give no Dew and the Earth is forbidden that it should bring forth her Fruit and I have called Drought upon the Earth and upon the Mountains and upon corn and upon wine and upon oil and upon all things that the earth bringeth forth and upon men and upon beasts and upon all things that mens hands labour for Behold if we be such worldlings that we care not for the Eternal Judgments of God which yet of all other are most dreadful and horrible we shall not escape the punishment of God in this World by drought and famine and the taking away of all worldly commodities which we as worldlings seem only to regard and care for Whereas on the contrary part if we would amend this fault or neglignce slothfulness and contempt of the House of the Lord and his due service there and with diligence resort thither together to serve the Lord with one accord and consent in all Holiness and Righteousness before him we have promises of benefits Matth. 18. both Heavenly and Worldly Wheresoever two or three be gathered in my Name saith our Saviour Christ there am I in the midst of them And what can be more blessed than to have our Saviour Christ among us Or what again can be more unhappy or mischievous than to drive our Saviour Christ from amongst us to leave a place for his and our most ancient and mortal Enemy the old Dragon and Serpent Satan the Devil in the midst of us In the Second of Luke it is written how that the mother of Christ and Joseph when they had long sought Christ whom they had lost and could find him no where Luke 2. that at the last they found him in the Temple sitting in the midst of the Doctors So if we lack Jesus Christ that is to say the Saviour of our Souls and Bodies we shall not find him in the Market-place or in the Guild-Hall much less in the Ale-house or Tavern amongst good Fellows as they call them so soon as we shall find him in the Temple the Lords House amongst the Teachers and Preachers of his Word where indeed he is to be
of the First Part was promised that this Truth and Doctrine concerning the forbidding of Images and Worshipping of them taken out of the Holy Scriptures as well of the Old Testament as the New was believed and taught of the old Holy Fathers and most ancient Learned Doctors and received in the Old Primitive Church which was most uncorrupt and pure And this Declaration shall be made out of the said Holy Doctors own Writings and out of the ancient Histories Ecclesiastical to the same belonging Tertullian a most ancient Writer and Doctor of the Church who lived about One Hundred and Threescore years after the Death of our Saviour Christ both in sundry other places of his Works and specially in his Book Written against The manner of Crowning Lib. contra coronandi morem and in another little Treatise Entituled Of the Souldiers Crown or Garland doth most sharply and vehemently write and inveigh against Images or Idols And upon Saint John's words the First Epistle and Fifth Chapter saith thus Saint John saith he deeply considering the matter saith My little Children 1 John 5. keep yourselves from Images or Idols He saith not now keep yourselves from Idolatry as it were from the Service and Worshipping of them But from the Images or Idols themselves that is from the very shape and likeness of them For it were an unworthy thing that the Image of the living God should become the Image of a dead Idol Do you not think those Persons which place Images and Idols in Churches and Temples yea shrine them even over the Lords Table even as it were of purpose to the Worshipping and Honouring of them take good heed either to Saint John's Counsel or Tertullian's For so to place Images and Idols is it to keep themselves from them or else to receive and embrace them Origen in his Book against Celsus saith thus Christian Men and Jews when they hear these words of the Law Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and shalt not make any Image do not only abhor the Temples Altars and Images of the Gods but if need be will rather die than they should defile themselves with any impiety And shortly after he saith In the Common-Wealth of the Jews the Carver of Idols and Image-maker was cast far off and forbidden lest they should have any occasion to make Images which might pluck certain foolish Persons from God and turn the Eyes of their Souls to the Contemplation of Earthly Things And in another place of the same Book It is not only saith he a Mad and Frantick part to Worship Images but also once to dissemble or wink at it And a Man may know God and his only Son and those which have had such Honour given them by God that they be called Gods But it is not possible that any should by Worshipping of Images get any knowledge of God Athanasius in his Book against the Gentiles hath these Words Let them tell I pray you how God may be known by an Image If it be by the matter of an Image then there needeth no shape or form seeing that God hath appeared in all material Creatures which do testifie his Glory Now if they say he is known by the form or fashion Is he not better to be known by the living things themselves whose fashions the Images express For of surety the glory of God should be more evidently known if it were declared by reasonable and living Creatures rather than by dead and unmoveable Images Therefore when ye do Grave or Paint Images to the end to know God thereby surely ye do an unworthy and unfit thing And in another place of the same Book he saith The invention of Images came of no good but of evil and whatsoever hath an evil beginning can never in any thing be judged good seeing it is altogether naught Thus far Athanasius a very Ancient Holy and Learned Bishop and Doctor who judgeth both the first beginning and the end and altogether of Images or Idols to be naught Laclantius likewise an Old and Learned Writer in his Book of The Original of E rour hath these words God is above Man and is not placed beneath but is to be sought in the highest Region Wherefore there is no doubt but that no Religion is in that place wheresoever any Image is For if Religion stand in godly things and there is no godliness but in heavenly things then be Images without Religion Lib. 2. c. 16. These be Lactantius his words who was above Thirteen Hundred years ago and within Three Hundred years after our Saviour Christ Cyrillus an Old and Holy Doctor upon the Gospel of Saint John hath these words Many have left the Creator and have Worshipped the Creature neither have they been abashed to say unto a Stock Thou art my Father and to a Stone Thou begottest me For many yea almost all alas for Sorrow are fallen unto such folly that they have given the Glory of Deity or Godhead to things without Sense or Feeling Epiphanius Bishop of Salamine in Cyprus a very Holy and Learned Man who lived in Theodosius the Emperors time about Three Hundred and Ninety years after our Saviour Christs Ascension writeth thus to John Patriarch of Jerusalem I entred saith Epiphanius into a certain Church to pray I found there a Linen Cloth hanging in the Church Door Painted and having in it the Image of Christ as it were or of some other Saint for I remember not well whose Image it was therefore when I did see the Image of a Man hanging in the Church of Christ contrary to the Authority of the Sâ—â—â—ptures I did tear it and gave Counsel to the 〈◊〉 of the Church that they should wind a 〈…〉 â—hat was Dead in the said Cloth and 〈…〉 And 〈…〉 same Epiphanius sending another 〈…〉 for that Painted one which 〈◊〉 â—ad 〈…〉 said Patriarch writeth thus I pray you 〈…〉 Elders of that place to receive this Cloth which 〈…〉 sent by this bearer and Command them 〈◊〉 from henceforth no such Painted Cloths contrary to our Religion be hanged in the Church of Christ For it becometh your goodness rather to have this care that you take away such scrupulosity which is unfitting for the Church of Christ and offensive to the People committed to your charge And this Epistle as Worthy to be Read of many did Saint Jerome himself Translate into the Latin Tongue And that ye may know that Saint Jerome had this Holy and Learned Bishop Epiphanius in most high Estimation and therefore did Translate this Epistle as a Writing of Authority hear what a Testimony the said Saint Jerome giveth him in another place in his Treatise against the Errours of John Bishop of Jerusalem where he hath these words All notable Bishops were then called Popes Thou hast saith Saint Jerome Pope Epiphanius which doth openly in his Letters call thee an Heretick Surely thou art not to be preferred before him neither for Age nor Learning nor
be so answered at the King's hand but still urging him more and more said It becometh a King to perform the least word he hath spoken yea if he should only beck with his Head No more saith the King than it behoveth one that cometh to a King to speak and ask those things which are rightful and honest Thus the King cast off this unreasonable and importunate suiter Now if so great consideration be to be had when we kneel before an Earthly King how much more ought to be had when we kneel before the Heavenly King who is only delighted with Justice and Equity neither will admit any vain foolish or unjust Petition Therefore it shall be good and profitable throughly to consider and determine with our selves what things we may lawfully ask of God without fear of repulse and also what kind of Persons we are bound to commend unto God in our daily Prayers Two things are chiefly to be respected in every good and godly mans Prayer His own necessity and the glory of Almighty God Necessity belongeth either outwardly to the Body or else inwardly to the Soul Which part of man because it is much more precious and excellent than the other therefore we ought first of all to crave such things as properly belong to the salvation thereof as the gift of Repentance the gift of Faith the gift of Charity and Good Works Remission and Forgiveness of Sins Patience in Adversity Lowliness in Prosperity Gal. 5. and such other like fruits of the Spirit as Hope Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Meekness and Temperance which things God requireth of all them that profess themselves to be his Children saying unto them in this wise Matt. 5. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven And in another place also he saith Matt. 6. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and then all other things shall be given unto you Wherein he putteth us in mind that our chief and greatest care ought to be for those things which pertain to the health and safeguard of the Soul Hebr. 13. because we have here as the Apostle saith no continuing City but we seek after another in the World to come Now when we have sufficiently prayed for things belonging to the Soul then may we lawfully and with safe Conscience Pray also for our bodily Necessities as Meat Drink Clothing Health of Body deliverance out of Prison good luck in our daily Affairs and so forth according as we shall have need Whereof Matt. 6. Luke 11. what better Example can we desire to have than of Christ himself who taught his Disciples and all other Christian men first to pray for Heavenly things and afterward for Earthly things as is to be seen in that Prayer which he left unto his Church commonly called the Lords Prayer In the third Book of Kings and third Chapter it is written That God appeared by night in a dream unto Solomon the King saying Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt and I will give it thee Solomon made his Humble Prayer and asked a wise and prudent Heart that might judge and understand what were good and what were ill what were godly and what were ungodly what were righteous and what were unrighteous in the sight of the Lord. It pleased God wondrously that he had asked this thing And God said unto him Because thou hast requested this word and hast not desired many days and long years upon the Earth neither abundance of Riches and Goods nor yet the life of thine Enemies which hate thee but hast desired Wisdom to sit in Judgment behold I have done unto thee according to thy words I have given thee a wise heart full of knowledge and understanding so that there was never any like thee before time neither shall be in time to come Moreover I have besides this given thee that which thou hast not required namely worldly wealth and riches Princely honour and glory so that thou shalt therein also pass all Kings that ever were Note this Example how Solomon being put to his choice to ask of God whatsoever he would requested not vain and transitory things but the high and Heavenly Treasures of Wisdom and that in so doing he obtaineth as it were in recompence both Riches and Honour Wherein is given us to understand that in our daily Prayers we should chiefly and principally ask those things which concern the Kingdom of God and the Salvation of our own Souls nothing doubting but all other things shall according to the promise of Christ be given unto us But here we must take heed that we forget not that other end whereof mention was made before namely the Glory of God Which unless we mind and set before our Eyes in making our Prayers we may not look to be heard or to receive any thing of the Lord. In the xx Chapter of Matthew the Mother of the two Sons of Zebedee came unto Jesus worshipping him and saying Grant that my two Sons may sit in thy Kingdom the one on thy right hand and the other at thy left hand In this Petition she did not respect the Glory of God but plainly declared the ambition and vain-glory of her own mind for which cause she was also most worthily repelled and rebuked at the Lords hand In like manner we read in the Acts of one Simon Magus Acts 8. a Sorcerer how that he perceiving that through laying on of the Apostles hands the Holy Ghost was given offered them money saying Give me also this power that on whomsoever I lay my hands he may receive the Holy Ghost In making this Request he sought not the Honour and Glory of God but his own private Gain and Lucre thinking to get great store of Money by this feat and therefore it was justly said unto him Thy money perish with thee because thou thinkest that the gift of God may be obtained with money By these and such other Examples we are taught whensoever we make our Prayers unto God chiefly to respect the Honour and Glory of his Name Whereof we have this general Precept in the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 10. Coloss 3. Mat. 26. Luke 22. Whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do look that ye do it to the glory of God Which thing we shall best of all do if we follow the example of our Saviour Christ who praying that the bitter Cup of Death might pass from him would not therein have his own will fulfilled but referred the whole matter to the good will and pleasure of his Father And hitherto concerning those things that we may lawfully and boldly ask of God Now it followeth that we declare what kind of Persons we are bound in Conscience to pray for St. Paul writing to Timothy 1 Tim. â— exhorteth him to make Prayers and Supplications for all men exempting none of what
thoughts which may hinder thee from Gods true Service The Bird when she will flie shaketh her Wings Shake and prepare thy self to flie higher than all the Birds in the Air that after thy Duty duly done in this earthly Temple and Church thou may'st flie up and be received into the glorious Temple of God in Heaven through Christ Jesus our Lord To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Glory and Honour Amen AN HOMILY Wherein is declared That Common-Prayer and Sacraments ought to be ministred in a Tongue that is understood of the Hearers AMong the manifold Exercises of Gods People dear Christians there is none more necessary for all estates and at all times than is publick Prayer and the due use of Sacraments For in the first we beg at Gods hands all such things as otherwise we cannot obtain And in the other he embraceth us and offereth himself to be embraced of us Knowing therefore that these two Exercises are so necessary for us let us not think it unmeet to consider first what Prayer is and what a Sacrament is and then how many sorts of Prayers there be and how many Sacraments so shall we the better understand how to use them aright August de Spiritu An ma. To know what they be St. Augustine teacheth us in his Book entituled Of the Spirit and the Soul he saith thus of Prayer Prayer is saith he the Devotion of the Mind that is to say the returning to God through a godly and humble affection which affection is a certain willing and sweet inclining of the Mind it self towards God And in the Second Book against the Adversary of the Law and the Prophets August lib. 2 contra Adversariâ—s Legis Proph. August ad Bonifacium he calleth Sacraments Holy signs And writing to Bonifacius of the Baptism of Infants he saith If Sacraments had not a certain similitude of those things whereof they be Sacraments they should be no Sacraments at all And of this similitude they do for the most part receive the self-same things they signifie By these words of St. Augustine it appeareth that he alloweth the common description of a Sacrament which is that it is a visible sign of an invisible Grace that is to say that setteth out to the Eyes and other outward Senses the inward working of Gods free Mercy and doth as it were seal in our hearts the promises of God And so was Circumcision a Sacrament which preached unto the outward senses the inward cutting away of the fore-skin of the Heart and sealed and made sure in the hearts of the Circumcised to promise of God touching the promised Seed that they looked for Now let us see how many sorts of Prayer and how many Sacraments there be In the Scriptures we read of three sorts of Prayer whereof two are private and the third is common The first is that which St. Paul speaketh of in his Epistle to Timothy saying 1 Tim. 1. I will that men pray in every place lifting up pure hands without wrath or striving And it is the devout lifting up of the mind to God without the uttering of the hearts grief or desire by open voice Of this Prayer we have example in the first Book of the Kings in Anna 1 Kings 1. the Mother of Samuel when in the heaviness of her Heart she prayed in the Temple desiring to be made fruitful She prayed in her heart saith the Text but there was no voice heard After this sort must all Christians pray not once in a week or once in a day only 1 Thess 3. but as St. Paul writeth to the Thessalonians without ceasing And as St. James writeth James 5. The continual Prayer of a just man is of much force The second sort of Prayer is spoken of in the Gospel of Matthew Matt. 6. where it is said When thou prayest enter into thy secret Closet and when thou hast shut the door to thee pray unto thy Father in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee Of this sort of Prayer there be sundry examples in the Scriptures but it shall suffice to rehearse one which is written in the Acts of the Apostles Acts 10. Cornelius a devout man a Captain of the Italian Army saith to Peter that being in his House in Prayer at the ninth hour there appeared to him one in a white Garment c. This man prayed unto God in secret and was rewarded openly These be the two private sorts of Prayer The one mental that is to say the devout lifting up of the mind to God And the other vocal that is to say the secret uttering of the griefs and desires of the Heart with words but yet in a secret Closet or some solitary place The third sort of Prayer is publick or common Of this Prayer speaketh our Saviour Christ Mat. 18. when he saith If two of you shall agree upon Earth upon any thing whatsoever ye shall ask my Father which is in Heaven shall do it for you for wheresoever two or three be gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them Although God hath promised to hear us when we pray privately so it be done faithfully and devoutly for he saith Psal 50. Call upon me in the day of thy trouble and I will hear thee And Elias being but a mortal man James 5. saith St. James prayed and Heaven was shut three Years and six Months and again he prayâ—d and the Heaven gave rain Yet by the Histories of the Bible it appeareth that publick and common Prayer is most available before God and therefore is much to be lamented that it is no better esteemed among us which profess to be but one body in Christ When the City of Niniveh was threatned to be destroyed Jonas 3. within forty days the Prince and the People joyned themselves together in publick Prayer and Fasting and were preserved In the Prophet Joel God commanded a Fasting to be proclaimed Joel 2. and the People to be gathered together young and old man and woman and are taught to say with one voice Spare us O Lord spare thy People and let not thine Inheritance be brought to confusion When the Jews should have been destroyed all in one day through the malice of Haman Hester 4. at the Commandment of Hester they Fasted and Prayed and were preserved Judith 8. When Holophernes besieged Bethulia by the advice of Judith they Fasted and Prayed and were delivered Acts 12. When Peter was in Prison the Congregation joyned themselves together in Prayer and Peter was wonderfully delivered By these Histories it appeareth that common or publick Prayer is of great force to obtain mercy and deliverance at our Heavenly Fathers hand Therefore Brethren I beseech you even for the tender mercies of God let us no longer be negligent in this behalf but as the People willing to receive at Gods
in the Scripture Another would have a Medicine to all Diseases and Maladies of the Mind Can this be found or gotten otherwhere than out of Gods own Book his sacred Scriptures Christ taught so much when he said to the obstinate Jews Search the Scriptures John 5. for in them ye think to have eternal life If the Scriptures contain in them Everlasting Life it must needs follow that they have also present remedy against all that is an hindrance and let unto eternal life If we desire the knowledge of Heavenly Wisdom why had we rather learn the same of man than of God himself James 1. Mat. 28. who as St. James saith is the giver of wisdom Yea why will we not learn it at Christs own mouth who promising to be present with his Church till the Worlds end doth perform his promise in that he is not only with us by his grace and tender pity but also in this that he speaketh presently unto us in the Holy Scriptures to the great and endless comfort of all them that have any feeling of God at all in them Yea he speaketh now in the Scriptures more profitably to us than he did by word of mouth to the carnal Jews when he lived with them here upon Earth For they I mean the Jews could neither hear nor see those things which we may now both hear and see if we will bring with us those Ears and Eyes that Christ is heard and seen with that is diligence to hear and read his Holy Scriptures and true Faith to believe his most comfortable Promises If one could shew but the print of Christs Foot a great number I think would fall down and worship it But to the Holy Scriptures where we may see daily if we will I will not say the print of his Feet only but the whole shape and lively Image of him alas we give little reverence or none at all If any could let us see Christs Coat a sort of us would make hard shift except we might come nigh to gaze upon it yea and kiss it too And yet all the Clothes that ever he did wear can nothing so truly nor so lively express him unto us as do the Scriptures Christs Images made in Wood Stone or Metal some men for the love they bear to Christ do garnish and beautifie the same with Pearl Gold and Precious Stones And should we not good Brethren much rather embrace and reverence Gods Holy Books the sacred Bible which do represent Christ unto us more truly than can any Image The Image can but express the form or shape of his Body if it can do so much But the Scriptures do in such sort set forth Christ that we may see both God and man we may see him I say speaking unto us healing our Infirmities dying for our sins rising from death for our Justification And to be short we may in the Scriptures so perfectly see whole Christ with the Eye of Faith as we lacking Faith could not with these bodily Eyes see him though he stood now present here before us Let every Man Woman and Child therefore with all their Hearts thirst and desire Gods Holy Scriptures love them embrace them have their delight and pleasure in hearing and reading them so as at length we may be transformed and changed into them For the Holy Scriptures are Gods Treasure-House wherein are found all things needful for us to see to hear to learn and to believe necessary for the attaining of Eternal Life Thus much is spoken only to give you a taste of some of the Commodities which ye may take by hearing and reading the Holy Scriptures For as I said in the beginning no Tongue is able to declare and utter all And although it is more clear than the noon day that to be ignorant of the Scriptures is the cause of Error as Christ saith to the Sadduces Ye err not knowing the Scriptures Mat. 22. and that Error doth hold back and pluck men away from the knowledge of God And as St. Jerome saith Not to know the Scriptures is to be ignorant of Christ Yet this notwithstanding some there be that think it not meet for all sorts of men to read the Scriptures because they are as they think in sundry places stumbling-blocks to the unlearned First for that the phrase of the Scripture is sometime so simple gross and plain that it offendeth the fine and delicate Wits of some Courtiers Furthermore for that the Scripture also reporteth even of them that have their commendation to be the Children of God that they did divers acts whereof some are contrary to the Law of Nature some repugnant to the Law written and other some seem to fight manifestly against publick Honesty All which things say they are unto the simple an occasion of great offence and cause many to think evil of the Scriptures and to discredit their Authority Some are offended at the hearing and reading of the diversity of the Rites and Ceremonies of the Sacrifices and Oblations of the Law And some worldly witted men think it great decay to the quiet and prudent governing of their Common-weals to give ear to the simple and plain Rules and Precepts of our Saviour Christ in his Gospel as being offended that a man should be ready to turn his right Ear to him that struck him on the left and to him which would take away his Coat to offer him also his Cloak with such other sayings of perfection in Christs meaning For Carnal Reason being alway an Enemy to God and not perceiving the things of Gods Spirit doth abhor such Precepts which yet rightly understood infringeth no Judicial Policies nor Christian mens Governments And some there be which hearing the Scriptures to bid us to live without carefulness without study or fore-casting to deride the simplicities of them Therefore to remove and put away occasions of offence so much as may be I will answer orderly to these Objections First I shall rehearse some of those places that men are offended at for the simplicity and grosness of speech and will shew the meaning of them In the Book of Deuteronomy it is written That Almighty God made a Law if a man died without issue his brother or next kinsman should marry his Widow and the child that was first born between them should be called his child that was dead that the dead mans name might not be put out in Israel And if the Brother or next Kinsman would not marry the Widow then she before the Magistrates of the City should pull off his shoe and spit in his face saying So be it done to that man that will not build his brothers house Here Dearly beloved the pulling off his shoe and spitting in his face were Ceremonies to signifie unto all the People of that City that the Woman was not now in fault that Gods Law in that point was broken but the whole shame and blame thereof did now redound to
that man which openly before the Magistrates refused to marry her And it was not a reproach to him alone but to all his Posterity also For they were called ever after The House of him whose shoe is pulled off Another place out of the Psalms Psal 75. I will break saith David the horns of the ungodly and the horns of the righteous shall be exalted By an Horn in the Scripture is understood Power Might Strength and sometime Rule and Government The Prophet then saying I will break the horns of the ungodly meaneth that all the Power Strength and Might of Gods Enemies shall not only be weakned and made feeble but shall at length also be clean broken and destroyed though for a time for the better tryal of his People God suffereth the Enemies to prevail and have the upper hand In the 132 Psalm it is said Psal 132. I will make David 's horn to flourish Here David's Horn signifieth his Kingdom Almighty God therefore by this manner of speaking promiseth to give David Victory over all his Enemies and to stablish him in his Kingdom spite of all his Enemies And in the threescore Psalm it is written Moab is my wash-pot Psal 60. and over Edom will I cast out my shoe c. In that place the Prophet sheweth how graciously God hath dealt with his People the Children of Israel giving them great Victories upon their Enemies on every side For the Moabites and Idumeans being two great Nations proud People stout and mighty God brought them under and made them Servants to the Israelites Servants I say to stoop down to pull off their shoes and wash their feet Then Moab is my wash-pot and over Edom will I cast out my shoe is as if he had said The Moabites and the Idumeans for all their stoutness against us in the Wilderness are now made our Subjects ouâ— Servants yea Underlings to pull off our shoes and wash our feet Now I pray you what uncomely manner of speech is this so used in common phrase among the Hebrews It is a shame that Christian men should be so light headed to toy as Ruffians do with such manner of speeches uttered in good grave signification by the Holy Ghost More reasonable it were for vain men to learn to reverence the form of Gods Words than to sport at them to their Damnation Some again are offended to hear that the godly Fathers had many Wives and Concubines although after the phrase of the Scripture a Concubine is an honest name for every Concubine is a Lawful Wife but every Wife is not a Concubine And that ye may the better understand this to be true ye shall note that it was permitted to the Fathers of the Old Testament to have at one time moe Wives than one for what purpose ye shall afterward hear Of which Wives some were Free-women born some were Bond-women and Servants She that was Free-born had a Prerogative above those that were Servants and Bond-women The Free-born Woman was by Marriage made the Ruler of the House under her Husband and is called the Mother of the Houshold the Mistress or the Dame of the House after our manner of speaking and had by her Marriage an Interest a Right and an Ownership of his Goods unto whom she was married Other Servants and Bond-women were given by the Owners of them as the manner was then I will not say always but for the most part unto their Daughters at the day of their Marriage to be Handmaidens unto them After such a sort did Pharaoh King of Egypt give unto Sarah Geâ— 29. Abraham's Wife Agar the Egyptian to be her Maid So did Laban give unto his Daughter Lea at the day of her Marriage Zilpha to be her Handmaid And to his other Daughter Rachel he gave another Bond-maid named Bilha And the Wives that were the owners of their Handmaidens gave them in Marriage to their Husbands upon divers occasions Sarah gave her Maid Agar in Marriage to Abraham Gen. 16. Lea gave in like manner her Maid Zilpha to her Husband Jacob. So did Rachel his other Wife give him Bilha her Maid Gen. 30. saying unto him Go in unto her and she shall bear upon my knees which is as if she had said Take her to Wife and the Children that she shall bear will I take upon my lap and make of them as if they were mine own These Hand-maidens or Bond-women although by Marriage they were made Wives yet they had not this Prerogative to Rule in the House but were still Underlings and in such subjection to their Masters and were never called Mothers of the Houshould Mistresses or Dames of the House but are called sometimes Wives sometimes Concubines The plurality of Wives was by a special Prerogative suffered to the Fathers of the Old Testament not for satisfying their carnal and fleshly Lusts but to have many Children because every one of them hoped and begged oft-times of God in their Prayers that that Blessed Seed which God promised should come into the World to break the Serpents Head might come and be born of this stock and kindred Now of those which take occasion of carnality and evil life by hearing and reading in Gods Book what God had suffered even in those men whose commendation is praised in the Scripture As that Noe 2 Pet. 2. Gen. 9. whom St. Peter calleth the eighth Preacher of Righteousness was so drunk with Wine that in his sleep he uncovered his own Privities Gen. 19. The just man Lot was in like manner drunken and in his drunkenness lay with his own Daughters contrary to the Law of Nature Abraham Gen. 17. whose Faith was so great that for the same he deserved to be called of Gods own mouth a Father of many Nations Rom. 4. the Father of all Believers besides with Sarah his Wife had also carnal company with Agar Sarah's Handmaid Gen. 29. The Patriarch Jacob had to his Wives two Sisters at one time The Prophet David and King Solomon his Son had many Wives and Concubines c. Which things we see plainly to be forbidden us by the Law of God and are now repugnant to all publick Honesty These and such like in Gods Book good People are not written that we should or may do the like following their examples or that we ought to think that God did allow every of these things in those men But we ought rather to believe and to judge that Noe in his drunkenness offended God highly Lot lying with his Daughters committed horrible Incest We ought then to learn by them this profitable Lesson that if so godly men as they were which otherwise felt inwardly Gods Holy Spirit inflaming their hearts with the fear and love of God could not by their own strength keep themselves from committing horrible sin but did so grievously fall that without Gods great Mercy they had perished everlastingly How much more ought we then miserable
abominable wickedness heaping up to themselves damnation against the day of Gods inevitable Judgment Examples of such scorners we read in the Second Book of Chronicles 2 Par. 30. When the good King Ezechias in the beginning of his Reign had destroyed Idolatry purged the Temple and reformed Religion in his Realm he sent Messengers into every City to gather the People unto Jerusalem to solemnize the Feast of Easter in such sort as God had appointed The Posts went from City to City through the Land of Ephraim and Manasses even unto Zabulon And what did the People think ye Did they land and praise the Name of the Lord which had given them so good a King so zealous a Prince to abolish Idolatry and to restore again Gods true Religion No no. The Scripture saith The people laughed them to scorn and mocked the Kings Messengers And in the last Chapter of the same Book it is written That Almighty God having compassion upon his people sent his Messengers the Prophets unto them to call them from their abominable Idolatry and wicked kind of living But they mocked his Messengers they despised his words and misused his Prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people and till there was no remedy For he gave them up into the hands of their enemies even unto Nabuchodonosor King of Babylon who spoiled them of their Goods burnt their City and led them their Wives and their Children Captives unto Babylon The wicked People that were in the days of Noe made but a mock at the Word of God when Noe told them that God would take vengeance upon them for their sins The Flood therefore came suddenly upon them and drowned them with the whole World Lot Preached to the Sodomites that except they repented both they and their City should be destroyed They thought his sayings impossible to be true they scorned and mocked his Admonition and reputed him as an old doting Fool. But when God by his Holy Angels had taken Lot his Wife and two Daughters from among them he rained down Fire and Brimstone from Heaven and burnt up those scorners and mockers of his Holy Word And what estimation had Christs Doctrine among the Scribes and Pharisees What Reward had he among them The Gospel reporteth thus The Pharisees which were covetous did scorn him in his Doctrine O then ye see that worldly rich men scorn the Doctrine of their Salvation The worldly wise men scorn the Doctrine of Christ as foolishness to their Understanding These scorners have ever been and ever shall be to the Worlds end 2 Pet. 3. For St. Peter Prophesied that such scorners should be in the world before the latter day Take heed therefore my Brethren take heed be ye not scorners of Gods most Holy Word provoke him not to pour out his wrath now upon you as he did then upon those Gybers and Mockers Be not wilful murderers of your own Souls Turn unto God while there is yet time of Mercy ye shall else repent it in the World to come when it shall be too late for there shall be Judgment without Mercy This might suffice to admonish us and cause us henceforth to reverence Gods Holy Scriptures but all men have not Faith This therefore shall not satisfie and content all mens minds but as some are carnal so they will still continue and abuse the Scriptures carnally to their greater damnation 2 Pet. 3. The unlearned and unstable saith St. Peter pervert the holy Scriptures to their own destruction 1 Cor. 1. Jesus Christ as St. Paul saith is to the Jews an offence to the Gentiles foolishness But to Gods children as well of the Jews as of the Gentiles he is the power and wisdom of God The holy man Simeon saith Luke 2. that he is set forth for the fall and rising again of many in Israel As Christ Jesus is a fall to the Reprobate which yet perish through their own default so is his Word yea the whole Book of God a cause of damnation unto them through their incredulity And as he is a rising up to none other than those which are Gods Children by adoption so is his Word yea the whole Scripture the power of God to Salvation to them only that do believe it Christ himself the Prophets before him the Apostles after him all the true Ministers of Gods Holy Word yea every word in Gods Book is unto the Reprobate the savour of death unto death Christ Jesus the Prophets the Apostles and all the true Ministers of his Word yea every jot and tittle in the Holy Scripture have been is and shall be for evermore the savour of life unto eternal life unto all those whose hearts God hath purified by true Faith Let us earnestly take heed that we make no jesting-stock of the Books of Holy Scriptures The more obscure and dark the sayings be to our Understanding the further let us think our selves to be from God and his Holy Spirit who was the Author of them Let us with more reverence endeavour our selves to search out the wisdom hidden in the outward Bark of the Scripture If we cannot understand the sense and the reason of the saying yet let us not be scorners jesters and deriders for that is the uttermost token and shew of a Reprobate of a plain Enemy to God and his wisdom They be not idle Fables to jest at which God doth seriously pronounce and for serious matters let us esteem them And though in sundry places of the Scriptures be set out divers Rites and Ceremonies Oblations and Sacrifices let us not think strange of them but refer them to the Times and People for whom they served although yet to learned men they be not unprofitable to be considered but to be expounded as figures and shadows of things and persons afterward openly revealed in the New Testament Though the rehearsal of the Genealogies and Pedegrees of the Fathers be not to much edification of the plain ignorant people yet is there nothing so impertinently uttered in all the whole Book of the Bible but may serve to spiritual purpose in some respect to all such as will bestow their labours to search out the meanings These may not be condemned because they serve not to our Understanding nor make to our Edification But let us turn our labour to understand and to carry away such sentences and stories as be more fit for our Capacity and Instruction And whereas we read in divers Psalms how David did wish to the Adversaries of God sometimes shame rebuke and confusion sometime the decay of their Off-spring and Issue sometime that they might perish and come suddenly to destruction as he did wish to the Captains of the Philistines Cast forth saith he thy lightning and tear them shoot out thine arrows and consume them with such other manner of Imprecations Yet ought we not to be offended at such Prayers of David being a Prophet as he was singularly
them and to delight or trust in them except we have in mind his examples in passion to follow them If we thus therefore consâ—â—er Christs death and will stick thereto with fast â—â—th for the merit and deserving thereof and wiâ—â—â—o frame our selves in such wise to bestow our selves and all that we have by Charity to the behoof of our Neighbour as Christ spent himself wholly for our profit then do we truly remember Christs death and being thus followers of Christs steps we shall be sure to follow him thither where he sitteth now with the Father and the Holy Ghost To whom be all Honour and Glory Amen THE SECOND HOMILY CONCERNING The Death and Passion of our Saviour Christ. THAT we may the better conceive the great mercy and goodness of our Saviour Christ in suffering death universally for all men it behoveth us to descend into the bottom of our Conscience and deeply to consider the first and principal cause wherefore he was compelled so to do When our great Grandfather Adam had broken Gods Commandment Gen. â— in eating the Apple forbidden him in Paradise at the motion and suggestion of his Wife he purchased thereby not only to himself but also to his Posterity for ever the just wrath and indignation of God who according to his former sentence pronounced at the giving of the Commandment condemned both him and all his to everlasting death both of Body and Soul For it was said unto him Gen. 2. Thou shalt eat freely of every Tree in the Garden but as touching the Tree of knowledge of good and ill thou shalt in no wise eat of it For in what hour soever thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death Now as the Lord had spoken so it came to pass Adam took upon him to eat thereof and in so doing he died the death that is to say he became mortal he lost the favour of God he was cast out of Paradise he was no longer a Citizen of Heaven but a Fire-brand of Hell and a Bondslave to the Devil To this doth our Saviour bear witness in the Gospel Luke 15. calling us lost Sheep which have gone astray and wandred from the true Shepherd of our souls To this also doth St. Paul bear witness Rom. 5. saying That by the offence only of Adam death came upon all men to condemnation So that now neither he or any of his had any right or interest at all in the Kingdom of Heaven but were become plain Reprobates and Cast-aways being perpetually damned to the everlasting pains of Hell-fire In this so great misery and wretchedness if mankind could have recovered himself again and obtained forgiveness at Gods hands then had his case been somewhat tolerable because he might have attempted some way how to deliver himself from eternal death But there was no way left unto him he could do nothing that might pacifie Gods wrath he was altogether unprofitable in that behalf There was not one that did good no not one And how then could he work his own Salvation Should he go about to pacifie Gods heavy displeasure by offering up burnt-sacrifices Heb. 9. according as it was ordained in the old Law by offering up the blood of Oxen the blood of Calves the blood of Goats the blood of Lambs and so forth O these things were of no force nor strength to take away sins they could not put away the anger of God they could not cool the heat of his wrath nor yet bring mankind into favour again they were but only figures and shadows of things to come Heb. 10. and nothing else Read the Epistle to the Hebrews there shall you find this matter largely discussed there shall you learn in most plain words that the bloody Sacrifice of the old Law was unperfect and not able to deliver man from the state of damnation by any means so that mankind in trusting thereunto should trust to a broken staff and in the end deceive himself What should he then do Should he go about to serve and keep the Law of God divided into two Tables and so purchase to himself eternal life Indeed if Adam and his Posterity had been able to satisfie and fulfil the Law perfectly in loving God above all things and their Neighbour as themselves then should they have easily quenched the Lords wrath and escaped the terrible sentence of eternal death pronounced against them by the mouth of Almighty God For it is written Do thus and thou shalt live that is to say Luke 10. fulfil my Commandments keep thy self upright and perfect in them according to my Will then shalt thou live and not die Here is eternal life promised with this condition and so that they keep and observe the Law But such was the frailty of mankind after his Fall such was his weakness and imbecillity that he could not walk uprightly in Gods Commandments though he would never so fain but daily and hourly fell from his bounden duty offending the Lord his God divers ways to the great increase of his condemnation insomuch that the Prophet David crieth out on this wise All have gone astray Psal 5. all are become unprofitable there is none that doth good no not one In this case what profit could he have by the Law None at all For as St. James saith James 2. He that shall observe the whole Law and yet faileth in one point is become guilty of all And in the Book of Deuteronomy it is written Deut. 27. Cursed be he saith God which abideth not in all things that are written in the Book of the Law to do them Behold the Law bringeth a curse with it and maketh it guilty not because it is of it self naught or unholy God forbid we should so think but because the frailty of our sinful flesh is such that we can never fulfil it according to the perfection that the Lord requireth Could Adam then think you hope or trust to be saved by the Law No he could not But the more he looked on the Law the more he saw his own damnation set before his eyes as it were in a clear glass So that now of himself he was most wretched and miserable destitute of all hope and never able to pacifie Gods heavy displeasure nor yet to escape the terrible judgment of God whereunto he and all his Posterity were fallen by disobeying the strait Commandment of the Lord their God But O the abundant riches of Gods great mercy Rom. 11. O the unspeakable goodness of his heavenly Wisdom When all hope of righteousness was past on our part when we had nothing in our selves whereby we might quench his burning wrath and work the salvation of our own Souls and rise out of the miserable estate wherein we lay Then even then did Christ the Son of God by the appointment of his Father come down from Heaven to be wounded for our sakes to be reputed with the wicked to be
It shall make us by the consideration of our gifts not to extol our selves before our Neighbors It shall make the Wise Man not to glory of his Wisdom nor the Strong Man in his Strength Jer. 9. nor the Rich to glory in his Riches but in the Living God which is the Author of all these Lest if we should do so we might be rebuked with the words of St. Paul 1 Cor. 4. What hast thou that thou hast not received and if thou hast received it why gloriest thou in thy self as though thou hadst not received it To confess that all good things come from Almighty God is a great Point of Wisdom my Friends For so confessing we know whither to resort for to have them if we want as St. James biddeth us saying If any Man wanteth the gift of Wisdom James 1. let him ask it of God that gives it and it shall be given him As the Wise Man in the want of such a like gift made his recourse to God for it as he testifieth in his Book Sap. 10. After I knew saith he that otherwise I could not be chast except God granted it and this was as he there writeth high wisdom to know whose gift it was I made hast to the Lord earnestly besought him even from the Roots of my Heart to have it I would to God my Friends that in our wants and necessities we would go to God as St. James biddeth and as the Wise Man teacheth us that he did I would we believed stedfastly that God only gives them if we did we should not seek our want and necessity of the Devil and his Ministers so oft as we do as daily experience declareth it For if we stand in necessity of Corporal Health whither go the common People but to Charms Witchcrafts and other delusions of the Devil If we knew that God were the Author of this gift we would only use his means appointed and bide his leisure till he thought it good for us to have it given If the Merchant and Worldly Occupier knew that God is the giver of Riches he would content himself with so much as by just means approved of God he could get to his Living and would be no richer than truth would suffer him he would never procure his gain and ask his Goods at the Devils hand Godforbid ye will say that any Man should take his Riches of the Devil Verily so many as increase themselves by Usury by Extortion by Perjury by Stealth by Deceits and Craft they have their Goods of the Devils gift And all they that give themselves to such means and have renounced the true means that God hath appointed have forsaken him and are become Worshippers of the Devil to have their lucres and advantages They be such as kneel down to the Devil at his bidding and worship him for he promiseth them for so doing that he will give them the World and the Goods therein They cannot otherwise better serve the Devil than to do his Pleasure and Commandment and his Motion and Will it is to have us forsake the Truth and betake us to Falshood to Lies and Perjuries They therefore which believe perfectly in their heart that God is to be honored and requested for the gift of all things necessary would use none other means to relieve their necessities but Truth and Verity and would serve God to have competency of all things necessary The Man in his need would not relieve his want by Stealth The Woman would not relieve her necessity and poverty by giving her Body to other in Adultery for gain If God be the Author indeed of Life Health Riches and VVelfare let us make our recourse to him as the Author and we shall have it saith St. James Yea it is high wisdom by the Wise Man therefore to know whose gift it is for many other skills it is wsdom to know and believe that all goodness and graces be of God as the Author Which thing well considered must needs make us think that we shall make account for that which God giveth us to possess and therefore shall make us to be more diligent well to spend them to Gods glory and to the profit of our Neighbor that we may make a good account at the last and be praised for good Stewards that we may hear these words of our Judge Mat. 24. Well done good servant faithful thou hast been faithful in little I will make thee Ruler over much go into thy Masters joy Besides to believe certainly God to be the Author of all gifts that we have shall make us to be in silence and patience when they be taken again from us For as God of his mercy doth grant us them to use so otherwhiles he doth justly take them again from us to prove our Patience to exercise our Faith and by the means of the taking away of a few to bestow the more warily those that remain to teach us to use them the more to his Glory after he giveth them to us again Many there be that with Mouth can say that they believe that God is the Author of every good Gift that they have but in the time of Temptation they go back from this Belief They say it in word but deny it in deed Consider the custom of the World and see whether it be not true Behold the rich Man that is indued with Substance if by any Adversity his Goods be taken from him how fumeth and fretteth he How murmureth he and despaireth He that hath the gift of good Reputation if his Name be any thing touched by the Detractor how unquiet is he How busie to revenge his despite If a Man hath a gift of Wisdom and fortune to be taken of some evil Willer for a Fool and is so reported How much doth it grieve him to be so esteemed Think ye that these believe constantly that God is the Author of these gifts If they believe it verily why should they not patiently suffer God to take away his gifts again which he gave them freely and lent for a time But ye will say I could be content to resign to God such Gifts if he took them again from me But now are they taken from me by evil chances and false shrews by naughty wretches how should I take this thing patiently To this may be answered that Almighty God is of his nature invisible and cometh to no Man visible after the manner of Man to take away his Gifts that he lent But in this point whatsoever God doth he bringeth it about by his instruments ordained thereto He hath good Angels he hath evil Angels he hath good Men and he hath evil Men he hath Hail and Rain he hath Wind and Thunder he hath Heat and Cold. Innumerable instruments hath he and messengers by whom again he asketh such Gifts as he committeth to our trust as the Wife man confesseth Sap. 1â— The Creature must needs