the eares of God then a speechlesse repining of the soule Heat is more intended with keeping in but Aarons silence was no lesse inward He knew how little he should get by brawling with God If he breathed our discontentment he saw God could speake fire to him againe And therefore he quietly submits to the will of God and held his peace because the Lord had done it There is no greater proofe of grace then to smart patiently and humbly and contentedly to rest the heart in the iustice and wisedome of Gods proceeding and to bee so farre from chiding that we dispute not Nature is froward and though shee well knowes we meddle not with our match when we striue with our Maker yet she pricks vs forward to this idle quarrell and bids vs with Iobs wife Curse and dye If God either chide or smite as seruants are charged to their Masters wee may not answer againe when Gods hand is on our backe our hand must be our mouth else as mothers doe their children God shall whip vs so much the more for crying It is hard for a stander by in this case to distinguish betwixt hard-heartednesse and piety There Aaron sees his sonnes lye he may neither put his hand to them to bury them nor shead a teare for their death Neuer parent can haue iuster cause of mourning then to see his sonnes dead in their sinne if prepared and penitent yet who can but sorrow for their end but to part with children to the danger of a second death is worthy of more then teares Yet Aaron must learne so farre to deny nature that he must more magnifie the iustice of God then lament the iudgement Those whom God hath called to his immediate seruice must know that hee will not allow them the common passions and cares of others Nothing is more naturall then sorrow for the death of our owne if euer griefe be seasonable it becomes a funerall And if Nadab and Abihu had dyed in their beds this fauour had been allowed them the sorrow of their Father and Brethren for when God forbids solemne mourning to his Priests ouer the dead hee excepts the cases of this neernesse of blood Now all Israel may mourne for these two only the Father and Brethren may not God is iealous lest their sorrow should seeme to countenance the sinne which he had punished euen the fearfullest acts of God must be applauded by the heauiest hearts of the faithfull That which the Father and Brother may not doe the Cousins are commanded dead carkasses are not for the presence of God His iustice was shewne sufficiently in killing them They are now fit for the graue not the Sanctuary Neither are they caried out naked but in their coats It was an vnusuall sight for Israel to see a linnen Ephod vpon the Beere The iudgement was so much more remarkable because they had the badge of their calling vpon their backs Nothing is either more pleasing vnto God or more commodious to men then that when he hath executed iudgement it should bee seene and wondred at for therefore he strikes some that he may warne all Of AARON and MIRIAM THe Israelites are stayed seuen dayes in the station of Hazzeroth for the punishment of Miriam The sinnes of the gouernors are a iust stop to the people all of them smart in one all must stay the leasure of Miriams recouerie Whosoeuer seekes the Land of Promise shall finde many lets Amalek Og Schon and the Kings of Canaan meet with Israel these resisted but hindred not their passage their sinnes onely stay them from remouing Afflictions are not crosses to vs in the way to heauen in comparison to our sinnes What is this I see Is not this Aaron that was brother in nature and by office ioynt Commissioner with Moses Is not this Aaron that made his Brother an Intercessor for him to God in the case of his Idolatry Is not this Aaron that climbed vp the Hill of Sinai with Moses Is not this Aaron whom the mouth and hand of Moses consecrated an high Priest vnto God Is not this Miriam the elder Sister of Moses Is not this Miriam that led the Triumph of the Women and sung gloriously to the Lord It not this Miriam which layd her Brother Moses in the Reeds and fetcht her Mother to be his Nurse Both Prophets of God both the flesh and blood of Moses And doth this Aaron repine at the honor of him which gaue himselfe that honour and saued his life Doth this Miriam repine at the prosperity of him whose life she saued Who would not haue thought this should haue beene their glory to haue seene the glory of their owne Brother What could haue beene a greater comfort to Miriam then to thinke How happily doth he now sit at the Sterne of Israel whom I saued from perishing in a Boat of Bul-rushes It is to mee that Israel owes this Commander But now enuy hath so blinded their eyes that they can neither see this priuiledge of nature nor the honour of Gods choyce Miriam and Aaron are in mutiny against Moses Who is so holy that sinnes not What sinne is so vnnaturall that the best can auoyde without God But what weaknesse soeuer may plead for Miriam who can but grieue to see Aaron at the end of so many sinnes Of late I saw him caruing the molten Image and consecrating an Altar to a false god now I see him seconding an vnkind mutiny against his Brother Both sinnes find him accessary neither principall It was not in the power of the legall Priesthood to performe or promise innocency to her Ministers It was necessary wee should haue another high Priest which could not bee tainted That King of righteousnesse was of another order He being without sinne hath fully satisfied for the sinnes of men Whom can it now offend to see the blemishes of the Euangelicall Priesthood when Gods first high Priest is thus miscaried Who can looke for loue and prosperity at once when holy and meeke Moses finds enmity in his owne flesh and blood Rather then we shall want A mans enemies shall be those of his owne house Authority cannot fayle of opposition if it be neuer so mildly swayed that common make-bate will rather raise it out of our owne bosome To doe well and heare ill is Princely The Midianitish wife of Moses cost him deare Before she hazarded his life now the fauour of his people Vnequall matches are seldome prosperous Although now this scandall was onely taken Enuy was not wise enough to choose a ground of the quarrell Whether some secret and emulatory brawles passed between Zipporah and Miriam as many times these sparkes of priuate brawles grow into a perillous and common flame or whether now that Iethro and his family was ioyned with Israel there were surmises of transporting the Gouernment to strangers or whether this vnfit choice of Moses is now raised vp to disparage Gods gifts in him Euen in fight the exceptions were
haue cleare hearts from any sinne prosecute it with rigour whereas the guilty are euer partiall their conscience holds their hands and tels them that they beat themselues whiles they punish others Now Ely sees his errour and recants it and to make amends for his rash censure prayes for her Euen the best may erre but not persist in it When good natures haue offended they are vnquiet till they haue hastned satisfaction This was within his office to pray for the distressed Wherefore serues the Priest but to sacrifice for the people and the best sacrifices are the prayers of faith She that beganne her prayers with fasting and heauinesse rises vp from them with cheerefulnesse and repast It cannot bee spoken how much ease and ioy the heart of man findes in hauing vnloaded his cares and powred out his supplications into the eares of God since it is well assured that the suit which is faithfully asked is already granted in heauen The conscience may well rest when it tels vs that we haue neglected no meanes of redressing our affliction for then it may resolue to looke either for amendment or patience The sacrifice is ended and now Elkanah and his family rise vp early to returne vnto Ramah but they dare not set forward till they haue worshipped before the Lord. That iourney cannot hope to prosper that takes not God with it The way to receiue blessings at home is to be deuout at the Temple She that before conceiued faith in her heart now conceiues a sonne in her wombe God will rather worke miracles then faithfull prayers shall returne empty I doe not finde that Peninna asked any sonne of God yet she had store Anna begged hard for this one and could not till now obtaine him They which are dearest to God doe oft-times with great difficulty worke our of those blessings which fall into the mouthes of the carelesse That wise disposer of all things knowes it fit to hold vs short of those fauours which we sue for whether for the triall of our patience or the exercise of our faith or the increase of our importunity or the doubling of our obligation Those children are most like to proue blessings which the parents haue begged of God and which are no lesse the fruit of our supplications then of our body As this childe was the sonne of his mothers prayers and was consecrated to God ere his possibility of being so now himselfe shall know both how he came and whereto he was ordained and lest he should forget it his very name shall teach him both Shee called his name Samuel Hee cannot so much as heare himselfe named but he must needs remember both the extraordinary mercy of God in giuing him to a barren mother and the vow of his mother in restoring him backe to God by her zealous dedication and by both of them learne holinesse and obedience There is no necessity of significant names but we cannot haue too many monitors to put vs in minde of our duty It is wont to be the fathers priuiledge to name his childe but because this was his mothers sonne begotten more by her prayers then the seed of Elkana it was but reason she should haue the chiefe hand both in his name and disposing It bad been indeed the power of Elkanah to haue changed both his name and profession and to abrogate the vow of his wife that wiues might know they were not their owne and that the rib might learne to know the head But husbands shall abuse their authority if they shall wilfully crosse the holy purposes and religious endeuours of their yoke-fellowes How much more fit is it for them to cherish all god desires in the weaker vessels and as we vse when we carry a small light in a winde to hide it with our lap or hand that it may not goe out If the wife be a Vine the husband should be an Elme to vphold her in all worthy enterprises else she fals to the ground and proues fruitlesse The yeare is now come about and Elkanah cals his family to their holy iourney to goe vp to Ierusalem for the anniuersary solemnitie of their sacrifice Annaes heart is with them but she hath a good excuse to stay at home the charge of her Samuel her successe in the Temple keepes her haply from the Temple that her deuotion may be doubled because it was respited God knowes how to dispence with necessities but if we suffer idle and needles occasions to hold vs from the Tabernacle of God our hearts are but hollow to Religion Now at last when the child was weaned from her hand shee goes vp and payes her vow and with it payes the interest of her intermission Neuer did Anna goe vp with so glad an heart to Shilo as now that shee carries God this reasonable Present which himselfe gaue to her now she vowed to him accompanied with the bounty of other sacrifices more in number measure then the Law of God requited of her and all this is too little for her God that so mercifully remembred her affliction and miraculously remedied it Those hearts which are truely thankfull doe no lesse reioyce in their repayment then in their receit and doe as much study how to shew their humble and feruent affections for what they haue as how to compasse fauours when they want them Their debt is their burden which when they haue discharged they are at ease If Anna had repented of her vow and not presented her sonne to the Tabernacle Ely could not haue challenged him He had onely seene her lips stirre not hearing the promise of her heart It was enough that her owne soule knew her vowe and God which was greater then it The obligation of a secret vow is no lesse then if it had ten thousand witnesses Old Ely could not choose but much reioyce to see this fruit of those lips which he thought moued with wine and this good proof both of the merciful audience of God and the thankfull fidelity of his Handmaide this sight calls him down to his knees He worshipped the Lord. Wee are vnprofitable witnesses of the mercies of God and the graces of men if we doe not glorifie him for others sakes no lesse then for our owne Ely and Anna grew now better acquainted neither had he so much cause to praise God for her as shee afterwards for him For if her owne prayers obtained her first child his blessing inriched her with fiue more If she had not giuen her first sonne to God ere she had him I doubt whether shee had not beene euer barren or if she had kept her Samuel at home whether euer shee had conceiued againe now that piety which stripped her of her only childe for the seruice of her God hath multiplyed the fruit of her wombe and gaue her fiue for that one which was still no lesse hers because he was Gods There is no so certaine way of increase as to lend or giue vnto
whole processe second my rule with his example that so what might seeme obscure in the one may by the other be explained and the same steps he seeth me take in this he may accordingly tread in any other Theme CHAP. XVIII FIrst therefore it shall be expedient to consider seriously The practice of Meditation wherein First we begin with some description of that we meditate of what the thing is whereof we meditate What then O my soule is the life of the Saints whereof thou studiest Who are the Saints but those which hauing beene weakly holy vpon earth are perfectly holy aboue which euen on earth were perfectly holy in their Sauiour now are so in themselues which ouercomming on earth are truly canonized in Heauen What is their life but that blessed estate aboue wherein their glorified soule hath a full fruition of God CHAP. XIX THe nature whereof Secondly followes an easie and voluntary diuision of the matter meditated after we haue thus shadowed out to our selues by a description not curious alwaies and exactly framed according to the rules of Art but sufficient for our owne conceit the next is if it shall seeme needfull or if the matter will beare or offer it some easie and voluntary diuision whereby our thoughts shall haue more roome made for them and our proceeding shall be more distinct There is a life of nature wh n thou my soule dwellest in this body and informest thine earthly burthen There is a life of grace when the Spirit of God dwells in thee There is a life of glory when the body being vnited to thee both shall be vnited to God or when in the meane time being separated from thy companion thou inioyest God alone This life of thine therefore as the other hath his ages hath his statures for it entreth vpon his birth when thou passest out of thy body and changest this earthly house for an Heauenly It enters into his full vigour when at the day of the common resurrection thou resumest this thy companion vnlike to it selfe like to thee like to thy Sauiour immortall now and glorious In this life here may be degrees there can be no imperfection If some be like the skie others like the Starres yet all shine If some sit at their Sauiours right hand others at his left all are blessed If some vessels hold more all are full none complaineth of want none enuieth at him that hath more CHAP. XX. 3 A consideration of the causes thereof in all kinds of them WHich done it shall be requisit for our perfecter vnderstanding and for the laying grounds of matter for our affection to carry it thorow those other principall places and heads of reason which Nature hath taught euery man both for knowledge and amplification the first whereof are the Causes of all sorts Whence is this eternall life but from him which onely is eternall which onely is the fountaine of life yea life it selfe Who but the same God that giues our temporall life giueth also that eternall The Father bestoweth it the Sonne meriteth it the Holy Ghost seales and applieth it Expect it onely from him O my soule whose free election gaue thee the first title to it to be purchased by the bloud of thy Sauiour For thou shalt not therefore be happy because he saw that thou wouldst be good but therefore art thou good because he hath ordained thou shalt be happy Hee hath ordained thee to life he hath giuen thee a Sauiour to giue this life vnto thee faith whereby thou mightest attaine to this Sauiour his Word by which thou mightst attaine to this faith what is there in this not his And yet not his so simply as that it is without thee without thy merit indeed not without thine act Thou liuest here through his blessing but by bread thou shalt liue aboue through his mercy but by thy faith below apprehending the Author of thy life And yet as he will not saue thee without thy faith so thou canst neuer haue faith without his gift Looke vp to him therefore O my soule as the beginner and finisher of thy saluation and while thou magnifiest the Author be rauished with the glory of the worke which farre passeth both the tongue of Angels and the heart of man It can be no good thing that is not there How can they want water that haue the spring Where God is enioyed in whom only all things are good what good can bee wanting And what perfection of blisse is there where all goodnesse is met and vnited In thy presence is fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand are pleasures for euermore O blessed reflection of glory We see there as we are seene in that we are seene it is our glory in that we see it is Gods glory therefore doth be glorifie vs that our glory should be to his How worthy art thou O Lord that through vs thou shouldest looke at thy selfe CHAP. XXI 4 The Consideration of the Fruits and Effects THe next place shal be the fruits and effects following vpon their seuerall causes which also affoords very feeling and copious matter to our meditation wherein it shall be euer best not so much to seeke for all as to chuse out the chiefest No maruell then if from this glory proceed vnspeakable ioy and from this ioy the sweet songs of praise and thanksgiuing The Spirit bids vs when we are merry sing How much more then when we are merry without all mixture of sorrow beyond all measure of our earthly affections shall we sing ioyfull Hallelu-iahs and Hosannahs to him that dwelleth in the highest Heauens our hearts shall be so full that we cannot chuse but sing and wee cannot but sing melodiously There is no iar in this Musicke no end of this song O blessed change of the Saints They doe nothing but weepe below and now nothing but sing aboue We sowed in teares reape in ioy there was some comfort in those teares when they were at worst but there is no danger of complaint in this heauenly mirth If we cannot sing here with Angels On earth peace yet there wee shall sing with them Glory to God on high and ioyning our voices to theirs shall make vp that celestiall consort which none can either heare or beare part in and not be happy CHAP. XXII 5 Consideration of the Subiect wherein or whereabout it is AFter which comes to be considered the Subiect either wherein that is or whereabout that is imploied which we meditate of As And indeed what lesse happinesse doth the very place promise wherein this glory is exhibited which is no other than the Paradise of God Here below we dwell or rather we wander in a continued wildernes there we shall rest vs in the true Eden I am come into my Garden my Sister my Spouse Kings vse not to dwell in Cottages of Clay but in Royall Courts fit for their estate How much more shall the King of Heauen who hath
and oppresse the afflicted in iudgement that take away the garment in the cold season and therefore are like vineger powred vpon nitre or like him that singeth songs to an heauy heart That trouble their owne flesh Pr. 11.17 and therefore are cruell An ordinary sinne I turned and considered all the oppressions that are wrought vnder the Sunne Ec. 4.1 and behold the teares of the oppressed and none comforteth them and the strength is of the hand of those that oppresse them Ec. 5.7 and none comforteth them None Yes surely aboue If in a country thou seest the oppression of the poore and the defrauding of iudgement and iustice be not astonied at the matter for he that is higher than the highest regardeth and there bee higher than they Pr. 22.23 Pr. 22.16 Pr. 21.13 Pr. 29.10 Pr. 24.15 Pr. 28.17 Pr. 1.11 Pr. 1.12 Pr. 1.15 which will defend the cause of the poore to cause the oppressor to come to pouerty in which estate he shall cry and not be heard 3. The bloudy man is he which not only doth hate him that is vpright but layeth wait against the house of the righteous and spoileth his resting place yea that doth violence against the bloud of a person Such as will say Come with vs we will lay wait for bloud and lie priuily for the innocent without a cause We will swallow them vp aliue like a graue euen whole as those that goe downe into the pit But my sonne walke not thou in the way with them Pr. 1.16 Pr. 1.17 Pr. 1.18 Pr. 12.10 Pr. 26.2 Pr. 24.16 Pr. 26.27 Pr. 28.17 refraine thy foot from their path for their feet runne to euill and make haste to bloud-shed Certainly as without cause the net is spred before the eies of all that hath wings so they lay wait for bloud and lie priuily for their liues Thus the mercies of the wicked are cruell But shall they preuaile in this The causelesse curse shall not come The iust man may fall seuen times in a day but he riseth vp againe whiles the wicked shall fall into mischiefe yea into the same they had deuised He that diggeth a pit shall fall therein and he that rouleth a stone it shall fall vpon him and crush him to death for Hee that doth violence against the bloud of a person shall flee vnto the graue and they shall not stay him §. 14. The second kinde of Iustice to others is Liberality Described Limited Rewarded with his owne with more LIberality or beneficence is to cast thy bread vpon the waters Ec. 11.1 Ec. 11.2 Pr. 22.9 Pr. 3.27 Pr. 3.28 to giue a portion to seuen and also to eight in a word to giue of his bread to the poore and not to with-hold his goods from the owners thereof i. the needy though there be power in his hand to doe it and not to say to his neighbour Goe and come againe to morrow I will giue thee if he now haue it Ec. 5.18 Not that God would not haue vs enioy the comforts hee giues vs our selues for to euery man to whom God hath giuen riches and treasures and giueth him power to eat thereof and to take his part and to enioy his labours this is the gift of God but if the clouds be full they will powre out raine vpon the earth Ec. 11.3 and yet they shall be neuer the emptier The liberall person shall haue plenty Pr. 11.25 Pr. 28.17 Ec. 11.1 and he that watereth shall also haue raine yea not only he that giueth to the poore shall not lacke but shall finde it after many daies whereas hee that hideth his eies shall haue many curses but There is that scattereth and is more increased Pr. 11.24 Pr. 22.9 thus He that hath a good eye is blessed of God §. 15. The extremes whereof are Couetousnesse The description of it The curse Prodigalitie THe couetous is he that is greedy of gaine that hauing an euill eie Pr. 1.19 Pr. 23.6 Pr. 21.26 Pr. 23.4 Pr. 11.24 Pr. 28.8 Ec. 4.8 Pr. 30.15 Pr. 27.20 and coueting still greedily trauelleth too much to be rich and therefore both spareth more than is right and increaseth his goods by vsury and interest There is one alone and there is not a second which hath neither sonne nor brother yet is there none end of his trauell neither can his eyes be satisfied with riches neither doth hee thinke For whom doe I trauell and defraud my soule of pleasures This man is vnsatiable like to The horseleeches two daughters which cry still Giue Giue especially in his desires The Graue and destruction can neuer be full so the eies of a man can neuer bee satisfied All the labour of man is for his mouth and yet the soule is not filled Ec. 6.7 yea this is the curse that God hath set vpon him Hee that loueth siluer shall not be satisfied with siluer Ec. 5.9 Pr. 18.11 and he that loueth riches shall be without the fruit thereof and whereas the rich mans riches are his strong City he that trusteth in riches shall fall Pr. 11.28 Pr. 11.24 Pr. 23.5 Pr. 28.8 Pr. 16.8 Pr. 30.8 Pr. 30.9 and by his sparing commeth surely to pouertie All this while hee sets his eies on that which is nothing and doth but gather for him that will be mercifull to the poore wherefore Better is a little with right than great reuenues without equity Giue mee not pouerty nor riches feed mee with food conuenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord or lest I be poore and steale and take the Name of God in vaine §. 16. Prodigality in Too much expence whereof The qualitie The end Carelesnesse of his estate THe prodigall is the man that boasteth of false liberality that loueth pastime and wine Pr. 12.9 Pr. 21.17 Pr. 28.7 Pr. 28.19 Pr. 6.12 Pr. 6.14 Pr. 6.15 Pr. 13.11 Pr. 21.17 Pr. 28.19 Pr. 28.7 Pr. 22.26 Pr. 22.27 See more of this rule in the last page of Politicke following and oile that feedeth gluttons and followeth the idle The vnthriftie man and the wicked man walketh with a froward mouth Lewd things are in his heart he imagineth euill at all times Therefore also shall his destruction come speedily and hee shall be destroyed suddenly without recouery and in the meane time The riches of vanity shall diminish so that he shall be a man of want yea filled with pouerty and a shame to his father Of this kind also is he that is otherwise carelesse of his estate Be not thou of them that touch the hand nor among them that are surety for debts If thou hast nothing to pay why causest thou that he should take thy bed from vnder thee §. 17. Diligence what it is how profitable in Health Wealth and abundance Honour Pr. 16.26 Ec. 9.10 IVstice to a mans selfe is diligence for he that trauelleth trauelleth for himselfe The diligent is
an Antichristian estate if God giue secret mercie what is that to her Gods superaboundant grace doth neither abate ought of her Antichristianisme nor moue you to follow him in couering and passing by the manifold enormities in our Church wherewith those good things are inseparably commingled Your owne mouth shall condemne you Doth God passe ouer our enormities and doe you sticke yea separate Doth his grace couer them and doe you display them Haue you learned to be more iust than your Maker Or if you be not aboue his iustice why are you against his mercy God hath not disclaimed vs by your owne confession you haue preuented him If Princes leasurees may not be stayed in reforming yet shall not Gods in reiecting Your ignorance enwrapped you in your errors his infinite wisedome sees them and yet his infinite mercy forbeares them so might you at once haue seene disliked stayed If you did not herein goe contrary to the courses of our common God how happy should both sides haue beene yea how should there be no sides How should we be more inseparably commingled than our good and euill But should you haue continued still in sinne that grace might haue abounded God forbid you might haue continued here without sinne saue your owne and then grace would no lesse haue abounded to you than now your sin abounds in not continuing What neede you to surfet of another mans Trencher Other sinnes need no more to infect you than your graces can sanctifie them As for your further light suspect it not of God suspect it to bee meere darknesse and if the light in you bee darknesse how great is that darknesse What so true and glorious a light of God and neuer seene till now No Worlds Times Churches Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs Fathers Doctors Gen. 1.2 Esa 5.20 Woe to them that put darknesse for light Esa 59.9 Christians euer saw this truth looke forth besides you vntill you Externall light was Gods first creature and shall this spirituall light whereby all Churches should be discerned come thus late Mistrust therefore your eyes and your light and feare Esayes woe and the Iewes miserable disappointment we wait for light but loe it is darknesse for brightnesse but we walke in obscuritie SEP But the Church of England say you is our Mother and so ought not to be auoyded But say I we must not so cleaue to holy Mother Church as we neglect our Heauenly Father and his Commandements which we know in that estate we could not but transgresse and that hainously and against our consciences not onely in the want of many Christian Ordinances to which we are most straightly bound both by Gods Word and our owne necessities SECTION XVII THE Church of England is your Mother to her small comfort she hath borne you The Motherhood of the Church of England how far it obligeth vs. Deut. 21 22 23. and repented Alas you haue giuen her cause to powre out Iobs curses vpon your Birth-day by your not onely forsaking but cursing her Stand not vpon her faults which you shall neuer proue capitall Not onely the best Parent might haue brought forth a rebellious sonne to be stoned What then Doe we prefer dutie to piety and so plead for our Holy Mother Church that we neglect our Heauenly Father yea offend him See what you say it must needs be an Holy Mother that cannot be pleased without the displeasure of God A good wife that opposes such an husband a good sonne that vpbraids this vniustly Therefore is shee a Church your Mother holy Mater Ecclesia Mater est etiam Matris nostrae Aug. Epist 38. because shee bred you to God cleaues to him obeyes his commandements and commands them And so farre is shee from this desperate contradiction that shee voweth not to hold you for her sonne vnlesse you honour God as a Father It is a wilfull slander that you could not but hainously transgresse vnder her I dare take it vpon my soule that all your transgression which you should necessarily haue incurred by her obedience is nothing so hainous as your vncharitablenesse in your censures and disobedience Conscience is a common plea euen to those you hate we inquire not how strong it is but how well informed not whether it suggest this but whereupon To go against the conscience is sinne to follow a mis-informed conscience is sinne also If you do not the first we know you are faultie in the second He that is greater than the conscience will not take this for an excuse But wherein should haue beene this transgression so vnauoidable hainous against conscience First in the want of many Ordinances to which we are most strictly bound both by Gods Word and our owne necessities SECTION XVIII CAn you thinke this hangs well together The want of pretended Ordinances of God whether sinfull to vs and whether they are to bee set vp without Princes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nâ—m per exteriorem viâ—lâ—â—tiaÌ„ corâ—â—pitur si interior innocentia custodiatâ—r cap. 114. 3. Custodi c. Ad docendum populum Israelâ—ticum omnipotens Deus Prophetis praeconium dedit non Regibus imperauit Aug. l. 2. contra Gau. c. 11. Barr. causes of separat def p. 6. Barr. Reformation without tarrying Aug. contra Petilian l. 2. Optatus Mileuit lib. 30. Bar. second Examination before the Lord Archbishop and Lord Chiefe-Iustice compar with his reply to M. Gyff Art 5. You should here want many of Gods Ordinances why should you want them Because you are not suffered to enioy them who hinders it Superior powers Did euer man wilfully and hainously offend for wanting of that which he could not haue What hath conscience to doe with that which is out of our power Is necessity with you become a sinne and that hainous Dauid is driuen to lurke in the wildernesse and forced to want the vse of many diuine Ordinances It was his sorrow not his transgression Hee complaines of this but doth he accuse himselfe of sinne Not to desire them had beene sinne no sinne to be debarred them Well might this be Sauls sinne but not his Haue you not sinnes enow of your owne that you must needs borrow of others But I see your ground You are bound to haue these Ordinances and therefore without Princes yea against them so it is your transgression to want them in spight of Magistrates Gaudentius the Donatist taught you this of old And this is one of the Hebrew Songs which Master Barrow sings to vs in Babylon that we care not to make Christ attend vpon Princes and to be subiect to their Lawes and Gouernment and his Predecessor the root of your Sect tels vs in this sense the Kingdome of Heauen must suffer violence and that it comes not with obseruation that men may say Loe the Parliament or loe the Bishops decrees and in the same Treatise The Lords Kingdome must wait on your policy forsooth and
bee no lesse Controuersie defacto than of the possibility of errour Besides there are other Popish opinions of the same stampe but more pragmaticall which are not more pernicious to the Church than to common-weales as those of the power of both Swords of the deposition of Princes disposing of Kingdomes absoluing of Subiects frustration of Oathes sufficiently canuased of late both by the Venetian Diuines and French and ours which are so palpably opposite to the libertie of Christian Gouernment that those Princes and Peeple which can stoope to such a yoke are well worthy of their seruitude and can they hope that the great Commanders of the World will come to this bent we all as the Comick Poet said truly had rather be free than serue but much more Princes or on the contrary can wee hope that the Tyrants of the Church will be content to leaue this hold What a fopperie were this For both those Princes are growne more wise and these Tyrants more arrogant and as Ruffinus speakes of George Ruff. l. 1. c. 23. Procaciter vt raptum Episcopatum gerunt c. the Arrian Gallant they insolently gouerne an vsurped Bishopricke as if they thought they had the managing of a proud Empire and not of a Religious Priesthood SECTION VI. That the other Opinions of the Romish Church will not admit Reconciliation BVt let vs bee so liberall as to grant this to our selues which certainely they will neuer grant vs for this olde Grandame of Cities thinkes her selfe borne to command and will either fall or rule Neyther doth that Mitred Moderator of the World affect any other Embleme than that which Iulian iestingly ascribes to Iulius Caesar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To rule all Iulian. Caesares or to Alexander the Great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to conquer all It was a degenerating spirit of Adrian the Sixt which caused to bee written vpon his Tombe Binius in vita Adrian in the Church of Saint Peter That nothing in all his life fell out so vnhappily to him Socrat. l. 5. c. 20. c. 14. as that he gouerned Let this I say be granted vs There want not I know some milder spirits Theodosians that can play with both hands which thinke if these busie points were by the moderation of both parts quietly composed it might bee safe for any man so it be without noyse to thinke what hee list concerning the other differences of Religion These are the Ghosts of that Heretike Appelles whose speech it was Euseb l. 5. c. 13. ex Roâ—nâ— That it is sufficient to beleeue in Christ crucified and that there should bee no discussing of the particular warrants and reason of our faith Or the brood of Leonas one of the courtiers of Constantius Socrat. l. 2. c. 32. and his Deputie in the Seleucian Councell which when the Fathers hotely contended as there was good cause for the Consubstantialitie of the Sonne Get you home said hee and trouble not the Church still with these trifles Saint Basil was of another minde from these men who as Theodoret reports when the Lieutenant of Valens the Emperor Theodor. lâ— c. 27. perswaded him to remit but one letter for peace sake answered Those that are nursed with the sincere Milke of Gods Word may not abide one sillable of his sacred Truth to be corrupted but rather than they will indure it are ready to receiue any kinde of torment or death Elâ—â—sius and Syluanus which were Orthodox Bishops and those other worthy Gardians and as Athanasius his title was Champions of the truth were of another minde from these coole and indifferent Mediators Epiph. l. 1. Initio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cypr. de simplic praelat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So farre as the Sacred truth will allow vs wee will accompany them gladly but if they vrge vs further wee stand still or start backe and those two courses which Epiphanius aduised as the remedies of Heresie Heed and Auoydance both those doe we carefully vse and performe Great is the offence of discord and vnexpiable and such in the graue iudgement of Cyprian as is not purged with the bloud of our passion and iustly doe we thinke that Fiend of Homer worthy of no place but Hell But yet wee cannot thinke concord a meete price of truth which it is lawfull for vs to buy at any rate but to sell vpon any termes is no lesse than pâ—cular Let vs therefore a little discusse the seuerall differences and as it vses to bee done when the house is too little for the stuffe Let vs pile vp all close together It shall bee enough in this large Haruest of matter to gather some few Eares out of euery Shocke and to make a compendious dispatch of so long a taske 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The grossest of the Popish Heresies and as HIEROME obiects to ORIGEN the most venomous opinions of Rome which haue bred so much trouble and danger at this day to the Church of God are either such as doe concerne our selues not without some â—â—spect to God or such as concerne God not without some respect to vs Of the former sort are those which in a certaine order such as it is of discourse are conuersant about Iustification Free-will the merit of our workes humane satisfaction Indulgences Purgatory and the differences of mortall and Veniall sinnes These therefore first offer themselues to our examination SECTION VII The Romish Heresie concerning Iustification THat point of Iustification of all other is exceeding important Caluin De vera Pacific contra Interim insomuch as CALVIN was faine to perswade that if this one head might bee yeelded safe and intire it would not quite the cost to make any great quarrell for the rest Would to God that word of CASSANDER might bee made good Consultat de Iustific which doubted not to say That which is affirmed that men cannot bee iustified before God by their owne strength merits or workes but that they are freely iustified by faith was alwaies allowed and receiued in the Church of God and is at this day approued by all Ecclesiasticall Writers Yea I would they would bee ruled by their Thomas Aquinas in this In Galat. in Iâ—c 2. who attributes Iustification to workes not as Iustification is taken for an infusion of grace but as it is taken for an exercise or manifestation or consummation of Iustice If this were all in this point all would be peace Concil Trid. sess 6. c. 7. si quis dixerit sola fide c. Com. 9. But whilst the Tridentine Fathers take vpon them to forge the formall cause of our Iustification to be our owne inherent Iustice and thrust Faith out of Office what good man can choose but presently addresse himselfe to an opposition Who would not rather dye than suffer the ancient Faith of the Church to be depraued with these idle Dreames Goe now ye great Trent Diuines and bragge of your selues as
rayled much and hurt nothing laboured much and gained nothing talked much and said nothing It is a large and bold word but if any one clause of mine be vnproned if any one clause of mine be disproued any one exception against my defence proued iust any one charge of his proued true any one falshood of mine detected any one argument of mine refelled any one argument or proposition of his not refelled Let me goe away conuicted with shame But if I haue answered euery challenge vindicated euery * * I onely except that one slip of my Pen that I said Gratian cited a sentence out of Austin which was indeed his owne anthoritie iustified euery proofe wiped away euery cauill affirmed no proposition vntruely censured nothing vniustly satisfied all his malicious obiections and warranted euery sentence of my poore Epistle Let my apologie liue and passe and let my Refuter goe as he is C. E. Cauillator Egregius Let my cause bee no more victorious then iust and let honest Mariages euer hold vp their heads in despite of Rome and Hell With this Farewell I leaue my Refuter either to the acting of his vnbloody executions of the Sonne of God or the plotting of the bloody executions of the Deputies of God or as it were his best to the knocking of his Beads But if he will needs be medling with his pen and will haue me after some Iubilies to expect an answer to my fixe weekes labour I shall in the meane time pray that God would giue him the grace to giue way to the knowne Truth and sometimes to say true Yet to gratifie my Reader at the parting I may not conceale from him an ancient and worthy Monument vvhich I had the fauour and happinesse to see in the Inner Librarie of Corpus Christi Colledge in Cambridge An excellent Treatise written amongst seuenteene other in a faire set hand by an Author of great learning and Antiquitie Of Rome in France He would needs suppresse his name but describes himselfe to be Rotomagensis The time wherein it was written appeares to bee amids the heat of contention which was betwixt the Archbishop of Canterbury Yorke for precedency * * As also the contention betwixt the Church of Roane and Vienna Râ—g Houed which quarrell fell betwixt Rodulph of Canterbury and Thurstin of Yorke in the yeare 1114 at which time Pope Paschalis wrote to King Henry concerning it and was renued after about the yeare 1175. The Discourse shall speake enough for it selfe ROTOMAGENSIS ANONYMVS AN LICEAT SACERDOTIBVS INIRE MATRIMONIA SCire volui quis primus instituit ne Sacerdotes Christiani inire deberent Matrimonia Deus an homo Si enim Deus eius certe sententia tenenda obseruanda est cum omni veneratione reuerentia Si vero homo non Deus de corde hominis non ex ore Dei talis egressa est traditio Ideoque nec per eam salus adquiritus si obseruetur nec amittitur si non obseruetur Non enim est hominis saluare vel per dere aliquem pro meritis sed Dei proprium vnius est scilicet quod Deus hoc instituerit nec in veteri Testamento nec in Euangelio nec in Apostolorum Epistolis scriptum reperitur in quibus quicquid Deus hominibus praecèpit insertum describitur Traditio ergo hominis est non Dei non Apostolorum institutio Quemadmodum Apostolus instituit vt oportet Episcopum esse vnius vxoris virum Quod minime instituisset si adulterium esset quod Episcopus haberet simul vxorem Ecclesiam quasi duus vxores vt quidam asserunt Quodque de Scripturis sanctis non habet authoritatem eadem facilitate contemnitur qua dicitur Sancta enim Ecclesia non Sacerdotis vxor non spousa sed Christi est sicut Ioannes dicit Qui habet sponsam sponsus est huius inquam sponsi Ecclesia sponsa est tamen huic sponsae licet in parte inire matrimonia ex Apostolica traditione Dicit enim Apostolus ad Cor. Propter fornicationes inquit vnusquisque vxorem suam habeat caetera vsque volo omnes homines esse sicut meipsum sed vnusquisque proprium donum habet à Deo alius quidem sic alius verò sic Non enim omnes habent vnum donum virginitatis scilicet continentiae sed quidam virgines sunt continentes quidam vero incontinentes quibus concidit nuptias ne tentet eos Sathanas propter incontinentiam suam in ruinam turpitudinis corruant Sed Sacerdotes quoque alij quidem continentes sunt alij vero incontinentes qui continentes sunt continentia sua donum à Deo consecuti sunt fine eius dono gratia continentes esse non possunt Incontinentes vero hoc donum gratiae minime percipiunt qui cum intemperantia suae conspersionis tum etiam animi infirmitate per carnis desideria diffluunt Quod nullo modo facerent si continentiae gratiam virtutem à Deo percepissent Sentiunt enim ipsi aliam legem in membris suis repugnantem legi mentis suae captiuantem eos in lege peccati quod nolunt agere cogentem qui de corpore mortis huius liberantur gratia Dei. Hac itaque eos lege captiuante carnis concupiscentia stimulante aut fornicari coguntur aut nubere Quorum quid melius fit Apostolica docemur authoritate qua dicitur melius nubere quà m vri Quod melius est id certe eligendum tenendum est Melius est inquam nubere quia peius est vri Quia melius est nubere quà m vri conueniens est incontinentibus vt nubant non vt vrantur Bona etenim sunt nuptia sicut Augustinus ait in libro super Genesin ad literam in ipsis commendatur bonum naturae quo incontinentiae regitur prauitas naturae decoratur foecunditas Num vtriusque sexus infirmitas propendens in ruinam turpitudinis recta excipitur honestate nuptiarum vt quod sanis possit esse officium sit aegrotis remedium Neque enim quia incontinentia malum est ideo connubium vel quo incontinentes copulantur non est bonum Imo vero non propter illud malum culpabile est bonum sed propter hoc bonum ventale est illud malum quoniam id quod bonum habent nuptiae quod bonae sunt nuptiae peccatum esse nunquam potest Hoc autem tripartitum est fides proles Sacramentum In fide attenditur ne praeter vinculum coniugale cum altera vel cum altero concubatur In prole vt amanter suscipiatur benigne suscipiatur religiose educetur In Sacramento vt coniugium non separetur demissus aut demissa ne causa prolis alteri coniugatur Haec est tanquam regula nuptiarum qua vel naturae decoratur foecunditas vel incontinentiae regitur prauitas
loue to Sechem sinister respects draw more to the profession of Religion then conscience if it were not for the loaues and fishes the traine of Christ would bee lesse But the Sacraments of God mis-receiued neuer prosper in the end These men are content to smart so they may gaine And now that euery man lyes sore of his owne wound Simeon and Leui rush in armed and wound all the males to death Cursed be their wrath for it was fierce and their rage for it was cruell Indeed filthinesse should not haue beene wrought by Israel yet murder should not haue beene wrought by Israel if they had beene fit Iudges which were but bloody executioners how far doth the punishment exceed the fault To punish aboue the offence is no lesse iniustice then to offend one offendeth and all feele the reuenge yea all though innocent suffer that reuenge which he that offended deserued not Sechem sinneth but Dinah tempted him She that was so light as to wander abroad alone only to gaze I feare was not ouer-difficult to yeeld And if hauing wrought her shame he had driuen her home with disgrace to her Fathers tent such tyrannous lust had iustly called for blood but now hee craues and offers and would pay deare for but leaue to giue satisfaction To execute rigour vpon a submisse offender is more mercilesse than iust Or if the punishment had bin both iust and proportionable from another yet from them which had vowed peace and affinitie it was shamefully vniust To disappoint the trust of another and to neglect our owne promise and fidelity for priuate purposes adds faithlesnesse vnto our cruelty That they were impotent it was through their circumcision what impiety was this in stead of honouring an holy signe to take an aduantage by it What shrieking was there now in the streets of the City of the Hiuites And how did the beguiled Sichemits when they saw the swords of the two brethren die cursing that Sacrament in their hearts which had betrayed them Euen their curses were the sins of Simeon and Leui whose fact though it were abhorred by their Father yet it was seconded by their brethren Their spoile makes good the others slaughter Who would haue looked to haue found this out-rage in the family of Iacob How did that good Patriarke when he saw Dinah come home blubbered and wringing her hands Simeon and Leui sprinkled with blood wish that Leah had beene barren as long as Rachel Good Parents haue griefe enough though they sustaine no blame for their childrens sins What great euills arise from small beginnings The idle curiosity of Dinah hath bred all this mischiefe Rauishment followes vpon her wandring vpon her rauishment murder vpon the murder spoyle It is holy and safe to bee iealous of the first occasions of euill either done or suffered Of IVDAH and THAMAR I Find not many of Iacobs sonnes more faultie then Iudah who yet is singled out from all the rest to be the royall Progenitor of Christ and to be honoured with the dignity of the birth-right that Gods election might not bee of merit but of grace Else howsoeuer he might haue sped alone Thamar had neuer beene ioyned with him in this line Euen Iudah marries a Canaanite it is no maruell though his Seed prosper not And yet that good children may not be too much discouraged with their vnlawfull propagation the Fathers of the promised Seed are raised from an incestuous bed Iudah was very yong scarce frō vnder the rod of his Father yet he takes no other counsell for his mariage but from his own eyes which were like his sister Dinahs rouing and wanton what better issue could be expected from such beginnings Those proud Iewes that glory so much of their Pedigree and Name from this Patriarke may now choose whether they will haue their mother a Canaanite or an Harlot Euen in these things oft-times the birth followes the belly His eldest sonne Er is too wicked to liue God strikes him dead ere he can leaue any issue not abiding any siens to grow out of so bad a stocke Notorious sinners God reserues to his owne vengeance He doth not inflict sensible iudgements vpon all his enemies lest the wicked should thinke there were no punishment abiding for them else-where Hee doth inflict such iudgements vpon some lest he should seeme carelesse of euill It were as easie for him to strike all dead as one but hee had rather all should be warned by one and would haue his enemies find him mercifull as his children iust His brother Onan sees the iudgment and yet followes his sins Euery little thing discourages vs from good Nothing can alter the heart that is set vpon euill Er was not worthy of any loue but though he were a miscreant yet he was a brother Seed should haue been raised to him Onan iustly leeses his life with his Seed which he would rather spill then lend to a wicked brother Some duties we owe to humanity more to neerenesse of blood Ill deseruings of others can be no excuse for our iniustice for our vncharitablenesse That which Thamar required Moses afterward as from God commanded the succession of brothers into the barren bed Some lawes God spake to his Church long ere he wrote them while the author is certainly knowne the voyce and the finger of God are worthy of equall respect Iudah hath lost two sonnes and now doth but promise the third whom he sinnes in not giuing It is the weaknesse of nature rather to hazard a sin then a danger and to neglect our owne duty for wrongfull suspition of others though he had lost his son in giuing him yet he should haue giuen him A faithful mans promise is his debt which no feare of damage can dispense with But whereupon was this slacknesse Iudah feared that some vnhappinesse in the bed of Thamar was the cause of his sonnes miscariage whereas it was their fault that Thamar vvas both a widow and childlesse Those that are but the patients of euill are many times burdened with suspitions and therefore are ill thought of because they fare ill Afflictions would not bee so heauy if they did not lay vs open vnto vncharitable conceits What difference God puts betwixt sinnes of wilfulnesse and infirmitie The pollution is punished with present death the fathers incest is pardoned and in a sort prospereth Now Thamar seekes by subtlety that which she could not haue by award of iustice the neglect of due retributions driues men to indirect courses neither know I whether they sin more in righting themselues wrongfully or the other in not righting them She therefore takes vpon her the habit of an harlot that she might performe the act If she had not wished to seeme an Whore she had not worn that attire nor chosen that place Immodesty of outward fashion or gesture bewraies euill desires the heart that meanes well will neuer wish to seeme ill for commonly we affect to shew better then we are
station where God hath set vs. I see the Leuites not long since drawing their swords for God and Moses against the rest of Israel and that fact wins them both praise and blessing Now they are the forwardest in the rebellion against Moses and Aaron men of their owne Tribe There is no assurance of a man for one act whom one sinne cannot fasten vpon another may Yea the same sinne may finde a repulse one while from the same hand which another time giues it entertainment and that yeeldance loses the thanke of all the former resistance It is no praise to haue done once well vnlesse we continue Outward priuiledges of blood can auaile nothing against a particular calling of God These Reubenites had the right of the natural primogeniture yet do they vainly challenge preeminence where God hath subiected them If all ciuill honour flow from the King how much more from the God of Kings His hand exalts the poore and casts downe the mighty from their throne The man that will be lifting vp himselfe in the pride of his heart from vnder the foot of God is iustly troden in the dust Moses is the Prince of Israel Aaron the Priest Moses was milde Aaron popular yet both are conspired against Their places are no lesse brothers then their persons Both are opposed at once He that is a traytor to the Church is a traytor to the King Any superioritie is a marke of Enuy. Had Moses and Aaron beene but fellowes with the Israelites none had beene better beloued their dispositions were such as must needs haue forced fauour from the indifferent now they were aduanced their malice is not inferiour to their honour High towers must looke for lightnings we offer not to vndermine but those wals which we cannot scale Nature in euery man is both enuious and disdainfull and neuer loues to honour another but where it may be an honour to it selfe There cannot be conceiued an honour lesse worth emulation then this principality of Israel a people that could giue nothing a people that had nothing but in hope a people whom their leader was faine to feed with bread and water which paid him no tribute but of ill words whose command was nothing but a burden and yet this dignitie was an eye-sore to these Leuites and these Reubenites Ye take too much vpon you ye sonnes of Leui. And this challenge though thus vnseasonable hath drawne in two hundred and fifty Captaines of Israel What wonder is it that the ten Rulers preuailed so much with the multitude to disswade them from Canaan when three traitors preuailed thus with 250 Rulers famous in the Congregation and men of renowne One man may kindle such a fire as all the world cannot quench One plague-sore may infect a whole Kingdome The infection of euill is much worse then the act It is not like these Leaders of Israel could erre without followers Hee is a meane man that drawes not some Clients after him It hath been euer a dangerous policy of Satan to assault the best he knowes that the multitude as wee say of Bees will follow their master Nothing can be more pleasing to the vulgar sort then to heare their Gouernours taxed and themselues flattered All the Congregation is holy Euery one of them Wherefore lift ye vp your selues Euery word is a falshood For Moses deiected himselfe Who am I God lifted him vp ouer Israel And so was Israel holy as Moses was ambitious What holinesse was there in so much infidelitie feare Idolatry mutiny disobedience What could make them vncleane if this were holinesse They had scarce wip't their mouths or washt their hands since their last obstinacie and yet these pick-thankes say All Israel is holy I would neuer desire a better proofe of a false teacher then flatterie True meaning need not vphold it selfe by soothing There is nothing easier then to perswade men well of themselues when a mans selfe-loue meetes with anothers flattery it is an high praise that will not be beleeued It was more out of opposition then beliefe that these men plead the holinesse of Israel Violent aduersaries to vphold a side will maintaine those things they beleeue not Moses argues not for himselfe but appeales to God neither speakes for his owne right but his brother Aarons He knew that Gods immediate seruice was worthy to be more precious then his gouernment That his Princedome serued but to the glory of his Master Good Magistrates are more tender ouer Gods honour then their owne and more sensible of the wrongs offred to Religion then to themselues It is safest to trust God with his owne causes If Aaron had been chosen by Israel Moses would haue sheltred him vnder their authority Now that God did immediately appoint him his patronage is sought whose the election was Wee may easily fault in the managing of diuine affaires and so our want of successe cannot want sinne He knowes how to vse how to blesse his owne meanes As there was a difference betwixt the people and Leuites so betwixt the Leuites and Priests The God of order loues to haue our degrees kept Whiles the Leuites would be looking vp to the Priests Moses sends downe their eyes to the people The way not to repine at those aboue vs is to looke at those below vs. There is no better remedy for ambition then to cast vp our former receits and to compare them with our deseruings and to conferre our owne estate with inferiours So shall wee finde cause to be thankfull that wee are aboue any rather then of enuy that any is aboue vs. Moses hath chid the sonnes of Leui for mutining against Aaron and so much the more because they were of his owne Tribe now hee sends for the Reubenites which rose against himselfe They come not and their message is worse then their absence Moses is accused of iniustice cruelty falshood treacherie vsurpation and Egypt it self must be commended rather then Moses shall want reproch Innocency is no shelter from ill tongues Malice neuer regards how true any accusation is but how spightfull Now it was time for Moses to be angry They durst not haue been thus bold if they had not seene his mildnesse Lenity is ill bestowed vpon stubborne natures It is an iniurious senslesnesse not to feele the wounds of our reputation It well appeares hee is angry when he prayes against them He was displeased before but when he was most bitter against them he still prayed for them but now hee bends his very prayers against them Looke not to their offering There can be no greater reuenge then the imprecation of the righteous There can be no greater iudgement then Gods reiection of our seruices With vs men what more argues dislike of the person then the turning backe of his present What will God accept from vs if not prayers The innocence of Moses cals for reuenge on his Aduersaries If hee had wronged them in his gouernment in vaine should he haue
Ioshua that succeeded Moses no lesse in the care of Gods glory then in his gouernment is much deiected with this euent Hee rends his clothes fals on his face casts dust vpon his head and as if he had learned of his Master how to expostulate with God sayes What wilt thou doe to thy mighty Name That Ioshua might see God tooke no pleasure to let the Israelites lye dead vpon the earth before their enemies himselfe is taxed for but lying all day vpon his face before the Arke All his expostulations are answered in one word Get thee vp Israel hath sinned I do not heare God say Lye still and mourne for the sin of Israel It is to no purpose to pray against punishment while the sinne continues And though God loues to be sued to yet he holds our requests vnseasonable till there bee care had of satisfaction When we haue risen and redressed sin then may we fall downe for pardon Victory is in the free hand of God to dispose where hee will and no man can maruell that the dice of Warre run euer with hazard on both sides so as God needed not to haue giuen any other reason of this discomfiture of Israel but his owne pleasure yet Ioshua must now know that Israel which before preuailed for their faith is beaten for their sin When we are crossed in iust and holy quarrels we may well thinke there is some secret euill vnrepented of which God would punish in vs which though we see not yet he so hates that he will rather bee wanting to his owne cause then not reuenge it When we goe about any enterprise of God it is good to see that our hearts be cleere from any pollution of sin and when wee are thwarted in our hopes it is our best course to ransack our selues and to search for some sin hid from vs in our bosome but open to the view of God The Oracle of God which told him a great offence was committed yet reueales not the person It had been as easie for him to haue named the man as the crime Neither doth Ioshua request it but refers that discouery to such a meanes as whereby the offender finding himselfe singled out by the lot might bee most conuinced Achan thought he might haue lyen as close in all that throng of Israel as the wedge of Gold lay in his Tent. The same hope of secresie which moued him to sinne moued him to confidence in his sinne but now when hee saw the lot fall vpon his Tribe hee began to start a little when vpon his family he began to change countenance when vpon his houshold to tremble and feare when vpon his person to be vtterly confounded in himselfe Foolish men thinke to runne away with their priuie sinnes and say Tush no eye shall see me but when they thinke themselues safest God puls them out with shame The man that hath escaped iustice and now is lying downe in death would thinke My shame shall neuer be disclosed but before Men and Angels shall he be brought on the scaffold and find confusion as sure as late What needed any other euidence when God had accused Achan Yet Ioshua will haue the sinne out of his mouth in whose heart it was hatched My sonne I beseech thee giue glory to God Whom God had conuinced as a malefactor Ioshua beseeches as a son Some hot spirit would haue said Thou wretched traitor how hast thou pilfred from thy God and shed the blood of so many Israelites and caused the Host of Israel to shew their backes with dishonour to the Heathen now shall we fetch this sin out of thee with tortures and plague thee with a condigne death But like the Disciple of him whose seruant he was he meekely intreats that which he might haue extorted by violence My son I beseech thee Sweetnesse of compellation is a great helpe towards the good entertainment of an admonition roughnesse and rigor many times hardens those hearts which meekenesse would haue melted to repentance whether we sue or conuince or reproue little good is gotten by bitternesse Detestation of the sin may well stand with fauour to the person and these two not distinguished cause great wrong either in our charity or iustice for either we vncharitably hate the creature of God or vniustly affect the euill of men Subiects are as they are called sonnes to the Magistrate All Israel was not onely of the family but as of the loynes of Ioshua such must be the corrections such the prouisions of Gouernorus as for their children as againe the obedience and loue of subiects must be filiall God had glorified himselfe sufficiently in finding out the wickednesse of Achan neither need he honour from men much lesse from sinners They can dishonour him by their iniquities but what recompence can they giue him for their wrongs yet Ioshua sayes My sonne giue glory to God Israel should now see that the tongue of Achan did iustifie God in his lot The confession of our sins doth no lesse honour God then his glory is blemished by their commission Who would not be glad to redeeme the honour of his Redemer with his owne shame The lot of God and the mild words of Ioshua wonne Achan to accuse himselfe ingenuously impartially a storme perhaps would not haue done that which a Sun-shine had done If Achan had come in vncalled and before any question made out of an honest remorse had brought in this sacrilegious booty and cast himselfe and it at the foot of Ioshua doubtlesse Israel had prospered and his sinne had caried away pardon now he hath gotten thus much thanke that he is not a desperate sinner God will once wring from the conscience of wicked men their owne inditements They haue not more carefully hid their sinne then they shall one day freely proclaime their owne shame Achans confession though it were late yet was it free and full For he doth not onely acknowledge the act but the ground of his sinne I saw and coueted and tooke The eye betrayed the heart and that the hand and now all conspire in the offence If wee list not to flatter our selues this hath beene the order of our crimes Euill is vniforme and beginning at the senses takes the inmost fort of the soule and then armes our own outward forces against vs This shall once be the lasciuious mans song I saw and coueted and tooke This the theeues this the Idolaters this the gluttons drunkards All these receiue their death by the eye But oh foolish Achan with what eyes didst thou looke vpon that spoile which thy fellowes saw and contemned Why couldest thou not before as well as now see shame hid vnder that gay Babylonish garment and an heape of stones couered with those shekels of siluer The ouer-prizing and ouer-desiring of these earthly things caries vs into all mischiefe and hides from vs the sight of Gods iudgements whosoeuer desires the glory of metals or of gay clothes or
imployed it that it hath stolne away their hearts from God and yet while it is molten into an image they thinke it dedicated to the Lord. If Religion might be iudged according to the intention there should scarce be any Idolatry in the world This woman loued her siluer enough and if she had not thought this costly piety worth thanks she knew which way to haue imployed her stocke to aduantage Euen euill actions haue oft-times good meanings and those good meanings are answered with euill recompences Many a one bestowes their cost their labour their blood and receiues torment in stead of thanks Behold a superstitious sonne of a superstitious mother She makes a god and hee harbours it yea as the streame is commonly broader then the head he exceeds his mother in euill He hath an house of gods an Ephod Teraphin and that he might bee complete in his deuotion he makes his sonne his Priest and feoffes that sinne vpon his sonne which he receiued from his mother Those sinnes which nature conuayes not to vs we haue by imitation Euery action and gesture of the Parents is an example to the childe and the mother as she is more tender ouer her sonne so by the power of a reciprocall loue she can worke most vpon his inclination Whence it is that in the history of the Israelitish Kings the mothers name is commonly noted and as ciuilly so also morally The birth followes the belly Those sonnes may blesse their second birth that are deliuered from the sinnes of their education Who cannot but thinke how far Micha ouer-lookt all his fellow Israelites and thought them profane and godlesse in comparison of himselfe How did he secretly clap himselfe on the brest as the man whose happynesse it was to ingrosse Religion from all the Tribes of Israel and little can imagine that the further he runs the more out of the way Can an Israelite be thus paganish O Micha how hath superstition bewitched thee that thou canst not see rebellion in euery of these actions yea in euery circumstance rebellion What more gods then one An house of gods beside Gods house An Image of siluer to the inuincible God An Ephod and no Priest A Priest besides the family of Leui A Priest of thine owne begetting of thine owne consecration What monsters doth mans imagination produce when it is forsaken of God It is well seen there is no King in Israel If God had been their King his lawes had ruled them Moses or Ioshua had beene their King their sword had awed them If any other the courses of Israel could not haue beene so headlesse We are beholden to gouernment for order for peace for religion Where there is no King eueryone will be a King yea a God to himselfe Wee are worthy of nothing but confusion if wee blesse not God for authority It is no maruell if Leuites wandred for maintenance while there was no King in Israel The tithes offerings were their due if these had bin paid none of the holy Tribe needed to shift his station Euen where Royall power seconds the claime of the Leuite the iniustice of men shortnes his right What should become of the Leuites if there were no King And what of the Church if no Leuits No King therefore no Church How could the impotent childe liue without a Nurse Kings shall be thy nursing Fathers and Queenes thy nurses saith God Nothing more argues the disorder of any Church or the decay of Religion then the forced stragling of the Leuites There is hope of growth when Micha rides to seeke a Leuite but when the Leuite comes to seeke a seruice of Micha it is a signe of gasping deuotion Micha was no obscure man all Mount Ephraim could not but take notice of his domesticall gods This Leuite could not but heare of his disposition of his mis-deuotion yet want of maintenance no lesse then conscience drawes him on to the danger of Idolatrous patronage Holinesse is not tyed to any profession Happy were it for the Church if the Clergy could be a priuiledge from lewdnes When need meets with vnconscionablenes all conditions are easily swallowed of vnlawfull entrances of wicked executions Ten shekels and a sute of apparell and his diet are good wages for a needy Leuite He that could bestow 11000. shekels vpon his puppets can afford but ten to his Priest so hath he at once a rich Idoll and a beggerly Priest Whosoeuer affects to serue God good cheape shewes that he makes God but a stale to Mammon Yet was Micha a kinde Patron though not liberall He cals the young Leuite his father and vses him as his sonne and what he wants in meanes supplies in affection It were happy if Christians could imitate the loue of Idolaters towards thē which serue at the Altar Micha made a shift with the Priesthood of his owne sonne yet that his heart checkes him in it appeares both by the change and his contentment in the change Now I know that the Lord will be good to me seeing I haue a Leuite to my Priest Therefore whiles his Priest was no Leuite hee sees there was cause why God should not bee good to him If the Leuite had not comne to offer his seruice Michaes sonne had been a lawfull Priest Many times thy conscience runnes away smoothly with an vnwarrantable action and rests it self vpon those grounds which afterward it sees cause to condemne It is a sure way therefore to informe our selues throughly ere we settle our choice that we be not driuen to reuerse our acts with late shame and vnprofitable repentance Now did Micha begin to see some little glimpse of his owne errour He saw his Priesthood faulty he saw not the faults of his Ephod of his Images of his gods and yet as if he thought all had been well when he had amended one he sayes Now I know the Lord will be good to me The carnall heart pleases it selfe with an outward formality and so delights to flatter it selfe as that it thinkes if one circumstance be right nothing can be amisse Israel was at this time extremely corrupted yet the spies of the Danites had taken notice euen of this young Leuite and are glad to make vse of his Priesthood If they had but gone vp to Shilo they might haue cōsulted with the Arke of God but worldly minds are not curious in their holy seruices If they haue a god an Ephod a Priest it suffices them They had rather enioy a false worship with ease then to take paines for the true Those that are curious in their diet in their purchases in their attire in their contracts yet in Gods businesses are very indifferent The author of lies sometime speakes truth for an aduantage and from his mouth this flattering Leuite speaks what he knew would please not what he knew would fall out The euent answers his prediction and now the spies magnifie him to their fellowes Michaes Idoll is a god and the Leuite
the Owner of all things ELY and his Sonnes IF the conueyance of grace were naturall holy Parents would not bee so ill suted with children What good man would not rather wish his loyns dry then fruitfull of wickednesse Now we can neither traduce goodnesse nor choose but traduce sinne If vertue were as well intailed vpon vs as sinne one might serue to checke the other in our children but now since grace is deriued from heauen on whomsoeuer it pleases the Giuer and that euill which ours receiue hereditarily from vs is multiplied by their own corruption it can be no wonder that good men haue ill children it is rather a wonder that any children are not euill The sons of Ely are as lewd as himselfe was holy If the goodnes of examples precepts education profession could haue been preseruatiues from extremitie of sin these sonnes of an holy Father had not been wicked now neither parentage nor breeding nor Priesthood can keepe the sonnes of Ely from the sons of Belial If our children bee good let vs thanke God for it this was more then we could giue them if euill they may thanke vs and themselues vs for their birth-sinne themselues for the improuement of it to that height of wickednes If they had not been sonnes of Ely yet being Priests of God who would not haue hoped their very calling should haue infused some holinesse into them But now euen their white Ephod couers foule sinnes yea rather if they which serue at the Altar degenerate their wickednesse is so much more aboue others as their place is holier A wicked Priest is the worst creature vpon earth Who are Deuils but they which were once Angels of light Who can stumble at the sinnes of the Euangelicall Leuites that sees such impurity euen before the Arke of God That God which promised to bee the Leuites portion had set forth the portion of his Ministers hee will feast them at his owne Altar The brest the right shoulder of the peace-offring was their morsell these bold and couetous Priests will rather haue the flesh-hooke their rabiter then God whatsoeuer those three teeth fasten vpon shall bee for their tooth they were weary of one ioynt and now their delicacie affects variety God is not worthy to carue for these men but their owne hands And this they doe not receiue but take and take violently vnseasonably It had been fit God should be first serued their presumption will not stay his leisure ere the fat bee burned ere the flesh bee boyled they snatch more then their share from the Altar as if the God of heauen should wait on their palate as if the Israelites had come thither to sacrifice to their bellies and as commonly a wanton tooth is the harbinger to luxurious wantonnesse they are no sooner fed then they neigh after the Dames of Israel Holy women assemble to the doore of the Tabernacle these varlets tempt them to lust that came thither for deuotion they had wiues of their owne yet their vnbridled desires roue after strangers and feare not to pollute euen that holy place with abominable filthinesse O sinnes too shamefull for men much more for the spirituall guides of Israel He that makes himselfe a seruant to his tooth shall easily become a slaue to all inordinate affections That Altar which expeiated other mens sinnes added to the sinnes of the sacrificers Doubtlesse many a soule was the cleaner for the bloud of the sacrifices which they shed whiles their own were more impure And as the Altar cannot sanctifie the priest so the vncleannesse of the Minister cannot pollute the offering because the vertue thereof is not in the agent but in the institution in the representation his sinne is his owne the comfort of the Sacrament is from God Our Clergy is no charter for heauen Euen those whose trade is deuotion may at once shew the way to heauen by their tongue and by their foot lead the way to hell It is neither a coule nor an Ephod that can priuiledge the soule The sinne of these men was worthy of contempt yea perhaps their persons but for the people therefore to abhorre the offerings of the Lord was to adde their euill vnto the Priests and to offend God because he was offended There can no offence be iustly taken euen at men much lesse at God for the sake of men No mans sinnes should bring the seruice of God into dislike this is to make holy things guilty of our profanenesse It is dangerous ignorance not to distinguish betwixt the worke and the instrument whereupon it oft comes to passe that we fall out with God because we finde cause of offence from men and giue God iust cause to abhorre vs because we abhorre his seruice vniustly Although it be true of great men especially that they are the last that know the euils of their owne house yet either it could not be when all Israel rung of the lewdnesse of Elies sonnes that he onely should not know it or if he knew it not his ignorance cannnot be excused for a seasonable restraint might haue preuented this extremity of debauchednesse Complaints are long muttered of the great ere they dare breake forth to open contestation publike accusations of authority argues intolerable extremities of euill nothing but age can plead for Ely that he was not the first accuser of his sons now when their enormities came to be the voice of the multitude he must heare it perforce and doubtlesse he heard it with griefe enough but not with anger enough he that was the Iudge of Israel should haue vnpartially iudged his owne flesh and bloud neuer could he haue offered a more pleasing sacrifice then the depraued bloud of so wicked sons In vaine doe we rebuke those sinnes abroad which we tolerate at home That man makes himselfe but ridiculous that leauing his owne house on fire runs to quench his neighbours I heard Ely sharpe enough to Anna vpon but a suspition of sinne and now how milde I finde him to the notorious crimes of his owne Why doe you so my sonnes It is no good report my sonnes doe no more so The case is altered with the persons If nature may be allowed to speake in iudgement and to make difference not of sinnes but offenders the sentence must needs sauour of partialitie Had these men but some little slackned their duty or heedlesly omitted some rite of the sacrifice this censure had not been vnfit but to punish the thefts rapines sacriledges adulteries incests of his sonnes why Why doe yee so was no other then to shaue that head which had deserued cutting off As it is with ill humours that a weake dose doth but stirre and anger them not purge them out so it fareth with sinnes An easie reproofe doth but incourage wickednesse and makes it thinke it selfe so slight as that censure importeth A vehement rebuke to a capitall euill is but like a strong showre to a ripe field which layes that
blessing Now all Israel had cause to rue that these were the Sonnes of Samuel For now the question was not of their vertues but of their blood not of their worthinesse but their birth euen the best heart may bee blinded with affection Who can maruell at these errors of Parents loue when he that so holily iudged Israel all his life misiudged of his owne sonnes It was Gods ancient purpose to raise vp a King to his people How doth hee take occasion to performe it but by the vnruly desires of Israel euen as we say of humane proceedings that ill manners beget good lawes That Monarchy is the best forme of gouernment there is no question Good things may be ill desired so was this of Israel If an itching desire of alteration had not possessed them why did they not rather sue for a reformation of their Gouernours then for a change of gouernment Were Samuels sonnes so desperately euill that there was no possibility of amendment Or if they were past hope were there not some others to haue succeeded the justice of Samuel no lesse then these did his person What needed Samuel to be thrust out of place What needed the ancient forme of administration to be altred He that raised vp their Iudges would haue found time to raise them vp Kings Their curious and inconstant newfanglenes will not abide to stay it but with an heady importunity labors to our hasten the pace of God Where there is a setled course of good gouernment howsoeuer blemished with some weaknesses it is not safe to be ouer-forward to a change though it should be to the better He by whom Kings reigne sayes They haue cast him away that he should not reigne ouer them because they desire a King to reigne ouer them Iudges were his owne institution to his people as yet Kings were not after that Kings were setled to desire the gouernment of Iudges had bin a much more seditious inconstancy God hath not appointed to euery time place those formes which are simply best in themselues but those which are best to them vnto whom they are appointed which we may neither alter till he begin nor recall when he hath altred This businesse seemed personally to concerne Samuel yet he so deales in it not as a partie not as a Iudge of his owne Case but as a Prophet of God as a Friend of his opposite He prayes to God for aduice he foretels the state and courses of their future King Wilfull men are blind to all dangers are deafe to all good counsels Israel must haue a King though they pay neuer so deare for their longing The vaine affectation of conformitie to other Nations ouercomes all discouragements there is no readier way to error then to make others examples the rule of our desires or actions If euery man haue not grounds of his owne whereon to stand there can be no stability in his resolutions or proceedings Since then they choose to haue a King God himselfe will choose and appoint the King which they shall haue The kingdome shall beginne in Beniamin which was to endure in Iuda It was no probability or reason this first King should proue well because he was abortiue their humour of innouation deserued to be punished with their owne choice Kish the father of Saul was mighty in estate Saul was mighty in person ouer-looking the rest of the people in stature no lesse then he should doe in dignitie The senses of the Israelites could not but be well pleased for the time howsoeuer their hearts were afterwards when men are caried with outward shewes it is a signe that God meanes them a delusion How farre God fetches his purposes about The Asses of Kish Sauls father are strayed away What is that to the newes of a kingdome God layes these small accidents for the ground of greater designes The Asses must be lost none but Saul must goe with his fathers seruant to seeke them Samuel shall meet them in the search Saul shall be premonished of his insuing Royalty Little can we by the beginning of any action guesse at Gods intention in the conclusion Obedience was a fit entrance into Soueraignty The seruice was homely for the sonne of a great man yet he refuseth not to goe as a fellow to his fathers seruant vpon so meane a search The disobedient and scornfull are good for nothing they are neither fit to be subiects nor gouernours Kish was a great man in his country yet hee disdaineth not to send his sonne Saul vpon a thrifty errand neither doth Saul plead his disparagement from a refusall Pride and wantonnesse haue marred our times Great parents count it a disreputation to employ their sonnes in courses of frugality and their pampered children thinke it a shame to doe any thing and so beare themselues as those that hold it the onely glory to be either idle or wicked Neither doth Saul goe fashionably to worke but does this seruice heartily and painfully as a man that desires rather to effect the command then please the Commander He passed from Ephraim to the Land of Shalisha from Shalisha to Salim from Salim to Iemini whence his House came from Iemini to Zuph not so much as staying with any of his kinred so long as to vittaile himselfe He that was afterward an ill King approued himselfe a good Sonne As there are diuersity of relations and offices so there is of dispositions those which are excellent in some attaine not to a mediocrity in other It is no arguing from priuate vertues to publike from dexterity in one station to the rest A seuerall grace belongs to the particular cariage of euery place whereto we are called which if we want the place may well want vs. There was more praise of his obedience in ceasing to seeke then in seeking hee takes care lest his father should take care for him that whilst he should seeme officious in the lesse he might not neglect the greatest A blind obedience in some cases doth well but it doth farre better when it is led with the eyes of discretion otherwise we may more offend in pleasing then in disobeying Great is the benefit of a wise and religious attendant such an one puts vs into those duties and actions which are most expedient and least thought of If Saul had not had a discreet Seruant he had returned but as wise as he came now he is drawne in to consult with the man of God and heares more then hee hoped for Saul was now a sufficient iourney from his fathers house yet his religious seruant in this remotenesse takes knowledge of the place where the Prophet dwels and how honourably doth he mention him to his master Behold in this Citie is a man of God and he is an honorable man all that he saith commeth to passe Gods Prophets are publike persons as their function so their notice concernes euery man There is no reason God should abate any of the respect due
the goods Wise and holy Dauid whose prayse was no lesse to ouercome his owne in time of peace than his enemies in warre cals his contending followers from Law to equitie and so orders the matter that since the Plaintifes were detained not by will but by necessity and since their forced stay was vse-full in garding the stuffe they should partake equally of the prey with there fellowes A sentence wel-beseeming the Iustice of Gods Annoynted Those that represent God vpon earth should resemble him in their proceeding It is the iust mercie of our God to measure vs by our wils not by our abilities to recompence vs graciously according to the truth of our desires and endeauours and to account that performed by vs which hee only letteth vs from performing It were wide with vs if sometimes purpose did not supply actions Whiles our heart faulteth not wee that through spirituall sicknesse are faine to abide by the stuffe shall share both in grace and glorie with the Victors The death of SAVL THe Witch of Endor had halfe slaine Saul before the Battell it is just that they who consult with Deuils should goe away with discomfort Hee hath eaten his last bread at the hand of a Sorceresse and now necessitie drawes him into that field where hee sees nothing but despaire Had not Saul beleeued the ill newes of the counterfeite Samuel hee had not beene strooke downe on the ground with words Now his beliefe made him desperate Those actions which are not sustayned by hope must needes languish and are only promoted by outward compulsion Whiles the mind is vncertaine of successe it relieues it selfe with the possibilities of good in doubts there is a comfortable mixture but when it is assured of the worst euent it is vtterly discouraged and deiected It hath therefore pleased the wisdome of God to hide from wicked men his determination of their finall estate that their remainders of hope may harten them to good In all likelihood one selfe-same day saw Dauid a victor ouer the Amalekites and Saul discomfited by the Philistims How should it bee otherwise Dauid consulted with God and preuailed Saul with the Witch of Endor and perisheth The end is commonly answerable to the way It is an idle iniustice when wee doe ill to looke to speede well The slaughter of Saul and his sonnes was not in the first Scene of this Tragicall field that was rather reserued by God for the last act that Sauls measure might bee full God is long ere hee strikes but when hee doth it is to purpose First Israel flees and fals downe wounded in Mount Gilboa They had their part in Sauls sinne they were actors in Dauids persecution Iustly therefore doe they suffer with him whom they had seconded in offence As it is hard to bee good vnder an euill Prince so it is as rare not to bee enwrapped in his iudgments It was no small addition to the anguish of Sauls death to see his sonnes dead to see his people fleeing and slaine before him They had sinned in their King and in them is their King punished The rest were not so worthy of pittie but whose heart would it not touch to see Ionathan the good sonne of a wicked father inuolued in the common destruction Death is not partiall All dispositions all merits are alike to it if valour if holinesse if sinceritie of heart could haue beene any defence against mortalitie Ionathan had suruiued Now by their wounds and death no man can descerne which is Ionathan The soule onely findes the difference which the body admitteth not Death is the common gate both to Heauen and Hell wee all passe that ere our turning to either hand The sword of the Philistims fetcheth Ionathan through it with his fellowes no sooner is his foot ouer that threshold than God conducteth him to glory The best cannot bee happy but through their dissolution Now therefore hath Ionathan no cause of complaint hee is by the rude and cruell hand of a Philistim but remoued to a better Kingdome then hee leaues to his brother and at once is his death both a temporall affliction to the sonne of Saul and an entrance of glorie to the friend of Dauid The Philistim-archers shot at randome God directs their arrowes into the bodie of Saul Lest the discomfiture of his people and the slaughter of his sonnes should not bee griefe enough to him hee feeles himselfe wounded and sees nothing before him but horror and death and now as a man forsaken of all hopes he begs of his Armour-bearer that deaths-blow which else hee must to the doubling of his indignation receiue from a Philistim Hee begges this bloudie fauour of his seruant and is denyed Such an awefulnesse hath God placed in souereigntie that no intreatie no extreamitie can moue the hand against it What metall are those men made of that can suggest or resolue and attempt the violation of Maiestie Wicked men care more for the sâ—â—â—e of the World than the danger of their soule Despâ—â—â—â— Saul will now supply his Armor-bearer and as a man that 〈◊〉 armes against himselfe he falls vpon his owâ—â— Sword What if he had died by the 〈◊〉 of a Philistin So did his sinne Ionathan and lost no glory These conceits of disreputation preuaile with carnall hearts aboue all spirituall respects There is no greater murderer 〈◊〉 glory Nothing more argues an heart voide of grace than to bee transporte onâ— idle popularity into actions preiudiciaâ—â—â— to the Soule Euill examples especially of the great neuer escaped imitation the Aâ—â—â—or-beateâ— of Saul followes his Master and came doe that to himselfe which to his King hee durst not as if their owne Swords had beeing more familiar executions 〈◊〉 they yeelded vnto them what they grudged to their pursuers From the beginning was Sauls euer his owne enemy neither did any hands hurt him but his owne to and now his death is sutable 〈◊〉 his life his owne hand paies his â—â—â—ard of all his wickednesse The end of Hypocrites and enuious men is commonly fearefull Now is the bloud of Gods Priests which Saul shed and of Dauid which hee would haue shed required and requited The euill spirit had said the euening before To â—â—rrow thou shalt bee with mee and now Saul hasteth to make the Deuill no Liemâ—â—â—â—â—er than faile he giues himselfe his owne Mittimus Oh the wofull extremities of a despairing soule plunging him euer into a greater mischiefe to auoide the lesse He might haâ—â— beene a patient in anothers violence and faultinesse now whiles hee will needs act the Philistins part vpon himselfe he liued and died a Murderer The case is deadly when the Prisoner breakes the Iayle and will not stay for his deliuery and though we may not passe sentence vpon such a soule yet vpon the fact we may the soule may possibly repent in the parting the act is hainous and such as without repentance kils the soule It was the next day ere the Philistims knew
was wine enough for a meale though not for a feast and if there were not wine enough there was enough water yet the holy Virgin complaines of the want of wine and is troubled with the very lacke of superfluitie The bountie of our God reaches not to our life onely but to our contentment neither hath hee thought good to allow vs onely the bread of sufficiency but sometimes of pleasure One while that is but necessary which some other time were superfluous It is a scrupulous iniustice to scant our selues where God hath beene liberall To whom should wee complaine of any want but to the Maker and Giuer of all things The blessed Virgin knew to whom shee sued Shee had good reason to know the diuine nature and power of her Sonne Perhaps the Bride-groome was not so needy but if not by his purse yet by his credit hee might haue supplied that want or it were hard if some of the neighbour-ghests had they beene duely sollicited might not haue furnished him with so much wine as might suffice for the last seruice of a dinner but blessed Mary knew a nearer way shee did not thinke best to lade at the shallow Channell but runnes rather to the Well-head where shee may dip and fill the Firkins at once with ease It may bee shee saw that the trayne of Christ which vnbidden followed vnto that feast and vnexspectedly added to the number of the ghests might helpe forward that defect and therefore shee iustly sollicites her Sonne IESVS for a supply Whether wee want Bread or Water or Wine necessaries or comforts whither should wee runne O Sauiour but to that infinite munificence of thine which neither denyeth nor vpbraideth any thing Wee cannot want wee cannot abound but from thee Giue vs what thou wilt so thou giue vs contentment with what thou giuest But what is this I heare A sharpe answer to the suite of a Mother Oh woman what haue I to doe with thee He whose sweet mildnesse and mercy neuer sent away any suppliant discontented doth he onely frowne vpon her that bare him He that commands vs to honour Father and Mother doth he disdayne her whose flesh hee tooke God forbid Loue and duetie doth not exempt Parents from due admonition Shee sollicited Christ as a Mother he answers her as a Woman If shee were the Mother of his flesh his Deitie was eternall Shee might not so remember her selfe to be a Mother that shee should forget she was a Woman nor so looke vpon him as a Sonne that shee should not regard him as a God He was so obedient to her as a Mother that withall she must obey him as her God That part which he tooke from her shall obserue her Shee must obserue that Nature which came from aboue and made her both a Woman and a Mother Matter of miracle concerned the Godhead onely Supernaturall things were aboue the sphere of fleshly relation If now the blessed Virgin will be prescribing either time or forme vnto diuine acts O Woman What haue I to doe with thee my houre is not come In all bodily actions his stile was O Mother In spirituall and heauenly O Woman Neither is it for vs in the holy affaires of God to know any faces yea if we haue known Christ heretofore according to the flesh henceforth know wee him so no more O blessed Virgin if in that heauenly glory wherein thou art thou canst take notice of these earthly things with what indignation doest thou looke vpon the presumptuous superstition of vaine men whose suites make thee more than a Solicitor of diuine fauours Thine humanities is not lost in thy Motherhood nor in thy Glory The respects of Nature reach not so high as heauen It is farre from thee to abide that honour which is stolne from thy Redeemer There is a marriage whereto wee are inuited yea wherein wee are already interessed not as the Ghests onely but as the Bride in which there shall bee no want of the wine of gladnesse It is maruell if in these earthly banquets there bee not some lacke In thy presence O Sauiour there is fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand are pleasures for euermore Blessed are they that are called to the marriage-supper of the Lambe Euen in that rough answer doth the blessed Virgin discry cause of hope If his houre were not yet come it was therefore comming when the expectation of the ghests and the necessitie of the occasion had made fit roome for the miracle it shall come forth and challenge their wonder Faithfully therefore and obseruantly doth shee turne her speech from her Sonne to the Wayters Whatsoeuer hee saith vnto you doe it How well doth it beseeme the Mother of Christ to agree with his Father in heauen whose voice from heauen said This is my well beloued Sonne heare him Shee that said of her selfe Be it vnto me according to thy Word saies vnto others Whatsoeuer be saith to you doe it This is the way to haue miracles wrought in vs obedience to his Word The power of Christ did not stand vpon their officiousnesse hee could haue wrought wonders in spite of them but their peruerse refusall of his commands might haue made them vncapable of the fauour of a miraculous action He that can when he will conuince the obstinate will not grace the disobedient Hee that could worke without vs or against vs will not worke for vs but by vs. This very poore house was furnished with many and large vessels for outward purication As if sinne had dwelt vpon the skin that superstitious people sought holinesse in frequent washings Euen this rinsing fouled them with the vncleanenesse of a traditionall will-worship It is the soule which needs scowring and nothing can wash that but the bloud which they desperately wished vpon themselues and their children for guilt not for expiation Purge thou vs O Lord with hyssop and we shall be cleane wash vs and we shall be whiter than snow The Wayters could not but thinke strange of so vnseasonable a command Fill the water pots It is wine that we want what doe we goe to fetch water Doth this holy man meane thus to quench our feast and coole our stomachs If there bee no remedie we could haue sought this supply vnbidden yet so farre hath the charge of Christs Mother preuailed that in stead of carrying flagons of wine to the table they goe to fetch pailes-full of water from the Cisternes It is no pleading of vnlikelyhoods against the command of an Almightie power Hee that could haue created wine immediately in those vessels will rather turne water into wine In all the course of his miracles I doe neuer finde him making ought of nothing all his great workes are grounded vpon former existences hee multiplied the bread he changed the water he restored the withered limmes he raysed the dead and still wrought vpon that which was and did not make that which was not What doth he in the ordinarie way of
men according to no other conditions then of their faith The Centurions seruant was sicke the Rulers sonne The Centurion doth not sue vnto Christ to come onely sayes My seruant is sicke of a Palsie Christ answers him I will come and heale him The Ruler sues vnto Christ that hee would come and heale his sonne Christ will not goe onely sayes Goe thy way thy sonne liues Outward things carie no respect with God The Image of that diuine Maiestie shining inwardly in the graces of the soule is that which wins loue from him in the meanest estate The Centurions faith therefore could do more then the Rulers greatnesse and that faithfull mans seruant hath more regard then this great mans sonne The Rulers request was Come and heale Christs answer was Goe thy way thy sonne liues Our mercifull Sauiour meets those in the end whom hee crosses in the way How sweetly doth he correct our prayers and whiles he doth not giue vs what we aske giues vs better then we asked Iustly doth he forbeare to go downe with this Ruler lest he should confirme him in an opinion of measuring his power by conceits of locality distance but he doth that in absence for which his presence was required with a repulse Thy sonne liueth giuing a greater demonstration of his omnipotencie then was craued How oft doth hee not heare to our will that hee may heare vs to our aduantage The chosen vessell would be rid of tentations he heares of a supply of grace The sicke man askes release receiues patience life and receiues glory Let vs aske what we thinke best let him giue what he knowes best With one word doth Christ heale two Patients the sonne and the father the sons feuer the fathers vnbeleefe That operatiue word of our Sauiour was not without the intention of a triall Had not the Ruler gone home satisfied with that intimation of his sonnes life and recouerie neither of them had beene blessed with successe Now the newes of performance meets him one halfe of the way and hee that beleeued somewhat ere he came and more when he went grew to more faith in the way and when he came home inlarged his faith to all the skirts of his familie A weake faith may be true but a true faith is growing He that boasts of a full stature in the first moment of his assent may presume but doth not beleeue Great men cannot want clients their example swaies some their authoritie more they cannot goe to either of the other worlds alone In vaine doe they pretend power ouer others who labour â—ut to draw their families vnto God The Dumbe Deuill eiected THat the Prince of our Peace might approue his perfect victories wheresoeuer hee met with the Prince of darknesse hee foyled him he eiected him He found him in heauen thence did hee throw him headlong and verified his Prophet I haue cast thee out of mine holy mountaine And if the Deuils left their first habitation it was because being Deuills they could not keepe it Their estate indeed they might haue kept and did not their habitation they would haue kept and might not How art thou falne from heauen O Lucifer He found him in the heart of man for in that closet of God did the euill spirit after his exile from heauen shrowd himselfe Sin gaue him possession which he kept with a willing violence thence hee casts him by his word and spirit He found him tyrannizing in the bodies of some possessed men and with power commands the vncleane spirits to depart This act is for no hand but his When a strong man keepes possession none but a stronger can remoue it In voluntary things the strongest may yeeld to the weakest Sampson to a Dalilah but in violent euer the mightiest caries it A spirituall nature must needs be in ranke aboue a bodily neither can any power be aboue a spirit but the God of spirits No otherwise is it in the mentall possession Where euer sinne is there Satan is As on the contrary whosoeuer is borne of God the seed of God remaines in him That euill one not onely is but rules in the sonnes of disobedience in vaine shall wee try to eiect him but by the diuine power of the Redeemer For this cause the Sonne of God was manifested that hee might destroy the workes of the Deuill Doe we finde our selues haunted with the familiar Deuills of Pride selfe-loue sensuall desires vnbeleefe None but thou O Son of the euerliuing God can free our bosomes of these hellish guests Oh clense thou mee from my secret sinnes and keepe mee that presumptuous sinnes preuaile not ouer me O Sauiour it is no Paradox to say that thou castest out more Deuils now then thou diddest whiles thou wert vpon earth It was thy word When I am lifted vp I will draw all men vnto me Satan weighes downe at the feet thou pullest at the head yea at the heart In euery conuersion which thou workest there is a dispossession Conuert mee O Lord and I shall be conuerted I know thy meanes are now no other then ordinary if we expect to be dispossessed by miracle it would be a miracle if euer wee were dispossessed Oh let thy Gospell haue the perfect worke in me so onely shall I bee deliuered from the powers of darknesse Nothing can be said to be dumbe but what naturally speakes nothing can speake naturally but what hath the instruments of speech which because spirits want they can no otherwise speake vocally then as they take voices to themselues in taking bodies This deuill was not therefore dumbe in his nature but in his effect The man was dumbe by the operation of that deuill which possessed him and now the action is attributed to the spirit which was subiectiuely in the man It is not you that speake saith our Sauiour but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you As it is in bodily diseases that they doe not infect vs alike some seize vpon the humors others vpon the spirits some assault the braine others the heart or lungs so in bodily and spirituall possessions In some the euill spirit takes away their senses in some their lims in some their inward faculties like as spiritually they affect to moue vs vnto seuerall sinnes One to lust another to couetousnesse or ambition another to cruelty and their names haue distinguished them according to these various effects This was a dumbe Deuill which yet had possessed not the tongue onely of this man but his eare not that onely but as it seemes his eies too O suttle and tyrannous spirit that obstructs all wayes to the soule that keepes out all meanes of grace both from the doores and windowes of the heart yea that stops vp all passages whether of ingresse or egresse Of ingresse at the eye or eare of egresse at the mouth that there might be no capacity of redresse What holy vse is there of our tongue but to praise our Maker to confesse our
weake Proselyte if shee were so much Feare not goe doe as thou hast said but make me thereof a little cake first and bring it to me and after make for thee and thy sonne For thus saith the God of Israel The barrell of meale shall not waste nor the cruse of oyle faile till the day that God send raine vpon the earth She must goe spend vpon a stranger part of that little she hath in hope of more which she hath not which shee may haue she must part with her present food which she saw in trust of future which she could not see she must rob her sense in the exercise of her beleef shorten her life in being vpon the hope of a protractioÌ„ of it in promise she must beleeue God will miraculously increase what shee hath yeelded to consume shee must first feed the stranger with her last victuals and then after her selfe and her sonne Some sharpe dame would haue shaken vp the Prophet and haue sent him away with an angry repulse Bold Israelite there is no reason in this request wert thou a friend or a brother with what face couldest thou require to pull my last bit out of my mouth Had I superfluitie of prouision thou mightest hope for this effect of my charitie now that I haue but one morsell for my selfe and my sonne this is an iniurious importunitie what can induce thee to thinke thy life an vnknowne traueller should be more deare to me then my sons then my owne How vnciuill is this motion that I should first make prouision for thee in this dying extremitie It had bin too much to haue begged my last scraps Thou tellest me the meale shall not waste nor the oile faile how shall I beleeue thee Let me see that done before thou eatest In vaine should I challenge thee when the remainder of my poore store is consumed If thou canst so easily multiply victuals how is it that thou wantest Doe that before-hand which thou promisest shall be afterwards performed there will be no need of my little But this good Sareptan was wrought by God not to mistrust a Prophet she will doe what he bids and hope for what he promises she will liue by faith rather then by sense and giue away the present in the confidence of a future remuneration first she bakes Elijahs cake then her owne not grudging to see her last morsels go downe anothers throat whiles herselfe was famishing How hard precepts doth God lay where he intends bountie Had not God meant her preseruation he had suffred her to eat her last cake alone without any interpellation now the mercy of the Almighty purposing as well this miraculous fauour to her as to his Prophet requires of her this taske which flesh and blood would haue thought vnreasonable So we are wont to put hard questions to those schollers whom wee would promote to higher formes So in all atchieuements the difficulty of the enterprise makes way for the glory of the actor Happy was it for this widow that shee did not shut her hand to the man of God that she was no niggard of her last handfull Neuer corne or oliue did so encrease in growing as here in consuming This barrell this cruse of hers had no bottome the barrell of meale wasted not the cruse of oyle failed not Behold not getting not sauing is the way to abundance but giuing The mercy of God crownes our beneficence with the blessing of store who can feare want by a mercifull liberality when he sees the Sareptan had famished if she had not giuen and by giuing abounded With what thankfull deuotion must this woman euery day needs look vpon her barrell and cruse wherein shee saw the mercy of God renewed to her continually Doubtlesse her soule was no lesse fed by faith then her body with this supernaturall prouision How welcome a guest must Elijah needs be to this widow that gaue her life and her sonnes to her for his board yea that in that wofull famine gaue her and her sonne their board for his house roome The dearth thus ouercome the mother lookes hopefully vpon her onely son promising her selfe much ioy in his life and prosperity when an inexpected sicknesse surpriseth him and doth that which the famine but threatned When can we hold our selues seeâ—re from euils no sooner is one of these Sergeants compounded withall then we are arrested by another How ready we are to mistake the grounds of our afflictions and to cast them vpon false causes The pasionate mother cannot find whither to impute the death of her son but to the presence of Elijah to whom shee comes distracted with perplexitie not without an vnkinde challenge of him from whom shee had receiued both that life shee had lost and that she had What haâ—ed to do with thee O thou man of God Art thou come to me to call my sin to remembrance and to stay my sonne As if her son could not haue died if Elijah had not been her guest when as her son had dyed but for him why should shee thinke that the Prophet had saued him from the famine to kill him with sicknesse As if God had not been free in his actions and must needes strike by the same hands by which he preserued Shee had the grace to know that her affliction was for her sinne yet was so vnwise to imagine the are rages of her iniquities had not bin called for if Elijah had not been the remembrancer He who had appeased God towards her is suspected to haue incensed him This wrongfull misconstruction was enough to moue any patience Elijah was of an hot spirit yet his holinesse kept him from fury This challenge rather increased the zeale of his prayer then stirred his choller to the offendent Hee takes the dead child out of his mothers bosome and layes him vpon his owne bed and cries vnto the Lord Oh Lord my God hast thou brought euill also vpon the Widow with whom I soiourne by slaying her sonne In stead of chiding the Sareptan out of the feruency of his soule he humbly expostulates with his God His onely remedy is in his prayer that which shut heauen for raine must open it for life Euery word inforceth First he pleads his interest in God Oh Lord my God then the quality of the patient a Widow and therefore both most distressed with the losse and most peculiar to the charge of the Almighty Then his interest as in God so in this patient with whom I soiourne as if the stroke were giuen to himselfe through her sides and lastly the quality of the punishment By slaying her son the onely comfort of her life and in all these implying the scandall that must needes arise from this euent where euer it should be noysed to the name of his God to his owne when it should be said Loe how Elijahs entertainment is rewarded Surely the Prophet is either impotent or vnthankfull Neither doth his tongue moue thus
not distracted with an accident so sudden so sorrowfull she layes her dead childe vpon the Prophets bed shee lockes the doore shee hides her griefe lest that consternation might hinder her designe she hastens to her husband and as not daring to bee other then officious in so distresse-full an occasion acquaints him with her iourney though not with the cause requires of him both attendance and conueyance shee posts to mount Carmel shee cannot so soone finde out the man of God as hee hath found her He sees her afarre off and like a thankfull guest sends his seruant hastily to meet her to inquire of the health of her selfe her husband her childe Her errand was not to Gehezi it was to Elisha no messenger shall interrupt her no eare shall receiue her complaint but the Prophets Downe shee fals passionately at his feet and forgetting the fashion of her bashfull strangenesse layes hold of them whether in an humble veneration of his person or in a feruent desire of satisfaction Gehezi who well knew how vncouth how vnfit this gesture of salutation was for his master offers to remoue her and admonisheth her of her distance The mercifull Prophet easily apprehends that no ordinary occasion could so transport a graue and well-gouerned matrone as therefore pittying her vnknowne passion hee bids Let her alone for her soule is vexed within her and the Lord hath hid it from mee and hath not told mee If extremitie of griefe haue made her vnmannerly wise and holy Elisha knowes how to pardon it Hee dares not adde sorrow to the afflicted hee can better beare an vnseemelinesse in her greeting then cruelty in her molestation Great was the familiaritie that the Prophet had with his God and as friends are wont mutually to impart their counsels to each other so had the Lord done to him Elisha was not idle on mount Carmel What was it that he saw not from thence Not heauen onely but the world was before him yet the Shunamites losse is concealed from him neither doth he shame to confesse it Oft-times those that know greater matters may yet bee ignorant of the lesse It is no disparagement to any finite creature not to know something By her mouth will God tell the Prophet what by vision hee had not Then she said Did I desire a sonne of my Lord Did I not say doe not deceiue me Deepe sorrow is sparing of words The expostulation could not be more short more quicke more pithy Had I begged a son perhaps my importunity might haue been yeelded to in anger Too much desire is iustly punished with losse It is no maruell if what we wring from God prosper not This fauour to mee was of thine owne motion Thy suit O Elisha made me a mother Couldst thou intend to torment me with a blessing How much more easie had the want of a sonne been then the mis-cariage Barrennesse then orbation Was there no other end of my hauing a son then that I might lose him O man of God let mee not complaine of a cruel kindnesse thy prayers gaue me a son let thy prayers restore him let not my dutifull respects to thee bee repaid with an aggrauation of misery giue not thine hand-maid cause to wish that I were but so vnhapy as thou foundest me Oh wofull fruitfulnesse if I must now say that I had a sonne I know not whether the mother or the Prophet were more afflicted the Prophet for the mothers sake or the mother for her owne Not a word of reply doe wee heare from the mouth of Elisha his breath is onely spent in the remedy Hee sends his seruant with all speed to lay his staffe vpon the face of the childe charging him to auoyd all the delayes of the way Had not the Prophet supposed that staffe of his able to beat away death why did hee send it and if vpon that supposition hee sent it how was it that it failed of effect was this act done out of humane conceit not out of instinct from God Or did the want of the mothers faith hinder the successe of that cure She not regarding the staffe or the man holds fast to Elisha No hopes of his message can loose her fingers As the Lord liueth and as thy soule liueth I will not leaue thee She imagined that the seruant the staffe might bee seuered from Elisha she knew that where euer the Prophet was there was power It is good relying vpon those helpes that cannot faile vs. Merit and importunity haue drawne Elisha from Carmel to Shunem Hee findes his lodging taken vp by that pale carkeise hee shuts his doore and fals to his prayers this staffe of his what euer became of the other was long enough hee knew to reach vp to Heauen to knocke at those gates yea to wrench them open Hee applies his body to those cold and senselesse limbs By the feruour of his soule hee reduces that soule by the heat of his body he educeth warmth out of that corps The childe neeseth seuen times as if his spirit had beene but hid for the time not departed it fals to worke a fresh the eyes looke vp the lippes and hands moue The mother is called in to receiue a new life in her twice-giuen sonne she comes in full of ioy full of wonder and bowes her selfe to the ground and fals downe before those feet which shee had so boldly layd hold of in Carmel Oh strong faith of the Shunamite that could not be discouraged with the seizure and continuance of death raising vp her heart still to an expectation of that life which to the eyes of nature had beene impossible irreuocable Oh infinite goodnesse of the Almightie that would not suffer such faith to be frustrate that would rather reuerse the lawes of nature in returning a guest from heauen and raising a corps from death then the confidence of a beleeuing heart should be disappointed How true an heire is Elisha of his master not in his graces onely but in his actions Both of them diuided the waters of Iordan the one as his last act the other as his first Elijahs curse was the death of the Captaines and their troupes Elishaes curse was the death of the children Elijah rebuked Ahab to his face Elisha Iehoram Elijah supplied the drought of Israel by raine from heauen Elisha supplied the drought of the three Kings by waters gushing out of the earth Elijah increased the oyle of the Sareptan Elisha increased the oyle of the Prophets widow Elijah raised from death the Sareptans son Elisha the Shunamites Both of them had one mantle one spirit both of them climbed vp one Carmel one heauen ELISHA with NAAMAN OF the full showers of grace which fell vpon Israel and Iudah yet some drops did light vpon their neighbours If Israel bee the worse for her neerenesse to Syria Syria is the better for the vicinity of Israel Amongst the worst of Gods enemies some are singled out for mercy Naaman was a great