her will No force can prevail against the will and actual sins have so much dependency upon the hearts approbation as that the same alone can either vitiate or excuse the action and no outward force hath any power over mine inward mind unless my self do give it him as all the power of the Kingdome cannot force my heart to hate my King or to love his enemies they may tear this poor body all to pieces but they can never force the mind to do but what it will And yet such is the deceit of our own flesh that if the devil should be absent from us our own frailties would be his tempting deputies and when we have none other foe we will become the greatest foes unto our selves as Apollodorus the Tyrant dreamd that he was flead by the Scythians and that his heart thrown into a boyling caldron should say unto him That it was the cause of all his miseries and so every man that is undone hath indeed undone himself for Perditio tua exte thy destruction is from thy self saith the Prophet yea the very best men Hos 13.9 by whomsoever wronged yet wrong themselves as now it is with our gracious King for as Valentine the Emperour when he cut off his best Commander and demanding of his best Counselour what he thought of it had this answer given him That he had cut off his own right arm with his left hand so when the good King seduced and over-perswaded gave way though against his will to make an Everlasting Parliament he then gave away the Sword out his own hand So I could tell you of a very good man that is brought to very great exigency by parting with his owne strength and giving his sword out of his own hand and when he excluded the Bishops out of the House of Peers he parted with so much of his own strength and brought himself thereby to be weaker then he was before and so it will be with every one of us and it may be in a higher misprision then with our King if we look not well unto our selves and take heed lest in seeking to preserve our bodies we destroy our own souls or to save our estates we make shipwrack of our faith or especially to uphold an earthly Rule or Kingdome we expose to ruine the spiritual Kingdome of Christ which is the Church of God as you know how the Parliament do it at this day And therefore the Spaniards prayer is very good Dios mi guarda mi de mi O my God defend me from my self that I do not destroy my self and Saint Augustine upon the words of the Psalmist Deliver me from the wicked man demanding who was that wicked man Answ it was a seipso and so the wisest Philosophers have given us many Precepts to beware of our selves And he that can do so Latius regnat avidum domando Spiritum Horatius quam si lybiam remotis Gadibus jungat uterque paenus Serviat uni doth more and ruleth better then he that reigneth from the Southern Lybia to the Northern Pole so hard it is for man under all the cope of Heaven to find any one that truly loves him But God is Verax veritas true and the truth it self and as Hugo saith Veritas est sine fallacia faelicitas sine miseria he is Truth without Deceit that neither can deceive not be deceived and as this our Apostle saith God is love and the Fountain of all true love and he is sweet he is wise and he is strong 1 John 4.8 How God loveth us and how sweet and gracious his love is therefore S. Bern. saith that he loveth sweetly wisely and strongly Dulciter quia carnem induit sapienter quia culpam cavit fortiter quia mortem sustinuit sweetly because he was made man to have a fellow-feeling of our miseries wisely because he did avoid sin that he might be able to help us and strongly because his love was as strong as death when rather then he would lessen his love unto us he would lose his life for us And therefore of all that pretend to love us God alone is the onely pure and truly perfect lover 2. For the affection it is love for God loved us and love 2 The affection Love comprehendeth three things as it is in the creatures is a passion better perceived by the lover then it can be expressed by any other and it comprehendeth three things 1. A liking to the thing beloved 2. A desire to enjoy it And 3. A contentment in it as when the Father saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as others think of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth to be fully and perfectly satisfied in the thing loved as Phavorinus testifieth And so though the affection of love is not the same in God as it is in us because he is a Spirit most simple without passion and we are often-times transported and swallowed up of this affection yet in the love of God we finde these three things most perfectly contained 3 Things contained in the love of God 1. An Eternal benevolence or purpose to do good unto his creatures 2. An Actual beneficence and performance of that good unto them 3. A Delightful complacency or contented delight in the things beloved as the Lord loveth him that followeth after righteousness that is he taketh delight and pleasure in all righteous livers and as he hateth the ungodly so he loveth the righteous and taketh delight in them and in their just and righteous dealing But because love is an inward affection that can hardly be discerned without some outward demonstration of the same and that as S. Gregory saith Probatio dilectionis exhibitio est operis the trial of our love is seen by our actions which testifie our love far better then our words How God imanifesteth his love many wayes when we see too too many that profess to love us when they labour to destroy us as the rebels pray for the King when they fight against him so finely can the Devil deceive us therefore God manifested his love by many manifold arguments As 1. Way 1 By screating things of nothing and making them so perfectly good that when himself had considered them all he saw that they were all exceeding good 2. Way 2 By preserving all things that they return not to nothing Quia fundavit Deus mundum supranihilum ut mundus fundaret se supra Deum because God laid the foundations of the world upon nothing that the world might wholly rely upon God who is the basis that beareth up all things with his mighty word and more particularly in preserving not onely the righteous but even the wicked also from many evils both of Sin and Punishment for did not God withhold and restrain the very reprobates even
Master so that the Spirit of God disdains not to record her speech to all posterities among the rest of the sacred Scripture And so to shew her wit when her husband Ahab knew not how to compasse Naboths vineyard she was so apprehensive that she presently found out a way though a most wicked way to make him possessor of all his inheritance 1 Kings 21.6 Former times bred the daughters in learning whereby I do collect that she was both naturally witty and also probably well educated in learning by her Parents as it was the custome of former times and now likewise in many places for Princes and Noble-men to bring up their daughters as well as their sons in all good literature And so we find not only this woman but very many other women that have been famous both for wit and learning and many other excellent parts not much inferiour to the worthiest men as in the holy Scripture you may find how subtle Rebecca was to get the blessing of Isaac to her son Jacob how wittily Rachel could deceive both her father and her Husband how Debora was a Prophetess a Poet and a Judge that judged Israel and how Abigal was so discreet both in her words and actions that she could appease the raging wrath of a man of war that was set on fire Judg. 4. and not without great cause against her Husband and how Judith was so valiant as to cut off the head of Holofernes as Jahell had been the death of Sisera and how Solomon that had most reason to know it best sets down the wisdom and the many other excellent parts of a vertuous woman And if the time your patience would give me leave to trace the Histories of the Heathens Greek and Latin I could tell you how great a Prophet was Cassandra how discreetly honest was Penelope and how wisely she deluded all her woers what a rare Poet was Sappho of whom Ovid saith And she saith Jam canitur toto nomen in orbe meum Saph. epist Phaoni Camerar l. 3. cap. 10. Nec plus Alcaeus consors patriaeque lyraeque Laudis habet quamvis grandius ille sonet And amongst the letters of Phalaris there is one written to Peristthenes wherein it appeareth that some women have not much yielded for greatnesse of courage and brave resolutions to the most valiant men that have been as Pentesilaea Queen of the Amazons whereof Virgil saith Ducit Amazonidum lunatis agmina peltis Pentesilea furens mediisque in millibus ardet And Thomiris Queen of Scythia that overthrew Cyrus King of Persia and cutting off his head threw it into a tub of blood saying Satia te sanguine quem sitisti cujus insatiabilis sâ—mper fuisti And Vaodicea the wife of Prasutagus Queen of the Icenians that overthrew Petilius Cerealis the Roman Lievtenant forced Catus Decianus to flye into Gallia and slew 70. thousand of the Roman souldiers and being vanquished by Paulinus Suetonius would rather end her life with Cleopatra Queen of Egypt then be suffered to be carried for a spectacle in the Roman triumph And Martial saith of Claudia the wife of Rufus Claudia coeruleis quum sit Rufina Britannis Edita Lib. 2. Epig. 54. cur Latiae pectora plebis habet And that for her learning and wisdom Rome and Athens might well own her for their own when as she was most skilfull both in the Greek and Latin Tongues and compiled three several Treatises as Balaeus testifieth both in Greek and Latin And what shall I say of Arria the most loving wife of Cecinna Petus of Artemisia Queen of Caria that buried the ashes of her husband Mausolus in her own bowels But especially of the great wisdom of the mother of King Lemuel and of Tecla that wrote over all the Greek Testament with her own hand and that Copy is now lately translated by Mr. Patrick Young and of Trasilla Gorgonia and the rest of those famous women that Saint Hierom and Greg. Nazian do so highly commend both for wisdome and piety But omitting the wise Sybils and all others worthy of perpetual memory I will adde but one that of this Nation ought never to be forgotten our late famous Queen Elizabeth that for above 40. yeares could so wisely rule so unruly a people as we are And therefore I approve not of the French-mens Salâ—ick Law that excludes all women from the Crown of France for though women be the weaker vessels yet as the strongest liquor may be preserved and carried in glasse vials so may we find great experience and much wisdom with no small courage and learning in many women and therefore as Job saith that he despised not the Counsel of his Maid-servant when he found it worthie to be followed so ought not men to disesteem the advice and reject the Counsels of their wives True it is that where the wife adviseth ill her speech is to be rejected as Job did put off his wife's Counsel when she perswaded him to curse God and die with the just term of a foolish woman and as Origen addeth said Tu facta es deterior Eva in insipientia sed ego non sum effectus Adam in stultitia Thou art become worse then Eve in foolishnesse but thou shalt not make me like Adam in sottishnesse But when the wive's counsel is wholesom it is fit the man should regard it for so the Lord saith unto Abraham Gen. 21.12 2 Rings 4.50 In all that Sarah shall say unto thee hear her voice and the Shunamites husband followed his wife's advice in making provision to entertain the Prophet and many men would have preserved their credit their estate and health if they would have followed the friendly advice of their wives therefore we ought not to debar the right and lawful government of wise and discreet women Prov. 31.1 whom God hath made heirs and indowed with good parts both of wit and learning as well as men and in that regard as I approve not the French Salique Law so I never liked the entailing of inheritances upon the heirs male when as God if he had liked it might as well have given thee sons as daughters and the Scripture tells us how Job gave inheritances to his three daughters among their brethren Job 42.15 and so did Caleb to his daughter Achsah Josh 15.19 But the Lawyers by this wittie trick would shew themselves wiser then God and prevent by this humane Law what God intended by his divine grace And I know they like not this discourse because the taking off of this entailing of estates would take off a great deal of their revenues 3. You may observe in this Jezabel that as the was Nobly-born 3 Jezabel was a very wicked woman well bred and very witty so she was also very wicked for she caused the Elders of Jezâ—eel to become the wicked murderers of innocent Naboth she cut off the Prophets of the Lord and fed 400. 1
flor aliâ— faedera regni And yet when God and nature and Scripture and all the wise men in the world and our own reason and experience tells us it is better for us to honour the King then Kings to obey one then many when as the wisest of men tells us plainly that for the transgressions of a Land many are the Princes thereof Prov. 28.2 but by a man of understanding the State shall be prolonged Shall we be so mad as to rebell against our King whom God commandeth us to honour and chuse unto our selves 400. Kings which God never appointed over us and never advised us to obey them which if you do I say it is not vanitas vanitatum but it is the folly of follyes but and iniquity of all iniquities and therefore deserveth justly to be punished with the misery of all miseries Wherefore I beseech you my brethren to follow the counsell of the Apostle and to obey the Precept of God to honor the King the King which he hath placed over you and leave the other Kings the usurping and imaginary Kings to their own shame But 2. As we are to honor the King and not Kings so we are to consider among other things 1. Quem and 2. Qualem Regem Both what King and what manner of King we are bound to honor for we are to waigh in every King 1. Modum assumendi 2. Normam gubernandi 1. The manner or the waies how any King cometh to his Kingdom 2. The rules by which he governeth and guideth the people that shall be under his charge 1. Hos 8.4 God saith of many Kings They have raigned but not by me As many men do Preach whom he hath not sent these are Vsurpers and come to their government without right And therefore we are not to honor them because though they should govern justly yet they have unjustly attained unto their government and I know not where we are commanded to be voluntarily obedient to Usurpers Others there are that do attain unto their Dominions and yet not all the same way for 1. Some come by the Sword 2. Others by the peoples choice 3. Others by the right of their birth And though the last is best and most authentick yet we may not reject the other two so far forth as they are from God for when rightfull Kings become with Nimrod to be unjust Tyrants God many times disposeth their Crowns as pleaseth him as he did the Kingdom of Saul unto David and Belshazzars unto Cyrus and the like and this Right is good as it proceedeth from God Who giveth victory unto Kings when as the Poet saith victrix causa Deo placuit And as Daniel saith he removeth Kings and setteth up Kings Dan. 2.21 and Job 34.24 And when Kings neglected their duty so far that the people knew not that they had any King or who had any right to be their King or when the people were so miserably handled by such foes as invaded them that they could not tell how to withstand them then as Herodotus saith of the Medes that chose Deioces which is the first elective King that I read of to be their Protector the people made choice of the chiefest man amongst them to be their King Or as we read of Abimeleck when he that had no right unto the Crown would cloak his Vsurpation by the election of the people this popular choice was held for a good way to maintain that Vsurped Authority And though I deny not the right of some Elective Kings because God out of his infinite lenity to our Human frailty rather then his people should be without Government doth permit and it may be approve the same when it is orderly done as he did the Bill of Divorcement unto the Jews yet if we should justly waigh the case of Abimeleck and as some say of Jeroboam who of all the Kings of Israel and Judah were only made by the suffrage of the people how unjustly they entred how wickedly they raigned and how lamentably the first that was without question the creature of the people ended both his life and his raign it would shew unto us how unsuccessefull it is to admit any other makers of our King then He that is the King of kings And the time will not permit me to set down the great and many mischiefs that happened to the children of Israel by these Elective Kings no less then at all times to cast off the service of God and in the end utterly to destroy themselves when by Salmanazar they were carried Captives unto Assyria never to return again to this very day But against all this the brood of Anabaptists will object as they do now positively teach that to be a King is but an ambitious intrusion into Authority when as Nimrod rather by humane violence Gen. 10.8 then by any Divine Ordinance became to be the first King that ever was in this World and therefore S. 1 Pet. 2.13 Peter calleth the establishing of Kings to be the ordinance of man I answer that the Scripture shall determine this question for Solomon saith Hearken O ye Kings hear ye that Govern the Nations Sap. 6.1 2 3. for power is given unto you by the Lord and principality by the most high And S. Paul saith There is no power but from God and whosoever resisteth the power Rom. 13.5 resisteth the Ordinance of God And Daniel saith to Nebuchadnezzar O King thou art the King of kings for the God of Heaven hath given thee a Kingdom Dan. 2.37 Power Strength and Glory and the Wisdom of God saith Prov. 18.15 Esay 45.1 Per me reges regnant And the Lord saith as much unto Cyrus and no less to Nebuchadnezzar And to make the point more plain by Examples I would demand Jer. 27.5 6. whether Moses his government over Israel was by his own intrusion or by the Ordinance of God And what shall I say of Saul when he sought his father Asses and of David when he fed the flock of Jesse was it their desire or Gods design that made them Kings And you may see how little Jehu dreamed of a Kingdom when Elisaeus sent one of the children of the Prophets To annoint him from the Lord to be King over Israel 2 King 9. Therefore S. Augustine saith Aug. de Civit. Dei that the greatness of Empires cometh neither by chance nor by destiny by chance he understandeth as he saith the things that happen beyond our knowledg of their causes or without any premeditated order of reason assisting their conception and birth and by destiny he understandeth as the Pagans deemed what happeneth without the will either of God or men by the inevitable necessity of some particular order which opinion is most injurious to Gods providence but we must certainly believe that Kingdoms are constituted and established simply and absolutely by the Divine Providence of God and in another pâ—ace he saith
sed hoc solo contentus quia praecipitur he that is truly obedient to him whom God commanded us to obey never regardeth what it is that is commanded so it be not simply and apertly evill but he considereth and is therewith satisfied that it is commanded and therefore doth it because as S Aug. saith The command of the Superiour is a sufficient excuse for the inferiour Mandatum imperantis tollit peccatum obedientis i.e. in all things not apparantly forbidden And therefore as Julians Christian-Souldiers would not sacrifice unto the Idols which was an apparent evil at his command Sed timendo potestatem contemnebant potestatem but in fearing the power of God regarded not the wrath of man yet when he led them against his enemies they never questioned who they were that they went against nor examined the cause of his war but they went freely with him Et subditi erant propter Dominum aeternum etiam Domino temporali and in all such civill commands they obeyed this wicked King for his sake that was the King of kings and it may be fought against their own brethren So did the Jews that followed Saul against David and yet we never read that ever they were blamed for it And so should we do the like if we would do what God commandeth us For it is not in the subject's choice against whom he will fight but he must be obedient to his King if he will be obedient unto God for so the Lord saith I have made the earth the man and the beast Jerem. 27.5 6. that are upon the ground by my great power therefore certainly none should deny his Right to dispose of it and now I have given all these Lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon my servant and yet he was both a Heathen and Idolater and a mighty Tyrant and all nations shall serve him and his son and his sons son and it shall come to passe that the nation and Kingdom which will not serve the same Nâ—buchadnezzar the King of Babylon and that will not put their necks under the oke of the King of Babylon that nation will I punish saith the Lord with the sword and with the famine and with the pestilence until I have consumed them by his hands Therefore hearken not ye unto your Prophets nor to your Divines which speak unto you saying Ye shall not serve the King of Babylon for they prophesie a lye unto you which he repeateth again and again they prophesie a lye unto you that you should perish Which very words I may take up against the Rebels of England Ireland and Scotland God gave these Kingdoms unto King Charles and they cannot deny this nor deny him to be a good man and a most religious King and He hath commanded us to obey him and they that will not serve him he will destroy them by his hand Therefore believe not your false Teachers whether they be the Priests and Jesuits of Ireland or the Brownists and Anabaptists of England for God hath not sent them though they multiply their lyes in his name because God hath so straightly commanded us to obey our King in all civil causes and in all things wherein he giveth not a special charge to do the contrary And therefore that which is most worthy to be observed though God himself for the sin of Solomon declared by his Prophet that he had decreed to cut off ten parts of the Kingdom from Rehoboam yet because the people revolted not to satisfie Gods justiâ—e for the sins of Solomon but out of their own discontents that he would not ease them of their burdens for this revolt from a foolish and an oppressing Prince they are termed Rebels 1 Kings 12.19 and as the Thief to prevent his discovery will commit murder scelus scelere regitur and one great mischief will shelter it self under a greater so their Rebellion corrupted their Religion and made them fall away from God to worship Idols as they had done from their King to serve a Traytor which soon brought them to confusion Because this revolt as it proceeded from them was most abominable unto God And therefore though they were not reduced to Rehoboam because that may pretend some cause as oppression yet this after a plenary disquisition can admit of none excuse and therefore being abominable above measure it cannot expect the least favour from God but they were most severely punished by God because they transgressed his will by thus rebelling against their King contrary to his Commandment 2. The other Caution is That if the King commandeth what the Lord forbiddeth or the contrary then I may disobey but I must not resist for this is the will of God that where my active obedience cannot take place my passive obedience must supply it And though our Kings were as Idolatrous as Manasses as Tyrannical as Nero as wicked as Ahab and as prophane as Julian yet we may not resist we must not Rebel which would overthrow the very order of nature Arnis de autâ—rit princ c. 3. pag. 68. as Arnisaeus proveth by many examples and takes away the glory of martyrdom and makes all the Precepts of the Gospel of none effect And therefore when the Christians in Tertullians time were more in number and of greater strength than their enemies yet being compelled to Idolatry they rather suffered any persecution than admitted of any Rebellion against the most wicked of their persecutors And Juâ—tinian faith Q is est tantae authoritatis ut nolentem principem possit coarctare Who hath so much power as to restrain an unwilling Prince And yet it is very strange to consider what new Divinity hath been taught ex cathedra pestilentiae out of the chair of our new Assembly to raise Rebellion against our King and that which is worse than Rebellion to refuse the grace of Remission The Scribes and Pharisees were most wicked hypocrites and they sate in Moses chair but they never durst teach such tenets as now are published and practised in these Kingdoms And therefore our Saviour saith Math. 23.3 All that they bid you observe that observe and do Indeed there were some Hereticks among them that in the dayes of Theudas and Judas Galilaeus taught That the Jews were not to pray for the life of the Emperour because he was but extraneous an Vsurper and none of their lawful Kings for which errour Pilate mingled their blood with their sacrifice but these never durst avouch they should not pray for their own lawful King much lesse that they might rebel and take up arms against him Joseph Antiq. though he were never so wicked For they knew that the holiest men that ever were among the Hebrews called Essaei or Esseni that is the true Practisers of the Law of God maintained that Soveraign Princes whatsoever they were ought to be inviolable to their subjects as they were in most places among the most
the onely good Shepherd and in all other respects whatsoever is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the good Shepherd and indeed the onely Shepherd that is simply and absolutely good For Though Abel was a good Shepherd and Jacob was another good Shepherd Gen. 31.40 so carefully watching over his flock that in the day the drought consumed him and the frost by night and his sleep departed from his eyes and Moses was such another Psal 77.20 of whom the Prophet saith that God led his people like sheep by the hands of Meses and Aaron and so David was an excellent Shepherd that ventured his life to save his sheep and to pull it out of the Lions teeth and when God took him away from the sheep-folds that he might feed Jacob his people and Israel his inheritance the Spirit of God tells us that he fed them with a faithful and true heart Psal 78.73 Esay 44.28 and ruled them prudently with all his power And of Cyrus the Lord said He is my Shepherd and Homer calleth Agamemnon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Shepherd of the people and so not onely the Apostles and Bishops but also Constantine Theodosius King James and King Charls and all other religious Kings and pious Princes as Nehemiah the good Lieutenant of Jury under Artaxerxes King of Persia to whom if it were not for suspicion of flattery which is one of the basest of all vices and the worst kind of Scotization you may see what Minshaw meaneth by that word I might truly parallel his Excellency our Lord Lieutenant The now Duke of Ormond and many more have been very good Shepherds of Gods sheep Yet they were all and put them all together very very far short of this Shepherd in my Text which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that good Shepherd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 transcendently and which in all the foresaid respects and in all other respects whatsoever excelleth all the most excellent Shepherds in the world And so much shall serve to be spoken at this time of the good properties of this good Shepherd 2. As the children of God are termed Sheep in respect of Christ 2 Gods people are termed Sheep in respect of themselves Geminianus de exemplis l. 5. c. 46. 1. In respect of their innocency 2 Sam. 24.17 which is their chief Shepherd so they are likewise stiled Sheep in respect of the Analogie and resemblances betwixt them and Sheep which as Geminianus saith are in these six speciall points 1. Innocency of life for as nature gave the sheep neither horns to hurt nor claws to scratch nor teeth to bite so the children of God do nothing to the hurt of any other they neither hate their neighbour in their hearts nor strike him with their hands nor traduce him with their tongues nor think any evil or wish any hurt to him in their thoughts and therefore when David saw the Angel that smote the people in Hierusalem he said Lo I have sinned but these sheep what have they done as if he should have said these poor men that are like sheep so harmless and so innocent what hurt could they do either in themselves or to any others Et haec vera innocentia est quae nec sibi nec aliis nocet and that is the true innocency saith S. Aug. which hurteth neither himself nor his neighbours 2. 2 In respect of their patience They are resembled unto Sheep for their patience in suffering all kinds of injuries and indignities for as the Prophet sheweth and Gods people findeth it For thy sake are we killed all the day long Psal 44.22 and are counted as sheep appointed to be slain Where you may see 1. Where observe 1. The Cause The cause of their sufferings is expressed not for theft murder adultery or the like wicked acts but Propter te for Gods cause for obeying his will and being loyal to our Superiours and not treacherous unto our lawful Governours and so for being faithful in Gods service by publishing the truth and not carried away with every new form of service and every wind of false doctrine this is cause enough to suffer and this is propter te for thy sake O God which is our onely comfort 2. 2 The Sufferings Here is the sufferings of Gods sheep and servants specified we are mortified or killed And that is 1. By our selves in our repentance and contrition for our sins every day or all the day long that is throughout our whole life according as the Apostle saith we die daily that is to sin and for our sin And then 2. We are killed by others when with the rest of the Martyrs we are as we have been not long since throughout all this Kingdome robbed of our good names filled with reproach plundered of our estates banished from our dwellings clapt up in prisons and then led as sheep unto the slaughter In all which and in all other sufferings I know no better remedy then what our Saviour prescribeth to us in our patience to possess our souls which may be lost for want of patience but will be supported and eased if we will be like sheep patient and silent in our sufferings Quia levius fit patientia Horatius quicquid corrigere est nefas because the more we struggle when we are in the briars the more we shall be scratched and intangled and the less able we shall be to bear our indignities and the less we murmure the less will be our sufferings and the more favours we shall finde at the hands of God and therefore the Poet could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We ought to suffer patiently whatsoever God layeth upon us and so the Saints of God do suffer whatsoever is laid upon them as you may see in the said 44 Psalm from the 10. v. to the 22. 3. 3 In respect of their obedience C. 10. v. 4. Damase l. 3. c. 4 They are resembled to Sheep in respect of their obedience to do the commands of God for as the Sheep do follow the Shepheards whistle and do know his voice so do the servants of God obey the voice of Christ listening to his words with their ears Unde veteres dicebant obaudio pro obedio imbracing it in their souls Quia obedientia est voluntatis propriae subjectio preceptis Dei which they are most ready to peform to say with him in Plautus Plaut trin Adsum impera quidvis neque tibi ero in mora neque latebrosè me abs tuo conspectu occultabo For Aug. in Gen. l. 9. habetur 33. q. 5. c. est ordo as S. Aug. truly saith Est ordo naturalis in hominibus ut serviat foeminae viris filii parentibus quia in illis haec est justitia ut majori serviat minor it is the order of nature among men that the women should serve the men children their parents servants their masters and subjects
his private Closet his mind was wandring among the Wantons in the Galleries of Rome If we hear Sermons he will poyson our Opinions and prejudicate our minds with some ill conceit of the Preacher if we do well he will infect our best deeds with Pharisaical pride tum superbia destruit quicquid justitia aedificat pride destroyeth whatsoever righteousness buildeth if we do ill he will perswade us to persevere therein And so in all things else though he professeth love yet is it but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like the gift of an enemy as was Ajax Sword that he received from Hector wherewith he kill'd himself a most deadly love worse then any open hate 2. Passing over all dissembling flatterers and all flattering friends 2 How the world professeth to love us perditissimos homines and those villanous men as Cicere terms them which can give a stab to the smile of an innocent and perfidiously deceive them qui laesi non essent nisi credidissent which had been safe if they had not trusted them The whole world is the Devils Ape and imitates him to a hair like the Courtlie Mountebank that is composed of nothing else but Complements and can promise golden Mountains but perform dirty Dales and deal with us as Laban did with Jacob Gen. 29.24 when he had served seven years for beautiful Rachel to thrust into his bed and to his bosome bleer-ey'd Leah It is like Dalila able to betray the strongest Sampson and like Circe powerful enough to bewitch the Wisest Solomon And if I had time to relate unto you the Tragedies of Mar. Attilius Regulus Cheops King of Egypt that erected the Pyramides Croesus King of Lydia Darius King of Persia Manius Acilius the Roman Consul Belisarius the brave General of Justinian who in his old age begged Date obolum Belisario Iob 30.4 quem virtus exaltavit fortuna depressit malitia excaecavit O give one half-peny to him whom virtue raised fortune spoiled and malice made him a poor blind begger And those thirty Emperours or thereabouts that died not sicca Morte but were killed from Julius Caesar to Charlemaigne and especially that notable example of Hebraim Bassa chief Councellor and of greatest power with Solyman the Great Turk whom Paulus Jovius termeth the greatest Minion of the worlds inconstancy because he was so intirely beloved of Solyman that he entreated his Master not to make so much of him lest being elevated with Haman too high he might have like him too great a fall and the Emperour swore he would never take away his life while he lived yet afterwards for some distaste of his insolent carriage Solyman being informed by a Talisman or Turkish Priest that a man asleep cannot be counted among the living sent an Eunuch into his Chamber who with a sharp Razor cut his throat as he was quietly sleeping in his bed And likewise Pope Baltazar Cossa who called himself John the XXIV that being thrown out of his Popedome by the Council of Constance 1417. made these verses of himself Qui modo summus eram gandens nomine Prasul Tristis Abjectus nunc mea Fata gemo Excelsus solio nuper versabar in alto Cunctaque Gens pedibus oscula prona dabant Nunc ego paenarum fundo devolvor in imo Vultum deformem quemque videre piget Omnibus eterris Aurum mihi sponte ferebant Sed nec Gaza juvat nec quis amicus adest Sic varians Fortuna vices adversa secundis Subdit ambiguo nomine ludit atrox And a thousand like examples that might be produced of some men that as Job saith cut up mallows by the bushes and Juniper roots for their meat children of fools yea children of base men that were viler then the earth whose Fathers we would have disdained to have eaten with the dogs of our flocks are now keepers of Castles and Commanders of whole Countryes Camer l. 4. c. 7.246 And others that from the highest honor were suddenly thrown down to the lowest misery compell'd to change their scarlet robes for rugs it would plainly appear unto us that the lovers of this world which relie upon the Worlds love Camerarius l. 3. c. 5.162 are greater fools then Heliodorus the Carthaginian who caused this Epitaph to be ingraven upon his Tomb hard by the straight of Gibralter I Heliodorus Reliodorus his Epitaph a fool of Carthage have ordained by my last will to be buried in this place in the remotest part of the world to see if any man more foolish then my self would come thus far to see me And therefore the best way to escape the deceits of the World is to follow the counsel of the Epicarmus How we ought to deal with the world that is semper diffidere alwayes to distrust it and never to believe it but with Ulysses to tye our selves unto the main Mast of our ship i.e. to sound reason or rather to true Religion that teacheth us to deal with this World as the worldlings deal with God to stop our ears like the deaf Adder that layeth one ear close to the earth and clappeth her tail in the other and so never listneth to the voice of the Charmer charm he never so wisely 3. 3 How we love our selves 2 Tim. 3.2 The Comique tells us verum idesse vulgo quod dici solet that every man loves himself better then another And Euripides saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every one loves himself better then his friend and the Apostle saith that in the last times men should be lovers of themselves And yet there was not a sounder truth uttered by the mouth of any Phylosopher then nemo laditur nisi a seipso no man is wounded but by himself because as Aquinas saith inordinatus amor sui est causa omnis peccati Sin is the cause of all our miseries and the inordinate love of our selves That our self love is the cause of all our sins and of all our miseries is the chiefest cause of all sins And Plato calleth this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sons omnium malorum the root and fountain of all mischief And experience tells us that intus est equus Trojanus every mans greatest enemy lodgeth within his own bosome otherwise if we had the true reins of our own passions and could bridle our own affections then outward occasions might well exercise our virtue but not much injure our actions because others cannot draw us into any great inconveniences if we do not some way help our selves forward As the Adulterers cannot bereave us of the chastity of our bodies if there be not an Adulterer lodging within our souls and the Fornicator cannot take away the chastity of a Virgin if her corrupted heart doth not some way yield consent and therefore the Law saith of the ravished woman that she shall be freed and no cause of death shall be in her because the fact was committed against