must set downe some rules out of the worde of God to take away all these extremities And the first thing that must bee knowne is the cause for which it is not onely needefull but also lawfull to prouide apparell which already we haue shewed you to bee the sinne of Adam which wrought in vs the shame of our naked bodies and brought vppon vs colde and heate sicknesse and soares surfets death so then the bodies couered by clothing are made comelye againe are armed against heate warmed against colde strengthned against sicknesse and the daies of health lengthened life prolonged and death auoided For as the prisoner looking vpon his irons thinketh vpon his theft so euery one when he seeth his garments must thinke on his sinnes And this one consideration striketh down al deuises of fashions or conceits of pride for alas what glorie hath the theese in his bandes or what profit by their making for now hee is clogged with them but anone hee is tucked vp with the halter so proude persons are nowe prancked vp while they looke on their feathers but anone are paide for their fashions w t eternall damnation For the Lord cryeth out by the prophet that hee will take vengeance of the princes the sons of the king for vsing strange apparell Secondly there may bee a difference of apparell one kinde for the riche another for the poore one for he prince another for the people one for the noble man and another for the gentleman for our sauiour speaking of the royaltie of Salomon in all his apparell doth not discommend it and wee haue hearde already of the apparell of Esau lying in his father Isaackes house And this may bee also in many sutes as Iacob had sent him by his sonne Ioseph and Ioseph gaue his brethren to euery one garmentes but to Beniamin hee gaue fiue chaunges But some will say our Sauiour biddeth vs not to haue two coates and therefore this chaunge is vnlawfull To which I aunswere that it is vnlawfull to possesse chaunge or varietie of garmentes when wee see and behold our brother hath none therefore our Sauiour Christ addeth that hee that hath two coates must giue to him that hath none So that our aboundance must neuer be to the want and necessity of our brethren But alas where is this difference in manner of garmentes I speake for the matter wherefore they are made wee may make the olde complaint of a christian father a thing worthy to bee seene yea rather to bee lamented The maide followeth the mistris in such brauery of apparell that it is harde to know whether maide or mistris goeth formost Such confusion of degrees consuming of wealth and goods condemning the humble and aduauncing of base persons by apparell into the place of worthy men is the ouerthrowe and destruction of a whole country the ruine of a common wealth and the defacing of the Church of Christ But all this while the naked may goe naked still for any clothing they can get of these that haue such plentie and aboundance so that men cloth themselues in the finest silkes feede themselues with the fattest calues and the case themselues in the softest beddes while Christ in his members is harbourlesse without houses hungry without breade and naked without any raiment to cast vpon him Oh woe be to you dainty persons that thus prouide for your own mayntenance and neglect the sustenaunce of the poore you are cloathed in softe and gorgeous apparell and fare deliciously euery daye you eate vp the needy like breade you are deafe at their cryes blinde at their nakednesse and like the cittizens of Sodome vnmercifull to their miseries consider that their eating and drinking brought brimstone from heauen with fire to burne vp their citties and soules Consider the end of that riche glutton in the Gospell which was so tormented in the paines of hell that hee desired but a drop of water could not obtaine it Your brauery shall bee turned into shame your pride into paines your ease into restles trouble your aboundance into euerlasting want your frendes into deuils your honour into hell your vnmerciful harts into vnsufferable plagues and your pleasures repayed with eternall destruction both of body and soule The like may be said of those couetous persons which goe as farre vnder their calling as other aboue and will hardely bestowe any garmentes on themselues worth the wearing and disgrace the proportion of mankind through their base apparell and vnreuerent addressing themselues without all respect of honestie regarde of religion conscience of their places and knowledge of the true vse of the benefites of God But many spende all that they â—â—n get vpon their bellies neuer caring how simplie they goe in the face of the worlde so they haue any thing to couer their nakednesse and wee knowe what kinde of beasts are the punishment of such slothfulnes Therefore let vs euery one helpe those that are not able to prouide yea and to buy them apparrell and let vs all learne hereby what care wee ought to haue of the chaunge of our bodies that if wee will bee ruled by the example of the godly wee must rather studie and trauaile for our couering then for our nourishing Therefore wee must pray for our clothing of him that clotheth the Lillies of the fielde in such measure as wee may bee comforted our nakednesse couered our shame abated our vncomelines adorned and the sauour of sinne expelled that wee might prayse his power for euermore Secondly by this we also may note what reuerence wee owe to magistrates and to men in authority that we must be carfull in their presence to giue no offence euen in our apparell for here wee see Ruthe going to Boaz an elder of Bethlehem she is commaunded by Naomi to put on her best apparrell as a duetie of all the faithfull that they make not their persence odious in the sight of their rulers and for this cause we read in storyes that when any were wont to come before the magistrates hauing any suite vnto them they were apparelled with white which signified the innocencye of the person and puritye of the cause and also they had one suit that in al decent manner they might deliuer their mindes in the presence of the magistrate for the basenes of apparell is loathsomenes to many But this shal suffise for y e touching of this matter Let not the man After shee had commaunded her to prepare her selfe shee desendeth to instruct her of her behauiour after shee commeth downe to the place which was this that she let not him knowe of her till he had supped and were gone to lie downe in his bed which she aduertiseth her diligently to marke and to come and bestowe her selfe at his feete Where it may seeme that Naomi counselleth her daughter an vnlawfull thing yea rather to play the whoore then to get her a husband by a lawfull meanes for shee
of the earth Of all these mistryes you may see in the booke of Iudges Samuel and Kings to which I referre you at your leasure as of Saul Dauid Ieroboam Achab Zidkia others as in this present place where they are oppressed ten yeares together so that heauen and earth may passe but the word of the Lord abideth for euer For this cause the prophets adde to their preaching of iudgmentes Thus sayth the Lorde as if they had said it shall neuer bee altered And if the lawes of heathen men such as the Medes and Persians might not alter much lesse the word of the Lord which is like siluer purified seuen times should haue any drosse or changeable substaunce in it Wee see the law of nature stand inuiolable for euer and shall not the law of him which made nature be also immutable when the fire ceaseth to bee hote and the water to be colde then shall be exception taken against God his iudgments and not before The vse of this doctrine is to cast downe the presumption of notorious sinners who to auoyd the terrors of God his iudgmentes deceiue their owne soules vvyth this that God is mercifull So that in theyr most singular sinnes they will flye to the mercyes of God as if they were the verie bonde of all iniquitie yea and these kinde of people perswade themselues to bee as good Christians as anie in the worlde because they can saie the Lord is mercifull But heare me a little in one word I praie you I am perswaded that I speake to many these people this daie What hurt hath the Lorde done vnto you that you rob him of his iustice Shall the Prophet be found a liar that sayth The Lord is iust in all waâ—es and holy in all his workes Or shall the Apostle speake vntruth that sayth It is a iust thing with God to render affliction to them that afflict you release to you that are afflicted Why shall we then spoile God of his iudgements vnlesse wee wyll depriue our selues of our owne saluation But you will saie this serueth for the wicked as Atheists Turkes Pagans Infidels and such lyke which shall haue no part with Christ I answere what greater wickednes can there be than to depriue God of his iustice Would a mortall man indure to be accounted without honestie and shall the euerlasting king abide to be spoiled of his righteousnesse Nay the iustice of God pertaineth to such as you would be holy persons as well as to anie For what saith the Prophet When the iust man turneth from his righteousnesse to doo iniquitie he shall die in it And Peter sayth that iudgement must begin at the house of God And a father once saide God of his most deere iustice hath decreed the summe of all discipline both in exacting and in defending as if he had sayd there is no correction of the Lord but it proceedeth from his iustice now the children of God are corrected for hee scourgeth euerie child whom he receiueth And therfore the iudgmentes of God must bee thundered out as well for the confirming of the faithfull as the confusion of Infidels But others there are that are so farre past feeling of either mercies or iudgements that as soone the deafe adder wil heare the voice of the charmer as they anie impression of terrour for sinne Hence commeth this custome of sinning which euerie sabboth commit their wonted iniquitie euerie houre vomit out their poison of blasphemies and euerie daie violate the lawes of charitie who through their dayly staring on the sonne of righteousnesse are nowe become starke blinde and with the continuall noise of God his waters are made so deafe that they can heare no goodnesse Vnto both these sortes of people hearken what the Lorde sayth in his Gospell But if that euill seruant shall saie in his heart the Lorde deferreth his comming and shall begin to finite his fellow seruants and to eate and drinke with the dronken The Lord of that seruant shall come in a daie that hee looketh not for and in an houre that hee knoweth not and shall separate him and giue him his parte with vnbeleeuers there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth This shall be the end of secure christians and contemptuous sinners carnall Atheists despisers of wholsome doctrine which haue no part but in this present life with endlesse and fearefull damnation in the world to come Thus much of the first parte the circumstance of time now let vs go to the thing which is the second parte of the occasion There was a famine in the land This was the chiefe cause which moued these persons to trauell the auoiding of the pinching penurie of fearefull death by lingering till the end of this pining famine Of all the punishments of sinne which happen in this life theâ—e is none more vehement than famine Therefore the Lord by the Prophet threatneth to send his arrowes of famine to breake the staffe of bread Where he alludeth to a maine battell signifying vnto vs first as the arrow is the fittest instrument to break the ranke so a famine is the sharpest weapon to dismaye the couragious stomackes of rebellious sinners For as the arrowe is alwaie in sight so a famine euer in sense the arrowe hurteth but not with a speedie death a famine spoileth yet with tedious miserie the arrowe entered doth procure more paine and greater wound at the pulling forth than the falling in euen so abundance of meate sooner dispatcheth a famished person than lingering hunger Therefore Dauid put to his choice of three plagues famine flying and pestilence chose the last as the most sodainest and therefore accompanied with lesse griefe for that disease by the rule of phisicke is most daungerous which is the longest in growing Now wee may reade of many famines in the Scripture one and the first we read of was in the dayes of Abraham another in the daies of Izhak his sonne Seuen yeeres famine was in Egypt where Ioseph by the hand of God succored the Church in his fathers familie And to omit that in Dauids time and that in Ahabs time with those in the dayes of Iehoram and Zidkia with many others VVee reade in the new Testament of a vniuersall famine in the dayes of Claudius Caesar prophesied by Agabus when the Church dyd most notably releeue one another Vnto the which wee may adde that at the destruction of Ierusalem about fortie yeeres after Christe All which are most worthie spectacles of humane miserie and worthy examples of God his iudgementes to terrifie all them which saie in theyr prosperitie they shall neuer be moued There wee may reade of the pittifull death of many thousands which starued in the streetes in the face of theyr dearest friendes and yet were not able to releeue them There wee may see howe men were driuen to eate dogges cats rats mice and horse
of ointment and he excused her and commended her for it And it was an vse in old time to annoint the bodies of them that were dead as wee may see how those three women Mary Magdalen and Mary the mother of Iames and also Salome came to annoint the body of Christ lying in the graue If this was lawfull to bee done to the deade carkases much more is it to the liuing bodyes of God his Saintes And here by the way wee may profitably describe what is to bee thought of starching because the godly are much troubled therewith for some thinke it vtterly vnlawfull some suppose it to bee indifferent but other imagine it to bee necessarie and euery one of these doe mutually condemne one another Therefore let vs heare the reasons that are brought against it if they bee waightie receaue them if light and of little force wee will leaue it to the discretion of the faithfull First they say against it that it consumeth the graine of wheate whereof it is made so that the same which was ordayned for foode is transferred to another vse which is vnlawfull To which I answere so was oyle ordayned for nourishment as well as wheate yet the godly might take that most comfortable creature and apply it to the adorning and setting forth of their bodies which was lawfull for them and therefore the other for vs if it bee sparingly vsed But they will say oile was applyed to the body but this is onely in the apparell therefore the reason of them is not alike To which I aunswere that which is done to the apparell is done to the bodie because it is done for the bodies sake as we read of Izaack which smelled the sauour of Esaus garmentes that Iacob wore when hee got the blessing and vpon that pronounced his blessing But they reply againe and say it maintayneth pride and therefore is vnlawfull but I aunswere it is harde to condemne except wee knewe the hearte for that is the feate of pride and not the apparell Agayne if any doe so abuse it they more offende in that by a thousande partes then if the thing in it selfe were vtterly vnlawfull therefore the faulte lyeth in the persons not in the manner of addressing themselues But they obiect agayne That it is a greate losse of time for it asketh much more labour then simple washing but I aunswere so did this annointing and if the reason be good against the one it auayleth also against the other so that of the three former iudgmentes I thinke it in the meane to bee indifferent And thus in a worde and briefly I haue touched it as a thing not worth any farther handling and haue vttered my poore iudgement in the same in the behalfe of them that indifferently vse it because some haue slaunderously giuen out that none but proude and singular persons vse it others haue scornefully aunswered that none but precise fooles mislike it But let vs in the spirite of meekenesse and gentlenesse neither condemne them that vse it nor contemne those that doe forbid it Neyther doe I speake this to perswade any to imbrace it whose consciences haue alwaies beene against it but I charitablie desire them to beare with their breethren and in these vnnecessary trifles to suffer all the faithfull to inioy their christian libertie But especially let vs learne to praise the Lord which hath thus carefully and plentifully prouided for vs euery waye outwardly in our bodies making his creatures to comfort vs and inwardly in our soules giuing his owne spirite to bee the earnest of our saluation that wee might want nothing to drawe vs away from his maiestie but in all thankes-giuing to walke before him in the profession of the Gospell being compassed about with the helpes of this life as Elisha was with the mountaines of Angels that the comfortles sorrowes of worldly miseries may neuer driue vs to desperation And put thy garmentes This is the seconde thing which Naomi willeth Ruth in her preparation to goe downe to Bohaz for first shee commaunded her to dresse her bodie so nowe shee willeth her to put on her best apparell as the goodliest ornaments of her bodie for wee must not imagine that Ruth went naked in the house although shee bid her put on her apparell but her meaning is that she should put on her best apparel that euery way she might bee furnished to deale with so noble a personage so waightie a cause Out of the which we note First another duetie of humanitie that if God giue any blessing vnto vs we should also bee carefull in these bodies of sinne to prouide for our selues change of apparell For wee knowe after Adam had sinned the first thing hee thought on was somewhat to couer his nakednesse By the which wee may learne that the first entraunce or occasion of clothing was giuen by sinne that wee might couer the shame of our bodies for if Adam had continued in his estate of innocencie there had beene no shame of nakednesse no cause of garmentes no feare of colde or terrour of heate and therefore before all thinges he sowed some fig leaues together for the hiding of his offence but God made them garmentes of skins So then we must bee verie carefull for the conscience of sinne that wee couer our bodies with outwarde apparrel which indeede is but a type of shew howe our soules must be clothed with Iesus Christ For this cause it was vsuall in auncient time that they not onely prouided simplie a garmente for the present necessitie but many changes for their bodies commodities And as the worlde grewe so sinne increased and as sinne increased the miseries of our bodies multiplyed like a ruinous house that euery day falleth to decay more and more Therefore more helpes were inuented in the dayes of Abraham then in the life of Adam and more in the time of Moyses then in Abrahams and more in Salomons then in all the residue or former for as the soare spread it selfe so the salue must be lengthened now the ayre is intemperate the earth vnfruitfull the bodies of mankind molested by a thousand diseases and euery herbe which was the first mans nourishment is our surfet in so much as the auoyding of all these must bee carefully prouided by lawful deuises which the Fathers ordayned and appointed by longe experience to bee not a little holpe by the chaunge of apparrell And here wee see these poore people haue this benefite for their bodies as wel as the rich Now because in some the excesse hereof is so great that they passe all humanitie and in other the want is so indecent that it shameth mankinde to see their breethren go so basely Some being able yet like asses laden with much wealth they haue no power to bestowe it on themselues or other againe many poore soules which haue nothing to prouide or to couer them are neglected by them that are able Therefore in this place wee
their insteritâ—â—ice to multiplie their Fathers family for wordly honour the Rewarde of the Religion THE REVVARD OF RELIGION Ruth Cap. 1. ver 1 2 3 4 5 6. 1. In the time that the Iudges ruled there was a famine in the land and a certain man of Bethleem Iudah went for to soiourne in the countrie of Moab hee and his wife and his two sonnes 2. And the name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wyfe Naomi and the names of his two sonnes Mahlon and Chilion Ephrathites of the lande of Iudah and when they were come into the land of Moab they continued there 3. Then Elimelech the husbande of Naomi died there and shee remained with hir two sonnes 4. Which tooke them wiues of the Moabites the name of the one was Horpah the name of the other Ruth they dwelled there about ten yeres 5. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both twaine so the woman was lefte destitute of her two sonnes and of her husband 6. Then she arose with her daughters in lawe and returned from the countrie of Moab for she had heard saie in the countrie of Moab that the Lord had visited his people giuen them bread ALthough the author of this booke of Ruth hath not expressed his name yet there is no doubt but it proceedeth from the spirit of God as well as the bookes of the Iudges Kings Chronicles which haue not the names of their authors described but if it may be lawfull to iudge or giue anie sentence thereof it was either Samuel or some other godly prophet vnder the raigne of Saul which is proued by the genealogies in the last chapter where Dauid is by name mentioned testifying vnto vs that it was then written when he was chosen from his bretheren and anointed king ouer Israell and yet before his raigne or els there had bene added vnto it the title of a King for the aduauncing of the name of Ruth who was his grande mother vppon whom this history following dependeth for the sumne and scope hereof is to shewe the pedigree or ancestry the naturall progenitours of Christe from Iudah the fourth sonne of Iacob vntill the time that he beganne to challenge the princelye seate the royall scepter the right of gouernment ouer the people of Israell which was at that time when Dauid was chosen from his fathers house anoynted king by Samuel Againe in this history there is deliuered vnto vs the hope which the fathers had concerning the calling of the Gentiles for this mariage of Ruth into the kindred of Christ who was a Gentile by nature none of the people of God did plainely foretell that the Gentiles shoulde be called in Christ for as hee tooke parte of his humane nature of them so he shewed vs that hee would giue the same for them that there might be no difference in his bodye between Iewes gentiles but that the power of his death the graces of the spirite and the knowledge of redemption might redounde to all Now the occasion of this history is deliuered vnto vs in this first Chapter which is the soiourning of a certaine Iew in the land of Moab by reason there was a famine in the land of Iudah with his familye and the returne of them that liued which were onely Naomi his wyfe and one other Ruth the Moabitesse the widdowe of his eldest sonne This wandering or soiourning is described with all the circumstuances thereof in these first sixe verses lately read and generally containe in them these two parts the first is theyr trauaile to the land of Moab the second those things that happened vnto them after they came thither The first parte is expressed in these two first verses first by the occasion which is declared by the time and by the thing that moued them thereunto in these wordes In the time that the Iudges ruled there was a famine c. Secondly by the persons that trauayled who are described by the place froÌ„ whence they were namely of Bethlehem Iudah these were the parents and the children which are named in the 2. ver The second part of these woordes is in the foure other verses following and it concerneth eyther the parents or the children the parents that one of them euen Elimelech the father of the familye dyed there shorâ—y after their arriuall the children first that they married ver 4 secondly that they likewise dyed ver 5 Then remained onely Naomi with hir two daughters in lawe and the time of her a bode in Moab is set downe to be ten yeares ver 4 secondly the occasion of hir departure because shee heard say that God had visited his people giuen them bread ver 6 of these partes let vs speake in order as the spirite shall giue vttrance and the time permit In the dayes that the Iudges ruled In these wordes the holy Ghoste after his accustomed manner for the more certaintye of the historye beginneth at the time as Moses beginneth his booke of Genesis from the first creation of the world so the prophets in the beginning of their bookes set downe vnder what king or kings they prophesied so also in the newe Testament we may see how three of the Euangelists beginne their Gospels from the preaching of Iohn Baptist and the raigne of king Herod The which order they vndoubtedly learned of the olde writers the same spirite guiding them to one and the same trueth vseth but one and the same manner of speaking For the almighty desiring to meete with the wrangling obiections of humane inuentions so tempereth the texte of euerie scripture as if question were made who did such a thing He nameth the persons where it was done He quoteth the place and when it was done Hee mentioneth the time The cause heereof is that hee might staie the waues of our sickle mindes vpon the piller of truth his euerlasting word But in this place he chiefly mentioneth the time of the Iudges to shew vnto vs that wheÌ„ religion was corrupted the worship of God decaied and idolatrye aduannced when the Lord was forgotten of his owne people when his lawes were no more obserued but euery man did that which seemed good in his owne eyes yea when there were almost as many Gods among them as they were men then euen then did the Lord send this plague of famine among them For Salomon sayth the blewnes of the wounde serueth to purge the euell and the stripes within the bottome of the belly as if he had sayd as the rypenes of a wounde calleth for a corasiue so the fulnes of sinne cryeth for vengeance by this therfore we note that the corruption of religion neglect of the worship of God is the cause of all his iudgments that are exercised in the world For the idolatry of Ieroboam and his sinnes whereby hee induced Israell to sinne did the Lord threaten by Achia the prophet to
flesh but that which is most miserable the mothers to succour theyr stomackes and bodies with the slaughter and eating of their owne children VVhat heart of Adamant would not weepe yea rather bleede at the sight heereof And yet beholde a greater famine than all these Is it possible yea verily a famine of the worde of God when men shall goe from one sea to another and from the North to the East running to seeke the word of God shall not find it In that daie shall fall both the fayre virgins the young men which sweare by the idols of Schomron saie As thy God liueth O Dan and as the God of the waie of Beershebah liueth they shall fal neither shall they euer rise vp again Is not this greater than the famine of bread There was neuer famine so great but if liberty were giueÌ„ the famine was eased but in this they shall haue libertie to runne too and fro and shall not bee releeued There was neuer anie famine wherewith men were so hunger-starued but some recouered but in this sayeth the Lorde They that fall shall neuer rise agayne Oh that the open contemners of God his woorde woulde drinke but one droppe for a tast of these fearefull iudgementes I am perswaded that the heat of greedie sinne woulde bee so cooled in them that they shoulde recouer the health of their soules which will neuer bee tyll of open prophaners they become publike professours But of all these famines there is but one cause which is the abuse of the creatures of God for so the equitie of iustice requireth that in the same thing wherein they sinned they shoulde bee punished Like as the theese was bound for that which hee stole to restore foure folde Fulnesse of bread was one of the sinnes of Sodome and they vnderstoode not from whome they had it because they were vnmerciful to the poore and therefore abused it by vnthankfulnes And this is a worthie doctrine to bee vrged in our dayes wherein our abuse is greater than our want and yet our want is such as hath not beene heard of these many yeeres The couetous seller keepeth in his corne and draweth vppon himselfe the curse of the poore saying it is scantie it is scantie vvhen his garners are full Is not this to tell that the Lorde his hande is shortned when in deede it is lengthened Is not this to say thou openest thy hande and fillest vvith thy blessing euerie liuing thing Nay you plainely accuse the Lorde of illiberalitie Oh detestable crueltie vvho for to fat vp their owne posterityes vvyll murther the bodyes of manye thousandes of pouertieâ— yea this is more cruell than murther in the sight of God VVhy deale you not playnely and saie the Lorde hath giuen abundaunce yet your price must bee raysed so you shoulde speake truelye and excuse the liberalitie of the Lorde in accusing your owne couetous desires But oh vvretchednesse you wyll not laye the faulte vppon the guiltie you iustifie the couetous whome the Lorde abhorreth and condemne the innocent liberalitie of him vvho giueth to all freely and casteth none in the teeth Another sorte there are more viler than thase who of this great want vvhich if the Lorde suffer to indure vvyll turne to extreme famine yet they will spend more vpon one to make him dronke than vpon one dozen of poore folkes These are the tiplers alesellers dronkards the very caterpillers of our countrey who like the horse leache are euen sucking and neuer satisfied and these onely consume much that other should not be contented with it Of these both cities and countreyes are replenished and the magistrates suffer them with little or no punishment at all but if the poore preachers rebuke the folly their safety is indangered by this rauenous brood who are not ashamed to giue rayling yea threatning speeches And magistrates seruants are in greatest fault who are not onely partakers of this vnseasonable drinking but also deale priuatly with theyr maâ—sters that those which are complained might escape vnpunished Thus are the poore vnrelieued the countrie vnprouided the people vnanswered the wicked vnpunished the commonwealth vnreformed the godly vncomforted and the iudgments of God haled downe vppon vs that we might be euerlastingly confounded There went a certaine man Now are we come to the persons that traueled which is the second part of this verse which we shewed you ended in the second verse they are first generally described in this verse and after specially by name in the next verses They are of two sorts first the parents Elimelech Naomi secoÌ„dly the children Mahlon and Chilion who are all described by the place from whence they went Bethlehem Iudah it is so called because there was another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun and this is that Bethlehem which in Genesis is called Ephratha therefore these persons are in these two verses called Ephrathits of the place where afterward Christ was borne Then it is apparaunt by the booke of Iosuah that the tribe of Iudah had the fruitfullest posession in all the land of Canaan they were the greatest in number the wysest in pollicy the richest by inheritance yet we see when the scourge of God came the famine inuaded their countrie and crope into the wals of Bethlehem and made the wealthiest among them to flie yet this Elimelech which was as appeareth by his consanguinity of the princes of the whol tribe such is the vehemency of the Lords arrowes when he shooteth them abroad that if king Achab were in his chariot in the middest of his host yet one of them shall giue him a mortall wound The vse of this doctrine is to teach vs that if the Lord suffer his plague to continue he will strike downe the chosen men in Israel the chosen men in England yea the noblest among vs who thinke themselues in greatest securitie can he easily bring to greatest misery Therfore you whose heads the Lorde hath aduauncted ouer your brethren look to your calling for the voice of the Lord shaketh as well the ceders of Libauns as the little shrubs in the wildernes of Cades it is as easie with him to bind the nobles in chaines and the princes in linkes of yron as to raise vp the poore from the dunghill to the throne Did not his darknesse couer as well the court of Pharao as the countrie of Egypt Was not the first borne of the king destroyed as well as of the poore pesants of the dwellings of Ham Yea when the Israelites were carried captiue to Babylon theyr King had his children slaine before his face his owne eyes put out and after lead in a chaine neither was hee spared for his throne nor you for your dignitie and wealth Oh that you woulde therefore bee warned of your slipperie estate that you might auoide the heauy wrath of God when without respect of persons he shall iudge both quicke and
consideration giue liberally to all but with speciall fauour do good to the godly for you see Boaz telleth this second cause of her forsaking both countrey and kindred as if hee were bound to do for such as for his owne children thereby signifying that if wee haue neuer so much to giue yet wee can neuer giue inough to the saintes of God This our sauiour signifieth when he saith There were many widdowes in Israel in the dayes of Eliah yet to none was hee sent but to Sarephthah a cittie of Zidon to a woman a widdowe as if hee had sayde as God with speciall kindnes releeued her in the three yeeres famine euen so must wee with the like fauour succour the godly and labouring poore Therefore when Paule biddeth do good vnto all hee addeth especially to the household of faith This is profitable for our dayes that wee might also learne to whome we may giue for now our land is full of wandering and roaguing beggers who as their life is most base yet their manners are far worse first they worke not at all but are idle and hee that worketh not must not eate because he walketh inordinatly secondly they are for the most parte vtterly voide of all feare of God atheistes ignorant persons blasphemers prophaners of Sabaothes disobedient to magistrates and maisters common whooremaisters and whoores hauing almost euerye weeke newe husbands and wiues theeues and such drones as sucke away the almes from poore labouring persons They will praye at euery doore for any simple reliefe with their hats on their heades most unreuerently but if any man appeare before them they will presently breake off their prayers and vncouer their heades esteeming more of the presence of a seely man or woman then of the maiestye of the eternall God if they bee not satisfied they will curse more vehementlye then before they prayed earnestly Those are the poore which get our almes but for other I heare of few for I speake nothing but that which I haue heard and seene with my owne eyes And to speake nothing of their changing of their voyce their counterfaiting sores and their common drunkennes I thinke I maye euerie way conclude they are the caterpillers of our countrey the Canaanits of our common wealth the vngodliest and vnprofitablest members among vs. For whome I haue two sutes the one to the magistrats that so often as they finde such persons they would duety execute the lawe vppon them that the other may beware and my other to the people that they would bee deafe at their cryes and shut vp their compassions from them and bestowe it vppon the poore labourers among vs to encourage them with patience to endure their trauailes and to discourage the other from this kind of wicked life Whatsoeuer you giue them is but seede cast into the sea whereof shall neuer come any profit but those that are of the house of the Lord let vs wishe them prosperity The Lord recompense This is the second parte of this replie of Bohaz which is his prayer for Ruth wherein as wee shewed you are deliuered two thinges first that the Lord would giue her some reward secondly hee comforteth her in that hee telleth her shee is come to trust vnder the wings of God Where first of all heere seemeth some holde for popish merites seeing hee prayeth for a recompense and perfect reward Therefore it may be probably gathered will they say from hence that workes after faith merite grace for heere I cannot conceale the subtilty of our English papists which they learned from the Remish Seminarie being asked whither workes merit they answere no meaning those workes which goe before faith whereas they euerie one doo confidently beleeue that workes after fayth doo merite eternall life Thus they blinde our eyes with the schoole distinction of workes before faith and after faith that they might the better couer their sophistrie but we praysed be God for it most confidently affirme that no workes eyther before or after faith doe concurre in the matter or cause of iustification As for workes before faith wee acknowledge they are sinne for whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne and for workes after faith we constantly beleeue with Paul that our saluation commeth not by them But let vs come to this scripture and continue a little with our saluation workers We grant Bohaz prayeth for a reward What then therefore works eyther merite or he prayeth amisse both which wee denie and will confirme by this scripture First did Bohaz thinke that Ruth had merited by this forsaking of her countrey I answere no why then doth he pray for her if she had deserued it God is not vniust hut hee that commanded that the hire of a labourer shoulde not bee kept backe one night woulde not or needed not to be intreated for that which he must of necessity performe By the which we see that the praier of Bohaz the merite of Ruth the iustice of God cannot stand together Secondly for what cause doth hee praye for a recompense Was it not because shee had forsaken her owne idolatrous people to come to the Lordes common wealth yes verily it was so Then was it of faith or of workes no worke assuredly but faith for faith caused Moyses when hee was growen vp to forsake the courte of Pharao and to ioyne himselfe with God his afflicted people Faith caused Abraham to come into the land of promise from his owne idolatrous countrey and this same faith caused Ruth to come from the Countrey of Moab to the people of the Iewes and therefore Bohaz addeth that she was come to trust vnder the winges of God but confidence proceedeth of faith and not of workes Therefore to conclude Bohaz prayeth for such a rewarde as God had promised to all the faithfull for as the sunne looketh vpon the earth and the earth looketh vpon the sunne again so faith respecteth the promise of God and the promise of God regardeth faith because it is written whosoeuer beleeueth in me hath euerlasting life but whosoeuer beleeueth not though hee purchase landes for Catholikes build Churches ordaine chaunteries and got neuer so farre on pilgrimage yet is hee condemned already But now they wil renewe their wonted outcry saying we preach for faith we condemne works wee driue men to a wicked life and tell them all is well if they beleeue wel we condemne say they housekeeping giuing to the poore with builders of colledges and Churches and founders of hospitals with all charitable actions but these are great thunderclappes but yet without rayne I aske the resolutest papist liuing where euer he read any of these in all the writinges of the protestants once mētioned w t out singular cōmendatiō for I am sure none of you y t are resolute papists wil come to the churches to hear our preachers speak against them yet you crie out beleeue them not they broche heresies This is brought vnto you by
to their meat like bruit beasts may seeme to haue the example of some godly persons for the defence of their abhominable vnthankfulnes To which I answer first if any godly person haue at any time omitted his dutie we must not by his example be drawne to do the like for we must liue by y e rule of the word of God not by the examples of the faithful Secondly wee must know that euery thing or circumstance is not needefull in euery place of the scripture to be declared particularly for in this place wee reade not that Ruth gaue any thanks to Bohaz for her meate yet wee must not conclude that she gaue none at all if she thanked a man much more the eternall God which framed his minde to shew her that fauour Thirdly she being with Boaz it was his duetie at his owne table to pray and to giue thankes which no doubt but he did and she did with him Therefore to the wordes where we first note the true vse of eating and drinking the benefites of God which is that by them we may bee enabled to followe our vocations For here we see Ruth after meate returneth to her worke againe as if the holy Ghost had flatly set downe that for this cause we must eate and drink that by them wee might worke more freely and labour more diligently Therefore Salomon pronounceth a blessing vpon a whole countrey whose princes and nobles eat for strength and not for drunkennes these are accounted two sinnes of Sodome idlenes fulnes of bread that is eating and no working This point can neuer be stoode enough vpon that the belly-gods and vnorderlye persons of our age might be perswaded therwith to leaue their drinking drunkennes their eating and gluttony and their plaies and pastimes for the meat is no sooner out of their mouthes but the renewing of their sport entreth into their hartes how they may spend more time in idlenes vanitie And aboue all this is profitable for seruing men to note who wish nothing but libertie their owne consciences knowe y t if they may choose they will dwell with no maisters but where they may do little worke therefore came the old prouerb a yong seruing man an old beggar because vnthriftynes in youth is seldom worne out in age This I speak not against y e calling which no doubt but is good lawfull but onely to warne them exhort them to banish their vntimely eating drinking and to put away idlenes w t some lawful profitable busines And let vs all be Ruthes in this point as in other her conditions that we may eate our breade in the sweate of our browes rise to labour not to pastime that wee may remember our old curse which came by reason of sin and ease the contagion of our diseased natures with the dayly following our honest vocations Secondly by this also may we vrge although the holy Ghost in this place speaketh not of it the worship obseruation of y e Sabbaoth for as men go from worke to meat after from meate to worke againe euen so reason would that as wee sanctifie the Sabboath in the fore noone by preaching and hearing the afternoone should be hallowed with the same exercise But of all works this the greatest is in smallest reputation for men go from hearing to their meat but from their meat either to sleep or to opē prophaning the Lords day with most execrable accursed pleasure or negligēce They say once a day is inough yea and too much also except they did it better Such clipping of God his seruice to satisfie our pleasures will not stande with the least and the smallest point of christianitie And this they may be assured of that in the last day their owne diligence weekely labours in worldly busines shal stande vp in iudgement against them to condemne their negligence in the trauaile of godlines yea and till this slacknes be amended the time lost and past repented they shal neuer come to the knowledge of God or his truth themselues or their owne saluation for he that sanctifieth the Sabboath hath all religion but he that prophaneth the Sabboath hath none at all And Boaz. In these wordes Boaz reneweth his commandement to his seruants concerning Ruth which we shewed you was vttered in the ver 9. and now hee willeth them that though she gather among the sheaues yet none shoulde shame her meaning none shoulde reprehend her for reprehension to a godly and modest woman is a matter of blushing or shame And this to bee noted that his minde is though shee deserued blame yet none of them shoulde say blacke bee her eye as the prouerbe is that is once accuse her for any fault Where wee note the wonderful care that Bohaz had of her that the longer hee looked on her the better hee liked her her solitarie behauiour her contented trauaill her diligent order in going so orderly to her busines agayne were as orations or perswasions to make him being godly to approue and commend her aboue all the residue Which teacheth vs that we shoulde bee haled on with the same cordes of honestie diligence and religion to extend our liberalitie in large giftes and curteous speeches to euery poore person that wanteth our helpe and that the rather considering pouertie is a curse of sinne wherein wee are all as guilty as they therefore like feeling members of our brothers miseries where we see the foresaid graces appeare there let our bounden beneuolence excell that they may bee encouraged with our benefites and wee may bee comforted with their prayers and both conioyned in this life and in the life to come Secondly Ruth woulde not gather among the sheaues because no doubt shee was studious to auoid offence for if she had so done she must needes in curre the suspicion though not the reproofe of misbehauiour coueting more then was her due for the eares not the sheaues were appointed for the poore Whereby wee note that the poore must bee carefull aboue many thinges they abuse not the libertie of the rich although they may goe without correction to the sheaues in the fieldes or the heapes in the barne yet they must not eate vp more then beseemeth them to aske Now it were without conscience to aske so much as the owners cannot giue without the shortening of their handes to other their poore brethren And this condemneth the raking desire of them which are neuer contented and those vngodly robbers and theeues which aske and yet haue no need both which kinde of people will to the vttermost crau◠and haue all a mans possessions without any mercy vnder pretēse of pouertie yea will neuer accept the willing minde of thē that are not able to giue but like the sea gape for y e water out of the little land brookes These are officers bribers extortioners vsurers rackers of farmes raysers of rents takers of
being in health of bodie and minde is bound by the word of God to nurse her owne children and the reasons for the confirmation hereof are these first because the Lord in the creation of their bodyes hath giuen to euery woman breastes which are the meanes whereby children sucke their nourishment and therefore eyther the Lord created their breastes in vaine or els they sinne if they set them not to worke if any say that the Lorde did giue the breasts not for any necessity that they are boūd so to doe but that they might bee furnished with the meanes if they had the pleasure to do it to whom I answere by the like example the Lorde hath giuen to euery one handes to worke eyes to see eares to heare and tongues to speake is it in the choise of men to cut of their handes to pull out their eyes to stoppe vp their eares and to keep their tongues in silence all their life neuer vse them as many women doe their naturall breastes I thinke not for if they shoulde they must deface the workemanship of God dismember their own bodyes and murther the parts of mankinde Therefore as the Lorde hath giuen to euery one handes euery one must worke or els he is accursed vnlesse they wil be idols of whom Dauid speaketh they haue hands handle not eyes and see not eares and heare not feete and walke not noses and smell not and such are women that haue plentifull breastes and yet giue no suck Secondly the example of all the godly confirme it as we see in Sarah which nursed her sonne Isaacke in the mother of Moyses which was careful that her childe should bee nursed by no other then her selfe in Manoahs wife the mother of Sampson so did Bath shebah the mother of king Salomon being a queene in Israel the wife of king Dauid yet she thought it her duety to take her owne child and nurse it I will speake nothing of Hannah of Elizabeth the wife of Zachary and mother of Iohn Baptist of the virgin Mary which gaue sucke to the Lord of glory Iesus Christ her sauiour and of the mother of Dauid all which are as patternes of naturall affection for all the godly women in the world to imitate and what blessing was powred vpon their children who knoweth not Therefore eyther women must follow their godly examples or shew some charter of their libertie aboue these or proclaime open disobedience to God and the godly because they swarue from his holy worde and their most pure and worthy examples but it is better to obey God then men and to be ruled by the troublesome liues of the faithful then by the peaceable and pleasant deuises of all the gentlewomen in the worlde whatsoeuer Thirdely it is a signe of the wante of loue and naturall affection in the parentes as the Apostle speaketh when the mothers doe not bestowe the labour to giue their owne children their naturall milke for if they had the same naturall feeling of theyr duties to their children they coulde not hauing no occasion commit the nourishing of their children to straungers who can neuer bee so inwardely kinde to the infantes as the mothers eyther are or ought to bee therefore although though they pretende a kinde of sorrowe for their childrens absence or departing from them yet it is like the lamentation of Esau which wept when hee could not get the blessing whereas he solde it before and was the onely cause of his owne reprobation so women weepe at the departure of their children whereas it lyeth in their owne power to keepe them in their owne possession and more thankefull woulde the chylde bee in his hearte to his mother if shee had bestowed the labour to nurse him Fourthly it is not so naturall for the chylde to bee nursed where hee was not borne for the same body whereof hee had his being is most fitte for his feeding as wee see a plant doeth best prosper when it is grafted where it sprunge vp first of all then being remoued into another grounde so the bodies of children doe growe more freely and like mote cheerefully with their owne mothers milke then with all the worlde beside and the auncientest Phisitians say that it were also better for the mothers if they gaue themselues to this labour therefore they doe but hinder their owne infantes borne of their owne bodyes and as it were keepe them from their naturall welfare when they giue them to bee made another nature which is by their nursing and feeding These causes and more also being duely and carefully considered you shall fynde it a greater sinne to giue your children to other to bee nursed then heretofore you conceyued of it so that you must for this one thing condemne the vse of your breastes which were the creation of God and the practise of the auncient godly women which were euery way as noble as any aliue forsake the tender loue that annother ought to beare to hir innocente babe bring your childrens bodyes to a seconde yea a contrary disposition and complexion and stoppe vp the plentifull conduytes of streaming milke in your breastes to the losse and hinderaunce of your owne health Therefore if any haue any power to performe this naturall duety to theyr children let them practise it for all the carnall reasons of the worlde must not preuayle agaynst the least collection of the worde of God But some will say admit that any through negligence doe put their children to bee nursed of other doeth the faulte onely rest in the parentes and nothing in the nurse to whome I aunswere if it bee vnlawfull for the parentes to giue it is also vnlawful for the nurse to take so that whatsoeuer is said against the one may also bee brought against the other But in causes of weakenesse in the woman daunger to the childe or sicknesse in eyther of both it is not onely a duety of necessity but of conscience to nourish and cherish the children of other Therefore although the mothers had the nursing of their children yet there were others also like peti-nurses which had some especiall care in the keeping of the children as we may read of the nurse of Rebecca which was the true vse of nurses for the ease of the mother to take the custody of the children in all thinges saue onely in giuing them sucke and therefore is it that wee may reade in auncient histories that one childe had many nurses that is many to attende the welfare and nourishment of the infant of this sort was Naomi at this present who tooke vpon her some care of this sonne of Bohaz that they both might bee more diligent for the education thereof Now for the other question whether it bee lawfull for the parentes during all the time of the infancy thereof if the mother be not able to giue it sucke to commit their chyldren to other to be brought vp I aunswere that euery man and
of such impious infidelity What stayeth the Lord from comming to iudgement but the faithfull and elect company what keepeth you in your possessions reuennews and lands but the poore Saincts of God who are hardly admitted to the tables of your seruants who prayeth for the increase of your wealth the prosperitie of your liues the feeding of your bodies and the continuance of your honour but these despised persons who haue entered a couenaunt for your dayly welfare with the king of heauen and earth They are the flocke for whose sake you haue your wooll to clothe you and your milke to feede you they are the bees for whose sake you enioy the hony for your delight and the hony combe for the pleasure of your meate they are the birds which haue builded vp your pallaces and houses of rest for the defense of your weakenesse they are the oxen that bring your corne to your barnes and your store into your garners they are the beasts that beare you out of the daungers in safetye and deliuer your liues from trouble Finally there is not a vsurer but he hath his money for theyr sake there is not a Gentleman but hee hath his landes for theyr sake there is not a Prince but hee hath his Crowne for theyr sake there is not a rich man but hee hath his wealth for theyr sake there is not a Minister but hee preacheth for theyr sake and there shoulde be no peace prosperitye or plentye if it were not for them for the Angels are theyr seruaunts the earth is theyr mayntenaunce and heauen is theyr inheritaunce Be assured therefore beloued if righteous Lot goe out of Sodome or godly Noah into his Arke then fire will fall from heauen and the depthes will open theyr fountaynes of water to burne and destroy the world euen so if the Lord take away the righteous from among vs then euen then presently shall follow the destruction of our countrey the consuming of our kingdome the confusion of the world and the condemning of the reprobate and therefore let vs make much of them in whome we see any hope of religion for they are the right heyres of the world and you that haue their lands are but ouerseers of their fathers testaments and therefore shall giue an accompt of your possessions to them when they come to age and be answerable for euery farthing which you spent not vpon them Secondly another cause of the genealogies or recitall of generations in the Scriptures is for the Chronologies or noting of seuerall times wherein euery worthie thing was done and how the world grewe in yeares and the mercy of God in sparing the wicked liues of so many godlesse men and choosing but one family among all the world with whome hee would establish his couenaunt for this cause in the genealogie of Adam we reade how long he and euerie one of his children liued to shew how long the Lord suffered the wicked before he brought the floud and in what age of the world the same ouerflowed which by the genealogies there set downe appeareth to be in the yeare of the world one thousand sixe hundred fiftie and sixe when Noah was sixe hundred yeares old Againe we reade in the genealogie of Sem by the supputation of the yeares therein mentioned how long after the floud Abraham was called from his countrey and receyued the couenaunt of promise concerning the incarnation of Iesus Christ and the saluation of the world The same may be sayd of the often repetition of the age of Abraham as at his calling at the time of his circumcision at the birth of Izaak and at his death which giueth a great light to euery part of the scripture for thereby the occasions of many excellent histories are taken the darkest places are opened the faithfull are confirmed and the Church of God instructed of her age of her continuance of her members and of her condition which is subiect to many often changes Sometimes her glory is greater as in the first age sometime lesser as in Abrahams time sometime afflicted as the estate of Iacob in Egipt and all his children testifieth sometimes without any knowne and publique ministery or offices as till Aarons dayes sometime without any ciuill or politique gouernement as in the time of all the Patriarks sometime without peace in persecution as in the time of the Iudges wherein these persons heere named liued and sometime in most flourishing estate as vnder Dauid Salomon Asa Iosiah and such like By the which we gather that it neuer standeth in one stay but either increaseth or decreaseth ebbeth or floweth riseth or falleth waxeth or waineth therefore heerein lyeth the great comfort of the godly euen in these troublesome dayes but yet the best that euer are to be looked for in this earth wherein they see the auncient to depart and new men in theyr roome one generation commeth and another goeth iniquitie aduaunced coldnes in religion embraced dissimulation and hipocrisie maintained warres and persecution threatned to the Gospell schismes defended errors inuented the world blinded the truth declined godlines defaced and the Church of God disquieted with a thousand greater calamities this all the fathers suffered before vs and this we their children must also abide onely heerein let vs reioyse that we shall be accompted worthy to suffer for Christ and that our names are written in the kingdome of heauen Thirdly and lastly the especiall cause of this genealogie and of all the fathers and children of Abraham in one kindred was for to shew the naturall discent of Christ from Adam and so foorth vnto the virgin Mary for seeing he was to be incarnated it behoued that his parentage should be described from the beginning of the world for this cause Luke the Euangelist gathered togither the seuerall descriptions of all the genealogies pertaining to Christ throughout all the whole scripture as a necessary ground of the Gospell to declare the kindred of our Sauiour from the beginning of the world whereof these persons mentioned in this place are a part from whence he tooke them into his number Now least any man should thinke that the birth of Christ should be obscure and the taking vpon him the flesh of mankinde should be incertaine as well to conuince all errours that arose about his humanitie as to testifie the nobilitie of his birth and worthines of his parentage the persons of whome he descended are in many bookes of the scripture seuerally named and not without great commendation For this family of Christ had many and speciall blessings which were the armes of the same by which it was distinguished from all other In Adam it had this promise that the seede of the woman should breake the serpents head meaning that Christ which should be borne of a woman should ouercome the force of the deuill In Noah it had this promise that the couenaunt of God should be established with him and his seede meaning