like pictures vpon course Canuasse which shew fairest at farthest attributing forraine approbation which you cannot denie to distance more than to desert How is it then that besides strange witnesses we which looke vpon this face without preiudice commend it God knowes without flattery wee can at once acknowledge her infirmities and blesse God for her graces Our neighbours yea our selues of Scotland know our Church so well that they doe with one consent praise her for one of Gods best daughters neither doe the most rigorous amongst them more dislike our Episcopall Gouernment than imbrace our Church what fraud is this to flie from the Church in common to one circumstance we can honour that noble Church in Scotland may we not dislike their alienations of Church-liuings If one thing offend doe all displease Yet euen this Gouernment which you would haue them resist to bonds and banishment who knowes not begins to finde both fauour and place what choice other Churches would make as you doubt not so you care not If you regard their sentence how durst you reuile her as a false Harlot whom they honour as a deare Sister If you were more theirs than we you might vpbraid vs Now you tell vs what perhaps they would doe we tell you what they doe and will doe Euen with one voice blesse God for England as the most famous and flourishing Church in Christendome your handfull only makes faces enuies this true glory Who yet you say despise not our graces no more than wee those of Rome See how you despise vs while you say you are free from despite How malicious is this comparison as if wee were to you as Rome to vs and yet you despise vs more Wee grant Rome a true Baptisme M. Smiths retort vpon M. Clifton p. 50. true Visibility of a Church though monstrously corrupted you giue vs not so much Thankes be to God we care lesse for your censure than you doe for our Church We haue by Gods mercy the true and right vse of the Word and Sacraments and all other essentiall gifts and graces of God if there might be some further helps in execution to make these more effectuall we resist not But those your other imaginary ordinances as we haue not so we want not Neither the Caldeans nor any Idolatrous enemies could make Sion Babylon nor the holy vessels profane so as they should cease to be fit for Gods vse but they were brought backe at the returne of the captiuity to Ierusalem Such were our Worship Ministery Sacraments and those manifold subiects of your cauills which whilst you disgrace for their former abuse you call our good euill and willingly despise our graces SEP Where the truth is a gainer the Lord which is truth cannot bee a loser Neither is the thankes of ancient fauours lost amongst them which still presse on towards new mercies Vnthankefull are they vnto the blessed Maiestie of God and vnfaithfull also which knowing the will of their Master doe it not but goe on presumptuously in disobedience to many the holy ordinances of the Lord and of his Christ which they know and in word also acknowledge he hath giuen to his Church to be obserued and not for idle speculation and disputation without obedience It is not by our sequestration but by our confusion that Rome and Hell gaines Your odious commixture of all sorts of people in the body of your Church in whose lap the vilest miscreants are dandled sucking her brests as her naturall children and are be-blest by her as hauing right thereunto with all her holy things as Prayer Sacraments and other Ceremonies is that which aduantageth hell in the finall obduration and perdition of the wicked whom by these meanes you flatter and deceiue The Romish Prelacie and Priesthood amongst you with the appurtenances for their maintenance and ministrations are Romes aduantage Which therefore she challengeth as her owne and by which she also still holds possession amongst you vnder the hope of regaining her full inheritance at one time or other And if the Papists take aduantage at our condemnation of you and separation from you it concernes you well to see where the blame is and there to lay it lest through light and inconsiderate iudgement you iustifie the wicked and condemne the righteous SECTION LVII ALL the sequell of my Answerer is meerely sententious The issue of Separation it is fitter for vs to learne than replie Where the truth gaines say you God loseth not I tell you againe where God loseth the truth gaineth not and where the Church loseth God which indowed her cannot but lose Alas what can the truth either get or saue by such vnkinde quarrels Surely suspition on some hands on others reiection for as Optatus of his Donatists betwixt our Licet and your Non licet Inter licet vestrum non licet nostrum nutant ac remigant animae Christianorum Optat. coâ—â—â— Pâ—â—m many poore soules wauer and doubt neither will settle because we agree not Thanks are not lost where new fauours are called for but where old are denied While your Poesie is Such as the mother such is the daughter where are our old our any mercies They are vnthankfull which know what God hath done and confesse it not They are vnthankfull to God and his Deputie which knowing themselues made to obey presume to ouer-ruâ—â— and vpon their priuate authoritie obtrude to the Church those ordinances to be obseâ—ued which neuer had being but in their owne idle speculation Your Sequestration and our confusion are both of them beneficiall where they should not and as you pretend our confusion for the cause of your Separation So is your Separation the true cause of too much trouble and confusion in the Church Your odious tale of commixture hath cloyed and surfeted your Reader already and receiued answer to satietie this one dish so oft brought forth argues your pouertie The visible Church is Gods Drag-not and Field and Floore and Arke Non enim propter malos boni deserendi sed propter bonos mali tolerandi sunt c. Sicut tolerauerunt Prophetae c. Aug. Ep. 48. Barr. against Gyff here will be euer at her best Sedge Tares Chaffe vncleane Creatures yet is this no pretence for her neglect The notoriously euill shee casts from her brest and knee denying them the vse of her Prayers and which your Leaders mislike of her Sacrament If diuers through corruption of vnfaithfull Officers escape censure yet let not the transgressions of some redound to the condemnation of the whole Church In Gods iudgement it shall not we care litle if in yours Wee tell wicked men they may goe to hell with the water of Baptisme in their faces with the Church in their mouthes we denounce Gods iudgements vnpartially against their sinnes and them Thus we flatter thus we deceiue If yet they will needs runne to perdition Perditio tua ex te Israel Our Clergie is
way the best seat If I deserue well a low place cannot disparage me so much as I shall grace it if not the height of my place shall adde to my shame whiles euery man shall condemne me of pride matched with vnworthinesse 34 I see there is not so much difference betwixt a man and a beast as betwixt a Christian and a naturall man For whereas man liues but one life of reason aboue the beast a Christian liues foure liues aboue a naturall man The life of inchoate regeneration by grace the perfect life of imputed righteousnesse the life of glory begun in the separation of the soule the life of perfect glory in the society of the body with the soule in full happinesse The worst whereof is better by many degrees than the best life of a naturall man For whereas the dignitie of the life is measured by the cause of it in which regard the life of the plant is basest because it is but from the iuyce arising from the root administred by the earth the life of the bruit creature better than it because it is sensitiue of a man better than it because reasonable and the cause of this life is the Spirit of God so farre as the Spirit of God is aboue reason so farre doth a Christian exceed a meere naturalist I thanke God much that hee hath made me a man but more that hee hath made me a Christian without which I know not whether it had beene better for me to haue beene a beast or not to haue beene 35 Great mens fauours friends promises and dead mens shooes I will esteeme but not trust to 36 It is a fearefull thing to sinne more fearefull to delight in sinne yet worse than worst to boast of it If therefore I cannot auoid sinne because I am a man yet I will auoid the delight defence and boasting of sinne because I am a Christian 37 Those things which are most eagerly desired are most hardly both gotten and kept God commonly crossing our desires in what we are ouer-feruent I will therefore account all things as too good to haue so nothing too deare to lose 38 A true friend is not borne euerie day It is best to be courteous to all entire with few So may we perhaps haue lesse cause of ioy I am sure lesse occasion of sorrow 39 Secrecies as they are a burthen to the minde ere they be vttered so are they no lesse charge to the receiuer when they are vttered I will not long after more inward secrets lest I should procure doubt to my selfe and iealous feare to the discloser But as my mouth shall be shut with fidelitie not to blab them so mine eare shall not bee too open to receiue them 40 As good Physicians by one receit make way for another so is it the safest course in practice I will reueale a great secret to none but whom I haue found faithfull in lesse 41 I will enioy all things in God and God in all things nothing in it selfe So shall my ioyes neither change nor perish For how euer the things themselues may alter or fade yet he in whom they are mine is euer like himselfe constant and euerlasting 42 If I would prouoke my selfe to contentation I will cast downe mine eies to my inferiours and there see better men in worse condition if to humility I will cast them vp to my betters and so much more deiect my selfe to them by how much more I see them thought worthy to be respected of others and deserue better in themselues 43 True vertue rests in the conscience of it selfe either for reward or censure If therefore I know my selfe vpright false rumors shall not daunt me if not answerable to the good report of my fauourers I will my selfe finde the first fault that I may preuent the shame of others 44 I will account vertue the best riches knowledge the next riches the worst and therefore will labour to be vertuous and learned without condition as for riches if they fall in my way I refuse them not but if not I desire them not 45 An honest word I account better than a carelesse oath I will say nothing but what I dare sweare and will performe It is a shame for a Christian to abide his tongue a false seruant or his minde a loose mistresse 46 There is a iust and easie difference to be put betwixt a friend and an enemie betwixt a familiar and a friend and much good vse to be made of all but of all with discretion I will disclose my selfe no whit to my enemie somewhat to my friend wholly to no man lest I should be more others than mine owne Friendship is brittle stuffe How know I whether he that loues me may not hate mee hereafter 47 No man but is an easie Iudge of his owne matters and lookers on oftentimes see the more I will therefore submit my selfe to others in what I am reproued but in what I am praised onely to my selfe 48 I will not be so merry as to forget God nor so sorrowfull to forget my selfe 49 As nothing makes so strong and mortall hostilitie as discord in religions so nothing in the world vnites mens hearts so firmely as the bond of faith For whereas there are three grounds of friendship Vertue Pleasure Profit and by all confessions that is the surest which is vpon Vertue it must needs follow that what is grounded on the best and most heauenly Vertue must be the fastest which as it vnites man to God so inseparably that no tentations no torments not all the gates of Hell can seuer him so it vnites one Christian soule to another so firmely that no outward occurrences no imperfections in the partie loued can dissolue them If I loue not the childe of God for his owne sake for his Fathers sake more than my friend for my commodity or my kinsman for bloud I neuer receiued any sparke of true heauenly loue 50 The good duty that is deferred vpon a conceit of present vnfitnesse at last growes irksome and thereupon altogether neglected I will not suffer my heart to entertaine the least thought of lothnesse towards the taske of deuotion wherewith I haue stinted my selfe but violently breake thorow any motion of vnwillingnesse not without a deepe checke to my selfe for my backwardnesse 51 Hearing is a sense of great apprehension yet farre more subiect to deceit than seeing not in the manner of apprehending but in the vncertainty of the obiect Words are vocall interpreters of the minde actions reall and therefore how euer both should speake according to the truth of what is in the heart yet words doe more belie the heart than actions I care not what words I heare when I see deeds I am sure what a man doth he thinketh not so alwaies what he speaketh Though I will not bee so seuere a censor that for some few euill acts I should condemne a man of false-heartednesse yet in common course of life
One makes a man wise the other good One serues that we may know our dutie the other that we may performe it I will labour in both but I know not in whether more Men cannot practise vnlesse they know and they know in vaine if they practise not 36 There be two things in euery good worke honour and profit The latter God bestowes vpon vs the former he keepes to himselfe The profit of our works redoundeth not to God My weldoing extendeth not to thee The honour of our worke may not be allowed vs. My glorie I will not giue to another I will not abridge God of his part that he may not bereaue me of mine 37 The proud man hath no God the enuious man hath no neighbour the angry man hath not himselfe What can that man haue that wants himselfe What is a man better if he haue himselfe and want all others What is he the neerer if hee haue himselfe and others and yet want God What good is it then to be a man if he be either wrathfull proud or enuious 38 Man that was once the soueraigne Lord of all creatures whom they seruiceably attended at all times is now sent to the very basest of all creatures to learne good qualities Goe to the Pismire c. and see the most contemptible creatures prefer'd before him The Asse knoweth his owner wherein we like the miserable heire of some great Peere whose house is decaied through the treason of our progenitors heare and see what Honours and Lord-ships wee should haue had but now finde our selues below many of the vulgar we haue not so much cause of exaltation that wee are men and not beasts as we haue of humiliation in thinking how much we were once better than we are and that now in many duties we are men inferiour to beasts so as those whom we contemne if they had our reason might more iustly contemne vs and as they are may teach vs by their examples and doe condemne vs by their practice 39 The idle man is the Deuils cushion on which hee taketh his free case who as hee is vncapable of any good so he is fitly disposed for all euill motions The standing water soone stinketh whereas the current euer keepes cleere and cleanly conueying downe all noisome matter that might infect it by the force of his streame If I doe but little good to others by my endeuours yet this is great good to me that by my labour I keepe my selfe from hurt 40 There can be no neerer coniunction in nature than is betwixt the body and the soule yet these two are of so contrarie disposition that as it falls out in an ill-marched man and wife those seruants which the one likes best are most dispraised of the other so here one still takes part against the other in their choice what benefits the one is the hurt of the other The glutting of the body pines the soule and the soule thriues best when the body is pinched Who can wonder that there is such faction amongst others that sees so much in his very selfe True wisdome is to take not with the stronger as the fashion of the world is but with the better following herein not vsurped power but iustice It is not hard to discerne whose the right is whether the seruant should rule or the mistresse I will labour to make and keepe the peace by giuing each part his owne indifferently but if more bee affected with an ambitious contention I will rather beat Hagar out of dores than she shall ouer-rule her mistresse 41 I see Iron first heated red hot in the fire and after beaten and hardened with cold water Thus will I deale with an offending friend first heat him with deserued praise of his vertue and then beat vpon him with reprehension so good nurses when their children are fallen first take them vp and speake them faire chide them afterwards Gentle speech is a good preparatiue for rigor He shall see that I loue him by my approbation and that I loue not his faults by my reproofe If he loue himselfe he will loue those that mislike his vices if he loue not himselfe it matters not whether he loue me 42 The liker we are to God which is the best and onely good the better and happier we must needs be All sinnes make vs vnlike him as being contrary to his perfect holinesse but some shew more direct contrarietie such is enuie For whereas God bringeth good out of euill the enuious man fetcheth euill out of good wherein also his sinne proues a kinde of punishment for whereas to good men euen euill things worke together to their good contrarily to the enuious good things worke together to their euill The euill in any man though neuer so prosperous I will not enuie but pittie The good graces I will not repine at but holily emulate reioicing that they are so good but grieuing that I am no better 43 The couetous man is like a Spider as in this that he doth nothing but lay his nets to catch euery Flie gaping onely for a bootie of gaine so yet more in that whiles hee makes nets for these Flies he consumeth his owne bowels so that which is his life is his death If there be any creature miserable it is he and yet hee is least to be pitied because he makes himselfe miserable such as he is I will acount him and will therefore sweepe downe his webs and hate his poyson 44 In heauen there is all life and no dying in hell is all death and no life In earth there is both liuing and dying which as it is betwixt both so it prepares for both So that he which here below dies to sinne doth after liue in heauen and contrarily hee that liues in sinne vpon earth dies in hell afterwards What if I haue no part of ioy here below but still succession of afflictions The wicked haue no part in heauen and yet they enioy the earth with pleasure I would not change portions with them I reioyce that seeing I cannot haue both yet I haue the better O Lord let me passe both my deaths here vpon earth I care not how I liue or die so I may haue nothing but life to looke for in another world 45 The conceit of proprietie hardens a man against many inconueniences and addeth much to our pleasure The mother abides many vnquiet nights many painfull throes and vnpleasant sauours of her childe vpon this thought It is my owne The indulgent father magnifies that in his owne sonne which he would scarce like in a stranger The want of this to God-ward makes vs so subiect to discontentment and cooleth our delight in him because we thinke of him aloofe as one in whom we are not interessed If we could thinke It is my God that cheereth me with his presence and blessings while I prosper that afflicteth me in loue when I am deiected my Sauiour is at Gods right hand my
whole processe second my rule with his example that so what might seeme obscure in the one may by the other be explained and the same steps he seeth me take in this he may accordingly tread in any other Theme CHAP. XVIII FIrst therefore it shall be expedient to consider seriously The practice of Meditation wherein First we begin with some description of that we meditate of what the thing is whereof we meditate What then O my soule is the life of the Saints whereof thou studiest Who are the Saints but those which hauing beene weakly holy vpon earth are perfectly holy aboue which euen on earth were perfectly holy in their Sauiour now are so in themselues which ouercomming on earth are truly canonized in Heauen What is their life but that blessed estate aboue wherein their glorified soule hath a full fruition of God CHAP. XIX THe nature whereof Secondly followes an easie and voluntary diuision of the matter meditated after we haue thus shadowed out to our selues by a description not curious alwaies and exactly framed according to the rules of Art but sufficient for our owne conceit the next is if it shall seeme needfull or if the matter will beare or offer it some easie and voluntary diuision whereby our thoughts shall haue more roome made for them and our proceeding shall be more distinct There is a life of nature wh n thou my soule dwellest in this body and informest thine earthly burthen There is a life of grace when the Spirit of God dwells in thee There is a life of glory when the body being vnited to thee both shall be vnited to God or when in the meane time being separated from thy companion thou inioyest God alone This life of thine therefore as the other hath his ages hath his statures for it entreth vpon his birth when thou passest out of thy body and changest this earthly house for an Heauenly It enters into his full vigour when at the day of the common resurrection thou resumest this thy companion vnlike to it selfe like to thee like to thy Sauiour immortall now and glorious In this life here may be degrees there can be no imperfection If some be like the skie others like the Starres yet all shine If some sit at their Sauiours right hand others at his left all are blessed If some vessels hold more all are full none complaineth of want none enuieth at him that hath more CHAP. XX. 3 A consideration of the causes thereof in all kinds of them WHich done it shall be requisit for our perfecter vnderstanding and for the laying grounds of matter for our affection to carry it thorow those other principall places and heads of reason which Nature hath taught euery man both for knowledge and amplification the first whereof are the Causes of all sorts Whence is this eternall life but from him which onely is eternall which onely is the fountaine of life yea life it selfe Who but the same God that giues our temporall life giueth also that eternall The Father bestoweth it the Sonne meriteth it the Holy Ghost seales and applieth it Expect it onely from him O my soule whose free election gaue thee the first title to it to be purchased by the bloud of thy Sauiour For thou shalt not therefore be happy because he saw that thou wouldst be good but therefore art thou good because he hath ordained thou shalt be happy Hee hath ordained thee to life he hath giuen thee a Sauiour to giue this life vnto thee faith whereby thou mightest attaine to this Sauiour his Word by which thou mightst attaine to this faith what is there in this not his And yet not his so simply as that it is without thee without thy merit indeed not without thine act Thou liuest here through his blessing but by bread thou shalt liue aboue through his mercy but by thy faith below apprehending the Author of thy life And yet as he will not saue thee without thy faith so thou canst neuer haue faith without his gift Looke vp to him therefore O my soule as the beginner and finisher of thy saluation and while thou magnifiest the Author be rauished with the glory of the worke which farre passeth both the tongue of Angels and the heart of man It can be no good thing that is not there How can they want water that haue the spring Where God is enioyed in whom only all things are good what good can bee wanting And what perfection of blisse is there where all goodnesse is met and vnited In thy presence is fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand are pleasures for euermore O blessed reflection of glory We see there as we are seene in that we are seene it is our glory in that we see it is Gods glory therefore doth be glorifie vs that our glory should be to his How worthy art thou O Lord that through vs thou shouldest looke at thy selfe CHAP. XXI 4 The Consideration of the Fruits and Effects THe next place shal be the fruits and effects following vpon their seuerall causes which also affoords very feeling and copious matter to our meditation wherein it shall be euer best not so much to seeke for all as to chuse out the chiefest No maruell then if from this glory proceed vnspeakable ioy and from this ioy the sweet songs of praise and thanksgiuing The Spirit bids vs when we are merry sing How much more then when we are merry without all mixture of sorrow beyond all measure of our earthly affections shall we sing ioyfull Hallelu-iahs and Hosannahs to him that dwelleth in the highest Heauens our hearts shall be so full that we cannot chuse but sing and wee cannot but sing melodiously There is no iar in this Musicke no end of this song O blessed change of the Saints They doe nothing but weepe below and now nothing but sing aboue We sowed in teares reape in ioy there was some comfort in those teares when they were at worst but there is no danger of complaint in this heauenly mirth If we cannot sing here with Angels On earth peace yet there wee shall sing with them Glory to God on high and ioyning our voices to theirs shall make vp that celestiall consort which none can either heare or beare part in and not be happy CHAP. XXII 5 Consideration of the Subiect wherein or whereabout it is AFter which comes to be considered the Subiect either wherein that is or whereabout that is imploied which we meditate of As And indeed what lesse happinesse doth the very place promise wherein this glory is exhibited which is no other than the Paradise of God Here below we dwell or rather we wander in a continued wildernes there we shall rest vs in the true Eden I am come into my Garden my Sister my Spouse Kings vse not to dwell in Cottages of Clay but in Royall Courts fit for their estate How much more shall the King of Heauen who hath
the one hand a poore conscionable Christian drouping vnder the remorse for his sinne austerely checking his wanton appetite and curbing his rebellious desires wearing out his daies in a rough penitentiall seuerity cooling his infrequent pleasures with sighs and sawcing them with teares on the other hand ruffling Gallants made all of pleasure and Iouiall delights bathing themselues in a sea of all sensuall satieties denying their pampered nature nothing vnder heauen not wine in bowles not strange flesh and beastly dalliance not vnnaturall titillations not violent filthinesse that feast without feare and drinke without measure and sweare without feeling and liue without God their bodies are vigorous their coffers full their state prosperous their hearts cheerefull O how thou blessest such men Lo these thou saist these are the dearlings of heauen and earth Sic ô ficiuvat vinere Whiles those other sullen mopish creatures are the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 off-scouring and recrements of the world Thou foole giue me thy hand let mee lead thee with Dauid into the sanctuary of God Now what seest thou The end the end of these men is not peace Surely ô God thou hast set them in slippery places and castest them downe into desolation how suddenly are they perished and horribly consumed Woe is mee they doe but dance a Galliard ouer the mouth of hell that seemes now couered ouer with the greene sods of pleasure The higher they leape the more desperate is their lighting Oh wofull wofull condition of those godlesse men yea those Epicurean Pockets whose belly is their God whose heauen is their pleasure whose cursed iollity is but a feeding vp to an eternall slaughter the day is comming wherein euery minute of their sinfull vnsatisfying ioyes shall be answered with a thousand thousand millions of yeeres frying in that vnquenchable fire And when those damned Ghosts shall forth of their incessant flames see the glorious remuneration of the penitent and pensiue soules which they haue despised they shall then gnash and yell out that late recantation Wee fooles thought their life madnesse and their end without honour now they are counted among the children of God and the portion is among the Saints our amongst Deuils Iudge not therefore according to appearance Should we iudge according to appearance all would be Gold that glistereth all drosse that glistereth not Hypocrites haue neuer shewed more faire than some Saints foule Saul weepes Ahab walkes softly Tobias and Sanballat will bee building Gods walles Herod heares Iohn gladly Balaam prophesies Christ Iudas preaches him Satan confesses him When euen an Abraham dissembles a Dauid clokes adultery with murder a Salomon giues at least a toleration to idolatry a Peter forsweares his Master brieffly the prime disciple is a Satan Satan an Angell of light For you How gladly are we deceiued in thinking you all such as you seeme None but the Court of Heauen hath a fairer face Prayers Sermons Sacraments geniculation silence attention reuerence applause knees eyes eares mouthes full of God Oh that ye were thus alwaies Oh that this were your worst side But if wee follow you from the Church and finde cursing and bitternesse vnder your tongues licentious disorder in your liues bribery and oppression in your hands If God looke into the windowes of your hearts and finde there be intus vapina we cannot iudge you by the appearance or if we could What comfort were it to you to haue deceiued our charity with the appearance of Saints when the righteous Iudge shall giue you your portion with Hypocrites What euer wee doe he will be sure not to iudge according to the appearance If appearance should bee the rule false religion should be true true false Quaedam falsa probabiliora quibusdam veris is the old word Some falshoods are more likely than some truths Natiue beauty scornes Art Truth is as a matron Error a curtizan The matron cares onely to concile loue by a graue and gracefull modesty the curtizan with philtres and farding Wee haue no hierarchy mounted aboue Kings no pompous ostentation of magnificence no garish processions no gaudy altars no fine images clad with Taffates in summer with veluets in winter no flourishes of vniuersality no rumors of miracles no sumptuous canonizations wee haue nothing but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sincerity of Scriptures simplicity of Sacraments decency of rare ceremonies Christ crucified We are gone if yee goe by appearance Gone alas who can but blush and weepe and bleed to see that Christian soules should after such beames of knowledge suffer themselues to bee thus palpably cozened with the gilded slips of error that after so many yeeres pious gouernment of such an incomparable succession of religious Princes authority should haue cause to complaine of our defection Deare Christians I must be sharpe are we children or fooles that wee should bee better pleased with the glittering tinsel of a painted baby from a Pedlers shop than with the secretly-rich and inualuable Iewell of diuine Truth Haue we thus learned Christ Is this the fruit of so cleere a Gospell of so blessed scepters For Gods sake bee wise and honest and yee cannot be Apostates Shortly for it were easie to bee endlesse If appearance might bee the rule good should bee euill euill good there is no vertue that cannot bee counterfetted no vice that cannot bee blanched wee should haue no such friend as our enemy a flatterer no such enemie as our friend that reproues vs. It were a wonder if yee great ones should not haue some such burs hanging vpon your sleeues As soone shall corne grow without chaffe as greatnesse shall bee free from adulation These seruile spirits shall sooth vp all your purposes and magnifie all your actions and applaud your words and adore your persons Sin what yee will they will not checke you Proiect what you will they will not thwart you say what ye will they will not faile to second you bee what yee will they will not faile to admire you Oh how these men are all for you all yours all you They loue you as the Rauens doe your eyes How deare was Sisera to Iael when she smoothed him vp and gaue him milke in a lordly dish Samson to Dalilah when she lulled him in her lap Christ to Iudas when he kissed him See how he loued him would some foole haue said that had iudged by appearance In the meane time an honest plaine dealing friend is like those sauces which a man praises with teares in his eyes like a chesnut which pricks the fingers but pleases our taste or like some wholsome medicinall potion than distastes and purges vs perhaps makes vs sicke that it may heale vs. Oh let the righteous smite mee for that is a benefit let him reproue mee and it shall bee a precious oyle that shall not breake my head Breake it no it shall heale it when it is mortally wounded by my owne sinne by others assentation Oh how happy were it if we could loue
the Popes leaue without any reasonable cause that such Mariage of his is a true Mariage and the parties maried are true Husband and Wife and their Issue truely legitimate although in so marying both the parties should sinne mortally in doing this act against the Vow of Chastity without a reasonable or at least a probable cause of their so licensing and consequently neither should the Pope himselfe be excused from mortall sin But if there be any reasonable cause of dispensing with this vow of Chastity then the party thus marying and dispenced with may both safely marry and liue in Mariage And hereupon it appeares That since a reasonable cause of dispensing with this Vow of Chastity may bee not onely the publike Vtility whether Ciuill or Ecclesiasticall but any other greater good then the obseruing of that Chastity it iustly followes that the Pope not only may but with a safe Conscience may dispence with a Priest of the Westerne or Roman Church that he may marry euen besides the cause of a publike benefit And therefore the determination of some hath beene too presumptuous in affirming That absolutely and without such cause the Pope cannot dispence whereas as we haue shewed the Pope may doe it without any cause though in so doing he should sinne and with any reasonable cause without sinne and in both the Matrimony stands firme Thus he Words that neede neither Paraphrase nor Inforcement And how h h Sedes clementissima quae nulli deesse consâ—euit dummodo albi aliquid vel rubei intercedat Matth. Paris Alius abusus est in dispensationibus cum Constitutis in Sacr. Ord. c. vsuall the practice of this Dispensation hath beene that we may not rest onely in Speculation appeares enough by the ingenious complaint of their i i Concil Select Card. Si Sacerdotes non maturâ deliberatione se astrinxerunt videat Rom. Pont. qui circa haec solet dispensare quid sit agendum in particularibus Mart. Perefius c. selected Cardinalls to Paul the third Who cry downe the abuse of these ouer-frequent Grants which they would not haue yeelded but vpon publike and weighty Causes especially say they in these Times wherein the Lutherans vrge this matter with so much vehemence Neither is it long since our kind Apostate M. Carier gaue vs here in England from bigger Men then himselfe an ouerture of the likelyhood of this liberall Dispensation from his holy Father of Rome vpon the conditions of our re-subiection Would we therefore but stoope to kisse the Carbuncle of that sacred Toe our Clergy might as well consist with holy Wedlocke as the Grecian Oh the grosse mockery of Soules not more ignorant then credulous Will his Holinesse dispense with vs for our sinne We can be dispensed with at home for his dispensation It is their Sorrow that the World is growne wiser and findes Heauen no lesse neere to Douer-Cliffe then to the Seuen-hills And ere we leaue this point it is very considerable what may be a reasonable cause of this Dispensation For those very k k His votis afirictus non potest Matrimonium absque Dispensatine iâ—ire quamuis vebementissimis carnis stimulis vrgeatur c. Sanch. l. 7. de Matr. Imped Disp. 11. Authoritas superioris dispensantis expectanda est Communis illa regula Doctorum nominatim Caietani nimirum quando ei qui vouit conflat aliquid esse melius praeteritá voti materia posse propriâ authoritate recedere Sanch. de Matr. l. 7. de Impedim Disp Iesuites which hold the power of this Vow such That the vehementest tentations and foyles of the flesh may not be relieued with an arbitrary Matrimonie since the matter of this Vow is so important and caries so much danger in the violation as that it is not to bee left to the power of a priuate Iudgement though morally certaine whether Matrimonie all things considered be in this particular expedient for that may bee fit for a man as a singular person which is not fit for him as part of the community yet they grant that this extreame perplexednesse and violence of carnall motions is a iust cause of dispensation What need we more Though some l l Angel Matr. 3. Jmped 5. in fine vera cruz 1. part spec art 15. Casuists be more fauourable and grant that in such cases we may not onely allow but perswade Matrimonie to the perplexed Votary As Cardinall m m Aen. Syl. Epist 307. So Benedict 12. gaue Dispensation to Petrarch Archdeacon of Parma to marry his Laura too neere him in blood as it is thought and ex vberiore gratiae that he should keepe all his Promotions and receiue yet more on coâ—dion that the said Benedict might haue the vse of Petrarchs sister Matth. Parker Defens of Pr. Marr. ex Fasciculo Temp. Platina vita Petrarchae c. Aeneas Syluius who was neuer lesse Pius then when he was Pius giues this hearty aduice to his friend Iohn Freünd a Roman Priest that he should notwithstanding his Orders helpe himselfe by Mariage yet the former will serue our turne If therefore those superiours which haue all lawfull and spirituall authority ouer vs shall haue thought good vpon this reasonable cause to giue a generality of dispensation to all such of our Clergie as shall not after all carefull and serious indeuours find themselues able to containe allowing them by these lawfull remedies to quench those impure flames What can any Iesuit or Deuill except against this This is simply the cleere case of them whose cause I maintaine And yet further Put the case this had not been if without the thought of any Romish Dispensation the n n Occidentalis non Orientalis Ecclesia castitatis obtulit votum in Dist 31. Easterne Church neuer held it needfull to require the Vow of single life in the Ministers of the Altar they know the words of their own Glosse why should not our Church challenge the same immunity for that from the generall consideration of Ecclesiastiques as such we may turne our eies to our Ecclesiastiques in speciall no Church vnder heauen kept it selfe more free from the bondage of those tyrannous Impositions The o o Vid postea Epist Girard Eboracens Arch. ad Anselm Huntingd. Fabian Polidor Virgil. vid. post lib. 3. Clergie of this Iland from the beginning neuer offered any such vow the Bishops neuer required it for more if any credit be due to Histories then a thousand yeeres after Christ The great Champion of Rome Master Harding was driuen to say They did it by a becke if not by a Dieu-gard but could neuer proue it done by either Neither is it more worth my Readers note then my Aduersaries indignation that the wise Prouidence of God so pleased to contriue it of old as that from the beginning of the first conuersion of this happy Island it rather conspired with the Greek Church then with the Roman After the Grecian account we
altogether of humane constitution must like to remedies in diseases be attempered to the present estate of matters and times Those things which were once religiously instituted afterwards according to occasion and the changed quality of manners and times may be with more Religion and Piety abrogated which yet is not to bee done by the temerity of the people but by the authority of Gouernors that tumult may be auoyded and that the publicke custome may be so altred that concord may not be broken the very same is perhaps to be thought concerning the Mariage of Priests of old as there was great paucity of Priests so great Pietie also They that they might more freely attend those holy Seruices made themselues chaste of their owne accord And so much were those Ancients affected to Chastitie that they would hardly permit Mariage vnto that Christian whom his Baptisme found single but a second Mariage yet more hardly And now that which seemed plausible in Bishops and Priests was translated to Deacons and at last to sub-Deacons which voluntarily receiued custome was confirmed by the authority of Popes In the meane time the member of Priests increased and their Pietie decreased Inter hos quanta raritas eorum qui castè viuunt How many swarmes of Priests are maintained in Monasteries and Colledges and amongst them how few are there that liue chastly I speake of them which doe publikely keepe Concubines in their houses in stead of their Wiues Nec enim attingo nunc secretiorum libidinum mystâ—ria c. I doe not now meddle with the mysteries of their more secret lusts I onely speake of those things which are most notoriously knowne to the World And yet when we know these things how easie are we to admit men into holy Orders and how difficult in releasing this constitution of single life when as contrarily S. Paul teaches that hands must not be rashly laid vpon any and more then once hath prescribed what manner of men Priests and Deacons ought to be but of their single life neither Christ nor his Apostles hath euer giuen any Law in the holy Scriptures Long since hath the Church abrogated the nightly Vigils at the Tombes of Martyrs which yet had been receiued by the publike custome of Christians and that for diuers Ages Those Fasts which were wont to continue till the euening it hath transferred to noon and many other things hath it changed according to the occasions arising Cur hic humanaÌ„ constitutionem vrgemus tam obstinatè praesertim cùm tot causa suadeant mutationem Primùm enim magna pars Sacerdotum viuit cum malâ famâ parumque requieta conscientia tractat illa sacrosancta mysteria c. And why then doe we so obstinately vrge this humane constitution especially when so many causes perswade vs to an alteration For first a great part of our Priests liues with an ill name and with an vnquiet conscience handleth those holy Mysteries And then the fruit of their labours for the most part is vtterly lost because their doctrine is contemned of their people by reason of their shamefull life Whereas if Mariage might be yeelded to those which doe not containe both they would liue more quietly and should preach Gods Word to the people with authority and might honestly bring vp their children neither should the one of them bee a mutuall shame to other c. FINIS A BRIEFE SVMME OF THE Principles of Religion fit to be knowne of such as would addresse themselues to Gods TABLE Q HOw many things are required of a Christian A. Two Knowledge and Practice Q What are we bound to know A. God and our selues Q. What must we know of God A. What one he is and what he hath done Q. What is God A. He is one Almightie and infinite Spirit Father Sonne and Holy Ghost Q. What hath he done A. He hath made all things he gouerneth and preserueth all things and hath eternally decreed how all things shall bee done and hath reuealed his will to vs in his Word Q. What more must we know concerning God and his actions A. That God the Son Christ Iesus tooke our nature vpon him dyed for our redemption rose again and now liueth gloriously in Heauen making intercession for vs. Q. Thus much concerning God What must we know of our selues A. What we were what we are and what we shall be Q. What were we A. We were made at first perfect and happy according to Gods Image in knowledge in holinesse in righteousnesse Q. What are we now A. Euer since the fall of our first Parents we are all naturally the sonnes of wrath subiect to misery and death But those whom God chooseth out to himselfe are in part renewed through grace and haue the Image of God in part repaired in them Q. What shall we be A. At the general resurrection of all flesh those which were in part renewed here shall be fully perfited and glorified in body and soule those which haue liued and dyed in their sinnes shall be iudged to perpetuall torments Q. Thus much for our knowledge Now for our practice what is required of vs A. Due obedience and seruice to God both in our ordinary course of life and also in the speciall exercises of his worship Q. What is that obedience which is required of vs in the ordinary course of our life A. It is partly prescribed vs by the Law and partly by the Gospell Q. What doth the Law require A. The Law contained in Ten Commandements enioyneth vs all piety to God and all iustice and charity to our neighbour Q. What doth the Gospell require A. Faith in Lord Iesus with the fruit of it Repentance as our onely remedie for the breach of the Law Q. What is faith A. The affiance of the soule vpon Christ Iesus depending vpon him alone for forgiuenesse and saluation Q What is Repentance A. An effectuall breaking off our old sinnes with sorrow and detestation and an earnest purpose and endeuour of contrary obedience Q. Thus much of our obedience in the whole course of life What are the seruices required more specially in the immediate exercises of Gods worship A. They are chiefly three first Due hearing and reading the Word secondly Receiuing the Sacraments thirdly Prayer Q. Which call you the Word of God A. The holy Scriptures contained in the Old and New Testament Q. How many Sacraments are there A. Two Baptisme and the Lords Supper Q. What is the vse of Baptisme A. By water washing the body to assure vs that the blood of Christ applied to the soule of euery beleeuer clenseth him from his sinnes Q. What is the vse of the Lords Supper A. To be a signe a seale a pledge vnto vs of Christ Iesus giuen for vs giuen to vs. Q. What signifies the Bread and wine A. The body and blood of Christ broken and powred out for our redemption Q. What is required of euery Receiuer A. Vpon paine
fleshly forehead of authority dant vs how shall we stand before the dreadfull Tribunall of Heauen Moses maruels to see Israel run away from their Guide as from their Enemie and lookes backe to see if hee could discerne any new cause of feare and not conceiuing how his myld face could affray them cals them to stay and retyre Oh my people whom doe ye flee It is for your sakes that I ascended stayd came downe Behold here are no armed Leuites to strike you no Amalekites no Aegyptians to pursue you no fires and thunders to dismay you I haue not that rod of God in my hand which you haue seene to command the Elements or if I had so farre am I from purposing any rigor against you that I now lately haue appeased God towards you and lo here the pledges of his reconciliation God sends me to you for good and do you run from your best friend Whither will ye go from me or without me Stay and heare the charge of that God from whom yee cannot flee They perceiue his voyce the same though his face were changed and are perswaded to stay and returne and heare him whom they dare not see and now after many doubtfull paces approching neerer dare tell him he was growne too glorious Good Moses finding that they durst not looke vpon the Sunne of his face clouds it with a vayle Choosing rather to hide the worke of God in him then to want opportunity of reuealing Gods will to his people I doe not heare him stand vpon termes of reputation if there be glory in my face God put it there he would not haue placed it so conspicuously if he had meant it should be hid Hide ye your faces rather which are blemished with your sinne and looke not that I should wrong God and my selfe to seeme lesse happy in fauor of your weaknesse But without all selfe respects he modestly hides his glorified face cares not their eyes should pierce so far as to his skin on condition that his words may pierce into their eares It is good for a man sometimes to hide his graces Some Talents are best improued by being layd vp Moses had more glory by his Vaile then by his face Christian modesty teaches a wise man not to expose himselfe to the fayrest shew and to liue at the vtmost pitch of his strength There is many a rich Stone laid vp in the bowels of the Earth many a fayre Pearle laid vp in the bosome of the Sea that neuer was seene nor neuer shall bee There is many a goodly Starre which because of height comes not within our account How did our true Moses with the Vayle of his flesh hide the glory of his Dietie and put on vilenesse besides the laying aside of Maiesty and shut vp his great and Diuine Miracles with See you tell no man How farre are those spirits from this which care only to be seene and wish onely to dazle others eyes with admiration not caring for vnknowne Riches But those yet more which desire to seeme aboue themselues whether in parts or graces whose Vayle is fairer then their skinne Modest faces shall shine through their Vailes when the vain-glorious shall bewray their shame through their couering That God which gaue his Law in smoke deliuered it againe through the Vayle of Moses Israel could not looke to the end of that which should be abolished for the same cause had God a Vayle vpon his face which hid his presence in the Holy of Holies Now as the Vayle of God did rend when he said It is finished so the Vayle of Moses then pulled off We cleerely see Christ the end of the Law Our Ioshua that succeeded Moses speakes to vs bare-faced what a shame is it there should bee a Vayle vpon our hearts when there is none on his face When Moses went to speake with God he pulled off his Vayle It was good reason he should present to God that face which he had made There had beene more need of his Vayle to hide the glorious face of God from him then to hide his from God but his faith and thankfulnesse serue for both these vses Hypocrites are contrary to Moses he shewed his worst to men his best to God they shew their best to men their worst to God but God sees both their Vayle and their face and I know not whether he hates their vayle of dissimulation or their face of wickednesse Of NADAB and ABIHV THat God which shewed himselfe to men in fire when hee deliuered his Law would haue men present their Sacrifices to him in fire and this fire hee would haue his owne that there might bee a iust circulation in this creature as the water sends vp those vapours which it receiues downe againe in raine Hereupon it was that fire came downe from God vnto the Altar That as the charge of the Sacrifice was deliuered in fire and smoake so God might signifie the acceptation of it in the like fashion wherein it was commanded The Baalites might lay ready their Bullocke vpon the wood and water in their Trench but they might sooner fetch the blood out of their bodies and destroy themselues then one flash out of Heauen to consume the Sacrifice That Deuill which can fetch downe fire from Heauen either maliciously or to no purpose although he abound with fire and did as feruenly desire this fire in emulation to God as euer he desired mitigation of his owne yet now hee could no more kindle a fire for the Idolatrous Sacrifice then quench the flames of his own torment Herein God approues himselfe only worthy to be sacrificed vnto that he creates the fire of his owne seruice whereas the impotent Idols of the Heathen must fetch fire from their neighbors Kitchen and themselues are fit matter for their borrowed fire The Israelites that were led too much with sense if they had seene the Bullocke consumed with a fire fetcht from a common hearth could neuer haue acknowledged what relation the Sacrifice had to God had neuer perceiued that God tooke notice of the Sacrifice but now they see the fire comming out from the presence of God they are conuinced both of the power and acceptation of the Almightie They are at once amazed and satisfied to see the same God answer by fire which before had spoken by fire God doth not lesse approue our Euangelicall Sacrifices then theirs vnder the Law but as our Sacrifices are spirituall so are the signes of his acceptation Faith is our guide as Sense was theirs Yea euen still doth God testifie his approbation by sensible euidences when by a liuely faith and feruent zeale our hearts are consecraten to God then doth this heauenly fire come down vpon our Sacrifices then are they holy liuing acceptable This flame that God kindled was not as some momentany bonefire for a sudden and short triumph nor as a domesticall fire to goe out with the day but is giuen for a perpetuity and
Iericho will be won with looking at Or doe they onely come to count how many paces it is about our City If this be their manner of siege we shall haue no great cause to feare the sword of Israel Wicked men thinke God in iest when he is preparing for their iudgement The Almighty hath vvayes and counsels of his owne vtterly vnlike to ours vvhich because our reason cannot reach we are ready to condemne of foolishnesse and impossibilitie With vs there is no way to victory but fighting and the strongest caries the spoyle God can giue victory to the feet as well as to the hands and when he will makes weaknesse no disaduantage What should we doe but follow God through by-wayes and know that he will in spight of nature lead vs to our end All the men of warre must compasse the Citie yet it was not the presence of the great warriours of Israel that threw down the wals of Iericho Those foundations were not so slightly laid as that they could not endure either a looke or a march or a battery It was the Arke of God whose presence demolished the wals of that wicked City The same power that draue backe the waters of Iordan before and afterwards laid Dagon on the floore cast down all those forts The Priests beare on their shoulders that mighty engine of God before which those wals if they had beene of molten brasse could not stand Those spirituall wickednesses yea those gates of hell which to nature are vtterly inuincible by the power of the Word of God which he hath committed to the cariage of his weake seruants are ouerthrowne and triumphed ouer Thy Arke O God hath beene long amongst vs how is it that the wals of our corruptions stand still vnruined It hath gone before vs his Priests haue caried it wee haue not followed it our hearts haue not attended vpon it and therefore how mighty soeuer it is in it selfe yet to vs it hath not been so powerfull as it would Seuen dayes together they walkt this round They made this therefore their Sabbath-dayes iourney and who knowes whether the last and longest walke which brought victory to Israel were not on this day Not long before an Israelite is stoned to death for but gathering a few sticks that day Now all the host of Israel must walke about the wals of a large and populous City and yet doe not violate the day Gods precept is the rule of the iustice and holinesse of all our actions Or was it for that reuenge vpon Gods enemies is an holy worke and such as God vouchsafes to priuiledge with his owne day Or because when we haue vndertaken the exploits of God he will abide no intermission till we haue fulfilled them Hee allowes vs to breathe not to breake off till we haue finished It had been as easie for God to haue giuen this successe to their first dayes walke yea to their first pace or their first sight of Iericho yet he will not giue it vntill the end of their seuen dayes toyle It is the pleasure of God to hold vs both in worke and in expectation And though hee require our continuall indeuours for the subduing of our corruptions during the sixe dayes of our life yet we shall neuer find it perfectly effected till the very euening of our last day In the meane time it must content vs that we are in our walke and that these wals cannot stand when wee come to the measure and number of our perfection A good heart grones vnder the sense of his infirmities faine would be rid of them and striues and prayes but when hee hath all done vntill the end of the seuenth day it cannot be If a stone or two moulder off from these wals in the meane time that is all but the foundations will not be remoued till then When we heare of so great a designe as the miraculous winning of a mighty City who would not looke for some glorious meanes to worke it when we heare that the Arke of God must besiege Iericho who would not looke for some royall equipage But behold â—here seuen Priests must go before it with seuen Trumpets of Rams horns The Israelites had trumpets of siluer which God had appointed for the vse of assembling and dissoluing the Congregation for warre and for peace Now I doe not heare them called for but in stead thereof Trumpets of Rams hornes base for the matter and not loud for sound the shortnesse and equall measure of those instruments could not afford either shrilnesse of noise or variety How meane and homely are those meanes which God commonly vses in the most glorious workes No doubt the Citizens of Iericho answered this dull alarum of theirs from their wals with other instruments of lowder report and more martiall ostentation and the vulgar Israelites thought We haue as cleare and as costly trumpets as theirs yet no man dares offer to sound the better when the worse are commanded If we finde the ordinances of God poore and weake let it content vs that they are of his owne choosing and such as whereby he will so much more honour himselfe as they in themselues are more inglorious Not the outside but the efficacie is it that God cares for No Ramme of iron could haue been so forceable for battery as these Rams horns For when they sounded long and were seconded with the shout of the Israelites all the walls of Iericho fell downe at once They made the Heauen ring with their shout but the ruine of those wals drowned their voice and gaue a pleasant kinde of horrour to the Israelites The earth shooke vnder them with the fall but the hearts of the Inhabitants shooke yet more many of them doubtlesse were slaine with those walles wherein they had trusted A man might see death in the faces of all the rest that remained who now being halfe dead with astonishment expected the other halfe from the sword of their enemies They had now neither meanes nor will to resist for if onely one breach had beene made as it vses in other sieges for the entrance of the enemy perhaps new supplyes of defendants might haue made it vp with their carkasses but now that at once Iericho is turned to a plaine field euery Israelite without resistance might runne to the next booty and the throats of their enemies seemed to inuite their swords to a dispatch If but one Israelite had knockt at the gates of Iericho it might haue been thought their hand had helped to the victory Now that God may haue all the glory without the show of any riuall yea of any meanes they doe but walke and shout and the walls giue way He cannot abide to part with any honour from himselfe As hee doth all things so he would be acknowledged They shout all at once It is the presence of Gods Arke and our conioyned prayers that are effectuall to the beating downe of wickednesse They may not shout till they be
brethren Craftily yet and vnder pretence of a false title had they acknowledged the victory of Gideon with what forehead could they haue denied him bread Now I know not whether their faithlesnesse or enuy lie in their way Are the hands of Zeba and Zalmunna in thy hands There were none of these Princes of Succoth and Penuel but thought themselues better men then Gideon That he therefore alone should doe that which all the Princes of Israel durst not attempt they hated and scorned to heare It is neuer safe to measure euents by the power of the instrument nor in the causes of God whose calling makes the difference to measure others by our selues There is nothing more dangerous then in holy businesses to stand vpon comparisons and our owne reputation sith it is reason God should both chuse and blesse where he lists To haue questioned so sudden a victory had been pardonable but to deny it scornfully was vnworthy of Israelites Carnall men thinke that impossible to others which themselues cannot doe From hence are their censures hence their exclamations Gideon hath vowed a fearefull reuenge and now performes it the taunts of his brethren may not stay him from the pursuit of the Midianites Common enmities must first be opposed domesticall at more leysure The Princes of Succoth feared the tyranny of the Midianitish Kings but they more feared Gideons victory What a condition hath their enuy drawne them into that they are sorry to see Gods enemies captiue that Israels freedome must be their death that the Midianites and they must tremble at one and the same Reuenger To see themselues prisoners to Zeba and Zalmunna had not been so fearefull as to see Zeba and Zalmunna prisoners to Gideon Nothing is more terrible to euill mindes then to reade their owne condemnation in the happy successe of others hell it selfe would want one piece of his torment if the wicked did not know those whom they contemned glorious I know not whether more to commend Gideons wisedome and moderation in the proceedings then his resolution and iustice in the execution of this businesse I doe not see him run furiously into the City and kill the next His sword had not been so drunken with bloud that it should know no difference But he writes down the names of the Princes and singles them forth for reuenge When the Leaders of God come to a Iericho or Ai their slaughter was vnpartiall not a woman or child might liue to tell newes but now that Gideon comes to a Succoth a City of Israelites the rulers are called forth to death the people are frighted with the example not hurt with the iudgement To enwrappe the innocent in any vengeance is a murderous iniustice Indeed where all ioyne in the sin all are worthy to meet in the punishment It is like the Citizens of Succoth could haue been glad to succour Gideon if their rulers had not forbidden they must therefore escape whiles their Princes perish I cannot thinke of Gideons reuenge without horror That the Rulers of Succoth should haue their flesh torne from their backs with thornes and briers that they should bee at once beaten and scratcht to death What a spectacle it was to see their bare bones looking some-where thorow the bloudy ragges of their flesh and skinne and euery stroke worse then the last death multiplied by torment Iustice is sometimes so seuere that a tender beholder can scarce discerne it from cruelty I see the Midianites fare lesse ill the edge of the sword makes a speedy and easie passage for their liues whiles these rebellious Israelites dye lingringly vnder thornes and bryers enuying those in their death whom their life abhorred Howsoeuer men liue or dye without the pale of the Church a wicked Israelite shall be sure of plagues How many shall vnwish themselues Christians when Gods reuenges haue found them out The place where Iacob wrestled with God and preuailed now hath wrestled against God and takes a fall they see God auenging which would not beleeue him deliuering It was now time for Zeba and Zalmunna to follow those their troops to the graue whom they had led in the field Those which the day before were attended with an hundred thirty fiue thousand followers haue not so much as a Page now left to weep for their death and haue liued onely to see all their friends and some enemies dye for their sakes Who can regard earthly greatnesse that sees one night change two of the greatest Kings of the World into captiues It had been both pitty and sinne that the Heads of that Midianitish tyranny into which they had drawn so many thousands should haue escaped that death And yet if priuate reuenge had not made Gideon iust I doubt whether they had died The bloud of his brothers cals for theirs and awakes his sword to their execution He both knew and complained of the Midianitish oppression vnder which Israel groned yet the cruelty offered to all the thousands of his Fathers sonnes had not drawne the bloud of Zeba and Zalmunna if his owne mothers sonnes had not bled by their hands He that slew the Rulers of Succoth and Penuel spared the people now hath slain the people of Midian and would haue spared their Rulers but that God which will finde occasions to winde wicked men into iudgement will haue them slaine in a priuate quarrel which had more deserued it for the publike If we may not rather say that Gideon reuenged these as a Magistrate not as a brother For Gouernours to respect their owne ends in publike actions and to weare the sword of iustice in their owne sheath it is a wrongfull abuse of authority The slaughter of Gideons brethren was not the greatest sinne of the Midianitish Kings this alone shall kill them when the rest expected an vniust remission How many lewd men hath God payd with some one sinne for all the rest Some that haue gone away with vnnuturally filthinesse and capitall thefts haue clipped off their owne dayes with their coyne Others whose bloudy murders haue been punished in a mutinous word Others whose suspected felony hath payd the price of their vnknowne rape O God thy iudgements are iust euen when mens are vniust Gideons young soone is bidden to reuenge the death of his Vncles His sword had not yet learned the way to bloud especially of Kings though in yrons Deadly executions require strength both of heart and face How are those aged in euill that can draw their swords vpon the lawfuly Anointed of God These Tyrants plead not now for coutinuance of life but for the haste of their death Fall thou vpon vs. Death is euer accompanied with paine which it is no maruell if we wish short We doe not more affect protraction of an easefull life then speed in our dissolution for here euery pang that tends toward death renewes it To lye an houre vnder death is tedious but to be dying a whole day we thinke aboue the
that hee which cast your god so low can cast you lower The true God owes a shame to those which will be making matches betwixt himselfe and Belial But this perhaps was onely a mischance or a neglect of attendance lay to your hands O ye Philistims and raise vp Dagon into his place It is a miserable god that needs helping vp Had ye not beene more senselesse then that stone how could you choose but thinke How shall he raise vs aboue our enemies that cannot rise alone How shall he establish vs in the station of our peace that cannot hold his owne foot If Dagon did giue the foile vnto the God of Israel what power is it that hath cast him vpon his face in his owne Temple It is iust with God that those which want grace shall want wit too it is the power of superstition to turne men into those stocks and stones which they worship They that make them are like vnto them Doubtlesse this first fall of Dagon was kept as secret and excused as well as it might and serued rather for astonishment then conuiction there was more strangenesse then horrour in that accident That whereas Dagon had wont to stand and the Philistims fall downe now Dagon fell downe and the Philistims stood and must become the patrons of their owne god their god worships them vpon his face and craues more helpe from them then euer hee could giue But if their sottishnesse can digest this all is well Dagon is set in his place and now those hands are lift vp to him which helped to lift him vp and those faces are prostrate vnto him before whom he lay prostrate Idolatry and superstition are not easily put out of countenance but will the iealousie of the true God put it vp thus Shall Dagon escape with an harmlesse fall Surely if they had let him lye still vpon the pauement perhaps that insensible statue had found no other reuenge but now they will be aduancing it to the rood-loft againe and affront Gods Arke with it the euent will shame them and let them know how much God scornes a partner either of his owne making or theirs The morning is fittest for deuotion then doe the Philistims flocke to the Temple of their god What a shame is it for vs to come late to ours Although not so much pietie as curiositie did now hasten their speed to see what rest their Dagon was allowed to get in his owne roofe and now behold their kind god is come to meet them in the way some pieces of him salute their eyes vpon the threshold Dagons head and hands are ouer-runne their fellowes to tell the Philistims how much they were mistaken in a god This second fall breakes the Idoll in pieces and threats the same confusion to the worshippers of it Easie warnings neglected end euer in destruction The head is for deuising the hand for execution In these two powers of their god did the Philistims chiefly trust these are therefore laid vnder their feet vpon the threshold that they might afarre off see their vanity and that if they would they might set their foot on that best peece of their god wherein their heart was set There was nothing wherein that Idoll resembled a man but in his head and hands the rest was but a scaly portraiture of a fish God would therefore separate from this stone that part which had mocked man with the counterfeit of himselfe that man might see what an vnworthy lumpe he had matched with himselfe and set vp aboue himselfe The iust quarrell of God is bent vpon those meanes and that parcell which haue dared to rob him of his glory How can the Philistims now misse the sight of their owne folly how can they bee but enough conuicted of their mad idolatry to see their god lye broken to morsels vnder their feet euery peece whereof proclaimes the power of him that brake it and the stupidity of those that adored it Who would expect any other issue of this act but to heare the Philistims say Wee now see how superstition hath blinded vs Dagon is no god for vs our hearts shall neuer more rest vpon a broken statue That onely true God which hath beaten ours shall challenge vs by the right of conquest but here was none of this rather a further degree of their dotage followes vpon this palpable conuiction They cannot yet suspect that god whose head they may trample vpon but in stead of hating their Dagon that lay broken vpon their threshold they honour the threshold on which Dagon lay and dare not set their foot on that place which was hallowed by the broken head and hands of their Deitie Oh the obstinacie of Idolatry which where it hath got hold of the heart knowes neither to blush nor yeeld but rather gathers strength from that which might iustly confound it The hand of the Almighty which moued them not in falling vpon their god fals now neerer them vpon their persons and strikes them in their bodies which would not feele themselues stricken in their Idoll Paine shall humble them whom shame cannot Those which had entertained the secret thoughts of abominable idolatrie within them are now plagued in the inwardest and most secret part of their bodies with a loathsome disease and now grow weary of themselues in stead of their idolatry I doe not heare them acknowledge it was GODS hand which had stricken Dagon their god till now they finde themselues stricken GODS iudgements are the racke of godlesse men If one straine make them not confesse let them bee stretched but one wrench higher and they cannot be silent The iust auenger of sinne will not lose the glory of his executions but will haue men know from whom they smart The Emerods were not a disease beyond the compasse of naturall causes neither was it hard for the wiser sort to giue a reason of their complaint yet they ascribe it to the hand of God The knowledge and operation of secondary causes should be no preiudice to the first They are worse then the Philistims who when they see the meanes doe not acknowledge the first Mouer whose actiue and iust power is no lesse seene in imploying ordinary agents then in raising vp extraordinarie neither doth he lesse smite by a common feuer then a reuenging Angell They iudge right of the cause what doe they resolue for the cure Let not the Arke of the God of Israel abide with vs where they should haue said Let vs cast our Dagon that we may pacific and retaine the God of Israel they determine to thrust out the Arke of God that they might peaceably enioy themselues and Dagon Wicked men are vpon all occasions glad to be rid of God but they can with no patience endure to part with their sinnes and whiles they are wearie of the hand that punisheth them they hold fast the cause of their punishment Their first and onely care is to put away him who is
salute those Cherubims to welcome that God whose absence had beene their death But as it is hard not to ouer-ioy in a sudden prosperity and to vse happinesse is no lesse difficult then to forbeare it These glad Israelites cannot see but they must gaze they cannot gaze on the glorious out-side but they must be whether out of rude iollity or curiositie or suspition of the purloining some of those sacred implements prying into the secrets of Gods Arke Nature is too subiect to extremities and is euer either too dull in want or wanton in fruition It is no easie matter to keepe a meane whether in good or euill Bethshemesh was a City of Priests they should haue knowne better how to demeane themselues towards the Arke this priuiledge doubled their offence There was no malice in this curious inquisition the same eyes that lookt into the Arke lookt also vp to heauen in their Offerings and the same hands that touched it offered sacrifice to the God that brought it Who could expect any thing now but acceptation who would suspect any danger It is not a following act of deuotion that can make amends for a former sinne There was a death owing them immediately vpon their offence God will take his owne time for the execution In the meane while they may sacrifice but they cannot satisfie they cannot escape The Kine are sacrificed the Cart burnes them that drew it Here was an offering of prayse when they had more need of a trespasse-offering many an heart is lifted vp in a conceit of ioy when it hath iust cause of humiliation God lets them alone with their Sacrifice but when that is done he comes ouer them with a backe reckoning for their sinne Fifty thousand and seuenty Israelites are strucke dead for this vnreuerence to the Arke A wofull welcome for the Arke of God into the borders of Israel It killed them for looking into it who thought it their life to see it It dealt blowes and death on both hands to Philistims to Israelites to both of them for prophaning it The one with their Idoll the other with their eyes It is a fearfull thing to vse the holy Ordinances of God with an vnreuerent boldnesse Feare and trembling becomes vs in our accesse to the Maiesty of the Almighty Neither was there more state then secresie in Gods Arke some things the wisedome of God desires to conceale The vnreuerence of the Israelites was no more faulty then their curiosity secret things to God things reuealed to vs and to our children The remoue of the Arke I Heare of the Bethshemites lamentation I heare not of their repentance they complaine of their smart they complaine not of their sinne and for ought I can perceiue speake as if God were curious rather then they faulty Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God and to whom shall he goe from vs As if none could please that God which misliked them It is the fashion of naturall men to iustifie themselues in their owne courses if they cannot charge any earthly thing with the blame of their suffering they will cast it vpon Heauen That a man pleads himselfe guiltie of his owne wrong is no common worke of Gods Spirit Bethshemesh bordered too neere vpon the Philistims If these men thought the very presence of the Arke hurtfull why do they send to their neighbours of Kiriath-iearim that they might make themselues miserable Where there is a misconceit of God it is no maruell if there be a defect of Charity How cunningly doe they send their message to their neighbours They doe not say the Arke of God is come to vs of it owne accord lest the men of Kiriath-iearim should reply It is come to you let it stay with you They say onely the Philistims haue brought it they tell of the presence of the Arke they doe not tell of the successe lest the example of their iudgement should haue discouraged the forwardnesse of their reliefe And after all the offer was plausible Come ye downe and take it vp to you as if the honour had been too great for themselues as if their modestie had beene such that they would not forestall and engrosse happinesse from the rest of Israel It is no boot to teach Nature how to tell her owne tale smart and danger will make a man wittie He is rarely constant that will not dissemble for ease It is good to be suspitious of the euasions of those which would put off miserie Those of Bethshemesh were not more craftie then these of Kiriath-iearim which was the ground of their boldnesse faithfull So many thousand Bethshemites could not be dead and no part of the rumour flie to them They heard how thicke not onely the Philistims but the bordering Israelites fell downe dead before the Arke yet they durst aduenture to come and fetch it euen from amongst the carcasses of their brethren They had beene formerly acquainted with the Arke they knew it was holy it could not be changeable and therefore they well conceiued this slaughter to arise from the vnholinesse of men not from the rigour of God and thereupon can seeke comfort in that which others found deadly Gods children cannot by any meanes bee discouraged from their honour and loue to his Ordinances If they see thousands strucke downe to Hell by the Scepter of Gods Kingdome yet they will kisse it vpon their knees and if their Sauiour be a rocke of offence and the occasion of the fall of millions in Israel they can feed temperately of that whereof others haue surfeted to death c. Bethshemesh was a Citie of Priests and Leuits Kiriath-iearim a Citie of Iuda where wee heare but of one Leuit Abinabab yet this Citie was more zealous for God more reuerent and conscionable in the entertainment of the Arke then the other Wee heard of the taking downe of the Arke by the Bethshemites when it came miraculously to them we doe not heare of any man sanctified for the attendance of it as was done in this second lodging of the Arke Grace is not tied either to number or meanes It is in spirituall matters as in the estate Small helpes with good thrift enrich vs when great patrimonies lose themselues in the neglect Shiloh was wont to be the place which was honoured with the presence of the Arke Euer since the wickednesse of Elies Sonnes that was forlorne and desolate and now Kiriath-iearim succeeds into this priuiledge It did not stand with the royall liberty of God no not vnder the Law to tie himselfe vnto places and persons Vnworthinesse was euer a sufficient cause of exchange It was not yet his time to stirre from the Iewes yet he remoued from one Prouince to another Lesse reason haue we to thinke that so God will reside amongst vs that none of our prouocations can driue him from vs c. Israel which had found the misery of Gods absence is now resolued into teares of contrition and
Philistims may be against him The purpose of any fauour is more then the value of it Euen the greatest honours may be giuen with an intent of destruction Many a man is raised vp for a fall So forward is Saul in the match that hee sends spokes men to sollicit Dauid vnto that honour which he hopes will proue the high-way to death The dowry is set An hundred fore-skins of the Philistims not their heads but their fore-skins that this victory might bee more ignominious still thinking why may not one Dauid miscary as well as an hundred Philistims And what doth Sauls enuy all this while but enhance Dauids zeale and valour and glorie That good Captaine little imagining that himselfe was the Philistim whom Saul maligned supererogates of his Master and brings two hundred for one and returnes home safe and renowned neither can Saul now fly for shame There is no remedy but Dauid must be a sonne where he was a riuall and Saul must feed vpon his owne heart since he cannot see Dauids Gods blessing graces equally together with mans malice neither can they deuise which way to make vs more happy then by wishing vs euill MICHALS wyle THis aduantage can Saul yet make of Dauids promotion that as his Aduersarie is raised higher so hee is drawne nearer to the opportunity of death Now hath his enuy cast off all shame and since those craftie plots succeed not hee directly subornes Murtherers of his riuall There is none in all the Court that is not set on to bee an Executioner Ionathan himselfe is sollicited to imbrue his hand in the blood of his friend of his Brother Saul could not but see Ionathans cloathes on Dauids backe he could not but know the league of their loue yet because he knew withall how much the prosperitie of Dauid would preiudice Ionathan he hoped to haue found him his sonne in malice Those that haue the Iaundis see all things yellow those which are ouergrowne with malicious passions thinke all men like themselues I doe not heare of any reply that Ionathan made to his father when he gaue him that bloody charge but he waits for a fit time to disswade him from so cruell an iniustice Wisdome had taught him to giue way to rage and in so hard an aduenture to craue aide of opportunitie If we be not carefull to obserue good moodes when wee deale with the passionate we may exasperate in stead of reforming Thus did Ionathan who knowing how much better it is to be a good friend then an ill sonne had not onely disclosed that ill counsell but when be found his father in the fields in a calmes temper laboured to diuert it And so farre doth the seasonable and pithy Oratory of Ionathan preuaile that Saul is conuinced of his wrong and sweares As God liues Dauid shall not die Indeed how could it be otherwise vpon the plea of Dauids innocence and well-deseruings How could Saul say he should dye whom hee could accuse of nothing but faithfulnesse Why should he designe him to death which had giuen life to all Israel Oft-times wicked mens iudgements are forced to yeeld vnto that truth against which their affections maintaine a rebellion Euen the foulest hearts doe sometimes entertaine good motions like as on the contrary the holiest soules giue way sometimes to the suggestions of euill The flashes of lightning may be discerned in the darkest Prisons But if good thoughts looke into a wicked heart they stay not there as those that like not their lodging they are soone gone Hardly any thing distinguishes betwixt good and euill but continuance The light that shines into an holy heart is constant like that of the Sunne which keepes due times and varies not his course for any of these sublunary occasions The Philistim Warres renue Dauids victories and Dauids victory renues Sauls enuy and Sauls enuy renues the plots of Dauids death Vowes and Oaths are forgotten That euill spirit which vexes Saul hath found so much fauour with him as to winne him to these bloody machinations against an innocent His owne hands shall first bee imployed in this execution The speare which hath twice before threatned death to Dauid shall now once againe goe vpon that message Wise Dauid that knew the danger of an hollow friend and reconciled enemy and that found more cause to mind Sauls earnest then his owne play giues way by his nimblenesse to that deadly weapon and resigning that stroke vnto the wall flies for his life No man knowes how to be sure of an vnconscionable man If either goodnesse or merit or affinitie or reasons or oaths could secure a man Dauid had been safe now if his heeles doe not more befriend him then all these hee is a dead man No sooner is hee gone then messengers are sped after him It hath been seldome seene that wickednesse wanted Executioners Dauids house is beset with Murderers which watch at all his doores for the opportunitie of blood Who can but wonder to see how God hath fetch from the loines of Saul a remedy for the malice of Sauls heart His owne children are the onely meanes to crosse him in the sinne and to preserue his guiltlesse Aduersarie Michal hath more then notice of the plot and with her subtill with countermines her father for the rescue of an Husband Shee taking the benefit of the night lets Dauid downe through a window Hee is gone and disappoints the ambushes of Saul The messengers begin to be impatient of this delay and now thinke it time to inquire after their Prisoner She whiles them off with the excuse of Dauids sicknes so as now her Husband had good leisure for his escape and layes a Statue in his bed Saul likes the newes of any euill befalne to Dauid but fearing he is not sicke enough sends to aide his disease The messengers returne and rushing into the house with their Swords drawne after some harsh words to their imagined charge surprize a sicke Statue lying with a Pillow vnder his head and now blush to see they haue spent all their threats vpon a senselesse stocke and made themselues ridiculous whiles they would be seruiceable But how shall Michal answer this mockage vnto her furious father Hitherto shot hath done like Dauid wife now she begins to be Sauls Daughter He said to me Let me goe or else I will kill thee Shee whose wit had deliuered her Husband from the Sword of her Father now turnes the edge of her Fathers wrath from her selfe to her Husband His absence made her presume of his safety If Michal had not bin of Sauls plot he had neuer expostulated with her in those termes Why hast thou let mine enemy escapeâ— neither had she framed that answer He said Let me goe I doe not find any great store of religion in Michal for both she had an Image in the house afterward mocked Dauid for his deuotion yet Nature hath taught her to prefer an Husband to a Father to chide a
reiected as ill onely Hushaies was allowed for better he can liue no longer now that he is beaten at his owne weapon this alone is cause enough to saddle his Asse and to goe home and put the halter about his owne necke Pride causes men both to misinterpret disgraces and to ouer-rate them Now is Dauids prayer heard Achitophels counsell is turned into foolishnesse Desperate Achitophel what if thou be not the wisest man of all Israel Euen those that haue not attained to the hiest pitch of wisedome haue found contentment in a mediocrity what if thy counsell were despised A wise man knowes to liue happily in spight of an vniust contempt what madnesse is this to reuenge another mans reputation vpon thy selfe And whiles thou striuest for the highest roome of wisedome to runne into the grossest extremitie of folly Worldly wisedome is no protection from shame and ruine How easily may a man though naturally wise be made weary of life A little paine a little shame a little losse a small affront can soone rob a man of all comfort and cause his owne hands to rob him of himselfe If there were not higher respects then the world can yeeld to maintaine vs in being it should be a miracle if indignation did not kill more then disease now that God by whose appointment we liue here for his most wise and holy purposes hath found meanes to make life sweet and death terrible What a mixture doe we find here of wisedome and madnesse Achitophel will needs hang himselfe there is madnesse He will yet set his house in order there is an act of wisedome And could it be possible that hee who was so wise as to set his house in order should be so mad as to hang himselfe That he should bee carefull to order his house who regarded not to order his impotent passions That hee should care for his house who cared not for either body or soule How vaine it is for a man to be wise if he be not wise in God How preposterous are the cares of idle worldlings that preferre all other things to themselues and whiles they looke at what they haue in their cofers forget what they haue in their breasts The Death of ABSALOM THE same God that raised enmity to Dauid from his owne loynes procured him fauour from forainers Strangers shall releiue him whom his owne sonne persecutes Here is not a losse but an exchange of loue Had Absalom beene a sonne of Ammon and Shobi a sonne of Dauid Dauid had found no cause of complaint If God take with one hand he giues with another whiles that diuine bounty serues vs in good meat though not in our owne dishes we haue good reason to be thankfull No sooner is Dauid come to Mahanaim then Barzillai Machir and Shobi refresh him with prouisions Who euer saw any child of God left vtterly destitute Whosoeuer be the messenger of our aide we know whence he comes Heauen shall want power and earth meanes before any of the houshold of faith shall want maintenance He that formerly was forced to imploy his armes for his defence against a tyrannous father in law must now buckle them on against an vnnaturall sonne Now therefore he musters his men and ordaines his Commanders and marshalls his troupes and since their loyall importunity will not allow the hazard of his person he at once incourages them by his eye and restraines them with his tongue Deale gently with the yong man Absalom for my sake How vnreasonably fauourable are the warres of a father O holy Dauid what meanes this ill placed loue this vniust mercy Deale gently with a Traitor but of all traitors with a Sonne of all sonnes with an Absalom the gracelesse dareling of so good a father and all this for thy sake whose Crowne whose blood he hunts after For whose sake should Absalom be pursued if he must be forborne for thine He was still courteous to thy followers affable to sutors plausible to all Israel onely to thee he is cruell Wherefore are those armes if the cause of the quarrell must be a motiue of mercy Yet thou saist Deale gently with the yong man Absalom for my sake Euen in the holiest Parents nature may bee guilty of an iniurious tendernesse of a bloody indulgence Or whether shall we not rather thinke this was done in type of that vnmeasurable mercy of the true King and redeemer of Israel who prayed for his persecutors for his murderers and euen whiles they were at once scorning and killing him could say Father forgiue them for they know not what they doe If wee bee sonnes we are vngracious wee are rebellious yet still is our heauenly Father thus compassionately regardfull of vs Dauid was not sure of the successe there was great inequality in the number Absaloms forces were more then double to his It might haue come to the contrary issue that Dauid should haue beene forced to say Deale gently with the Father of Absalom but in a supposition of that victory which only the goodnesse of his cause bade him hope for hee saith Deale gently with the yong man Absalom As for vs we are neuer but vnder mercy our God needes no aduantages to sweepes vs from the earth any moment yet hee continues that life and those powers to vs whereby wee prouoke him and bids his Angels deale kindly with vs and beare vs in their armes whiles wee lift vp our hands and bend our tongues against heauen O mercie past the comprehension of all finite spirits and onely to be conceiued by him whose it is Neuer more resembled by any earthly affection then by this of his Deputy and Type Deale gently with the young man Absalom for my sake The battell is ioyned Dauids followers are but an handfull to Absaloms How easily may the fickle multitude bee transported to the wrong side What they wanted in abettors is supplied in the cause Vnnaturall ambition drawes the sword of Absalom Dauids a necessary and iust defence They that in simplicity of heart followed Absalom cannot in malice of heart persecute the father of Absalom with what courage could any Israelite draw his sword against a Dauid or on the other side who can want courage to fight for a righteous Soueraigne and father against the conspiracie of a wicked son The God of Hosts with whom it is all one to saue with many or with few takes part with iustice and lets Israel feele what it is to beare armes for a traiterous vsurper The sword deuours twenty thousand of them and the wood deuoures more then the sword It must needs be a very vniuersall rebellion wherein so many perished What vertue or merits can assure the hearts of the vulgar when so gracious a Prince finds so many reuolters Let no man looke to prosper by rebellion the very thickets and stakes and pits and wild beasts of the wood shall conspire to the punishment of traitors Amongst the rest see how a fatall Oke hath singled
themselues straitned they did not presume to carue for themselues but they craued the leaue the counsell of Elisha Let vs goe we pray thee vnto Iordan and take thence euery man a beame and let vs make vs a place where wee may dwell And he said Goe ye It well becomes the sonnes of the Prophets to enterprise nothing without the allowance of their Superiours Here was a building towards none of the curiousest I doe not see them making meanes for the procurement of some cunning artificers nor for the conquisition of some costly marbles and Cedars but euery man shall hew and square and frame his owne beame No nice termes were stood vpon by these sonnes of the Prophets Their thoughts were fixed vpon the perfection of a spirituall building As an homely roofe may serue them so their owne hands shall raise it The fingers of these contemplatiue men did not scorne the Axe and Mallet and Chesell It was better being there then in Obadiahs Caue and they that dwell now contentedly vnder rude sticks will not refuse the squared stones and polished contignations of better times They shall be ill teachers of others that haue not learned both to want and to abound The master of this sacred Society Elisha is not stately not austere he giues not onely passage to this motion of his Collegiates but assistance It was fit the sonnes of the Prophets should haue conuenience of dwelling though not pompe not costlinesse They fall to their worke No man goes slackly about the building of his owne house One of them more regarding the tree then the toole le ts fall the head of his axe into the riuer Poore men are sensible of small losses He makes his mone to Elisha Alas Master for it was borrowed Had the axe been his owne the trouble had been the lesse to forgoe it therefore doth the miscariage afflict him because it was of a borrowed axe Honest minds are more carefull of what they haue by loane then by proprietie In lending there is a trust which a good heart cannot disappoint without vexation Alas poore nouices of the Prophet they would be building and were not worth their axes if they would giue their labour they must borrow their instruments Their wealth was spirituall Outward pouertie may well stand with inward riches He is rich not that hath the world but that can contemne it Elisha loues and cherishes this iust simplicitie rather will hee worke a miracle then a borrowed axe shall not bee restored It might easily bee imagined hee that could raise vp the iron out of the bottome of the water could tell where it fell in yet euen that powerfull hand cals for direction In this one point the sonne of the Prophet knowes more then Elisha The notice of particularities is neither fit for a creature nor communicable a meane man may best know his owne case this Nouice better knowes where his axe fell then his Master his Master knowes better how to get it out then he There is no reason to bee giuen of supernaturall actions The Prophet borrowes an axe to cut an helue for the lost axe Why did hee not make vse of that handle which had cast the head Did hee hold it vnworthy of respect for that it had abandoned the metall wherewith it was trusted Or did hee make choice of a new sticke that the miracle might bee the more cleare and vnquestionable Diuine power goes a contrary way to Art Wee first would haue procured the head of the axe and then would haue fitted it with an helue Elisha fits the head to the helue and causes the wood which was light and knew not how to sinke to fetch vp the Iron which was heauy and naturally vncapable of supernatation Whether the metall were stripped of the naturall weight by the same power which gaue it being or whether retaining the wonted poise it was raised vp by some spirituall operation I inquire not Onely I see it swimme like Corke vpon the streame of Iordan and moue towards the hand that lost it What creature is not willing to put off the properties of nature at the command of the God of Nature Oh God how easie is it for thee when this hard and heauy heart of mine is sunke downe into the mud of the world to fetch it vp againe by thy mighty Word and cause it to float vpon the streames of life and to see the face of heauen againe Yet still doe the sides of Israel complaine of the thornes of Aram The children of Ahab rue their fathers vniust mercy From an enemy it is no making question whether of strength or wyle The King of Syria consults with his seruants where to encampe for his greatest aduantage their opinion is not more required then their secresie Elisha is a thousand Scouts hee sends word to the King of Israel of the proiects of the remoues of his enemie More then once hath Iehoram saued both his life and his hoast by these close admonitions It is well that in something yet a Prophet may bee obeyed What strange State-seruice was this which Elisha did besides the spirituall The King the people of Israel owe themselues and their safety to a despised Prophet The man of God knew and felt them Idolaters yet how carefull and vigilant is he for their rescue If they were bad yet they were his own If they were bad yet not all God had his number amongst their worst If they were bad yet the Syrians were worse The Israelites mis-worshipped the True God The Syrians worshipped a false That if it were possible he might win them he will preserue them and if they will needs be wanting to God yet Elisha will not be wanting to them their impiety shall not make him vndutifull There cannot bee a iuster cause of displeasure then the disclosing of those secret counsels which are laid vp in our eare in our brest The King of Syria not without reason stomacks this supposed treacherie What Prince can beare that an aduerse power should haue a party a Pensionarie in his owne Court How famous was Elisha euen in foraine Regions Besides Naaman others of the Syrian Nobilitie take notice of the miraculous faculties of this Prophet of Israel He is accused for this secret intelligence No words can escape him though spoken in the bed-chamber O Syrian whosoeuer thou wert thou saidst not enough If thy master doe but whisper in thine eare if he smother his words within his owne lips if he doe but speake within his owne bosome Elisha knowes it from an infallible information What counsell is it O God that can be hid from thee What counsell is it that thou wilt hide from thy Seer Euen this very word that accuseth the Prophet is knowne to the accused He heares this tale whiles it is in telling hee heares the plot for his apprehension How ill doe the proiects of wicked men hang together They that confesse Elisha knowes their secretest words doe yet conferre
without cruelty though in the hot chases of warre executions may be iustifiable yet in the coolenesse of deliberation it can bee no other then inhumane to take those liues which haue beene yeelded to mercy But here thy bow and thy sword are guiltlesse of the successe onely a strange prouidence of the Almighty hath cast them into thine hands whom neither thy force nor thy fraud could haue compassed If it bee victory thou aimest at ouercome them with kindnesse Set bread and water before them that they may eate and drinke Oh noble reuenge of Elisha to feast his persecutors To prouide a Table for those who had prouided a graue for him These Syrians came to Dothan full of bloody purposes to Elisha he sends them from Samaria full of good cheare and iollity Thus thus should a Prophet punish his pursuers No vengeance but this is heroicall and fit for Christian imitation If thine enemy hunger giue him bread to eate if hee thirst giue him water to drinke For thou shalt heape coales of fire vpon his head and the Lord shall reward thee Be not ouercome with euill but ouercome euill with good The King of Israel hath done that by his feast which hee could not haue done by his sword The bands of Syria will no more come by way of ambush or incursion into the bounds of Israel Neuer did a charitable act goe away without the retribution of a blessing In doing some good to our enemies wee doe most good to our selues God cannot but loue in vs this imitation of his mercy who bids his Sunne shine and his raine fall where he is most prouoked and that loue is neuer fruitlesse The Famine of Samaria releeued NOt many good turnes are written in Marble soone haue these Syrians forgotten the mercifull beneficence of Israel After the forbearance of some hostile inroade all the forces of Syria are mustered against Iehoram That very Samaria which had releeued the distressed Aramites is by the Aramites besieged and is affamished by those whom it had fed The famine within the walles was more terrible then the sword without Their worst enemy was shut within and could not be dislodged of their owne bowels Whither hath the Idolatry of Israel brought them Before they had beene scourged with warre with drought with dearth as with single cords they remaine incorrigible and now God twists two of these bloody lashes together and galls them euen to death there needs no other executioners then their owne mawes Those things which in their nature were not edible at least to an Israelite were now both deare and dainty The Asse was besides the vntoothsomnesse an impure creature that which the law of Ceremonies had made vncleane the law of necessitie had made delicate and precious the bones of so carrion an head could not bee picked for lesse then foure hundred pieces of siluer neither was this scarcitie of victuals only but of all other necessaries for humane vse that the belly might not complaine alone the whole man was equally pinched The King of Israel is neither exempted from the iudgement nor yet yeelds vnder it He walkes vpon the walls of his Samaria to ouersee the Watches set the Engines ready the Guards changed together with the posture of the enemy when a woman cries to him out of the Citie Help my Lord O King Next to God what refuge haue we in all our necessities but his Anointed Earthly Soueraigntie can aide vs in the case of the iniustice of men but what can it doe against the iudgements of God If the Lord doe not helpe thee whence shall I helpe thee out of the barne floore or out of the wine-presse Euen the greatest powers must stoope to afflictions in themselues how should they be able to preuent them in others To sue for aide where is an vtter impotence of redresse is but to vpbraid the weaknesse and aggrauate the misery of those whom we implore Iehoram mistakes the suit The suppliant cals to him for a wofull peece of Iustice Two mothers haue agreed to eate their sonnes The one hath yeelded hers to be boiled and eaten the other after shee hath taken her part of so prodigious a banquet withdrawes her child and hides him from the knife Hunger and enuy make the Plaintiffe importunate and now shee craues the benefit of royall iustice Shee that made the first motion with-holds her part of the bargain and flyes from that promise whose trust had made this mother childlesse Oh the direfull effects of famine that turnes off all respects of nature and giues no place to horror causing the tender mother to lay her hands yea her teeth vpon the fruit of her owne body and to receiue that into her stomacke which shee hath brought forth of her wombe What should Iehoram doe The match was monstrous The challenge was iust yet vnnaturall This complainant had purchased one halfe of the liuing child by the one halfe of hers dead The mother of the suruiuing Infant is pressed by couenant by hunger restrained by nature To force a mother to deliuer vp her child to voluntarie slaughter had been cruell To force a Debtor to pay a confessed arerage seemed but equall If the remaining child be not dressed for food this mother of the deuoured child is both robbed and affamished If he be innocent blood is shed by authoritie It is no maruell if the questiō astonished the Iudge not so much for the difficulty of the demand as the horror of the occasion to what lamentable distresse did Iehoram find his people driuen Not without cause did the King of Israel rend his garments and shew his sackcloth wel might he see his people branded with that ancient curse which God had denounced against the rebellious The Lord shall bring a Nation against thee of a fierce countenance which shall not regard the person of the old nor shew fauour to the yong And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine owne body the flesh of thy sonnes and of thy daughters The tender and delicate woman her eyes shall bee euill towards her yong one that commeth out from betweene her feet and toward◠the children which shee shall beare for she shall eate them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitnesse He mournes for the plague he mournes not for the cause of this plague his sinne and theirs I finde his sorrow I find not his repentance The worst man may grieue for his smart onely the good heart grieues for his offence In stead of being penitent Iehoram is furious and turnes his rage from his sinnes against the Prophet God doe so to me and more also if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day Alas what hath the righteous done Perhaps Elisha that wee may imagine some colours of this displeasure fore-threatned this iudgement but they deserued it perhaps hee might haue auerted it by his prayers their
taken 1020 What an oath requires ibid. Obedience All the creatures more obedience then Man 37 All our obedience cannot beare out one sin with God 940 Obedience is a fit entrance into soueraigntie 1053 Blind obedience when it doth well 1054 True obedience is euer ioyned with humilitie and feare 1075 The truth and heartinesse of our obedience respected of God in the meanest 1175 Obstinate Neither scourges nor fauours can worke with them 341 Occasion Hee that would bee free from the acts of sinne must auoid the occasions 853 How the Deuill watcheth his occasions to lay his temptations 1193 Old Nothing more odious the fruitlesse old age 9 Of Gods not acceptance of the dregges of our old age 140 One One sinne what it doth 954 Opinion Among diuersities of opinions how to carie our selues 15 Opportunitie It with conuenience is guilty of much theft 1356 Opposition No calling of God so conspicuous as not to find some opposition 1119 Ostentation Of great ostentation with little learning 5 Seldome a good end of ostentation 1085 Ordinances A sweet description of Gods ordinances 492 That God at once requires both familiaritie and feare in our approach to them 897 It is a dangerous thing to be too bold with the ordinances of God 949 A consideration of the poorenesse and weaknesse of Gods ordinances 933 With what securitie they walke that take their directions from God 1047 A fearfull thing to vse Gods ordinances with vnreuerent boldnesse 1049 Gods children cannot bee discouraged from Gods ordinances 1050 How well it goes with them that take God and his Ministers with them in his ordinances 1114 Outward The outward face or countenance makes commentary on the heart 61 Of outward preparation how necessarie 897 What may bee well said to such as vse outward deuotion more then sincere obedience 972 How to looke on outward priuiledges 991 No measuring Religion by outward glory 1044 When men are caried away with outward shewes it is a signe that God meanes them a delusion 1053 Owne What a man should account his owne 6 The conceit of owning hardens a man against many inconueniencies 56 Of both ouer-prizing neglecting that which is our own 67 P PArables They sped well with Dauid 1148 Paradise A contemplation of it 815 Satan euen in it 816 The place of Paradise whether to be sought for 817 Paine It shall humble them whom shame cannot 1045 Painting a notable inuectiue against our painted plaister-faced Iezebels 700 Papists Of popish deprauing Antiquity 349 The papists and the ancient Iewes paralleld 415 Their superstitious heathenish and ridiculous worship of Idols 661 No possible reconciliation with papists 663 They haue nothing but the outside of Religion 684 Pardons popish pardons censured 433 651 Pardons may well stand with temporall afflictions 1143 Parents A good note for them in the education of their children 996 Parents indulgence a patron of vanity 1015 Reuerence to Parents neuer goes vnrecompenced 1025 Parents that haue bad children what they must doe 1032 Indulgent parents cruell to themselues 1034 A good note for parents in the example of Sauls father 1053 The sanctity of the parent cannot beare out the sinne of the sonne 1128 Passion nothing so befooles a man as passion 81 Christs passion sweetly layd out 427 428. The application of it 431 How subiect the best are to passion 1103. Vnruly passions euer run into extremities 1146 Patience the character of a patient man 177 In Gods affaires and mans iniuries 226 How well gods children are paid for their patience 854 A forceable argument thereto 890 There is no greater token of grace then to smart patiently 913 Patrons Their epethites being euill 412 A serious exhortation to theÌ„ ibid. Peace The happinesse of that Church which hath Truth and peace kissing each other 6 Impossible for an inferior to liue at peace except hee hath learned to be contemned 35 A perswasion to a study of the common peace 395 An earnest perswasion to liue in peace 413 414 The price of peace 481 482 Peace what without religion 482 Of true and false peace 529 Where to seeke for peace 530 Who giues it ibid. How made betweene God and man 537 Who are not and who are indeed the true enemies vnto peace 542 543 The commodities and conditions of peace 625 As the wicked haue no peace with God so the godly haue no peace with them 847 Whether peace may bee held on oath which is made by fraudulent conditions 959 Nothing so worthy of pity as the sinners peace 1006 It is the safest policie to bee at peace with God 1062 It is an vnreasonable in equality to hope to finde God in trouble that would not regard him in peace 1110 Propension to peace becomes a Victorâ— 1120 When peace is a friend to religion 1127 Of the aboâ—e of peace ibid. Penitent The Character of a true penitent 280 Penance how enioyned in the Church of England 590 Penuel Succotlâ— their reuenge 989 Perfection the imperfectnesse of it expressed by our Creation 809 Perish those that perish are blinded c. 921 Perkins commended 287 Permission euen that in thing we may remedy makes vs no lesse actors then consent 966 Persecution a pitty description of it 482 Bloody persecution an argument of an euil cause and the reason 865 Person the person must be in fauour that will haue his work to prosper 950 One sinful person how pernicious 954 The person honors the place and not contrariwise 1162 Pharoah his Embleme 872 He is like a beast that grows mad in baiting 874 Pharisaisme What. 408 Whether an order or Profession ibid. An austere sect 409 Their imployment ibid. The difference between the Pharisees and Scribes ibid. Of the seuen kinds of Pharisees ibid. About their strictnesse ibid. The Iewes sottishnesse in beleeuing of the Scribes and Pharisees 410 How farre Christians are behind them 411 Phineas 936 His heroicall spirit and courage 938 Philosophy or Philosophers The censure of it and them 73 Piety vid godlinesse True piety is not vnciuill 997 A forced pietie is thanklesse 1110 There is no villany but hath some shew of pietie 1172 Pilgrims A very fit meditation for them 51 A pilgrims paine for heauen prettily paralleld 54 The misery of our pilgrimage in respect of our home 811 No perfume so sweet to a pilgrim as his owne smoake 1017 The perilous passage in our pilgrimage 1065 Pitie vid. Mercie Foolish pitie is humane and dangerous 970 Place It honours not the person as the person doth it 1162 Therefore must we not bee transported too much with the glory of places 1163 Plague Whether lawfull for Pastor or people to fly in time of the plague 350 Plausibilitie Not fit for regeneration 1189 Pleasure It must not be bought at too deare a rate 13 How to carie our selues in the enioyment of pleasure and paine 14 15 No worldly pleasure hath any absolute delight in it 25 A rule in taking of pleasure 139 A discourse of the vse