the bad as vnto the good And therefore my Bretheren euen for this cause alone all good and godlie Preachers and such as were sent from God haue euer béen so zealous and so much desired the saluation of Gods people Moyses when he saw the people of Israel after their deliuerance from Captiuitie by the mightie hand of God fall from God forsake him and forget the wonders that he had wrought for them he cried out vnto God and said O domine me potius de leas de libro vitae Sooner then that these perish O Lord wipe me out of the Booke of life let my name be striken out of it So Paule Cupio Anathema esse pro fratribus meis I wish my self to bee accursed from Christ for my brethren I would that I might be cast away so they might be saued O my brethren consider these harts consider I say the zealous hart that Moses the zealous affection that Paule had vnto the saluation of the people What thinke you is it to be striken out of the booke of life What thinke you is it to be a man accursed and haue portion among reprobates Moses was content to be blotted out of the booke of life so that the people of Israell might be saued S. Paule was content to bée accursed and cast from the face of God so that Gods people might not be cast to perdition Thus they of an earnest heart and zealous loue they bare to the congregation of God wished their owne destruction for the safegard of others Therefore also it behooueth you my brethren you that are temporall men it behooueth you on the other part not to despise Gods messengers not to set light by them that preach you the Gospel and glad tydings of your saluation For this is the onely meanes whereby it pleaseth God that we should be saued this onely is it whereby the people is won vnto Christ God might haue sent an Angel vnto the chamberlaine of the Quéene Candace and so haue conuerted him but he sent Philip he sent Philip I say a poore and meane man that thorough his preaching he might bee won to the faith and so brought to saluation God might haue sent an Angell to Cornelius but he sent Peter who instructed him in the faith and wan him to the Gospell of Christ God might haue sent an Angell vnto Paul to haue mollified his heart and so turned him from persecution of Gods Saints but it pleased God to send Ananias that thorough the putting on of his hands the scales should fall from his eyes that by him he should receiue his sight and be baptised and so by meanes of a man hee might be brought home vnto God and made a member of his flocke Therefore whensoeuer we heare the word of God preached notwithstanding the preacher beare no pompe of eloquence or shew of great learning notwithstanding he be a simple and poore man yet if he bring vnto vs the rule of Christs Gospell if hee teach vs the will of GOD and the glorie of his word let vs not despise him let vs consider that hee is Gods messenger and appointed by God to helpe vs to saluation I beseech you saith Saint Paule that yee receiue not the grace of God in vaine This onely Boun I aske of you this is onely the request that I make vnto you that yee take not the grace of God in vaine A great matter it were if any one man would misuse the grace of his Prince a great matter it were for a man to despise the friendship of his friend or the gentlenesse of his enemie but a greater matter it is yea a farre greater matter to take the grace of God in vaine For what auaileth it vs what should it profit vs if GOD once deliuer vs from our sins and we turne againe to our old wickednesse What gained wee if the couenant of God and Testament of our Sauiour Christ be broken vnto vs if we receiue the same in vaine Blessed are they saith Christ which heare the word of God and keepe it The Scribes the Pharisies the Iewes Annas Caiphas and Pilate heard the word of God heard Christ himselfe speak preach amongst them and yet they receiued this word of God in vain they receiued this grace of God in vain Christ likened his word to a sower that went forth and sowed his seed whereof some fell by the way side and so wast troden with mens feet and destroyed some on the stone which tooke roote but yet soone withered away because it lacked moistnesse some fell among thornes and the thornes sprung vp with it and choked it So the poore husbandman lost in maner his whole cost and labour for of all that he sowed little fell into the good ground brought any increase And euen thus standeth it with Gods Gospell now a daies for preach we neuer so oft teach wee neuer so much few yea verie few are found that receiue the same continue therin and so bring forth fruits of saluation When Moses the seruant of God was but a little time departed from the people and gone vp into the mount there to talke with God and aske councell of him the people by and by made themselues a golden Calfe and fell to the worshipping of that Image And this did they because they receiued the grace of God in vaine When Moses was dead and Iosua succéeded into his roome straight-waies the people worshipped Baal and Astaroth they forsooke the liuing Lord who had deliuered them and in stéed of him they worshipped verie Diuels And this did they because they receiued the grace of God in vaine Saul though he once was the seruant of God and inspired with his spirit yet at the length he fell from God and persecuted Dauid the chosen of God and so in the end miserably slew himselfe And this did he because he receiued the grace of God in vaine Iudas being one of the Apostles and the seruant of Iesus Christ yet he not only betraied his master Christ but also became himselfe a verie deuill for so said Christ Vnus vestrum Daemon est One of you is the Deuill And this did he because he receiued the grace of God in vaine And therefore S. Paule in this place willed the Corinthians that they should not receiue the grace of God in vaine as the people did in Moses time that they should not receiue it as they did which liued in the time of Iosuah that they should not in such sort take it as Saule did and lastly that they should not so receiue it in vaine as Iudas did and worke their owne destruction This was his request this thing he onely desired that they wold not receiue the grace of God in vaine For God saith In an acceptable time haue I heard thee and in the day of saluation haue I succoured thee These words are written in the prophesie of Esay and pronounced they were
all the people praise thee And God euen our owne God giue vs his blessing that the earth may bring forth her increase Thou hast O Lord sent vnto vs thy measure thou hast giuen vs thy squire whereby to measure and rule our liues thou hast sent I say vnto vs thy Gospell thy holie word the light of thy déerely beloued Sonne Iesus Christ whereby we may guid our selues direct our waies vpon the earth And when we shall thus liue when we shall once begin so to direct our doings as Gods Gospell teacheth his holie word commaundeth vs then shall the earth bring forth her increase then shall she yeeld vs her fruit in due season For like as God when we turne from him following our owne lusts and desires plagueth and punisheth vs so when we repent and returne vnto him he is good he is louing he is mercifull vnto vs. Turne vnto me sayth God by his prophet Ieremie and I will turne vnto you When soeuer a sinner repenteth him of his sinnes I will forget his iniquities saith the Lord. It is the Lord that gyueth vs fruit it is the Lord that maketh the ground fertile it is not the ground of it selfe that bringeth forth fruit it is not the corne that féedeth vs it is the blessing of God the blessing I say of God alone And therefore saith the prophet Dauid If thou O Lord wilt open thy hand then all things shall be filled with thy blessing It is the Lord that maketh the Sunne to shyne the Moone to giue light the raine to fall on the earth I am the Lord that doth all this sayth God Dauid also in his Psalme saith Sciant quòd manus tua fecit haec Let them know O Lord saith he that thy hand alone hath done these wonders It is God I say that causeth the earth to be fruitfull and bring forth increase it is God that causeth the heauens to heare the earth the earth to crie vnto the Heauens Your harts shall be full of my blessing saith the Lord. If we shall forsake our sinnes if we will leaue our wickednesse and turne vnto God our harts shall be full of his blessing and then shall the earth bring forth her increase the earth this dead thing this vnsensible thing this masse of clay at Gods commaundement at his will and pleasure it shall bring forth corne it shall bring forth grasse and all other kind of fruits to serue them that neuer thinke vpon him that bestowed them O that wée were kinde that wée were not vnmindfull that we would remember God But alas wée are vnkind we are vnmindfull we neyther thinke on God nor his works and therefore God closeth vp his hand therefore he gyueth not vnto vs hys blessing therefore is the earth barren and vnfruitfull And this our owne sinnes causeth this our owne wickednesse and sinfull lyuing causeth Ose the prophet vnto the people of Israel when they had forsaken God their Lord and therefore were gréeuously punished cried out and said Malum tuum ex te ô Israel Thy euill is come of thy selfe O Israel All this scarsitie all this dearth all this plague commeth of thy selfe alone Thou art saith he the cause thou thy selfe art the cause hereof And euen as they were the cause of their plague so are we the only cause of all this our punishment and yet we sée not nor know Gods anger I haue striken thee saith God by his prophet and yet thou feelest not and where shall I strike thee once againe Filios educaui saith God by his prophet I haue bred vp I haue nourished vp children and they despise me they set nought by mée they will not acknowledge mée their father Good Bretheren let vs turne vnto God let vs amend our sinfull lyuing let vs submit our selues wholy to his mercie so shall the earth bring forth her increase so shal she yéeld vs her fruit in due time season Let vs consider the dignitie that God hath giuen vs he made vs in Paradise he fashioned vs to his owne likenesse he breathed life into vs and lastly where we by the fall of our first parent Adam were all adiudged to eternall death he redéemed vs again by the blood of his déere Sonne and Passion of our Sauior Iesus Christ Behold these things and be not vnthankfull Let vs good Bretheren behold our selues let vs behold our owne vocation our owne profession let vs behold Christ our Sauior We are the children of God the bretheren of Christ and heyres of the euerlasting kingdom we are Christian men we professe Gods Gospell let vs therfore remember that we must walke as becommeth the seruants of Christ we must liue like the professors of Gods holie Gospell Let vs remember how many wayes God calleth vs how diuersly he allureth vs vnto him by what sundry meanes he prouoketh vs to come vnto him O thou proud soule sayth God by his prophet thou earth ashes when wilt thou forsake thy sinfull lyuing and come vnto me when wilt thou repent and turne vnto me Alas do we looke that the stones in the stréets the verie stones vnder our féete should rise vp and call vs to repentance The heauens drop downe teares for our sake they wéepe and are sorie for vs and wilt not thou O man burst out in teares and bewaile thy sinfull life God looketh when we will come he wayteth when we will returne vnto him he daily and hourely watcheth when we will submit our selues receiue his mercie So louing so good so gratious a Lord is he Why should you perish saith Christ giue me thy hart O thou man and I am contented Let vs all therefore my Bretheren let vs all returne vnto God let vs altogether come forth confesse Gods holie name let our hands our mouthes our harts praise and laud him for euer let all the people reioyce and be glad that God iudgeth the folke righteously and gouerneth the Nations vpon the earth So shall the earth bring forth her increase so shall shée yéeld vs her fruit in due season so shall we be blessed in our houses blessed in the fields blessed in our commings in and our goings out so shall our corne our cattell our shéepe and oxen be alwayes blessed and so shall Gods blessing be vpon vs and our Children and God euen our owne God shall blesse vs and remaine with vs for euer Amen THE THIRD Sermon Rom. 6. vers 19. 19. Like as ye haue giuen ouer your members to the seruice of vncleannesse from one wickednesse to an other euen so now also giue ouer your members to the seruice of righteousnesse that ye may be holie c. FOr the better vnderstanding of these words written by the Apostle S. Paul we must consider that there be two Princes of contrary dispositions and natures which haue the rule and gouernance of this world that is to wit God and the Deuill and that neuer was there man
despisers of them that are good O see the prophet saith Non est veritas in terra There is no trueth no faithfulnesse in the whole world there is no mercie no knowledge of God in the land but swearing lying manslaughter theft and adulterie Ieremie also the prophet of God Frater venabitur fratrem ad mortem saith he One Brother shall hunt and persecute an other vnto death no man may safely trust his owne Brother for one Brother vndermyneth an other and one neyghbour beguyleth an other And all this do we now sée wée I say in these our dayes do sée and behold all this We sée now that which Nazianzen that old holie father speaketh of Membra Christi pugnant inter se The members of Christ are at strife and variance among them selues saith he and euen those members that Christ died for those members I say that Christs blood redéemed those members we now sée at debate and fighting together I speake but in generalitie I speake not now in particularitie I do not here repeat to your memories our particular offences and great crimes which to consider would cause any honest hart to be sorie yea which to remember would enforce the stonie hart to bléed I do not now rehearse vnto you by name any such our offences O rip vp your consciences descend into your owne harts sée whether iniquitie doth not abound sée whether there be not in these our dayes men such as are louers of them selues sée whether there be any trueth any fidelitie vpon the earth sée whether one brother doth not hunt and persecute an other vnto death and lastly sée whether the verie members of Christ are not now at debate and fighting together Dauid when he considered the great oppression tyrannie and persecution vsed against the faithfull in his time cryed out and said Serua me Deus quia defecit sanctus O saue me Lord for there is not one Saint more verie few faithfull are there among the children of men Euery man telleth lyes to his neighbor they do but slatter with their lips and dissemble in their hart Ieremie the prophet when he saw the whole multitude of the people in his dayes forsake God and run after their owne affections euery man whether his lust lead him he cried out and said Quis capiti meo dabit aquam occulis meis fontem aquarum O who will giue my head water ynough and a well of teares for mine eyes that I may bewaile the iniquitie of this people And euen like as Dauid in his time so may the iust man say now Serua me Deus quoniam defecit sanctus O Lord helpe because there is no holie man left Like as Ieremie so may the vertuous bewaile now the wickednesse of these our dayes and say O who shall poure water into my head and giue a fountaine of teares vnto myne eyes that I may bewaile the wickednesse of this people O Christ where is now thy new commaundement where is now thy cognisance thy badge whereby thy seruants are knowen where is that peace which thou leaftest to thy Disciples where is now that one hart that one mind that one thought that was in the congregation in the beginning of thy Church But what néed I to speake what néed I to say any thing if they would heare thée Lord if they would heare thy word and Gospell O Lord where is thy strength become where is that power that force of thy word which was able to diuide the marrow from the bone What is now become of that marueilous might of thy word Thy word O Lord is one thy Gospell is the selfe same and one but the harts of men the harts of thy people are not one But this commeth to passe for my sinnes this I sée well is wrought by thée O Lord for myne owne sinnes and offences for other poore men preach thy Gospell other poore men doe teach and instruct thy people with thy holie word and by and by the people mourne by and by they are sorie for their sinnes they repent them of their wickednesse and turne vnto thée And I speake as they doe I preach the same Gospell the same word of thine as they do and yet I doe sée no amendment I doe not sée any one won vnto thée thorough my teaching And therefore my sinne is the cause myne owne sinne and nothing else is the cause hereof thou hast not thought me a man worthie by whom any one lost shéepe should be conuerted and brought home vnto thée But O thou my Brother that here standest like an ydoll thou host eyes to sée and eares to heare seest thou not that God hath his sword whet his bow bent his arrowes readie to destroy hearest thou not how he calleth thee to repentance Thou doest sée and heare this and yet thou increasest sinne vpon sinne and so heapest vp anger and displeasure against the day of wrath I call God to witnesse I haue vttered vnto you Gods trueth I haue preached among you his holie Gospell I haue reuealed vnto you his diuine word so that none of you all can excuse your selues by ignorance But take you héed to your selues take good héed I say my Bretheren marke well what S. Paul saith Peccantes post acceptam gratiam destituti sunt omni misericordia They which wilfully sinne after they haue once receiued the knowledge of the truth are destitute of all mercie there remaineth vnto them no more sacrifice for their sins but a fearefull looking of iudgement and violent fire which shall consume the aduersaries And this is it that the Apostle saith to bee cast into a reprobate sence This is the sin that S. Iohn maketh mencion of saying Est peccatum in spiritum sanctum there is a sin against the holy Ghost which shall neuer be forgiuen in this world nor in the world to come And for this great sin for this horrible wickednesse good people God hath drawne out his sword for this cause hath he bent his bow and prepared his arrowes to destroy Therefore good brethren let vs lay aside al contention al strife and debate and let vs looke vp vnto heauen let vs cast our eies thither where is no rancor no discord no strife no debate let vs fix our eyes our hearts and our whole mindes on Iesus Christ on him I say who hanging on the crosse praid for his persecutors and said O father forgiue them they wote not what they doe Let vs imagine that wee now behold him and that he now spreadeth out his arms vnto vs and saith O thou sinfull man that slumbrest in thy sins and sléepest in thine own wickednesse awake now is it time for thee to awake out of thy slumber to arise from thy heauie sléepe remember thou art a Christian man consider thou are a lymbe of my lymbs a member of my bodie the child of God and coheire of my fathers kingdome You children of men how long will