heart the Disciples in their too much ascribing to Christs bodily presence and an hundred more in Scriptures doe testifie And much more may the same be said of our selues yet while we feare our frailtie against such assaults as we haue cause daily to doe and learne to rest on God as those deare seruants of God did wee are much staied and our hearts well eased thereby in respect of former times As to say a little in particuler by the contrary when wee haue obtained of God the gift of beleeuing that we are freed from condemnation and that wee shall haue eternall life if we rest there and looke not daily to reuiue our hearts by hearing the word often whereby the feeling of Gods fauour is more reuiued and quickned and also by remembring and applying Gods promises from day to day and from time to time and with both if we labour not also to reioyce therein that so we may be kept in holy compasse thereby wee shall be euer flitting off and on and stand at an vncertaine stay And this shall not onely be at our first beleeuing which there is least doubt of but euen after we haue been stablished and setled therein For at first assurance is not easily obtained ordinarily till we haue had some experience of Gods louing kindnesse towards vs and of our owne vprightnes And euen so I may say the same of beleeuing Gods promises in other temporary things how we shall faint therein without the forementioned exercise and more hardly beare our crosses or goe vnder some paine and sicknesse or haue victorie ouer some speciall sinne and mortifie some corruption that hath much preuailed in vs. But if these be pursued earnestly and the other promises of grace bee oft and vsually recorded with feruent prayer to God for strength it is not to be denied but much fruite shall follow and we shall sensibly perceiue that wee get ground of our selues in that behalfe and grow more neerely acquainted with the minde and will of God that he will grant vs further to preuaile against such difficulties and yet if wee grow to thinke that we shall neuer obtaine grace against our corruptions nor outgrow discouragements nor well beare our crosses or finde blessing in our callings notwithstanding the vse of publike and priuate meanes yea further if wee doe minde and looke after these things but now and then and that slightly also we may well know that there is no fruit to be expected to come thereof which is the cause why some who are not destitute of true faith are often times as it were new to begin in these things after long going about them Now this standing at a stay and small profiting in the subduing and striuing against vnbeliefe commeth not barely and altogether of frailtie when we would gladly preuaile and cannot but in great part of yeelding to temptation and occasions drawing vs violently to sinne against our conscience which causeth a mans hold vpon the promises to faile exceedingly or too much giuing place to carnall reason which perswadeth that wee neede not giue such attendance to these things but in the meane while wee see that we are greatly set backe thereby So that it is manifest that without diligent heed taking to the strengthening of our faith we easily grow to distrust God and his promises And much more if we will hearken to such voyces as we shall too oft heare sounding in our eares that we neede not take such paine nor haue our heads beaten and occupied about it whereas all diligence is to be giuen thereto for attaining so excellent a gift as that is And most of all when by willing offendings of God we weaken our selues which how small need we haue of we may easily see when we consider that wee fall to doubting through the vntowardnes of our hearts without adding further sinne our faith being fitly compared to fire which may as well goe out by negligence in adding thereto as wilfulnes in quenching thereof This our sinne in so hardly giuing credit to God is aggrauated hereby that if we are to deale with men about great matters wee are easily satisfied and beleeue them if wee haue their word and writing which manifesteth too plainly our distrust towards God from whom nothing is inough to stay vs vnlesse with Thomas we may grossely feele and see that which we desire Nay I say more if we be to compasse any matter for our owne pleasure profit or preferment oh how bold and full of courage we be although we must goe vnder perill losse or any such like thing for obtaining the same but to suffer any difficultie or danger so much as to stretch out our faith to beleeue or our hope to waite for that which God hath promised though hee giue vs neuer so great cause and incouragement by good euidence and testimonie and by former experience of others and our selues yet wee haue no heart to it Therefore if we be wise let vs be much stronglier built vp in the confidence of Gods fauour and of his promises take more paines to abide therein pray and watch against the occasions of vnsetling it and chaine vp our so great ascribing as we haue done to sense and reason And so doing we shall see our selues well propped vp and vpholden though we haue no promise of miracles to doe it as Gedeon had Of one of the signes that Gedeon asked wee haue heard now followeth the other When Gedeon had desired one signe that the fleece might be moistened with dew and the ground drie now he desired that when dew was on the earth the fleece might be drie and to both the signes asking God yeelded which he would not haue easily done if he had not approued it To teach that if in our weaknes and timourousnes wee had this wisedome to repaire to God and make our mone to him in feeling our burthen and to say with confidence Lord strengthen our faith we should be staied and eased and so in all distempers whatsoeuer we should not be left to our selues nor forsaken Which many as I said haue not learned to doe and therefore their whole life is but a conflicting with doubts and feares rising anew in their mindes and that endlesly by the malice of the diuell disquieting and molesting them and hindring them from that resolution and holy boldnesse which God alloweth and commandeth to be in them And whereas the enemie buzzeth into them that it were presumption to hold the promise of forgiuenes and life otherwise then doubtingly this fact of Gedeon in so earnest and doubled requesting of strength and confirmation from God should dash and quench it And so by our proofe of Gods answering our prayers at one time wee should learne to vse the same meanes againe in a like manner and as often as neede shall require at another time knowing that as it is Gods honour to be beleeued in his promises so it stands with his
of Succoth doth in like manner threaten them the throwing downe of their tower in which they so much gloried And this threatning seeing it was afterward put in execution was a crosse and discommoditie which they did needlesly and by their owne sin bring vpon themselues By which we may see that many are authors and causers of their owne sorrow and trouble which need not haue been and that by their sinne as stoutnesse wilfulnesse stiffeneckednesse and other vndutifulnesse and rude behauiour they doe I say bring vnseasonable affliction vpon themselues euen as these men of Succoth and Penuel here did Wee know that peace with men to liue without feare by them is a great benefit and soone lost and hardly recouered men being wolues and lionlike one to another especially if they be prouoked and most of all when they haue authoritie and superioritie one ouer another and so may iustly vexe them who shal fal into their hands by their wicked deserts and leaud behauiour Therfore all should take heed how they prouoke one another in the least maner as these did here But lamentable it is that the most men make breaches of their peace and losse of their commodities by rigour crueltie and by an high mind and proud heart not bearing the least iniurie but bending themselues by and by to reuenge looking for all good measure to bee offered them by others but yeelding little or no kindnesse againe which peruersenesse is also euen betwixt many couples in the married estate which causeth continuall iarring and vnquietnesse whereas peace a man would thinke were fitter to be seene both betwixt them and all other whom I speake of Which they are commanded to seeke with all men as much as in them lieth yea and to pursue and follow it though it flee from them yea and to buy peace though it cost them somewhat but not to sel it at any hand much lesse for trifles Thus Abraham bought his peace of Lot And let men learne to this end to know and consider what they are to the pulling downe of their pecocks feathers euen earth earth earth and if they bee weighed in an equall ballance farre worse then nothing But of this I spake in verse 4. of this Chapter Gedeon goeth forward after the rest of the Midianites and findeth them resting themselues in Carkor which was in the precinct of the Israelites from whence they hoped to passe after that night and so to escape But Gedeon came vpon them on the backside of these two cities Iogbeah in the Tribe of Gad Numb 32. and Nobah in the halfe Tribe of Manasseh being hard by Num 22. And so the two Princes were suddenly stricken with astonishment and feare and flying were taken and the hoast smitten and slaine with whom were many hangbies as scullions and such like that followed the army And in that it is said that hee returned backe with the two Princes when the Sunne was risen it appeareth that the warre betwixt them was begun in the night and in the same night was ended By this latter victory of Gedeon it is manifest what great things through Gods blessing are brought to passe by faith and the diligence and vnweariednesse of men in their callings This is the maine point contained in these verses Whereas delay and sloth for I put them together to shew what delaies I meane are alwaies dangerous euen as here if Gedeon had tarried to rest himselfe but one night by the way hee had lost all his labour and the fruit of it to wit the destroying of these Midianites So God to the diligent hath promised his blessing and good successe as Gedeon here found it The men of Succoth and Penuel laughed him to scorne but hee looked to God and had an eye to his promise which was that he would giue them into his hands and yet as we seâ he was neuer awhit the bolder to presume therof without diligent vsing of the meanes It was as vnlike nay much more vnlikely that Dauid should haue smitten downe Goliah that Noah should haue saued the world by the Arke and many other such things to haue bin brought to passe as the conquering of the Nations by Ioshua but they all when they belieued God that he would doe that which he promised went to worke with great care and diligence to serue Gods prouidence seeing he wrought by meanes as he doth still and so they preuailed and obtained that which they sought And this was the power of God through faith they trusting and resting in him through the Mediator to come so it is no lesse in vs for I will briefly apply it againe though I haue stood largely on this point before a new occasion being offered that we outgrow many lets and discouragements by the same our faith though wee bee priuie that there is otherwise nothing in vs and that when sometimes it hath seemed to vs almost impossible the Lord hath done much for vs and wrought great things by vs while wee haue although but weakely and poorely gone to work whether we respect our faith or our labour which is the fruit of it And we hauing been diligent to approoue our selues in both we haue found the truth of that Scripture verified in vs which saith that faith ouercommeth the difficulties that are in the world and haue growne to the contempt of many sinnes and the subduing of them in great measure which had sometime preuailed against vs and to be better heartned against afflictions and to get strength of hope by experience for the time to come But to see how soone Moses Ioshua and Gedeon here grew strong in faith as in a few daies which we are going about many yeeres this ought as to humble vs for that we are so farre behind them so to incourage vs looking duly vnto this how graciouslie God assisted them And so to apply this to the Sacrament we haue communion with God and with Christ therein and are much confirmed thereby in the couenant he hath made with vs by our diligence and faithfulnes in preparing our selues thereto which they that beleeue not think absurd and more then needs to looke after And to conclude this point seeing I haue shewed the necessitie of it and the euill and hurt that falleth out on the contrary I meane by loosenes idlenesse and vnbeliefe in Christians by many occasions heretofore this I adde that the cause of so great difference in the degree and measure of grace and goodnesse which wee obserue in many professors is this that some are painfull in hearing vsing good companie marking with their hearts deeply set vpon the same remembring and making vse of their knowledge watching thereunto with prayer c. whereas others comber theÌselues so much with other matters that there is no roome or leisure left for these They looke to thriue spiritually whether they take paines or no sleeping or working It is a true saying
in marriage whereby very great hurt and detriment must needs fall out both to Church and commonwealth But herein I meane in parents prouiding for their children as farre as my knowledge reacheth there is for the most part no great fault to bee found although indeed there are some vnnaturall and hard harted men from whom little or nothing can be wrong though ability faile them not till they must leaue their goods to bee scrambled for by their children with much strife and contention seeing they could neuer bee brought to dispose of them in any reasonable sort while they liued But to leaue these and come againe to the other their fault is twofold otherwise though the most of them be not to be charged this way as I haue said The one is that they get much of their wealth by ill meanes which they leaue richly to their children at their death or bestow it as they please vpon them in their life The other is that they oft put all out of their owne hands into their childrens to preferre them in marriage and setting them vp so high they bring themselues as low These two euils are very common and require good looking to for the amending of them For the first it is a sweet comming in of their goods to them which they wring from others by oppression extorsion violence or fraud it is I say sweet in the comming in but as bitter it shall bee to the full at the going out The Lord hath set vs our bounds that wee should in no wise offer others that measure which we are vnwilling should be offered to vs againe which rule though I am perswaded that Preachers may teare their tongues to the stumpes before they shall bring many to be guided by yet some I hope wil submit themselues vnto it But in all dealings there are so many waies found out to vphold mens estates or to augment them and the greatest pretence is for their children that they will heare nothing if it be spoken to perswade to equitie and innocency which make the practisers thereof bold as a Lion and to the trying of their doings whither they be good or no. Such and so many kinds of deceiuings and cruell dealings there are practised as by Executors in detaining the goods committed to their fidelity to be put to good vses such rackings of mens rents that they neuer regard how the tenant with all his toile may in any poore sort be maintained but they are forced by necessitie to leaue their farmes and some to run cleane away Such exactions in their loanes till they fill the prisons with them who cannot pay their vnreasonable demands whereas they should looke for no benefit thereby but that only which might stand with the benefit of them that vse and imploy the stocke And to giue a taste of the rest by these who are occupied in greater dealings for who can recken vp all to come to smaller matters who almost deales iustly in them But ioynting there is one of another in two penny dealings as pinching in measures and waights to get a groat or a shilling or in the whole bargaine with the like so that such gaine is more sweete to them then all the rest which they may lawfully take for their commodities as it is in the Prouerb stollen things though they be but waters are sweet But by this conceiue of the rest This shal suffice to say of the first sinne of parents about prouiding for their children that I say nothing of the great hurt they doe themselues hereby for while they are thus greedily set to seeke commoditie for their children they bereaue themselues of knowledge and grace yea and they waxe very sloathfull and negligent in vsing the meanes to increase both and that also beside the omitting the doing of good to others By this meanes leauing no blessing as Caleb did but a curse to their posteritie who must pay the shot full dearely for all those commings in of vnrighteous Mammon Better it is to be the beast then the child of such parents The second fault of parents followeth that is to put themselues out of all euen house and home as they say and that for the preferring of their children to great mariages little else being respected of them wherein though they deale ill in the former to the loading and burdening of their consciences yet in this latter they prouide most vnwisely for themselues and their bodily estate and maintainance and thereby it must needs goe the worse with their soules True it is indeed their children gaine wel by the bargaine if all other things be sutable in their match as religion in both parties and good liking betwixt them for that very cause that they be both heires of the promise but what wisdome is that in the parents to depriue themselues and many poore neighbours of the benefit which they might and by good right ought to haue inioyed by keeping their estate especially the greatest part of it in their owne hands and to thrust their heads vnder their childrens wings to lift vp them and pluck downe themselues when yet for the most part their children are very vnfit for it But be they as they may be I meane fit enough to vse that estate yet they hauing once obtained a right in al and being put into possession thereof how vnmeet is it that the parents must be beholding to them for that which they haue to liue with all And yet that shall be with grudging enough yeelded vnto them especially after a while For they deale with them as flatterers do with their benefactors when they haue sucked what they can then vnthankfully they cast them off and turne them ouer perke nay more then that if their parents haue kept any thing in their owne hands to relieue themselues some children are neuer well till they haue vnder some colourable shew of reason wound euen that from them into their owne hands or if they cannot then their death is longed for that so they may haue all So that their old age is tedious and irksome to them wherein they should looke for most kindnesse and quietnes at their childrens hands and the greatest respect and regard to be had of them For their occupyings I deny not but when age hath made them vnfit for labour or ouerseeing their commodities it may be conuenient to yeeld them into their childrens hands those I meane which in all respects shall be thought meetest for the same but vpon good conditions yet that their parents may be well dealt with by them and keepe the chiefe hold in their owne hands for the time And these two dangers being wisely auoided by parents I freely affirme that they ought to prouide for their children as I haue said when they bestow them in marriage wherein yet this must bee obserued of them that they straine themselues the further to do them good and more good as they haue shewed
It is no marueile though it be said by the Apostle that faith ouer commeth the world euen all and the greatest difficulties therein For what hardnes doth any man goe thorow in his whole life like vnto this here mentioned and ouercome it also vnlesse it be thus euen by the helpe and power of faith which is no more then to giue credit to God in that which he speaketh when wee see no such thing nor likelihood if it but rather of the contrary many times with our bodily eyes Euen thus hath God magnified his word in all ages when men haue found euery part of it true by faith and by this it hath pleased him to make men see his vnspeakable kindnesse while they beleeue the promise in which he offereth it vnto them By this faith we also at this day haue sure hold of forgiuenes and eternall life euen so many as are wearie of sinne and thirst for both and that because we iudge him faithfull that hath promised and by this we are perswaded of a good end of our daies because God hath said it to all in whom he hath made a good beginning thereof So saith the Apostle faithfull is he that calleth you who will also doe it So that all things are possible how vnlikely soeuer to him that beleeueth This is the cause why some more esteeme and price this faith then gold that perisheth and declare that they cannot doe too much to come by retaine it euen while they bee laughed to scorne of the wicked world who think it meere foolishnes to doe so as Noah the preacher of righteousnesse was in his time while he beleeuing that an vniuersall slood should come prepared the Arke But herein I might wade infinitly and this I confesse that howsoeuer I forbeare to speake of the most of other things twice yet of this I professe to speake as oft as I shall haue occasion the thing itselfe being so excellent so necessarie and yet so difficult to see thorowly into I only now require that we may weigh the power and truth of Gods word to the end we may stay our selues vpon it The word of a man whom wee count faithfull doth much perswade vs in great difficulties and quickeneth is if hee bring vs good tidings when we were before in great heauinesse When Beniamin came with this ioyfull tidings to his father Iacob full of heauinesse Ioseph thy sonne is yet aliue and is ruler ouer all Egypt the heart of Iacob reuiued If it be so by giuing credit to a man what confidence and ioy is it like to worke if we beleeue a glad tidings which may bee of many things sent vs from God Doubtlesse hereby our weake knees are strengthened and our sorrowfull hearts are comforted more then can be expressed I wish therefore that vnto vs concerning faith that which S. Iames did of patience to wit that it may haue her perfect worke so should wee be sure to want nothing that is good The next thing after the victorie ouer Siseras armie is to see the extremity that he himselfe the leader and chiefe captaine of it was brought vnto for he was faine to leaue his charet which was his defence and to shift for himselfe on foote among the common souldiers that he might saue his life if it were possible This I say remaineth in this 15. verse to be added And here as in fittest place I think good to note this because of the former doctrine one contrary cleering the other that as Barak and Debora did by faith so great things by so small and weake meanes so Sisera wanting this as being of the heathen Canaanites how could he so much as taste of it was for all his wisedome policie and power wasted put to flight and al his troupe and band brought to destruction Here was verified that saying an horse is but a vaine thing to saue a man Likewise another scripture that saith Some put their trust in charets and some in horses but we will remember the name of the Lord our God They are brought downe and fallen but we are risen and stand vpright And therefore to referre the reader to gather the infinite annoyances of vnbeliefe and therewith the great benefits of faith out of the former doctrine I will conclude that as without faith it is impossible to please God so God being against all which are destitute of it and an enemie to them how can they looke to stand against him but to fall and bee confounded And this they finde daily one or other of them though it be little marked and it is soone forgotten another generation rising vp in their roome who know not the workes of God and yet they haue their time also set them wherein they shall finde the like For if this be true in the greene tree how much more in the withered If through vnbeliefe euen the righteousest finde it a matter of such difficultie to be saued before they attaine it what shall become of him that is an vnbeleeuer altogether And further if particular defects in faith cost Moses and Barak disaduantage and dishonour what shall the end of such be as neuer had any Surely the wrath of God abideth vpon them and so shall doe for euer and shew it selfe in a farre more terrible manner if they haste not after it and so as that they attaine it Ioh. 3. And here another thing is to be marked that when God doth not blesse but blow vpon mens furniture furtherances and taketh part against theÌ euen these things which were armour and defence to them before they cast them away as burthens and impediments As Sisera here was driuen to leaue his charet now that he was so pursued of his enemies which yet had been and was counted as his house of defence vnto him For God will haue vs know that his fauour is toward all his as the pleasant sunshine to the earth and the creatures therein which maketh all pleasant and beautifull and if that should cease to shine the earth with all that is therein should stinke and come to naught Euen so if God turne away his louing countenance from a man and frowne vpon him all that was precious to him before is vnpleasant euen as the moth consumeth the beautie of a garment as it was said of Ierusalem when God was displeased that all her pleasant things were matters of sighing and sorrow vnto her Whence is it that many a man of great possessions can yet finde no sauour nor rellish in them especially if any affliction or trouble be vpon him Why is the heart so locked vp that it cannot ioy in any commoditie in wife children wealth fauour Will ye know the reason because first outward things are so farre sweete as the Lord sweetneth them and otherwise the enioyers thereof find no taste nor sweetnes in them no they haue no vse of them If God be
and prayer before she went to the King and went after that with great courage to him for helpe and preuailed But it is otherwise with vs for we for the most part first serue our selues what though in doing things that are lawfull and seeke our owne profit and pleasure which is our great sinne and yet that is not all but hauing so done we are also by the least occasion easily brought to omit the Lords due altogether many times as I haue said or at least to performe it slackly coldly and by halues so that it were as good vndone This appeareth to be too true in the common courses of men and many of their dealings and of theirs who are not the worst And namely in this one when we haue set an order for praying in our houses we will not perhaps as some doe omit it altogether afterwards but yet we then for the most part meete to performe this dutie to God when we haue serued our selues and filled our bellies first in which case wee be commonly oppressed with drowsinesse and sleepe which are a man would think vtterly vnmeet to accompanie Gods seruice and therfore little pleasing to him that it were farre better to dispose of a fitter time for that businesse and yet other things not to bee left vndone And wee must take heed both in this which I now speake of and all the like that we take in hand lest we giue iust suspition that we thinke any thing is good enough for the Lord. In the publike worship of God the Church hath giuen a better example that we doe our duties to God before we refresh ourselues Abrahams seruant hauing but a message of his masters to doe did so diligently follow the doing and executing of it that hee would not take his owne necessarie repast in his hunger and wearinesse till he had faithfully discharged that businesse And Iehosaphat being neerely driuen by the Moabits and Ammonits did first seeke the Lord by fasting and prayer before he would take weapon in hand And let all marke what he lost thereby or whether hee could possibly haue found the like helpe and so present as he did by all speedie following his businesse by all policie and power that hee could haue made And yet I adde this because I would lay no burthen needlesly on the conscience of any man that in necessitie which cannot be auoided a man may omit the greater dutie for the lesse if it could not else be done at all and so as opportunitie be watched and taken to doe it afterwards To conclude about this matter let this practise of Gedeon teach vs this rule to wit to giue the precedencie alway to those duties which are of best price and withall of greatest necessitie Now I call that necessitie which not only is commanded but absolutly and alwaies so that it is sinne to neglect and omit it as to watch beleeue repent c. they may not be left of and laid aside for any cause So to heare the word in season and out of season is commanded as also to doe our earthly businesse on the sixe daies yet to omit both at some time is no sin because they be commanded but for some time to be done may in some cases and at other times be dispensed with omitted but the other are euer necessarie as to be humbled for sin to beleeue in God also to loue and feare God and to be patient some other with the like duties of the first Commandements Now these are absolute duties and charged vpon vs generally and alwaies no businesse may be preferred before these whatsoeuer no delay is to be admitted no though it be vnder colour of most serious returning thereto afterward For where we take libertie to our selues in these cases God curseth vs Satan gets ground of vs and the worke for the which we lay them aside is commonly naught worth when it is done in the best manner And therefore wee see that Felix pretending that he would heare Paul againe at leisure of those things which his terrified conscience durst heare no longer for that present neuer had leisure to heare him againe at all seeing he did it not both when he ought and might For the second sort of duties as prayer in familie priuatly by our selues with the like although they are not duties of so simple necessitie that no other actions may euer hinder them yet let them who haue solemnely couenanted with the Lord to vse them and seene great cause thereof and fruite thereby beware how they winde out themselues of this course vpon vnwarranted occasions for so they shall neuer want some one or other shift to salue the matter till the breach be growne so great that a slender patch will not mend it nay griefe and slight repentance scarcely will repaire it as wee see a close and smooth lid of a frame if it warpe once is not easily brought to his leuelnes againe God shall teach wisedome in the cases of lawfull omission to such as leane not so much and so long to their owne till they haue laid themselues vnderfoote But that the chiefest duties when all things are rightly considered ought to be as I haue said preferred before other the words of our Sauiour in that patterne of prayer Matth. 6. do clearely shew where before he mentioneth any petitions tending to the good of soule or body hee commands vs to aske the things which concerne the glory of God which stands in the comming of his kingdome and doing of his will So that if it were possible that a good might aske the pardon of sinne deliuerance from euill or necessaries to this life without respect had to this that God might bee honoured in all these it were his great sinne so to doe For the very saluation of a mans soule is to be hazzarded and neglected if it might bee rather then that it should stand in comparison with this as by Moses and Pauls request for the peoples forgiuenes and conuersion may appeare Secondly in this that the Midianites banded themselues against Israel very like to haue spoiled them both of their liues goods as they had almost done before we should consider to what changes in our estate we be subiect and that is euen vnto the loosing of all the good things that God hath inriched vs with to make our liues comfortable Oh when we are in health peace abundance and well married with the feare of God accompanying them it is doubtlesse a little paradise that wee liue in as here on earth wee may looke for and in comparison of that we may see the most to enioy that we liue among and they are wise who can acknowledge it to giue God the praise by bringing foorth much fruit And yet God can affoord vs this and more too if we could vse it well and do good with it But seeing men nestle themselues vpon these vncertaine things which
saying Oh that my people were wise and would consider their end And the Apostle asketh this question of the Romanes what fruite or pleasure they euer had in that which in the end brought shame to them The wise the foolish virgins giue cleere proofe vnto this the foolish contenting themselues to bee without oyle in their lampes that is to walke securely were therefore shut out the wise waiting with oyle in their lampes till the Bridegrome came and therefore thus watching to the end were taken in and receiued readily Looke vpon Absolon for all the aduancing of himselfe and on Adonia looke vpon Baltazar for all his iunketting with his choice companie in the holy vessels of the Temple and vpon Haman though he onely was bidden to the banquet with the King by Queene Hester and for all his other honour that hee had which yet he himselfe did not a little boast of was not the end of it greater shame then the best of it was glorie Looke vpon the young man to whom Salomon speaketh who reioyced as if he should neuer be old nor meeâe with worse cheare then iollitie and mirth was it not told him he should come to iudgement And what better end of his delicious life found the rich man in the Gospell then torments And thus I might heape vp examples infinitly both out of the Scripture and out of our own experience of them who had gotten much here and they were many in number in al ages that did thus as the Midianites of whom I now speake and were for their greatnes and in their time the talke of the world yet hauing no sure hold of heauen nor part in other happinesse then transitorie came to naught and were worse then nothing so as one may say of them as Christ said of Iudas It had been good for them that they had neuer been borne Therefore I conclude blessed is the man that hath an eye to the end of his actions and of all things which he beholdeth here vnder the sunne and so dealeth that hee may finde and enioy thereby a good end of his life therfore when the holy Ghost to the Hebrewes commended the faith of some he willeth the reader to consider what hath bin the end of the conuersation of such And the Psalmist sendeth vs to the end of the godly Marke saith he the end of the righteous for the end of him is peace But for these that will be merrie otherwise howsoeuer they goe to worke their end will be in heauinesse according to the words of our Sauiour Woe be to you that now laugh fow ye shall howle and weepe Now that it is said here they had fortie yeeres peace after this subduing of the Midianites it was a great benefit that God bestowed vpon them and so all that enioy it or a great part of it shall see cause to say if they reade and consider the bondage and woe that men are in to enemies and strangers Therfore we should carefully looke what good may be done in such times of libertie and freedome from great disturbance especially that when wee haue generally peace in the land there be no priuate breaches with neighbours at home nor in familie but a quiet life with both and the peace of a good conscience to Godward chiefly and aboue all things procured Looke of this at large in chap. 5. and elsewhere Now that which followeth concerning Gedeon in this verse is this that it is said after this victorie Gedeon liued after a sort a priuate life to proue and make it manifest that he desired not as he had told them before the empire contrary to Gods ordinance So it is with some offices among vs annuall or temporarie If hee had in this priuacie liued idlely or wickedly as one that had done enough before and now waxt weary it would haue been set downe as other faults be That which wee haue to learne by this is that we so vse authoritie countenance preferment or any such libertie which is more then common that we remember it must be laid downe againe and haue an end and that also perhaps in this life and therefore that we swell not neither be puffed vp thereby neither forget what wee haue been for that and such like promotion or aduancement is but borrowed And nothing is more common then to see age abased and in little regard so that The minde as the saying is is all in all yea such as the minde is such is the man For else what should be the priuiledge of a godly man in respect of other both in life and at death Some may better haue thousands and vse them more soberly then some can hundreds He that makes his prosperitie his heauen cannot but thinke the contrarie to bee his miserie and vndoing But he that neuer ioyed too much in that he had neuer laid it too neere his heart when he lost or for-went it It is the speech of a foole to say It is most miserable to haue bin happie A wise man is neither so lifted vp with inioying that which he knoweth is vanishing and mutable as if it were happines nor so deiected in the forgoing it as if he had lost it and as if his hope were past The immoderate desire of the minde is like to him who hauing vsed his body to a plenteous and delicate fare being afterward compelled to streighter allowance pineth and by the alteration of a full fat comely and strong body into a thinne meager pale and decaied sheweth that the change of his diet hath made him vnlike himselfe Whereas the sober minded resembleth him who tieth himselfe to an ordinarie as most agreeable to health and soundnes and although hee come to an extraordinarie diet yet he is a law to himselfe he eateth no more of many then he did before of a few dishes So that as the one mendeth him not so the other appaireth him not Thus saith the Christian with the Apostle I haue learned to abound I haue learned also to want in diuers estates to be the same euen contented and thankfull A rare portion aboue al earthly treasure and such as he needed not be ashamed to confesse he had learnd for he was borne to no such priuiledge as he was to be a free citizen of Rome as he told Lysias but was taught it by the Spirit of God only Wee haue great need to note this for many by office place authoritie and superioritie in Ministery and Magistracy haue and doe daily forget themselues and especially if great wealth accompany the same yea sometime where there is no great matter in the persons to cause it And therefore when God shall blow vpon their estate and cast it downe and they be constrained to come to abasement and to their old condition againe wherein they once liued they scorne and cast it off and shift by vnlawfull meanes to wind themselues
sinne or dishonour of God among them their reioycing is not good but Christs woe meeteth with them when he saith Woe be to you that now laugh for you shall waile and weepe And when in the common course of our life we are led by the affection of ioy which hath no good ground nor warrant such ioy is euill and shall be turned into sorrow and woe And yet I deny not but mirth yea euen naturall mirth in things transitorie and indifferent is allowed so that it be moderated yea and especially if it be vsed to nourish spirituall ioy to which end it is ordained of God and for the supporting of our greatest infirmities euen as all other of Gods earthlie benefits are likewise And by this speech of Iotham wee gather that although good and bad meete together and both seeme to be merrie in their seuerall companie yet there is a greater oddes betwixt them then a man would imagine For the vngodly mans mirth is bred in the tongue and countenance and therefore is controlled by an heauie sad heart which tels him that if he considered aright of the matter hee hath small cause of being merrie but to turne his meriments into heauinesse The godly mans ioy is heartie entire sound and therefore lasteth and he cannot checke himselfe iustly except it be for that he is not so merrie as he ought to be And as Iotham saith here the wicked though they reioyce together yet they adde not each to the other any sound but onely frothie and deceitfull ioy by their fellowship the reason is because the ground of it is societie in euill But the godly as they ioy in secret both in Gods fauour and their happie estate and in the good duties which they doe as appeareth both in their going about them performing them and the fruite of both so when they meete together their ioy is encreased and multiplied euen as mirth is doubled by musicke and pleasure Whereas therefore the Christian complaines of much sorrow within and without his corrupt affections his loosenes his crosses reproch in the world bad example abundance of iniquitie temptations let such a man know that euen this sorrow of his is a good ground of his reioycing seeing that his sorrow is good He sorroweth for euill to see it so to abound but his sorrow is not euill His conscience still is good and so long his ioy is warrantable onely the ill conscience marres this feast of a quiet minded and merrie hearted Christian My reioycing is my good conscience saith the Apostle But if a good man will doe as a bad man his ioy is like his As for affliction if it come vpon him in his innocencie though it may dampe his outward mirth especially if he be not fitted for it yet it takes not ioy from his soule but it shall returne againe double and treble For their names being written in heauen and they knowing it to be so no affliction no nor the greatest malice of Satan can blot them out thence and therefore affliction to the godly is compared to sowing now we know sowing is the cause of haruest wherein is great ioy Therefore let them beware lest by their disguising themselues and wounding their conscieÌce they cause not to themselues needlesse complainings feares and sorrowes or halfe ioy in stead of sound and so doing they shall not neede to feare that Gods fatherly corrections shall hurt them And if they will see good daies and liue chearefully let them looke that out of a good heart they bring foorth no other but good fruites to bee reioyced in and flee euill of all sorts yea though the world count them but peazants and meacocks for their so doing The time shall come when all such iollie fellowes shall ioy as Abimelech and the Shechemites that is shall sit downe and put their heads betweene their knees for sorrow shame and miserie and yet a greater sorrow is behinde Iotham in mentioning his father saith that he put his life in danger to deliuer the Shechemites and so againe he requireth of the men of Shechem that they deale accordingly with his posteritie that is to say in vprightnes and righteousnes Wherein he speaketh as the Scripture doth euery where that men who haue had good measure offered them and stand vpon their knowledge ciuilitie and honestie and much more their profession should not behaue themselues as others who walke by example onely of the common sort and their own sensualitie and will Neither is that any better that some alleage that they do as much as law enioyneth them when as yet they may be conuicted of palpable iniurie and vnthankfulnes For a good man if there were no law will be a law to himselfe Oh! how much to be accounted is that faithfulnes which requites loue with kinde dealing but it is rare to be found but yet on the contrarie that is barbarous to yeeld euill for good as many doe and as these men of Shechem are heere charged by Iotham to haue done when yet wee haue learned that wee ought to render good for euill But I referre the reader to the first and last verses of the 8. Chapter wherein I haue more at large spoken of this point Here in that he foretelleth that one of them shall destroy another that is Abimelech the men of Shechem and they him euen as it came to passe it may teach vs that all ill practises and doings shall haue an euill end The kingdome on his part was wickedly sought and on their part as wickedly granted and how could the end be good the worke being euill howsoeuer for a time it appeare not Who were greater or faster knit in consent one with another then Iosephs brethren about sending and selling him away far from them where he should neuer trouble them as they counted it and hoped any more But what came of it were they not after strangled or rather haltered with that they had done When there arose but a little trouble against them did they not then crie out and confesse that their cruell handling of him yea and that long after was the chiefe cause of it So who are neerer ioyned together then theeues Yet there commeth a time of pealing one another wherein they cry out Oh we are vndone woe to vs that euer wee were linked in a confederacie together Who greater friends then the wicked that conspire together against goodnesse and good men but when it is bewraied and they by a greater and an ouerruling power are called to a reckoning what deadly hate is there betwixt them as we reade of Iudas and the wicked Priests And in shew where is there greater loue then betwixt these caualering and drunken companions who forsooth will be called the only good fellowes Doe they not embrace each other as Ioab did Abner in their armes when they goe about their pot-companionship And yet ere they
SERMONS VPON THE WHOLE BOOKE of IVDGES and first the entrance into them I Confesse it is no small matter for a man to take vpon him to set foorth Lectures or Sermons of any part of the word of God especially of an whole booke thereof and the rather for that it is a matter of much greater difficultie and danger so to doe then to preach them seeing for mine owne part I would easilier be brought to preach three Sermons then to set foorth or penne one and besides we see that learned men I speake of many who might for their excellent gifts profit many and doe the Church much good are haraly drawne thereto I leaue their reasons to themselues perhaps they thinke it a needlesse worke to set foorth more bookes For mine owne part I knowing that many would reade little if there were not new bookes set foorth I thinke it to good purpose to labour in that kinde especially when the things set foorth are for the quickening vp of the present drowsie age And so I testifie my iudgement by my writings that I am of another minde not for that I would dissent from learned men or seeke glorie and praise by this my practise when to speake as the truth is I confesse freely that as I come many degrees behinde them in gifts for that purpose so I would not take vpon me this exercise of writing vnlesse I were led to it by waightie reasons but in the simplicitie of my heart I speake it that I set myselfe to this worke as I can haue time and leisure from my publike imployment in my Ministerie and other priuate duties euen to keepe myselfe from danger in this euill world as idlenesse too much tampering in the world and such like needlesse and hurtfull besinesse as well as for the desire I haue to benefit any other hereby and besides I thinke it better to benefit the Church while wee liue being but a short time other may rise vp after to perfit such beginnings then to burie our gifts vtterly and so to depriue it altogether of the same by death Also I see that euery age of men hath sundrie troubles annexed to it the old as well as the young and occasions are offered of sinning and offending God many waies by one occasion or other which are not thought of before they come In so much as when the danger of youth and of the former yeeres of our life is passed with inwara peace and without any grosse and iust offence to others which yet to doe is few mens cases and rarely obtained and not without much striuing and watching to enter in at the straight gate yet the diuell so much the more enuieth our credit in the Church and the comfort we haue from God in such an estate especially the Ministers and therefore hee doth the more bend his force against such that hee may in their latter end disgrace them by winding them into some reprochfull and foule offences that so he may as much as in him lieth make their former vertues and part of life to be ridiculous and of no account And therefore as I am not ashamed to confesse that I haue receiued wonderfull cause of thanksgiuing to God for his so great bountie and fauour towards me the most vnworthie in my younger yeeres to keepe me from the infection of the time and sins of the age wherein I haue liued yet God be mercifull to my many slips and infirmities so I am not I say ashamed to confesse that I feare in this my declining age hasting apace to the graue as with griefe of heart I haue seene in many that I may possibly yea and that full easily be drawne to an vnprofitable earthly idle and dead course of life and thereby to greater offending of God and blemishing of my profession and Ministerie vnlesse I should labour to preuent it by some set labour and study and so to hold fast that which I haue receiued of the Lord and that is by the occupying and vsing the gifts which he hath giuen me as in this kinde of studie namely of writing I may and also if I should not endeuour to grow forward in grace experience and in the knowledge of our Lord Iesus Christ from the which a man may be easily hindred by the error of the wicked rather then to looke what I haue done heretofore I might easily flatter myselfe thereby and so at least stand at a stay or which is worse goe backe and so lose my part of happinesse with them that continue to the end For I make chiefe account of that hauing it not in fruition as yet but by hope onely and I know it may easily and many waits be hindred and staied as Satan can handle the matter and as I see many goe to worke And for this cause I desire to be occupied vntill the Lord come and in this manner hauing more then one foote in the graue And to the end I may tye myselfe to liue the freer from dangerous falles and offences while I am here a stranger and absent from home and therefore I say I haue set myselfe to this kinde of worke as being not able through debilitie of body and lamenes to trauaile abroad and helpe other neighbours more then at home by preaching as I haue done since I first began where my labour was desired and by conferring much as occasion was offered as I vsed in health to doe And if any laugh at this which I haue said of my fearing myselfe as thinking it meere folly I cannot doe with it neither am moued for their so censuring me but I tell them this that while they feare not their frailtie also but count it foolishnes they hast apace to vtter miserie Now for taking this booke in hand to set out my Sermons vpon it which I haue before preached though I haue gone ouer in the course of my Ministerie many other besides this I take this booke in hand not as making comparison betwixt it and other bookes of Scripture but partly seeing no Lectures or Sermons are set out vpon it that I know to giue light and helpe to such as need it and partly at the earnest desire of those that heard my Sermons on it and if I may know and perceiue my labours in this to be thought worth the setting foorth I would be willing as much as in me lieth to doe the like in some other booke In this worke beside the people who are not brought vp in learning who may see that their whole life may be directed hereby and may much profit by it so I intended also in it to benefit Students and Preachers who are not yet experienced nor best furnished with matter for the edifying of the hearers so that beside the fruite they may reape hereby in common with the people so they may learne how to make vse of the historicall part of the Bible and learne to draw doctrine and instruction out of the examples
that he will deale liberally with them Men promise much and performe little yea many are so vniust that they set other about their worke but they are neuer willing to pay them their hire and to come to a reckoning because they are well content to defraud them of their due and to take their labour in a manner for nothing But God is a liberall pay-master he promiseth afore hand more then we can looke for euen to make vs able and fit for the worke that so it may not bee toilesome nor tedious vnto vs beside the reward that he giueth afterwards euen as he did to Iosuah before when he should leade the people at the first into the land of Canaan hee not onely promised him the whole land but added therewith I will be with thee I will not leaue nor forsake thee And this being duly considered and belieued were the strongest motiue to set vs forward cheerefully not onely in those duties and workes of out callings which doe cause some delight and are ioyned with some profit but also in other which require much toile and haue nothing to incourage vs but this that God commands vs and would haue vs goe to worke otherwise and namely both the Magistrate and Minister to do those great works required of them with that cheerfulnes and readines that I haue mentioned yea the husbandman and the artificer after the same manner to set vpon their workes inioyned them and so likewise euen seruants doore keepers and hewers of wood and drawers of water which are the basest seruices and meanest of other callings as also the keepers of sheepe and swine to be so occupied in their callings that as long as they know they are in the condition in which they should liue and serue God and that he will bee with them and blesse them therein they may abide in the same with comfort resting vpon his prouidence and trusting in his promise that they shall reape the fruit of it assuredly And the same I would say of women in their places and condition and the worke that they are occupied about in bruing baking sowing spinning and such like huswifery but that I should stay to long The which behauiour so heauenly in their earthly businesse would better become them a man would thinke and should be desired and sought for of them if they were wise that so they might liue cheerefully and peaceably it would better become them I say then the life which now they leade which for the most part is led distrustfully vnquietly in fretting raging and earthly mindednes c. And all because they trust not in God for successe neither belieue that he will be with them to direct and helpe them as also to giue a good end to their labours though they do not alwayes attaine the outward profit which they seeke God prouiding better for them euen in that hardnes as they count it that their contentation and patience shall be a greater blessing to them then if they had inioyed all the commodity that might haue bin looked for of them Oh wofull people who like not their labours and worke which God allotteth and appointeth to them but take in hand what they thinke good and therein promise to themselues as the worldly men did who are mentioned in Saint Iames namely what gaine they shall haue without the promise of God and therefore if they be disappointed they could finde in their hearts to contend with God for not yeelding their hope and desire vnto them for though they will not bee directed by him what and how they should do yet they will quarrell and dispute with him if they faile of that they looke for for what else are their secret murmurings and frettings but against him in their disappointments Thus we see how ill they prouide for themselues who take not the worke they goe about from God that so they might also prosper therein but they are wise and shall not repent it who as Iudah heere did desire God to teach them what his good pleasure is to haue them to do for therein they are sure that it shall goe well with them whatsoeuer they take in hand In which respect Dauid wished the meanest place in Gods house that is to say where he ruleth rather then the greatest and highest elsewhere Wel shewing by his example that the poore who in their simplicitie can make the like choice may liue farre more sweetly and peaceably then the mightiest which refuse to learne so to do and that Salomon ment when he said A dish of greene hearbs with peace is better then a staled oxe with strife But from this and such like places it is obiected that God dealt farre better with that people then he doth in these daies with vs. For they in a particular doubt or trouble might goe and aske counsell of God and he gaue them an answere againe thereto which if he did grant to vs in like manner then they say we had good cause in deede why we should serue God as readily and ioyfully as they did but we haue no such libertie to aske in that manner nor the like prerogatiue in his answering vs againe To the which I say that this liberty was granted them in one respect which diminisheth nothing of Gods fauour to vs and this it is That people of Israel had a promise of God that their common wealth should in some sort abide vnto Christs comming For the which cause when they were in great ieopardy to be rooted out by enemies God gaue them leaue thus to aske of him what they should do and he resolued and satisfied them according to the promise which he had made them to wit that they should not be driuen out of the land whereby they knew that those troubles should not be as they feared their vtter ouerthrow And as for their captiuity afterwards it was but for a season and they were at the appointed time restored againe and returned into their owne land Now what great prerogatiue had they by such answeres from God about that particular more then an earthly benefit They had this temporary blessing which they needed we as we haue it not so we stand in no need of it But we haue farre greater then they had as the meanes of our saluation farre more cleerely brought to light and this is the greatest of all benefits And seeing wee haue many bookes of holy Scripture which they had not especially when these things were done which now are spoken of as the Prophets and the new Testament wee may well allow them somewhat which we want And for praying to God either about and for things heauenly or earthly we haue farre more easie accesse to God then they had this one thing excepted that they had this one liberty granted them as I haue said And it would aswell appeare by the fruit of our prayers if we were zealous and oft
men of them of another people that ioyned with them namely the Perezites which were also of the 7. cursed nations And heere this victorie is briefly set down but the maner how it was gotten is more at large laid forth in the verses following The rest of them seeing their armie was very great it is to be thought fled away out of whom their King was taken and caught By this the Lords keeping of promise with Iudah we see it prooued which was before affirmed that God hauing spoke the word once it is as much as if hee had done the deed his word and deed are both one Which in so great matters especially as he promiseth is worthie to be regarded For we may say now of our selues as the Prophet said of former times Our father 's hoped in him and were not disappointed they put their trust in him and were not confounded This when wee see how hardly it is found in men to keepe their promise and that they cannot bee trusted of their word though they promise yea and bind it with an oath no though they be depended on in waightie cases this I say should make vs to thinke our estate twice happie who may be allowed to rest and put our affiance in God without feare of being disappointed in the greatest matters For if wee can but wait patiently wee may bee sure it shall come to passe which he hath promised yea till heauen and earth perish one iot or tittle of that which he hath spoken shall not faile but be fulfilled What comfort ought this to bring to all beleeuing Christians who haue promises made them by him of temporary deliuerances and benefits and of eternall happinesse Oh what were wanting here if there were faith to beleeue them Besides whereas it is one of the greatest griefes of Gods people to see vile men prosper in their wickednesse and to flourish as the greene bay tree and to haue more pleasure honor and wealth then they could looke for whereby they seeme to men to be here placed in an immortalitie yet seeing it is certaine they shall come to naught and to destruction who abide in that estate for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it what patience and contentment should this bee to the faithfull to remaine constant in their hope and well doing though they haue many discouragements and to wait with patience a little while seeing he that will come will come and not tarrie But this point is often taught therefore it shall suffice to haue said this of it only applie wee this truth to the bad in Gods threatnings as the promise hath been applied to the beleeuers that if he threaten them and they stand it out with him he will surely pay them home as he dealt with Nebuchadnezzar and others Now for Gods deliuering the Canaanites into their hands wee must know that this was done without all iniustice and seuerity which some wil be ready enough to thinke otherwise of though there be no mention here made of their desertes and transgressions but it is manifest in the Scriptures that they were most grieuous And that appeares by the Lords owne words in the booke of Genesis where when hee would shew a reason why hee would hold the posteritie of Abraham so long a season in Egypt before they came into the land of promise he makes it to be this namely for that the sins of the Canaanites were not then come to the ful which time then was not but now was fulfilled and come to passe and therefore they were now iustly punished Abrahams seed being long before this brought out of the Egyptian bondage Now as the sinne of the Canaanites was growne ripe and knowne to God to be come a great height though it be not here set downe yea though it be not manifest to all that read the storie and yet cleare enough as I haue said and therefore they suffered and were punished most iustly so we that heare this must be perswaded that God dealeth most righteously in all his visitations and iudgements though men do not alwaies see the cause Which we haue great need well to learne seeing we are readie with Cain to to charge God with rigour and hard dealing by the smallest occasion when yet we neither haue argument to vphold vs and we might haue learned of Iob that there is no disputing with God and if he gaue vs nothing at all yet he should owe vs nothing we are indebted to him for all that we haue This Dauid confessed when the Lord corrected him and whereas he might haue been thought to haue dealt too hardly with him reproouing him so sharpely and sending so heauie a message to him as he did by the Prophet Nathan yet Dauid himselfe confesseth his fault to haue been so heinous and his sinne so great that God did shew mercie in correcting him rather then seueritie and added this that hee should alwaies be iustified and found righteous howsoeuer men should iudge of him This though men dare not in words denie if they should be asked what their opinion is concerning it yet when God taketh them seuerally in hand and that his rods be vpon themselues rare are they that shall then be of that mind and so confesse to him or before men especially if their afflictions bee long or smarty that yet the Lord is iust his dealings are righteous but rather they crie out impatiently that they are handled as no other men be and that they would they had any other afflictioÌ vpon theÌ in stead of that which they suffer And if they be exhorted to patience they ask with the wicked king Iehoram how can they attend on God any longer in their so great calamities whereas he hauing a mercifull respect of vs regardeth what wee are fit to beare and moderateth his chastisements accordingly and promising that he will lay no more on vs then he will make vs able to goe vnder it is most certainly our great sin when we labor not to containe our selues meekly and to see so much amisse as ful easily we may in our euill hearts and liues as that we may say alwaies in his sorest correcting of vs the Lord is righteous and euer to bee praised Secondly this should teach vs not to take part with the wicked in moning and pitying them for that he so pursueth them when wee see the hand of God vpon them but rather iustifie God nay giue thanks vnto him for his iust dealing with them and although we wish their saluation yet wee may reioyce in their punishment euen as mourne for their impunity when they prouoke them Especially if we know them enemies to the Church seeing then we iudge not before the time and wee know it is iust with God to render tribulation to all that haue troubled his but when the estate of the afflicted is vnknowne to vs
the shame of Popery this that I haue said is to be marked for the professors thereof doe challenge them for their difficultie and hardnesse so as they are not to be suffered in the hands of the common people whom if they withheld not from the true vnfolding of them they might reape great profit by reading them Also to the iust reproofe of many both Atheists and other not much differing from them this is to be noted for they that is the Atheists scoffe at the Scriptures and bouldly iustle against Moses and Christ these who are the prophane as bouldly and yet blindly reason dispute and quarrell against some particular Scriptures which they vnderstand not as if they were competent iudges as that in the Psalme Moab is my washpot ouer Edome will I cast my shooe which yet is as they would see and acknowledge if they were not more bold and rash then wise and skilfull to very good purposes as setting downe Gods threatning of iudgements against his enemies as also that of Samsons tying foxes tailes together with firebrands to spoile the Philistimes corne with such like also they raile against the doctrine of predestination and the sinne against the holy Ghost But not counting them worth the answering I conclude seeing the Lord hath left the Scriptures so pure and free from all error the matters in them being so profitable and heauenly I conclude I say that if we desire to liue comfortably by the benefit of them let them bee our treasure while the world trample them vnderfoot yea and let our meditation and delight bee so much the more in them and that continually And this bee noted out of all these verses generally to the 17. in that they are a repetition out of Ioshua Now more particularly in that so worthy things were done by this Tribe before and that therefore they were chosen now rather then any of the other Tribes to guide the rest seeing that they were wisest and faithfullest in Gods matters as appeareth by the mentioning of these great actes done by them let it teach vs this that such as are wisest and faithfullest ought to bee vsed and placed in the chiefe roomes of the seruice of God aboue the rest So Paul was endued with excellent gifts and counted faithfull before God put him in his seruice and then he imployed him in the most waightie businesse So Ioshua sent faithfull spies to view the land of Canaan This thing had such force in the heathen Kings as in Pharaoh that hee preferred Ioseph aboue all the chiefe Nobles of the land though he was but a stranger saying where shall we find a man like this man fitted for this worke and in the Kings of Babylon that they committed the great and waighty matters of the Kingdome to Daniel and the three Children because they saw that the spirit of God was in them to doe well aboue others So Abraham trusted Eliezer his seruant in that waighty matter of the marriage of his sonne Isaac hauing none like him yea Ahab himselfe made Obadiah a worthy man Steward of his houshold though hee had inough of other beside The holy Ghost makes mention at large of those Worthies which Dauid for their good seruice in the warres against the enemies of the Lord exalted to the highest roomes next him So did Iehoiada Hence it is that the Wise man saith Wo to that land whose Princes are chilaren and being not fit for any gouernment rise vp earely to drink strong drink Yea Salomon being put to his choice desired an vnderstanding heart wisely to goe in and out before the people And such ought Masters of families Magistrates and Gouernours in Townes to be as well as Ministers And this order God hath set and taught vs in commending and commanding faithfulnes and diligence which are excellent vertues in seruaÌts who yet are the meanest persons therby teaching vs much more to prefer these gifts in them who are vsed and imploied in higher callings and places and so much the more if wisdome be ioyned with them And these qualities Iethro required in such magistrates as should be chosen and the like Paul required in such as are called to the ministry besides other like furniture which giueth vs great cause of mourning when wee see the contrary and of reioycing where these vertues are to bee seene and found in them who are put in trust And such should executors of willes and schoolemasters be into whose hands men are constrained to put their children and goods and comprimitters of cases betwixt neighbours should be like vnto them who are trusted with much oftentimes And this honour honest and faithfull men haue with many that in iudging of matters they will if their case be good desire to haue such to giue their sentence and iudgement for them in their doubtfull causes rather then others though they set not greatly by religion themselues And this ought to incourage vs all to labour for Gods graces seeing they make a man stand before the honorable though money fauour or other respects are the chiefe gifts which most obtaine great places by Now whereas a doubt may arise here where it is said that Iudah had taken Ierusalem how it appeares to haue been so seeing it is not expresly set downe in Ioshua chap. 10. To that I answere though it bee not plainely so said yet it may well be vnderstood by the things that are written there namely that the King of Ierusalem was taken and put to death and that Iudah dwelt in the citie and could not cast out the Iebusits that dwelt therein By which I say it appeareth that the citie was then taken although it was not as yet wholly possessed and so did they slay the inhabitants and set the city on fire Here by the occasion of the destroying of these cities Ierusalem Hebron Debir and others many let vs consider the desolation that God sendeth vpon goodly places and the inhabitants thereof when his hand is against them and when hee is purposed to blow vpon them and to set them as it were on the stage to the view of the world Yea doubtlesse when he pleaseth to take the iudgement into his hand all the beautie and glorie of the world must vanish at his presence and the gloriousest solemnities and monuments come to vtter decay And to put vs in mind hereof is this written and set downe to shew vs the changeable estate of the flourishingest prosperitie of flesh The which a man would thinke that should behold them in their beauty and time of their glory that the enioyers thereof did liue in a paradice and petty heauen euen here vpon earth whereas when God hath blowne vpon them they are more desolate then the winter and like to an house waste and ruinous When Nabuchadnezzar and the fooler in the Gospell prided themselues the one in his great Babell the other in his abundance
abide therein then will he be with them to guide keepe and comfort them and otherwise they may haue God with them I deny not sometime as I haue said though hee owe not euen that to them but so yet they may be miserable and vnhappie still but in a better manner hee was here with Iuda both before and at the time here mentioned also he declared the same by giuing their enemies into their hands This confuteth the conceit of such as measure Gods being with them by his raising them in wealth or giuing them their desires As Micah an Idolator applauded himselfe as beloued by God because hee gaue him a Leuite to be his priest whereas he giueth many wicked men their desires in wrath when yet he denieth to his owne theirs in fauour And this is that which we haue to make profit of out of the words before mentioned that Iudah prospered seeing God was with him We haue heard that they ouercame the inhabitants of the hill countrey seeing God was with them Now in the same verse it is added that they did not ouercome the inhabitants of the valleies seeing they had charriots of iron And hereby this vnbeliefe of theirs began their sorrow and miseries which the other tribes followed them in to the end of the Chapter The common translation is they could not driue them out but it is not so in the Hebrew the better translation addeth another word namely that they went not about it Neither of both is out of the originall but that seemeth to bee the sense for it is otherwise vnperfit For it is thus there they did not to driue them out which is to be supplied they went not about to doe it Whither of both soeuer it was that they did not either go about it it was their fault or whither we take it thus that they could not euen that was their fault also For God promised that although they had chariots of iron yet hee would deliuer them into their hands then they failed in beleeuing Gods promise and so they going from God by vnbeliefe God likewise went from them so that God being with them and they beleeuing him they ouercame them them that dwelt on the mountaines but they not beleeuing God as he had promised in Ioshua 17. seeing they had iron chariots therfore they did not ouercome them in the vallyes Therefore howsoeuer we take it there was a fault in the men of Iuda For though it may be obiected that God would not giue them victory ouer the one as well as ouer the other I answere that is true but that was through their fault that they beleeue not that his word as he had promised So that the doctrine which we are taught from hence is this that though God bestow many good blessings vpon vs while we beleeue in him hauing promised it euen as he did here on Iuda and so long hee shewes himselfe to be with vs yet if wee giue in and withdraw our selues through vnbeliefe and belieued not his promises he will faile vs in other blessings and deny vs them A most worthy truth and much to be regarded of vs. For so it is now with vs as it was then with the men of Iuda So saith our Sauiour to the man that brought his son to be healed that had a dumbe spirit If thou canst beleeue all things are possible to him that belieueth meaning thereby that all things that are agreeable to the will of God shall be granted to him that beleeueth for faith seeketh nothing that is contrary to his will or not reueiled in his word So saith Saint Iames If any man want wisdome let him aske of God who giueth to all plentifully and casteth no man in the teeth but let him aske in faith and wauer not and so speaketh the Scripture throughout And to bind this more sure the Lord himselfe saith to the Hebrewes If any man withdraw himselfe my soule shall haue no pleasure in him that is if he beleeue not Excellent is that saying of the Lord to this purpose in the Chronicles The Aethiopians and the Lubims were they not a great people yet because thou diddest rest vpon me I deliuered them into thy hands but now thou hast done foolishly in relying on the King of Syria and not on the Lord therefore hee leaueth thee to thyselfe to beleeue and so driuen and disswaded from the contrary Yet this causeth mee oft to maruell that wee being so incouraged neither the vnbeleeuers doe hast or long and thirst for faith as though it were little worth neither can other who yet should bee most readie bee brought to waite daily and constantly to grow in this grace of beleeuing neither doe although they haue obtained alreadie to belieue for al that nourish faith as they are taught that so they may abound therein with thanks-giuing And much it is to be lamented that seeing God is not with vs to blesse and beautifie vs otherwise we should for all that neglect so great good as we might get thereby and rather with others follow fancie and reason sloath and example and that is to beleeue no more then we see Oh wofull vnbeleefe that fillest our liues with so many fretting sorrowes and deadly discomforts True it is that many to make their fault small doe answer that the people that liued before the comming of Christ might much easier beleeue then wee now because they reade in the stories such examples not onely of Abraham but also of Ioshua and many of the people in the destroying of Iericho to haue done so And the Priests aduenturing to set their feet on the waters beleeuing that they should giue place to them to go ouer them on dry foot as God had promised with many other like But they are grossely deceiued who thinke so euen as much as they who will say that in the dawning morning light a man may see as clearely as at noonetide For who is ignorant of this that the mystery of faith is nothing so clearely reuealed in the old Testament no not by many degrees as it is in the new So that although some of the chiefe fathers who were to goe before the people and bee lights to them as Moses Noah Abraham and others receiued inlightning of God more and in greater measure then we doe in these daies yet the Church consisting of the common people at this time hath cause a great deale more to beleeue and farre more easily may imbrace the promises by the ordinary meanes they they haue I say not what God may do and so liue by faith more easily I say then they did or could doe But this is our sinne that we search not into our selues so much as to see whither it be so neither if we find it to be otherwise are we grieued for it or seeke to amend it But there will be occasion offered to speake more largely of this matter in many
man to bee punished as the other These are also without a Minister that is able and willing to leade them a better way who if they had such meanes as might conuert them to God and that they who are such good instruments might bee incouraged and backed in their labouring to reclaime them they should haue cause to giue God great thanks and the persons also by whom they be so well instructed and comforted But if I should here bewaile all such also as being taught yet are little the better as I cannot chuse but pittie them seeing the Gospell is hidden from them and therfore they dying so shal most certainely perish I say if I should bewaile these how far should my complaint reach I shut vp this point therfore coÌcluding thus Oh that there were not so much hardnes of heart in many Ministers and others who might helpe this wishing that they had a little of the compassion that was in our Sauiour as the Euangelist recordeth when he saw the people dispersed as sheep without a shepheard And againe Oh that we could deale pitifully kindly and louingly with the miserable and the afflicted and that all the gentlest meanes were vsed to reclaime offenders of whom there is hope such as are as this man of Bethel was in great distresse which is not done but very rarely and therfore is there much hardnesse of heart in those to whom it is neglected and wilfulnesse that carrieth them to all profanenesse and impenitencie And thus to returne to the spies againe seeing it hath been proued that they did not vnlawfully in sauing this Bethelite aliue the most that can bee said of their so doing could be but an inconuenience seeing he gaue no token that he turned to their religion for ought that we can see and yet this was a smaller inconuenience then if they had killed him and so to haue been put to their shifts how to haue found the secret way that led into the citie this also teacheth vs a good point that when wee see in attempting of our lawfull businesse and labors that some inconuenience must needs be borne that which is lesser of two if it be without sinne is to be gone vnder that so we may auoid that which is greater For want of which consideration and due regard of that which I say while men stand at the smaller to auoid that they runne into a greater if not into sinne itselfe As in many instances it may be shewed and this among other may bee one Many a man will not make others priuie to some of his dealings being such as may bring him in good commodie and this he forbeares to doe onely for that he would not haue the commoditie and benefit that he reapeth thereby to be knowne to any other which were not so great an inconuenience if it were knowne to some faithfull friend And what falles out in the meane while thereby euen this which is much greater that for want of skill how to vse that dealing or trafficke aright and in the best manner which by the helpe of some wise friend he might haue learned hee loseth a great part of his commoditie which he might haue inioyed yea and thereby falles to offend God by impatience and murmuring when he seeth that he commeth short of his expectation and hope So many a man falling vpon theeues in a desperate mood refuseth to yeeld his money though he be vnable to resist and so loseth both money and life too And so doe many refuse through stomacke to agree with their obstinate aduersary because they are loth to lose and forgoe any thing Whereas by standing out with him to the vtmost they forgoe not a little but ten times the value Much like to that which many do about their bodily health They doubt at least if they know not also that some sore disease is breeding in them yet will they not consult with some experienced Physition And why I say to auoid some inconuenience as the taking of phisick which is nothing pleasant to them or to saue charges or because they would not lose any time in following their profits And what falles out thereby in the meane while euen this that a greater inconuenience meeteth them so that for the auoiding of that which was but small they lose both profit and life also This thing is the more to bee regarded because wee see by experience that commodities are so mixed with discommodities that in things indifferent the one goeth not without the other This is true as in all comforts of this life so particularly in marriage and that as well in going about it as liuing in it For the first many to auoid the troubles of the married estate which is the smaller are put to many inconueniences as to liue in vnquietnesse and discontentment and by vnsetlednesse in a single estate to fall to fornication that I say no more which will prooue to be farre greater Many againe resolues by marrying if they can make themselues great thereby to shunne a meane and low estate in pouertie and thinke if they can doe so they shall be void of trouble and yet while they looke no further they weary themselues with many more sore and dangerouser troubles though mariage be lawful yet such an attempting of it is not good Againe by this rule among married couples the one partie should yeeld to the other without too much rigor and austcritie or contending in a thing indifferent the husband in giuing libertie to the wife to speak when there is cause to visit friends to take vse of some commodities to her owne behoofe and benefit rather then to denie them because they feare some inconuenience may come thereby when yet it is certaine there shall farre greater be seene to fall out by doing otherwise And so in all other dealings if all inconueniences cannot bee shunned yet let vs be sure by labour prayer and godly wisdome to auoide the hardest And one speciall good vse of this doctrine is that we take heed we bee not too ready to iudge our neighbour for bearing with some inconueniences as we are too forward and too ready to doe when they must doe it to free themselues of greater and in so doing we condemne our selues seeing wee our selues are subiect to the same doctrine also For what haue wee to doe to iudge our brother in such a case who if he haue sustained an inconuenience wee may well thinke he hath done it to him a greater This also condemneth them who if they bee a little crossed with some hard accident do by and by grow desperate and make the rent greater by their rashnesse and impatience c. scorning to stoope to the necessity which God hath laid vpon them and not wisely declining extremity Though they cannot auoide the inconuenience befalne them yet they should shunne the sinne of murmuring which is greater for else they beare the burthen of both But I cannot goe through this
storie at this time I will therefore here cut off THE EIGHTH SERMON VPON THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES IT followeth further about this Bethlite for it is to good purpose to enquire heere whether this man did well in betraying the city and what is lawfull in the like case For as concerning the spies no question is to be made of their drawing the man to it whether they did well or no for it was their worke assigned them of God to destroy those nations and therefore to vse the meanes in going about it So was it also lawfull for him to do it they signifying to him what Gods wil was in that behalfe But whether the man beleeued that and therfore whether he did it in faith or to saue his life and his friends and goods it is vncertaine The first is more possible then probable to haue been the cause that drew him to doe it but the last is most likely yet wee may not determine which except the Lord went before vs therefore according thereto was his act good and commendable in him or otherwise Now for vs the case standeth farre otherwise then it did with him For it is not lawfull for vs to yeeld to any such thing as he did in betraying the city but odious and horrible The Lord Iesus speaking of the like matter as a thing most monstrous to attempt or goe about He saith many shall hate and betray one another a fearefull thing to heare much more for one to doe it to a whole City Nay all bitter violence and cruelty is odious in vs one towards another simply and without all respects much more when it shal be done for gaine or preferment No neither is it any way tolerable for the sauing of ones owne life We must in all these cases haue our discharges and warrant from God for that which we doe as Rahab had for hiding the spies which wee hauing Scriptures most clearely to direct vs in all our actions no such thing from what example soeuer is to be followed of vs in these daies Neither is the fact of Ioel in killing Sisera nor the Israelites borrowing and carrying away of the Egyptians treasures any thing to imbolden vs to doe the like she doing it against Gods enemies the Canaanites they doing that which they did by the Lords appointment In a word to doe any euill that good may come of it is odious Lastly out of these two verses it is good for vs to marke in that this poore Bethlite was the instrument of taking the city what poore meanes and helpes God oftentimes ministreth for the effecting of that which hee commandeth to be done yea though the worke be great and the means weake and vnlikely to bring such a matter to passe it skilleth not Both these things may be seene both in stirring vp and preparing that sillie woman in Ioshuas time to receiue lodge the spies whom he sent to view Iericho before they tooke it as also by blowing trumpets of Rammes hornes and by compassing of the city Iericho seuen times to make the walles of it to fall downe Who seeth not that these were poore engins to batter walles and also to giue this Bethlite into the hands of these spies that they might by his helpe easily take the city For when God will haue a worke to be brought to passe he appointeth the meanes also for the same purpose which being alwaies knowne to him but seldome to vs ordinarily till we meet with them not by chance but by his will and appointment it doth often take heart from vs and much dismay vs from cheerefull going about that which wee are commanded so weake is our faith when with vnbeleeuing Thomas wee doe not see and behold with bodily eyes the meanes which are yet sufficient and at hand through Gods promise So much the more it behoueth vs to be well acquainted with that which is taught vs heere for it is a singular encouragement to vs wee being so weake when we haue an hard labour laid vpon vs and we see no meanes to bring it to passe to know yet that God will prouide helpe though wee see not how as he did prouide a sacrifice for Abraham to offer in stead of Isaac Indeed if he should deale with vs as Pharaoh did with the Israelites who enioyned them an hard taske and great worke but yet they must make shift how to effect it which was impossible for them to doe then it were no maruell if we were pensiue and at our wits end what to doe But God be thanked if we can beleeue him that he will make it easie and prouide accordingly most cheerefully may we be occupied from day to day in all that by Gods Commandement we set our hand vnto This caused the Apostle Paul to be so diligent and vnwearied in bringing so many nations by his preaching to embrace the Gospell and saluation thereby when yet there were so many and great discouragements in his way This caused those worthy seruants of God Zorobabell Ezra and Nehemiah not onely to returne into Iudea but to build both the city vp againe being greatly ruinated and euen the walles thereof and also the Temple when hauing commandement from God so to doe they beleeued that hee would shew them how and bee with them to inable them though wee are not ignorant how many blocks and maine enemies there were in their way to hinder them And wee haue no other stay to looke for the promised saluation but this that hee that hath commanded vs to liue by faith and waite by hope will finde meanes to bring it to passe although we see little how many times in so much that we oft feare and doubt it being the waightiest case of all other euen as Saint Peter also saith that the righteous are scarcely saued And euen so the labouring man and the Artificer could neuer bee vpholden to follow their calling with any peace if they should looke onely how hardly they are like to bee maintaine and should not stay themselues by faith that God will prouide for them they themselues not being negligent And be this the stay of vs all in our hardest condition wherein wee be set by God that hee will bring vs through though wee see not how and that also in good sort because he hath promised Now it remaineth that we see how well this man was rewarded that did helpe forward Gods people in their worke to the destroying of his enemies by shewing them the way into the city though it bee not set downe with what mind he did it Thus they dealt with him they did not onely set him free and his whole family from the destruction that lighted vpon the other citizens but they did also suffer him to carrie away his wealth yea and so greatly enriched him that he was able to goe build a citie And by this wee see that
faith hope ioy in the holy Ghost feare of offending and such like that they lie dead in them as if they had no part in them and they hauing no vse of them to strengthen them to any good doing although they be in themselues profitable to all holy vses whereas in the meane while who would lose his sweet communion with God if he bee wise enough to consider what I say though it should neuer be brought against them no though it were but for an houre or a day with the comforts belonging thereto which yet these whom I haue spoken of when they haue sinned against their knowledge doe depriue themselues of whole moneths and yeeres And why doe they thus If they sustained all this as from their triall from God their patience were commendable or if it were possible to honour him thereby it were some commendation to them but when it is for the hauing of their owne will amisse and for the enioying the pleasures of sinne for a short season oh how lamentable is it to thinke So that this wisedome shall well beseeme the seruants of God to giue all diligence to keepe well while they are well and in no wise to haue their teeth set on edge with the deceiueable baites of sinne which the world so greedily runneth after forasmuch as they shall see how deare it shall cost them and yet let them know this that such shall not bee onely void of the forementioned graces but they shall also smart through many punishments And now if it be so hard for them to come to repentance when they haue fallen who yet before had enioyed that gift soundly how much further off are they who neuer haue part in it at all neither are like to haue euen as wee see by daily experience how fearefull an estate is that to liue in vnlesse they wait on God diligently in the ordinance of preaching to attaine it Now wee haue heard how God was faine to prouoke them to repentance before they could set themselues toward it It followeth to see by what reason he vrged them to it after I haue said a little of the places heere mentioned Gilgal was a citie in the plain of Iordan not farre from Iericho from this Gilgal the messenger is said to haue come And Bochim is a place neare adioyning to it in which this message was done to the people of Israel who had by their sins caused it It was not called Bochim before but had the name giuen by occasion of that which fell out there that is the weeping of the people when their sinnes were brought to their remembrance for so the word Bochim signifieth namely weeping At this place therefore to returne to the purpose the Lord told them of their disobedience and beginneth to make it odious to them by rehearsing his benefits great and many as if hee should say what cause haue I giuen you to deale thus vnthankefully and disobediently with me Hath my kindnesse been thus requited of you that you returne me euill for my good will Heere as in sundry other places wee may see what effects the benefits of God doe commonly worke in men and that is forgetfulnesse of them and vnthankfulnesse for them and a meane account making of them also boldnesse in seeking of carnall liberty thereby vnto the which we are so readily caried and to prouoke God much more then if they had neuer enioyed them little remembring that the Lord giues them a watchword that they should rather looke in all things to be thankefull Iustly therefore was this people heere chalenged for their vnthankefulnesse This was the cause why they were warned before that they should take heed when they were come into the land of promise and should there possesse great and goodly cities which they builded not and houses full of all manner of goods which they filled not and wels which they digged not vineyards and Oliue trees which they planted not and when they had eaten and should be full they were warned I say that they should beware they forgot not the Lord which brought them out of the land of Egypt c. signifying vnto them that wealth and ease would goe nigh to make them to forget Gods mercies by which they were deliuered out of their miseries By which wee see the peruersenesse of our depraued nature which turnes the wholesomest food into poyson as the corrupt stomacke doth the daintiest meates We abhorre him who hauing receiued freely good turnes and benefits forgetteth his benefactor when hee is promoted c. yet it is certaine that men are the worse for Gods benefits and are more bold in sinning against him by the abundance of his earthly and common blessings So Dauid confesseth that before he was afflicted hee went astray so that his benefits wee see did him not so much good as his chasetisements And so Ieremy said that he was as an vntamed calfe till God corrected him Wofull experience teacheth how rare the man is who may truly say otherwise to wit that benefits knit his heart neerely to God before he bee taught it by affliction And yet we must know that neither that of it owne nature draweth men to loue and obey God any more then his benefits but as God worketh that grace of his especiall fauour without which our whole life is meere disobedience I say further then his grace guideth vs and keepeth vs within compasse in both estates Common blessings and generall we thinke and say belong to others as well as to vs and as for speciall and priuate while we reape and feele them we say Blessed be God but wee are not for the most part knit to him in dutie euer the more The tenne leapets being cleansed returned not to giue thankes saue one And hee to whom tenne thousand talents were remitted shewes this fruit of his thankefulnesse that he caught his fellow by the throat who owed him an hundred pence bidding him pay that he owed And why this For the heart of man naturally is puffed vp with prosperity and vaine estimation of himselfe and hee prideth in that which will be his ouerthrow and waxeth hardened and is so far off from humility and meane thinking of himselfe that all may perceiue who can rightly iudge that it maketh him prouder and more scornefull yea vtterly vnlike him he should be and disguised and yet to become great and get much in this vale of misery while things of greatest price are not asked after how eagerly doe men runne after it as fish follow the baite with greedinesse nay they laugh all such to scorne that find fault with them for so doing and who doe not follow them in that excesse and let better things passe by them as little worth yea and yet this doe they who lawfully come by wealth and promotion and to whom the Lord giueth prosperity without any indirect or vnlawfull meanes euen such I say doe offend in the like
whereof many thousands in this land are partakers which their fellow brethren in other nations being as Israel was in Egypt Iuda in Babylon oppressed with idolatry would thinke they obtained an vnualuable benefit if they might haue freedome from it And so they may well thinke For oh what a liberty is it both to soule and body and yet we may haue it with farre more ease then they had it that is without trauell or iourney And although they cannot value it in any sort according to the worth of it who haue neuer felt the burthen of a troubled conscience and bodily vexations yet wee that haue though they bee nothing so grieuous as they had we I say are euery day that we rise out of our beds to doe our necessarie businesse to confesse this marueilous worke of God for our deliuerance And yet I deny not but that other benefits of God are to bee sought for also as the enioying of the sincere preaching of the Gospell to the further welfare of our soules and things necessary for this present life that so there may want no encouragement to Gods seruice But howsoeuer the Lord should denie vs the one I meane plentie for our bodies which yet for many yeers he hath most gratiously yeelded and granted vs yet we should contend for the other I meane sound and sauing knowledge by an happie and sound ministery by all meanes if possibly wee may enioy it Which I speake to the iust reproofe of all such as doe onely regard their outward estate in the world little or nothing looking after the benefit of true happinesse by their soules welfare forecasting altogether to plant themselues ther whither the hope of earthly commodities doth leade them And though the townes families and kindreds be neuer so prophane and superstitious to the which they make hast yet that they little regard but so as commodity and honour may be gotten as their common question is may we looke for any good there they will dwell there they will liue and dei and there they will match and leaue their children to remaine after them But as from holding them from the infection of Popery or labouring to shield them vnder a setled good ministery and so to minde and seeke their saluation it is no part of their thought Nay there bee thousands in this land that lust after the seruitude of Popish Egypt againe earnestly desiring that day which God turne away the Lord forgiue it them as our Sauiour prayed for them that crucified him they know not what they do So farre are they from thankfulnesse for their freedome that they are voluntary slaues vnder that Pharaoh of Rome euen in their owne countrey But to returne and so to draw to an end let it be counted of vs a rare and singular mercy of God to be free from great calamities and extremities both of soule and body as these Israelites were who were deliuered out of Egypt and the bondage thereof And by occasion of this which I say this I further adde that such as liue void of grieuous paines and diseases as well as Egyptian bondage which others yea and those many of Gods deare children are vnder as the stone collicke gowts vlcers gripings and such like also such as be not in vtter penury and want nor yoked with vnquiet vnkind and supestitious companions in marriage nor with vnmercifull land lords and cruell ouerseers and gouernours which doe make their life wearisome to them and consume all their cheerefulnesse and comfort as as the moth eateth vp the beauty of a garment let all such I say beare their other pettie and small discommodities troubles and visitations patiently and contentedly and bee highly thankfull for that they are deliuered from farre greater yea and let them acknowledge that if with freedome from these and the like they hold sound peace with God and bee free from the stings of an euill conscience also that they enioy a peece of a paradise though in a meane condition and let them pitie those which are in such depths of griefe that their feruent prayes may moue the Lord to pity them also and let them that be free from them resolue with themselues and endeauour to vse their liberty and health to all possible good doing And yet let this bee knowne also that where God layeth these great burthens vpon some of his hee giueth them the greater grace to goe meekely vnder them And let vs beware lest through our security and negligence God may iustly vpbraid vs with his benefits as heere he doth Israel that hauing elbow-roome and liberty to serue God in our places and callings without any to disturbe vs or hold vs vnder we enbondage our selues by an ill conscience loosenesse security earthlinesse and the like euils by which our life should be as irksome as in Egypt or Babell The second benefit heere mentioned that God bestowed vpon them was that he brought them into the fruitful land in which they dwelt which was a farre greater matter then the former as shewing them plainly that he thought it not enough to deliuer them out of bondage except hee filled them with good things also He had done much for them if hee had onely deliuered them out of that fearefull bondage though hee had left them in the wildernesse but to bring them also into that fruitfull land and to giue it to them oh admirable kindnesse Behold then heere the great bountifulnesse of God that hee can as well and willingly giue abundance to his children as keep them out of great troubles He is not therby wasted nor diminished in his blessings by giuing them out liberally bestowing them being a fountain of riches neuer drawne dry So he said to the posterity of his people Oh that Israel would haue hearkened to me and haue walked in my waies I would soone haue brought downe their enemies I would haue fed them with the fat of wheat and with honey out of the rocke Neither neede we thinke that he standeth at it to giue vs these whose honour it is to bestow great things and hath already giuen vs the greatest of all euen his owne sonne and therefore can much more afford vs these smaller benefits also As we know that he did giue great riches to Abraham Isaac Iob and to other his faithfull seruants whom he loued dearely And wee in this land haue good proofe hereof in that with deliuerance from bondage we haue the Gospell peace gouernment plentie and such like And more particularly we in this land haue cause to admire the goodnesse of God in deliuering vs from the cursed practises of those Iesuites Locusts whom that beast hath sent forth to destroy vs Prince Nobles Magistrates Ministers and to root out Church and policie among vs and bring in darkenesse and confusion againe Wee owe doubtlesse as great thankes to God for these mercies and specially in the late Treason as Israel did for their
prognosticate vnto what a passe they are like to grow if they had elbow roome For though none might liue happilier then they yet who for the most part doe lesse looke after it for as they in Moses absence from them but fortie daies made themselues a calfe to worship euen so the people are so brutish in these daies and disordered euen while their faithfull pastors liue with them that the greatest part of them take no good by them what did I say nay they liue most offensiuely vnder them A signe of a wofull condemnation ready to come vpon them all may see it is in their so doing for louing darkenesse in the cleare light of the Gospell more then it And though some of them who are more subtill doe carrie the matter more closely yet they are restrained by necessity or shame not reformed by grace and the power of the word And let others who are not so bad and yet not brought to true repentance let them I say make better vse of such helpes while they enioy them as they did in the Acts of the Apostles and especially let them see that all bee well betwixt God and them yea and let them get furniture of grace to vphold them afterward also lest too late they lament that they tooke no good by them and bewaile the want of them as Saul did Samuel when there is no helpe But heere in as much as we see these people held out in Gods seruice but for a time and that was while they had good gouernours and ouerseers liuing with them it auaileth much therefore to obserue in our selues what it is that maketh vs embrace religion and what is the chiefest thing that causeth vs to hold on the same A worthie point for all to learne and namely such as pretend they loue the Gospell it much concerneth vs I say to know and be assured whether it be fauour of men commodity credit example or other outward respect which moueth vs to professe any thing more zealously then some other doe or whether for conscience sake in that God commandeth vs so to doe and for the sauour and sweetnesse that wee finde therein and in the Gospell which wee heare For euen thereafter shal our welfare prosperity and perseuerance be For if wee haue tasted how good the Lord is and haue found that hundred fold that is promised and verefied in vs which is written in the Psalme that a day in Gods house is better to vs then a thousand else where then we may know that wee haue builded vpon a rocke and our building shall stand and till we meet with a better booty then that and may serue a better master then the Lord is which shall neuer be wee will keepe close to him and count his seruice to bee perfect freedome And to such as demand of vs whether wee will continue and hold on in a godly course or goe backe as Christ demanded of his Disciples we shall be able to answere with Peter whither shall wee goe wee are in the way to eternall life and we will not change our Christian course for any other Otherwise it is not enough to boast of our loue to God and to say Lord Lord when yet we will take no paines throughly to gage our harts and to see our affection well ordered that so good life may follow Now while the holy Ghost speaketh of the people how they followed the Lord all the daies of Ioshua and the godly elders hee stayeth a while about them giuing them this testimony that they had seene the workes of God which he had done among them meaning that they had not barely looked vpon them but obserued and as Mary did the words of the Angell had laid them vp in their hearts to consider them For what profited it then otherwise to see them For there is no doubt but that there were many more aliue at that time who had seene the miracles and great workes which the Lord had wrought in placing them in Canaan but they were not worth the naming seeing they had not also made vse of them but these had seen them in another manner so that they acknowledged the Lords power and goodnesse toward them thereby declaring that to be the cause of their constant seruing of God and cleaning to him euen because they had seene them And it is no lesse doubtlesse then a great cause of the godlinesse of them that haue any in them namely that they are such as haue seene and weighed Gods wonderfull acts as his mercy and gracious working by the power of the Gospell in themselues or other as also for that they haue had proofe of his mighty vpholding of theÌ in a good course against all aduersary power of the prince of darkenes and his band In like manner this hath hartened them to duty not a little for that as they haue seen it alwaies to go well with them while they feared the Lord and departed from euill so they ââue seene the heauie hand of God to haue been against others that haue peruerted their waies followed a bad course so that although they haue prospered heere for a season yet when God in his due time hath blowne vpon their visored felicity they haue wanzed away in his displeasure This Salomon commendeth to vs in his example who professeth that it was his practise to behold and consider all things not impertinent matters as a busie bodie but profitable and especially the courses and issues of the righteous and wicked By which meanes hee attained to great experience and wisedome both to guide himselfe and others Euen as his father Dauid did also saying that he was made wiser then the ancient because he considered such things But this meditating of Gods wonderfull workes and namely this one the greatest of other how he hath appointed to saue some from vtter perdition and letteth others goe on in their sinnes though it be a strong motiue to draw men to God yet with griefe it may be spoken it is vtterly wanting among most men Their hearts are set on follie and vanity He that hath liued to see many laid in graue hath scarce a thought that hee shall follow and goe the way that all haue gone before him in As for that they heare that except they repent they shall all perish although they know their hearts are hardened so that they neither can repent nor haue the least desire after it yet they crie peace peace as though all were safe So that it may now iustly be complained of which Salomon hath long agoe bewrayed that the fooles eyes are in euery corner of the world meaning that they are busying themselues any way needlesly and amisse but as for things out of the world or aboue it that is as Saint Peter speaketh a farre off their eyes are sore and pur-blind they cannot looke after them and as the Prophet speaketh they
which is translated message or errand doth not onely signifie a word or message by mouth but also a thing or deed such as that was which he did vnto him for he was sent from God to kill him euen as among the Latines Verbum res Quid hoc verbi est Quid hoc rei est both are one Now followeth the third thing and that is in this 20. verse namely of Ehuds last words to the King immediately before he killed him and of Eglons behauiour thereat as it is heere set downe let vs consider of which this I say In that he should so simply hearken to and beleeue him admit him into his secret parlour and that Ehud being a stranger should neither be suspected nor searched as the manner is and great reason was for it before hee should haue accesse to the King and that none of all the Kings attendants should aduise such a matter that hee should not bee suffered to stand on his feet before the King which was more suspitious but rather commanded to bee vpon his knees before him and then that hee should cause his owne company to goe out of the place and leaue them two onely together but especially to let Ehud depart before they saw all to be wel These I say and such like if the Lord had not blinded and cast a myst before them could neuer haue passed as they did And we may say it was much like that which we reade of Abner captaine of Sauls hoast and all his men to wit that when he imagined that Dauid pursued him and sought his life and should therefore haue more specially watched and attended the Kings person then at other times yet that euen then all the armie should be asleepe together where they lay in so much that Dauid challenged Abner for it was it not admirable For it could not haue been so in any reason except God had cast a sleepe vpon them to the end that Dauids integrity and innocency toward Saul might be knowne when there was seene no other way to shew it and all saw that would how he might haue killed Saul And hereby let vs learne that when God will haue any worke wrought or any thing brought to passe for his glory the good of his Church or destruction of his enemies he hauing many waies to bring it to passe will effect it through infinite difficulties without our troubling our selues about it For his prouidence alway ministreth to and makes way for his purpose till it be executed Dauid was so coped in by Saul at one time that there seemed no hope of escape but then the Lord whistled him away and set him about other businesse What lets and discouragements thinke wee had Noah to hold him from that great worke of building the Arke to the preseruing of the world and the Church of God I will leaue it to the consideration of the reader rather then spend the time in laying it forth In the bringing to passe Gods promise to Ioseph in his dreame what a long time was it before it was effected euen well nigh twentie yeeres and how vnlike and in the meane while how many difficulties were raised and set in the way to the frustrating of it as the malice and enuie of his brethren some of them intending and seeking to kill him but all the company consenting that he should be sold to strangers a farre off from whence they thought he should neuer haue bin any more seen of them neither his dreames come to passe and then his imprisonment also after all by the false accusation of his whorish mistrisse who would not haue said that by the meanes of all these he should haue been vtterly depriued of the benefit of the promises which God had made to him But could they preuaile was any iot of Gods word made voide so that it came not to passe And was all the cruell malice of Haman easily auoided in plotting the destruction of all the Iewes Gods people the day thereof being appointed the King perswaded by him to let all be as hee would haue it and no friend to them but they were as sheep appointed to be slaine but they that were in as great danger themselues that is to say Hester and Mardocai and when shee the Queene who was all their hope vnder God should goe about to helpe them out of the danger she brought her selfe thereby into the present perill of her life And yet because it could not be possible that the Church of God should be ouerthrowne did not he most strangely deliuer it But to let passe examples in Scripture euen thus the Lord hath and doth vphold his Church heere and there for a time against all enemies and lets and will doe till he hath accomplished and made vp his number And when wee see that he continueth his fauour more specially to any place or people through many trials let vs say the Lord hath done great and maruellous things for them and they had need to acknowledge his kindnesse and profit by it more then in common manner lest their account be harder to be made then other mens And to come to shew it more particularly and so to conclude this point if euery priuate person whom this concerneth could weigh through what difficulties as tentations and discouragements God hath brought him to hold and keepe faith and a good conscience both in the beginning middle part of his combate and conflicting daies and more specially when he hath well nigh runne his race and finished his course with ioy oh what thankes would he render to the Lord for it For all such may well remember how oft they haue said within themselues that they shall neuer be stablished and perseuere to the end and that the promise of heauen made to them is too good to be true And yet God hath so mixed his power with their weakenesse and so vpheld them beyond their expectation that hee hath brought them safely through all that they feared Oh I cannot sufficiently magnifie and commend this goodnesse of the Lord and withall the glorious worke of faith and what wonders they effect and yet little known or asked after But seeing the arme of the Lord is no more shortened now then in times past but he doth great things for them that beleeue at this day let vs also learne Dauids lesson Commit thy way to the Lord saith he and beleeue that he will effect it and he will doe it in deed without any needlesse and indirect trouble or fretting care of thine but if we beleeue not I deny not but that we may see as Elisha told the Prince of Israel and Mordicai Hester Gods promises performed to others which hee made as the vnbeleeuing Prince did but we shall haue no part therein our selues nor cause of sound reioycing thereat in as much as we had no exercise of our faith in beleeuing them Therefore this worthily
a man fall and not rise againe or goe out of the way and not returne And if this rebelliousnesse and bad disposition were in the wicked onely it were lesse to bee maruelled at but let it be well considered and it shall be found in such as haue sometime serued God in truth who if they lose the hold that they had and haue suffered the wicked flesh that is their sinfull nature to get the vpper hand in them againe oh how hardly is it put out of possession againe So that as the diuels said to our Sauiour Christ thou art come to torment vs before the time So it is euer too soone and very imprisonment to the wicked flesh to be brought vnder the Lords wing againe and to put on his yoke though it be easie as it is said to be This is the cause why licentious dissolutenesse is in so great account at this day in all sorts and so dimme light shineth out of them who should bee lights to other And if it should be demanded how Gods people can keepe so long from vnder his gouernment and are so loth to returne againe vnder it I answere partly confused knowledge ignorance and forgetfulnes how to returne if they were euer well grounded at all is one cause and partly the lothnesse and vntowardnesse of the flesh to bee pent in seeking liberty rather amisse euen that is the other And thus while men haue any shelter how rotten and helpelesse soeuer it be they flie from God But for as much as when no shifts will serue they must returne againe to the Lord their first husband as it is said in Hosea let all that bee wise with all speed returne to him and make godlinesse as it is indeed the greatest riches and chiefe stay seeing that is alwaies and onely comfortable As it is the Psalme A day is better therein then a thousand elsewhere And seeing wee in miseries and troubles do as this people heere did often fall a sighing and sorrowing yea murmuring and fretting and yet turne not to God nor from our sinne but bite on the bridle of our punishment and yet at last we must bee brought to it for all our vnwillingnesse therefore as we should take heed that we keepe the profession of our hope firmely while wee may so yet when wee haue fallen let vs not despaire no nor yet delay to turne to God with the soonest as I haue said Againe by this people many may learne good They were held vnder and pursued by him that had nine hundred Chariots of iron alwaies going out and in among them to vexe and oppresse them on euery side A plague great enough one would thinke for euen the mercies of such are cruell And yet this was not the worst that befell them for God was also against them and had sold them into their hands and now while it was thus with them in so great misery what should they doe and yet which is more twentie yeeres to be in this estate how should they be able to abide it By the fearefull example of these and yet some of them belonging to God it is good for vs to take occasion to consider the estate of them who are vnder sundry sore and great calamities the Lord sending them for their rebellions and grieuous prouokings of him and himselfe frowning vpon them who should haue been their comfort in their troubles Oh how should it grieue vs to behold it For when they are in perplexity and vexation by men or otherwise and then haue God against them also this commeth neare the saying Woe to him that is alone Herein Dauid shewed himselfe wise for when hee heard Gods message from the Lord concerning the chusing of his punishment he answered Let me fall into the hands of the Lord and not of men The reason was because he knew himselfe to haue repented and therefore that in iudgement the Lord would remember mercy But oh how terrible a thing is it to fall into the hands of God being our enemie or into the hands of men when he hath giuen vs vp to their pleasure to be handled as wee deserue Euery affliction is sharpe and heauy when God makes it so by setting an edge vpon it and by pressing downe the conscience vnder the loade of his wrath Consider some particulars for example The pouerty and penurie of many thousands and the same as poore in knowledge of God and grace Others in marriage vnquiet thrusting one another out of doores children crying about them the neighbours disquieted among them all going to hauocke in family and God in the meane time also an enemie to them what an heauie calamitie is this to behold Others to bee taken captiues by forren enemies as Sampson put to grinde or which is worse to the gallies and which is worst of all to haue no God to flie to in this their distresse which yet is the case of many who haue held their heads full high and were also farre enough in their owne conceit from such an estate oh how wofull is it And if the sore diseased sicke and pained persons should bee added to these with other miserable ones and yet without God in the world all these thus to bee distressed which I haue mentioned with such like almost without number oh how lamentable is it to thinke on And whereas some of these bee Gods children they must know that if they will doe as his enemies he will make them somewhat like them in bearing the marke of it so that as the wicked flie from God and hate him for smiting them for their sin so his owne children hauing likewise prouoked him shall oftentimes make but slow hast to him through an ill conscience telling them that they are not welcome till they come in another manner to wit in vnfained repentance All this I haue spoken to a double end one to perswade all to labour aboue all things to make God their friend that is by seeking to be reconciled to him that thus in their troubles they may haue a refuge to fly to for comfort The other is to moue such as are free from both kinds of miseries to pitie them that are vnder both and to consider that seeing they may goe in and out before the Lord without feare both in their daily course of life and also in their suites c. therefore they should deadly abhorre sinne themselues which onely makes them feare his power and iustice and that as much as euer they reioyced in his fauour and so doing mourne for them whose misery I haue mentioned that are in an estate both dreadfull and damnable And this be said of the first three parts of this chapter out of these three verses to wit of the sinne of the people of their punishment and of their repentance The fourth part of the Chapter THe fourth part of this story followeth of Gods deliuerance of them out of the
hands of Sisera and this vnto the end of the chapter and that deliuerance was wrought as I said before by the helpe ministery chiefly of the three persons mentioned afterwards in this chapter Debora Barak and Iael Debora though a woman was stirred vp by the Lord to iudge Israel that is to declare the will of God in that time of extreame calamity vnto the people to answere their doubts what they should doe and to bee the chiefe meane of their deliuerance by counsell giuing and encouraging of Barak and the rest Barak was he that should leade the army and pursue the enemies and with a small armie of the people to ouercome and destroy them and Iael killing the great captaine of their enemies I meane Sisera with her owne hands had her due commendation among the rest all were diuersly employed and yet each of them helping forward the execution of Gods iustice and charge vpon that huge armie of the Canaanites and for his peoples deliuerance This bee said in generall of the whole worke that followeth spoken of in this chapter Now I will goe to the particulars verse by verse And to begin with Debora to verse 14. and to see what she did First the holy Story describeth her in this verse and the next Secondly it is said the children of Israel came vp to her for iudgement vers 5. And thirdly it is shewed what she said to Barak hauing sent for him vers 6. 7. then how shee answered Barak when she saw him not forward vers 9. and last of all how she encouraged him to the battell after they had prepared themselues on both sides to it as is shewed to verse 14. She is described first by the extraordinarie place that she was set in to wit that shee was a Prophetesse secondly by her condition of mariage that shee was the wife of Lapidoth thirdly by her calling that she iudged Israel and fourthly by her dwelling vnder a Palmetree betweene Ramath and Bethel in mount Ephraim And by this woman and the other two persons before mentioned as I haue said God gaue a new and great deliuerance vnto his people out of their twentie yeeres bondage vnder that Iabin King of Canaan And this vnspeakeable goodnes of the Lord in passing by their so great and foule indignities so oft times wrought and committed against him doth yet better and better confirme vs in that which we haue been taught before that the Lord is so tenderly affected to his people that hee cannot turne away his eare from their prayers and grones vnder their heauie burthens but pitie and deliuer them No as the Prophet saith if a mother should forget and bee hardhearted to her owne child yet the Lord cannot bee so to his which doth iustly lay to their charge the wilfulnesse and stifneckednesse that is in many and heape hote coles vpon their heads seeing that when they may haue ease and helpe in their oppressions and miseries for the asking of it and praying for it without their further charge and trouble they cannot bring their hearts to it but chuse rather wilfully and frowardly to lie still in their sorrowes then to humble their hearts and seeke after God for deliuerance And as God is kinde to his so he setteth out himselfe to be so to the end he may harten and embolden vs to beleeue the same wee being in our greatest need most hardly perswaded so to doe through the great vnbeleefe that is in vs. Also he sheweth such compassion to vs in another respect euen that wee should also learne to shew the like goodnesse and kindnesse to our brethren in their calamities that we may so much the better resemble him But of this before Heere I will end THE TWENTIE FIVE SERMON ON THE FOVTRH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES NOw to proceed besides that which wee haue heard wee may note hereby what weake and vnlikely meanes God deliuereth when it pleaseth him For as before hee raised vp Ehud a man lame of his right hand to deliuer his people and after him Shamgar who had no other weapon then an an oxes goade thereto so now he vsed a woman for shee was the wife of one Lapidoth as his instrument to the effecting of so great a worke as the ouerthrow of that Iabin was To shew that his power is not tied to valiant and mighty men lest his glory should be giuen to them also nor to strength and forces though hee allow them to be vsed and yet not trusted in but to this that wee put confidence in him who is our strong rocke against our strongest enemies as Prouerbs 18. 10. and to our prayers which auaile much with him if they bee feruent And this he requireth straitely to be beleeued of vs. And so hee vseth to doe also in the deliuerance of his peoples soules out of the bondage of Satan and hell For by meane men and those that bee of no great note for their wealth or preferment hee subdueth the hearts of the mighty piercing and breaking them with the powerfull force of their preaching if they wil lend their eares to heare them that so the excellent gift of faith may be wrought in them he so putting heauenly treasure in earthen vessels to that end and purpose and that all may say to his praise when they see it that it is hee that worketh and whose the power is though sillie man bee vsed by him as his instruments This woman as God vsed her to deliuer his people so she was also endued with the spirit of prophesie to reueale the will of God to them and to answere their doubts For which cause it is said in the next verse that the people came vp to her for counsell and iudgement For it is thought that their oppression by that Iabin was so great that the people of Israel could not haue ordinary Iudges Now though it was rare to haue women Prophetesses vet now and then God stirred vp such as Miriam the sister of Moses Hanna the mother of Samuel and Hulda in the daies of Iosias the King and in the new Testament as Anna the daughter of Phanuel and the 4. daughters of Philip in the booke of the Acts recorded And it is not vnlike that some of these women that were indued with the spirit of prophesie did instruct and teach the people declaring to them those things which God had reuealed vnto them seeing the gifts of God are not giuen to bee buried but to be vsed for the edifying of the Church in publike and priuate And for proofe of this which I say we are to know that prophesying is not onely taken for the foretelling of things to come but for making knowne the will of God in matters of saluation and to both ends God vsed women sometimes though now he forbid them As for those forged or diabolicall shee saints and Prophetesses of whom the Church of Rome boasteth we
feare that God doth not marke vs for his enemies Which miserable condition the vnbeleeuers are alwaies in vnlesse they be hardened which is far worse as I said before for if his anger be kindled but a little as it is euer toward them a great deale happie are they that feare him I would not therefore bee a bad person if there were any way to shun it euen for this cause whereas yet all the terrors heere are but a glimps of those that follow afterwards And contrarily why should not the godly be content to beare some hardnesse heere seeing they are freed from the greatest terrours if they know their liberties both heere and heereafter But somewhat like this I spake of in Eglons example before Now I should proceed to speake of Barak hauing begun with Debora and said of her that which is occasioned by the text but I should haue no time thereto in this sermon therefore an end heere THE TWENTIE SIXE SERMON ON THE FOVRTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES WE haue heard of Deboras message to Barak in the two former verses Now followeth Baraks answere to her message in this eighth verse If saith hee thou wilt goe with me I will goe else not This answere of his seemes to yeeld little to Gods commandement sent to him by Deboras ministery neither to ascribe any thing to Gods promise and therefore shewes how he profited not by those two strong peswasions to leade to duty mentioned before but proues that hee ascribed more to her presence then to Gods promise which what could it be lesse then a great blemish in him as may bee seene by his amending his fault afterwards Whose faith is so highly renouned among the worthies in the epistle to the Hebrues Beside she was offended with him for his so answering and therefore it was doubtlesse infidelity in him If it bee asked why then is hee afterward so highly commended for his faith I answere that when the message came first to him the thing enioyned him from God by Deboras message seemed to be most full of difficulty For he was commanded to make commotion and to rebell against him that was King ouer them to wit this Iabin who was very great and mighty he was also charged to gather an armie of men together though hee was but a priuate man himselfe These things therefore for him to take in hand and that against such a fierce and strong captaine as Sisera was it made him afraid to set vpon such a worke and especially while he was vnexperienced in so great a triall and difficulty and this was the cause why hee could not beleeue except shee went with him that God would deliuer him with his men of warre into his hand But afterward weighing better the commandement of God and his promise God by his spirit assisting him hee beleeued the words of Debora and obeyed and so obtained the victory by faith as it is said in the forementioned place to the Hebrues And how vsually this falleth out and commeth to passe euen to the godly that at the first they doe stagger and doubt and beleeue not by and by and that through the strong reliques of the old Adam there is no man of God but hath proofe and yet for all that afterward they being strengthened by the spirit of God recouer themselues againe and beleeue confidently This is apparent in Dauid euen after he had beleeued saying O Lord wash mee throughly cleanse me for I am wholly filthy And againe Create in me a new spirit as if the old had been vtterly lost Also in Moses when he was first commanded to goe to Pharaoh how fearefull he was at the hearing of the message and how hee shrunke backe but afterward how boldly did he execute the same and deliuer it vnto him Euen so the best of vs when we heare of the death of our deare friends or of great losses that are befallen vs also at the beginning of great sicknesse and paine arresting vs oh how doe we faint and distrust that we shall neuer submit our selues and yeeld obediently to them though God command vs straitly to doe so while we cast both our eyes on the burthen and crosse that is on the the things that are seene as the Apostle speaketh and while wee are not yet come to our selues to looke vp to God with confidence and to things not seene but eternall But when we weigh how they come from him that loueth vs and therefore cannot intend our hurt we then submit our selues to God and stay vpon him for grace to go vnder all and waite patiently for a good issue And because our hearts arise oft times against our brethren when we see these weakenesses in them and begin to iudge and thinke too hardly of them for the same the Lord therefore letteth vs sometimes see the same or other such in our selues that so wee may learne to beare with the infirmities of them And when wee haue experience of this it causeth vs to bewaile tenderly the weaknesses that we see in our brethren and with the spirit of meeknesse helpe to hold them vp rather then by and by to censure them ouer sharply for the same And it is to be deepely bewailed to see how farre off many are from duty in this behalfe though otherwise religious and such as loue the truth froÌ their herts are ouercome with deadly coÌceits against their brethreÌ when they see they haue fallen by infirmity are strongly incensed against them leaue theÌ to themselues neuer telling them of it kindly as if they see theÌ ouercome of impatience teastinesse anger or if their zeale feruency in seruing God be slaked abated or that they be offensiuely taken vp of and carried away with the world These and the like I confesse are rust causes to raise griefe in vs and are much to be disliked of vs when we espy them in such as be well thought of by vs and they are blemishes in them not to be borne with or allowed but yet for all that when wee shall see such things in them wee must beware that wee censure them not too hardly for who hath giuen vs authority to iudge them crying out vncharitably that there is no religion in them For though it cannot bee denied but that the diuell hath by watching his opportunitie got aduantage ouer them yet they being not vntractable but only deceiued in their so offending and yet in other parts of their liues they holding their care to please God and labouring to keepe a good conscience we must not for some one such weaknes fall by and by to such hard iudging of them and to depart from them which is vtterly against charitie and dutie but to think that there being so many snares to intangle men it may easily enough be so with them as wee may see it to be with our selues if we be not blinded with
answere that though Barak had been hindred before by vnbeleefe yet afterward hee recouered himselfe as wee see heere and that was when God had giuen him better consideration of the charge enioyned him and promise made vnto him So if we haue failed in beleeuing through the difficulty that wee see or by rashnesse yet let vs weigh Gods promise more duly and so beleeue more hartily and be better stayed by good consideration And to that end let none sit downe like a tyred person and giue ouer his hold and hope saying I see this is too good and precious for mee to enioy for I should neuer be able to beleeue it c. Not so but then let thy want encrease thy thirst as Dauids did Psal 51. and desire to bee enlarged and pray Lord helpe my vnbeleefe And remember that weakenesse may be forgiuen where there is striuing against it but wilfulnesse or preposterous and inuincible vnbeleefe is damnable for God lookes to bee credited vpon his word promise and oath besides the many experiments which we haue if not of our selues yet of other men who of weake became strong And as God bare with Baraks infirmity heere in yeelding to him that Debora should goe with him so he will tender and helpe our weake faith and that many more waies then we can see and all to encourage vs. Thus much be said of this THE TWENTIE SEAVEN SERMON ON THE FOVRTH CHAPTER OF THE booke of IVDGES NOw further let vs note in this verse by the ioynt agreement of all these heere mentioned I meane Debora Barak and the ten thousand of Zebulun and Nephtali especially it being so needful that they should so consent together how good and worthie a thing it is for the seruants of God to ioyne and bee like minded in good things though it doe not directly tend to their owne profit and earthly benefit or not so much as to the common good behoofe of al the people or many as here it did but to a town or family the commendation of this gift of free consent together in many good people is clearely to be seene in the Apostles and those that kept company with them of whom it is said that they were altogether of one mind which caused Saint Paul to make so earnest a request to the Philippians to remoue from them contention and pride whereby this consent and agreement is easily broken For wee know it is no easie matter for many to ioyne and agree together and that by reason of so much contrariety as is in mens minds and for that one is so ready to crosse and withstand an other especially in good things through Satan by his subtill and malitious policy working therewith who gaineth much by their distraction and disagreement as in Paul and Barnabas may be seene It is therfore to be sought laboured for alwaies by the loue and wisedome of godly teachers who by their doctrine perswasions and good example doe much helpe heereto Thus had Debora and Barak preuailed with these ten thousand that they drew them to this worke ioyntly as if they had been but two persons Oh agreement in good things what is like it either in beauty or delight as the Psalmist speaketh Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is for men to dwell together in godly vnity And experience teacheth the same For there many vniting their force of couroge and wisdome in one they doe easily resist the common enemy and which is harder their owne corrupt passions and rebellious nature the which to what euill and mischiefe it carryeth them the infinite broyles sutes quarrels and controuersies of almost all places do too truly testifie Such are they who in louing and kind agreement betwixt themselues doe submit themselues to the word of God whereby they become meeke and humble and so they easily consent to that which is good The want of this godly agreement and the contrary readinesse in men to breake out one against another hath oft caused mee to bewaile for who seeth not great cause so to do the boysterous and fierce contentions of many and those not onely of the common sort who are for the most part rude and ignorant but of them also who are to be counted brethren and yet doe so readily let loose their hearts to bitter contentions and rash iudgings of their brethren if they doe not worse and yet which is greater madnesse this is for a smail cause as if they doe but dissent in opinion and iudgement one from another in things indifferent wherein both follow the light of their knowledge whereby they giue too great testimony that they little know themselues aright and that they haue full slightly searched into themselues to see their many ranke corruptions of selfe loue priuie pride frowardnesse impatience vncharitablenesse and such like that swarme and beare sway in them and that they bestow small cost vpon themselues nor time to find fault with their owne doings to wit how farre they are off from the rule of charity that so they may become humble and peaceably minded toward others Nay which is worse they hold their vnchristian conceits and iudgings of their brethren so strongly and wilfully that they verifie the prouerbe making their bitter contentions with them like the bars of a palace that cannot bee broken and like cities strong and well fenced that cannot easily bee beaten downe This is farre from godly agreement and consequently from that harty louing together which should bee like a threefold cord that is not easily broken which our Sauiour saith is a sure token that they in whom it is are his very Disciples indeed As for agreement in euill such as theirs was in the Psalme it is as hurtfull and odious as it is common but though hand ioyne in hand the wicked shall not escape vnpunished and so I leaue them adding this where there is no agreement in euill there lesse is committed And therefore wee had need to pray the Lord to send a spirit of diuision among such as that was betwixt the Pharisies and Sadduces that so much mischiefe may be preuented rather then stablished And this of the preparation of that Debora and Barak made Now followeth before I come to Sisera a short story of Heber the husband of Iael put in by the way to wit that he being of the posterity of Hobab Moses father in law who remoued from his kindred and brethren as we saw in cap. 1. vers 16. was come to this Kedesh to dwell where Barak assembled his men of warre To the which place God by his prouidence directing him sent him as appeares afterward in vers 17. that thereby hee might as he did by Iael Hebers wife cut off this great enemie Sisera By which we may learne a right profitable lesson That while we goe on heere in our simplicity in this earthly dwelling to serue Gods prouidence as his word leadeth vs
They both prepared themselues to warre we see but these went about it by Gods commandement hee in the pride of his owne heart and without God They trusted in the promise of God for victory he in his owne strength and great army They went against Gods enemies he against Gods friends yea against God himselfe Whereby we may see that it much auaileth to haue a good cause to maintaine and to haue God to goe with vs therein as many examples in Scripture testifie of the warres of godly Kings with idolaters A good cause is the defence of the Gospell and the true worship of God by a Christian Prince against such as would force him to Poperie or any other false worship by open warre also the maintaining of his owne dominion bounds or right in great and waighty matters or recouering them being vniustly detained from him A Christian Prince in these and such like cases may make warre and command his people against the enemie and so I may say of the like But to leaue this instance and to lay out this doctrine in another more familiar to the common sort it is manifest where the like is to be found among vs who are in peace to wit that we haue a good cause and our controuersies with the bad it is manifest I say that the one sort hath great encouragement by the goodnesse of his cause to follow it rather then the other who hath none at all but much against him For where all these encouragements are or the most which Barak had and of which I haue spoken they are to animate men to their duties so I will not say what successe and blessing particularly shall follow them who vse them but they shall most certainly reape great fruit thereby and abundantly one way or other and therefore good reason that such should doe the Lords worke diligently and contrariwise the other if they could bee made to consider what they goe about in following a bad matter they should neuer dare be hold to proceed as they doe to wit ås Sisera did to defend an ill cause but they would feare to goe forward and desist from their attempts Good and bad goe to worke both alike as these heere did for outward preparation but not in a like manner nor with the like minde nor to the like end And although Sisera had not wilfully in the pride of his heart gone against Israel because they were Gods people as Pharaoh did and although hee bee not properly to be charged for not consulting with God or weighin the cause in going against Gods people for alas he was an Heathen and therefore ignorant of such matters yet to speake the best that may be said of him hee trusted in chariots horses souldiers and munition thereby purposing with maine force to reduce the rebellious Israelites as hee counted them to the yoake of obedience and knew also that they were Gods people But it was indeed no wonder that he tooke this course being a cursed Canaanite such an one as he was But to leaue him and to come nearer our selues is it not admirable that among vs who are of the visible Church there should bee found some that in their enterprises life and dealings maintaine an euill cause one against the other as Barak and Sisera did for what though their actions both ciuill in religious exercises be the same and that in outward respect there appeare little or no difference in some of them yet so prophane and vnconscionable many of them are that they hold the righteous an abomination and deface as the Pharisies did Christs their best actions and will see no difference betwixt their owne and the others And to please themselues thus they say of them Tush as precise as they seeme they doe but as we they follow their trades buy sell eate drinke marrie c. and we do as they reade pray heare the word receiue the Sacrament c. what oddes therefore betwixt vs yes for why shall not two be in the field or at the mill and yet the one receiued the other forsaken and the one a reprobate the other chosen Surely as they differ in their ends so they differ in the meanes vsing that leade thereto and though they differ not in dying for the outward manner yet they differ in this that one dieth happily the other miserably and so they doe in their affections differ as in their desires hope encouragements and successes The one asketh who will shew vs any good The other prayeth O Lord lift vp the light of thy countenance vpon vs for it is more to vs then all abundance And in this light both of knowledge for direction and of grace for assistance thereto The godly man walketh looking at the promise in all his lawfull attempts knowing also that the Lord who is his light to guide him will bee his defence also to vphold prosper and blesse him The other walkes in darkenesse being led by erronious opinion sense example nature and sometimes shame feare and proud confidence in himselfe and therefore goeth through many dangers smarts sorrowes whether he be crossed or whether he haue his desire Hee reeleth also and stumbleth as the Egyptians did when darkenesse did ouerspread them while the Israelites walked in safety at liberty In a word the one serueth God the other the diuell the one is cheerefull patient confident the other of a contrary minde and carriage Therefore let euery man who desireth to be approued of God iudge himselfe and as for others both such as I haue spoken of and they who doe the same actions with them though wee know not with what mind let vs conceiue the best so farre as in charity we may of them but yet let vs suspend our sentence and allowance of them till after longer triall and further knowledge of and acquaintance with them And consider yee that reade this what I say and the Lord giue you vnderstanding For in that which I haue said of the wicked incensed against the righteous their deeds being good but their owne euill consisteth a great difference betwixt a true Christian and a counterfait as to him that will lay both sorts together with good consideration shall appeare And of this Scripture heere an end THE TWENTY EIGHT SERMON ON THE FOVTRH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES Vers 14. Then Debora said vnto Barak Vp for this is the day that the Lord hath deliuered Sisera into thine hand is not the Lord gone out before thee So Barak went downe from mount Tabor and tenne thousand men after him Vers 15. And the Lord destroyed Sisera and all his charets and all his host with the edge of the sword before Barak so that Sisera lighted downe of his charet and fled away on his feete Vers 16. But Barak pursued after the charets and after the host vnto Harosheth of the Gentiles and all the host of Sisera fell on the edge of the sword there was not
of the Apostle In all things be thankfull for as Gods mercies are renued euery morning so good reason that our thankes should be also And as it is acceptable to God so it is no small benefit that redoundeth thereby to our selues for it drieth vp the bitternes that is readie to rise vp in vs by occasion of Gods afflicting vs and crucifieth and scattereth such like poysons as lie lurking in our hearts thankfulnesse I say chaseth them away and suffereth them to haue no place there Indeede it is proper to Gods people to offer to him this dutie euen as it is said in Sion is God praised the hypocrites as the Pharisie who glosingly vttered these words Lord I thanke thee that I am not as other men they cannot praise him but the consent of mindes and hearts sanctified as the sweete harmonie in musicke this onely can doe it and teach others the skill to doe it also As therefore the thankes of most men wanting the feeling of Gods loue and blessings is meere dissimulation and taking Gods name in vaine so it is much to be lamented that the better sort whom it would become so well stirre themselues vp so little and slowly hereto For thanksgiuing as confession and supplication should be seasoned and accompanied with feruencie as a companion which amplifieth and as Debora here did makes songs of the blessings which others passe ouer in silence besides the affection it selfe which is inlarged in a more then common manner especially being quickned as she here was by some new or rare testimonie of Gods loue either bodily or spirituall mercies or deliuerances from euill of both sorts But here we may say Plenty makes vs barren for though we haue so much cause of thankes that we can looke on no side but wee may see many in so much as we be bound to shew it in things yet most men know neither how to begin nor to make an end The daily benefit of health recouerie out of diseases protection from dangerous casualties peace of land and peace in familie posteritie thriuing in the world credit our haruests and commodities nay our Sabbath and Communion in the Gospell and the fruites of it who may it be thought makes his daily song of these adding hereto personall benefits which euery one receiueth in his owne person Many mens prayers consist of suite and request making to God without any thankes either adioyned or following as in the nine lepers is to be seene others giue thankes in words but they want wings to lift them vp to heauen I meane faith feruencie and loue And the best thinke it enough to mumble a little inward thankes and that sometimes for some blessings but who is the man of many that makes his thankes breake out into songs Songs are more then common praises Christians should haue two bookes in the one to record their faults and falles in the other to register Gods benefits both should serue to set them a worke in confession and thankes For thankes neuer goe alone without other graces A thankfull heart is patient also humble faithfull conscionable dutifull by thanksgiuing we quicken vp our faith zeale feare of God and renue our couenants daily for how can wee dishonour him when we professe our selues to be infinitly beholding to This besides that it iustleth out iangling contention and ill spending the time so it drieth vp the froth of our euill hearts fretting discontentment impatience hardnesse of heart and all of the same kinde as I haue said In a word he that praiseth God aright worships him aright as we see in the Psalme and so to say much in one word he that is thankfull is a good Christian Oh then let vs looke better to this and make amends for our arrearages herein For hee that lookes wee should bee thankfull for affliction as that holy man Iob was much more a man would thinke lookes that it should be so for blessings which most iustly by many degrees do more chalenge it Let euery one that of the Israel of God say The mercies of the Lord continue for euer Let it not seeme tedious to recount old mercies both the greatest of redemption and the lesser of preseruation yea helpe we our selues forward mutually as Barak and Debora here did sing in consort Doubtlesse an vnthankfull life is a sottish hellish life ouergrowne with all that naught is and therefore lothsome to a Christian He that saith I would I could doe euery duty as well as this of thankes is a foole not knowing what he saith he prates like a Parrot Thankfulnesse is not without godlinesse But I cannot well proceed further as this time THE THIRTIETH SERMON ON THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES WE haue heard largely of thankesgiuing in the former sermon with the causes manner and necessity thereof now beside the action of thankesgiuing which I haue spoken of the circumstance of time is also to bee marked that is to say that they did it the same day for so it is set downe in the holy story then sang Debora and Barak the same day This teacheth vs not to make delay in any good thing but vse the opportunity in due season and so for this duty of giuing thankes And while the occasion offered of so doing is fresh and in remembrance the mind feedeth the affection with more plentifull matter that it may be stirred vp more feruently to performe that dutie whereas in time things grow stale and are forgotten yea and that quickly so that wee had need to take the vantage against our bad memories and blockish hearts by such meanes And although ordinarily we should performe this dutie three times a day in solemne manner namely in the morning euening and at noone tide yet otherwise beside that as God shall giue vs occasion by more then common benefits and deliuerances we should prouoke our selues hereunto and namely as Saint Iames saith when one is merrie or disposed to ioy let him not suffer that affection to vanish but expresse and vtter it to God in singing praises And so afterward we ought to continue the memory of his infinite mercies throughout our whole life and to this end write them we that can that whereas they grow to a multitude in time and all cannot alwaies be remembred as were to bee wished in some sort yet at least wise when wee reade them ouer wee may readily renue as we shall see cause our thankes to God for them But great is mens blockishnesse as I haue said and endlesse wandring by swarmes of cogitations after other things which hinder this wherby they see not cause hereof and when they doe yet their slothfulnesse is such that they delay and deferre to pay this due to God till their appetite be gone and afterward lets and hinderances comming in the way breake it off so that they cannot performe it And this be said of thankes In the second
they had not been at all When Achan had troubled Israel by taking the execrable thing the Lord tels Ioshua that therefore they could not stand before their enemies How much more if they themselues had sinned Oh mens sinnes turneth plenty into want courage into timerousnesse and fainting of heart and light into darkenesse and all out of kind Behold what it did in Ieroboam when hee stretched out his arme against the Prophet of God for reprouing him for his idolatry at Bethel his arme was immediately withered and dried vp that he could not draw it in againe So Gehazi when he had taken most wickedly both money and raiment of Naaman the Syrian pretending his masters sending him for it and after his returne had answered his master Elisha with a lie maruellous it is to say and against nature and any sound reason in mans iudgement what came vpon him euen a leprosie forthwith so that he went out a leaper as white as snow And the band of Priests Iewes and souldiers that came into the garden to apprehend and take our Sauiour Christ so boldly and trecherously yet suddenly they went backe like drunken men and fell to the ground astonished and vnfitted vtterly for such a purpose as to lay hold of him and that at one word spoken by our Sauiour and yet not in terrifying manner as he might haue done saying he was the man whom they sought So that in seeking him they were both lusty and ready to lay hold of him yet when they had found him they could doe nothing to him for their sinne had taken their power and ability from them For who is able to reckon vp how many waies God hath to visit astonish and terrifie men for their sinne Therefore among other punishments in Deuteronomy threatened this is one a trembling heart a sorrowfull mind and feare both day and night And if the Lord should not handle some thus other would not bee afraid but would abuse his Maiesty yea and faithfull people also much more grosly would tempt God then now they dare doe though euen now many doe it too boldly when they forget themselues But Hypocrites goe verie farre in sinning boldly as other doe who are like them therefore many are apalled among vs some hauing their wit and reason taken from them some become foolish some madde men other against nature laying violent hands vpon themselues their seuerall sinnes doe though no reason of man seeth it doe I say driue them to it This is another fruit to be ioyned to the former which sinne bringeth forth True it is indeed the Lord dealeth not thus in kind with all sinners nay wee see how impudent and brasen faced most bee in their leaud courses and set vp their bustles against the ordinance of God But though their foreheads bee of brasse yet their hearts be glassie their consciences if they would yeeld are as water powred forth they haue not the true Lion like courage and boldnesse which in their iollity they would haue all thinke that they haue but sin hath infeebled them they cannot abide the force and sting of their conscience but fall downe coward-like when it smiteth them neither can their sinne abide the hand of God which as it is euer readie to be reached foorth against them so when it is so indeed they are soone dismaied as Nabal was when he heard he should dye True it is they set a good face vpon the matter openly bragging and bracing as I haue said but when their conscience and they goe to it hand to hand as it doth but seldome then in their necessitie it is with them as if an armed man were vpon them their white liuerd hearts doe vtterly faile them And yet where is he that by such checkes of the word and his conscience and the feare of many arrestings of him from God doth once complaine and crie out of his estate and so seekes strength and recouerie out of it by faith peace and confidence with the true detestation of his sin which like a Witch so inchaunteth and disableth him of all courage and boldnesse and turnes him into a very coward and weakling Now in that men doe not perceiue this as they might easily do their blindfolding of themselues and hardning of their hearts is the cause thereof Now Debora turneth her selfe to diuers kinds of men and distinguisheth them one from another exhorting them all as she her selfe did to praise and magnifie God This I will lay open more plainly it being somewhat hard otherwise for some readers to vnderstand and discerne the same And first in this verse she beginneth with the chiefe of the armies and those that offered themselues willingly to the battell In the next verse she speaketh to the rich Merchants that rode on costly beasts that were as hee calleth them white Asses and such as sat in iudgement And thirdly in this same verse also she speaketh to all meaner persons that trauailed on foote seeing there was now libertie for them to passe to and fro in the high waies she moueth these I say to magnifie God Euen all sorts of people who went out and in by the gates of the citie for their businesse profit pleasure or any other necessarie vse In the second verse she nameth the very boyes and girles who could not safely goe out to draw water without danger of the archers who lay in waite secretly to shoote at them and so put them in perill and ieopardie of their liues or to be sore wounded these might now she saith fetch their water without feare of hurt Then she calleth to them who dwelt in villages and vnwalled townes their danger hauing been very great so as they were driuen away from their houses telling them that they might now returne home againe and dwel in them quietly as in times past and last of all she speakes to those who were wont to meete in the gates of the citie that is in the open places for iudgement All these she moues to praise the Lord for that he had now by that one deliuerance and victorie set them all at libertie and in peace Now to make our profit of these verses and more particularly to examine them and to begin with the ninth whereas she saith in this verse that her heart was set on the gouernours of Israel or which is all one her heart was toward them to prouoke them meaning the cause was so great why they should praise God that she could not chuse but speake to them as if she should say she desired most earnestly that the chiefe of the armie and the gouernours and captaines thereof and great men should praise God the reason was because they with her and Barak were the chiefe in that businesse and they going before them the other should the easiler be drawne by their example to follow And it liuely teacheth and setteth before the chief doers in such martiall affaires also the
laid waste rifled robbed and left ruinous by the enemies this to be the meaning of the second point in this verse appeareth cleerely by the best translation these she saith might now safely returne to their habitations and townes and make vp their ruines and breaches and dwell in them againe as before They were therefore to acknowledge the goodnesse of God with the rest who yet beside the driuing them from their owne home were also much impouerished and sustained great losse beside feare and trouble thereby And this besides the dutie of thanks for our safe and conuenient dwelling and harbour should teach vs all to bee highly contented and patiently to beare our impaired and decaied estate when by Gods prouidence without our fault and negligence it falleth out to be so seeing we cannot be ignorant that Gods people haue had their part in such aduersities before vs also losses by fire water or any other spoyling or wasting of our goods when small likelihood could be seene thereof before For these things fall out and the like changes where and when God will for the sinne of men as cousonage deceit securitie hypocrisie wilfull ignorance worldlinesse idlenesse delicacie excesse c. which God curseth sometimes with beggerie rash trustings suretiship c. and they should beare their punishments because they haue sinned and after their repentance when God hath staied the plague they should thankfully and without murmuring receiue the remnants of their commodities if any remaine to them as wee reade the men of Beniamin did and not desperatly and impatiently to leaue all at sixe and seuen because they see themselues disabled from euer recouering their former estate which is a signe of a proud heart refusing and scorning to stoope to the Lords hand and visitation as Iob himselfe did whose losse yet we know was exceeding great But oh the madnes of men who when they being occupied about their commodities are crossed in them contrarie to their expectation they are at their wits end when the Lord hath taken but that which he lent them They dreame of an eternitie here and when they haue well feathered their nest as they say they thinke they are well for many yeeres oh death how vnwelcome art thou to such nay the smallest losses doe cause them to rage and crie out The Lord therefore seeing this pulleth from one here and from another there to acquaint all with changes and teacheth them thereby that if there remaine but somewhat to them of the plentie which they sometime enioyed so that they haue not vnthriftily wasted it themselues they should be thankfull as these here are willed to be who full gladly came againe to their ruinous dwellings from the which they had been driuen by the force of their enemies And they whose hearts cannot bow to yeeld to their afflictions meekely and patiently but doe rebelliously and brutishly harden them against God for his iust corrections shall gaine this thereby to haue them with Iudas broken in peeces with his mallets of terror and despaire to their vtter confusion Oh full little doe such know themselues by spurning against God to kicke as it were against pricks It is Gods mercie as the Prophet saith that they are not consumed much more then to giue them breathing being and liuing and therefore they should humbly receiue Gods corrections The last sort that she calleth to praise God were they that came together in the gates of their cities where their iudgement seates were appointed to be These meetings had ceased and had been broken off through the preuailing of their enemies and now by their deliuerance were frequented againe What a punishment that was and how great a calamity to the Common wealth to haue execution of law and iustice left off and laid downe tending so necessarily to the safegard of mens estates or to the maintaining thereof by the cutting off of malefactors and the doers of iniurie as robbers and such like how great a plague that was I say they well know who are not ignorant that the whole safetie in a manner of the Common-wealth is maintained and vpholden by such due execution of law and iudgement And for this benefit that I may come from them to our selues all that liue in the Church and Common-wealth with peace and welfare haue cause to magnifie Gods exceeding goodnesse in that one respect For hereby they liue safe and quiet in their houses they enioy their goods and commodities and that which is the greatest of all other they may the better haue libertie and the benefit of true seruing of God which maketh all the rest of their liberties sauourie And this with the other particular commodities which are enioyed of vs hereby is to bee acknowledged to bee great and bountifull the rather for that such common blessings vsually enioyed are seldome reckoned of vs to be thanke worthie And among those who went out and in at the gates we may vnderstand all other who either passed through for their profit pleasure or for any other necessarie vse and cause which libertie all may conceiue how great it was and therefore both they then and we now who enioy the same libertie must hold our selues infinitly bound to praise God in this behalfe And now we haue heard how Debora hath called all sorts to the praising of God and that euen for such benefits as are in little account with vs no nor thought of how great they be let it warne vs of one common fault that we be more mindfull hereafter of Gods goodnesse in his ministring to our vse the daily benefits which he bestoweth on vs for this present life then we are wont to be as the sunne-shine and the raine the peaceable following of our callings within doores and without the vttering and exchange of our commodities our safe dwelling from danger of enemies and the benefit of mill and market And what shall I say else as for our freedome from forrain enemies and our trauel without danger from place to place with other that are innumerable which though we haue theÌ in great part in common with the vnreasonable creatures yet without them we know our life should be deadly wearisome to vs yea none at al. I say it is certaine that these common blessings and many other such are not acknowledged of numbers through the seuen yeers together which should bee remembred one or other of them I meane oft times euery day which if it ought to be in these common benefits now mentioned which yet are but transitory then what cause had the Apostle in respect of all together which serue for his life and that which is to come to charge vs in all things to bee thankfull And by this that all sorts are heere spoken to by the Prophetesse it teacheth that all sorts of men and particular persons among them are to know that they must answere to God for themselues about thankes euen as elsewhere euery
are of al sorts who hauing sutes and controuersies depending betwixt them get the day of their aduersary and doe bring the one the other to a meane and poore estate I speake of such as contend lawfully and hauing a good cause and right on their side they preuaile by order of iustice one against the other and doe in a certaine manner triumph thereby But what then In all this the one beareth as hee is more graciously seasoned then another a lowly mind and remembreth though he haue the better hand and other wealth beside whence hee came who set him vp and why that is not to glory foolishly of his welfare ouer his aduersary but to be thankfull to God and therefore is moderate and sober in the vse of all such liberties and more fruitfull in doing good The other vseth them to pride himselfe to scorne others to boast of his successe and to be more impudent prophane and lawlesse Both these triumph ouer their aduersary but the one in good manner as not glorying that he hath gotten the victorie of himselfe or by his owne strength the other most vnbeseemingly being a slaue and pesant to his vnbridled lusts and glorying in the pride of life The reason of honouring God by them both Debora and Barak I meane is set downe by her in this verse and that was seeing the Lord had wrought wonderfully for them and giuen many men euen an huge army into the hands of a few and valiant and noble warriers he had caused to be subdued by them that were but weake and meane And though shee ascribe it in the first part of the verse vnto the persons yet that we may know that she ment them to be but the instruments onely appointed by God to get the victory therefore in the latter part of the verse she maketh the Lord the cause of it saying that he made them able to obtaine and so to preuaile ouer them And so we dearely beloued when the like falleth out to vs that God by small meanes worketh great things for vs let vs learne before to be ready to see and acknowledge it For example when the Lord shall asswage the extremities of his seruants either in paine sicknesse feare of vtter vndoing or in the cruelty of their enemies whereas none saw how they might bee like to recouer themselues any more as when all helpe and hope by manward is past when he I say shal then shew his helpe that was not in any likelihood to haue been looked for is it not time to behold his great goodnesse and wonder at it with due praises His preuenting of that notorious Gun-powder treason with the remouall of many great enemies of his people when death onely was like to haue done it God knoweth when and that in our remembrance since the entering in of our late deceised Queene of blessed memorie and the Kings Maiesty whom God inable to tread them vnder his feet what thankes doe these worthily require of vs Moreouer to see the fruit of this Gospell which is for the most part so contemptible in the world what great things it doth in subduing the stony hearts of many vnto the power of it and in changing them though for the great cumpasse of the land and the long time that it hath bin preached we may and ought to lament that it hath preuailed with no more yet that grace that the sincere preaching of it hath wrought in many thousands is to be remembred thought vpon and acknowledged to Gods eternall praise Euen as in all ages God hath done wonderfully I meane great things by small meanes as in casting downe the walles of Iericho by seuen daies compassing it with blowing trumpets of Rammes hornes Also his inabling Gedeon with three hundred men to ouerthrow an armie of the Midianites who as grashoppers couered the face of the earth And Dauid with his sling to conquer great Goliah But I must heere cut off seeing the verses following are many and must be handled together THE THIRTIE THREE SERMON ON THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES The second part of the Chapter Vers 14. Of Ephraim their roote arose against Amalek and after thee Beniamin against thy people O Amalek of Machir came rulers and of Zebulon they that handle the pen of the writer 15. And the Princes of Issachar were with Debora and Ishachar and also Barak he was sent on his feet in the valley for the diuisions of Reuben were great thoughts of heart 16. Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds to heare the bleatings of the flockes for the diuisions of Reuben were great thoughts of heart 17. Gilead abode beyond Iordan and why doth Dan remaine in ships Ashur sat on the sea shore and tarried in his decayed places 18. But the people of Zebulun and Naphthali haue ieoparded their liues vnto the death in the high places of the field THis is the first point of the second part of the chapter in these words of the text to the 19. verse which second part was diuided into three as is to bee seene in the first entrance into the chapter In the first they are brought in to the song first and commended by Debora that did helpe in the warre in the 14. and part of the fifteenth verse and by occasion of them they are mentioned next and their slothfulnesse is reproued who being of the tribes did not helpe in the battell which is done in part of the fifteenth verse the 16. and 17. and after shee commendeth Zebulun and Naphthali for that they had ieoparded their liues for their brethren and this in the eighteenth verse This to be the meaning of these verses all may see that will throughly looke into it But yet it must be acknowledged that there is difficulty in some of them This therfore I will cleare as I am able and labour to remoue the doubts which may be raised to trouble the Reader To the which end wee must remember that which was before said that Debora first speaketh of them in this second part of the chapter which did helpe in the warre And shee beginneth with Ephraim And whereas some expound it that this root of Ephraim that rose against Amalek was Ioshua and by Beniamin in that they vnderstand him that should fight against them afterward that is to say Saul who did so indeed It is true that both these are said to haue gone against Amalek but what is that to this purpose For heere in this part of the song Debora signifieth who they were that fought against the Canaanites at that time Therefore it is rather likely that by the root of Ephraim she could not meane Ioshua who was dead long before but she meaneth her selfe being one that was a chiefe person in that tribe for it appeareth that shee was an Ephramite and it is said that she iudged Israel dwelling vnder a Palme tree between Ramath and Bethel in mount Ephraim And sure it is that by
her charge and authority the battell was taken in hand But then ye will obiect that the warre heere mentioned is said to haue been against Amalek not the Canaanites I grant it but by a figuratiue speech in Amalek we are to vnderstand the Canaanites also And thus much for answering this first doubt out of these words Of Ephraim their roote arose against Amalek The next is out of the words which follow immediately in the same verse which are these and after thee Beniamin fought against thee O Amalek Heere vnderstand this word Amalek as before But that by Beniamin here we should vnderstand Saul being of that tribe there is no sense in it Saul being yet vnborne but certaine of the tribe of Beniamin for it appeareth by these words in the text that some of the tribe of Beniamin also adioyned themselues to Debora from the first beginning of the battell though it is to be thought they were but few in comparison The other words in this 14. verse haue this meaning as these first out of Machir came rulers that is out of them heere named of Machir which was a noble family in the halfe tribe of Manasses there came certaine worthy men to helpe in the battell The last words of the verse which are these Out of Zebulun there came they that handle the pen of the writer they haue this meaning that the learned and skilful Lawyers who were exercised in handling the pen did helpe as they might fitliest be employed and vsed whether by weapon or by counsell The first part of the fifteenth verse concerning Issachar hath this sense that this tribe is highly commended both for that they that were chiefe in it consented to Debora and also for that they did in their place as Barak did in his for as he was sent to mount Tabor so it seemeth that the Princes of Ishachar were sent into the valley with their footmen and in the perill and ieopardy of the Israelites by their enemies they did set vpon them with great courage and behaued themselues valiantly and therefore they are highly commended Thus she hauing mentioned them that helped in the battell she turneth by occasion of them to those that did not helpe beginning in this 15. verse with the tribe of Ruben That tribe is reproued for that it held backe to the great griefe of their brethren from fighting among them and for that they did not in so great danger come foorth to helpe them This tribe dwelt beyond Iorden in the fat pastures and as it appeareth for their too much minding and care of their cattell and their commoditie thereby they neglected the care of the Common-wealth And in that it is said that there were great thoughts of heart for the Reubenites diuiding themselues from their brethren whether the meaning of the words be that these thoughts were great and loftie in them that scorned to goe at Deboras commandement being but a woman or whether they were thoughts of wondring and lamenting in their brethren for that they came not as well as others to helpe them in the battell the repetition of the words doth giue more warrant for to take them in this latter sense as a lamentation as if it should be said Oh that Reuben should not come ouer Iorden to helpe as the most of the other tribes did oh it was wondred at and much to be lamented And besides to charge that tribe to be proud and insolent is more then wee may or ought to doe vpon an vncertaine ground for it requireth good proofe for the auouching of that Reuben that is the Reubenites that came of him is here described by their calling and trade that they were keepers of cattell and the places that they dwelt in namely among goodly pastures And where it is added Why sattest thou among the sheepfolds to heare the bleating of the flockes it is so to be taken as if the Reubenites abode and remained still with their cattell for all the danger that was and did declare thereby that they did set more by them then they did pitie their brethren by going to helpe them In the 17. verse Gilead is in like manner complained of they abode still in their dwelling place beyond Iorden as the Reubenites did dwelling neere vnto them while their brethren the Israelites were in great ieopardie fighting with their enemies But here commeth another great doubt to be answered that seeing Machir a noble familie in the tribe of Manasse was said before to come to helpe their brethren and they possessed Gilead I say if Gilead bee commended before to come why is it here reproued for not comming This doubt is answered thus Manasse had two sonnes Machir and Iair of whom came two great families both which possessed Gilead Therefore those Gileadites which came of Machir could not bee they who are reproued for they came to helpe but the familie of Iair who also dwelt in Gilead for they came not The next that are reproued here are they of the tribe of Dan. Who are not reproued simply for trauailing in ships vpon the sea but they are blamed here for remaining in ships Now at that time whether they did so to shelter themselues thereby from their enemies on the sea or for their trafique and did not rather goe out of them and helpe the rest they were worthie to be found fault with for their so doing For what though they were striken with such a feare when they heard of the armies of their enemies that was their sinne that they hasted not to the rest against their enemies to assist them but that they put themselues in ships that so they might passe and escape from them or follow their owne priuate businesse which was a thing vtterly vnbeseeming them they were therefore worthily and iustly reproued for it as I haue said The last tribe that is found fault with is the tribe of Asher who excuse themselues for being absent from their brethren partly for that they dwelt farre off and partly for that their townes and cities were ruinous and not well fenced and therefore they said they tarried at home lest their enemies might haue taken occasion by their absence to spoile them which they saw they might easily haue done And there is no doubt but that it was grieuous to these tribes to be thus rebuked the which the holy Ghost would haue to be done partly for their owne cause that they might see in what great fault they were by not going to helpe their brethren how lightly soeuer they accounted of it and also that they might repent for it and partly in respect of others which I will shew when I come to the doctrine And this be said of the tribes commended and reproued except the two tribes of Zebulon and Naphtali who did more specially icopard their liues for their brethren as it followeth in the next verse Here she commendeth them both in an high manner though some
shall escape better then others c. which was the errour of them who till they found the contrary would neuer be perswaded but their estate was good saying Lord Lord c. as though thereby they should haue entred into his kingdome And as this is true in the generall so is it in particulars both bodily and spirituall For though in the corrupt practise of this wicked world we see euery one is for himselfe as the prouerbe speaketh posting off the regard of the needy to others yet if we enter into the Lords sanctuary and looke what is required by his word wee shall finde it odious vnnaturall and highly displeasing in the sight of God that there is not compassion in one to another and care in one ouer another as equity and band of duty requireth that as they should warme the hearts of their brethren with relieuing them readily in their bodily necessities and dangers so should they comfort their soules likewise with holy instruction and spirituall refreshing as by good occasion and opportunity they may And as these should haue done it in warre so ought we as well in peace This dutie owe superiours either in nature age place or gifts to the inferiours to backe encourage and instruct them equals to each other to admonish comfort visit and support or restore one the other in meekenesse as there shall be cause This is not the Ministers duty alone but of others which if it were practised wee might say indeed that great is the benefit of Christian fellowship whereas now men looke vpon one another as if they knew them not and had as lieue haue their roome as their company But what other is to bee looked for while Gods ordinances whereby hee hath prouided that this duty of caring one for another shall bee nourished are contemned and set at naught But yet for all this I would not thus bee vnderstood as though men ought to breake off and leaue their lawfull callings to seeke as some say they do occasions to be doing of good by conference c. as some idle and phantasticall persons are glad to pretend such things to the end they may liue idely and be held within no bounds but yet as it may fall out when they are called more necessarily to some speciall duties of visiting one another in sicknesse or eating and drinking together for the time vpon some such waighty and iust occasion they may But otherwise they are and that with faithfulnesse and diligence to attend vpon their lawfull vocation vnlesse with their conference and good communication and such like doing of God they may do the duties of their callings also which in trauelling and iourneying together about their businesse they may And this be gathered from the reproofe of all the tribes in generall mentioned in these three verses But now let vs marke somewhat out of them more perticularly For of Reuben and Gilead it is expresly said that they neglected this duty for their owne profit and that they were more bent to the seeking of that then to lend their helpe where they owe it This was found fault withall in them euen as our Sauiour found the like fault with them who were inuited by him vnto another duty euen to the great supper as these were to fight against Gods enemies they excusing their absence for their owne priuate advantage euery one his way one had hired a farme another had bought oxen and he must euen then go trie them and another had married a wife to whom may bee added the third sort of hearers mentioned by our Sauiour whose sinne was of the same kind whom the cares of the world and thornes of riches choke so that the seed sowne in them brings forth no good fruit This worldly minde and sloth in men to preferre their owne profit before Gods businesse far more waighty God in no wise can abide And yet a common sinne it is and not in the worst sort of professors onely as we see in Martha who lost the best part when Christ was at her house and that by cumbring her selfe needlesly who for their owne priuate commodity neglect and passe by duties to God and their brethren and those very waighty for while they puddle for earthly pearles they forgoe the peerlesse pearle of faith and regeneration being if they could see it farre more gaineful then their best merchandise and by infinite degrees excelling them all And let vs all take heede seeing commonly it so falleth out that he who is wittingly carelesse in some duties is not very forward in other how waighty soeuer that it be not so with vs that while we aime at heauen more then some other we be not waighed downe as it were with bolts vpon our heeles to the depth of earthlinesse and so make our dwelling vnder the earth in perpetuall darknesse And this by the occasion of the sin in these two tribes bewailed by Debora speaking in her song of one of them thus for the diuision of Ruben in that he diuided himselfe from his brethren there were great thoughts of heart that is much maruelling and lamenting for his so doing Of the other thus Gilead remained beyond Iordan as if she should say euen then when their brethren were fighting with their enemies they of Gilead sat still at home whom yet the businesse concerned as much as themselues that lamented it And was not that then very lamentable And as I haue spoken of this one sinne the same may be said of the rest how much to bee bewailed they are and namely these more neere akind Euen so it is when good men to these as techinesse or conceits or any other sinister corruptions to separate men from their brethren and thereby to make them backward in helping forward the good things which otherwise might bee as in keeping the vnruly in order and within compasse or helping to bring in a sound and good ministery or any other commendable thing by their care and industry Oh how it should grieue vs when wee see them backward in any good thing who should bee forward Indeed when the diuell hath so fare wound in with men as to diuide them from their brethren they stand stifly in defence of their doing so little doth it greeue them but it pierceth the hearts of the godly in respect both of the wrong done to themselues the scandall offered to others as also because they deserue thereby that their former forwardnesse and fruits should bee called into question Demas made light of his going from Paul but hee writes mournfully of it to Timothy in this manner Demas hath forsaken me and hath imbraced that is to say hee resteth in this present world And no maruell for the truth is the better a mans properties be the more lamentable are his personall blemishes Euen as when a man comely and of very good shape in all other parts very personable of body hath a wooden leg or some other
without that what welfare can there be to the soule It cannot prosper but rather decaieth as a man that is sicke of a desperate discase and growes worse and worse till vtter consumption and death it selfe doe follow Therefore it is a worke of no small weight to trie our selues whether we loue God it will quite the cost abundantly If we can once get that wee are on the thriuing hand no feare but wee shall doe well and then wee giue good proofe thereof when wee loue and desire well to the brethren when nothing is too deare for himself and where there is still an earnest thirsting after both as all things that grow haue an appetite of growth these I say with more then a common care of honouring God in the place we liue in a daily longing home with vprightnes and constancie are euidences of our loue to God that cannot deceiue And this affection be wee well assured will breake out where it is by such fruite as I haue mentioned as Iosephs did vnto his brethren To this song of Debora the holy storie addeth this that God gaue his people by and after this victorie fortie yeeres rest and quietnes A great blessing euen so we all know what a benefit any great deliuerance is out of paine sicknesse prison bondage penurie or the like miserie especially when it is for long continuance But how much more then the sweete peace of conscience that passeth vnderstanding and ioy in the holy Ghost and that for long continuance after the trouble of minde and feare of damnation which was sometime But of this also elsewhere somewhat hath been said THE THIRTIE SIXE SERMON ON THE SIXTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES Vers 1. Afterward the children of Israel committed wickednesse in the sight of the Lord and the Lord gaue them into the hands of Midian seuen yeeres Vers 2. And the hand of Midian preuailed against Israel and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them dennes in the mountaines and caues and strong holds Vers 3. When Israel had sowne then came vp the Midianites the Amalekites and they of the East and came vpon them Vers 4. And camped by them and destroyed the fruite of the earth euen till thou come vnto Azzah and left no foode for Israel neither sheepe nor oxe nor asse Vers 5. For they went vp and their cattell and came with their tents as Grashoppers in multitude so that they and their camels were without number and they came into the land to destroy it Vers 6. So was Israel exceedingly impouerished by the Midianites therefore the children of Israel cried vnto the Lord. IN this Chapter it is shewed how Israel againe prouoked the Lord by their wickednesse vers 1. And how the Lord punished them by the Midianites to vers 6. Then that they cried vnto the Lord and he reproued them to vers 11. And lastly how he called Gedeon and prepared him to deliuer them and this is to the end of the Chapter The first part of the Chapter TO begin with their sinne it appeares that they did grieuously prouoke the Lord as they had sometime before done as in the third and fourth Chapters it appeares where their punishment was likewise a long time continued vpon them But yet after the death of Debora and Barak the valiant deliuerers of them out of the hands of the Canaanites they did againe depart from the good course wherein they had liued before and fell againe to idolatrie and other sinnes This be said of their sinne as may be gathered out of the first verse and the 25. With the which to begin for our further benefit the instruction that we are to take out of from hence is this That seeing in all the stories before set downe as well as this of the punishing of Israel they begin thus The children of Israel did againe that which was euill in the sight of the Lord seeing I say it is thus we may learne that it is naturally ingrafted in the heart of man that though there bee holy affections kindled in it by some good meanes yet in time they dye and wane away and in stead of them the heart is carried againe to the euill that it most desireth And it being thus with them that haue some goodnesse and beginnings of faith in them what are all the faire shewes of hypocrites when they be at the best but a morning dew So that though men may perhaps serue God for a while in a good manner yet they are gone from it before wee be aware waxing wearie and prouoking God afresh this sicklenes and inconstancie are so deeply rooted in them and thereupon it falleth out that they are carried away by the error of the wicked and inticements of the world from a good course to be fashioned like other men though it be very grosse and absurd which they fall to A great reason hereof is this that the best are renewed but in part and much corruptioÌ remaineth to be purged out of theÌ which requireth the taking vp of their thoughts and care which it is meet they should take knowledge of that so they may see that they haue worke enough and haue little cause to be idle and waxe wearie of it I meane beside many other duties of crossing and subduing the euill of their hearts especially seeing their reward is so great in so doing And yet with griefe it may be said that in all ages both persons and Churches little considering this haue fallen to this course that I now complaine of As they in the Psalme who started aside like a broken bow The people in Exodus did the like who in the absence of Moses from them but a few daies fell most shamefully to idolatrie So the people mentioned in S. Iohn who counted Iohn Baptist a burning light and for a time reioyced in him whereby yee may gather it was but for a time These with many too long to be stood vpon doe shew how soone men decline from a good course And wel it were with vs in this latter age if we looked better to our selues then they did but as well persons and families as almost whole townes wanze and waxe cold in their seruing of God who yet were sometime of the forwarder sort of professors a few God reserueth who desire to keepe their first loue to the Gospell and their brethren that they may be a seed in euery corner of the land almost to teach the generations to come if the world continue to feare the Lord aright hee hauing appointed a remnant to remaine and a Church though small vnto the worlds end Which being so teacheth the best of vs what need we haue to desire to enioy the best meanes and namely the sincere preaching of the Gospell whereby we may grow on in grace and knowledge of Christ and cleaue neerely to him considering how oft wee haue been by Gods gracious working in vs
reuiued and refreshed thereby and how dead in good duties wee are and vnprofitable our consciences being Iudges without them And it is well if here by this we winde out of all poisoned baites that are laid for vs. And this of the first of the foure parts of the Chapter I haue spoken in this former part of this verse and somewhat also before in other Chapters that is of the peoples sinne The second part of the Chapter NOw it followes the second that is of the punishment that followed their sinne and how they cried to the Lord vnder it in these sixe verses Their punishment was seuen yeeres oppression by the Midianites as in this verse is to be seene and the manner of their oppressing them is set downe in the fiue verses following And for their oppression by the Midianites let it teach vs that it was iust because they had sinned For God scourgeth men iustly and not without their due desert Man suffereth for his sinne as the Prophet Ieremy saith So that if any should thinke they are hardly handled being punished of God let them proue themselues without sinne or else let them hold their peace Nay I will yeeld more then so to them let them be able but to proue this that they haue only offended through infirmitie and not rather wilfully and of knowledge and they shall either be freed altogether from great vexations in their liues or else they shall freely and without constraint confesse that God hath dealt iustly yea mercifully in so visiting of them rather then that he hath done them any wrong Thus much for this and that God will punish when men prouoke him by their transgressions as we may here learne I haue in other places shewed The manner of the Midianites oppressing the people of Israel was the spoiling them of their victuall namely corne and cattell for the space of seuen yeeres without which they could not liue Their corne they destroied when they had sowen their fields And they were driuen to make them cabins in the hollow places of the earth vnder the hils and rocks where they had holes and creuises to let in light to defend themselues from them and in the fields and lower parts of the earth they made them dennes and darke places not fit for habitation but in which they might safely lay their goods and substance to hide them from the Midianites They made also high towers and strong from which they might see a farre off which could not be beaten down easily and these shifts they were faine to make For their enemies were as grashoppers on the face of the earth and their camels and other beasts to destroy the fruites of the Israelites were almost without number What these Midianites were and of what stocke they came it is not necessarie to inquire seeing it is not set downe though some writers say that they had their beginnings thus that one of Abrahams sonnes which he begat of his wife Ketura builded a citie beyond Arabia in the South in the desert of the now called Saracens and called the name of it Midian or Madian and the people of it were called Midianites or Madianites and were supposed to be they of whom the Kenites came These brought with them the Amalakites and men of the East to helpe them This was a grieuous and sore affliction to be thus driuen to extremities for want of food And yet no other then was long before threatned among many other to come vpon them for their apostacie and idolatrie For what though we heare of no consuming of the people of Israel in battell yet beside that it could not be but that many of them were slaine by so long and violent assaulting them so what death is more cruell then by liuing to be famished and what miserie in this life greater then to be to seeke of foode where it can hardly be come by and yet that which is to bee reserued and had is scarcely fit to preserue life Here therefore by the contrary wee may see what a benefit of God this is when in a land and in cities townes and villages all people may be fed fit for their condition when there is no inuasion of forraine enemies to spoile and destroy the fruits of the earth whereby the inhabitants are preserued nor any famine by any other iudgement of God and when there is no iust cause of complaining in our streetes We know in the great famines that are mentioned in the Scriptures yea and in smaller famines in our owne remembrance what crying and lamentations there haue been In the daies of Abraham Isaac and chiefly of Iacob when they were forced to send into Egypt for corne In the time of Elimelek and Naomi when they were driuen from their dwelling in Bethelem Iuda to goe and soiourne in the land of Moab for want of food and after in the daies of Ioram King of Israel when the men had no other way to preserue their liues but by eating that which was against nature yea and yet they could hardly come by it and when the women did eate their own children as also in the last besieging of Ierusalem by the Romans And to what end speake I this but that we should lift vp our hearts and more feruently and oft be thankfull to God for this one benefit of plentie although who seeth not that it is indeed but one of many yea of infinite other which wee receiue And why doth God this Euen to the end men may follow their callings diligently and conscionably with cheerefulnes and with the same minde walke in the feare of the Lord continually And therefore the euill example in life that in the abundance of Gods earthly blessings doth flow euery where in drunkennesse and all lasciuiousnes doth draw vpon men greater plagues then wants and famine are and that is leanenes of soule blindnes vnbeliefe hardnesse of heart and impenitencie which if we had the spirit of the Prophets wee should deeply bewaile But to leaue such I adde this that for the quickning vp of the best it were fit for them when they grow to a meane and common esteeming of these benefits of God to suppose with themselues and put the case that they were in want and penurie euen in the state of this people of God by the oppression of the Midianites or the like As that when they haue sowne their seede it should be spovled before their faces so that they should not eate of it and that the prouision which they haue made for their liues should be carried away by enemies or taken from them and they famished for want of it it would make them better to value and prize such benefits and yeeld to the Lord a more holy and fruitfull vse of them Whereas commonly men doe not so till they be driuen to it by wants and decay in their substance then they can say Oh what plentie of Gods benefits
we once enioyed Another thing in these verses is to be marked that we bring double vexation vpon our selues by sinning against the Lord and by seeking to haue our will against the word of God The one is this the affliction that is sent vpon vs for sinne as here the stirring vp of the Midianites against the people of Israel for their transgression or any other as losse of their goods diseases ieopardie of their liues c. The other vexation is that which proceedeth from the former and that is of many sorts as may be liuely seene in this present storie and namely in these verses For what toile time and cost beside the disquietnes that went therewith were they driuen to bestow that I may include much in few words to defend or to saue themselues from the vtmost hurt and danger which was wrought and intended against them what shifts were they faine to make to preserue their liues and saue their goods out of their enemies hands which yet when they had done what they could they were not able to doe If they had been only hurt by them in their cattell corne and other commodities and had sustained that onely for their punishment it had been a deare paying for their pleasure that they took in their sinne but when they were in this bondage that they could doe nothing else but watch and ward for their liues and to build and botch digge and delue and beate their braines to deuise how to hide their commodities from them what sorrow vpon sorrow and one vnquietnes vpon another did they heape vpon their heads till they lost all the welfare of their liues in a manner and made them more wearisome and vnwelcome then death it selfe Is this the fruite of sinne and the good that it bringeth to the committers thereof And yet if I should lay out the fruit of the sinne of Cain Esau Absolon and other who could not be staied from the committing of it what better thing could I say of it or what better fruite could I proue it yeeldeth to the committers of it So that as the baite is pleasant which the poore fish biteth at but it being caught by the hooke bringeth paine torture and wearying of it selfe to saue the life so is it with him that will needes taste of the pleasure of sinne as I haue said And if this be the great good that it intendeth against such as follow one kinde or other of it with tooth and naile who also lie sucking to draw pleasure out of it as a childe doth by the breast then let them all be taken and condemned for fooles who are masters in that profession and are vpholders of that trade and occupation Yea let them bee reckoned in the number of them of whom the prouerbe speaketh The foole beleeueth euery thing And againe O ye fooles how long will ye loue foolishnesse For why they haue chosen a way that seemeth pleasant but the issues thereof are the way of death They doe most certainly take more paine to goe to hell then the righteous doth to heauen And as their reuolting brought vpon them this miserie so let all those who haue falsified their promise and broken their solemne couenant to God of seeking more zeale greater fruitfulnes watchfulnes and care let them I say also feare that their euill conscience wil draw vpon them one accusation and trouble after another and that the further they decline the greater sorrow they bring vpon themselues Some haue been brought to that point that they haue made question whether they might lay violent hands vpon themselues to auoid the terror of minde Further also obserue here what shifts they chuse to make rather then they would seeke to God by humiliation and repentance for release They loue their freedome well who hauing their citie besieged by the enemie till extreame famine compell them to eate dogges cats and such vermine as is noisome to nature yet chuse to endure such difficulties rather then yeeld And so doubtlesse they loue their lusts well who suffer themselues to bee made such slaues and drudges to them as these here were rather then they would abandon them and returne to the Lord with vnfained renouncing of them Alas they must leaue them with shame and double repentance at length when they haue wearied themselues as these did but till their owne rod hath made them smart who may tell them of the vnfruitfulnes of their toilesome trade Toilesome I may truly say both considering with what great adoe they bring their sinne to ripenes and perfection and then what shifts they vndergo to winde themselues out of the woe and miserie which in stead of fruite their sinne brings vpon them It is a good piece of the life of an adulterer first to compasse and fulfill his vncleane lusts and when he hath done to couer and keepe himselfe from shame and to make faire weather of it againe And so the thriftlesse spend-good what adoe makes he to scrape together somwhat to maintaine his riotous humour and when he is brought to beggerie then he must cast about him afresh how hee may defray that and auoid the gallowes or a base and wretched life In a word it is true which Salomon saith in Ecclesiastes To the sinner God giueth paine he giues him sowre sauce to his sweete meate painfull seruice to his sweet lusts And yet without Gods speciall goodnesse neither of these shall preuaile with a lewd person to pull him from the loue and liking of them though they cost him so deare and though he beare and bring foorth with paine and the sweate of his face There will be found an Hiel to build Iericho though hee knew it will cost him and his neuer so dearly Therefore they are happie whom God hath entertained into his house and holds them vnder his gouernment because neither is his word tedious to them nor his commandements grieuous while they are doing them and as for any trouble which can befall them after for their so doing first know that it can not sting them being borne for a good cause and they shall goe vnder it without disquiet be vpholden in it by grace and after count it great ioy in that they suffered The people of Israel we haue heard in the former verses did kindly shew in their doings the nature and disposition of sinful and wicked persons who little trust to God in their troubles they forgot him and did flie for succour and refuge to earthly helpes and staies as towers dennes and other munition and defence forsaking him but the holy storie sheweth in this verse that none of them all preuailed neither did they preserue them And although by their shifting they saued their liues and got and saued that foode which with much adoe kept them from staruing yet who seeth not the miserie which for all that they indured in extreame pouertie bondage and feare Euen so wee must know
and the manner brutish They want and would haue to defray the hard world or to bestow vpon their lusts and to maintaine themselues in pride of life but neither worke they because they thinke it is a sin to be idle nor because they looke for any other fruite of their labour saue the bringing in of the peny They see not whose commandement it is that they should labour Genes 3. therefore they goe through it with vexation discontentment distrust endlesse carking and tying God to their girdle to giue what successe they desire which if they get they take it for granted that he loueth them if not they storme To the impure all things are impure and so are their callings they doe the workes of them commonly not to shunne noysome lusts temptation and the fruites of sloth nor to serue Gods prouidence neither to sharpen and fit themselues thereby to religious exercises and to good duties nor to auoide offensiue burthening of others nor to doe good and relieue them that want c. and so to obey God in all nay to speake the truth when they are in their shops at markets in their fields they are far from setting God before their eyes much lesse doe they beleeue that God is with them there to blesse them in their worke as well as when they are occupied in duties meerely religious Sinister ends and causes doe compell the most to yeeld some obedience to Gods commandement but doubtlesse if all were now men of worth and might liue of themselues we should haue few workers As we see by their words saying Oh such a man is happie Why because he need not worke nor toyle as we doe but liue easily and enioy the world at will And by this they bewray that they could bee content to doe so too if necessitie vrged them not to doe otherwise Therefore their labour is as displeasing to God as their idlenesse in a manner as they vse it A wofull thing ans not without the curse of God vpon such as will not learne a better direction that whereas some goe about their worke in faith beleeuing that because they are Gods beloued therefore God will giue them rest blessing and successe others rise earely sit vp late drudge and droile eate the bread of care and drinke the water of affliction yet either they thriue not or at least they are as much to seeke of soule-prouision I meane grace and hope of saluation at the end of their wearisome life as at the beginning whereas it shoud haue been their first work after they came to yeeres of discretion Which should teach vs wisedome and not to giue God a short and formal pittance of seruice when we be at Church on the Sabbath but seeing that great worke is to seeke with the most therefore to giue all their diligence thereto that is to make their saluation sure that all the sixe daies we may wholly giue vp our selues to other affaires without so much as minding God or godlinesse For the Lord will haue vs serue him religiously as well in actions ciuill not religious of their owne nature as holy and this is the scope of his third Commandement which tieth the seruice of God to euery part of our liues in our common course of liuing as well as the second doth to religious duties and therefore must be extended to our particuler callings as being the greatest part of our time and wherein our liues are most taken vp But I will proceede in the next Sermon and here an end Now to proceed where I left THE THIRTIE EIGHT SERMON ON THE SIXTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES WHile Gedeon was thus hard at worke and labouring the Angell came and spake comfortably vnto him as if he had bin praying or in the like exercise and not to terrifie him To teach vs that our businesse and works of our callings are no lets to vs froÌ hauing coÌmunion and fellowship with God neither doe hinder his presence and comfortable being with vs. And the same may be said of our callings themselues ordained by him bee they meane and base or waightie Therefore the Lord was with Iacob in his iourney and in the way when hee was going from his brother Esaus wrath and rage And so hee made the Gospell effectuall in Lydia by Pauls preaching she being then a seller of purple and rich and not yet truly conuerted to God And the Lord blessed the two tribes in their calling and habitation saying Reioyce Zebulon in thy goings out that is in thy prosperous voiages on the seas and thou Ishachar in thy dwelling in tents meaning in thy quiet keeping at home about thy traffique and businesse And by this which I haue said let vs marke that if it be not long of our selues our lawfull callings and businesse are no hindrances of vs from the seruing of God holily and religiously as some thinke they be but that from them we may goe to prayer or the like exercise in good manner euen as wee may from these to them Although I may truly say this that for not well learning it few can ioyne these wisely and rightly together because their affections and delights are set too egerly towards that which sauers of the earth and of gaine which is the cause that measure is not commonly kept therin Dauid saying that he had rather be a doore-keeper in the house of the Lord then to dwell in the tents of the vngodly which he would not haue said if mens attendance vpon the basest worke in their lawful callings had been an hindrance to them from Gods seruice may by his words stay and comfort many weake Christians who thinke that they are much letted from the duties of godlinesse euen by the very vsing of their callings because they be not spirituall as prayer and the like exercises are But to end this let the vse of that which hath been said be thus much vnto vs that wee euer labour to be so innocent well gouerned in al our earthly businesse and workes of our calling that we may not driue the Lord from vs but haue him alwaies with vs by the spirit of truth direction and comfort as we haue heard he hath been with other and was here with Gedeon in their earthly affaires for that is the vsing of them aright and in their kinde The next thing in this verse is this that though the Lord sent his Angell to Gedeon for his owne reliefe and comfort and also the peoples yet wee see this was not done till they were brought neere to extremitie all helpe of man was past and they had no other refuge vnder God but to prouide for themselues by flying from their dwellings to saue their liues As for example Gedeon whose father was in some authoritie and therefore none of the poorest yet was at this point euen thrashing a little corne by the aide and nourishment wherof he and his might flie from the
Midianites as farre as that lasted to carrie them By this we learne that God seeth it expedient in his wisdome sometime to leaue the godly long vnder the crosse and not to put an end to their troubles by and by as ordinarily he vseth to doe according to that which is said in the Psalme Heauinesse may endure for a night but ioy commeth in the morning And againe He that commeth will come and not tarrie But he knoweth well that when he vseth so to doe wee commonly conceiue hope thereby that our affliction be it sicknesse disease losse or any such will not hold vs long and therefore our deuotion is more short and cold and we in so doing neither honour God nor haue any proofe of our faith and patience neither experience another time after how to beare our trouble aright For the which cause the Lord sometime disappointeth our false hope and putteth vs to greater plunges by holding vs longer in our affliction to the end we may search our selues deeplier and we may be more throughly touched with the feeling of our sinnes and rebellions and so turne to him in faith and amendment For this cause the Lord holdeth vs sometime on the racke the longer as in paine sicknesse or penurie as also bondage to such as haue superioritie ouer vs and vse it to our great disquiet and wearying of vs and we pray and long to be deliuered but the Lord seemeth not to heare vs pray but letteth the burthen remaine still vpon vs. Wherefore thinke we doth he so when he professeth that he afflicteth not willingly neither delighteth therein and yet we lie in paine and griefe I answere the Lord seeth wee be not yet tamed and humbled sufficiently great hath the pride of our hearts been our inconstancie vnfaithfulnesse vncharitablenes also with other sinnes and our mindes are set on the world excessiuely and wandring after our diuers lusts And we are like to returne to these courses againe if we were set at libertie as soone as we desire therefore doth he seeke to weane vs from these and the like by continuing such vnwelcome crosses vpon vs. So wee are for the same causes depriued oft times of our deare companion in mariage which is a great part of death it selfe or driuen from our owne habitation into the fearefull prison which taketh much from the delight of liuing yea and we are tried with sudden dearth as oft times by excessiue raine and wet sometime by drouth as Gedeon here was in as hard a case being driuen to flie from his owne dwelling in a manner famished In these the like God leaueth his seruants for the causes which I haue mentioned and also to the end that his deliuerance and ease giuing after them all may be the more precious when it commeth hauing been so long desired and thirdly to this end he holdeth his roddes the longer ouer vs that patience may haue her perfect worke in vs and himselfe haue the whole praise An example of this which hath been said wee haue in Ioshua 7. where the people hauing promise of Gods assistance went against the men of Al not making question but they should speed as well as they had done before at Iericho But loc on the sudden they were smitten before their enemies This astonisht them till the Lord tels Ioshua the cause Ye looke saith the Lord it should be with ye as at other times but I see cause of the contrarie Looke well into the matter and ye shall find that there is sacriledge among ye and therefore ye cannot stand before your enemies So that though they were doing the worke of God yet because there was found in them this infection it made the Lord to crosse their hopes that so they might purge out their sinne and goe about the worke in a better manner Many wonder why the Lord saieth them long vpon their sicke beds whereas if they had their health they say they should worship him in publike and priuate with more cheerefulnes Wheras the Lord aimeth at a further matter and would purge out their coldnes hypocritie carelesnesse and other sinnes accompanying them euen in their good duties that so they may returne thereto with more reuerence and conscience We reade that Paul after his great lifting vp into heauen was buffered with vnwelcome temptations which though hee prayed that he might be rid of yet the Lord suspended his helpe that Paul might be humbled and fitted to vse his knowledge the more fruitfully Now followeth the salutation of the Angell the Lord is with thee thou valiant man If we marke the ebbe and low estate of Gedeon as we haue heard it was wonderfull to heare this newes brought him that the Lord was with him as it was lamentable to see in what distresse he was when hee heard the words of this message vttered to him For it was as much as if the Angel had said the Lord loueth thee as one of his deare ones and he is with thee euen now to comfort and preserue thee euen in this thy oppression and therfore none shall be against thee to hurt thee This was much to be said in such a time of calamitie to such an afflicted person And yet wee must know that it yeeldeth to vs the like instruction That euen in great outward troubles and inward disquietnes of minde when a body would thinke that God and all good men were our aduersaries yet in all this is God with vs whom he hath made a couenant with yea he loueth and careth for vs as deare and precious vnto him euen as Christ Iesus the sonne of his loue was though without beautie among men and as a withered branch despised Esay 53. Therefore the spouse in the Canticles saith I am blacke but comely O ye daughters c. meaning that the Lord Iesus her husband esteemed no whit lesse of her neither was she any whit lesse amiable in his eye being tanned in the sunne then when she was in her perfect beautie Indeede the sinne which causeth the Lord to afflict is odious but the affliction it selfe argueth that he makes much of vs because thereby he would purge out of vs that which he misliketh which affliction when it hath wrought kindly the Lord can soone change our hew and restore our former beautie as Iobs example witnesseth The reason is this he hauing once testified his loue freely vnto vs before at our effectuall calling and shedding it plentifully into our hearts by the holy Ghost saying to our soules I am your saluation and your exceeding great reward and your God alsufficient and binding vs to beleeue the same he remaineth like himselfe and changeth not and therefore hee requireth that wee should doe the same that is by faith hold it fast in our perswasion that he doth so And this is more that the Lord is so affected to vs in the depth of our afflictions as if we were freed
the Angell saith to Gedeon about conquering the Midianites haue not I sent thee So the two Disciples that went from Ierusalem to Emaus when our Sauiour went into their companie in the way bewraied their vnbeliefe concerning his resurrection that day This day they say hee should haue risen againe but because they heard not of it they did not think that there was any such thing But did not our Sauiour shew them their fault so as they saw it for they knew that it was euen he who they said should haue risen againe that day Of Mary and Martha the like may be said who were both beleeuers in Christ and beloued of him yet when Christ went about to raise vp Lazarus and to that end asked them where they laid him did they not shew that they thought it could not be now done and therefore answered Lord by this time he stinketh for he hath been dead foure daies And yet that they might see their weaknes in beleeuing Christ raised him vp which they thought impossible In all these and in Gedeon wee may cleerely see our faces as in a glasse For in a crosse especially if it bee any thing smartie and sharpe although we gaue testimonie of our faith before and that with ioyfulnes yet now in the triall of vs how poorely are wee armed to goe through it and perswaded of the good issue of it Doe we not hang downe the head and faint and say within our selues this crosse will be our vndoing And againe it cannot turne to our good neither could any haue been so vnwelcome to vs. For example if wee be depriued of our deare companion in mariage or lose some round summe of money or be otherwise impaired in our wealth or vnder some strange paine doe we say as in time of peace in meeknes of spirit the Lord who loueth vs hath done this for our good euen he that cannot suffer the winde to blow vpon vs hath sent it Doe we say It must be thus and is expedient for vs It is long first I feare and full faintly done if we doe it at length and few attaine thereto And yet doe wee not see in these and the like the marueilous hand of God how hee sendeth light in darknesse ioy in heauines and as it were life in death Doth not God bring vs through them otherwise then wee looked for and doth he not make vs see and afterward acknowledge that such affliction was good for vs Euen as he said to Gedeon here doth the Midianites oppressing of you seeme impossible to be auoided Behold then euen thou shalt doe that which seemeth impossible and shalt subdue and ouercome them Thus wee see how we should make our profit of this answere Gedeon receiuing this answere from the Angell that he should deliuer Israel doth now in this fourth point aske of the Angell by what meanes hee shall do so great a matter For these words by diligent considering of them we find not to be spoken doubtingly as before but as inquiring and asking a question as if he should say I doubt not but that shall be done which is promised but I aske by what meanes it shall be brought to passe For hee sheweth that he is not of ability seeing he was but of a poore family in the halfe tribe of Manasseh which was also meane not mighty as some other and also for that he was the least in his fathers house His meaning was that he maruailes that he should deliuer Israel seeing he wanted all things which were required to so great a worke For warre could not be taken in hand by a poore man and one of a meane condition such an one as he knew himselfe to be seeing riches and power and authority especially were required thereto And if it be asked whither Gedeon offended in mouing this question seeing Sarah and Zachariah were reproued for the like question asking I am sure that so Abraham and the Virgin Mary asked the like and were not reproued as neither Gedeon was here Neither was it the mouing of the question that was found fault with but the doubtfull minde with which it was moued and therefore they two doubting were found fault with that is Zacharias and Sarah Abraham and Mary were not neither therefore Gedeon as appeareth by the answere of the Angell who reproued him not but answered his question And by this we may learne that as questions moued with doubting of that which the Scripture resolueth vs of is euill so to moue questions where we are ignorant of weighty points which we would be resolued of is commendable in all matters that tends to edification and most of all in and about those which are most necessary as Paul himselfe and the Iailer before their conuersion and after they began to looke after their saluation did so to wit asked questions about it And to be slacke and backward in seeking of resolution in such cases where we are ignorant and haue cause to inquire and aske is in no wise to be liked but rather threatens great hurt and danger whereof more might be said but occasion hath bin already offered to speake of this duty of seeking relation in doubtfull cases both in opinion and conscience before The Angell answeres him without rebuking him and satisfieth him in that which he demanded that is how he should be able to doe such a worke saying howsoeuer in warre ordinarily taken in hand riches power and care requisite yet in this my power without them shall suffice for thou shall saue Israel not by them but by my power because I will be with thee and by the strength that I will giue thee And so God answered Moses when he sent him to Pharaoh to deliuer his people out of Egypt to Iosua in like manner when he should lead the children of Israel after him into the lande of promise And so Gedeon here was satisfied especially by these words of the Angell to wit that he should smite Midian as if they were but one man euen as it was all one for the Lord to destroy one as it was tenne hundred thousand And this came to passe when the Midianites slue one an other So that in vsing meanes to serue Gods prouidence we doe well when we see God his meaning to be that we should do so but alway with this caueat that we take heed of Asa his sin who is said to haue made his Physitians his God by seeking to them and trusting in them not seeking God in them But let vs euer beware least we grow to that profanenes which we read of in that cursed Rabshaketh I meane to iustle God out from our enterprises saying as he did Counsell and strength are for the warre and so not to trust in the Lord our God This speech here vttered by the Angell to Gedeon I will be with thee the Lord vseth oft times and not alwaies in the same particuler meaning
not to be feared and so was he now in his appearing to Gedeon in this place full of mercy and goodnesse and in many things decclared the same vnto him though he when he knew that it was the Lord was euen as it were brought out of himselfe saying alas because I haue seene an Angell of the Lord face to face This teacheth what high reuerence we ought to haue God in as oft as we come into his presence where he hath promised more especially to appeare and be present namely in the assemblies of his people and to bee no otherwise affected when wee thinke of him and pray vnto him but yet without terror and by consequence euery where because we haue learned that he is euery where And the rather wee should follow the examples of the seruants of God in this their reuerence before God and yet learning to resist immoderate feare because of the contrary lightnesse and boldnesse of many in this point doe not thinke of God in any sort as his Highnesse and Maiestie doth require And yet I speake this euen of such as are not of the worst sort But as for the prophanenesse and brutishnesse of some who are in a contrary extremity to Gedeon and to all that walke in reuerence before God it proceedeth from a farre worse cause then the most imagine to wit meere grosse ignorance or infidelity as appeareth by their behauiour both in publike place where God is more specially present and in priuat whither they resort for their pleasure and businesse In the one they passe the time in sleeping prating laughing gazing about wandring of mind and the like vnreuerence in the other in drunkennesse wantonnesse gaming rotten and cursed speech and behauiour So that the cause of this extreamitie in these and or their so great vnreuerence is no other then I haue said the least of both which ignorance I meane prouoketh them not we see to deuotion though Poperie shamelessely calles it the Mother thereof but to diuelishnesse and at length to desparation For as here the contrary excesse in Gedeon arose from the beholding of God amisse and the too much obseruing of his glory without his goodnesse so the not reuerencing of God at all either in his word or works is the fruite of meere blindnesse and darkenesse and vnbeliefe But to returne as the seruants of God ought to carrie themselues in all high reuerence in all places and specially in his worship by Prayer the Word and Sacraments so when we indeuour to doe thus yet if we deepely thinke and consider of our owne vilenesse and wretchednesse and of Gods greatnesse and glorious maiestie out of the flesh and humane nature of Christ and without applying his sufferings and obedience to vs by faith we cannot be without danger and sense of swallowing vp as Gedeon and other were And not only so but we are oft times ouercome and almost ouerwhelmed when we doe the best wee can and thinke of Christ as we are able we are so easily led and carried by the spirit of bondage and feare And therefore what may we thinke of the superstition in Poperie which hath caused in the people such carnall feare of God and slauish terrors and seruile worship but that it is the bane and poison of infinite thousand people because it is a doctrine that driueth to dispaire leading men with horror of Gods wrath but sheweth them no way to escape it which will stand them in any stead iustling aside vnfained faith which onely knits vs to God through Christ and causes vs to pray or draw neere to him without astonishment yea with much comfort But to leaue them and to returne to the people of God I grant that this is through want or weakenesse of faith which I said of them such want and weakenesse is oft times in the best of vs or at least may be so that we are not priuiledged from it And this argueth our great sinne and corruption and that our faith is neuer here perfect when it is at the best The view sense experience hereof and of feare and frighting is notably and clearely discerned to be in vs in thunder lightning or some other apparent danger when the presence of Gods glorious Maiestie presseth vs more neerely And though now we in this latter age of the world are not to looke for such appearances of Christ and Angels in the shape of men but are sent to Moses and the Prophets and to search the Scriptures to know that of and concerning God which we haue need of yet in the former and first age both of them were as in the forementioned examples of Abraham Iacob and Manoah is to be seene and in that Vision of Esay when he saw God sit in a throne and with him Seraphins crying one to another Holy holy holy c. The vse hereof is that we daily by faith with reuerence approch to the throne of grace for forgiuenesse and thereby take holy confidence to our selues to goe out and in before the Lord in all seruice and to view and consider his workes of iudgement without corrupt and terrible feare and yet without vnseemely lightnesse and boldnesse for this our good God is a great God and a consuming fire Heb. 12. And by this temperature we shall be kept from extreamitie on both sides For as this estate driueth away lightnesse so we may be assured that we bee in best manner freed from the feare of Gods wrath iustly deserued by our sins while we hold fast our confidence and assurance of the pardon thereof with the continual keeping them vnder being forgiuen wherby we shal be freed also from superstitious carnal and superfluous feare which wheresoeuer it is doth not a little distemper the mind and make it vnfit for dutie Iohn 14. 1. Now further besides this seeing after Gedeons doubt answered by the Angell this new trouble arose immediately that he feared hee should haue died by seeing the Angell of God we see how one trouble and griefe commeth in the necke of another to Gods seruants who if they should not haue deliuerances accordingly should faint and not be able to goe vnder them Euen as we reade of Iob that one message being ended of the losse of cattell another commeth to him of the throwing down of his house by the winds and the killing of his children And although there be intermission from trouble God prouiding for his people that they may not be discouraged as if all should come at once they must needs be yet their frailtie so requiring he seeth it best that the rod be held ouer them euery while and sometime make them smart and all little inough to hold them within their bounds For we may all euen the best say with the Prophet before we were afflicted we went astray but after we kept thy word The vse hereof first is this that seeing we are subiect and lye open to
been asked What if by you being but feeble and few in respect of your enemies the Lord would destroy the Midianites would you not thinke God had fought mightily for you Oh they would haue confessed no lesse but seene that it had been cause of great thanks True till the victorie had been gotten and then who but themselues had foiled the Midianites So it may be Saul and Ieroboam while they were vnderlings would haue counted it a greater priuiledge and themselues highly indebted to God if hee would haue bestowed a lesse matter then a kingdome vpon them but when they had got it they shewed they were vnable to be made partakers of so great a felicitie and wee see that they were not fit to haue so weighty and glorious matters as kingdoms committed vnto them Euen as wee see meane and beggarly persons that neuer knew what belonged to wealth or dignitie yet if they be raised vnto it cannot beare it nay the ground cannot beare them if they bee set on horsebacke they ride out of reason euen till they breake their owne neckes whereas ingenuous and wel-bred natures can aswell carry themselues in such a condition especially if education and grace meet together as the poorest can in a bace and simple And surely many of vs can as hardly beare a little wealth small reuenues a few hundreds nay scores as Saul and the other could their kingdomes though ere wee had them we were as lowly and meane in our owne eies as our fellowes Therefore as I said we may see how soone we abuse Gods benefits and all such good liberties as he bestoweth vpon vs as riches health promotion credit I would I might not say spirituall gifts also euen as Pharaoh his princely estate and greatnes the rich man in the Gospell his wealth Herod the very praise and commendation that was giuen him by the people So we that can challenge nothing at Gods hands as due debt to vs but trouble and sorrow which is the fruite of our sinne what a lamentable case is it that the Lord sparing vs much from sundrie calamities and furnishing vs with benefits of diuers kinds to draw vs to know loue belieue in him and honour him that we cannot for al this so soone inioy any thing that is ought worth but by and by wee set vp our brustles wee forget from what a cursed estate and whence we came and kick vp our heeles against the Lord and yet this is easie to bee seene in all estates of men and kinds of Gods benefits So that the Lord if he loue vs seeth that there is no better way to be taken with vs for our good then to take away such liberties againe from vs and to let out our humours seeing they breed but a pleurisie in vs or to crosse vs in them lest they should steale away our hearts from him and so we driue him to say of his benefits as he did of this people There be too many of them I must make them fewer or else they wil glory of their multitude and greatnes Euen so we cause the Lord to say of vs as to Saul a bad person they haue to much wealth I must plucke some of it from them they haue had health too long I must abridge them of it they haue had too many of my benefits as ease credit countenance c. vnlesse they could vse them better I must saith the Lord of necessitie take them from them And this is the cause why the Lord holds many of his vnder that commonly they haue no great matters put into their hands and are much crossed in those earthly commodities that they loue best lest they should be the worse for them And it is rarely seene that euen they are better by them then if they had them not Therefore except God shall bestow vpon vs an humble and wise heart and well ballanced with grace to account of these things as they are to wit transitory and soone flitting away and to valew the heauenly treasure of faith and a godly life aboue all earthly riches let vs know that the Lord deales wiselier with vs then we are aware in dieting and shortning of vs and we our selues shall see it as clearely in time if wee marke it as these Israelites did that God hath done vs no wrong in taking somewhat away which we had or denying vs somewhat which we desire And as for such as seeke aboue all things to florish and haue the world at will they are not so happie as they bee counted especially in their owne reckoning neither will shew themselues the wisest men in the end as by this and the like may bee seene of them that will weigh it But to come yet more neere to that which is noted in the text not onely men abuse Gods benefits other waies but this one way also that is to vaine-glorie as it is said that this people here mentioned would haue done and therefore the holy story addeth it as a reason why the Lord would not haue so many goe to the battell least they should say that they had preuailed by their owne might and so should haue taken Gods honour to themselues And by this wee learne why God denieth and doth not giue vs in our attempts many great or any meanes at all sometime and if he doe yet not with any good successe or at least not as hee is wont to doe although to mans reason there bee likelihood enough yea very great because if he should man would snatch the glorie from him to himselfe As Nabuchadnezzar did when he said This is great Babel that I haue built Zenacherib that blasphemed the Lord by his Captaine Rabshakeh So Benhadad so grosly for got himselfe in boasting what he would doe that hee was answered wisely in this manner Let not him that girdeth on his harnesse boast himselfe as he that putteth it off And they to whom S. Iames wrote how foolishly concluded they before the successe and bragged of their gaine before they knew they should haue it What would they haue done thinke we if they had alreadie enioyed it also And is not this strange that whereas wee pretend if wee might partake such and such blessings wee would bee much more thankfull and seruiceable for them the Lord should conuict vs of dissimulation and falsehood telling vs that we know not our owne hearts for wee would bee more proud bold and vainglorious So that if the Lord should not bewray to vs what poison lurkes in vs we should thinke that he did himselfe great wrong in cutting many short of their desires who might be like to doe him seruice by enioying them whereas alas he knowes that in so doing hee loseth no honour himselfe in so dealing with men nay hee hath much adoe by such meanes to keepe men from destruction at least from deepe dishonouring of him But to returne it is most true that if God did not denie much to
the ministery of the Church with schismes and factions which are but the fruits of pride and arrogancy And if we can grow or cause by our example and gifts other to grow in grace let vs not with the Disciples contend who shall bee chiefe and greatest But we though we haue these gifts and the like to glorifie the giuer and to restraine and hold our selues from this vaineglory yet wee gape for that by Satans deluding of vs lamentable to behold so that when wee haue not praise of men who should looke for that from God if I say we cannot get that we leaue off labouring and sit still and for this very cause some as well in the ministery as the people doe part and breake off their fellowship one with another But of this see somwhat before in the eighth verse of this Chapter Vers 24. And Gedeon sent messengers to all mount Ephraim saying Come downe against the Midianites and take before them the waters vnto Bethbarah and Iordan Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and tooke the waters vnto Bethbarah and Iordan 25. And they tooke two Princes of the Midianites Oreb and Zeeb and slew Oreb vpon the rocke Oreb and slew Zeeb at the winepresse of Zeeb and pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gedeon beyond Iordan IN this verse the holy story sheweth how Gedeon sent to all the inhabitants of mount Ephraim to meet with the Midianites and take vp the passages where they went ouer the waters euen to Bethbara or Bethabora and Iordan And the men of Ephraim did so And so hee made them partakers also of the honour of the victory as he did the other tribes This is the summe of this verse And to make our vse of it it were to be wished that we in this our age did as these did that in all ciuil actions religion did guide vs that where helpe is needed and required by one of another that it were likewise willingly and readily performed as namely in aiding the widowes and fatherlesse the poore and the oppressed And much more it were to be wished that we were so ioyned together in the Church that if there were any excellent and profitable matter begun that we were willing to haue other coadiutors and fellow labourers to the finishing and perfiting of the same but wee rather oft times which is greatly to be lamented and our sinnes iustly deseruing the same doe hinder one another whereas both they ought to bee regarded who haue a good mind to the worke of God and doe labour in it though they bee not equall with some other euen for that which God hath inabled them and which they are fit to doe and also they in humility should reuerence their elders in gifts and yeeres and be readier to learne of them then to pearke ouer them Which sinne in the forwarder sort both of Ministers and people and in the ancienter and younger sort of both being suffered to grow for want of loue so that the one doth not his dutie toward the other hath caused the Lord seuerely to punish it in both that being diuided they are thereby seebled and the good which they did is hindred and crossed and not only so but also that is verified which Saint Paul writeth to the Galathians that one biting and deuouring another they be consumed one of another at least by a third sort but yet through their fault and procuring But of this I haue spoken in the first chapter Ephraim tooke two Princes of Midian Oreb and Zeeb whose punishment by the iust iudgement of God was agreeable to their sinne The one namely Oreb was slaine on a rocke and mountaine called by the same name Oreb where they had constrained the people of God to hide themselues and where they had sought them to kill them The other that is Zeeb was slaine at the threshing place or winepresse called Zeeb for those places they spoiled of their victuals and famished them Where it is manifest that God forgetteth not neither winketh at the cruelty of his enemies but in due time and place will pay them home so that all that will may see that God hath not left them vnrecompenced And that either with the same punishment as he did Adonibezek or at the same time as he did Iudas who betraying his master to death died first himselfe or as heere he did to Oreb and Zeeb euen in the same place where they did the mischiefe and as among vs the wilfull murtherers suffer and are made spectacles by hanging in chaines to all that passe by neere the place where they committed the murthers or if none of these waies hee punish them yet some other such that may be as a signe to all that God will be reuenged on such as they be For why as the blood of Abell so doth theirs cry for vengeance woe therefore to bloody persecutors and cruell persons for God and their sinne shall find them out Therefore let them know this that fall into the hands of such lest they should bee discouraged And lest we should thinke that these Princes did but fight for themselues against the Israelites as in warre men doe reade of their malice and cruelty in the Psalme 83. But for Gods iust punishing of his enemies according to their sin I haue said enough in chapter 1. of this booke THE FIFTIETH SERMON ON THE EIGHTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES Vers 1. Then the men of Ephraim said vnto him why hast thou serued vs thus that thou calledst vs not when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites and they chode with him sharpely 2. To whom he said what haue I now done in comparison of you Is not the gleaning of grapes of Ephraim better then the vintage of Abiezer 3. God hath deliuered into your hands the Princes of Midian Oreb and Zeeb and what was I able to doe in comparison of you and when he had thus spoken their spirits abated towards him AFter the admirable victory that God gaue to Gedeon as hath been largely shewed in the former Chapter now in this followeth the pursuit of the rest of the Midianites by Gedeon but first another thing by occasion of that victory is heere set downe and that is the Ephraemites quarrelling with him The summe and parts of this Chapter to ioyne them together as they may well and conueniently be are these The first is the contention of the Ephramites with Gedeon for not calling them to the warre to verse 4. The second point in this Chapter is that the men of Succoth and Penuel denied victuall to Gedeon when hee pursued and followed after the rest of the enemies and their punishment together with the putting to death of the two Princes of the Midianites Zeba and Zalmunna to the 22. vers The third containeth certaine perticulers concerning Gedeon as the offering of the kingdome to him and his sonnes by the Israelites and
partly naturall nay bee taken in the good part this is euer euill for it is a meere corruption and contrary to loue for loue enuieth not and Paul more plainely forbiddeth it to the Galathians where hee also sheweth the cause of it namely Desire of vaine-glory For so he saith be not desirous of vaine glory prouoking one another enuying one another Which heere is to be seene in the Ephramites who desiring the glory of the victory themselues did enuie Gedeon for it This affection sheweth it selfe in all such things as we desire to excell in yea in the best euen the gifts of the spirit for therein we would haue none to be in account aboue vs as appeareth in them that preached Christ of enuie and him that repined at his fellow for that comming at the eleuenth houre hee had his pennie as well as himselfe Now though we are not the worse for the prosperity of other neither doth it diminish any thing from the good of our estate yet the enuious man thinketh that the gifts that are in himselfe are darkened and blemished thereby vnlesse he haue especial grace to abate and mortifie such thoughts Therefore to aggrauate this sinne know we that as the enuious is sad by the prosperity of another so which is worse he is made ioyfull by his disgrace and abasement as the Pharisies were in and for the crucifying of our Sauiour and Iosephs brethren when they had sold him Yea so cursed an humor is enuie and so opposite to loue that whereas hee who loues vnfainedly would part euen with the most precious iewell for the sake of that which it loueth the enuious person would willingly pull out one of his owne eyes vpon condition he might lose both his at whom he grudgeth So that not vnfitly Pauls speech of fornication may be applied to enuie Other sinnes are without a man but the enuious sins against his owne body and the health and prosperitie thereof God iustly plaguing it in the kinde in that whiles it pines at the eminencie of another it reflecteth and beateth backe the hurt vpon it selfe and feedeth vpon the most precious spirits of the soule and life and consumeth them seldome doing any harme to the other while it fretteth out the very heart blood and bowels of it selfe This enuie is remedied by shaming our selues for that wee cannot abide that our brethren should haue and doe good with Gods gifts to other considering also that thereby we hinder Gods glorie Also we shall loosen the rootes of this enuie if we thinke meanely of our selues and that God is onely wise who denieth for iust cause that vnto vs wherewith he blesseth others And thirdly this shall helpe to weaken it if wee consider that God hath rather deserued infinite thankes of vs for granting vs other blessings which those perhaps may want whom in other respects wee enuie for it is his great mercie that wee be not consumed the one wee will not see the other wee behold too much Whereas our eye seeth not the worse because anothers seeth better how much lesse if in another kinde we see as well Doth the foote enuie the eye because it seeth or the eye the foote because it goeth But of the contrarie vertue I spake before twice in Gedeons souldiers and Gedeons communicating with Nephtali and Ephraim the victorie And because I now speake of the Ephramites I thinke it not amisse to adde this of them that their father Ephraim the younger being preferred by Iacob before the elder brother Manasse the stocke and ofspring of them exalted themselues since from age to age and are noted for it oft times in the historie of the old Testament As in Iosuah we reade they among other were discontented with their portion So in the twelfth of this booke the posteritie of them contended with Iphia for not calling them with him to battell against the Ammonites after he had ouercome them euen as these Ephramites did here with Gedeon So Esau himselfe deadly hating his brother deriued this sinne to his posteritie the Edomites so Ahab did Idolatrie to the generations that came after him And hereby we may learne what force some blemishes and corruptions in a stocke or kindred haue to infect almost the whole posteritie God iustly thus punishing the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children to many generations punishing I say sinne with sinne As for example if a kindred bee proud haughty stomackful boasters giuen to adultery hollownes of heart flatterie lying mocking stealing the rest of the same stock that are not guided by grace are for the most part such Euen as bodily diseases runne in the blood to the posteritie And as wee see that a noble stocke stained with treason may easiler be restored in blood ciuilly by the indulgence of the Prince then reformed naturally and reduced to loyaltie and fidelitie so the truth is the most forcible meane of all outward meanes is scarce able to expell this âeint onely grace can doe it although euen grace it selfe often times can scarce roote it out so but that some sprigs or other of the old stock will appeare when it is grafted in another stocke And yet one thing more note in these Ephramites namely the slights subtilties doublenes and hollownes that lie hidden in mens hearts till they haue occasion to shew them or grace to repent of them These would now seeme to haue had great iniurie that they were not called to the battell whereas it was their owne sin that they went not for they did forbeare for feare of danger were willing to stand by as it were lying in the winde to waite for the issue So that if Gedeon and their brethren the Israelites that ioyned with him had lost the day then all the blame should haue bin laid vpon them by these Ephramites but now they had got the victorie by Gods direction and blessing they complaine on the other side that they had iniurie theÌselues for that they were not as they said bidden to helpe in the battell Wherein wee may behold deepe subtiltie and hypocrisie and how farre all such are from simplicitie and plaine dealing that according to the prouerbe howsoeuer the world goe they will saue one and howsoeuer it fall out they will prouide for themselues Such a one was the harlot that pleaded before Salomon against her fellow and they in the twelfth of this book where Iphta being set vpon by the Ammonites he sought aide at the hands of the men of Ephraim and they would not help him and afterward when he fighting against the Ammonites preuailed ouer them the Ephramites came to make warre with him because he called them not to goe with him against them A sinne now adaies in common practise namely in bargaines where gaine is not so certaine there they play on both hands cunningly for they will so couenant in generall and doubtfull manner that if it hit and fall out well it
them and theirs till restitution be made either in kind or to the poore the true heires of such goods if it cannot otherwise be to the pleasing of God as a fruit of their vnfained repentance So no man ought to buy or hire that which is passed ouer to another before nor couet wife seruant goods of another mans for that is nothing else but a taking of his right from him nor to receiue stolne goods for their aduantage So neither should the Pope vsurpe dominion S. Peter whose successor he saith he is forbidding dominion ouer the flocke for he hath no such authoritie as neither hath the best minister of Christ Gedeon answereth God shal raigne ouer them an holy speech for where shall they be found that will refuse a thing much lesse then a kingdome being offered nay how greedily would many haue fastened vpon a matter of small valew being offered them as the kingdome here was to him But some will aske Might not God raigne ouer them though hee had also I say Yes Neither was he of the Anabaptists opinion who thinke that such ciuill gouernment and subiection of people to Kings repugneth to Christian liberty And God raigned ouer his people when yet Saul and after him Dauid raigned ouer them also but his meaning was that the order that God had set of gouerning by such as had no continued gouernment should stand and not be peruerted by or for him or his but contrariwise to his power he would hinder it And God raigned indeed in the Common-wealth of the Israelites which florished in Gedeons time wherein the Elders were chosen by common consent some ecclesiasticall to giue the meaning of the law and others ciuill and temporall as men call it to rule the people thereby in which office if they did not well carrie themselues they were both punished and put from their places And if any warre fell out the Lord himselfe stirred vp Guides and Iudges and they were not chosen by men as appeares both by Chapter 1. 1. and after neither did their children succeed them and thus the Lord both in peace and warre ruled ouer them and so Gedeon meant that the office of the Iudge was no ordinary magistracy such as the King is but a temporary and occasionall much like to the Dictatorship of the Romans in respect of the vse wherto it serued although otherwise of diuine election immediatly not by men By this answere the singular modestie and the religious staiednesse and good gouernment of Gedeon appeareth who hauing occasion so fairely offered of possessing and inioying the kingdome refuseth it as resolutely as they offered it earnestly Hee is indeed the strong man who standeth out stoutly when the brunt commeth now Gedeous sinceritie and courage is tryed and now he plaieth the part of a truly heroicall captaine in reiecting the tentation that was set before him Which of how great force it was to batter and beate him down flat although meane persons cannot easily conceiue whose thoughts reach not so high yet by the comparing of great things with small may wel seeme to be forcible seeing that a little preferment fauour commendation or reward doth so bleare the eie and choake the conscience of many professors as if it were a petty Paradise In one instance consider of that which I say Gedeon refused a whole kingdome when it was offered him and the most desire vnlawfully a small commodity of their neighbours in comparison of a kingdome as his house and ground wife and seruant when they be denied them And yet many a bold person would bee ready to say euen of Gedeon He was a foole to refuse and neglect such an aduantage Doubtlesse he did it not for any feare or conscience of his owne insufficiency hee had been a man fir for the place if the office had been lawfull for him But the respect he had to Gods commandement was the meere cause that mooued him to denie and refuse A worthy paterne indeed of a man truly fearing God and making conscience of offending And so it be commeth vs both in sinnes of the grossest kind as adultery murther oppression from which the feare of God doth best and most safely keepe vs as Ioseph saith and also in the matter of a mans priuate gaine yea and that in the highest degree of a kingdome it becommeth vs I say to keep our consciences pure and good And yet for the smallest of these many a man otherwise vertuous would as the coÌmon speech is straine a ioynt and think that for a kingdom he might venture to dispense with equity conscience And doubtles it is a great trial of a man what grace is in him when a matter of commodity promotion honour or the like of the greatest valew cannot surprise the conscience so neere is euery man to himselfe and indeed when these temptations assaile vtterly vnlike himself at other times This example of Gedeon most properly taxeth ambitious and aspiring spirits as wel Popish as other such as Absolons was not of immodesty onely but of insolencie also and intemperance the cause of all confusion in euery state especially being ioyned with discontentment and emulation But it were to bee wished that men of greater hope had but a little measure of Gedeons grace and were not rather led by the spirit of these whom I haue mentioned to wit that in meaner matters and of lesse valew they did not hardly containe and keepe themselues within compasse from coueting and laying claime to other mens commodities for the supplying of their owne wants and to seeke increase of that which they haue and not to looke after any thing which tends to the losse or hurt of other but that they liued contentedly with that which is theirs who ought in so liuely a glasse as this to behold how honourable a grace this was in Gedeon to rest satisfied in his estate as thinking that best befitting him which hee might enioy with Gods good liking and the quietnesse of his owne mind and as for other endlesse wishing or coueting to inhaunse himselfe which is most mens sinne hee had got the victory ouer himselfe in that behalfe which I thinke was a greater honour to him then all his conquest ouer the Midianites it being an ouerruling of himselfe and of his vaineglorious affection But to the shame of many Protestants I will adde one example euen an Heathen might set vs to schoole in this dutie who hauing subdued his enemies in battell and returned home with triumph was presented by some with a great masse of gold but he repelled theÌ with this answer I had rather rule them that owe the gold then be Lord and owner of the gold only or rather to be a seruant ruled and possessed by it Oh well were it for vs if the holy gouernment of our harts and affections were so pretious to vs Christians as it was to many of them who were Heathen whereas they were drawne by
know and that to their cost that they should haue been examples vnto other in good life as they did professe without which they shall surely come to naught Besides the subtiltie of the hart there is another cause of this euen the craft of Satan who rules in his children teaching them how to contriue and warpe all subtile shifts and policies both to atchiue their euill purposes and to defend them being brought to passe And some of his schollers finding this trade to follow their hand as they desire make it their chiefe worke to inuent euill and mischiefe and excuses to couer it withall they are not where they would be if they be otherwise occupied Our mother Eue learned it from the beginning of him the father of shifts and lies for they goe together for her posteritie though some seeme to haue it entailed vnto them aboue others As who almost can be so suddenly come vpon but he hath a shift in readinesse and though all bee not a like plausible yet as the prouerb is a bad one is better then none at all By this let none thinke that all policie is forbidden for Nathan and Bathsheba had plotted a wise course but that was to the great good of Church and Common-wealth that by honest meanes against Adoniah as appeares by 1. King 1. and the substance of the deuice was true holy and to a religious end for it tended to serue Gods prouidence But their practise warranteth not Absolon Adoniah or any such as they whose policie is wicked and cursed much lesse the hellish plots of Iesuites and Papists for the bringing to passe their designes the setting vp or tolleration of their idolatrous religion though holinesse and the Catholike cause be still pretended and authoritie of their supreame Vicar The titles are goodly but the boxes are full of cursed drugges and poyson as lying slander calumnies treason murther coÌfusion all badges of the prince of darkenesse whose Vicar he is Salt is good but if it hath lost his sauour it is good for nothing Wit and spirit present speech and policie are good but if they bee poysoned with those ingredients they lose their sauour grace and beautie and are good for nothing but to be vsed as proppes of the diuels kingdome Better were it for the cunningest craftes man in this trade to be defeated in all his purposes and to be conuicted and take shame of them then by such meanes to compasse them or being compassed to bolster them Neither is there any counsell against the Almightie his hand shall find them out at length and countermine them as blessed be his name hitherto hee hath done euen the deepest and furthest fetches of them Let all sorts learne by this and namely the simple hearted to thank God that he is no more acquainted with the depth of Satan I meane either the depth of sinne or the depth of subtile practises and shifts thereof and they who are more ready wittied let them turne it from playing the aduocate to such a fruitlesse client and submit it to the simplicitie of the word to be guided thereby which when all is done will prooue the safest when the other shall be as Adams figge-leaues Now behold here in these men who were of his mothers kindred how soone they hearkened vnto this corrupt motion of that Abimelech and so approued of his deuice and suite that they durst propound it to the rest of their neighbours which was too shamefull for themselues to open their eares vnto Like vnto whom is that practise of those Courtiers of Dauid â the aduancing of Adoniah among whom were also many of his brethren and kinsfolke By this we may see how kindred are blindfolded to beare one with another breaking through shame modestie yea and honestie also regarding no other thing but this that they are their flesh and they take part with them be the matter that moues them neuer so bad For example how are parents blinded in their children and carried by them almost to any perswasion and that without all Christian wisedom or regard being sometime incensed by them against those that are good and yet not reprouing but winking at their childrens faults and giuing them their will so farre till themselues blush smart for it to see to what boldnes they grow thereby nor taking it in any manner contentedly if their children though neuer so iustly be called to their answere for their doing and corrected but reuenging it rather and that with spitefulnes Euen so what disorders are faine to be suffered in townes while euery one forgetting the Apostles speech that it is an higher degree to back a sinner then to commit sinne holds with his owne kindred so that none must stirre against them but the towne is diuided into factions and parts taking for their cause and so it is also betwixt carnall friends where as kindred being neerer to a man then other good acquaintance or companie ought to bee the first that should bridle controle and helpe to hold vnder their kinsfolke from ill rule and disorder and as for friendship men should reach it out and shew it but according to conscience not daring to abuse the bond of nature to brotherhood in euill The which produceth dangerous effects both to the partie wronged the parties defended and also the parties themselues who countenance them as here both the whole common-wealth Abimelech and the Shechemites smarted all by this confederacie And the greater and the more authoritie such friends kindred or parents be of the more this doctrine toucheth them For as a common townesman may doe in a towne so a great person may doe in a shire a Prince in a kingdome euen set all in a combustion for a few malefactors sake as the Beniamites chap. 20. did for the defence of those Sodomites of Gibeah Let these therefore learne of the common speech Vsque ad ar as that is as farre as in conscience I may I will doe the part of a friend vnto you and of a parent but if ye draw me beyond that I leaue you neither will I to pleasure you make God my enemie Depart from me yee shall finde no aide at my hands yee adulterers riotous ill companions and workers of iniquitie And let all sorts take their lesson if not from the holy Ghost yet from an heathen who saw cause of prescribing this rule That especially this must be lookt to lest a man commit any thing iniurious or vnlawfull for his friends sake as he that professed he would burne downe the Tower of Rome if his great patrone willed him so to doe Such amitie fitteth Robbers and Traytors better then Christians Who should duly weigh whether the matter bee such as will stand with their profession credit and equitie otherwise to betray them is faithfulnes and to punish theÌ and as the law was to cast the first stone at them is good seueritie rather then to betray
staied not till he had serued seuentie Princes shamefully after his cruell humour but was fleshed more and more by his successe O horrible and vnnaturall blood-shedding crueltie Here wee may see what monsters are in the world worthily to be driuen froÌ amongst men and to be made spectacles and gazing stocks by open and most sharpe punishment inflicted vpon them Such were Athaliah Haman and Absolous Such were they who wrought that bloodie massacre in France and they who were the chiefe doers in the persecution here in England which may be remembred by some that yet liue and they of the Gunpowder-treason come nothing behinde that I say no more But how much more cruell are they who murther many soules for want of due foode But touching the sinne of crueltie I haue spoken in chap. 1. 7. and chap. 8. 20. and forward There let the reader supply this place from thence Many not ill minded desire to know why God doth suffer such abominations I answere that God knoweth the cause who ruleth iustly and who as a godly father speakes ordereth the euill appetites of the wicked to fulfill his prouidence though he infuse not euill into them as he wrought the saluation of his elect by the fall of Adam and the treacherie of Iudas and yet wee are not neither ought to bee altogether ignorant why God doth this Wee are not to appoint the Lord how to gouerne the world nor by whom nor how he will be glorified And he who may marueile that God is patient toward the bad how can he thinke himselfe too good to suffer for his own deserts be the instruments neuer so euil when our Sauiour suffered for vs without cause But if any of vs bee without danger and hurt by such wicked persons who are one of Gods scourges to correct vs let vs reckon it among the great blessings of God and vse it accordingly But in this verse let vs proceede further with Abimelech He considered that his seuentie brethren might be like to hinder and resist him and therefore what did he hee resolued to dispatch them all and so hee did except one The hainousnes of the fact deterred him not from going through stitch with it he would not leaue it by halues nay he could not be quiet till euery obstacle and hindrance was remoued and each eye-sore taken away It bewraieth a most fearfull propertie in the workers of euill that cannot desist nor leaue of till they haue brought their vngodly attempts to a full and perfect end wherein the godly seldome match them in contraire actions A man would haue thought these seuentie men had been a great blocke in an vsurpers way to keepe him from proceeding currantly in his bad course and Abimelech saw that to but yet it was not a barre strong enough to keepe him from villanie but he broke it as it were to peeces rather then it should stand vp in his way to hinder him from his purpose For that he was resolued to goe forward with and therefore whatsoeuer opposition should come against it hee would beare it downe as floods and windes pull downe hils bankes bridges gates trees and whatsoeuer comes in their way and yeelds not to them Woe be to him that meetes a Beare robbed of her whelpes and yet better so then crosse an vsurper of his ambitious desire although these his brethren had not crost him but by silence and sitting still Ambition is a raging monster we see and although it thirst after honour yet seldome is it asswaged without blood if occasion and opportunitie serue Nothing is so holy so pretious so neere which it prophaneth not defloureth and destroyeth not Euen his owne sonne it hee had stood in his way had tasted of the same sawce which his brethren did as it is reported Herod the great did in the massacre of the infants But it became him well enough to keepe that to himselfe by villanie which hee had inuaded by wickednes before Euen as his successors at this day these Italionated diuels and disciples of Machiauel both practise and defend according to his rules that a kingdome gotten by force must be preserued also by violence Againe he that will rule must not stand nicely vpon vertues but when occasion serues play both the lyon and foxe and worke out his enemies by fraud or crueltie any way so he can doe it Againe let them strike once but as Abishai said strike home and kill all at once that stand in his way and sit in his light For to kill often is odious but to make a riddance all at once roote and branch is with such policie and a necessitie pardonable When I thinke of this fact of Abimelech I could not but thus resemble it to these monsters who lately offered to giue vs an experiment of the like enterprise in their powder-treason which as no age euer matched so no age shall euer forget it to their eternall shame and the Lords endlesse praise For as they were Abimelechs in ambition and crueltie so the Lord made them Abimelechs in confusion Abimelechs ioy lasted not theirs was but hope and yet made them ashamed The Lord sent a spirit of diuision betweene him and Shechem so hee did betweene these one betrayed the other So let thine enemies perish O God c. Therefore let all wise men for all are not great ones circumspectly take heede and beware what sinnes they resolue to commit for surely whatsoeuer they giue ouer themselues vnto they will make no bones of the necessarie attendants thereof be they neuer so hideous and horrible As it is hard to say whether this parricide or his ambition were greater saue onely that the former serued the latter Men little dreame how deeply they plunge themselues when they vndertake any sinne themselues often are astonished at themselues but that when they haue begun they must play the men in going forward and not shrink for it Herod himselfe was not willing to behead Iohn but when he had said the word he must not goe backe he thought for his credit sake therefore hee went through Hee might thanke his luxuriousnes and iollitie which caused the oath and the oath the murther So saith the Apostle Because men set it downe they will be rich they meete with their match and fall into many temptations and snares c. Tush tell not them of trifles of lyons in the way they are busie in pursuing their game and they will get it whatsoeuer it cost them for they haue so decreed and set it downe Well learne to resolue onely vpon that which is lawfull and so be free from any great inconuenience and goe through it with commendation for all other resolution is diuelish I would bee larger in this but that there followeth in the sixth verse a doctrine not much differing from this argument But in this bloodie act of Abimelechs one of his brethren escaped his hands and in that one of
out into hatred and end in extremitie These things are commonly seene but who beholdeth Gods iustice therein or is thereby flayted and feared from hauing any thing to doe with such or made wise to lay a better foundation of their amity and friendship Furthermore by this that God would haue the blood of the innocent sonnes of Gedeon reuenged vpon Abimelech and the men of Shechem hee teacheth vs that hee will reuenge the innocents cause and so he made the blood of Abel cry out for vengeance The Lord will blesse them that blesse his and curse them that curse his And the greater the persons are and the wrong that is done to them the more God will pay them home who are guiltie of transgression and spite against them As when the Lords annointed are stricken at as lawfull Kings and Gods faithfull ministers for which cause he saith Touch not mine annointed and doe my Prophets no harme Therefore those runnagate Iesuites that roote out and kil Christian Princes and subuert kingdomes so farre as in them lieth hath the Lord branded with a mark of perpetual infamy and of his iust displeasure at the gallowes though they being brazen faced and hard-hearted cannot by any meanes be brought to repentance Iudas hath left behind him a sufficient testimony of the wofull estate of those that hurt the innocent his words are these out of despaire and a perplexed conscience I haue sinned in betraying the innocent blood Therefore he that seeth so many to studie to hurt such as would liue in peace by them by murthering by robbing or oppressing and vexing the being harmelesse what doe they but cause talke euery where to goe of the Lords threats of reuenging them and bring them also most certainely vpon their owne heads that I say no more But of this point I haue elsewhere entreated Also in that it is said that the men of Shechem did strengthen Abimelechs hand by giuing money to hire base fellowes to kill his brethren in that I say that such as liued in the citie and should haue helped to settle and see good order kept yet were such euill men euen incouragers and furtherers vnto murther we see that there are in cities and townes oft-times vile persons couered with the vizor of honest citizens and inhabitants For in no worse account many goe who bearing office to punish and beate downe disordered persons and disturbers are yet themselues as bad and noisome as any other Which admonisheth all such as liue ciuilly in townes to search themselues that they may bee found faithfull also and that they rest not in the opinion that is conceiued of them for the place that they are in who as we see in these may be farre worse then the base ofskourings which fall into their hands to be punished but if they keepe from open staines yet another thing is to bee looked for in them to wit that their hearts be good also But of this point I will not here repeate the same things which I handled before This dissention was so hot betwixt them that it brake into ciuill warre by meanes whereof none could passe in safetie And wee cannot be ignorant how dangerous those times be But by this we may see what troubles and dangers as robbing one another in the high way one vile person or a few may raise vp who may be fitly compared to a firebrand cast into a barne of corne euen such mischiefe wrought this Abimelech Such a one was Absolom and those caitiffes who slew the two French Kings and the same may be said of the Authors of the Gun-powder-treason No torture can be too great for such Such desperate persons and diuellish should bee cut off at first when they bee found out and not suffered to liue to doe greater mischiefe Touching the benefit of peace and the like publike blessings see chap. 5. and else where in this history Vers 26. Then Gaal the sonne of Ebed came with his brethren and they went to Shechem and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him 27. And therefore they went into the field and gathered in their grapes and trod them and made merry and went into the house of their gods and did eate and drinke and cursed Abimelech 28. Then Gaal the sonne of Ebed said Who is Abimelech And who is Shechem that we should serue him is hee not the sonne of Ierubbaal and Zebul is his officer Serue rather the men of Hamor the father of Shechem for why should wee serue him 29. Now would to God this people were vnder my hand then would I put away Abimelech and he said to Abimelech encrease thine army and come out OF the first occasion of Abimelechs and the Shechemites destroying one another the next occasion of the mischiefes that followed is here set downe namely this that they being thus incensed one against the other they fall to open warre and to set it forward there came in the way one Gaal and the men of Shechem hired him for their Captaine to be for them against Abimelech And by his helpe they went out and gathered their grapes which otherwise they durst not haue done and made merry and cursed Abimelech And that boaster Gaal hardned them against him affirming Thrasonically that he would put him downe If the men of Shechem knew him not as the Scripture sets not downe from whence he came but his behauiour bewraied him If I say they knew him not they did foolishly to receiue and rest vpon him being a stranger though a boaster and if they did know him what madnesse was it to take and trust in him though a stranger yet a boaster But howsoeuer their sinne was great in their intertaining of him yet indeed it was of and by God who hereby hastned their destruction that they should light vpon such a Captaine themselues being such souldiers they might well goe together and no wonder if boasters and the ambitious so easily accorded although if they had not been giuen vp to themselues they would not haue trusted to him Thus the men of Shechem prouided for themselues and how Abimelech did the like it followes after And as the doing of the men of Shechem was foolish dangerous and as it prooued their ouerthrow so it giueth warning to them that can receiue it to beware of resting vpon all rotten holds and broken staues Of which sort there are many with which men are deceiued as grossely as they of Shechem were by this their folly to cast all their welfare vpon a boaster The Psalmist mentioneth some of these when he saith Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses The Prophet Ieremie teaching men to shunne the sawe danger saith Let not the wise man glory in his wisdome nor the strong in his strength nor the rich in his riches but let him that glorieth glory in this that hee knoweth me saith the Lord. If we may not rest on
part these gifts are rather supposed to be then be indeed in the boaster and therefore when the triall comes the Thraso or bragger is ridiculous to the beholders Amaziah boasted of his valour greatly and prouoked Iehoash without cause when he needed not but hee sped thereafter and was sore foiled So the late miscreants I meane the powder-traytors how boasted they of their deuice when it was almost at the vpshot God and man say they in that letter of theirs haue decreed the ouerthrow of these English heretikes c. But God had decreed the contrary and turned their boasting into shame euen when they looked for a perpetuall destruction vpon the vpholders and embracers of the Gospell and the ouerthrow of the Gospell it selfe So did Goliah challenge Dauid by words to this effect I will chop thee as small as hearbes to the pot as the common phrase of the swaggerer is but hee was chopt himselfe head from body with his owne sword The Pharisee boasted of his righteousnes liberalitie deuotion thus I thanke thee Lord I am not as this Publicane c. but the Publicane went away more iustified The worldling in Iames boasteth of to morrow To morrow saith he we will goe to such a place and make such a gaine c. But the Lord was forgotten and therefore they thriued as Iehoshaphats ships that went to Ophir for gold for they were broken So Hezekiah gloried of his treasures Nebuchadnezzar boasted of his buildings Achitophel of his policie counsell see his words Herod of his wit and eloquence and now adaies who is so naked but hee hath somewhat to vaunt of And if of nothing else yet of this to his neighbour that he was in the towne before him whom he contendeth with and ouer-croweth and will be there when he is gone So another boasteth of his skill in his profession or trade another of his selling deare or buying cheape of crossing his aduersarie and matching him c. for boasting hath not so small acquaintance as men thinke yea for a need if a man be prouoked but a little he will bragge of his pride and not blush to say to him that is his better Though I haue not so good a purse as thou yet I haue as proud a stomacke as thou for thine heart euen thus may ye heare the poore man contending with the rich But O earth earth earth consider what thou braggest of for euen thy glory is thy shame of thine owne mouth shall he condemne thee who professeth to resist the proud As for them that boast of worse matters who say They will quench the zeale of these precise ones as they terme honest men and will wearie and pursue them till they haue made them eate their word and to renounce their precisenes as Psal 2. These I say are as neere to the Lords despight and to disappointment as the rest and therefore he scoffeth at the boasts of such enemies casting their brags in their teeth and saying Tell the towers and gates see the walles of Sion c. As if he should say What haue they cast downe all these looke well and consider yee shall finde that not a stone thereof is remoued So bad a member wee see the tongue is and boasteth of great things to small purpose Therefore to make vse hereof let not the wise strong rich boast of their wisedome strength and wealth but hee that will boast let him boast that he knoweth me saith the Lord. And he that can boast of this shall not feare arrogancie seeing this knowledge of God is euer seasoned with humilitie and loue Let vs consider this that the sinne of boasting seldome goeth without vsurping Gods honour to a mans selfe and lying Both most capitall crimes against the first and second tables It is grosse for a rich man to boast of his worth and wealth but for a man to borow of this man and that great summes and to boast how well monied he is how absurd is it Be able to say if need be vtter it of thy well vsing thy gifts that thou regardest it as much as them or else thy craking of the gifts themselues shall be a witnesse against thee in the giuing vp of thy account yea rather let the best say To vs O Lord belongeth shame and confusion of face we haue small cause of boasting if we saw our selues in any sort as we are and our vilenes Nay let none boast so much as of to morrow they know not what one day may bring foorth Man is a worme meane and base if he were laid out in his colours But being as he is he should rather breake into admiration and say with the Prophet O Lord it is thy mercie that we be not all consumed rather then to boast of things aboue his reach It is absurd and ill beseeming euery way but especially it is odious and as dangerous when it is vsed against the people of God as Iezabel did against Elias and Rabsakee that railing heathen against the good King Ezechias and his men boasting and threatning them and all to discourage them from the true seruice of God as I haue said And this of Gaals boasting now of Zebuls answere When Zebul who being for Abimelech saw the boastings of this Gaal against Abimelech as he sent him word thereof when he heard of them by other that hee might prepare himselfe to come forward and fight with him so now he heard him himselfe he fleshed him on and matched him in another kinde to wit in subtiltie and dissimulation while yet he spake faire and seemed to be friendly to him as here wee see For hee went out of the citie with him to the end he might suspect nothing when he had yet giuen warning to Abimelech to lie in waite for him against the time hee should come foorth and to be readie to set vpon him and in the middest of the feare and danger that this Gaal was in Zebul subtilly deceiued him as if there had bin no cause of feare at all egging and drawing him on subtilly so that he could not for shame when yet full faine he would haue broken away from him Where besides that wee may note the dissimulations lyings and slie subtilties that be in the world euen among such as pretend great loue and friendship as is to be seene in this Zebul Which point I haue spoken of alreadie in this booke so wee may see how men of euill qualities are matched and meete together as he was with Gaal For if we marke wee may see that one is a boaster another a dissembler and a subtill vnderminder a third a quarrellet and contentious liuer Other tainted with sundrie other dangerous and bad qualities of which the Apostle speaketh these I say all liue and deale together Is it not therfore the great goodnesse of God that one deuoureth not another Yea if the Lord
shamed him for his bragges and that euen among the men of Shechem where hee had made his boasting that they as well as he might take shame for their rash and most vnwise aduenturing to set him vp for their head and guide in whom they saw nothing but bragges Thus doth God daily put to shame both boasters and such as aduance and cleaue vnto them as what boaster is there if he can make a flourish but some base and vnsetled persons or other will admire and applaud him which God doth most iustly suffer them to doe the one to deceiue the other to bee deceiued accordingly as they haue prouoked him and yet in great mercy he doth it to humble and bring them to repentance when they cannot but with shame see what they haue done although we see the more is the pitie that few are the better thereby or make any vse thereof but runne into some other bad course if they be made openly ashamed of that Which I speake as well to giue a watchword to both to bethinke themselues betimes of taking a better course as also to the great comfort of them that are wary and aduised to shun and auoide such deceiuers and base flourishers and doe take like heed and care to keepe themselues from euery euill way But to returne in that this Gaal was driuen so cowardly to flie who had made so great bragges of courage and manhood we see what many doe shew themselues to bee in triall for without grace there is little difference And I doe not onely meane hereby grosse and great braggers of whom I haue spoken already but others also in that kind though as it is counted in a lower degree For example how many may we see who shew great liking of good things and who professe their forwardnesse in religion and to dislike others that doe not so as if they were before-hand themselues in comparison of many and yet it is cleere that either they haue small or no vse of religion when they be at the best no not as many of them haue whom they disgrace and condemne or else they reuolt in time for all their faire shewes and thereby doe openly bewray that there is nothing but froth to be found in them Which is no small cause of griefe to the best that there being but few that do make any great profession yet that many of them should deceiue themselues and others In stead whereof let Gods true seruants feare alwaies as the blessed doe their infirmities and vntowardnesse which they feele to be in them and giue no occasions to any to thinke of them better then they are but walke in vprightnesse of hart toward God and not neglect to honour him as they shall haue opportunitie in giuing good example to others And while Gaal the Captaine of the men of Shechem fled many of them fell and were slaine according to the Lords foretelling and for that their sin against Gedeons house and their boasting defender himselfe as he tooke vpon him to be was cast out of the citie with his brethren that they did not so much as remaine in it And by this let all learne a further lesson then to shunne and auoide boasters to wit that they neither put themselues vnder the shadow of flesh for euen so they shall be serued as these men of Shechem were who repose their confidence in man or in any earthly thing And this doth cleerely shew the beginning of the destruction of the men of Shechem But of the argument now handled I need not repeate that which hath been spoke vpon sundry occasions heretofore as for Gaal we see he rosted not that which he got in hunting Gaal thought by crakes and boasting to winde in himselfe and his brethren with the men of Shechem as for Abimelech hee knew hee got into the kingdome by tyrannie and hee thought it liker for many to preuaile then one And although commonlie it commeth to passe that men stablish themselues and theirs by flattery and cosoning yet here it was otherwise For hee was frustrate of his hope and as we see here cast out by Abimelech And so God dealeth oft-times that though many vnworthy persons lift vp their heads and build their nest on high against the darts of misfortune as they call it by pride extortion crueltie boasting c. yet God many times hindreth the course of such and throweth them downe as he soone broke off the ill course that Iudas tooke to be rich Ioab Abner and Achitophel who were neere to the King in whose daies they liued yet in time they were cast downe from their greatnes and glory which they had Oh how hath he done the like in latter times since that if such wil needs darken and obscure Gods glory and the Gospell for their owne pleasure or the setting vp of themselues they may see with their owne eyes as also all that applauded them that they haue receiued their due reward when God hath cast them downe with shame and yet the worst is behind which abideth such whatsoeuer changes they meet with here in the meane season And this being the best state that sin bringeth in this life which I haue now mentioned let it feare the godly to taste of the dainties of such as they count them lest they with Eue reaching out their hands after them doe taste also of their punishments in such wise as they wish with many stripes that they had neuer done so Verse 42. And on the morrow the people went out into the field which was told Abimelech 43. And he tooke the people and diuided them into three bands and laid waite in the fields and looked and behold the people were come out of the citie and hee rose vp against them and smote them 44. And Abimelech and the bands that were with him rushed forward and stood in the entring of the gates of the citie and the two other bands ran vpon all the people that were in the field and slew them 45. And when Abimelech had fought against the citie all that day hee tooke the citie and slew the people that was therein and destroyed the citie and sowed Salt in it 46. And when all the men of the Tower of Shechem heard it they entred into an hold of the house of the god Berith 47. And it was told Abimelech that all the men of Shechem were gathered together 48. And Abimelech gate him vp to Mount Zalmon he and all the people that were with him and Abimelech tooke axes with him and cut downe boughs of trees and tooke them and bare them on his shoulder and said vnto the folke that were with him What yee haue seene me to doe make hast and doe like me 49. Then all the people also cut downe euery man his bough and followed Abimelech and put them to the hold and set the hold on fire with them 50. So all the men of the tower
may befall vs in time if wee dare deale loosely and vnfaithfully with the Lord and suffer our selues to beled away from our stedfastnes This boldnes and carelesnesse if it thus be suffered to beare sway in vs may cause this scripture in time to be said of and verified in vs that we haue forsaken the Lord our strength And yet because men are cunning to deceiue themselues hoping that as long as they embrace not another religion they shall not become such nor iudged so hardly of though they take vp their delight in sins that please theÌ I thought it not therefore amisse to giue this caueat that in vaine doe such men worship God though they draw neere to him with their bodies while they suffer their hearts to goe another way and it is a kinde of forsaking of God though not in so high a degree as the other and as in time they themselues are like to come vnto and their labour is lost that they bestow in seruing God while it is accompanied with such anoiance and vnsauourines he vtterly abhorreth it This phrase of forsaking God is taken from wedlocke when either partie renounceth interest and fellowship in the other and departeth away euen as the phrase of selling them away vsed in the next verse on Gods part importeth the like action in the Lord as iustly giuing ouer his part in them As they had resigned their right in him their husband who had married himselfe vnto them vnto strange Idols so the Lord put ouer his interest in them vnto strange Idolaters alienating himselfe from them as the commoditie which is sold changeth the owner and becomes the right of another man Now then let not men thinke they may at their pleasure breake their couenant as the knot of marriage with God thinking they may returne to him as they list and when they list as Sampson to his companion and the Leuite to his concubine for neither will it be so easie for them to doe it neither shall they finde God so ready in their hastie seekings after him vpon each occasion to admit them And this is said of the peoples sinne and by occasion thereof Now we haue heard of that being the first point of the foure in these three next verses is set down Gods displeasure conceiued against them for it For when they had thus prouoked him by their sore transgressions he prouoked them also by that which did little like them for hee stirred vp the Philistims and Ammonites against them who vexed them sore for many yeeres And this they did not onely in the land of the Ammorites beyond Iorden to the children of Israel that dwelt there but they waxed more bold and passed ouer Iorden made warre with the tribe of Iuda Beniamin and Ephraim so as they were not able to resist them And what should wee say to all this It must needs be granted that this was an heauy bondage that they were vnder But what remedie If it had been any lesse it would not haue moued nor wrought vpon them They would not complaine nor crie to God for a little For if they had they should haue been heard and kept from so great extremities that they should not haue vexed them So that to say no more of this we may all see here that when wee come vnder sore afflictions which in a manner take heart from vs and make our liues wearisome we may thanke our selues for it God vseth not to cast his punishments vpon men all at once but by peece meale and by degrees and giueth warning of them for the most part at least by his word alwaies that so as wise men seeing the plague comming they may preuent them or else he laieth his hand more lightly vpon them that they may at the first repaire to him and intreate him to stay it If it be otherwise that he suddenly and at once take away the righteous with the wicked they shall haue no cause to complaine of that for they shall rest in peace If God remoue not his punishments yet if they be reconciled to him and liue obediently hee will giue them greater grace of faith hope and patience to beare the burthen more easily and with farre greater contentment All the danger is if they harden their hearts and bow not meekely to God vnder their burthens that is more against them then all their outward calamitie and bondage Wee haue heard how God punished the people for their committing idolatrie and suffered their enemies to oppresse them sore and a long-time But this was not al which is here expressed though that was very grieuous as all may well see But with this it is to be noted how they also by their sin turned the Sun-shine of Gods fauour into most darke and vncomfortable displeasure This men purchase to themselues by their wilfulnesse and rebellion when they might otherwise go out and in before him to their good liking and dwell most safely vnder the wing of his protection all the day long What madnesse is it to cast themselues into deadly feares and vnquietnesse and anguish of soule for the Lords displeasure as sharpe arrowes sticking fast in them with reproch discountenance of Gods seruants and many other crossings and discontentments But of Gods anger and wrath reade more in Chap. 2. 14. Here I end THE SIXTIETH TWO SERMON ON THE TENTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES WE heard in the former verses how God afflicted this people for their sinne in this verse the holy story setteth down how this oppression by the enemies reached to the people beyond Iorden as well as them that were on this side onely Wherein that thereat was verified whereof before hath been spoken that they and their idols should be as snares vnto them euen to their destruction But besides this we see that this miserie did spred further in time then to those that were on this side Iorden for it reached euen to the Israelites also which dwelt beyond Iorden So that although the enemies began with them first who dwelt in the land of the Amorites yet seeing the people on both sides of Iorden had communicated with the nations in their sinne they were therfore both plagued alike by the enemies And so it fareth with vs for if many ioyne together in prouoking God they shall smart together by bearing his corrections And though the Lord begin as I said before of Shechem and Abimelech with some at the first apart yet he will as the fire burneth one house after another he wil I say deuour the rest with the former at length as by the plague we haue heard he hath done Now in that it is said in this verse that they cried to the Lord saying we haue sinned I haue spoken of this before as also of this that they were long in miserie ere they complained therfore I wil not repeate those two points onely this here is to be noted that they did
repentance and he had receiued them into his fauor and protection this caused the Lord now to stand with him who before was against them so that they did know they had his direction and help to go about to deliuer theÌselues out of their bondage and miserie The Ammonites seeing Gilead was a goodly citie and richly furnished they laboured and determined first of all to destroy that Israel was assembled in Mizpeh while the other camped in Gilead but that was too farre off from aiding the Giliadites their brethren who were then besieged by those Amonites Therefore as they were directed by God they propounded betwixt themselues namely the Princes to the people that he who would begin the battell against the Ammonites he should be guide to them and Iudge ouer them And that they were led hereto by God it may appeare by this that the Lord raised vp those that were Iudges ouer them and after confirmed Iphtah in going against them The story being thus laid foorth I wil here stay a little and say some thing of them both the Ammonites and Israelites And first this if the children of Ammon had gone about to take the cities and ground of the people of Israel into their hands and possession and oppressed them by warre before Israels repentance and turning to God they might easily haue done it for none of them durst or had any heart to resist them as appeareth in the story for they suffered them to oppresse them till now in the last yeere especially they were sore distressed and tormented by them And besides they then had God also against them But now after they sought the Lord in the truth of their hearts he was now with them and they were heartned and imboldned to resist and stand against them by the hope they had in him as wee see they did manifestly declare By the which wee may see how God keepeth many euils and troubles from his deare seruants till hee hath made them fit for them and them able to goe vnder them whereas if they had come vpon them before they had been vtterly ouerwhelmed by them For as he turneth many afflictions away from them altogether which they saw not how they could auoide euen so hee deferreth many so that they shall not touch them till he hath strengthened their shoulders and put courage into their hearts and so made them able to beare them And yet he leaueth them not vnexercised with one or other more small and easie as he seeth it profitable for them and that they are fit to beare them But if any of vs well consider it we shall find that his goodnes hath herein exceeded toward vs and who can choose but see it that at his first inlightning of vs by faith when wee were weake and might easily haue been dismaide hee hath kept many of our sinnes from our sight when by those which we saw we were hardly kept from despaire and sundry troubles also which if they had appeared to vs when as yet wee were nothing able to heare of them much lesse to beare them they would haue swallowed vs vp and haue driuen vs to vtter desperation And as this is true we vnderstand it of our first conuersion or after euen so is it also with vs throughout our whole life He spareth vs to the end we may be better incouraged to serue him faithfully in that which we know that so afterward we may be fit to see more both of our sinnes and also to take part of the afflictions which abide vs. Euen as wee vse our children tenderly while they bee young but after they be growne vp we set them to worke and shew them that they must labour and suffer some hardnesse they being now better able to goe vnder it Thus did the Lord cal backe Saul from the pursuit of Dauid when it was likely that he could not haue escaped his hands if he had been let alone So when Nashash the King of Ammon might easily haue destroyed the Giliadites at the first onset while they were vnarmed the Lord stopt him and caused him to hearken to a needlesse condition whereby the time being protracted they had helpe sent them in the meane season and ouerthrew them In this kind of dealing the Lord resembles a friendly person who spying a furious enemy comming fiercely with weapon against his neighbour vnarmed and vnprouided to meet him stayeth the rage of the one till the other haue got himselfe arm or fit to encounter him or may escape his hands or when hee hath done so he commits them together knowing that the innocent partie hauing the better cause will easily foile the doer of wrong Thus the Lord often doth although when he seeth his time he can also either quite diuert the enemy as he did the King of Ashur from comming against weake Ierusalem or else take his peoples part as Moses did the Israelites against the Egyptian and fight for them while they stand still and looke on So he did to Pharao and Zenacherib Now when the Lord reserues his people till such a time of strength and courage not suffering as I may so say the Canaanites to come vpon his people being weake through their late circumcision it is a greater fauour then if he remoued their triall wholly from them for in this they haue onely proofe of Gods goodnesse but in the other they haue beside that a triall of their faith and grace more precious then gold which triumpheth hauing got the victory ouer the enemy whether spirituall or earthly Thomas Bilney a godly man during his imprisonment had a strong assault giuen him by his owne flesh against the paine of the fire which he feared he should not be able to endure And who knoweth what he would haue done if the triall had been hottest when hee was weakest But the Lord so suited the time that when fire was put to him he that feared the foile of weake became strong Heb. 11. and ouercame the fire by yeelding his whole body to wast it whereas his finger could not before abide the candle It is a great grace therefore to beleeue that as the Apostle implieth God wil keepe from vs such afflictions as we are not fit to honour him in but liker to be ouercome of our corruption and betray our cause If any obiect the foiles of diuers seruants of God preuented and taken vnawares by strong trials as Cranmer in the first assault of his enemies forced to yeeld to that which he ought not c. Let such know God hath a diuers end of a diuers method and teacheth men humblenesse and knowledge of themselues by such assaults as they cannot answer to the end that they may be abler for those trials afterward hauing renounced themselues and got firmer hold vpon the alsufficiencie of God without whose protection they are weake as other men Now then let men beware how they abuse this dealing
indeed vrge them about it as he had cause a question may arise how they could offer this to Iphtah to be their Iudge and how he could take it with a good conscience First seeing they had no authoritie to offer it Secondly seeing he and they both had this blocke in their way that a Bastard might not enter into the Congregation of the Lord to beare any office The answer is to both questions one that the Lord directed them thus to doe who is bound to no law and that he guided them herein the whole story through the Chapter testifieth The Lord excludeth such in Deuteronomy from bearing publike office and that to terrifie men from begetting Bastards who are in this world reprochfull and lie open to much miserie And yet how this forbidding that sinne preuaileth with men this the commonnesse of the sinne and this prophane practise of adulterers too too much bewraieth who thinke that by this meanes of bringing Bastards into the world that is the pitie they take of them they shall shunne the wearisome company of the wise and tediousnesse of children with the vnwelcome annoiances that they count to accompany both But oh monsters doe they thinke by auoiding the burden of the lawfull wife and children to escape the blot of vnlawfull libertie euen reprochfull whoredomes Doth not God set a brand both vpon them and their cursed fruit For it is prooued by experience that besides the discouragement which bastards are oppressed with as of scorne and opprobrie in the world which of it selfe is enough to hold them vnder the Lord denieth them commonly good education so that they prooue vagabonds curseth them with a more then common indisposition and aukenesse of nature to retaine instruction and gouernment And lastly there are few of them who are not tainted with vile and odious qualities such as they deriue from their vitious and vncleane parents And therefore the greater is their sinne who for all this his prohibition most wickedly fil the world with them cause them to be brought into so great calamitie Yet as the innocents cannot doe with it so God bee thanked they are not shouldred out from the hope of saluation for there is no respect of persons with God if they feare him But if they were cast off by the Lord yet such is the vnconscionable beastlinesse of those gracelesse persons that for their owne filthy lust they would thus endanger them as the loathsome practise of those vncleane Locustes the Popish Monkes and Friers both in this land and elsewhere hath abundantly witnessed to the world in former ages See more in the first verse of this Chapter Iphtah hauing found ill dealing at their hands before as we haue heard for that they were not lead by conscience and the feare of God when they cast him out but by partialitie vsed crueltie against him he did not therfore trust them vpon their word but requireth an oath of God at their mouthes as may be gathered by their making God a witnesse of the promise which they made vnto him and so tieth them to a sure couenanting with him For it had not otherwise been wisely prouided for by him and therefore when he went with the messengers to Mizpeh he rehearsed these things there before the Lord that so the promise which they made might stand sure God being desired to be the beholder and witnesse And here let vs learne that when men haue dealt vnfaithfully and dishonestly they haue no wrong offered them if they bee not credited as before no although they bee bound by bond whereas their bare word was taken while they went for honest men for they haue giuen iust cause to other to suspect their credit And by this which I say may be noted that one cause why men are in lesse credit now adaies is their vnfaithfull dealing And whereas some cannot be trusted nor borrow vpon their word or bond but for want of credit doe goe without that which would stand them in exceeding great stead for their vpholding and maintenance it is the fruit of their owne doings and that which they haue sought by their owne vntrustinesse and breaking of their promise whereby they haue lost their credit together with their honesty For in these daies many care not to deceiue yea and vndoe others and therefore come to nought themselues also for the most part whereas some other being faithful and conscionable vpon their bare credit liue and maintaine their charge by borrowing and by other mens forbearing them And whereas it is obiected on the behalfe of these vnthrifts and deceiuers that they must be borne withall though they cannot pay that which they haue borrowed I answer Some of them see no likelihood that they can repay so much as they will seeke to borrow and take into their hands of other mens goods which argueth little honesty and therefore are well content to wind it from them cunningly and craftily whereby also they impouerish some others will not diminish their occupying in the least manner though they goe aboue their reach nor detract from their belly and pastime to pay the owner therby shewing that they care not how he come by his due and right or whether he euer haue it againe or no. Now while these things are thus we may note that the beautie of religion is such if it be planted in men soundly and indeed as that it winnes credit to him that hath it for contrary dealing and maketh him to be approoued for his faithfulnesse conscionablenesse and honesty whereas he that is void of them liueth in vtter discredit and iust reproch And whereas ye will say some of them that make shew of religion doe yet deceiue and deale vntrustily with their creditors I answer it is not the shew of religion but the practise of it that carrieth the beauty with it that I speake of and if any that be taken to be religious offend this way know wee that it is not their religion that imboldneth them to such dealing but that they haue so little of it And so it is true also that some that haue credit deseruedly doe for the sweetnesse of the gaine if they take not heed hold their due from the owners sometimes though they may little reioyce in it And let them know that their sinne is the greater but yet all this notwithstanding there are some who dare not neither will by any meanes be brought to doe so And if ye aske me Why then doe men take bonds of such as are of approoued honesty and haue not broken nor lost their credit as if they were no better trusted then other common men I answer Not because they be distrusted but first seeing all are mortal and so men might lose their goods if they had no securitie for them by those in whose hands they are and secondlie that contention may not arise betwixt the posteritie of both parties that shal come after And againe
vexe their aduersarie one way they could doe it many waies and say that they haue greater and more causes to pursue them then that one which they alleage But all such speech is bragging and boasting without iust cause for if they had greater doth any man doubt but they would take their aduantage by vsing them when as they prosecute the smaller so hotly against them Vpon the forementioned reasons he concludeth that hee gaue him no cause to make warre with him as he had done but hee had been stirred vp vniustly against him And as Iphtah was bold to accuse him and auouch his owne innocencie hauing so good proofe for both so euery one that can proue the goodnesse of his cause shall bee able boldly to defend his owne innocencie against his aduersaries and accusers to their shame and iust reproch and their owne peace and comfort Whereas other must be driuen to vse shifts as lying dissembling boldnes heate multiplying of words and false witnesses as may be seene in the cause of the Priests and Pharisies accusing our Sauiour before Pilat The truth seeketh no corners See notes vpon verses 14. and 15. And so hee appealing to the most highest for his simplicitie in the matter to be iudge therein he endeth his message Thus must wee be able to doe I meane not to be afraid to make the Lord iudge in the cause that so though we be iustled to the walles by our vnequall Iudges vpon earth yet we may rest in Gods testimonie of and vnto vs and our cause and therefore not fearing man may be confident verifying the prouerbe The righteous is bold as a lion In the same kinde Iob speaketh saying Though mine aduersary should write a booke against me would not I take it vpon my shoulder and binde it as a crowne to me Meaning it should be to his commendation But seeing the men of the world see boldnes so much to preuaile in the defence of their bad causes therfore they face out matters themselues thereby Wherby this watch-word is needfull to bee giuen them that men looke not so much how boldly they stand in the defence of themselues and their doings as how truly for that which in a good cause is courage in an euill is impudence But though Iphtah had said enough and that also to good purpose yet we see that it moued the King of Ammon nothing at all but as he had taken a bad cause in hand so he meant to defend it vnto the death euen as men too commonly doe who hauing begun an ill matter doe purpose to goe forward So that we see wise and sound reasons and perswasions howsoeuer they be vsed both to purpose and in season so that they who can iudge would thinke they might be like to preuaile and moue especially not knowing the corruption of the heart which couers it selfe with shew of honestie yet with the wilfull they doe no good nor with any such as bewray themselues being put to it to be resolute to do wrong and of a preiudicate mind or possessed of strong passions Therfore it is that Salomon saith A word more entreth into the wise then an hundred stripes will auaile with the froward This humour possesseth many whom it would not easily be thought to be in and therefore being discouered so much the worse beseemeth them euen ciuill courteous persons still and sometimes religious because either they suspect not themselues and so are ouertaken by any occasion suddenly falling out or else they nourish this serpent in their bosome wilfully Naaman was taken with that tech and no marueile he being an Heathen when he heard the Prophets answere by what meanes he told him he should be healed But highly to be commended was Dauid who receiued the counsell of Abigail a woman so readily to turne him from a cruell and wicked resolution And euen so they who are obstinate as thinking it a discredit to them to desist shall meete with more shame by proceeding but happie are the meeke and tractable who receiue the wholesome words of exhortation and stop not their eares from good counsell but submit themselues without respect thereto such shall deliuer themselues from great euill And a man would thinke such behauiour doth better become professors of the Gospell then wilfulnes and obstinacie Concerning the vse whereof I haue spoke somewhat by the like occasion in the 21. and 22. verses let the reader ioyne them both together Vers 29. Then the spirit of the Lord came vpon Iphtah and hee passed ouer to Gilead and to Manasseh and came to Mizpeh in Gilead and from Mizpeh in Gilead he went vnto the children of Ammon 30. And Iphtah vowed a vow vnto Lord and said If thou shalt deliuer the children of Ammon into mine hands 31. Then that thing that commeth out of the doores of mine house to meete me when I come home in peace from the children of Ammon shall be the Lords and I will offer it for a burnt offering 32. And so Iphtah went vnto the children of Ammon to fight against them and the Lord deliuered them into his hands 33. And he smote them from Aroer vntill thou come to Minneth twentie Cities and so foorth to Abel of the vineyards with an exceeding great slaughter Thus the children of Ammon were humbled before the children of Israel The third part of the Chapter IN this third part it is shewed generally that Iphtah ouercame and subdued the Ammonites And in particular first how God gaue him the spirit of courage and fortitude to this end Secondly that before hee entred the battell hee made a vow to the Lord that if hee should get the victorie hee would offer that to him which should first come out of doores to meete him Thirdly how after this he went forward to Gilead and Manasseh and came to the place where the Ammonites were and so lastly how fighting with them the Lord deliuered them into his hands In this verse it is shewed how Iphtah came to the Ammonites from Mizpeh in Gilead for it is distinguished from that Mizpeh that is in the Tribe of Inda Before that the Lord had furnished him with gifts of his spirit fit for warre both valiantnes of mind and strength of body as was said before And by this it may appeare that the Lord had appointed before that hee should be their Iudge and deliuerer though it was vnknowne to the people when they sent to him to haue him to be their Captaine Now for our instruction and benefit heere wee may see that when the Lord appointeth any man to any speciall calling hee giues him gifts for the discharge of it When Moses was to be sent to Pharao hee alleaged his vnfitnes and vnsufficiencie to speak to a King the Lord prouided for that before he began to discharge it The Apostles likewise whom Christ left weake and vnfurnished for such a worke as they were to take in hand after his ascension
first fruites consecrated to him that wee might vse the rest with thanksgiuing And in that she was his only childe it must needs increase his heauinesse that by his vow he had brought vpon himselfe when he saw he must be depriued of her and to this his sinne brought him in his rash vow making or whatsoeuer other sinnes they were that others may beware thereby And by this we learne that God for mens sinne will not spare to depriue them of that which is most deare vnto them One reason hereof is that the Lord meaneth to humble them deeply and to cause them to descend into themselues more seriously and to purge out the sinne that waiteth them a mischiefe and so to preuent it And therefore this vse wee should make of it that whensoeuer the Lord dealeth so with vs wee should know it is for the hardnes of our harts which otherwise and without such breaking of them will not be softned And let vs the lesse marueile at it when we finde it to be so for though he haue often gone about it by gentler meanes yet we know they haue not preuailed so that wee haue driuen him to deale more hardly with vs as wee count it and to handle vs more roughly as to wound vs so deeply by taking the things from vs which are most deare vnto vs. And if we are not to be accused for that our hearts are hardned by the deceitfulnes of sinne but that wee relent yet let vs know that God hath sufficient cause to afflict vs as to exercise and prepare vs for greater and to hold vs here as strangers But of this in another place although I haue often obserued it before in the seuerall stories of the punishments which fell vpon the idolatrous Israelites By this verse it may appeare how sore Iphtahs daughters meeting of him did trouble him as both by his word hee testified saying Oh thou that shouldest haue been my chiefe earthly comfort thou I say art one that hast chiefly cast me downe Also by signes thereof hee shewed it in that hee cut his garments for sorrow after the manner of the Hebrewes when they saw that some great calamitie was suddenly befalne them as in Ioel and other places it appeareth And he shewes the reason that hee hauing vowed to offer her to the Lord he might not he said goe backe such was his ignorance that he knew not there was libertie giuen by the Lord in that case to redeeme that which a man had vowed amisse This verse affoordeth vs many good lessons and first by this that she was such a trouble to him after hee had gotten the victorie and that the Lord pulled him downe so sore thereby by this I say we are taught that God seeth it expedient thus to deale with his seruants oft times that when hee hath exalted them by some great fauour bestowed vpon them lest they should take too much delight therein and so become surfeited therewith hee addeth some affliction to it or taketh away some part of the benefit which point I haue at large handled in chap. 8. vers 1. of this booke yet I will here adde somewhat This appeareth therefore in sundrie particulars as in our goodly shew and likelihood of fruitfull haruests and hope of other commodities commonly wet or drie cold or heate immoderate and other changes and casualties cut off a great part of our hope So in marriage wealth credit and such like the Lord addeth sicknesse some losses or other affliction or holdeth the feare of them ouer our heads as the parent doth the rodde ouer the childe to weane vs from too great pleasure taking in them Euen as we reade in all ages he hath done the like So Isaak and Rebecca in their kind and comfortable marriage had Esau their sonne to bee a vexation to them in his most wicked marriage and before that sometime a famine and sometime the ill dealing of strangers with them So Iob for all his wealth had his crosses and namely his wife yea hee was so acquainted with this truth and Gods dealing with his deare children that hee said in the middest of his prosperitie that he looked for his change And who doth not see it necessarie that the Lord should deale thus with vs For else it should bee found so to be with vs as it was in the daies of Noah when they did eate and drinke marrie and were married and made that the chiefe end of their liuing here whereas godlinesse being the great riches and a day passed therein being better then a thousand in any estate beside the Lord would haue vs claspe about that and be ready to learne by little and little that wee haue no hold of any transitory thing here below though lawfull but we should count one thing necessary though we be occupied about many And to make good the doctrine that I haue gathered out of this verse to wit of Gods keeping vs vnder some way in the middest of our prosperitie I conclude that if Paul had neede to be buffeted lest hee should be lifted vp aboue measure we may lay our hand vpon our mouth and say God hath most iust reason to deale thus with vs as I haue said Now if hee seeth it meete thus to exercise vs lest wee should bee lifted vp then much more if we haue already been so and passed our bounds in any such manner Now to goe forward by these words of Iphtah Oh my daughter thou art of them that trouble me and by the deepe and sudden sorrow which they testifie to haue then possessed him by them I say wee may see and obserue another thing that the best delights and greatest pleasures of this life in which wee haue had exceeding comfort as hee had in his daughter may possibly and doe often turne to our great sorrow and discontentment We see the same in Iacob when his sonnes hating their brother Ioseph had dipped his coate in blood to hide their owne sinne and brought it to their father to make him thinke that he had been slaine by some wilde beast when he saw it hee brake out in a great passion and said This is my sonnes coate an euill beast hath deuouted him Oh what heauinesse tooke hold of him euen from and by him who was his ioy and most deare vnto him And thus it is with vs as it was with them So consider how deare Absolom was to his father Dauid and when word was brought him of his death how heauily did he take it how did he wish and desire that hee might haue lost his owne life to haue saued his as his words vttered in most patheticall and lamentable manner doe testifie where he thus crieth out Oh Absolom my sonne my sonne would God I had died for thee oh Absolom my sonne my sonne Euen so what sore disquiets and corsiues are many children to their parents wiues to their
both a solitarie place fit for the purpose and also farre from her fathers house to weane her selfe from thence or for to auoid recourse of her friends vnto her To teach vs that there fall out times and occasions to bee solitarie euen as it is it selfe commanded vs of God and that both extraordinary as here and in priuat fasting and ordinary also for meditation and these both the one and the other we should vse to our good when we haue cause either longer or shorter time to goe apart by our selues knowing that this is a speciall action of religious worship and therefore requireth seperation from hindrances So did our Sauiour Christ for a time after much preaching and being in companie goe into some solitarie place with his Disciples as it were returning to himselfe that hee might haue more freedome for heauenly contemplation and prayer So in the time of great lamentation as the people did mourne for the death of Iosias and in the time of Zachary the Prophet wheÌ the familie did it apart one member of it from another the husband apart and the wife apart But fondly doth Popery abuse such examples to maintaine Monasticall life and such like fancies when they were vsed in the best manner if euer well vsed but now much more when they haue brought them to such abomination as they are come vnto that it is but a couer for much and great wickednesse And this point deserueth our obseruation that she being now in heauines wisely chose the fittest exercise to set it in on worke and did not yeeld to her passion which then would haue made her loggish and vnprofitable but vsed it to a singular good end euen to fit her selfe for her death and departure In mirth and ioy how hard a thing is it to recall home our wandring senses and straying affections and retire our thoughts and mindes from rouing in euery corner of the world our wofull experience can tell vs. Sorrow hath likewise many and those grieuous annoiances attending it but that of the two the comparison being equall is the fittest trumpet to sound this retreit And as naturally it contracteth the body and the spirits so if it be taken heed vnto it bringeth the superfluous and noisome cares delights and desires of the soule into a narrower compasse And when a man is wholly at home is he not fitter for any good dutie then when hee is absent in great part from himselfe Therefore as the day of griefe is a season and opportunitie for some good dutie which at other times is to vs vnseasonable so let vs vse it accordingly that is redeeme it Solitarinesse I confesse is not fit for euery sorrower and yet it is necessarie for the better doing of this dutie I therfore distinguish of persons Such therfore as are ignorant and yet oppressed with heauinesse for that they doubt and are vncertaine of Gods fauour for their sinne and especially if they bee pressed with melancholy To these I giue this counsell that they auoide solitarinesse in their pangs of griefe and melancholike passions and giue not vantage to their enemie the diuell to finde them alone as neere as they can lest they finde his delusions and temptations the more forcible as Iudas in his perplexitie did when hee went aside from all companie But let their sorrow driue them to aske counsell and make their cases knowne to such as can aduise or comfort them The diuell was bold to assault our Sauiour himselfe in his solitarinesse But to returne and to speake of the point If a suruey were taken I doubt wee should finde few houres I speake not of weekes or moneths dedicated by the most part of Christians to this heauenly worke of vsing solitarines for meditation especially for preparation to dye to make vp their accounts against they should be called for Oh they look to liue long they are not in the case of this maide who was within two moneths of her dying day and applied them wholly to fit her for death but they are made drunke with an vnsatiable desire of liuing still and therefore tell not them of such sad vnwelcome matters But oh fooles are they not suddenly taken and as vnprouided within few daies and houres of their death as they were many yeeres before Therefore to leaue them when the Lord at any time iustly occasioneth vs to be sorrowfull and pensiue let vs beware of blockishnesse which commonly accompanieth them who in in their mirth thinke of nothing but iollitie and say wee euery one thus to our selues Now the Lord calles me home to the practise of a dutie which indeed ought to be oft in vse to meditate of my estate to vnburden my mind and soule of those manifold needlesse and noysome thoughts and affections which I haue ouerloaden my selfe a long time withall now the Lord will haue me bent to search out my errors corruptions and disorders of hart and life and going aside to ease my stomack of them confesse loath renounce and aske pardon of them Now the Lord will haue me to pray that his spirit may be restored to me in greater measure that I may returne with more libertie to his seruice and beware that I be not againe surfeited with that which now I haue vomited vp as the world pleasures vaine desires vile and loathsome lusts This is a good vse indeed of heauinesse the house of such mourning is better theÌ the house of feasting And to this end oh it were to be wished that damsels as well as other liuing in these daies would setforth themselues to the world not in pride boldnesse nicenesse and curiositie of fashions but in modestie grace and wisdome as this maiden here did which were another manner of spectacle then to see many golden rings in a swines snout Now whereas it is said here to fill vp the measure of her due commendation that she returned at the time set vnto her father to doe to her as hee had vowed the faithfulnesse constancie and obedience of the maid is not onely to bee commended but admired For why did shee so but to serue God therein as she was perswaded Such keeping of couenant and promise made by her when it was to the forgoing of her life doth vrge all in smaller matters much more to keepe promise and to make conscience of their word and that not only towards God but euen to men also The like we see in Paul who hauing his liberty giuen him both in his iourney towards Rome and at Rome also where hee was Nero his prisoner whereby hee might haue made many an escape and shifted for himself yet neuer attempted any such course but faithfully returned to his Captaine and to his Keeper though to the perill of his life rather then he would procure safety by breaking away by distrusting God or by vnfaithfulnesse A good cause will seeke no such shifts and our great Iesuits if there were in them that
of them seeke to get out of that plunge they doe most certainely perish vtterly without any recouery being throwne into that gulfe that is bottomlesse where is weeping and gnashing of teeth And although such ill disposed persons dye not alwaies by companies and multitudes as they did heere and at the flood in Noahs time and as it commeth often to passe according to the occasions that are offered and therefore it is the lesse marked yet he that obserueth it shall finde that they who bewray that they are not vpright harted but dissemblers and hollow and that they haue no fauour in the Gospell and good things and by their behauiour speech and companie doe testifie their bad liues I say such as obserue it shall find that now one and then another and some by one iudgment and some by another shall verifie that which I say namely how such pine and wanse away secretly in ignorance or impenitencie or bee arested apparently with such visitations of God as in which they testifie the same See my notes vpon the ninth chapter in the death of Abimelech and the men of Shechem The second part of the Chapter Vers 7. And Iphtah iudged Israel sixe yeeres then died Iphtah the Gileadite and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead 8. And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem iudged Israel 9. Who had thirtie sonnes and thirtie daughters which he sent out and tooke in thirtie daughters from abroad for his sonnes And he iudged Israel seuen yeere 10. Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem 11. And after him iudged Israel Elon a Zebulonite and he iudged Israel tenne yeeres 12. Then Elon the Zebulonite died and was buried in Aijalon in the countrey of Zebulon 13. And after him Abdon the sonne of Hillel the Pirathonite iudged Israel 14. And hee had fortie sonnes and thirtie nephewes that rode on seuentie asse colts and he iudged Israel eight yeeres 15. Then area Abdon the sonne of Hillel the Pirathonite and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim in the mount of the Amalekites IN these verses following is contained the time of the reigne of Iphtah and diuers other that were Iudges in Israel together with their death and buriall in their owne cities where they dwelt and aboad in their life time Wherein that which is said in common of them both I wil speake of ioyntly as of the time how long they gouerned and of their death and buriall for they are all set downe alike Other things herein contained I will seuerally note as occasion shall be offered in the text And first of the time of their being Iudges ouer the people It is said Iphtah had that place sixe yeere Ibzan seuen yeeres Elon tenne and Abdon eight All which being but one and thirtie were a small number for foure to enioy the place one after another Whose office as it was to deliuer the people out of the hands of their enemies so doubtlesse they did if there were cause by their being in bondage or else they kept them in peace that they were not oppressed nor brought vnder of their enemies at al. And that was a great fauour of God to Israel that they changing their Gouernours so oft yet they are not said betwixt the time of the one and the other to haue been in their enemies hands which when it was so is expresly set downe in the former examples and stories Thus the Lord hath blessings of all sorts for his Church is not willing to change them into punishments till our abuse of them turne them to our owne bane And as these 31. yeeres of peace vnder foure gouernours were granted to Israel so it was their owne sinne and reuolt from God which brought vpon them so long or a longer time of warre and disquiet the Lord could haue allowed them their peace without interruption if they could haue serued him in it without vnsetling and wearinesse And as he dealt with them so would he with vs also who as he hath vndeseruedly continued our peaceable daies euen in the times of our late change a worke of his most worthy to be had in remembrance so he would haue freed vs from plagues and dearth also but in that he hath allaied our peace with such domestical punishments as these late yeeres haue witnessed wee may thanke our selues and marueile that they haue been no sorer for doubtlesse hee hath therein remembred mercie in iudgement Our peace is from him our troubles wherewith it is accompanied are caused by our selues and farre more bitter should the cup be if we were made to drink it as we haue tempered it but the Lord in mercie holds back from vs confusion and bondage to our enemies which hee inflicted often vpon these Israelites But more particularly this teacheth that it is a great mercy of God when in the change of Princes and Gouernours there falleth not out some great detriment and hurt to the people especially when the changes are often For that is counted a punishment as Salomon saith For the transgression of the land there are many Princes and the state of the Common wealth if it bee in peace and prosperous is then like to change to the contrary It caused Dauid when he heard of the death of Saul who was not very commendable in his time yea although hee knew that hee himselfe should succeed him it caused him I say to mourne with a great lamentation saying Ye daughters of Israel mourne for Saul how much more would he haue done so if he had been religious and godly The same I say of inferiour Magistrates who helpe to vphold and countenance the Gospell and doe maintaine peace in their precincts and corners where they dwell The losing of them is with great danger besides feare of worse to follow and of faithfull Preachers the like may be said also though there be many instructers yet there are not many fathers the taking away of them therefore will not be without much cause of griefe also for who knoweth what shall follow The vse is to stirre vs vp to thankfulnes for Gods goodnesse to vs and our land in respect of the late peaceable succession and present prosperitie and health of our Soueraigne which indeed all are willing to take part in but few take the paines to consider how much they owe to God for such a benefit as this which as a knot containes in it all the particular blessings which we enioy as infolded in it Much lesse doe they weigh that ouer-ruling power of God which swept downe as a cobweb the long contriued plots of the Popish practisers for a forreine gouernment and defeated in a moment and derided their hopes by setting the crowne vpon the head of the true apparent Heire our gratious Soueraigne without the least contradiction of so many enemies The sensuall abuse of this blessing hath now caused the Lord to abate somewhat of this his fauour by abridging vs of
by inward or outward discouragings or allurings quite alter their temper and make them first to heare without delight remissely and coldly and in time with dislike and resistance as wofull experience witnesseth Touching the particular kinde of Manoahs readinesse to turne the meate into sacrifice see more in the peoples giuing to Gedeon the earings of their pray which poynt is diuers from the former Further this consuming of the sacrifice with fire by the Angell procured in such a wonderfull manner as it could bee no other then the worke of God this I say was done for the confirming of Manoah and his wife the which also was granted to Gedeon in the like case and at the prayers of Elia he did giue the like signe for the confirming of the people that Iehoua the God of Elia was the true God and Baal an idoll and his priests deceiuers of them By all which and many more such the Lord testifieth how willing he is that his poore seruants should be free from doubtings and feare which doe much distract and disquiet them For though he allow them not to looke for or depend vpon signes now as in times past yet a most sure rule he hath giuen vs in his word to goe by to the which he sendeth vs saying Search the Scriptures for they beare record of me and shew what my will is toward you And whereas it will be obiected to me that all cannot vnderstand the scriptures and therefore that may be farre enough off from resolution in doubtfull cases I answere the Lord hath taken order if hee were obeyed therein that throughout his Church there should bee preachers to reueale his minde to the hearers and to haue their abode and liue with the people to the end they may helpe to resolue their doubts as they shall arise daily in them and so helpe to stablish their faith and set them forward to the kingdome of glorie all which the poore people haue neede of And if Gods matters were regarded of men but as their owne be there would be such care to furnish all places by them whom it concerneth with fit and meete teachers choyce being made alwaies of the best first and they sought after that both the rest of them who are students in Diuinitie might be well incouraged to follow their studie and best examples and the people well prouided for thereby and so might grow to resolue themselues in many of their doubts and be helped by their teachers in the rest so as they might liue comfortably which a few attaine to of many and then it may be seene also what other people goe without of their due by wanting such teachers and they who are causes of it may repent which would bring great ioy into our streetes It is said further here that after this was done the Angell did yet wonderfully in another thing to wit that when the flame ascended from the altar toward heauen he ascended in it Manoah and his wife beholding the same that so they might know what he was who appeared to them euen the Angell of God whom they tooke to be some man of God or prophet Thus they were better confirmed about that which was said to them concerning the childe This as the former verse confirmeth vs in that we learned there namely what a care the Lord hath to ease our infirmities and to relieue vs therein which being beleeued of vs is no small refreshing and incouragement to vs. But of this poynt hath been already spoken much in the historie of Gedeon Also it is said here that Manoah and his wife when they beheld this and knew as it followeth in the next verse that he was an Angell of God they I say fell on their faces to the earth for feare as appeareth by his words to his wife afterward For we may not be ignorant of this that in those times the people were afraid at the sight of an Angell or in beholding any signes of Gods presence as in Exod. 19. we reade and Iudg. 6. so I say it was with them and so it would be with vs if we should haue the like occasions offred vs the reason is first our inherent sinne and the inborne corruption that is in vs secondly the accusation of our consciences which tell vs what wee are in and of our selues to wit most vile rebellious and disobedient the which ought to humble vs when God by such or other meanes doth as it were shew vs our face in a glasse that through our sin we be afraid whereas we should reioyce In that they did shew reuerence in such cases it was their duty so to doe and we owe the same in respect of Gods speciall presence in the congregation But as we see it was with them that in doing a good thing they passed measure in their feare and it was excessiue in them so wee may beholde thereby how hard a thing it is to auoyde corruption in our best actions But as they went too farre in one extremitie that they were too much afraid so wee goe further in the contrary for that wee come short and doe not feare the presence of God at all when we come before him in speciall manner or very little So that the reuerend behauiour of the Fathers toward God will be an accusation of vs for the contrary when yet we ought to carry our selues reuerently in all places Let the reader looke backe into the 6. chapter and 22. verse where this argument is largely handled In that it is said in this verse that the Angell hauing done that which he came for to them departed and was no more seene of them it teacheth vs the same to wit that when we haue met together before the Lord to serue him as for example in the publike vse of prayer word and Sacraments and haue religiously ended these duties then wee should depart euery one to his place considering how many and great inconueniencies doe follow idle and needlesse tarrying behinde and loyterings whereby we doe not onely forget such good instructions as we haue heard whereas while they be fresh in our remembrance we might in our returning either meditate on them or reuiue the memory of them by good company but also fall to drinking playing prating and such like behauiour as whereby wee doe much more hurt to our selues and others then we got good by our hearing The diuell hath more strings to his bow then one and therefore if he cannot draw men to neglect the meanes altogether hee will busie their heads with wandring or oppresse their bodies with sleepe but where neither of these preuaile yet sometimes he windeth in with theÌ so by other deludings of them that hee depriueth them of all fruite which they seemed to haue got and that as easilie as they may be brought asleepe and not least of all by occasioning forgetfulnesse of that they heare by needlesse company
did Dauids and Peters sinnes and there was as great cause if Samson had been iustly to be charged in this why hee should haue done the like to him but God blessed him still afterward and supported him in great difficulties and troubles raised against him by the Philistims except where he ranged and ranne after stolne liberties without his allowance that all might see apparantly God to haue been with him herein And as for his parents they knew not Gods minde in that matter at the first and therfore as they saw themselues bound by dutie they were against him in his mariage And in that they did afterward agree to it who doubteth but that they had it reuealed to them by God or that Samson himselfe told them that God would so haue it And all this was necessarie for me to say for the answering of the doubt and the cleering of this verse By that which hath bin said of this point as we see the Lord may dispense with his owne law as he did here and with Abraham where he hath giuen a personall commandement contrary to it So where he hath done no such thing know we that neither wee may looke to be dispensed withall by any other meanes nor contrary to his commandements attempt the thing that Samson did heere in seeking a woman and taking her to wife from among Idolaters or any other such like A fact vtterly vnlawfull for vs to doe and which shall be reckoned against the committer as a capitall and great sinne I put both the actions together of his seeking and liking such a woman for they are both of one kinde though in degree one worse then the other to wit if he that seeketh such a wife desist and leaue off before hee liketh and before he giueth ouer himselfe thereto but else small difference there is betwixt them And great reason there is that they should bee both odious to vs for as much as there can be no true seruing of God in such matches but it is to be looked for that the great sinnes namely Idolatrie and prophanenes in the one partie shall deuoure and as a canker eate out the goodnesse of the other partie rather then be auoided thereby neither is it possible that they who are so vnequally yoked together can enioy the chiefe benefits of their marriage without which the rest are little worth for whereas they should consent and agree together in all good things as in conferring praying and reading together and to be of one minde in all other things of like sort and qualitie they are contrary minded one to another and draw an vnequall yoke and what faithfulnes or loue except it be in dissimulation can there be betwixt such especially on the behalfe of the worser partie through the course of their liues As they finde it who will not be held from marrying in Popish kindred and with persons well knowne to bee vncircumcised which they finde to the iust accusation and vexation of them long after And no marueile for we being staightly commanded to marry in the Lord we are thereby iustly challenged for matching with Canaanites in a strange religion or with such as are impious and very scandalous in their liues though of our owne religion as in the second point of the next verse shall appeare Let this be added to that which I spake of more briefly vpon ver 2. chap. 2. and other places Samson hauing broken the matter of his mariage to his parents they giue him answere in this verse and a reason of that answere is rendred by the holy Ghost in the next In their answere they obiect the kindred and religion of the woman that she was a Philistim and vncircumcised and doe further tell him that he ought to take a wife among his owne people Here his practise that hee attempteth not the matter without acquainting his parents with it when hee liked the woman doth condemne the common attempts of the most of our age about this matter who haue so degenerated and turned away from this durifulnesse of seeking their parents consent in their match as Samson did that they haue made an end and done what they desired with their wiues yea many of them are vndone and readie to leaue them before they begin to breake with their parents about it So that whereas the Lord hath by commanding them to seeke their parents consent prouided that they should not rashly and vnwisely cast themselues into danger and be led as vnexperienced youth easily is into depth of euils and sorrow but well aduised and directed as well as dutifull therein to them they not onely despise the counsell of God but casting it and their parents helpe and furtherance behinde their backs they doe therefore right soone both smart and sorrow for their hastinesse and wilfull proceedings But herein they follow Esaus most cursed example who against the will and liking of his parents tooke Canaanitish women to be his wiues whose sight and conuersation they could not beare nor abide A great part of the crossings and vexations in Marriage doe arise and spring from this fountaine for as they haue begun amisse who thus goÌe to worke in their matches so they proceed for the most part worse because they neuer feared that God would sit in their light till after many wearisome and oft complainings and sometime also of their hasty and rash making vp of their marriage though out of season and too late but most of all of the miseries which they sustaine after all these I say they doe with paine and pensiuenesse end their dayes therein But of the annoyances in marriage which come of other causes I haue no time here to speake Therefore with one caution and watchword giuing both to parents and children I end this point And to them this I giue that they doe not exercise a tyrannicall power ouer their children as many doe to draw them to such marriages as they cannot yeeld vnto to these this I say that they doe not lightly and hastily cast their affection where it cannot be fastned without great danger when iust causes may be seene of breaking off their match and that they proceed in them as God hath commanded to wit with their Parents liking and good will vnlesse they will apparently resist God Now out of the answere of Sampsons Parents we learne another thing that the marriages of Gods seruants ought to be made with such as are like minded to them not with the vncircumcised and with those that be of an other and contrary religion for so they say to him in this verse Is there neuer a wife of the daughters of my people but thou must goe to the Philistims for one This to bee necessarily required of them as commanded by the Lord the seuenth of Deutronomy with other scripture doth clearely teach namely that the true worshippers of God may not ioyne themselues with Idolaters and those that be
pursuite of our desires and that either with outward resistance of vs as he did Ahab by Elias when he was going to take possession of Naboths vineyard or with inward wound of conscience as most commonly hee vseth to doe to such as haue knowledge or with hardnesse of heart which alwaies hindreth and keepeth away repentance And by occasion of Samsons iourneying out of Iuda to Timnah of the Philistims I say more particularly let such as trauaile whether within the land or beyond seas into forreine countries see that their errands are lawfull and warrantable not expresly crossing the Lords charge as that of Shemei did Salomons lest although they scape Shemei his punishment yet a worse befall them Remember Dina and Gehazi Nay see they not onely that their businesse be good but look they also that their affection be well and orderly carried thereto otherwise their seeking after noueltie curiositie vanitie I speake of them that doe so or their sinister intent any other way will marre their action of trauailing be it neuer so lawfull And as that is nourishment to one creature which is anothers bane euen so is trauaile to sundrie sorts of men though to some other it be good and profitable It is apparant that many trauellers who went out with no euill purpose yet being vnarmed against euill and not strongly resolued to depart from it haue rushed vpon the pikes tempted God cast themselues vpon streights and indangered their bodies liues consciences manifold waies I speake to such as professe to haue God the directer of their waies as for others let the dead bury the dead That is a iourney well vndertaken which a man can take in faith and sanctifie it by prayer and so commit himselfe therein to Gods protection and blessing And surely if we goe otherwise to worke wee are as able to beare meekely and patiently either disappointment ill successe or any hard accident that shall befall vs as wee are to encounter a Lion if he should meete vs. But beside these vntimely and vnseasonable trauailings abroad there are other no lesse dangerous at home or neere at hand and among the rest for example sake when the Sabbath is abused to wanton and waily gaddings to stage-playes gaming houses drinkings on which yet by Gods commandement the most lawfull common actions and ordinary businesse ought not to bee done which may bee done on other daies This is one instance of many other wicked iourneyings and trauailings on that day which are as vsuall with the ill disposed as it is ordinary among the better sort to heare the word preached or to vse any other religious exercises But although such persons haue no stoppe in their way to turne them backe neither doe meete with the opposition that Balaam did to hinder and crosse their desires yet they shall reape the wages of their iniquitie as hee did and wish they had kept at home and been free from such company with many stripes The meeting of a Lion by Samson which was as wee haue heard with the perill of his life yet was to him as God did vse it an occasion to trie declare and shew foorth Gods power and strength in him which should else haue been hidden For the spirit of the Lord stirred vp in him an extraordinary gift of might and manhood more then is to bee found in the strongest person whereby he hauing nothing in his hands did yet teare the Lion in peeces one part and member from another as if it had been a young kid or lambe By this example wee may learne that though the crosse be to vs as feareful when we see it comming toward vs as a Beare or a Lion is to meet with yet the Lord who loueth vs as hee did Samson doth vse by his quickning grace to hearten vs against it so that wee finde it to turne to our great good and benefit But let this be marked which I say that God doth by his speciall grace bring it thus to passe not that we should looke for it by extraordinary meanes though he dealt so with Samson but wee are to beleeue and waite certainly for it because he hath promised it and by the helpe thereof we shall not need to doubt but that such strength shall be granted vs as shal put away feare or at least abate and restraine it but without that help from God we shall feare and be troubled when wee doe but heare of the crosse or danger as at the sight of a lion yea and be disquieted and ouercome with the heauinesse that we haue for it as if we should meete a Beare We haue too many examples of this weaknesse and feare in Gods deare people as in the seruant of Elisha who when hee saw an armie of Aramites compassing the house cried out and said Alas master what shall wee doe So in the Disciples the like is to bee seene who through their vnbeliefe thought they had seene a spirit and were sore afraid when yet that which they feared was Iesus their Master comming toward them to comfort theÌ So that we of our selues indeed are most timerous euen when we haue little cause much more otherwise but yet when great afflictions oppresse vs God being with vs as I haue said we are able through his might to do great things as the Apostle saith I am able to doe all things through the helpe of Christ who strengtheneth me Yea so great oddes is there betweene one and the same man oppressed with feare though for a small trouble when he is taken on the sudden and with a great one when hee is prouided for it as betweene the heate of the least candle and a greatest fire He that fainted at the one when he was weake in faith escaped and ouercame the force of the other being assisted therewith as hath at large been shewed in Gedeon at one time afraid to goe and behold that campe which after hee blanckt not both to encounter and to conquer And this whole storie of the Lion all that consider may vnderstand that it tendeth directly to this end to prepare and make Samson able to beare the displeasure and enmitie of the Philistims which was afterward raised vp against him the Lord giuing him strength for that purpose and that it might minister matter for the riddle which he did after propound to them whereby they did sore prouoke him By the first learne that when God indueth men with excellent gifts betimes as he doth many he thereby declareth that hee will both double and multiply them in those persons and also vse them to serue him to singular purposes if their proceeding be not hindred by some sinister practises of theirs to stand in their way or by the diuell and his instruments subtilitie diuerting his good gifts to bad purposes This is apparent by that which God did worke in Samson in his first yeeres of discretion and when hee was yet
by Samson And hee seeing that the seuen daies continue while the feast lasted for so their manner there was to doe was a long time for him and his friends to be in company and conuersant among Idolaters without much sinne and offending God hee could not haue taken a safer nor better course then so to set them a worke and occupie their heads As for religious talke there was no place for it to haue fallen into that had been the next way to haue set them altogether by the eares at the first And yet by the propounding of the riddle they were held greatly within compasse from lewd and wicked talke and ill behauiour which could hardly haue been borne by Samson and his friends the which yet had otherwise so abounded with much other disorder such as falleth out at those kinds of meetings where yet one would thinke there should be lesse feare of it as would haue bred most bitter contentions among them the which by this wisedome that hee shewed in putting out the riddle hee shunned and auoided And by this practise of his wee may learne when we be pent in companie where no good things haue intertainment but euill many waies is to be feared which companies are too common how to bethinke our selues what is best to be done of vs. If it may bee let such companies be turned from altogether especially if they be our betters who will take more libertie to offend and yet beare it more hardly to bee resisted or spoken against whereby our griefe will be the greater when we see no meanes to keep our consciences quiet and peaceable but that we must haue part in the sin But if it fall out sometimes as it may doe that wee bee brought by Gods prouidence into such companies by necessitie when we cannot preuent them if they be such as we may be bold to speake to them they being of no wealthier sort then we or not much aboue vs there is the lesse cause of feare or of any such great danger to fall out but yet euen there we must take heed that wee iumpe not neither fall in with them to iustifie and consent to their offensiue talke and behauiour but if religious communication will not bee borne nor brooked of them some other things indifferent and yet not impertinent nor vnprofitable would be thought vpon of vs and ministred by vs to stay and preuent worse as fit occasion may be taken thereof And if ye aske what I say for example the mentioning of the death of any among vs and namely such as are of note and of any iudgements and plagues of God either present or lately fallen out about vs as burnings strange death and namely vpon drunkards also the execution of malefactors and such like which matters will be better borne to be talked of then things meerly diuine and yet by occasion of speaking of them not onely ill communication may be kept away and auoided but better also and that which is to edification may the easilier come in place For to an honest Christian man it is a great griefe to lose and bee cut off from his sweete words which flow from the abundance of the heart But seeing this must bee borne oft times and worse also at the hands of such as are of wealth and power in the companie being ill minded there if we cannot restraine them neither may haue place or liberty to speake when God is dishonoured by them in cauilling against the truth railing vpon Gods people or slandering the innocent or by swearing filthie talke or any such like the best way will be to depart out of the company or to giue no eare to them if we may turne to other who are neere vs or to shew dislike in our countenance or if they will needs aske our opinion at the least to shew our dissent from them but yet in meeknesse and in a peaceable manner But if the case be so that wee may rebuke such vnfruitfull workes of darknesse God giuing vs occasion iustly let vs not carrie our zeale in our bosomes as a sword in a rustie scabberd but vnsheath it to the defence of Gods truth and his religion lest if we hold our peace in such a case the stones of the streete will crie which point hath elsewhere been opened Samson as it appeareth tels them he would propound his riddle to them so that if they could tell it they should haue thirtie changes of apparell and peeces of linnen whether sheetes or shirts c. and if they could not tell it within seuen dayes then they should giue as much to him which was a kinde of wager laying and their sport was for losse on the one side gaine on the other Which kinde of dealing I meane after this manner of wagering for gaine seeing he had his direction from God therein and warrant in speciall to practise it cannot be counted vnto him for sin neither ought any to stumble at it I might here take occasion to speake largely of the like actions and exercises among meÌ to that which was in this place vsed of Samson but I should be too long This is all that I will say that as the most handle the matter they doe grieuously sinne against God as when men play or wager either in a couetous desire to winne or when they are angry and passionate in playing or wagering or when they sweare and blaspheme the name of God in their play or when they fall a quarelling or goe together by the eares amidst their pastimes and wager-laying or when they are immoderate in their playing spending whole nights and dayes therein neglecting in the meane time the necessary duties of their vocation and the most necessary duty of all others the seruice of Almighty God of which sort alas there are too many who spend most of their time in bowling allyes and at trucksbettings and swearing vpon euery cast prophane men that make so little account of their time as to passe it away so idly let them take heed that they be not driuen as many haue been in time to desire one houre to repent and yet goe without it or last of all when they thus play or wager away all their maintenance And for such kind of gamesters who haue not money competentlie to maintaine their familie much lesse for the reliefe of others though Paul biddeth them that stole to steale no more but labour with their hands that they may haue wherewith to helpe the poore for which two ends it chiefely serueth and yet haue enough to play away let them with the rest of their companions take heed that among many other punishments of God which they draw vpon themselues this be not also one and not the least that because they loue pastime they become poore men And we may wel thinke that if God denie to clothe the bodies of such with apparrell for rags are their liuerie much lesse will hee clothe their
it Notwithstanding the which yet they may reioyce as our Sauiour willeth them and bee glad if they be persecuted and reuiled for his sake that is for well doing But let no man suffer for euill doing for hee shall bee forced to hide himselfe and runne away the wicked flying when no man pursueth him And yet all that I haue said notwithstanding it is not denyed any man to rescue himselfe from the open wrong of the vnconscionable by any lawfull meanes neither ought it to preiudice the equity of our cause THE EIGHTIETH SERMON ON THE XV. CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES The second part of the Chapter Vers 9. Then the Philistims went vp and pitched in Iudah and spread themselues in Lehi 10 And the men of Iudah said Why are ye come vp against vs and they answered To bind Samson are we come vp and to doe to him as he hath done to vs. 11 Then three thousand men of Iudah went to the top of the rocke Etam and said to Samson Knowest thou not that the Philistims are rulers ouer vs what is this that thou hast done to vs And he said vnto them As they did vnto me so haue I done vnto them 12 And they said vnto him We are come downe to bind thee that we may deliuer thee into the hand of the Philistims And Samson said vnto them Sweare vnto mee that ye will not fall vpon me your selues 13 And they spake vnto him saying No but wee will bind thee fast and deliuer thee into their hand but surely we will not kill thee And they bound him with two new cords and brought him from the rocke 14 And when he came to Lehi the Philistims shouted at the meeting of him HOw Samson vexed the Philistims we haue heard in the first part of this Chapter In this second is shewed how they pursuing him got him to bee brought bound vnto them And that was after this manner First they came vp against Iudah where Samson was threatning to fight against them vnlesse they brought Samson bound vnto them And this is in vers 9. 10. Secondly they of Iudah fetched him from the rocke Etam where hee was and brought him bound vnto them vers 11. 12. 13. And thirdly when he came to them at Lehi the place heere mentioned the Philistims shouted for ioy that hee was come thinking to haue some great hand ouer him and this is in a part of the 14. verse But to come more particularly to these three points it is said first that the Philistims came with an armie against Iudah in that part of it which was neere adioyning conterminate to their owne countrey here called Lehi which signifieth a cheeke or iaw-bone and tooke the name from an act that Samson did in that place afterwards in slaying many there with the iaw bone of an Asse Into Iudah I say they came putting the men thereof into great feare for that Samson who had done them so great hurt had his abode among them and was as they tooke it harboured and maintained in that euill which he had wrought against them by them of Iudah And when they demanded of the Philistims why they did so come against them seeing they had not broken their league with them they answered that they did it for the great hurt that they had sustained by Samson and him they would haue to be deliuered vnto them or else they would make warre with them The Philistims did in this but as any like them nay many farre better would doe in the like case Nay there are few to bee found either nation against nation or man by man prouoked who are not ready enough to seek reuenge yea to passe their bounds therein exceedingly rather then to come behind in such cases who though they doe euill as the Philistims also did yet if any man would aske whether a Christian must put vp all wrongs and iniuries I answere he may defend himselfe in his innocent case and stop the course of his aduersarie so as it bee without malice and a reuenging mind of which more is said in another place Neither doe I affirme that sin is to goe vnpunished by this debarring of euery man in his priuate quarrell from reuenge for as that officer of Ephesus told the seditious Citizens If ye haue ought against these men there are aduocates so I say in cases of weight there are Magistrates who are to looke to this that neither by the impudency of the wrong doer nor the impotency of the reuenger the common-wealth be disturbed And so much more in the sinnes committed against the Maiesty of God ought the Magistrate to bestirre himselfe if hee doe as behoues him wherein he is no reuenger but rather one that stands in the gap to stay Gods hand from being reuenged vpon the whole body for the disorder of a few bad members as in Phinees his story is manifest But that which I complaine of is this that whereas men are so hot one against another for bodily trespasses and temporary harmes done vnto them yet their owne speciall sinnes which doe themselues infinite harme they haue no heart to goe against them no neither are wise enough to beleeue what deadly enemies they bee vnto them And thus wee may find it in all kinds of offenders A thing worthy to be bewailed if it were duly considered especially in those who hauing found them by wofull experience to haue wrought them more sorrow and iust cause of complaint then their rankest enemy could possibly haue procured them As for reuenging of others that should alway be ready to feare and hold vs from it which is written Rom. 12. Vengeance is mine saith the Lord and I will repay it For whiles men are ouer busie in quitting themselues of their enemy they both exasperate him and make God a party against them and so they find the harder match of it Dauid durst not reuenge when he could haue done it but answered As the Lord liueth either the Lord shall smite him or his day shall come to die or he shall fall by the sword or otherwise as for me I will not smite him wickednesse be with the wicked but my hand bee not vpon him But we though wee can doe nothing yet please our selues in Iezabels humour and her sonnes saying God doe so to me and more also if I make not Eliahs head as the head of one of these to morrow So said Iehoram of Elisha Whereas before we can bring our purpose to passe we are our selues preuented by God and our nailes pared and we laid full low oftentimes more fit to be pitied then to reuenge Doubtlesse if we could moderate our selues and take the Apostles counsell to the Romans If thine enemy hunger feed him Rom. 12. wee should sooner make our aduersary submit himselfe vnto vs and acknowledge his offence with shame and griefe then wee shall euer doe it by
Iudge and helper into their enemies hands Againe to make the doubt the greater it was said in verse 4 chapt 14. that it came of the Lord that Samson should take occasion against the Philistims that he might sore vexe them and should they of Iudah then helpe them to cut him off who was giuen of God to be such an helper to them And whereas he was not so openly and professedly suffered to shew himselfe such a one as the other Iudges did Othniel Ehud and the rest but only in priuate manner to vexe them as they gaue him occasion To this the answere is that so God had appointed who would thereby haue the enemies curbed and their force weakned for the ease and quiet of his people and yet he would not giue them a ful deliuerance whom he had so often proued to be vnfaithfull and vnthankfull toward him I say therefore that hereupon it may seeme that the whole course of the words and deedes of the men of Iudah toward Samson was faultie and euill for ought that hath yet been said to the contrary and their yeelding him vp to the Philistims as they did afterward was no better then that which they are said in this verse to haue spoke and done to him to wit that they went so speedily about the apprehending and binding of him and so sharply rebuked him for the hurt he did to the Philistims whereas they fared the better for it and saw it was to the easing of them To all this I answere that it is not certaine that the men of Iudah knew any such thing that Samson was giuen them to auenge them of the Philistims though it was told to his mother by the Angell in the 13. Chapter verse 5. and that may bee gathered by the words of the men of Iudah to Samson when they spake to him so sharply and said that they must bind him and so deliuer him to the Philistims which had been absurd for them to speake if they had knowne that he was set by the Lord to deliuer them Besides God gaue them no commandement to breake their league with the Philistims which they had made with them being brought vnder of them neither had hee giuen them any meanes to defend them by violence and armes against them therefore they were to commit the successe to God and it cannot be laid to the charge of the men of Iudah as their fault that they did so to Samson in deliuering him vp into the Philistims hands notwithstanding that God in his prouidence had called Samson to be their auenger And wee must obserue that by this deliuerie of Samson the Lord still gaue further heart as also opportunitie to him to afflict these Philistims more then before as shall appeare in the fifteenth verse So that the Lord thus carrying the businesse wee must not without apparant cause condemne the fact of the people Yet hereby I doe not altogether cleere them from blame For there is no doubt of this but that the men of Iudah were too much afraid of the Philistims and too ready to keepe themselues from danger by them and to stay them from making warre against them And though it had been commanded them of God to haue kept Samson from them yet seeing it had been with the perill of their liues it is like enough they would not for all that haue done so but would haue deliuered him vp vnto them onely indeed they are the lesse to be charged because as I said they had no commandement of God to doe so which excuseth the fact but not them because they looked not at these grounds neither were guided by knowledge So then thus I conclude and let the reader marke The fact of the people of Iudah had been bad and grosse if they had left Samson to shift for himselfe against an expresse commandement from God and if he had bidden them to take Samson for their helper and to assist him for then they ought to beleeue that hee would both haue directed them what to doe and would also haue assisted them But this not appearing by any necessarie proofe they are onely to be charged for this that they proceeded herein vpon sinister causes and not by the warrant of knowledge as appeares by their fleshly fearing the Philistims because they were strong and they did not cleaue to Samson in this respect seeing they saw not that they were like to be eased greatly by him against them and thereupon were so ready to goe about to apprehend him and to aske him what hee meant to prouoke the Philistims against them they being yet vnder their dominion So that this wee may learne hereby That howsoeuer God promised to be with vs in all our waies appointed to vs by him to walke in as hee did to these men of Iudah yet if we cannot doe so without opposition displeasure and resistance by men wee commonly looke as they did to the strongest side with fleshly and carnal eyes I meane to the power of man and not of God and so we soone goe out of the way which is not like to be without our great hurt And yet marueilous it is to see what slauish mindes are in vs that how plainly soeuer God reueile his will to vs in and about any particular dutie we will haue an hundred shifts and excuses why we cannot as we say but indeed dare not walke in the approued beaten way which God hath laid out for vs. No tongue is able to expresse the innumerable breaches of Gods commandements and fearfull sinnes which are committed thus and by this occasion and all to shunne an outward and temporary danger and discommoditie but the inward violence and smarting words which wee make in our consciences thereby we doe not at all or very little regard them which therefore arise after and sometime many yeeres after to trouble yea and torment vs. As the fact of Iosephs brethren did vex them more then twenty yeeres after and Dauid was sore troubled when he remembred the sinnes of his youth And this to bee true both Scripture and experience teach vs that while men runne into sinne to auoid outward trouble and danger and yet make nothing of it when they haue done lest they should too much disquiet themselues yet that God doth afterwards make their doings as prickes in their eyes and thornes in their flesh that thereby we may know that they who hold vp their heads most iollily after their sione committed as though nothing were amisse with them shall not so easily goe away with it but their sinne which they haue made their dearling shall sting them in their bosomes and rise vp and strangle them as it oft doth and make their liues wearisome if it put not also an end to them as the sinne of Zimry and Cosby did Corab also and his company But where might one make an end of this discourse Looke more of this in the storie of
Gedeons demaund of the men of Succoth and Penuel and in this Chapter verse 6. To the question of the men of Iudah demaunding of Samson what hee meant so to prouoke the Philistims against theÌ by hurting them he knowing that they euen all their land were vnder them and subiect to them he answereth them As they haue done to me so haue I done to them meaning according to my charge Samson might haue been like if hee had followed carnall reason to haue fallen vpon them for that they knowing him to haue so greatly hurt their enemies and he knowing himselfe to be their Iudge and helper saw yet that he was so roughly dealt with by them for they might seeme to deale with him as the Hebrewes dealt with Moses who being oppressed by Pharao told Moses that he made them stinke in the sight of Pharao Samson I say knowing that which he did might haue bin like to haue slaine these men of Iudah for their slauish fearing of the Philistims and for their slârh and dasterdlines in yeelding to them and setting themselues against him But he kindly answered them and told them gently what he had done to them and why And when they shewed him that they must binde him and carrie him to the Philistims hee rageth not against them neither hurteth them he only requires an oath of them and vpon that condition he would yeeld himselfe to them to wit that they would not kill him themselues the which he did because hee loued his countrey and would in no wise shed the blood of any of his citizens which yet hee saw hee must doe if hee should fight with them by hand-blowes Such was his loue to them that he would rather be deliuered to his enemies then that his countrey for his cause should come into danger and his faith in God was as firme and constant In whose mercie he trusting doubted not to commit himselfe to his enemies and to defend his nation from them with the perill of his life And this teacheth that we should haue regard of other as well as of our selues in so much that though we haue power in our hands to hurt them yea and though some cause be offered vs to deale hardly with them yet wee should forbeare and rather in godly wisedome passe by an offence except greater euill and inconuenience doe come thereby For alas what pleasure should we take in seeing euill fall vpon our brethren when we might haue held it from them which Iob in no wise would be brought to doe And as we should euery way haue regard of this toward our neighbour so in our families we should shew this wisedome care and loue toward them that are vnder our gouernment For the Lord sparing vs where we haue deserued hard measure at his hands nay we receiuing many and continuall blessings from God why should wee not also deale well with other So Iob gaue his seruants leaue to plead their cause and hearkened to them if they were wronged And of his neighbours hee said I was not moued with ioy when euill came vpon them that hate me neither suffered I my mouth to sinne by wishing a curse to their soule All these commendable graces in Iob are condemnations of the spitefull and malicious who glory in cruelty against other and seck to hurt and wrong them whom they should kindly regard Nature hath engrauen a loue in vs to our countrey but grace must season ripen and direct it And a shame it were for Christians to come short of Heathens in this point And yet there are memorable examples among them of such as for the procurement of their countreys good doubted not to deuote themselues to execrable deaths and offer themselues of their own accord to assured slaughter But what shall I say of this nation of ours Those Decij and Marcus Regulus shall rise vp in iudgement against many cursed vipers degenerate miscreants of this our nation who hauing some of them more bonds to obliege them to loue and loyaltie then this alone I meane fauours from Prince dignities and rewards more then for their desert yet haue attempted and taken vp armes against their owne parent and sought to shed her bowels vpon the ground some out of pretensed conscience but most out of hellish rancour discontent pride and vnthankfulnes haue raced out the image of all loue dutie or allegiance to God King Religion and Nation sorting themselues into two treacherous rankes of runnagates the one shrouding themselues as souldiers vnder forreine Popish Princes and waiting their opportunitie to doe mischiefe the other creeping into Cloysters and there taking vpon them the mark of Antichrist the Pope the deadly enemie of our Religion and State and renouncing their owne countrey and seruice thereto to the end that they may returne againe and worke the ruine thereof by their cursed policie But to leaue thâse and shut vp the poynt let Samson teach vs both Gouernours Ministers and people to vnite our loue to our nation and the Church of God therein by almeanes wishing her peace and procuring her welfare and pray God that they may more and more doe it whom it concerneth to roote out all aduersarie power which might threaten it As wee see Paul cannot thinke of his nation but he bursteth foorth into prayers for the saluation of it not doubting as a loyall souldier to pledge not his life onely but his soule for it And Dauid when hee beheld his people standing amazed at Goliah breaketh out thus What is this vncircumcised Philistim that he thus brayeth against God and the hoste of Israel Thus let it be with vs and not onely content our selues with that common loue that standeth in the communion of peace wealth ease pleasure and liberties for then the least discontent for the want thereof may preuaile so farre as to cause vs to forsweare all religious or ciuil interest in her that begat and nourished vs. The oath that he required of them was for the securing of him for hee thought himselfe safe if he had an oath from them that they would not kill him because then hee doubted not but that hee should breake his bands and escape the hands of the Philistims and vex them againe This his example teacheth vs to take heed how wee commit our selues into the hands of men and whom we cannot safely trust and such as are not faithfull to God except wee haue good securitie for our so doing yea though they make shewes of friendship and loue but much more when they bewray themselues to be such Neither hang we the peace of our conscience vpon men for they that haue none themselues will not tender and regard vs but put vs to our shirts Looke in the former chapter more at large hereof And here wee see that men venture their liues vpon the securitie of an oath He putteth his life into their hands when they had sworne they would not
both Magistrates Headborowes of townes and Masters of families so for the apprehending a Iesuite or Seminarie and such as are knowne to carrie traytors hearts against their Prince and land or any that come to sow their heretical and Idolatrous cockle and darnell among the Lords wheate also if any should goe about to aleniate the people from the true worship of God from publike hearing the Gospel preached we should be as forward as these Philistims in hunting them out of their holes and bringing them foorth rather then to haue our sloth and backwardnes in such good attempts to be condemned and that iustly and especially by the diligence of such as these Philistims were Against all which abominations wee should so ioyne together for the rooting out of them that they who can lend no other helpe hereto should yet enquire after them where there is cause and to tell and bewray their haunt as they did here tell the citizens of Azza that Samson was there And so all of vs with the poore people at the building of the Temple who brought morter to set forward the same when they could doe no greater thing all of vs I say are to doe our best endeuour at least to shew our forward and readie mindes to doe the good we can therein But lamentable is the sloth and backwardnes that is shewed in setting Gods matters and businesse forward when yet no time nor labour no nor cost is enough in following our owne much like them who are mentioned by the Prophet who dwelt in sieled houses themselues but suffered Gods house to lie wast But more of this before oftentimes and lately in the former Chapter by the like occasion But it is said in this verse that Samson escaped their hands for all their labour and diligence to take him and not onely so but also did them further hurt whereby we may see that God did not by and by punish him for all his great sinne committed but gaue him time to thinke of it whereas if he had forthwith chastised him hee had dealt with him but iustly But seeing God oft times dealeth so with vs I meane not to pursue vs by and by after some wilful and knowne sinne committed here lest we should misconceiue of his so doing learne we the end of his forbearing any of vs when we haue prouoked him for we know that he should doe vs no wrong if he should forthwith lay his hand vpon vs yea and that in some sharpe manner The reason of Gods deferring the Apostle Peter setteth downe who telleth vs that the Lord is patient to vs in such cases to this end euen to bring vs to repentance loe this good he meaneth vs by forbearing vs. And though it be no wise mans part to tempt him at all in hope of being spared as Samson heere was because sinnes can neuer be without feare though they may be without outward danger for a time yet if wee haue done so in times past for the time to come doe we so no more For so our Sauiour speaketh to the man in the Gospel who had been healed of his disease and the caueat watchword is as fit for vs Goe thy way and sinne no more lest a worse thing befall thee So the best that we can do in such a case is to iudge our selues speedily for the euill we haue done that we bee not iudged of the Lord which will bee sharpe and smartie Euen as Samson found it afterward and as other doe in the like case find it daily And yet without due regard had our corrupt hearts will driue vs vpon the common rocke to wit that wee shall hurt our selues that way which many doe euen to cry peace peace if God deferre to punish and to thinke for so wee loue to flatter our selues that he fauoureth vs when he doth not by and by strike vs euen as the wicked said in the Psalme because the Lord did as it were hold his tongue and did not by and by smite him for his sin that he was like vnto him that is of his mind and allowed him therein but God answered him I will reproue thee and set thy bad doings before thee that thou shalt acknowledge them whether thou wilt or no and so I will shew how I fauoured thee The second part of the Chapter Vers 4. And after this hee loued a woman by the plaine of Sorek whose name was Delilah 5. Vnto whom came the Princes of the Philistims and said vnto her Entice him and see wherein his great strength lieth and by what meanes we may ouercome him that we may bind him and punish him and euery one of vs shall giue thee eleuen hundred shekles of siluer 6. And Delilah said to Samson Tell mee I pray thee wherein thy great strength lieth and wherewith thou mightest be bound to doe thee hurt 7. Samson then answered vnto her If they bind me with seuen greene cords that were neuer dried then shall I be weake and be as another man 8. And the Princes of the Philistims brought her seuen greene cords that were not dry and she bound him therewith 9. And shee had men lying in waite with her in the chamber Then shee said vnto him The Philistims be vpon thee Samson And he brake the cords as a threed of tow is broken when it feeleth fire so his strength was not knowne 10. After Delilah said vnto Samson See thou hast mocked me and told me lies I pray thee now tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound 11. Then he answered her If they bind me with new ropes that were neuer occupied then shall I be weake and be as another man 12. Delilah therefore tooke new ropes and bound him therewith and said vnto him The Philistims be vpon thee Samson and men lay in waite in the chamber and he brake them from his armes as a threed 13. Afterward Delilah said vnto Samson Hitherto hast thou beguiled mee and told melies tell me how thou mightest be bound And he said vnto her If thou plattest seuen lockes of mine head with the threeds of the woofe 14. And she fastened it with a pinne and said vnto him The Philistims be vpon thee Samson and he awoke out of his sleepe and went away with the pin of the web and the woofe 15. Againe she said vnto him How canst thou say I loue thee when thine heart is not with me thou hast mocked me these three times and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lyeth 16. And because she was importunate vpon him with her words continually and vexed him his soule was pained to the death 17. Therefore hee told her all his heart and said to her There neuer came rasor vpon mine head for I am a Nazarite vnto God from my mothers wombe therfore if I be shauen my strength will go from me and I shall bee weake and be like to other men 18. And when Delilah saw that he
spirituall Haman and Iudas I meane the other in the eleuen Apostles as wee shall see by and by Concerning the two former when the one was taken from his pompe the other from his peeces of siluer which he rid himselfe of as hastily as euer he coueted them greedily the next newes we heare of them after they had giuen ouer themselues to the sinne intended is that they both were hanged and ended their cursed life in a cursed death To whom we may adde that foole in the Gospell with Achitophel and infinite others When they were in the top of their wickednesse and were not held backe by God then was their end neerest at hand But the other to wit the good Apostles were gratiously weaned from the pursuite of that which would haue bin their bane For when ambitiously they sought and that with striuing who should be the greatest and chiefe among the rest our Sauiour held them from it so as he made them ashamed to thinke that they had gone about it And what lost they by it Nay what gained they not rather for they learning humilitie found that sauour and sweetnes in his seruice afterward and in his loue as appeareth by their great lamentation that they made for his departing from them that it made way to their enioying of most worthy and precious benefits after their Masters ascension Euen so as hee wrought in the Apostles he doth the same in his other elect people who when they see they cannot enioy their desired vnlawfull liberties without their vtter vndoing then they begin to thinke it is high time to looke about them and doe see that it were depth of folly to refuse and forsake their owne mercie as Ionah speaketh for looking after lying vanities and so they resolue to renue their old acquaintance with their God and to returne to him their first husband and to fall to their old diet againe But oh mercie of God inualuable that they may do so And though it be with some bitternes to theÌ because the flesh sauoureth no goodnesse yet it is fauour on Gods behalfe toward them vnutterable and that which could ill haue been spared euen themselues being iudges Therefore to returne let all such as must be thus roughly vsed as Samson was I meane to be bereaued and plucked from their sinne so deare to them and that with violence ere they will giue it ouer let all such I say beware lest when God shall thus crosse them they like blind idiots and wilfull rebels fight not against God and increase their owne miserie by renuing their old sinnes and seeking forbidden pleasures or gaine which is little better then with swine to returne to their mire And such as neither forbearance nor violence will doe good vpon they may feare their case to be bad or others for them may seeing God vseth commonly no other remedie that will cure their maladie And by this we see that the end of sinne is not as the beginning and entrance into it For then the diuell most slighly and cunningly sheweth a foole all the pleasure and profit that it bringeth as he iudgeth it to be yea and offereth more to their conceit then they shal euer finde as it may be fittest to allure and blindfold them but in no wise suffereth them to thinke of that which will in the end that is their vndoing for such wisedome is too high for a foole And so the diuell to winde vs into the sinne commeth as a tempter but when he hath brought vs to commit it and we then begin to see what we haue done and in what wofull case we be left then he commeth as an accuser leauing vs in the briars as he did Iudas when we are meerely destitute of all helpe to shift for our selues Of which all the former stories of these Israelites are a plentifull witnes And here because I am shewing the miserable ends of sinne when men will needs follow their wicked lusts it were and so I haue thought good to admonish the reader it were good I say for him that is inticed strongly with the baites of any sinne whereby he seeth himselfe in danger to set before his owne eyes as particularly as he can the wofull effects of his former yeelding to or dallying with the deceitfull allurements thereof the holie Ghost here doth set downe foure or fiue which followed Samsons sinne As if a professor should forcibly be haled to vncleannes with any woman and that he seeth not likelihood to turne away from her let him answere himselfe thus This my sinne it is abhorred of God who is my delight and it will set him against me and make him mine enemie it will be a most grieuous reproch to my profession if I yeeld to it it will be a burthen of conscience importable the losse of grace by it will be vnspeakable the griefe of the godly vnutterable the fleshing and ioying of the wicked vnsatiable and besides all vtter vndoing to me it will be for euer and the iniurie to the partie to whom I should offer such discurtesie neuer to bee recompensed And let him oft as he shall see cause twit and crosse his carnall humour and answere himselfe what got Eue when she had tasted that which being forbidden her was yet in her deceitfull fancie for many causes to bee desired And let him say further Doe I thinke long till I crie out with her that the thing I so impotently hast after hath been my great sorrow and vndoing All meanes shall be found little enough to obtaine deliuerance from such bondage And seeing it is no speaking to vs at the very instant of going about the committing the sinne let this and such like meditations be vsually and seriously thought on by vs before if we be wise Lastly in this verse one thing more I thinke good to note and that is the care that these Philistims had to set their prisoners to worke as they set Samson to grinde at the mill among the rest as they did the other which were worthie the following them in by vs Christians though I would they shamed vs not herein that knowing how ill occupied the malefactors be in the prison they might by good imploying of them in some honest labour not only get somewhat toward their keeping many of them being starued for want thereof but also be staied and held from much idlenesse and mischiefe which they otherwise will doe as at this day is to be lamented and seene in most prisons Wee see the commoditie of setting them to worke in prison by appointing worke to the poore who liue among vs at libertie who being diligently set to worke doe both maintaine themselues and many of them a great charge and also are kept thereby from many offences and sorrowes Nay further if heathens haue gone so farre in ciuil policy though not for hatred of the sin themselues being as bad in other kindes as to
zeale which they pretend they neede not by breaking oath nay prison prouide for themselues as sundrie of them haue done to testifie what a good cause they haue to maintaine who betray it so grossely And this further condemneth that common vnfaithfulnesse and falsehood which also I haue noted before but cannot too much complaine of at this day practised to the vtter vndoing of many thousands by breaking both promise and bond and running away with mens goods or playing the banckroupts and all to defeate them Now in that it is said he did to her according to his vow it is a sufficient proofe that he vowed her not to virginitie I haue in the verses before shewed how these words are to be vnderstood to wit that he sacrificed her as his vow was to doe to that which should first meet him and did not tie her to liue a virgine and therefore I say no more of it lest I should make a needles repetition and if I dissent herein from any they are those who confessed it was but their opinion in that they thought otherwise then I doe and I haue shewed my reasons of this my assertion Now though hee did so performe his vow vpon his daughter of meere conscience for he thought that he ought to keepe and performe that vow which hee had solemnely made though it fell out vpon his owne daughter yet this that he did consult with none in all that time about it which is admirable that he did not doth admonish all in doubtfull and dangerous cases to aske counsell and seeke resolution But withall let them take this to seeke where they ought namely in the Scriptures or at the mouth of the godly and learned to be resolued by the Scriptures See before verse 30. It is said further that it was kept as a custome of the daughters of Israel that they went to bewaile the daughter of Iphtah foure times in the yeere Some translate the Hebrew word to talke with and to comfort other to bewaile the word yeeldeth both significations But whether of the two is to be vnderstood in this place is easie to see for the vow of Iphtah being taken in this meaning that he ment thereby to offer her in sacrifice it followeth of necessitie that these maides bewailed her when they met and did not talke with her shee being dead For although the Hebrew word in deed signifieth both to common with and to bewaile yet I haue shewed that the latter sense here is to be imbraced Now in that they held this as a custome to lament her that she was sacrificed it appeares they sought this thereby that it should not bee forgotten and besides that it is like enough they did it that all parents might be warned to make no such vowes This custome while it was not abused nor brought to any superstitious vse was the lesse to be misliked whereas otherwise it had been fit to breake it off accordingly should customes be thought of and dealt with For as they agree with Gods law and with charitie they are to be obserued and kept but otherwise as they be superstitious and prophane to hinder or put by Gods worship or when there is danger that they will grow to such abuse they are to be broken Also when they tend to the maintaining of needlesse charge and expences the hurt and hindring of any or bee otherwise vnlawfull as there are many such at this day maintained and keept they are to be abolished And therefore the blind and wicked practise of spending the twelue daies at the Natiuitie in play reuell and disorder also the leaud customes still retained in some parts of this land to keepe their prophane customary feasts and drinkings on the Sabbath with al other misrule of like sort are vtterly to bee rooted out and better plants set in their roomes if it may be of which I say no more hauing before more fully discoursed thereof THE SIXTIETH NINE SERMON ON THE TWELFTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES Verse 1. And the men of Ephraim gathered themselues together and went Northward and said vnto Iphtah Wherefore wentest thou to fight against the children of Ammon and didst not call vs to goe with thee we will therefore burne thine house vpon thee with fire 2. And Iphtah said vnto them I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon and when I called you ye deliuered me not out of their hands 3. So when I saw that yee deliuered me not I put my life in mine hands and went vpon the children of Ammon so the Lord deliuered them into mine hands Wherefore then are yee come vpon me now to fight against me 4. Then Iphtah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim because they said Ye Gileadites are runnagates of Ephraim among the Ephramites and among the Manassites 5. Also the Gileadites tooke the passages of Iorden before the Ephramites and when the Ephramites that were escaped said Let me passe Then the men of Gilead said vnto him Art thou an Ephramite If he answered Nay 6. Then they said vnto him Say now Shibboleth and he said Sibboleth for he could not so pronounce then they tooke him and slew him at the passages of Iorden and there fell at that time of the Ephramites two and fortie thousand THe summe of this Chapter consisting of two parts is this first the sedition of the Ephramites but to their owne cost For they quarreling with Iphtah for a light or rather no cause and comming to make warre with him many of them were slaine by him and others of them in flying were in the like manner put to the sword and this to verse 7. this is the summe of the first part The second declareth and setteth downe the time of the gouernment of Iphtah and of the three other Iudges who succeeded one another and of their death and buriall to wit Iphtahs and the other who were these Ibzan Elon and Abdon and this to the end of the Chapter The first part of the Chapter IN this former part these two things are contained First the bitter contending of the Ephramites with Iphtah threatning to burne him and his house with fire and Iphtahs answere and defence to verse 4. The second thing is how Iphtah killeth diuers of them in the skirmish and fight and others of them in their flying away to verse 7. The sinnes of these Ephramites which they shew here in one action are many of the which it shall not be amisse to take a view as the text offereth occasion in the most whereof I will bee the briefer because I haue handled them already vpon the like fact Chap. 8. 1. The first is sedition in rising against their lawfull gouernour Iphtah and this came of pride whereby they attributed so much vnto themselues aboue other Then their vnthankfulnesse to him who had farre indangered himselfe to the