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
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 thēselues 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
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 afflictiō vpon thē 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 seruāts 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
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 cōcluding 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
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 â—â—ue 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
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 frō their herts are ouercome with deadly cōceits against their brethrē when they see they haue fallen by infirmity are strongly incensed against them leaue thē to themselues neuer telling them of it kindly as if they see thē 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
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
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
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 corruptiō remaineth to be purged out of thē 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
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 frō hauing cōmunion 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
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
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
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
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 slâ—rh 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 thâ—se 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
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 thē 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
A COMMENTARY VPON THE WHOLE BOOKE OF IVDGES PREACHED FIRST AND DELIVERED IN SVNDRIE LECTVRES SINCE collected and diligently perused and now published For the benefit generally of all such as desire to grow in faith and Repentance and especially of them who would more cleerely vnderstand and make vse of the worthie examples of the Saints recorded in diuine history PENNED BY RICHARD ROGERS PREACHER of Gods word at Wethersfield in Essex HEBR. 12. 1. Wherefore seeing we are compassed with so great a cloud of witnesses let vs cast off euery thing that presseth downe c. Whatsoeuer is written was written for our instruction that wee through consolation of the Scriptures might haue hope BY WISDOM PEACE BY PEACE PLENTY LONDON Imprinted by FELIX KYNGSTON for Thomas Man and are to be sold at his shop in Pater-noster Row at the signe of the Talbot 1615. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE SIR EDVVARD COKE KNIGHT LORD chiefe Iustice of England and one of his Maiesties most Honorable priuie Counsel R. R. wisheth all blessing internall externall and eternall from God our Father through Christ Iesus RIght Honourable as it hath alway befallen the best both Diuine and Humane lawes to be peruerted by common profanenes and lewd custome so may it be verified in all other things of like precious nature that they could neuer escape the taint of humane errour and abuse Witnesse the institution of the holy feast of Shiloh mentioned in this booke which though first was chiefly vsed as a memoriall of Gods benefits yet in processe of time grew to extreme abuse and gaue occasion to the vnlawful stealing of the virgins in their dances Nay witnesse euen this approueable custome of Dedicating bookes which though it hath been long taken vp and continued for good and respectiue reasons yet hath it been of old the practise of heretikes and still is of vnworthy writers to conueigh the poison of their books into the inferiour sort by stiling and gracing them with the names of remarkable personages Religion and Christianitie the ministerie of the Word and the Profession thereof are things in name and nature of the highest value howbeit as the fairest apple to the worme so are these exposed to the treble corruption of error infidelitie and hypocrisie Semblably the writings of Diuine argument whether vpon Scripture as this or Treatises consonant thereto are of singular vse in the Church yet neuer free from the malignitie of some men Especially such as who either out of their curiositie can endure nothing which clawes not their leprous humor or through their carelesnes professe either to meddle with no mans writings at all or without putting difference to embrace good and bad with equall affection For the two former of these three I meane the vngratiously nice and the gracelesly sensuall this I must say that since the Scriptures themselues the most solemne of all other both for matter and stile cannot rellish with them I despaire that my writings should procure their appetite Yea peraduenture this worke of mine will displease their daintie eyes and fingers by the very bignes and so preiudice their further handling These therfore if their disease be incorrigible I professe not myselfe a cooke for to dresse their diet but rather leaue them to feede vpon the chalke and morter of their vnsauourie Pamphlets while others nourish their minds with more wholesome meate and send them to the trough and akornes since they refuse Angels food For the latter sort since there is more hope to correct their error then the others vice I pray to God that with their generall willingnes to reade he would giue them an vnderstanding heart to discerne aright of things that differ that the holy eye of their iudgement may be like a Musicall eare in the distinguishing of sounds and like the fining pot of the Goldsmith in seuering the gold from drosse or his touchstone in discouering of mettals Also my hope is that such as buy new bookes of all sorts may happily light vpon this among others which if they shall doe I wish them no worse then that the gaine they reape and the taste they get from this may disgrace and distaste with them all fruitlesse and offensiue authors Pardon me right Honourable if I haue been ouer bold in aduenturing to publish these poore labours and thrust them vnder your patronage I haue not sinisterly aimed at the Poets marke who wisheth all writers to set a glosse vpon their worke by a glorious entrance But partly to shroud myselfe in God vnder your authoritie against the tempest and violence of all vniust censurers such as I named before and partly yet chiefly to commend the diligent perusall of this booke to all religious or indifferent Readers by your Honours example perswading myselfe that you will not more willingly become patrone to the writer then a patterne of the things contained in the writing itselfe And as by Gods ordinance the oyle of Consecration was first powred vpon the head of Aaron yet staied not there but ranne downe thence vpon his beard and to the nethermost skirts of his clothing so I iudged this order no whit preposterous if first I presumed to powre this oyle fetcht out of the Lords Tabernacle vpon your Honours head that so from you as the sweet showres trickling downe from the hill to the valley the fragrancie and fruite hereof might descend lower vnto meaner persons Among sundrie other bookes of holy writ which in the course of my Ministerie these fourtie yeeres past God hath assisted me to explane and go through with my Audience I haue for some causes chosen this to leaue as a poore pledge and memoriall to Gods Church of my fidelitie paines and loue And though I respected also the good and request of my owne Congregation herein into whose hearts I desire doubly to fasten the naile of wholesome instruction which soone slippeth out yet seeing my time is short and my voyce cannot reach beyond her vsuall limits I haue endeuoured with my pen to draw a long and a wearisome line that the other defect might be supplied looking vp to him for a requitall who hath promised not to conceale the labour of our loue I haue Right Honourable purposely altered the course of my writing which formerly I haue vsed in my Treatise As Elisha the Prophet put his hands vpon the King of Israel his hand when hee bad him shoote so when wee vndertake the handling of Scripture the holy Ghost allowes vs not to say all wee can inuent but requires vs to put our hands in his hands and to applie our selues more strictly vnto his drift then in Tractates of our owne wherein generally our scope and libertie is more large Yet as the text hath led me I haue held myselfe to these two markes The one more generall to build vp the Christian Reader in faith and good life To the which end as I haue alreadie written a large Discourse if it haue yet come
his profession rediculus And to let him see what this will grow to hee may further vnderstand that God dealeth with such after this manner that first he suffereth them to be vnsetled in their course so that they serue God awkly and vntowardly as he goeth to worke that vseth dull edged instruments they cannot pray nor walke roundly and cheerefully in their calling but are full of vnquietnes with much grudge of conscience and a very tast of hell which to continue many houres or dayes is yet an heauier burden and greater bondage And yet if they relent not when they be vnsetled and when they see themselues thus far out of the way of godlines a greater danger is like to follow that is that they shall be hardened and so farre from repentance and then they fall from euill to worse till they breaking into other open offences bee met withall and requited with sundry open and shamefull punishments This is the Lords manner of dealing with his owne euen as he dealeth with the vngodly first to warne them secretly by the accusation of their conscience and if that doe them no good to call them backe then he casteth them into bodily or visible iudgement And so the bestende they haue of their bad doings is to goe backe with shame and sorrow whereas they might haue shunned both and haue liued in peace and with comfort Which being duly considered hath made mee oft to maruell that men whom I know to be very carelesse can yet bee so quiet Me thinks where much sinne is committed and such as the persons cannot be ignorant of it when they haue done it they should not put it vp so cleanely and sleepe vpon it so easily but that it ought to trouble them euen as the stomacke ouercharged seeketh to be vnburdened So I say I thinke they should haue but small peace within when so much may bee seene to bee amisse without for let them set as faire a face on their bad doings as they can yet can they not be the whole men that they goe for and God wil not be mocked they must cast vp their vnsauorie gorge and clense their harts and hands from euill before God will accept and take knowledge of them for his For if the conscience being tender and like the apple of the eie can suffer no violence how can they loade it with so great a burden of knowne sinnes but they must needs cause it to cry out if they doe not with true repentance seeke to God for mercie to ease it For a penitent soule cannot feele the least violence to be offered to the conscience by sinne committed but it crieth out to be cured and therefore they who giue greater cause cannot bee in good case when they set it light hauing so sore offended And thus much by occasion of the Canaanites sinne It followeth THE THIRD SERMON VPON THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES VERS 5. And they found Adonibezek in Bezek and they fought against him and slew the Canaanites and the Perezites VERS 6. And Adonibezek fled and they pursued after him and and caught him cut off the thumbes of his hands and of his feet VERS 7. And Adonibezek said Seuenty Kings hauing the thumbes of their hands and of their feete cut off gathered bread vnder my table as I haue done so God hath rewarded me So they brought him to Ierusalem and there he died TO make entrance into these verses which I haue read yee haue heard how God gaue victorie now it is shewed more particularly how the victorie before mentioned was gotten the place being set downe where the battel was fought that is in Bezek and the King of the people is mentioned who was Adonibezek who fled in the battell as being too weake but was taken and handled as is set downe in the text to wit hee had the thumbes of his hands and feete cut off Whether the men of Iuda knew that he had so dealt with other or no or whether the Lord directed them so to doe without knowing any such thing it is not expressed but he himselfe confessed that hee had done so to others and that God had requited him with the like That which was said of the Canaanites punishment that it was inflicted vpon them when their sin was growne ripe may as truly be said of their King as by his owne confession may be gathered but hauing spoken of that point alreadie I omit to say any more of it But seeing this Adonibezek being taken as he fled had his thumbs cut off as he had cut off others before out of these verses let vs first note this that God measures out to men euen as they measure and mete to others according to the words of our Sauiour With what measure ye mete shall bee measured out to you againe So that as we haue done to other so shall we be dealt with The Lord confirmes this truth where he saith He that sheddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed Which was rightly verified in Haman and that in many points For first as he accused Gods people vniustly so he was charged and that by the King himselfe where yet he was not guilty and he was condemned without solemne iudgement seeing he had done so to others and when he was handled most reprochfully and adiudged to most shamefull punishment yet there was none that pitied him a wonderfull thing to be spoken of one that had been in so great fauor with the King and why this euen because he had been pitilesse towards other that it might be verified which was then true and afterward written Iudgement shall bee mercilesse to him that sheweth no mercy Why was he hanged and that vpon the gallows that he had set vp for godly Mordecay I say stil euen that the scripture might be fulfilled euery way that as he had done so it might be done to him again for in that hee purposed to doe it it was done alreadie in Gods account Now that wee may bring this neerer to our selues many among vs complaine how they be wronged in their dealings with men they are euill spoken of slandred railed vpon they say and many other waies abused And they thinke they receiue very hard measure at mens hands hereby they maruell at it and complaine that none are vsed as they be but what blindnes is it that couereth there eies For doe not all that liue with them know at least their owne consciences can tell them that they haue dealt euen so with other and thereby haue giuen cause to be so dealt withall againe But oh blind selfe-loue that cannot see that which all other doe see I meane which thinkes that tolerable in ones selfe which yet hee accuseth and condemneth in another and seeth not the iust iudgement of God vpon himselfe by other mens wronging him which hee himselfe by his iust desâ—â—ts hath brought vpon
this about the matter in hand but that we may see the wisdome and mercy of God herein who mixeth both together because if all our life should be smoothly carried and easily passed we should be made thereby vnfit for our change especially for great trials when they come and so likewise if it should be for the most part tedious and troublesome there should be nothing in a manner but wearinesse and discomfort And therefore all sorts should seeke to be in Gods fauour that so they may also bee vnder his gouernment in both estates and that while they are so they may daily keepe so and that aboue all other things which estate of life onely hath the promise of blessing in euery calling and condition and where it is wanting all confusion for the most part breaketh in amongst men that they be not only vnquiet in their troubles and doe most vncomfortably go vnder difficulties but also when they enioy any more freedome and prosperitie they be euen in their best estate vnprofitable if not offensiue and troublesome And if it seeme strange to any that God thus disposeth of mens trauels and dealings that the successe be vncertaine let them looke to the end why he doth so before set downe and namely if they be much troubled for that many casualities fall out in their liues they must know that if it were otherwise they would keepe no compasse and therefore God seeth it meet sometime that it should be so But another thing to be noted here in Caleb is this that when hee saw it required courage as well as skill to aduenture and set vpon this citie for the destroying of Gods enemies that were in it as hee was commanded promiseth his daughter to him that would set vpon it This was no small matter that he offered but marke why as I haue shewed all may see hee did shew this forwardnesse to the rooting out of Gods enemies And it teacheth that for the Lords sake we ought to doe much and yet count it no great matter that we doe To aduance his name and helpe to setvp his true worship and the sincere preaching of the Gospell the ouerthrowing of his enemies and for such like seruice of his euery man ought to be ready and willing to be abased in his countenance weakened in his wealth and sustaine much hardship if need be Dauid may be brought in here and set in none of the meanest roomes for that which he did in this behalfe For beside that there was none in his time that honoured God more then hee did in the louing frequenting and longing after his being in the Lords house and the place where his honour dwelleth so hee bare reproch as mighty as hee was and that willingly for his zeale toward God for when he brought the Arke of God with shouting and sound of trumpet into the citie of Dauid dancing before it Michael Sauls daughter looked out at the window and dispised him as thinking it too base a thing for a King to doe so but he answered it was before the Lord and that he would yet for his sake be more vile So Ester for bringing the people of God out of desolation and vtter rooting out put her life in danger saying If I perish I perish So Moses and Paul desired rather to perish then the people of God should be forsaken and so God his glory be empeached And why should they not all these I meane and other such as well as they euen Kings and Queenes lay downe their Crownes at his feet and aduance him who hath honoured them aboue others And much more wee how are meane and inferiours should think our selues happie if we may bee imployed by him or if any thing that we haue might doe him seruice According to that which is written Mark 1. He that loueth father or mother more then me is not worthie of me And it is true indeed that wee should loue nothing so well but we should forgoe it for the Lords cause therefore when he saith Giue me thine heart my sonne we should reioyce that he will aske and take any thing that we haue and yeeld it him with all readinesse But for ought I see I may iustly complaine and say wee are like those children which hauing gotten what they can at their fathers hand cast him off and flourish boldly with that which they haue gotten of him So to speake what I thinke as I see with mine owne eies when God hath inriched men with his manifold blessings there is not one of many that considereth it of whom he hath receiued all that he inioyeth but glorieth of that which is not his owne and setteth out himselfe with anothers goods as though hee owed nothing to him of whom he receiued him And yet to aggrauate our sin I must needs adde one thing I am perswaded greatly to our shame and conuiction that many in the Papacie who shal neuer haue reward for it are brought through error to do many things and giue much in a superstitious zeale to this end that they may bee saued But if they doe that which God neuer required at their hands and therfore amisse ought not we who haue learned better to do readily that which we are commanded especially our reward being certaine If they doe it to merit that which they shall neuer attaine ought not we much more to doe the duties which we are commanded who belieue that we haue the best things freely promised I meane eternall life which also in due time shall bee giuen vs of God and that of his meere mercie and bountie And if Caleb would giue his daughter should not wee much more giue some part of our substance to feede the hungry and to helpe cloath the naked when we may yet reserue sufficient for our selues besides Whereas the truth is that all is too little that wee can doe to good vses that wee might honour God as Caleb here could affoord him the best thing that they had and yet all is of vs thought to much when it is but little that we doe this way lest wee should hinder our selues And to end this verse this Caleb being a godly man and as well renowned and approoued for his grace as for his greatnesse in saving that hee would giue his daughter to wife sheweth that hee had well learned Moses doctrine in whose daies he liued and namely in this point as he had in many other that children are not to dispose of their owne marriage but the father To whom though many haue lost their honour that way as being vnfitter to make choice then their children themselues yet God hath giuen them this libertie that if they do no good with it they may be conuicted by it who for their place and yeeres should be fitter to make the match in good sort then the children who for the most part are caried not so much by religion and
yet were not so and all Diuines almost grant that Marie the mother of our Sauiour had no more children then Christ only and therfore they expound those places Mat. 13. 12. of his kinsmen and kinswomen And that this the Hebrew word here vsed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifieth a naturall brother is put as vsually for a kinseman also and the posteritie of brethren the Scripture is cleare and plentifull in shewing it Reade for Example Leuit. 25. where the word brethren signifieth the children of brethren Ouer your brethren the children of Israel ye shall not rule one ouer another with crueltie And numb 32. shall your brethren the children of Israel goe to warre and ye tarrie here In both places by brethren the Scripture meaneth the posteritie and children of the 12. sonnes of Iacob and so many other Scriptures doe And so to returne if this Othniel and Achsah had been within the degrees forbidden that he might not haue married her but it had been against the commandement of God who doubteth but that hee would haue been better aduised and that hee meant not in offering her to doe any thing that should offend God I say therefore if either Othniel or any other winning the citie could not lawfully haue married her Caleb would haue supplied his offer some other way to the contentment of the partie And vpon the answer to the question I say much like as vpon the answer of the former question as the matter requireth and giueth occasion Let none gather from this speech of Caleb that it is lawfull to marrie within degrees forbidden as though Caleb had made such a marriage for his daughter And although he were called his kinsman yet seeing it is not said he was his brothers or sisters sonne therefore I haue no necessarie occasion offered to answere the question whether Cosin Germans may marrie together but yet seeing I haue thus spoken of it I therefore signifie my iudgement agreeing with such as I haue read and conferred with and that is this that although the word of God doe not expressely forbid it yet seeing it prohibiteth those degrees that be further off it is of great probabilitie that Christishould more then in a common manner consider and examine for what weightie and speciall causes they doe imbrace and not abstaine from such marriages And me thinkes he hath giuen some watchword thereof vnto vs in this that the life of many couples so marrying together hath been found tedious and accompanied with mutual dislikes betwixt the parties when no reason could be seene thereof beside that and for proofe hereof it hath been acknowledged that to haue been the cause thereof For my part when the question hath been propounded to mee about such marriages I haue as I know the practise of many my betters to haue been I haue I say disswaded from them for inconueniences not as vnlawfull and so I leaue this point But to returne to Caleb although he had maried his daughter within degrees forbidden yet it had giuen no libertie to vs to doe so neither to doe any thing else that is vnlawfull or forbidden by the word of God forasmuch as we haue our direction there what we may do either in matters of marriage or in any thing else whatsoeuer And therefore wee ought little to regard examples that leade any other way And thus these obiections being answered I will proceed in th story And first that it is said here that Othniel being a valiant man took the citie Debir notwithstanding that the difficulties to win it were very great by this wee see that besides this verifieth the prouerb which is heere spoken of him that a mans gift preferreth him as the like may be said of Ioseph Daniel and others and that all men should seeke for the gifts of God which they may attaine to honour the giuer who preferreth them thereby I say besides that we may learne that Othniel being religious and his prayers being most faithfully made to God as we reade in the Chronacles so that God heard them and yet he tooke incouragement by the offer of Caleb to set vpon that great worke we may I say learne that euen godly men may take and vse the benefit of such incouragements as are lawfully offered them to the going about any worke that God commandeth them It is true indeed that euen his bare word alone ought to put life into vs and quicken vs to our duties and much more because there is a promise of blessing annexed to the obeying of euery commandement of his yea a great promise of reward but yet seeing we are weake because of the flesh that striueth against the spirit in vs therefore we haue need of all helpes and furtherance that may whet vs on And therefore though it was the dutie of Othniel to set against the enemies of God as the rest of the Israelites were bound to doe yet there is no doubt but he was much more earnestly set on by this incouragement So it is the dutie of euery faithfull minister of God to preach the Gospel diligently and willingly euen for the commandement of Christ If thou louest mee feede my lambes and my sheepe yet if the Lord blesse his labours plentifully and the people minister to him readily so that hee bee sufficiently prouided for no man doubteth but that hee shall doe his dutie much better as seeing thereby that hee is as good reason why hee should so bee highly and well regarded So a Christian man that laboureth with his hands in the calling God hath set him ought to bee occupied therein willingly and for conscience sake but if God blesse him with good successe he shall goe about the duties of it farre more chearefully and in better sort In all things we find it thus If the Gospell be soundly and diligently preached all ought to be ready to heare it but if magistrates themselues bee forward that way and cause others by their authoritie to doe the same so that they see the Gospel be had in good account shall it not thinke we quicken euen the best much more then they should otherwise be not that these meaner incouragemēts should most preuaile with men but the Lords commandement yet that shall the better doe it when these also be added to helpe our weakenes But to looke to these principally while the chiefe is neglected that is a thing meerely preposterous and the next way to pul downe al right maner of going about our duties what shewes thereof soeuer men wil make and how commonly so euer the the greatest part offend this way And yet God seeing the infirmitie of his people and their vnto wardnesse to godly duties and how hardly they are brought to the well discharging of them by his bare commandement hath drawne them on by fit rewards promises and incouragements For who doubteth that the deare seruants of God are much heartned and helped
negligently Thus Ioshua though he pitied the state of Achan yet plainely tels him In as much as thou hast troubled vs the Lord shall trouble thee this c. Thus the Lord punished Saul seuerely for sparing Agag and Ahab for so dealing with Benhadad saying Thy life shall goe for his And therefore we must be well assured of Gods commandement when we goe about any such thing against such persons as beeleaud stubburne and willfull This commandement of God is to be extended not onely against all traiterous enemies of the Church but also against that rauening and roguish progeny of spoilers of the peace and gouernment and hauocke makers of the commonwealth as murtherers c. And therefore confuteth the cursed practise of Iesuites who if they be not as yet practizers in that kind themselues doe yet by all meanes labour to extenuate the odious facts and treacheries of their complices by false reports and treducing the iust proceedings of Christian Princes and the execution of their lawes for the restraining of such monsters by infamous libels and the like But we must here take great heed also that we colour not our cruell and vncharitable actions with a pretence of zeale to God and yet giue place to our affections vnder a colour of seeking the glory of God which may easily be done as the Apostles did calling for fire from heauen vpon the Samâ—â—itans when they would not receiue Christ into their ciue but wee must know that all men being our neighbours wee must bee enemies to none For the which cause Dauid praved for his owne enemies as namely for Saul when yet hee prayed against Gods enemies hauing also good warrant to doe so And Moses being the meekest of other in his owne case yet against Corah and his companie who were the enemies of God how earnestly did hee deale pronouncing that the earth should open and swallow them vp aliue for their rebellion And Paul who teacheth vs to ouercome euill with good doe yet pray feruently against the false teachers saying to the Galarhians in great compassion towards them I would to God that they were cut off which doe disquiet you So that as we heare they did it behoueth vs to beare our owne iniuries and indignities committed against vs withall meeknesse and to deale mildly in our owne matters but in the Lords farre otherwise And where it is demanded whether may the godly pray against Tyrants by whom the true worship of God is hindred I answere that against their tyrannie and cruell doings we ought to pray but not against their persons who may possibly repent For the Lord not hauing reuealed to vs that for all their wickednesse they haue yet committed the vnpardonable sin therefore what good meaning so euer wee haue therein wee are not allowed to pray for their confusion But if God once make knowne his mind to be such as he will haue them destroyed or not to be prayed for then we must both approoue of it and execute it accordingly and yet so that as they are men we pitie them as our Sauiour denouncing against the people of Ierusalem shortly after to bee destroyed yet wept in beholding the miserie that was comming vpon them In this next verse it is shewed that Iuda yet preuailed further and woon other cities named in the text which yet in the 3. chapter of this booke are said to haue been in the hands of the Philistines as they were also long after For the people of Israel oft prouoked the Lord and so lost againe some part of that which they had won euen as it was like now to bee that for their sin they lost these cities which they had before inioyed In the 19. verse it is said that Iuda possessed the mountaines also and to the end that nothing might be ascribed to the men namely to them of Iudah and to Simeon for Simeon had entred into couenant to ioyne with them their brethren in these warres and so did here though Iuda who was appointed thereto be onely named to the end I say that nothing may be ascribed to them it is expressly added that the Lord was with them in those their great enterprizes To teach vs by whose might they preuailed and what was the cause that they did so euen this seeing God was with them And all men wil grant as much that if God be with a man he shall prosper and none shall be against him to do him hurt as the Apostle writeth And there is sufficient reason of it For who shall resist him or if he say the word who shall call it backe Now we are to know that God is not with any man idle or weake but mighty as he saith himselfe to Asa by the Prophet The Lord looketh downe from heauen to see who is weake that he may be strong with him But to the end so worthie a point as this is may throughly doe vs good we must vnderstand that to haue God with vs so as we may rest surely perswaded that he is so and inioy his presence constantly while we liue which is a treasure vnualuable and vnknowne to the world it is required of vs by God that we first haue him for our God and be truly reconciled to him by our Lord Iesus Christ for then he will neuer leaue vs neither forsake vs but safely keepe vs to the resurrection day but otherwise except God be thus made ours and we vnited to him by faith which howsoeuer it should be done cannot here be more set downe what portion of wealth wisdome c. we haue out of that communion with him it is accursed And further we are to know that God may bee with men in some sort as by his power and bodily helpe and at some time and yet not be with them to their effectuall comfort and alwaies These are great matters and duly to be considered of vs for he may be with the wicked so as he was with Ahab when he gaue the great hoastes of Benhadad into his hands yea and that which is more hee may bee and is present with the vnbeleeuers in the congregation when he inlightneth them to vnderstand that which is soundly taught and to take liking of the same But this is by his power onely but not by his effectuall grace and fauour as he was with Mary who being freely beloued of God he was also with her and his being with her made her blessed and ioyful and if he be thus with vs he wil both spiritually grace vs and also bodily blesse vs as shall be expedient for vs euen as hee did Gedeon when he was said to be with him And this to the end we may not deceiue our selues it behoueth vs to marke for our singular and continuall comfort and therefore let men giue all their diligence to make their saluation sure and to come into the fauour of God that so they may
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
and kept a great part of their possessions in their hands by force So that we see that the negligence of the other tribes in suffering the forbidden nations to remaine and waxe strong caused these their brethren to be wronged and to go without their due which God had allotted them For if they had kept their enemies out they might haue been able now to helpe this tribe of Dan who if the house of Ioseph had not done more then the rest they had been left almost without habitation And by this we may see that mens sinnes doe not only redound to their owne hurt but also to the hurt of others Whereas none are hurt neither themselues by those that feare to offend God and be carefull to do their duties but they may receiue great benefit thereby But the other hurt many as well as themselues As wee see bad parents what woe they hoard vp for their vnhappy children as Ahab and the like What they do to themselues this place giues no occasion to shew directly but by consequent but how other feare the worse by them And the same may bee seene in many particulars among vs also both touching body and soule As first how many soules doth an ignorant idle or scandalous Minister destroy and cause to perish How many good people doth an vngodly Magistrate grieue discourage and make faint in good duties and flesh the vngodly as Salomon saith When the righteous are in authority the people reioyce but when the wicked beareth rule the people sigh The riotous ill company keepers and such as giue ill counsell how many doe they spoile as in the Epistle to the Corinthians we reade where it is said Euill words corrupt good manners And what discredit to the godly and to the Gospell it selfe hypocrites who professe it doe bring Saint Paul declareth speaking thus to the Iewes Thou that teachest another and teachest not thy selfe causest the name of God to bee euill spoken of so that both when the Gospell is truly preached and also practised of some yet both are ill spoken of by the wicked because of the offence that hypocrites giue And generally the wicked are the causes of mischiefe and punishment from God vpon the places where they liue causing the earth to mourne and be wearie of the inhabitants yea Gods children are of the worse for their neighbourhood not onely while they gather infection by them to their soules but they smart bodily also with them and by them oftentimes in a publike calamity which their wicked liues haue caused Further to giue briefly some instances of this also in the hurts that wicked men do to others in things of this life for it would be too long to shew it at large what doth the gamester spendthrift and the slothfull person but bring all to naught and vndoe his familie as well as bring himselfe to beggerie What doth the oppressor and the vsurer in exacting that which is agreed vpon how hardly soeuer it can be yeelded but fleece the borrower till he makes his skinne to grow to his bones for want of flesh How many cormorant-like rich men doe the like in other kindes imposing rents vpon their poore tenants which constraine them to labour for them onely in prouiding their due against their day and cannot maintaine themselues so well as seruants may and ought to be whereas God alloweth them to liue and bee well maintained by their labour And other defraud the labourer of his wages or pay what they list and yet Saint Iames saith Their cry is entred into the eares of the Lord of hosts Oh! it cannot be expressed what are the discommodities and annoiances which the sinnes of men and their wicked liues doe cause and bring vpon others as well as themselues as the the tribes heere wrought woe to their neighbors these Danites seeing all the plagues and mischiefes which are euery where to be found are to bee imputed vnto them to verifie that which is written Woe be to the world because of her iniquities And this be said of the tribe of Dan and of all the rest Now there remaineth a question to be answered and so I end the whole chapter And the question is this seeing the tribes dwelt with the Canaanites and tooke tribute of them whether it bee lawfull for a godly man to dwell and bee conuersant with the vngodly as Papists c I answere that seeing Christ kept company with the publicans and great sinners and seeing Saint Paul would not giue leaue to a beleeuing wife to depart from an vnbeleeuing husband if hee will dwell with her therefore it is not simply vnlawfull to dwell with such but if the godly be well setled in sound knowledge and strong in faith so as they be not tied to communicate with them in their false worship of God they may but yet with certaine cautions As first this that in companying with them they intendand endeauour to perswade them to sound religion and that to this end they shew themselues kinde and gentle the better to draw them on But if they be in feare and danger to be drawne themselues they ought to cut off such fellowship The second thing that they must take heede of is that they liue vnreproueably and without iust blame among them for otherwise they shall do them hurt and harden them rather then doe them the least good Thirdly they may not in the least matter vnder any colour of friendship mixe themselues with them either in their false opinions or in worshiping God no not although they should hope thereby to draw them on the easier to embrace Christ as many hypocriticall professors doe and thereby couer their voluptuousnesse couetousnesse and prophanenesse who should rather remember this that they may not do euill that good may come of it Lastly they must take heede that they seeke not their owne profit at their hands by companying with thē nor to take their pleasure in gaming play with them whereby they bewraying their weakenesse as impatience greediesse of gaine wrangling or being immoderate in spending the time therein they should set them further backe from imbracing the Gospell Therefore if these cautions be not regarded and also if wee haue no hope to win them wee must craue pardon and leaue them to God hauing no more to doe with them in that familiar manner further then of necessity which may possibly bee either on our part or on theirs as if their neede should bee great and they had no other way to bee relieued by then by vs or if our liues should be preserued by them In which case we ought to be very warie lest we be intangled by them Also we may company with them if we bee linked to them by the bond of nature as they being our parents brethren kinsfolke or in ciuill respect as being our magistrates masters c. But as for putting children to schoole with
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
after they become as choakes and bitter vomiting vnto vs. We may not thinke that their ending will bee as their beginning at the committing of them when Adam should eate the fruit forbidden oh how the Serpent baited it with pleasantnesse to the tast beautifulnes to the eye but vnspeakeable benefit to his fond perswasion for that it should bring with it the knowledge of good and euill to make them like vnto God himselfe But when it was tasted of them what gall or wormewood was euer like bitter vnto it what thornes did pricke the heart of Dauid after that hee had been deceiued and ouercome with the bait that the diuell had laid to catch him withall what thornes I say did pricke him after as in that Psalme made by him doth liuely and plentifully appeare and in some other which lay out his sorrow shame anguish doubting and fearing that hee had lost all grace by hauing his desire in committing of that sinne And it is the best that can bee said of those who hauing hauing had warnings and charges giuen them to tie vp their vnruly affections and outragious lusts and not to dallie with the sinnes that they haue been allured by haue yet been so farre from regarding such instructions that they haue giuen ouer themselues vnto these defilements They haue I say found them thornes as Dauid did though few of them haue euer had the thorne plucked out of their flesh to disquiet them no more as he had I meane to bee brought to sound and kind repentance as he was The third punishment was that their gods should bee snares vnto them A snare we know is set to take and catch the bird or conie vnawares that so it may be killed at the pleasure of him that set it And so hee shewes them that they not foreseeing wisely that their not rooting these nations out would proue a ioyning with them in the worshipping of their gods and so would become their destruction for their so foolithly running into the snare he shewes them I say that they should be taken therein and fall thereby and by other noisome sinnes into the hands of the Lord who would scourge them grieuously one generation after another till they should perish out of that good land And euen so it came to passe and they found all true that was told them for to those enemies to whom they had most wickedly ioyned themselues in league they were often in subiection and bondage and thereby spoiled of all their goods liberties and blessings and afterward cast out of the land among the Babylonians and Assyrians And by this wee may see that by idolatrous and wicked company keeping wee haue snares set for vs to bring vs in fellowship with them in their fowlest sinnes For so the Lord hath said if wee will conuerse and haue fellowship with them by making of marriages and eating with them wee shall also fall to their fashions and partake with them in their sinnes as this people did For great is the force of friendship to draw vs to that which wee neuer intended nay against which we resolued to keepe our selues And who is strong enough among vs to withstand all the allurements perswasions of carnall friends wee being oft in their company who haue so many waies to draw and allure vs but that one time or other he shall bee constrained to yeeld or if he should not how can he beare al the dislikes frownings displeasures and hard handlings with the which hee shall bee set vpon and pursued And we see as much and theremedie is to refraine their companies and neare fellowship with them altogether and yet although we do so and thereby bee free from danger on that side yet wee must know that without as great care had to keepe our liues free from all other offences wee shall some other way lie open to some of them whereby as great danger is like to ensue And by this gather that wee should neither bee idle nor vnprofitable in the acknowledgement of Christ if wee seeke to prosper But seeing we behold the practise and vnwearied labour of the bad and popish sort to winne men to their vngodly course this one thing I must adde more particularly Let vs that professe our selues Christians be ashamed to bee so carelesse and slothfull in the companies where we come to draw and moue men to faith and repentance and to stirre vp better persons to loue and to good workes and through selfe loue so to please our selues in rotten talke as we doe And this be said of the punishments Now I haue set downe the words of Gods messenger whereby hee sought to turne the people from their sinnes vnto God by repeating his benefits and by reproofes and threats I should heere haue ended with his speech but that I seē an occasion of propounding an obiection and doubt will be taken from hence For which cause I will set it downe and answere it before I goe to any new matter The obiection is this seeing the messenger of God mouing them to repentance doth with his reprouing and conuicting them make no mention of faith it may seeme that faith was not of such price then as it is now no mention being made of it or if it were that the people might be driuen to desperation rather then brought to repentance being not encouraged to beleeue the pardon of their sin as well as to forsake it To the which I answere first that they could not be moued to repentance if they had not had with all encouragement perswasion to beleeue for though hee name not faith expresly yet seeing repentance and that cannot be separated neither could repentance therefore be vrged vpon them without it Secondly I say this people did repent as it is cleere by the text therefore they also beleeued And thirdly the messenger repeating Gods promises to them what doth he but finde fault with them for not beleeuing the same before I conclude therefore that hee moued them to beleeue which is the chiefe thing in our turning to God And so let all bee perswaded though it bee not alwaies expressed euen as it was said to the Iaylor when hee asked what hee should doe to bee saued beleeue in the Lord Iesus And as without faith it is impossible to please God so let it bee looked vnto principally that we rise vp and lie downe and walke accompanied with that for so we shall resist the tentations allurements and discouragements with other difficulties of this life This being thus answered now I proceed to the second point in this first part of the chapter and that is the fruit of the sermon that the people reaped by it which was repentance and that is set downe in these two verses not in expresse words but by signes thereof and those are set downe to bee three The first was that they lifted vp their voice the second
and vnsetled This I haue thought good to say of their outward signes of repentance And seeing they were set downe to testifie the same in the people therefore all may see that this repentance must be euer found in vs whether any of the signes bee present or no. And the points thereof are these that the heart bee deepely pricked for sinne that it bewaile the same as purposing neuer to turne to it or the like againe which is all that can bee for the present time and that there bee yet for all this aggrauating of the sinne a beleeuing according to the promise of God that it is all freely remitted by God through Christ which more or lesse quiteth the heart and if that beleeuing be there it wil purge it from dead workes also afterward and keepe it from sinning any more in such manner as it did in former times the heart and whole man being sanctified already through beleeuing And this is the substance of repentance which we are to practise by the example of this people as also of many other in the Scripture as in Ieremy Hosea and diuers other But heere may a doubt arise about the repentance of the people that it may seeme not to haue been such as it hath bin set downe to be For if they repented at this time why did they not bring forth fruits of amendment whereof this was one yea a chiefe one to wit that they should after this haue rooted out the idolatrous Canaanites they being now so sharpely reproued for that they had not done it before but rather made leagues with them when yet that making of peace with them was one of the chiefe sins that was laid to their charge and in all sound repentance the sins bewailed acknowledged and repented of must needs be amended wee know in the persons For answere hereto it is to bee thought that the Lord held backe strength and courage from them so that they could not fight against them prosperously as they had done in the daies of Ioshua And this he did to the end they might beare that as a mark of their sin and disobedience For God according to his accustomed maner did receiue them into his fauor when they repented but hee did not by and by restore againe to them the other particular gifts which for their iust deserts hee had taken from them as strength of body and courage of minde they hauing both been abused of them before neither necessary to saluation Which thing is most needfull for vs to marke for our great benefit For euen so he dealeth at this day as he did in former times and with that people So hee dealt with our first parents after their fall for though they repented and were receiued againe into fauour yet the euils and discommodities which they brought vpon themselues and mankind did not the Lord take away neither was that quiet and sweet abode of theirs in Paradise enioyed of them at any time after So Sampson lost the gift of his bodily strength for a time after hee had so greatly displeased God which I might say of many other to wit that they lost the vse of such graces as before they enioyed And so doubtlesse such as after a commendable profession of the Gospell when they had before been truly conuerted to God by faith and repentance did fall againe to their old sinnes or to drowsinesse and coldnes in his seruice such I say haue found and receiued the like measure at his hands as most cleare experience hath been hereof in this late deceased generation and in some who still remaine of them whose first zeale and loue which they had at their first receiuing the Gospell being after slaked hath neuer after been as it was recouered For though they haue seene their falles and repented and obtained mercy yet the Lord hath left a marke of that their sinne behind both to minister and people so that they haue rarely recouered their former zeale the one in feruent preaching and care taking ouer the people the other in cheerefull profession vprightnesse of heart and holy walking but haue limped in some sort afterwards and they doe come short of the grace they had before the which the Lord hath suffered to put them in remembrance of that their sin euen as a man hauing fallen from an high beame or tree and broken his bones though hee get them set together againe so that they may serue the turne in some sort yet he neuer feeles them perfectly cured but euer painfull and lame afterward or much impaired And to adde one instance more such as after they truly repented haue fallen into adultery or any such hainous crime though they haue risen againe out of it and giuen good testimony thereof although they come to be truly perswaded that it is forgiuen them yet what vnquietnesse doe they oft finde within themselues what shame and holding downe of the head doth it cause outwardly before men whereby they are much appalled and held backe in respect of that they might haue been from good doing besides how many of the louers of the truth are strong enough to receiue them as they did before though it be their sinne that they doe not and as freely to communicate with them euery way but are much estranged from them and hardly conceiue of them whereby it may bee seene that their credit is much impaired thereby among men although they bee still in fauour with God as Dauid and others were The which the Lord in his prouidence doth to them and such like to keepe them in awe who are so ready to breake out againe and that all may see how God detesteth sinne euen in his owne and also that hee may thereby stir vp more serious repentance and constant holding on in that course and that they bee notled away from it by the errour of the wicked in such as are brought into the right way already That which hath been said of this point that I may teach a further vse of it ought to prouoke al such as by the grace of God are kept from such reprochfull sinnes to yeeld continuall thankes to God for it which it is to be feared is much neglected as well as for other benefits which giue them iust cause to doe the same But if any lie in knowne and offensiue crimes and yet can cunningly keepe them from mens eyes and looke no further let such know they are worse then the worst I haue spoken of whose sins yet haue broken out before men And seeing the best may fall possibly and that dangerously and so doing are sure that their sinne will finde them out and that they shall smart accordingly let the other much more thinke that God will vnskirt and vnuizor them to their shame in his good time and let the best count it no lost nor needlesse care to keepe themselues well while they are well I meane free from
come we to the particulars When therefore it is said heere that God was angry with them we must not so take it as though God were subiect to passions as men are as either anger or repentance c. but such speeches are vsed and now this one of Gods anger to the end our faults may appeare the more grieuous in that they are said to prouoke him who is so hardly moued Againe to our capacity they are vttered to giue vs to vnderstand that God doth and will doe the same things that men being angry for faults committed against them will doe that is be reuenged vpon the offenders and yet hee is free from passion What are we then to think when we heare that God is angry to set light by it as the most do when yet we heare that he is not led by passions no but to be troubled for it because we cannot but feare that God will doe the same to vs that an angry man being offended will doe to such as prouoke him For why are we stronger then he or thinke we that we shall eschew and decline danger when yet in his anger he is compared to a Lion who seeketh his prey No doubtlesse for his wrath is assisted with power and with presence And therefore it is said in the Psalme If his anger bee kindled the earth is moued and the foundations of the hils are shaken And againe If his anger be kindled but a little happie are they that trust in him Which places with many other such doe liuely shew the danger of them that prouoke him and that as he is angry iustly so his anger is without respect of persons or parciality declared against all sorts without exception that prouoke him the greatest shall as well smart as the meanest as the text there importeth But the vse of this is seeing God is prouoked by our sins that we should beware that we offend him not in the common manner as men doe in the prophaning of his Sabbaths his word and Sacraments in slander lying dissembling incontinency and vnchastnesse of body and minde in deceiuing oppressing and a thousand waies more and especially we must looke that we liue not in vnbeleefe which is disobedience in an high degree euen to the Gospell for which Paul saith the wrath of God is reuealed from heauen But if wee haue fallen into any such the next heed to bee taken of vs is not to sleepe vpon them but tremble for that we know Gods wrath is kindled against vs and who knoweth whether vengeance may come forth and take hold of vs before our hearts relent and before wee meet him with repentance When the Lion roreth all the beasts of the forrest quake and is it not time for vs to doe the like when the mighty Lion of the tribe of Iudah is moued And if it be meet that euen the children of God be held in awe by considering that he their God is a iealous God yea a consuming fire and againe if they cannot but tremble to behold him in displeasure sometime with his enemies as well as they see him in his smiling countenance toward his owne people how much more should they tremble when it is their owne case and when they themselues are the persons vpon whom hee frowneth And if the Princes wrath be death as we see it is by Ahashuerosh when he was inflamed against Haman how dangerous is the estate of them who most iustly haue stirred vp the Lord against them For which cause our Sauiour saith Feare not him who can but destroy the body but feare him that can cast body and soule into hell I say feare him So that the man lying in known sinne not repenting is the man of misery if hee could see it howsoeuer hee sooth vp himselfe or be soothed by other for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it And I haue wondred oft that so many offending as are knowne daily to doe and that willingly and loosely yea and with boldnesse and that they being in so great danger thereby of sundry punishments euery day I haue wondred say that so few make hast to rid themselues out of that fearefull condition and especially they seeing so many to smart from time to time for the same and the like sinnes that swarme in them and yet further to giue too apparant tokens by their impenitency that it will be infinitely worse with them when they bee gone hence Thus much for this time THE FIFTEENTH SERMON VPON THE BOOKE OF IVDGES THE REST OF THE fourteenth and the fifteenth verses a part of the former text and on these verses following VERS 15. Whithersoeuer they went out c. 16. Notwithstanding the Lord raised vp Iudges which deliuered them out of the hands of their oppressors 17. But yet they would not obey their Iudges for they went a whoring after other gods and worshipped them and turned quickly out of the way wherein their fathers walked obeying the Commandements of the Lord they did not so 18. And when the Lord raised them vp Iudges the Lord was with the Iudge and deliuered them out of the hand of their enemies all the daies of the Iudge for the Lord had compassion of their gronings because of them that oppressed them and tormented them OF Gods anger and the feare therof being the first punishment we haue heard Now followeth the next which is the effect of it For they who are angry consult and deuise how they may reuenge themselues vpon such as haue offended them the 〈…〉 out â—ffect the effect of whose anger is set downe first to be the spoiling 〈…〉 good and then the bondage they came in to their enemies which was farre greater And these are the sorer because God dealt not with them himselfe but gaue them ouer to men yea cruell men such as Dauid desired he might not fall into their hands because there was no mercy with them But to say some what of the former of these two to such as be in prosperity we know that the losse of wealth is found by experience and taken of men to bee one of the hardest iudgements that doe befall them the reason is for that they loue their money and goods almost if not altogether as well as their liues And yet a great punishment is this which they sustaine by them that when the Lord hath giuen them as blessings they lose the right vse of the for and through their foolishnesse and sinne and cause that for the most part they become curses to them And God in his wisedome doth send such penalties oft times among many other vnto them as it is said heere hee gaue them into the hands of spoilers But this was yet farre worse when they must goe vnder it and yet neuer consider by whom and why they were thus punished Behold in this people the extreame follie of sinners at this day who though their hearts are set vpon their
first part of the Chapter ANd first why these nations were left still in the land two reasons are set downe one in the first and fourth verse and that was to proue them the other in the first and second verse and that was to make them know warre not meaning thereby to make them skilfull warriours though necessity draue them to that when they saw they must trust to their skill but to let them see what it was to bee put to their shifts and to fight with weapons who had neuer been wont to doe so neither their fathers seeing the Lord had in the former warres with their enemies extraordinarily fought for them without their owne labour and skill To come to the first reason generally set downe in the first verse and particularly in the fourth I haue spoken of it in the former chapter and the last two verses It is heere repeated to beate it into them deepely and to make them thoroughly perswaded thereof that they might then and so wee now bend all the force of our hearts to looke well about vs how we beare our troubles meekely and patiently depending vpon God for a good issue which dutie he most certainly looketh for at our hands as throughout the Scripture he teacheth and admonisheth vs to doe and wee cannot but bee much disquieted by our afflictions if wee doe otherwise notwithstanding that our corrupt nature doe carrie vs much to rebell against the same This is that which we haue to learne by the repeating of those words in this verse namely that it is said God left the nations in the land to trie the people of Israel and to trie them in this whether they would keepe his commandements or no. Moreouer we must marke that which is set downe here in this first verse that the Lord is said to haue held these nations still in the land which was to the exceeding sore vexing of his people to teach vs that the raizing remaining or remouing of troubles they are all of the Lord and by his appointing euen by his will and of his wise disposing whether wee respect the whole Church or any part or member of it and they come not by chance or a mans ill fortune as the ignorant people speake neither is there any such thing but as the Lord himselfe saith in the Prophet Amos there is no euill in the city that is no trouble but I the Lord haue sent it And if it were otherwise the best people as the worst are should by their afflictions be at their wits end Wee may not therefore rest our selues in the second causes neither vexe our selues about them as we doe too oft which is a spurning against the Lord but patiently beare them seeing that whatsoeuer the instrument bee it is certaine the Lord is the ouer-ruling cause howsoeuer it is euident that oft times wee cause and bring them our selues and therefore we ought to bend our selues in all earnest manner to patience and so much the rather seeing hee further certifieth vs that hee doth all for the best to such as feare him so that wee doe but encrease our sorrow who by impatience encrease our sinne and therefore prouoke we not him from whom all trouble commeth and who through his Almighty power can cast into hell also but feare wee to doe euill in his sight euermore that wee may auoid both and ascribe vnto him our deliuerances also that seeing all such deliuerances are from the Lord hee may haue his due praise from vs. In the end of this verse and the second where it is said that God left the nations still in the land that he might teach this generation of Israel warre which neither they nor their fathers had in times past knowne which is another reason why those nations were not driuen out this is the more cleare meaning of it When the Lord by trying them had found though he was neuer ignorant what they would doe and made manifest the impiety and idolatry of the people of Israel to themselues he tooke away from them their strength in war and withheld his aide from them which hee had in times past giuen to them and to their fathers in battell with their enemies so that now when they went to warre by their owne power the Lord withholding his from them they knew what warre meant which before they knew not when the Lord had fought for them for then hee gaue them strength and terrified their enemies and weakened them and gaue good successe to the Israelites but now he left them to shift for themselues and therefore wee see what is meant by this that they had not knowne warre when as yet they had not broken their couenant with God for he had fought for them They knew not then what it meant to goe to warre for the Lord had fought for them but now they did begin to learne And heere we may see that when by Gods kindnes and many comforts ministred by him we cannot be kept in compasse nor be brought to cleaue to him with all our hearts hee will take another course with vs to bring vs thereto for hee will acquaint vs with wants trouble and sorrow as hee did this people heere to see if they can bring vs thereto and yet such is his loue to vs if they preuaile with vs and worke kindly vpon vs to bring vs to repentance he will returne to vs againe graciously and continue still his former bounties toward vs. When Ioshua and the good generation in his daies truly serued the Lord they were preserued from their enemies and knew not what war meant the Lord himselfe fought for thē while they did little more many times then looke on And in our first parents we may cleerely see this to be exemplified while they yet liued in innocency and were vpheld with the grace of God they neither knew nor felt any euill but when they had disobeyed by eating of the forbidden fruit they began to know what good and euil meant In like manner children while in their younger yeeres they haue been subiect and obedient to their parents they are tenderly handled and haue all things with ease prouided for them but when they grow vp rude and stout and for that are put forth to their shifts they come to know what hardnesse meanes who before were not acquainted therewith by the rough handling of strangers And let it be well thought of by vs for euen so God dealeth with vs if we can by his mercies be drawne to dutie he is ready to bestow them plentifully vpon vs hee thinketh nothing too good for vs so as wee need not know the sorrowes and vexations that are in the world in comparison of that which many thousands doe feele and smart by them But if we will follow the common course of others to be like to them in euill we shall soone know that it was no meane benefit to
be so sheltred by the Lord as we were before and namely that shall be when wee begin to feele his heauie hand against vs. And wee in this towne and heereabout haue seene while wee haue made it our chiefe delight to follow the Lord not regarding the examples and multitudes of bad and irreligious persons who dwell among vs to be withdrawne by them we that haue done so wee haue seene I say Gods exceeding goodnesse toward vs I speake to his praise and desire I may neuer see the contrary And in comparison of the world I meane the ignorant and prophane sort who desire not to be acquainted with the Lord and his waies it may truly bee said that wee haue seene many good daies when our chiefe care hath been to liue vnder his gouernment and when wee haue failed at some time more then at others and through frailty forgotten ourselues hee hath mercifully quickened and brought vs backe againe so that for the most part wee haue not knowne what the sorrowes of the world meane And our worst daies haue been when we haue forgot ourselues and forsaken the good and right way and walked or stepped aside into by-waies then he hath taught vs by wofull experience what sorrowes and vexations meane For example when we haue in the simplicity of our hearts ioyned in the sweet doctrine of the Gospell preached vnto vs and haue minded it chiefly as our best treasure and when wee haue as well feared to offend the Lord in those things which haue liked vs best prouoking one another to loue and to good workes oh how hath hee made vs to prosper and when hath he frowned vpon vs but when we haue peruerted our waies In this verse the nations are reckoned whom the Lord would haue to remaine in the land among whom his people the Israelites must dwell reade them in the text By this that they must dwell with these wicked nations wee are taught that it is one of the punishments among many other which our diuers kinds of sinne draw vpon vs that euen because of them we must sometime dwell with the wicked for though all must haue to do with them or else they must goe out of the world yet this that I now speak of is another matter Dauid dwelt among the haters of peace out of the holy land as for the Church of Pergamus whose habitation was where Satans throne was that was Gods triall to them But the dwelling of Israel in Babylon and their fathers before them among the Egyptians and the dwelling of these heere mentioned among the Philistims Canaanites and Heuites these habitations I say were Gods punishments and curses euen the fruit of their deserts and grieuous sinnes who vexed them many waies as if Hornets should haue stung them and because such dwellings are brought vpon men by their owne prouokings of God and that sundry waies therefore beside the smart that they sustaine by them through outward troubles they haue this added thereunto that they cannot meekely and quietly beare them for the wound that they haue made in their conscience by their knowne sinnes which is most grieuous vnto them seeing they must and cannot but remember that they iustly sustaine them One example of our time I will alleage of two persons a yeoman and his wife I might bring many These two dwelling among sundry good neighbours and religions because they were not like minded to them because they distasted the Gospell tooke a sore pritch against them without any iust cause giuen them and therupon in wilfulnes remoued their dwelling from them Their going away was to enioy better neighbours and to bring in the world and the commodities thereof the faster But to be short seeing yee will long no doubt to heare the end so it was that they enioyed not that which they sought and went for for their wealth wasted and their neighbours who had neuer known what it ment neither had learned to vse them neighbourly dealt roughly with them and sore vexed and wearied them vpon this the Lord visited them both with great sicknesse euen both of them together And then they had leisure to bethinke themselues of the change they had made and especially with what minde they had done it and then the crying out of their doings in this behalfe and that they did as it fell out in the presence of some of them whom they had first dwelt among being sent for by them vpon occasion though they dwelt more then twentie miles distant from them not sparing to charge themselues deepely and to shew their great repentance for their rashnesse and wilfulnesse in their remouing euen to them So the man died there the woman in a maruellous manner bewailing her offence which was compounded of many and this from day to day In which time it fell out that I was an eye and an eare witnesse of much more then I say Shee by little recouered so farre as shee might bee carried from thence and so shee returned to her first dwelling no friend could perswade her to the contrary but neuer recouered her health but within a while after died at her owne house acknowledging and bewailing her sin to her neighbors that visited her bearing the shame of it meekely and with contentment This example I thought not to be out of season to make mention of by so good an occasion to admonish some to make better reckoning of good neighbourhood who are too ready vpon a tetch taken to ease themselues with thinking to recouer their dwellings Besides let vs not be secure about this to dwel we care not where nor in what places soeuer because some can doe no otherwise but it is laid vpon them to bee yeelded to of them by meere necessity for though it bee Gods triall to some of them and other haue it as their iust punishment yet make wee account of Christian and peaceable habitation as more then a common benefit And yet such must know also that they must keepe themselues vnstained among the wicked and ill disposed and haue no fellowship with their vnfruitfull workes of darkenesse but groane vnder their burthen to God that he may ease them of it in time and seeke to supply their want in some other place by the publike meanes if they want them as they may But let other if they can be free from the company and neere dwelling of such as are prophane noisome and spitefull enioy their freedome rather as Saint Paul saith of seruants if it be their lot to be so let them be contented but if they can be free let them vse it rather And that not onely for the hurt that they may easily get there but let their delight also bee in the saints which are on the earth and their fellowship with such as excell in vertue for the manifold good that they may reape by them But heere an end of this matter Now before I goe from the
it is that which the Lord did foresay would come to passe thereby And he forbad them such mariages principally for this cause seeing he foresaw and knew that by vnequall matching together his worship would bee greatly impaired if not turned into the contrary For godly and religious persons are often alienated by the parties contrarily minded vnto them from the true God as in Salomons example so wise a man is to bee seene who was exceedingly corrupted and builded places for strange Gods to worship them in being inticed thereto by strange women whom he loued And our age hath sustained most grieuous shipwracke of conscience and goodnesse in that many therein haue ioyned in marriage with Papists and other prophane hellish Atheists For when they haue by their familiarity together made marriages with them what remaineth but that they as these did heere doe turne to their religion also and serue in the manner that they doe But of this before chap. 2. vers 2. THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON VPON THE THIRD CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES The second part of the Chapter VERS 7. So the children of Israel did wickedly in the fight of the Lord and forgat the Lord their God and serued Baalim and Asheroth 8. Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he sold them into the hand of Cushan rishathaim King of Aram-nabaraim and the children of Israel serued Cushan-rishathaim eight yeeres 9. And when the children of Israel cried vnto the Lord the Lord stirred vp a sauiour to the children of Israel and he saued them euen Othniel the sonne of Kenaz Calebs younger brother 10. And the spirit of the Lord came vpon him and hee iudged Israel and went out to warre and the Lord deliuered Cushan rishathaim King of Aram into his hand and his hand preuailed against Cushan-rishathaim 11. So the land had rest fortie yeeres and Othniel the sonne of Kenaz died NOw I hauing shewed how God tried his by people dwelling among the idolatrous nations what they would do and we hauing seene also what they did to wit that they made marriages with them and serued their gods both which haue bin set downe in the first part of this chapter I will now proceed to the second part and come to the three examples therein set downe by the holy Ghost and heerein I will speake chiefly of these things therein to wit of the sinne punishment repentance and deliuerance of the people and how they turned away againe from the Lord afterwards The first example is to the twelfth verse the second to the 31. verse the third to the end The first hath these foure things to bee considered one is the peoples reuolting from God in this verse another the punishment brought vpon them for it in the eighth verse the third the peoples crying to God vnder it vers 9 and the fourth the Lords sending helpe in the rest vnto the 12. verse with the fruit that followed Their sinne is set downe first generally that they did euill in the sight of the Lord and then more particularly that they forgot him and fell to Idolatry Heere I giue this watchword to the reader that seeing I shall in this booke often meet with things that I haue already spoken of at least that there are diuerse things mentioned oft and sundry times heerein therefore I will not goe ouer them againe as oft as I meete with them being the same specially in the same manner which were but a wearying of the reader with repeating one thing oft but I will note and chiefly follow such things as beside them are occasioned there All the things in this verse are such I will therefore doe as I haue said and referre the reader for the rest to that which hath been said of them before Their sinne set downe in generall that they durst offend God secretly and do that which was euill in his sight and that they forgot the Lord and remembred not his kindnesse and many benefits and their Idolatry and worshipping the gods of the nations which arose of the two former these things I say duly considered of vs do teach this worthie point to wit how men breake out into grosse and foule sinnes by the forgetting of Gods goodnesse toward them and the taking of boldnesse to sinne against him in doing that which is any way euill in his eyes And so by the contrary the direct way to liue godly and to bee free from reprochfull sinnes is to feare to do any thing amisse in the sight of the Lord in secret and to keepe in mind his benefits by daily recording them with feruent and hearty thankes For if the child be drawne to a naturall loue and ioying in the parents and so to bee afraid to displease them seeing they make much of it and giue it all good things what maruell is it if the Lords benefits which are renued vpon vs euery morning being duly recorded of vs should draw vs to delight in him and make our songs of him also that we being ready to doe his will and afraid to offend him in secret what maruell I say if we should abhore to dishonour him openly And if elder children endued with grace will be faithfull to their parents in their absence and so shunne boldnesse in offending them in presence who doubteth but that if we feare to offend our God in secret we shall shunne open and greater offences also So by the contrary this is cleere that if we grow to this point that we dare doe that which is euill in Gods eyes and to forget him and his vnspeakeable kindnesse though wee commit not by and by the grosest and most odius things yet it will not belong before wee breake out euen grosly wax bold also and worke that which is odious in the sight of men Whereas we ought euer to haue before vs Gods bounty and kindnesse in such wise that they may be barres in our waies to keepe vs euen from smal offences that so the groser sinnes may much more bee kept from vs. And so Dauid affirmeth that if he had not been bold to sinne against God in secret he had neuer broke out shamefully before men We know the diuell is called a serpent which word signifieth properly a creeper because his property is by little and little creepe and winde into vs to withdraw our hearts from vprightnesse and constancy therein also to cause that Gods benefits shall be more meanely accounted off of vs and then boldnesse in sinne will creepe vpon vs easily and after that wee shall not feare the attempting of great and grieuous sinnes also It is our wisedome therefore to consider Gods goodnesse to bee so great and the same so continued to vs daily as who shall but meanely obserue and weigh the same but he must needs confesse as much that we should be afraid and ashamed to offend and displease him through negligence much more by forgetting ourselues in both
that God will not suffer a good man and true to be robbed of a theefe or hurt by a witch which Scripture and experience doth sufficiently confute but as God exercised holy Iob by the diuel the head so he doth other of his deare ones by witches and other wicked people which are his members and that hee suffereth as hee seeth cause worse people then his owne to domineere ouer them the Egyptians tyrannie ouer Israel the Canaanites cruelty and the examples of other nations in this booke against Gods people after both with the experience of all ages are sufficient to testifie That is cleare enough but let vs further see the reason thereof and Gods meaning therein For he doth not punish his owne people by the wicked his enemies because they are in better account with him then they neither to put them in hope that they shall goe vnpunished in the end because hee vseth their seruice as he did Satan against Iob to try him but because hee will hereby manifest how great a finne it is to abuse and liue vnworthy the Gospell therefore he beginneth first to visit his owne people and oft times euen by them But afterwards as Amos saith he will visit Damascus Moab and Ammon and make them drinke of the dregs for if hee doe this to a greene tree in comparison of them how much more will he do it to the withered And as the Lord will be auenged of his enemies so after hee hath corrected his owne he will againe returne to them Therefore the Church is brought in by the Prophet Micha to say thus Reioyce not ouer mee O mine enemie for though I fall yet shall I rise againe as the Prophet speaks meaning that the Lord would finde a time both to take corrections of them and yet to be pitifull to them againe euen as the father will burne the rod when the child relenteth and promiseth amendment And this if the wicked will not see that he chastizeth euen his owne hauing sinned against his knowne truth but once as it were and therefore hee will much more haue a day for them to pay them to the full for their manifold and long continued rebellions if they I say will not regard it let Gods seruants profit by it euery way both they who are iustly visited for their sinnes and also they who are more free who know that hee doth vse to begin iudgement with his owne house that they may thereby returne vnto him Besides that which hath been said of these nations how the Lord strengthened them against Israel so wee may further note heere how they were confederate together against Gods people wherby we may further learne how the wicked who can seldome agree together betwixt themselues for their leagues are soone broken can yet easily ioyne together to vexe Gods people And thus these three nations did consent in one to smite them Euen as we reade that Herod and Pilate which had been enemies one to the other were made friends by ioyning both against Christ As two dogs that fight each with other for a bone yet both ioyne in biting the passenger Or as theeues who consent to rob the true man though they cannot agree in diuiding the spoile for in that they disagree each from other it is because they want the true band of vnion but in that they consent it comes from their mutuall hatred of vertue and feare lest their owne kingdome should be ouerthrowne And we finde it as true in these our daies that they who cannot brooke one another but haue sharpe contentions and broyles betwixt themselues can yet with free consent band themselues against Gods seruants Which to leaue them to repent for it if God giue them grace one would thinke should make vs cling and cleaue fast vnto the Lord that yet we may haue him on our sides and to stand with vs against them whensoeuer they shall strengthen one another to molest and oppresse vs and also to maintaine our Christian amity with our brethren the more strongly by breaking off contentions which easily arise lest the children of this world condemne vs. The punishment is bondage and as the former generation was to the King of Aram so now they were in bondage to the Moabites the time that it continued was more then double in respect of the former euen eighteene yeeres The people that now were brought into bondage though they were neither all that were in the former calamity nor they only yet the rest who were growne vp at this time had seene the workes of God and receiued the religion of their fathers and therefore they smarted iustly with the rest with whom they had sinned By them both wee learne that they prouide ill for themselues who make slight vse of Gods former corrections for sinne and that thereby they bring and pull downe vpon themselues greater iudgements As Christ said to the man that was healed Goe thy way and sinne no more left a worse thing befall thee So he threatened in Leuiticus that if they did not amend by the former punishments hee would adde seuen times more And did not Pharaoh finde it who for his mocking of God and hardening his heart against him when he confessed that God had been iust in sending vpon him so grieuous iudgements at the first prouoked him to send many more vpon him afterwards And we at this day who haue had deliuerance from trouble which our sinnes procured and brought vpon vs haue too good proofe of this that I say that we smart more by the after sinnes and those which we renue daily then by the former euen as a renued wound is more smartie and dangerous And stands it not with the righteous iudgement of God that it should be so Is it meet that we should tempt God in such a manner and that wee should not beare the marke of it about vs in our flesh or in our consciences And so we doe For to say nothing of those who sinne more willingly in whom this is more clearely verified it appeareth in the weaker sort of Gods children euidently who sinne but of negligence and some carelesnesse rather then wittingly that they smart also for the same For beside their outward crosses their oft doubtings also of their saluation whereof yet they haue had assurance before and by many great feares they haue oft times that all is not well with them to Godward the which for the most part do come of the slight and slendervse that they make of their deliuerance from their first feare and trouble of minde which they sustained And it would much more appeare in many others that their latter troubles which they beare and by which they smart for their latter and new prouokings of God are farre more grieuous then the former and they farre hardlier recouer out of them if they did not burie the remembrance of them and willingly forget them
that which must encourage vs in the difficultest matters that we in taking thē in hand are set a worke by God and do know that he is pleased with the things that we goe about this I say is that which we must be perswaded of that wee haue him with vs to the end wee may cheerefully goe through with them Looke wee carefully to this and wee shall prosper and make we it our common practise in our affaires and we shall throughout see good daies But if we haue no allowance from him in doubtfull cases and much more in such as haue apparant shew of euill we may not enterprize them any more then Ehud might heere without his warrant And where wee haue no commandement for that which we take in hand as in a thing that is indifferent let vs know our liberty and that wee doe that which wee are perswaded doth please God best and so wee shall haue peace in that wee goe about But how little this is regarded and how men take in hand the things which they doe of their owne head and to their owne liking and how ill successe they haue in such of their actions as it is lamentable to behold it so I refer the reader that is desirous to know more of it to chap. 1. vers 19 22. where I haue said more of it This be said of the first thing of the three in sending the present In this second of the three things in that he went so well appointed let vs marke that when Ehud was sure of good successe in this great worke and that God would be with him hee was not idle nor carelesse but had greater regard how to goe about in the best manner furnishing himselfe and prouiding this weapon for the purpose Wherein againe wee must learne that it behoueth vs to vse all good meanes as diligence prouidence and wisdome for the well bringing to passe euen of those things wherein God hath promised good successe and to bee with vs. Yea and further to doe them with readinesse and cheerfulnesse as we see we haue good cause being so wel encouraged And so all may see and we our selues may know that we goe not to worke as men of the world doe I meane coldly and deadly onely for the hope of profit pleasure or such like whetting vs on which are the motiues and perswasions that earthly minded and worldly men haue in doing their busines And what a grace and blessing is that in our earthly businesse and common workes that wee may bee so heauenly minded in them for much more we may looke and hope to be well assisted as the workes which wee goe about are more heauenly But thou maiest reade more of this Chapter 1. verse 4. The third thing of the three now followeth which was the presenting of the gift in carying and offering this present to Eglon the King of Moab which seemed to such as heare of it no matter commendable that Ehud should kill him vnder pretence of kindnesse yet hee intending a further matter thereby then he shewed to wit the deliuering of Gods people by killing him their enemie it was not onely lawfull but also praise worthy in him And this act of his teacheth that when we doe such things as are not of best note nor most commendable in the eyes of men such as this of Ehud seemed yet lawfull allowed of God we should if it may be intend some further and better thing thereby as Ehud here did And although it haue no effect for the present time I meane that good which we purpose and aime at yet to wait opportunity to bring it so to passe But this wil be better vnderstood by laying it out in particulars As for example if a man be in the company of a bad person which in it selfe is no credit to him yet it is not vnlawfull or if a man giue almes to a poore man who hath no goodnes in him which may be thought of some to be a maintaining of him in both these cases and the like he that I speake of ought to haue a further reach and meaning that is a desire and endeauour to do the parties good as to admonish and reproue as there shall be cause seene or exhort seeke to draw them as he shall see best opportunity to repentance and thereby to stay all from taking offence thereat And so I say of all such actions Hester as we reade bad Haman the enemie of Gods people to a banquet It was like to sauour ill to the godly that should heare of it but at his first comming thither though she spake nothing against Haman to the King yet at the second banquet shee obtained deliuerance to Gods people who were appointed by Haman to bee slaine and beside that shee procured is ouerthrow To both which she made way by bidding him to the first banquet and entended it though she made no shew then of any such thing So our Sauiour did eate and drinke with the publicans and sinners It was hardly thought off by the Pharisies but he sought their conuersion by it Therefore in such actions as haue not the best shew of goodnesse to the end we may bring no violence to our consciences nor disquiet to the godly and the better also to stop the mouthes of others it shall bee meete for vs to aime at and intend better things then are seene at the first shew But then it may bee truly said on the contrary that they who doe things in shew scarce honest as to haunt suspicious places and the company of those who are of ill note and name and yet meane worse then is seene namely to practise whoredome and fall to drunkennesse and ill rule it may I say truly bee affirmed that such are vile persons and very bad indeed And most of all they who will shew signes of goodnesse as of loue by friendly familiarity sobriety and religion and yet spite vs and our holy profession behinde our backes and carrie themselues leaudly are of all other the worst But to returne the like we see in Iehu who although he seemed cruell to the view of the world in murthering the house of Ahab yet hauing an eye to the calling of God went through it with courage which was to be commended But heere must bee a caueat obserued that is that no man presume by these examples to enterprize such like matters without warrant from God alleaging for himselfe that his end is good and profitable this is to go to worke of our own head yea to call euill good and to doe euill that good may come of it As in a mans priuate case to take vpon him to reuenge his owne wrong which belongs to the Magistrate For as the Lord warrants a man by the sincerity of his intention to goe forward when the thing is lawfull as we see in that act of the two tribes and an halfe building an
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
the Gospell which it had vtterly reiected how admirable a thing was it seeing it is manifest that the malitious Iewes resisted and came against him in all places but who might withstand God when he would haue it so For in that one city at Corinth he bad him go forward in preaching and faint not where he had much people adding this for encouragement thereto that none should be able to hinder it And let vs in these daies be wise by so many faire warnings It cannot be that one of Gods faithfull shall perish therefore let vs not smite at such with tongue nor hand as hee loueth hee will fight for them and curse them that curse his and they shall repent it if not too late that they went about to hurt them But of this I spake before in the former Sermon though not in the same words nor making the same vse thereof therefore thus much briefly of these verses in generall Now that it is said in this verse that Ehud when he had done this worke vpon Gods enemy came forth neither in feare nor any great haste in any disguised manner but as though hee had done nothing worthy suspition neither gaue any token of a guilty conscience but as one that had serued God in that worke It liuely setteth before our eyes the peaceable fruit of an excusing and quiet conscience Behold the like in Iael the wife of Heber who hauing slaine Sisera whereas any other doing such an act of his owne head with a murthering mind in such a matter could hardly haue auoided it but he should haue bewrayed himselfe easily and palpably as is to bee seene in Iudas betraying his master who cried out of his owne fact saying I haue sinned in betraying the innocent blood And it may teach vs how greatly the quiet and excusing conscience of the innocent and righteous man differeth from the guilty and accusing conscience of the vngodly And it agreeth with the words of the Wise man who saith The righteous is bold as a Lion but the wicked fleeth when no man pursueth him The ground of this his peace was the discharge of that duty which the Lord imposed vpon him in this extraordinary case the which otherwise had been abominable parricide And although this viperous brood of Iesuites pretend the like dispensation from their pettie god the Pope and thereupon harden their hearts and set an impudent face vpon the matter as if they had no wound or terrour of conscience yet the truth is their ground being naught the cause of this boldnesse is shamelesnesse impudency and want of conscience at all if they be not wounded Hell can onely terrifie these helhounds for God they feare not and they haue hardened their faces as it seemeth to regard no man Where we may see a double benefit that the godly reape and enioy by hauing allowance and warrant from God for the duties they doe to wit inward quietnesse of mind and strength and courage thereby to beare any outward danger or trouble if need should bee and both the contraries to pursue and take hold of the other that is an hellish minde toward God and terrour and dread though they bite it in in regard of the world or an hardened heart which is worse then both As for those which waited on the King they did foolishly they should haue cast the hardest when Ehud came forth of the parlour and haue stayed him and not haue kept out so long and haue made such delay as they did for delaies are dangerous where the matter is weighty in which they are vsed And they being thought so wise that the keeping of their Lord and master was committed to them they failed greatly and grosly in their duty and therefore they reaped the fruit thereof when after their long tarying they came in at the last and found him slaine This is that which delay breedeth in all things not in their doings onely and the more danger the greater the things are as I haue said Thus Baaâ—ah and Rechab by the negligence of the Kings officers slew him on his bed And as this teacheth euery priuate man to be diligent and warie about the duties that belong to his function and calling to preuent losse and damage so especially it commendeth vigilancie and circumspection in al such as through whose hands great matters of state and gouernment doe passe that neither by their carelesnes conniuence or other sinister respects they suffer that mischiefe to grow vpon Church and Common wealth which by their prouidence might in season be preuented ere it bee helpelesse The fit season therefore is to bee taken in earthly businesse and our common affaires as this was heere by Ehud wee must vse the opportunity reape the corne when it calleth for the sickie and strike the iron while it is hot so our market must be made while a good peniworth may be had Doe all thou hast to doe with diligence while the day lasteth the night will come wherin such workes cannot be done Remember the rich man who being in hell in torments was denied a drop of cold water because hee auoided them not while he enioyed plenty So Haman made request for his life too late And by their slacknesse and delay we may much more be warned in the weighty affaires that concerne our happines to take the fit season that is to seeke the Lord while he may bee found and not driue off from day to day but to remember our maker in the daies of our youth and to day while wee heare his voice not to harden our hearts but imbrace his message both in the Law and promises of God by faith vnto saluation The seruants that kept not Saul but slipt in great danger were accessaries as Dauid tels Abner in Sauls case though they betrayed him not euen so the carelesse delayer to get faith and repentance shall perish as he that hates to be reformed The fiue foolish Virgins knocked to be let in when the doore was shut Euen so in all particular actions of our life looke we before all other things to keepe our conscience pure and good To the like purpose much might bee said And this by occasion of the seruants delay and their astonishment when they saw how it fell out to them thereby Ehud reaped the benefit of this their delay for while they thus draue off and lost the time in which they should haue carefully attended vpon their Lord hee escaped out of their hands and wound out of all danger hee passing the quarries which it seemeth were places betwixt Gilgall of the Israelites and the Moabites which before he could get beyond he was not past danger and so comming to Seirah a place heere mentioned in the borders of Israel further off from danger he was in safety And thus wee see againe that they who are wise and speedy in their businesse doe
ascribe as much credit to them as the dreames of Monkes deserue Therefore wee must also heere take heed that wee bring not that into example which the Lord hath wrought extraordinarily when it hath pleased him For wee are tied by Pauls rule set downe to the Corinthians to wit that women keepe silence in the congregation He addeth a reason because they must bee subiect to their husbands But the teachers office is to haue authority ouer those which are taught by them and to gouerne them also as well as to instruct them which is not permitted to the wife ouer her husband neither ouer other men But seeing the Lord in these latter times vseth not commonly extraordinary instruments as he did in former daies especially vnlesse he furnish them also with extraordinary gifts but ordinary therefore wee are to admire and reuerence his goodnesse in both and the vse hereof is that as it is our bounden duty to praise God highly for that hee hath stirred vp some in all ages to be lights and helps in and for the good of his Church yea and extraordinary as we see heere in the want of other so to come home to our selues while he prouideth ordinary helpes and meanes for vs in these daies to the building vp of the same his Church among vs it behoueth vs that both we receiue them with all due reuerence making right vse of them and that none presume to set vp themselues extraordinarily as many of these separatists do without gifts answerable although God hath done so somtime and fitted them for the same and granted that priuiledge to his when it hath seemed good vnto him Now further to proceed this which is said of the marriage of Debora being a Prophetesse can teach vs no lesse then this that they who haue attended on God in the ministery in former times whether men or women or such as doe it at this day are not despised of God for their married estate but counted of him faithfull and put in his seruice as this Debora was which though there is no cause to make question of seeing they who teach other the whole counsell of God and so by consequent how to vse the married estate aright a man would thinke should much more bee fit to vse it in the best manner themselues yet I say so for that the Romish prelacie who snatch at euery occasion to raile on the Ministers of the Gospell and so they doe because of their marriage doe what they can most spitefully and iniuriously to bring the faithfull Preachers into an odious account with all men And they haue thought this a meet matter in them to barke at vnder a pretence that the marriage bed for they thinke better of the whorish bed can no way stand with such an holy calling as the ministery is which being Gods ordinance for all states of men to enioy were shamefull in them to spurne against though they themselues liued most chast seeing while they goe about to disgrace the persons they fight against the ordinance of God yea and that which is highly commended of him but much more reprochfull and odious it is in them so to doe seeing the same deuout persons as they would bee counted are and that many of them as is well knowne grosse whoremongers themselues that I say no worse and such as liue in filthie vncleannes though Priests by their calling But for further proofe of this truth I meane the mariage of Ministers to be lawfull seeing I haue begun to speake of it this I will adde that the examples of the Ministerie vnder the Law as well as their practise at the comming of Christ and after in the Apostles times doe maintaine and iustifie it yea and since those times the Church of God for many hundred yeeres till Gregories and Siricius times who were Popes of Rome doe proue and testifie the same The Prophets first as Obed Hanany and other the Leuites as Mattaina and his predecessors and for Priests Aaron Eliazer and their posteritie all vnder the Law married declare that they are by malice blinded who condemne mariage in the Ministerie And for the latter times in the new Testament Zacharie and Elizabeth so liued in their mariage to wit iust before God and walking in all his commandements as had been impossible for them to do if their condition of life had bin vnlawfull And for the Apostles Peter himselfe was married to goe no further This by the occasion offered I haue spoken as briefly as I could And let them that serue God in the Ministerie preach Christ Iesus diligently and endeuour faithfully tobe vnoffensiue in conscience toward God and in their liues toward men and they shall not need to feare such Scorpions for their sting is plucked out from doing them any hurt And if the vncleannes and lewd liues of some persons in the Ministerie gaue no more occasion to the aduersaries of insulting which yet is the fact and sin of some persons and not any blot in the calling then that some do take the benefit of the ordinance of God in that they are married many Ministers might sit without red cheeks and a glowing conscience and the aduersarie with shame hold his peace without any triumphing And let this also that hath been said check and controle that relique of Poperie that still hangs about many of the people in the Ministery who verily thinke them worthy and good Ministers who leade a single life without any other respect whereas mariage is nothing and singlenes yea virginity are nothing of themselues but a pure spirit in a body vnderfiled in both which some of these little regard The next thing in the describing of Debora is the setting downe of her dwelling that it was vnder a Palme tree in Mount Ephraim and the naming of her husband being no doubt a man of good note then though to vs vnknowne these things I say seeing nothing is set downe in vaine in the holy Story had as it may seeme more vse in that time then wee now can see which I may truly say of many other things therein contained which should somewhat satisfie the reader when hee seeth not so much in some places as he doth in another And yet the holy Ghost sets downe many circumstances oftentimes as for the fuller credit of the historie especially where it else might seeme questionable as the time places names c. so to giue more light to the thing handled Onely let this content vs that as a dwelling was allowed her though she being a Prophetesse was married and perhaps of some note it being expressely spoken of and set downe so it may serue to assure vs that God doth the same to such at this day as are in the same condition seruing him with honest and good hearts in the Ministerie I meane hee alloweth them a place to liue in to their good contentment euen such as hee seeth fittest
selfeloue in the like trials for that we doe not without special grace and heed taking auoid the like falles And therfore we must hope that they may yea and shal no doubt through Gods helpe arise and grow in good sort out of them againe And yet I doe not speake this as though I would iustifie such offences in the liues of Gods people or as though I went about to salue them vp with gentle words for I know that where such breaches are suffered to passe in the liues of them who are otherwise religious they doe much hurt to other by example and to themselues by quenching the spirit in them specially if they be defended and continued long in vnconfessed and renounced that they may be forgiuen them but yet we that behold them must wisely shun extremities in iudging of them on the one side as well as on the other as I haue said and no more condemne the persons then we allow the sins And as for the common professors who when they see such frailties appeare in the forwarder sort of Christians begin to please themselues therein and to condemne all other good parts in them I say to them if they stumble thereat and they themselues walke on in their grossenes they shall in time see themselues guiltie of farre greater and more horrible sinnes or if they still goe forward in condemning and insulting ouer them they shall doe it to their owne confusion And this by occasion of Baraks distrust More particularly also let Baraks answere in clinging so to Debora teach Gods people this wisdome not ouer-much to giue place to their affections euen in things lawful but to submit themselues to the will of God and pray for strength to rest therein It seemed a very equall and commendable request in Barak to desire the companie aduice and direction of Debora and so it was in the generall but when hee saw it was Gods will hee should depend immediatly vpon him for successe he saw againe that it was his weaknes so much to depend vpon her presence And although it is so commendable a thing for men to cleaue to the Ministery and assistance of their faithfull guides while they continue among them yet if any espieth his owne weakenes and childishnes in this that he cleaueth too neere vnto them as thinking that without them hee shall miscarrie and cannot bee vpholden without them let him checke himselfe and labour for such strength of knowledge and faith as may inable him to go vpon his owne feete and liue by his owne faith depending directly vpon Gods promise of vholding and preseruing him in the middest of his discouragements feares and weaknes without such meanes if he may not enioy them But while some with Barak ascribe too much to the Minister of God it is too true that many despising and nothing regarding the ministerie of men grow shiftles and shameles being as farre from hope of happinesse as they are voide of grace and goodnesse Now followeth the speech of Debora to Barak when he made the forementioned answere vnto her to wit that he would not goe vnlesse she went with him And this she said I will go with thee but it shall not be for thine honour Wherein she findeth fault with him and tels him that hee should suffer the punishment of his infidelitie while the glorie which he might otherwise haue had thereby should be giuen to a woman meaning Iael and not in the least part to her selfe whereby somewhat may be noted both generally and particularly For the first we may learne that which may do vs much good to wit that God will punish vs some way for our vnbeliefe For wee see that God doth not put vp at mens hands this and such other sinnes as I named in the former verse especially when they come more of knowledge then of frailtie and when we see that we doe amisse and yet through blind selfeloue we will not finde fault with our selues for the same but extenuate or hide our sinne God therefore spared not Zacharias for his vnbeliefe though otherwise a righteous man but made him dumbe for a season And he telleth vs all as much in the Psalme where he saith If mine owne children breake my statutes and keepe not my commandements I will visite their transgression with the rod and their iniquitie with strokes although I will not take my louing kindnesse from them The like is to be seene in Moses who because he distrusted the Lord in smiting the rocke bare the scarre thereof to his death being denied entrance into the land of Canaan So Ioash for distrusting Elishas message and smiting the earth but thrice was rebuked by the Prophet who would not haue found fault with him if he had not bidden him smite it oftner Thou shouldest saith he haue smitten fiue or sixe times and so thou shouldest vtterly haue destroyed Aram but now thou shalt soile them but thrice and so they shall get strength againe to reuenge themselues And euen so doe such both feele and finde who regard not what the Lord saith vnto them neither giue credit to his word and much more all such as giue the bridle more grossely to their vnruly passions And this should a man would thinke both cause vs all to shunne such boldnes with God as will prouoke him to make vs smart for the same and also it should make vs beare the more with the infirmities of our brethren for as much as wee see God correcteth them for the same and shall wee also adde sorrow to their sorrow when wee ought rather to haue compassion on them and pitie them This be noted in generall Now more particularly seeing Barak was punished with losing the glorie which he should haue had but for his vnbeliefe this teacheth vs that glorie and good name report is reckoned among the good things that a godly person may desire and be glad to enioy nay it is that which hee should ensue because it is a token of Gods approbation if his people report well of vs seeing they are taught by the same spirit to discerne who are like them Therefore Iohn by a probable argument proueth Demetrius to be a good man because of his good report It is to bee lamented that all they whom God alloweth doe not desire this also and deserue it by the fruites of their loue toward his Church For it is the note of an arrogant and dissolute person to scorne the good opinion that his brethren conceiue of him Euen as precious oyntments are knowne by their smell so is a godlie Christian by the sauour of his good name especially in the place where he dwelleth as being best knowne there Indeed the principall care should be to giue the Lord his due praise for else we beguile and deceiue men in causing them to thinke well of vs and much more we doe dangerously deceiue our selues but that being well regarded and looked
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 thē 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
those that receiue them The example of Lot is alleaged who for the defence of those strangers that turned in vnto him offered much inconuenience to himselfe and his daughters that hee might free the strangers whom he receiued from iniurie The like is said of the care of that old man mentioned hereafter in this booke to the Leuite and his concubine whom he had receiued as strangers into his house Hereupon and by the like it is concluded that as it were by an vniuersall law the promises that are made to strangers for their safety should bee inuiolably kept The very Barbarians shewed much kindnes in a like case as wee reade in the booke of the Acts to Paul and his company entertaining them kindly yea and did more also then that vnto them for they laded them with necessaries at their departing To all that hath been said of faithfulnesse to bee shewed to such as it is promised to as Iael did I answere that I am of the same mind that it ought to be so and the Scripture doth straitely vrge the same But yet wee must know that no bands of familiarity and equity are so neerely ioyned together and so iust but that if God for causes best knowne to him command otherwise they are to bee broken And so it may seeme to bee of this act of Iael For seeing the Lord had now cursed and commanded to be destroyed these Canaanites and Sisera their captaine therefore neither shee nor any other might heere take vpon them to saue or spare them but doe to them as God directed them and so she did Thus the Leuites followed and obeyed Moses in killing their friends and kindred who had committed idolatry with the Calfe which they had made and pleased God highly in so doing In this respect and by vertue of this commandement of God Abraham went about to kill his sonne and they that thinke foolish pitie ought to be shewed contrary to the word of God let them remember what befell the King of Israel who when hee had spared Benhadad the King of Aram contrary to the word of God was reproued by the Prophet at the cōmandement of God in these words Because thou hast let goe out of thy hands a man whom I appointed to die thy life shall goe for his life And therefore to returne to Iael forasmuch as I see that the Lord was the only gouernour of this worke and commended her for it in the next chapter by Debora yea pronounced her blessed when the action of killing Sisera is spoken of therefore I conclude that she being certainly perswaded of Gods wil in that which she did and commanded of God so to doe her deceiuing of his hope was no more since in her then Abrahams attempt to kill his sonne was or the Leuites sleying of their kindred for their idolatry And this for answering the question The doctrine hath been taught already that wee haue no authority to follow her example but the word wherby our actions must be guided as by a rule and by no example without it Thus wee haue seene as I said in the beginning of the chapter that the Lord by Barak Debora and Iael subdued Sisera with his huge armie It followeth Vers 22. And behold as Barak pursued after Sisera Iael came out to meete him and said Come and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest and when he came into her tent behold Sisera lay dead and the naile in his temples Vers 23. So God brought downe Iabin the King of Canaan that day before the children of Israel Vers 24. And the hand of the children of Israel prospered and preuailed against Iabin the King of Canaan vntill they had destroyed Iabin King of Canaan NOw it is shewed how Iael came out to meete Barak who not finding Sisera among those who were slaine followed after him and she told him what she had done vnto him and thus she preuented Barak lest hee should wearie himselfe with seeking him and bee grieued when he found him not and hee came into her tent and found it so And by Baraks pursuing him it appeareth that Sisera was not deceiued in that hee feared it and warned Iael to preuent it Likewise it appeareth here that the Lord deliuered his people out of the hands of Iabin and destroied him Here let vs note two or three things and so come to an end of the whole chapter And first though Iael must imbrace and hold peace with Iabin yet wee see her heart went not with him neither did she like his crueltie and oppression of Gods people but sought to turne it away and she reioyced to see the people of God to preuaile and to helpe them all that she could as Nehemiah and Ester did vsing their fauour they found with Kings to this end It teacheth that the godly doe giue good testimonie how they dislike it when the wicked rule and haue all in their hands as Iael did here by her worthie helping to beate downe Iabins and Siseras power For as Salomon saith when they beare rule the people sigh And contrarily what ioy they haue when God giues them godly guides and makes them to prosper such as Moses and Iosua were with other who did more aduance the Lord and his true worship as it became them then they did themselues And so it is in meaner estates that we haue great cause to praise God when he feebleth and disgraceth the vngodly and prospereth the enterprises of his seruants in any place of superioritie and gouernment and so in meaner conditions And let all such as are vnder them glorifie God by bringing foorth much fruite when they enioy such liberties and let them feruently intreate for much good may be done in such times the Lord when it is otherwise to change it remembring that which is written in the Psalme Pray for the peace of Ierusalem they shall prosper that loue thee I will procure thy peace c. Further we may learne that as Barak pursuing Sisera as he was commanded obtained a great blessing of God so shall all that incline their hearts to follow the commandements of God with a pure heart For it is the fruit of Gods promise and he is not pleased if wee walking wisely and diligently in our calling doe not beleeue the same For through vnbeleese wee depriue God of his honour and our selues of our owne due which hee hath freely and graciously bequeathed vs. But contrarily by giuing credit to God and walking in a good course as frailtie will permit we may in reuerence and yet in confidence looke surely for blessing either outward with other or at the least the inward ioy of a good conscience that is as continuall feasting which is alwaies a companion in such a case And therefore great pitie it is that wee should through our owne folly at any time depriue our selues of such a benefit And especially this
turne the edge of the sword against their enemies And thus much of Gods mercies of old and lately shewed on his people as in these 4. verses hath been declared But it followeth Vers 8. They chose new gods then was warre in the gates Was there a shield or speare seene among the forty thousands of Israel 9. Mine heart is set on the gouernours of Israel and on them that are willing among the people praise ye the Lord. 10. Speake ye that ride on white Asses ye that dwell by Middin and that walke by the way 11. For the wife of the archers appeased among the drawers of water there shall they rehearse the righteousnesse of the Lord his righteousnesse towards his townes then did the people of the Lord goe downe to the gates THe holy story hauing set downe the peoples deliuerance out of their great calamity and oppression from Siseras army goeth on in this eighth verse and sheweth the cause why they were cast vpon them and that was for their idolatry by meanes whereof it is said they had no heart to take vp weapon no not any of them throughout all the tribes against their enemies In the next three verses all sorts are stirred vp and called to praise God that tooke benefit by the victory and deliuerance as shall bee particularly shewed when I shall come vnto them by the order of the text Now to begin with the eighth verse Barak and Debora vtter this in this part of their song that then the warre began to oppresse the Iewes and the enemies to besiege their cities and gates where they held their iudgement seates when they had turned to idolatry so that this was the cause of their grieuous punishment By the which we may see how greatly God is displeased with men when they will runne after the sins that they haue been forewarned of and commanded to take heede of euen the sinnes which his soule abhorreth as Israel had oft times been admonished of this Idolatry The Lord will not put it vp at their hands And who can denie but that it standeth with most sound reason that when men who are but vile wormes shall thus boldly kicke vp their heele against their maker they should smart for it and not be suffered to commit such insolencie against him vnpunished And therfore he gaue vs examples hereof in the Apostate Angels which kept not their place that he set them in and therefore that he threw them downe for their disobedience and in our first parents whom hee draue out of Paradise when they hauing so great liberty as they might haue eaten of any fruit in the garden except one tree yet counted all little in respect of that which was forbidden them and stood on thornes till they had cast behinde them the commandement of God and eaten of that forbidden fruit also Now if God spared not the Angels and our first parents who were innocent before that their fall what may other offenders looke for whose sinnes are as the haires of our head in number And in that he dealeth not thus with wilfull transgressors at this day it is not for that he should be vniust or carnall in so doing but he beareth much with them as all may easily see and is patient toward them to this end that be may thereby bring them to repentance which if any abuse they pay for all their boldnesse in the end in so much that hee who speedeth best shall haue small cause to brag of his winnings And yet he shoaleth out some one of an hundred heere and there not many indeed in comparison of those who haue offended in that kind whom he striketh by and by with deadly blowes and setteth him on the stage to publish as it were by his wofull example to all the rest though he bare longer with some other for the cause before alleaged what he might doe to them yea and in perfect iustice execute vpon them And therefore let all that are wise take warning while they hold a good course to continue it and they that are out of it hast speedily vnto it and let none tempt God boldly to doe that which he forbiddeth for he will not be mocked they shall pay deare for their so doing And yet though God spare them from outward warre and iudgements for a time yet as the Prophet Esay speaketh that there is no peace to the vngodly so they may be sure they shall haue warre with him in their minds And let all praise God to whom he giueth an heart to shunne the euill and sinnes of the time in which they liue And for the idolatry of the Church of Rome I may say most of the Papists doe wilfully and malitiously erre against the truth and some for their pompe and bellie and many doe it of meere superstition and blind deuotion and custome as they receiued it of their forefathers seeing they that least offend therein among the rest doe put Christ out of office in their seruice they giue him and honour him as their King but with a crowne of thornes and a scepter of a reed in his hand bee it knowne vnto them that their damnation sleepeth not their wee is at hand And that they may partly gather by the vncomfortable yea fearefull death of many Papists and great masters and maintainers of popery who for all the boldnes in their life time whereby they beare out matters yet when they must die some cry out they are vndone other cry out of their religion and but for the hardnesse of their hearts it would be seene in more of them And no maruell seeing they try not their estate what it is This being obserued that the greatest offenders among them shall smart most But yet this I will say that for all their deuotion and fast cleauing to the Church of Rome if it please God that if they might bee brought to heare the sermons of learned and religious preachers and to admit of their conferences many of them would renounce that trumpery as standing vpon rotten props and embrace the truth of the Gospell stablished so strongly And further in that it is said that they could not take vp a weapon against their enemies no they had no heart to handle shield or speare because of their sinne as idolatry and other enormities it plainely shewes that mens sinne turneth euery thing out of course against them and contrary to the nature vse and end for the which it is created and appointed of God euen as this people durst not take weapon in hand to fight for their liues their consciences accusing them that God would be against them Wherefore is the weapon ordained but for a mans defence against his enemie and why hath God giuen courage to man but that at such a time I meane of warre and other necessity it might be put to vse But behold heere was neither of both imployed or set a worke any more then if
bauds to adulterers and to spend that day leaud and vnseemely meetings and match-makings stage-playes and other reuell rout and all vnder the honest colour of exchanging commodities and maintaining their charge So that in stead thereof men and women set to sale their good name chastity sobriety and whatsoeuer else should bee pretious to the godly Now vnto these before mentioned of greater wealth and place whereas some thinke that in the next words shee speaketh to men of meaner state such as is said here dwelt by Middin a place they say where they met more vsually for a Mart or exchange of their wares which place being before intercepted by the enemies and now free for all to haue recourse to it and passe too and fro by the high waies shee exhorts them that repaired thither to praise the Lord. This opinion of theirs is gainsaid by the purest translations and beside one thing should bee vnderstood in both places to wit of traâ—â—ique and merchandise if it were so But the word Middin is not to be taken heere for the proper name of a place where wares were sold but the words dwelling by Middin are to bee translated thus sitting in iudgement As if she should say let men of authority and rich lawyers who may now sit in iudgement about ciuill causes let such praise the Lord because they may now doe it safely It is the honour credit peace and benefit of Magistrates and learned counsellors as also the welfare of the people that places of iudgement and iustice be frequented and vpholden as we see heere in England in our Terme times at Westminster and out of Terme in other places where equity and right are maintained and wrong and iniurie punished Oh it is a time full of desolation when through famine plague or any inâ—ection such places must lie vnoccupied in the times when they should be frequented and set a worke in deciding causes helping the innocent to his right and weeding out of euill doers Whereby we may gather how heauy times those were when iudgement ceased and the open places where iustice was ministred were laid wast and left voide And therfore we reade in the former chapter that the people could not enioy that liberty of publike iudgement seates but they were driuen to go priuately to Debora for iudgement not dwelling sumptuously in palace or castle famous in that respect or honourable but obscure vnder a Palme tree Now therfore as they when they might againe boldly and freely sit in iudgement are heere called to praise God for it So such persons with vs enioying such priuiledges ought to call themselues duely and daily to zealous thankesgiuing with such other duties as accompany the same yea their whole life should sauour thereof And they shall haue much to answere to God who do otherwise As for the people what duty they owe for enioying this benefit I will shew by a fitter occasion in the next verse But to let these goe of whom I haue spoke in this verse because Debora heere speaketh also to all such as went and walked by the way this should cause all such as goe to and fro about their businesse pleasure or other necessarie vses as trauellers to praise God highly for such liberties seâ—ing a little before that the high waies lay vnoccupied and to speake of the benefit thereof one to another to his praise and not to trauell to and fro in rude prophane and loose manner gabling like wild geese in vnciuill and rude sort as though they enioyed such liberties to offend God by them And much more ought their behauiour and communication to bee sober and Christian like when they goe to the house of God to bee edified by the word prayer and Sacraments and also when they returne home againe and in a word to walke harmelesse in all places which behauiour is much out of vse in this land and yet God bee thanked not altogether in some places But heere an end for this time THE THIRTIE TWO SERMON ON THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES NOw to proceed with the rest that I haue begun withall heree Debora speaketh to the seruants that in going forth to draw water for their necessary vse were not free from the archers who shot at them and put them to much paine trouble and danger or feare at least thereby Where we see that as they who are in the meanest places of seruice are not to bee suffered to enioy their liberty to liue idly but to be imployed and occupied as Dauid when he was young kept his fathers sheep and set to worke that they may be maintained thereby and such ought to be thankfull when they may goe to it in peace so they are to bee admitted also and taken into the number of them that worship God in the assembly and therefore ought duly to bee brought thither by their gouernours and taught there to know him Euen such as cut wood and draw water the very droyles in houses as they are called who doe the most seruile workes and therefore in some countries such as keepe swine sheepe and cattell which is more base then to serue them onely euen these I say being of them who are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ as well as other should be taught to honour God aright and to liue vnder his gouernment and therefore not suffered to liue brutishly as in some places they doe but be brought forth by their parents or rulers into the congregation of the faithfull to learne those things that concerne their happinesse and peace this being presupposed that there they shall be taught Which I speake to the shame of such masters and gouernours as neuer regard any such matter neither consider that they owe that education to them for the seruice they doe them and the vse they make of them and most of all that they owe it them by the band with which they are tyed to it by Gods commandement whereas the life of such is as miserable for their soule as they vnder the Turkes gallies for their bodies yea euen as asses who spend the day in toyle and then are thrust at night into emptie stables so are they sent after their tedious and brutish seruice vnto their wofull home and at last to hell as a heauie recompence of their labour Fie therefore vpon such tyrants And yet if some masters in conscience of the commandement doe for some it may be doe giue them more libertie to goe to the assemblie to worship God yet oft times another euill is in the way that when they come there they haue nothing taught them so that by one meanes or other all that list may see they die miserably of which sort oh that the number were not too great Thus much of these The next sort spoken to in this verse are they who dwelling in villages and vnwalled townes were left desolate and driuen from their habitations and they
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 thē 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
man is commanded to walke in his particular calling and the duties therof For so saith the Apostle in the first epistle to the Corinthians Let euery man abide in the same vocation wherein hee was called But it followeth in the text Vers 12. Vp Debora vp arise and sing a song arise Barak and leade thy captiuity captiue thou sonne of Abinoam 13. For they that remaine haue dominion ouer the mighty of the people the Lord hath giuen me dominion ouer the strong NOw that Debora hath called all the people of Israel to thankesgiuing for the victorie in the three former verses shee stirreth vp her selfe in this twelfth verse by an elegant figure that other might bee whetted on by her example to doe the same And she calleth Barak to triumph and with a certaine pompe to make a shew of his enemies captiuity and conquest which was to the great honor of God when all might vnderstand that the Canaanites were for the most part slaine and they that remained aliue were prisoners to the Hebrues who were most like a little before to be chopped to pieces of them other of Gods enemies In the 13. verse she amplifieth the victorie by another comparison of the conquerers with those who were conquered these hauing been valiant wise and well prouided but that they ouercame them namely the Israelites were but as a remnant and yet base and contemptible This is the summe of these two verses Out of her prouoking of her selfe to praise God as if shee had been much behinde in that dutie when yet she had been commendable therein as wee haue heard and had also vrged other thereto wee may see that this hath been the manner and course of Gods people to thinke they could neuer do enough in praising God when they haue entred seriously into consideration of his goodnesse but euer thought themselues cold and backward in respect of that they ought to haue been Doubtlesse the due weighing of the cause made her stil to see more and more into Gods admirable kindnes till she was ashamed of her vnthankfulnesse But some will say all cannot be as Debora was it is well if we can be thankfull when we be prouoked by others they say and by good meanes as by the word c. To which I answere It is cleare indeed wee come behinde her in the duty but is there not enough to moue vs to be equall to her yea to excell her therein Shee is thus thankfull for the victorie wee haue no need nor cause to fight shee praiseth God for peace recouered with the hazard and danger of ten thousand men we enioy ours without putting it into question shee for bodily blessing we haue infinite to the maintenance of health and welfare then the which what could shee haue more for this present life besides many that are spirituall to season the other and yet wee come short of her in thankfulnesse neuerthelesse And that which I haue said of Debora the same we may see in Dauid Anna and others Hee in the Psalme hauing none equall to him in the performing of that duty affirming that hee would doe it three times nay seuen times a day and that hee would doe it openly in the congregation and priuately by himselfe yet as though hee had much forgot himselfe and had waxen dull and been behind other therein hee quickeneth vp himselfe to it saying O my soule praise thou the Lord and al that is within me praise his holy name Hee stirreth vp himselfe wee see to bee feruenter when yet he was very forward before Which I speake not as if both he and other Gods best seruants and most feruent did not feele oftentimes a kind of sleepy deadnesse in them to good duties and remissenesse of spirit creeping vpon them as it is certaine they doe seeing they carry that corruption about them which will oft cause a wearinesse in them of well doing for the time but they hauing a greater power of grace working in them to subdue it they gather vp and stirre themselues againe by such occasion to more earnestnesse and so finde themselues refreshed by a new meditation of their slacknesse with double courage to set vpon their duties And to that end they helpe and sharpen on themselues as Dauid and Debora did and sometime are supported by other as we see Moses his weake hands were faine to be holden vp by Aaron and Hur against Amalek By this we see a manifest difference betwixt them and the wicked who though as they say they like well of prayer and hearing and of thankesgiuing yet they professe they cannot endure nor away with such continuall seruice affirming where that is vrged that men shall neuer haue done For as they who beleeue how greatly they are beholding to God for his goodnesse do charge themselues with their vnthankfulnesse euen when they are forwarder then the most considering they are then but vnprofitable seruants so the other are ready to post it off to others as testifying thereby that they be more beholding to God then they hold themselues to be and thinke euery little to bee enough that they are to doe to God yea and that a word and away may serue the turne euen very froth it is that they offer to him a mocking no sacrifice the heart neuer enclining for it cannot to any such thing Another thing in this verse is concerning Barak and that is that hee should in a shew and with solemne pomp set out the conquest and victorie which God had giuen them ouer their enemies Which though after the victory in warre it was vsed to bee done by the Heathens ouer such as they conquered to the priding of themselues and the vttermost disgrace of them that were subdued yet this was we see spoken by the Prophetesse to the end that God might haue honour therby for one end she propounded both of his act and of her owne and that was the giuing of honour to the Lord. For the seeking of a mans owne glory is no glory but a taking it from God and a prouoking of him thereby Nay where men would thinke that it as a due desert to them yet euen there let them beware that they take it not but let vs all acknowledge Gods goodnesse with thankfulnesse for that he will vse our seruice to the honouring of his name But to flesh and pride our selues in the yoking and subduing of our enemies this were no better then the act of Adonibezek who most cruelly cut off the thumbs of the hands and feet of seuenty Kings and made them as dogs to eat bread vnder his table that hee might glorie in their extreme reproch and shame This act of triumph was common to the people of God with the Heathen but not done in so prophane and common a manner And as it hath been in war so the like in some sort we see at this day in the time of peace that tehre
grosse disfiguring of him all men obserue it with commiseration and pity Now of Dan seuerally she complaineth for that they of that tribe fled away for feare of the enemies from their dwelling places if not also for their worldly profit as Reuben and the other did as we haue heard in the exposition of this verse So that as these did another way and in another respect deserue blame as wee see namely for their feare of their enemies whereas they should haue rather vnderstood that it behoued them to haue taken part with their brethren so the ill fauourednesse if it could bee seene with the eye and the vnseemelinesse of it in them teacheth what a slauish affection this feare and timerousnesse is and what a burthen to Gods seruants when their faith is damped and hindred by it that it cannot haue the proper worke that is to harten and encourage them to bee forward and zealous in the worke of the Lord but shiftingly to prouide for themselues And therefore in the Reuelation this spirituall fearefulnesse is threatened as seuerely as adultery and murther and therefore doubtlesse is no lesse then a great blemish This I say is in men a shamefull sinne to be content that other shall beare the brunt and themselues goe free Such shall smart and be wounded deeply when the other shall reioyce Howbeit this I will adde that as this fearefulnesse comming from a false heart destitute of the loue of God and faith is damnable disobedience to God and trechery to men so yet because it may through infirmity cleaue to a right good seruant of God for we must wisely discerne of the cause from whence it ariseth therefore we must not count alike of both as we haue good warning by Peters example who of meere frailty feared to confesse his master but by and by he went by himselfe and wept bitterly for it whereas they whose feare riseth of falshood and meere carnall respects onely seeke grosly to auoide danger but relent not after for their sinne therefore we must be waile both but pity them that haue been ouercome through frailty and commend their estate to God to giue them more strength and courage and not daring be bold to censure them so farre as to say that Christ will denie them before his father for they are as farre from falshood and malice as they are from resolution and Christian magnanimity yea and much further and let vs rather that thinke we stand beware that we fall not Now after all these she speaketh of the men of Ashur who excused their not comming forth to helpe against their enemies by meanes of their weak defences at home and their farre distance but howsoeuer they thought they had good reason for their absence we see that they are also reproued by the spirit of God in Debora To teach vs that it shall little boot vs to make defences for our sinne and that wee cannot hide it from God and that hee looketh for another thing at our hands that wee should not refuse to obey his word no though it be with some danger Which if we refuse to do as these are heere dispraised and sharpely reproued for not so doing so we in the day of iudgement shall be not onely put to shame and rebuke with in ecouerable losse for our slight gaine by our excuse making but also we shall be cast from Gods presence for euer Thus wee haue heard how shee hath commended the tribes that did fight against the enemies and dispraised those that refused and hath said nothing of Iuda Simeon Leui and Gad and therfore neither haue I any thing to say of them who must haue my ground of all that I speake from the word And that which remaineth in this first point of the second part is of the two tribes Zebulun and Naphtali who in the middest of the earthlinesse feare and pretences of their brethren did as wee haue heard in the exposition of this verse put their liues in danger by fighting with the enemies Of whom although I haue spoken sufficiently before yet this I adde that if the cause so require we should be ready to giue our liues for the brethren Which Saint Iohn meant when he said wee ought to lay downe our lines for the brethren euen as our sauiour did leauing vs an example And as this case falles out seldome so yet when it doth we ought not to be to seeke of this readinesse and willing minde to do this seruice for them considering that we are neuer like to yeeld our liues in better maner vnlesse it be for the Lords cause and Gospell directly which is in a manner all one And why not when we see that some will be ready to doe so for some benefactor of theirs who hath been bountifull toward them As S. Paul saith for a good or bountifull man perhaps some will die Now if wee ought to hold our liues on this condition that beside the many casualties whereto they are subiect they ought also to bee ready to bee offered at the pleasure of God with all things else that we enioy with them wee may see that it is no wise part to be wedded to that which wee haue heere lent vs heere below nor to our liues themselues as we are and the rather for that our Sauiour professeth that he who will saue his life shall lose it prising them at so high a reckoning as wee doe namely to count them as our paradise which is the chiefe cause that we doe so dote vpon them and also that we do so meanely esteeme and make account of the life to come as that our hearts do little long after it And to conclude by the opposition of these forementioned tribes let vs learne wisedome and iudge righteous iudgement Let vs marke the repugnant example of both sorts of men the zealous according to knowledge on the one side and the carelesse on the other also their actions their affections and their reward obseruing how the Lord honoureth encourageth and recompenseth the one with the loue of his people maine blessings and how he brandeth the other with a blacke cole of infancy and shame that as we like or abhorre their portion so we may like the grace of the one and abhorre the practise of the other It followeth THE THIRTY FOVRE SERMON ON THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES Vers 19. The Kings came and fought then fought the Kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo they receiued no gaine of money Vers 20. They fought from heauen euen the starres in theâ—â— courses fought against Sisera Vers 21. The riuer Kishon swept them away that ancient riuer the riuer Kishon O my soule thou hast marched valiantly Vers 22. Then were the horse hoofes broken with the beating together of their mightie men IN these words is contained the second point or branch of the second part of the chapter wherein Debora
him they would be much more forward euery one in the things which are commanded him But of this I haue spoke also by occasion offered before Here Debora commendeth the wisedome of Iael but such as proceeded from faith in her that she called Sisera into her tent and couered him and gaue him drinke fit to cast him into a sleepe And in that it is said she gaue him butter also in a lordly dish it is likely that she offered food to him that he might drinke the more liberally By all these she made way the more easily for that she afterward brought to passe By this example we are taught to be wise and circumspect in the things we goe about For though it be requisite that they bee lawfull yet if wee bee not circumspect and doe not forecast inconueniences and to doe them in season and fit time good manner and to the right end there may much griefe discommodity and inconuenience follow which will much disquiet vs and through rashnes and improuidence wee may bring that to an ill end which yet was lawfully taken in hand of vs. As if men will embrace religion yet they walke loosly and lightly Rebecca when she saw that Iacob her deare sonne was deadly hated of his brother Esau and that hee sought opportunitie to kill him did not onely keepe him out of the way for so he might one time or other haue had his will of him as Cain had of his brother Abel but auoided many dangers at once by sending him into a far countrey to her fathers house from whence she came to dwell there though it was hard for her to forbeare the sight of him any long time euen with her brother Laban in Padam Aram. And why she knew that in that space the wrath of his brother would be abated as she also said A wise part therefore it was in her in that weightie matter And the wisedome of Abigall in preseruing her house which the foolishnes of Nabal had otherwise destroyed was as commendable And such wisedome to preserue our liues goods credit grace and inward peace therewith to preuent dangers and auoide many needlesse troubles is a great furtherance to liue well and to make our liues more fruitful to other and comfortable to our selues Onely take wee heed that we ascribe naught to our wit and that we perke not aboue that which is meete but in all humilitie serue we Gods prouidence and so we shall finde it no small benefit to be free from carelesnesse rashnes and foolishnes which throughout our life cause much euill and griefe which are vnwelcome About this see more in chapter 3. 15. Debora here addeth to the wisedome of Iael her courage and fortitude For was it not a point of courage for a woman to set vpon so valiant a Captaine as Sisera was and to take the naile in one hand and the hammer in the other it seemeth other weapons were not at hand and to aduenture to strike them into the temples of his head as he lay For what though he was asleepe might hee not at the first blow haue started and risen vp with the paine and so haue ouerthrowne her in his rage and that a great deale more likely then to haue receiued his deadly wound at her hand The very forme therefore and being of this fortitude was no mannishnes or stoutnes of courage by nature for of that we can say nothing but only faith And in this last verse of this third point in this second part of the chapter when hee was almost slaine Debora setteth downe certaine motions which appeare in such as haue their deadly blow by violent death For he being so wounded his body through extremitie of paine bowed twice or thrice For he went about to rise but hauing no strength he fell downe againe and lay miserably at the feete of Iael And thus God brought proud Sisera to shame and to a fearfull end though so valiant a Captaine and that by the hand of a woman Now what shall wee say to this Surely it teacheth that when God will doe some great thing by any he will also fit and inable them thereunto Euen Saul himselfe had an heart giuen him furnished with gifts for gouernment when God had once called him Moses when hee should be sent to Pharao to carrie the people of Israel out of Egypt how did hee complaine and disable himselfe but when God had furnished him hee waxed bold The Virgin Mary when word was brought her that she should be the mother of our Sauiour answered with astonishment How can this thing be seeing I know not a man But when it was told her by the Angell the holy Ghost shall come vpon thee and the power of the most high shall ouer shadow thee therefore also that holy thing that shall be borne of thee shall be called the sonne of God Then Mary said Behold the seruant of the Lord be it vnto me according to thy word The examples are infinite that may be brought to this purpose But I will containe my selfe adding onely this one how should the Apostles being poore fishermen doe so great a worke as to subdue the greatest part of the world to their doctrine which was as if a man would haue vndertaken to tame the wilde beasts in the wildernesse But by Christs sending them the most powerfull gifts of the holy Ghost as the confirming of their faith the increase of knowledge courage in paines taking and to withstand their enemies the gift of tongues and of working miracles wee see it came so to passe And though such things be not wrought in these daies as neither is it necessarie that such should now be wrought yet many of the ordinarie workes which God will haue to be done by his in this latter age are great and not to be passed ouer slightly For how vnlike a thing is it for a priuate man or woman who haue no other outward gifts of God to speake of but onely this that they can reade the Scriptures in their owne language how vnlike is it I say that such liuing among people of most prophane and bad behauiour should not bee tainted with them and defiled by them as he that toucheth pitch Nay that they being baited disgraced and scorned of them as they are in many places should not faint and be discouraged by them and driuen from their hope and profession of it but that they should walke on in the vprightnes of their hearts and innocencie of their hands so farre and so long till their light so shining doth lighten some of these which hated them who sat long in darknes and cause them to embrace that conuersation to the which they had been such deadly enemies before this I say is a thing to be wondred at euen as to see the lambe and the lion to feede together And yet God bee blessed so it is at this day in some places and
so it hath bin in former times that when mens waies haue pleased the Lord he hath caused not only their very enemies to be at one with them but also their very hearts to be intirely knit to them Yea many sillie persons so furnished with grace by God haue forced great ones to wish from their hearts for all their wealth and power that they were like to them And yet this is more that a Minister of the Gospell who is to challenge them openly that keepe not the commandements of Iesus and in his name to rebuke and threaten the workers of iniquitie though all this is of the louing and kinde Preacher done to saue their soules by turning them from their euill waies that such a Minister I say who is not only hated for his good will and counted their enemie for telling them the truth but also accused by them pursued also and not suffered to be quiet among them yet should constantly hold out his labours with a life vnoffensiue what a work of God thinke we is that in him who were like to continue so gracious a course in the middest of so many discouragements whereof I haue mentioned but a few if the Lord should not giue them faith to beleeue that of their loue to him they should feed his lambes and his sheep and that in so doing they assure themselues they shall be plentifully rewarded and to this end that he will giue them shoulders I meane courage to beare their so great a burthen These are no small things which yet God worketh among vs that we may see he regardeth vs as he did some in former times The other and last thing to be noted in this second part is of Sisera that the Lord pulled him downe and cast him from his so great honour and valiantnes For as it was a great abasement for such a Nimrod to be driuen to so great a streight as to lurke in another mans house not daring to peere foorth as the sillie bird beaten into the bush by the hawke so it was yet farre baser to fall by the hand and at the feete of a woman Let vs learne that the Lord bringeth to naught the high and haughtie and that to their vtter shame who were so great and proud It is no strange thing in the Scriptures to finde it thus though fooles wonder at it who will learne no instruction by it The Lord casteth the mightie from their seate Witnesse Abimilech who in his desperate mood being striken on the head with a milstone by a woman called his page and bid him to runne him through lest it should be said A woman slew him And yet that which was said of him was reprochfull enough to wit that a base page slew him and agreeth well with the point in hand Thus Absolon who had stomacke to rise against his father so kinde to him was brought to a base and reprochful death very fit for such an one being thrust through by Ioabs common souldiers And Iezabel scorning God and his Prophets was according to the foretelling of the Lord made dogges meate and dung vpon the earth being throwne out of the window from her royall palace The proud and stout Iewes who railed on Peter calling him despitefully a drunken man were so terrified with their sin that they were glad to seeke to be comforted euen by him whom they had scorned And well is it with them whose pride the Lord resisteth in mercie for their good as hee did Pauls by appalling him first and then sending him to poore Ananias who being his comforter now had been a prey for him if God had not preuented it For the rest whom I haue mentioned they excepted also in the second of the Acts the other I say were resisted to their cost and vtter vndoing And so by the foolishnes of preaching as it pleaseth the world to call it and an humble submitting of themselues to his holy doctrine they that are saued must attaine but as that generation of vipers the Pharisies were glad to come to Iohns ministerie if so be they tooke any good by it Be we therefore humble and meeke they who are graced are they that finde fauour with him but as for the proud he resisteth them and setteth himselfe against them till they be confounded if they so abide and be brought to naught And therefore let the scorners and enemies taunt and mocke the simple professors of the truth like Edomites they shall one day wish they had been like them and iudge them more happie then themselues as Diues for all his superfluitie did wish that he might haue had not the estate of Lazarus which he saw no hope to attaine but the thousand part of it euen that he might dip his finger in cold water and quench his thirst which yet might not be granted him And therefore let vs but stay a while and containe our selues and wee shall see these boasters and contemners if they will needs hold on their course wee shall see them I say swept away and they shall be no more so little cause shall we see of hauing our teeth water after their dainties They are wise who can in the iolitie and prosperitie of the enemies of the Church see their ouerthrow by faith and count their florishing and bragges to be but vaine crakes And thus much be said of the second part of the Chapter THE THIRTIE FIVE SERMON ON THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES The third part of the Chapter Vers 28. The mother of Sisera looked out at a window and cried through the lattesse Why is his charet so long a comming why tarrie the wheeles of his charets c. Vers 29. Her wise Ladies answered her yea she answered her selfe with her owne words Vers 30. Haue they not gotten and they diuide the spoile euery man hath a maide or two Sisera hath a prey of diuers coloured garments a prey of sundrie colours made of needle worke on both sides for the chiefe of the spoile Vers 31. So let all thine enemies perish O Lord but they that loue him shall be as the Sunne when he ariseth in his might And the land had rest fortie yeeres IN these words is contained the third and last part of the song of Debora and so of the Chapter and hath two members in the first she bringeth in the boastings of the women that were enemies to Gods people and Siseras deare friends and derides them in the first three verses In the last member she opposeth a propheticall prayer against their boastings wishing therein to the remainder of Gods enemies destruction and to the Israelites all increase of good things and that increase she laieth out by a comparison of the Sunne from the rising to the noone tide euen such she wisheth it to be More particularly to come to the first point she saith that Siseras mother was looking
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
from them all and were in the middest of all prosperitie which is hardly beleeued for the time while the crosse oppresseth vs. The vse of this is that we labour aboue all things to be builded vp in our most holy faith that as by it wee ouercome other difficulties in the world so we may thereby ouercome this feare and doubt also in the middest of our calamities namely that in our tribulations wee may not shrinke backe from this perswasion that for all these yet God is with vs according to that which the holy man saith in the Psalme yet God is good to Israel euen to all that are of an vpright heart though in outward shew it might seeme otherwise And againe Out of the deepe he meant of sorrowes he cried vnto the Lord and he heard and deliuered him And to make one point of two the same vse we ought to make of the other words of the Angell in calling him valiant man which was true because God said it yet to Gedeon vnlikely to be so and yet he found it afterwards to be so Let it teach vs to giue God his due namely that he be beleeued in al that he saith yea that he saith vnto vs though we be not able to see nor feele so much for the present time as neither Gedeon did A point worthie to be marked seeing where God giueth good testimonie of his fauour or reuealeth his will in any thing we are not as readie to ioyne with him for the most part but doe faint and doubt because wee see not with bodily eyes as Thomas desired to doe the thing promised as we would And whereas this troubleth many that the wicked take occasion hereby to despise them when they see that God seemeth not to regard them while hee so abaseth them let such know that their mistaking of the matter their false surmising of Gods good meaning to them shall not hurt them if they fixe the eyes of their mindes vpon this that God is vnchangeable constant in al his waies also if they can learne to esteeme of themselues according to that knowledge and inward feeling they haue had of Gods ancient loue and regard of them in times past and so doing the more their enemies scorne them the neerer the Lord is to them to take away their reproch But this is well and cleerely laid out in the next verse therfore I will passe to that It appeareth in this verse that as neere as God was to Gedeon yet he saw it not but concludeth that seeing he and the people of the land were vnder such oppression by the Midianites that it could not be well with them neither could he beleeue that God was with him And he confirmes himselfe therein by a reason though of no strength thus God was indeed with our fathers he saith when he brought them out of Egypt wrought many miracles for them but hee did not so now for him and the people therefore how could he thinke said he that God was with him now This spake Gedeon from an heauie heart euen then when the Angell was sent directly to him with glad tidings But let vs further examine his words and make our benefit of them In saying the Lord could not be with him while the Midianites so oppressed them he shewed his great weaknesse as I said in the former verse affirming that he could not beleeue while hee saw it to be so with him Whereby we may see how hardly the faithfull can be perswaded that the Lord is with them in affliction how ready soeuer they bee to acknowledge it at other times which I speake not as though none were for both the three children cast into the hoat burning furnace and Daniel into the Lyons denne haue left most worthy testimonie of their inuincible faith in their great extremitie with many other both in ages past and now among vs. But yet in time of calamitie it must needs be said especially if it belong and smartie that our corrupt nature which is vntoward and hardly suffereth vs to giue credit to Gods promises is furthest off then from letting vs see into them and beleeue them and the diuell is readiest to worke vpon our weakenesse at such times and to take the opportunitie thereof to feare and terrifie vs and with his fiery darts of vnbeliefe to pierce our hearts whereby it is with vs too oft and vsually as it was here with Gedeon in so much that the Lord being euen then neare vs by his promises of comfort and incouragements which were sufficient to content and stay vs yet wee see it not neither thinke it to be so seeing we giue not our selues to studie and consider aright of this point which distrust of ours is as vnbeseeming vs as it is burdensome to vs. The remedie must be that which I spake of before and shall haue cause to mention it againe and that is to rest vpon the word and promise of God though we see not present helpe as Christ said to Martha Did I not tell thee thou shouldest see the glorie of God if thou canst beleeue As for profane persons who want faith what wonder if they measure Gods loue by their present flourishing and liuing in ease or wealth and by their enioying of these outward things below whereby their lusts may bee satisfied And what wonder if they iudge it impossible in their deepe distresses and crosses that euer they should wade out of them As wee reade of that Prince of Iehoram in Israel in a fore famine who hearing the Prophets message from God touching suddaine plentie that should bee on the next day hee said Though the Lord would make windowes in Heauen to powre downe corne and prouision yet this thing could not come to passe What was this else but a bold presuming in great blindenesse of that which hee apprehended not and a very derision of the prophecie And the like we see daily in such brutish people who hearing vs preach this doctrine of depending vpon Gods all sufficiencie by faith euen in affliction doe little better then scoffe at it Giue vs wealth say they and corne and wine giue vs our fill of meate and drinke and money and as for faith take it whose will Therefore while they prosper they are as merry as Nabal but if God giue them a suddaine blow it strikes them downe flat they neither haue any armour to beare off the dint thereof neither faith to beleeue that it shall euer be any better with them but much worse Their euill conscience makes them feare that this trouble or that disgrace either sicknesse or losse will be their vndoing and as Hamans friends comforted him so they doe themselues Hest 6. and that was thus Thou shâ—lt surely fall And yet in their iollitie who haue such apparance of hope and so great confidence in their estate that it shall continue as they Better
our hearts and cast vp as filthie vomit the noisome fruite thereof out of our liues And it is the cause at this day of so little profiting and so slender fruites of our preaching as we complaine of iustly and inueigh against it bitterly for that people are at a point they will doe as they haue done and retaine the sinnes which in times past they haue walked and delighted in when yet we haue daily in the earnestest manner that wee could disgraced and made them odious with the most fearful sharp threats of God adioyned thereto Yea and contrariwise if any make right and kinde vse of our Ministerie who seeth not that they be those that waxe ashamed of themselues after they haue seene their faces in the glasse of Gods law and with Ephraim bemoned themselues bin confounded because they did beare the reproch of their youth when the old rootes haue thus bin decaied then new sprigs of grace haue sprung out in their roome and then they haue begun to lament after God Magistrate Minister Master of family and priuate persons if they be well aduised they speake thus yea they all finde this to be true And in this 25. verse it is further said as we see that God appeared here to Gedeon in the night when it might haue seemed that he had been neglected and forgotten euen then gaue he a weightie charge vnto him whereby we are taught that God watcheth ouer his to doe them good when they are sleepie and minde nothing as we reade he did to Samuel Salomon and other of his faithfull seruants For he that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleepe meaning that he waketh and watcheth continually to keepe his from danger for the which cause it is said by the Apostle Peter that his eyes are vpon them as the mothers vpon the young childe standing by to see that it take no hurt For as it is in the Psalme if the Lord keepe not the citie the watchmen watch but in vaine but if God take part with his the strongest enemie shall not be able to hurt them It is said of Peter Act. 12. 6. that while he slept betweene two souldiers in the night bound with two chaines the Angell of the Lord came vpon them and smote Peter on the side so that his chaines fell off and he was deliuered from Herod See also Psal 4. I will lay 〈…〉 owne and take my rest for thou O Lord vpholdest me But seeing â—e keepeth the bad also and there some perhaps will say therefore it might â—â—me no great matter that he keepeth and watcheth ouer the faithfull but for answere I say with the Apostle God is the sauiour of all men that is from outward troubles but especially of the beleeuers for he preserueth their soules from euill vnto saluation As if he said he keepeth and saueth his own with a fatherly care and affection but the wicked though he keepe them yet he doth so as a Iudge keepeth aliue euill doers but vnto their destruction But of his people that is verified which is written by Salomon He watcheth ouer them when they sleepe and communeth with them when they awake and when they walke he doth gouerne and guide them And hereupon in that Gods care is thus ouer his in the night season as well as in other parts of their liues hereupon I say it is that as they reioyce in the Lord alwaies in all that they set their hand vnto through the day so they haue this fruite of it in the night also that they meditate and make their songs of his louing kindnesse as Dauid saith of himselfe that he would praise God in the night season when the other haue their terrors for their bad doings or imagine euill in their beds to draw vpon them greater and speedier iudgements Now further out of both these verses together note that as it was not enough for Gedeon to ouerthrow the Altar of Baal vnlesse he builded another to the Lord nor to build one to the Lord vnlesse he cast downe the Idolatrous Altar Euen so it is not enough to shunne euill except we doe good And therefore it is not sufficient to be no couetous person except a man bee mercifull it is not enough to bee innocent except a man be also fruitfull in doing good for one God is the commander of both It is a true speech Negatiues conclude nothing and here it is especially true Therefore let all such as whose goodnesse and outward actions witnesse not for them suspect that they deceiue themselues in the reforming of the hart For surely an heart purged will bee fruitfull Againe it is not inough to forsake Poperie c. vnlesse the pure Gospell bee imbraced Let the one abandon the other as Dagon and the Arke could not stand together They that make an hotch-potch of both are an abomination to the Lord. And here we may further learne that two religions in a land though the one tolerated onelie two contray or diuers waies I meane of worshipping God can no more stand together then Christ and Belial For then the Lord would haue spared Gedeon a labour and only enioyned him to goe about the warre and settle sound religion letting idolatrie alone The false religion is the canker of the true and as the execrable thing tooke hold vpon the whole substance of Achan so doth this bring a curse vpon the other Now to returne whereas the Lord bad the bullocke dedicated to Baal to be offered as a burnt sacrifice to himselfe I answer he is Lord of all he might turne it to what vse he pleased But it followeth not that we without his commandement may take vpon vs to iumble together Gods worship and superstition For the which cause as sometime he commanded that the gold and other things vsed in idolatrie should passe through the fire and so it might be vsed so somtime he commanded that they should vtterly be destroyed To returne therfore in a word to the point As we see what a blemish it had been in Gedeon if he had done the one part of the charge and not another like Saul in the businesse of the Amalakites so by the way it teacheth that God alowes not for seruice duties done by halues but that they should be soundly and in one part and point as another indeuored after neither doth hee allow vs to bee our owne caruers to take what pleaseth vs and turne the other backe again which we may see more clearely by the example of one that was guiltie of this fault Of Iehu it is reported that when he had slaine all the cursed posteritie of Ahab and destroyed the Priests of Baal which was the purging out of false worship in great part yet whereas the other part of setting vp true worship should haue followed it the text makes a stop and sets downe a manifest separation betwixt them thus But from the sinnes of
hold and beates them backe from their purpose and attempt First he reprooues them for their boldnesse for that they being priuate men did without any calling take vpon them to bee reuengers of Baals quarrell and that contrary to the will of God And secondly he threatens them with the feare of Gods iudgement and that presently And thirdly by an Ironicall speech against Baal saying if he be a God let him pleade for himselfe he shameth them and driues them from their enterprize And this be said for the layingout of the 31. verse In the 32. he giues his some a name according to the answere hee had made to the people and that name was Ierrubbaal And here in generall occasion is offered to consider how strangely God wrought for Gedeon and against his enemies beyond al expectation stirring vp Ioash to assist and oppose the other Who would not haue said that the people would haue borne downe Gedeon they being backed so strongly and hauing an idolatrous Magistrate on their side But behold the Lord turnes his heart as he pleaseth and makes him stand out in the defense of his sonnes act whose cruell Iudge he had been more like to bee to condemne him to death as these mad people required and looked for And wee must thinke that it was no small courage to him to doe thus though a Magistrate For this concourse of the people was not ordinary in a iudiciall manner but mutinous and not vnlike to that of Demetrius in the case of Dianaes worship But the same God who when hee saw it meet caused Lysias an Heathen Captaine to become a Protector of Paul against the Iewes and Paul himselfe to be a Preacher of the Gospel which he had before persecuted did this also and his hand is not yet shortned from doing the like for the good of his Church and incouragement of his people according to that saying of the Wise man When a mans waies please the Lord he will make his very enemies his friends and by consequent those things which were most feared as being like to worke most against them he will make them to worke contrarily euen to their most good and furtherance and besides God turnes the hearts of men as riuers of water Examples we haue in Cyrus the restorer of the Iewes and the worship of God Pilates wife Achisth to Dauid c. But this by the way onely More particularly we may see in Ioash who was before an Idolater but being instructed about the will of God against that wickednesse how soone hee was able to resist and stand against it This teacheth that it is but ignorance and vnbeliefe that causeth many to practise and maintaine either a false worshipping of God or any like wickednesse though I denie not but some doe worse who though they know it to be euill yet will doe so wilfullie The other are to be better hoped of who if the Lord vouchsafe them the mercie that he did Ioash shall soone bee changed from their former ill course and abhorre and stand against that most deadly which before they maintained and practised And therefore a detestable state to liue in is Popery out of the which they will not so much as seeke to be brought by hearing the Gospell preached and therefore they lie still therein to their confusion with all such as doe like vnto them Whereas many in other kinds of sinne are brought out of it by preaching and are turned to God by true repentance Agreeable whereunto is that of Paul I was a persecutor blasphemer c. but the Lord had mercie vpon me because I did it ignorantly Noting that one cause why few of his sect were conuerted because as our Sauiour saith They knew they did euill therefore their sinne remained This is not to incourage any to liue in ignorance for the least punishment is condemnation if men preferre darknesse to light whatsoeuer the cause be But as Christ saith in Matthew 2. The iudgement of Tyrus and Zidon shall bee easier then of Corazin and Bethsaidah at the day of Gods comming for they had repented if they had been instructed The vse is to comfort such as affect to be ignorant hoping thereby to escape Gods wrath whereas rather they should consider that their ignorance wil procure it yea is a chiefe cause of other sinne which causeth it yea and because that it is easie and no hard matter for such as are simplie and not wilfully ignorant to get knowledge and faith if they would applie themselues to hearing therefore seeing they persist in their blindnes they cause an inuincible ignorance to grow vpon themselues which shal be as seuerely punished as obstinate disobedience and contempt But let such as God hath mercifully enlightned consider and pitie the thousands that lie in darkenesse praying God to preuent them with the light wondering that God should reueal himselfe to them rather then to the world Also we may learne from hence that when God sheweth mercie to one in a kindred or family it oft redounds to many of the rest as when one is raised to promotion the rest fare the better So here God reuealing himselfe to Gedeon his father and so his familie were brought to the knowledge of the true God The reason whereof is double First Gods blessing vpon the seed stock of the righteous Secondly because where God hath wrought graciouslie in some one in a kindred or family there commonly is wrought a great desire to doe good to the rest and that in great tendernesse and loue As Paul professeth to the Romans My hearts desire for Israel is that he may be saued And although they doe not alway preuaile because saluation followeth Gods election not nature yet often it doth and where it is otherwise the iuster is their condemnation For proofe of this our Sauiour Christ himselfe may bee an example who brought his disciples and some of his kindred to be religious And he hath taught vs that the Gospell is compared to leuin which spreaddeth further and further And thus by some one whom God hath well seasoned with grace many of the rest haue been in like manner made partakers of the same grace with them A ioyfull sight to behold I would it were not so in Poperie that one did draw many and it were to be wished that it might be seene to be more common in the receiuing of the Gospell effectually that the rest of the familie and affinity did so This I say is often seene though commonly one of a city and two of a tribe as the Prophet saith meaning but a few Yea how often is it seene that a godly Abigail is coupled with a Nabal and Iob with a foolish woman How truly is it said of many good parents Their children are vngratious as they tell Samuel to his face yea and of how many parents also who are badly disposed that euen their children shall rise vp against
that we may see cause the better to fortifie our selues against them But alas few marke any such thing I meane euen of those who may take good thereby for all are not capable of it but shrinke at the hearing of any hardnesse comming toward them and so gather no experience of their faith hope and confidence against new trials to come or of their weaknes but impatiently goe vnder their afflictions and so are more ready to faint vnder their burdens afterward It was Gods great mercy that these three hundred did so willingly and readily follow and obey Gedeon according to the word of God to him which they also heard I grant but yet had not God perswaded them inwardly besides they would haue departed with the rest 31700. and would haue both grudged at the liberty of the other who were dismissed and haue refused to beare the burden alone yea they would haue forsaken him if they had not looked vnto God Where we should note that in doing our duties required by God we must not regard the forwardnesse or backwardnesse of others so much nor what they doe but what it is that God looketh for at our hands Thus Caleb and Iosuah encouraged the people to goe forward against the Canaanites not looking at the backwardnesse of the other spies For as Gods word and authoritie haue inough in them to perswade vs so if we looke any other way as to mens example or to the issue or our own conceits and discouragements wee may bee sure they will easily coole and dismay vs. Therefore I say the practise of these discouers a great sinne in many who if they haue a burden laid vpon them grudge that any other should be free but in matters of priuiledge and honour grudge that any should be their partners Both these we see exemplified in the Apostles of Christ and the disciples of Iohn The Apostles seeing one casting out of diuels who was none of their Masters followers had indignation and complained to our Sauiour They thought none but Christ and themselues worthy of such an office So Iohns disciples grudged at Christs because they fasted often but Christs fasted not They thought they had wrong in that others were not held to it as hardly as they The cause of the former is especially pride and vnthankfulnesse of the latter either ignorance or that which is worse euen boldnesse therewith And we see that he is a rare person who can with equanimitie endure that any should excell him in gifts of body mind estate or grace with the blessings accompanying them Nay many of a melancholike and foolish nature because themselues are giuen to pensiuenes sadnesse c. enuy and censure such as take more libertie in mirth recreation company or diet though as Paul saith they may both please God without condemning on another This disease of looking narrowly to other what they doe and not to God what hee requireth of our selues for it is a mixture of many humors selfe-loue curiositie distrust and others this disease I say wee may see to haue been in Peter who looking to Iohn to whom Christ said nothing when hee had laid an heauie burden vpon Peter himselfe asked Christ saying Master what shall this man doe The like is to bee seene in them mentioned in the Gospell when they saw other more fauourablie dealt with then themselues said grudgingly We haue borne the burthen of the day c. So the elder brother of the prodigall repined to see him so well entertained So that there being many as by these we may see so ill minded this way we may boldly say that it is a singular grace of God in all our duties throughout our life to shew forth indifferency and charitie as also to regard what God saith to vs and not to looke to men what they doe But where is this to be seene in a very few as for example in the Ministers when Christ saith to them in speaking to Peter If thou louest me feed my sheepe and my lambes and be diligent therein If here and there one or a few regard it yet how do the most cast their charge behind them and looke at them that take their ease whatsoeuer their words be that they loue him So that the force of the word is not so much to draw them as example to withdraw magistrates housholders husbands wiues and all that professe the Gospell should follow the example of these three hundred in their seuerall estates and callings But it is so farre off from that with the most that if any other and specially if he be of their owne condition and degree shal make conscience of this dutie more then other he shall be readie to bee shaken vp and reuiled as one that cannot be content to doe as other doe when yet all may see in these three hundred how their example is set forth to their perpetuall commendation in that they went not after the other their brethren but obeyed the commandement of the Lord in following after Gedeon And whatsoeuer become of such as are led by the examples of men and follow their owne deuices leauing the plaine way wherein God hath set them whose sinne in due time shall find them out the other shall be knowne by this marke to be the Lords that they forsake all by-waies and depart from euil with Iob to testifie that they feare him The example of Ioshua is worthy our imitation in this point who professed for himselfe and his that they would serue the Lord let the rest do as they listed As if he had said It should be their best way to serue the Lord as himselfe did if they regarded their owne prosperitie and welfare but if they were so wilfull as to forsake their owne mercy he and his had learned to follow a better Master and was resolued to consult neither with flesh nor blood neither cleaue to lying vanities but make straight steppes to the commandement of God Indeed if we see others readier then wee in dutie doing willinger to beare reproofe forwarder in well doing in mercie loue meekenesse zeale stronger then we to endure affliction or any burden which is vnwelcome to flesh then doe wee as they doe yet looke we not so much at them as at Gods will in their obedience But in euill follow not the multitude for the most are alwaies worst and the best differ and varie among themselues so that except men will goe by a leaden rule the word of God must bee the eternall and vnchangeable canon of dutie Which canon when it shall iudge the actions of men either approouing or condemning them it shall bee but follie for them to run into the croud as we say and shroud themselues vnder the couer of others whose company shall aggrauate rather then extenuate their punishment But of following examples I haue said before The second part of the Chapter Vers 9. And the same
to know that the triall of our faith is much more precious then the gold that perisheth and therefore sendeth vs many trials as he did to him that although there seeme to be no great matter in them yet indeede to him that weigheth it aright it is found to be farre otherwise For both we see thereby our weaknesse which we should not otherwise thinke to be such as it is and by little and little wee grow out of it and gather experience and hope against it which in time are greatly to our comfort And surely if Gedeon had so many trials in one duty doing let not vs plead for exemption from many though we haue alreadie endured some and although wee can say others are free or haue but few in comparison of vs. But to proceed to another point It is happie for vs that the Lord who diets vs with this ordinarie vndertakes as well to bring vs safely through our trials ministring as much grace as affliction as hee did here to Gedeon so that wee rather should say Since thou giuest shoulders Lord lay on what burthen thou pleasest thy will bee done Rather I say then to compare the irksomnes of the trouble with the pleasure and ease of the contrary which will make vs wearie of trials and like the Israelites in the wildernesse to long and linger after daintines and Quailes We see the couetous man is neuer satisfied with gold but triall serues to bring in a commoditie of greater price as I said before Gold can serue but to feede and apparell vs except wee abuse it to the pride of life to make vs thinke our selues in a fooles paradise by enioying it but this serueth to encrease our spirituall treasure if we be wise to vse it in kind both to purge the drosse away which cleaueth to our faith meeknes and patience and to adde to the measure of it also so that whatsoeuer good thing we enioy we should neither haue it in the kinde nor in abundance and store but through much triall Therefore rather let vs learne to count it great ioy as S. Iames saith when many trials fall vpon vs then snuffe against God as if we cared not how little grace we had so we might haue ease therewith as the sluggard in Ecclesiastes who saith A morsell with idlenesse is better then plentie with labour I confesse indeed this is an high degree to ioy in affliction which is so grieuous in it selfe and not ioyous a greater matter then to ioy I say not in health riches and prosperitie which euery foole can doe but euen in hearing the word or obeying it in many particular duties thereof Howbeit we want not examples of such as haue found ioy in their trials I say in them for he that lookes for ioy after them must also finde some in them I meane by hope as Paul by name who professeth no lesse of himselfe and Dauid with many others Yea and wee also must learne to say Lord thou teachest me an hard lesson to account affliction matter of great ioy but seeing thou saist there is sweetnes to be gotten out of this bitternes as hony out of the carrion of a lion therfore I will striue to beleeue it and that I am as precious in thine eyes and as deare to thee euen in affliction as in peace freedom and that I shall gaine more by it then by all my iollitie and ease in which I should haue lien stinking if by trials thou hadst not kept my faith occupied liuely For though faith wāts not matter enough to work vpon euen when we are at the best and freest from trials yet such is our sottishnes that promises seeme not sweete or sauourie to vs except we be driuen to seek after them by trials troubles but then oh how welcom Th◠sending him to the campe of the Midianites so nakedly and vnfurnished what could it promise in likelihood and outward shew but deadly danger But heare the rest of Gods words to him Thou shalt saith hee heare what they say and thou shalt be confirmed thereby and after thou shalt goe into the hoast of the Midianites and feare and dismay them till they be vanquished By this wee see that wee haue great cause to beware that we take not some part of Gods word and leaue the other lest wee depriue our selues vtterly of the whole and all benefit thereof as Gedeon we see had done if he had taken one part of Gods speech to him and left the other And this thing is too commonly offended in not only by subtill Sophisters whose sinne is the greater because they sinne of knowledge but also by weake Christians who through feare and want of experience doe draw against themselues the threats and commandements to wound them but the promises of God which by his owne appointment are set downe to their comfort properly those they say belong not to them So what a corrasiue were it to a Christian if hearing this that All who will liue holily in Christ Iesus must suffer affliction c. he should goe away as hee in the Gospell heauie and sad saying This is an hard saying who then shall be saued But God be thanked if the promises be added to the charge the heart will be well eased and the burthen in great partalaied And doubtlesse the diuell himselfe would wish a Christian no greater mischiefe then he causeth to himselfe by this separating of those things which God hath ioyned together But of this point reade more in the former chapter in Gedeons reply to the Angell And there is as great cause that we take heed of separating the word of iudgement and punishment from the word of precept and commandement as the promise for as this causeth men to stumble where they need not and plungeth them into feare and deadly despaire so the other strengthens them as much in their boldnesse to offend As wee see Eue by disioyning the punishment threatned vpon her eating the fruite was the more prouoked to attempt the sinne Genes 3. More particularly we may here see that God doth so order things according to his owne good pleasure and purpose that hee maketh his to finde matter of ioy where in sense and reason sorrow onely and terror can bee found He fetcheth light out of darknesse sweetnes out of bitternes and out of trouble peace For what might Gedeon looke for by going to the campe of his enemies so nakedly but discomfort and hazard of his life at least if he had not been slaine also and cut in a thousand pieces Yet God intended and so brought to passe that he and all the people should liue and be comforted by hearing there that which did cause it For example what might Abraham haue looked for when the Lord bad him goe from his friends and countrey to a place that he knew not neither had any thing in it but was a
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
his refusing it and of Gedeons Ephod and the danger that came thereby whereto is to be added the sinne of Israel to the end of the chapter The first part of the Chapter TO begin with the first part it is said that the men of Ephraim contended sore with Gedeon and fell out with him for that he called them not to the battell against the Midianites as appeareth in the first verse whereto the milde answere of Gedeon is to bee marked which is set downe in the second verse And thirdly how they were appeased by it as wee reade in the third Of these let vs heare more perticularly as they lie in order And heere first some man might thinke it an vnseasonable accident that befell Gedeon euen in the chiefe spring of his glory I meane that in the very necke of the victory should come vpon him such a crosse blow as to turne the solemnity and honour of his great acts in subduing the Midianites into reproch and abasement But the most wise God who best knoweth how to keepe his owne children in compasse and seeth what corruption they carry about them by meanes whereof they cannot beare any great blessing or prosperity without swelling and pride he I say doth commonly so dispose of them that with rare and speciall liftings vs and heightenings of them either in grace wealth honour and successe or the like hee matcheth and mixeth some great coolings and buffetings of them to keep them from falling dangerously in so slppery a place as they stand in Of Gedeon we cannot certainly say any thing to his iust reproofe in any grosse manner but of great infirmities of his wee haue heard and therefore doubtlesse hee being a man hee had that in him which might haue puffed him vp vpon so great successe if God had not by this great and vnwelcome crosse preuented it So Iphta comming fresh from a great conquest was suddenly quailed by his onely daughter And Iob in the middest of his flourishing and prosperous estate heares all at once of his children and substance destroyed and spoiled Likewise Dauid had few victories but the Lord sent him a cooler vpon them the rebellion of Absolon the cursing of Shemei the insurrection of Sheba the death of Ammon the slaughter of Absolon which doubtlesse were enough to purge out any superfluous humour which might rise vp in him and so to keepe him sober temperate and within holy compasse It is not so strange that the Lord should thus physicke his seruants being already surfeted with excessiue and sinfull abuse of their prosperity but it is his great mercy that he should so diet them with these potions that they may preuent surfeting The reason is because first it is the wisedome of the same Physitian to giue preseruatiues as well as purgations And againe sinne is easilier kept out from entring then thrust out of doores being once gotten in which the Lord foreseeing rather chooseth with a little hardship to the patient then by violent and extreame courses to preuent matter of disease rather then to heale the disease And the truth is it is easier for a man to bee dieted then purged I meane to beare an affliction which commeth before the spirit and conscience is wounded by a sinne then which followeth sin as the deserued punishment of it But for the point in hand let vs by this first learne what a leaud nature there is in vs that wee cannot haue a little health and welfare but presently we distemper our selues so that wee must be faine to be physickt lest wee should endanger our life I meane wee can enioy no good blessing but we forget our selues and cause the Lord to allay the sweetnesse of it with some bitternesse except he will suffer vs to be turned quite ouer with it Againe when we enioy any blessing let vs not measure the same by the pleasure and content which it giues our nature for euen in that is a sting which will secretly hurt vs but by the sober humble and thankfull affection wherewith wee imbrace the blessing And let vs know that then onely we enioy it in kind and entier otherwise by halues and scarce that And when we see that God sauceth our dainties with soure hearbs let vs be thankfull to him and say Lord I had else fed too much of this dish till I had ouerlaid my stomacke euen as children who finding hony eate too much of it therefore blessed be thy name who suffered me not to be sicke of it rather then if thou shouldest let me alone then I should bee prouoked to vomiting which were worse And this bee noted of the Lords ordering the action of these Ephramites for Gedeons good Now yet these Ephramites shew many foule faults in this action of contending with their gouernour and deliuerer of them as vnthankfulnes expostulating with him without a cause then their dissimulation who faine themselues to haue been willing to haue gone to warre with him and yet would not when they might haue done and when did they this euen when they saw the danger of the warre to bee past and ouer and that now honour was giuen to Gedeon for that which he had done whereas they had been as ready if hee had lost the victory to haue much more cast that in his teeth To prosecute these a little more particularly their vnthankfulnesse first was great and the iniurie which hee sustained thereby who ought to haue been much honoured of them for his industry and labour and highly accounted off by them for the same but if so be their vnthankfulnesse was so great towards him in this what manner of behauiour thinke wee would they haue vsed if they had sustained any wrong or violence at his hands who deale thus vndutifully nay rudely and rebelliously with them and yet hauing receiued so great a deliuerance by his meanes and so picking matter of quarrell out of a good turne and benefit But as we may note the vnthankfulnesse of men when yet they haue iust cause to shew the contrary duty as may be seene in many and namely in Absolon to his father whom when hee had deliuered from death iustly deserued hee sought his fathers life and to get away his kingdome also from him so wee may by this vnkind recompence they gaue to Gedeon for the famous act that hee wrought for their ease and peace wee I say who shall gratifie men may learne our duty thereby and that is this that we were not best neither ought wee to looke for our reward and commendation for well doing any manner of way from men but to rest in this that God knoweth our workes and it is enough that we are sure that from him we shall receiue our reward according to the words of the Apostle Be ye stedfast my beloued brethren and vnmoueable alwaies abounding in the worke of the Lord for as much as ye know that your
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 â—eint 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 theÌ„selues 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
one because they were wearie the other because they pursued their enemies for the safetie of Israel Gods people In this necessity and distresse of theirs though otherwise they wanted not we may note that it may possibly be the case of any of Gods people to be destitute of necessaries for this life to be brought into streights both by wāt of food and also by other calamities Dauid in his fleeing from Saul was so distressed he and his men for victual that he was faine to eate of the Shew-bread which out of the case of necessitie was vnlawfull for any saue the Priest to eate of as appeareth in Sam. 21. Ionathan and the people with him were euen readie to faint and yet might not without perill of their life taste so much as a little honey with the top of his speare to saue and preserue life And if it were but euen so with vs as it was with him and Gedeon that but a whole day or two wee wanted food and reliefe we should find it as small a matter as it is thought to be as much as life is worth Daily experience sheweth vs the same that it falleth out both by sea and by land to be the case of many who yet were of good wealth and not likely to come into such need and want and yet so wee see it to come to passe One reason is because all things in this present world are changeable and besides God will correct some this way and trie others as he did Iob. The vse hereof is that wee should not please our selues in any thing of what account soeuer it be neither rest depend or take too much comfort in our outward present estate of health wealth wit learning worship credit c. And further that wee should be ready to helpe such as stand in need and seeke it at our hands with these transitory comforts which God hath giuen vs. As our Sauiour saith Make yee friends of the vnrighteous Mammon that when ye shall want they may receiue you into euerlasting habitations And not to grudge at it as many doe but to be mercifull and ready thereto with chearefulnesse for with what measure we meate shall be measured to vs againe and iudgement shall bee without mercy to them that shew none And this chiefly should bee done when the poore want worke and corne and such like necessaries remembring how Nabal sped for his churlishnes But of this point by the way seeing I shall meete with the like againe Out of their reason in that they were faint with following the Midianites all night we may note that the neede that commeth of faintnesse or labour in any of our brethren is an honest cause for them to seeke and aske and for vs to relieue them euen as other necessitie is that God laieth vpon them as sicknesse age c. But yet for all this the want that commeth of idlenes and of liuing without labour is not so to be counted of as shall be further shewed in the next point But the relieuing of them that are poore indeed is laid vpon vs by the Lord telling vs that wee shall haue them alwaies among vs that we may doe good vnto them and that if wee haue this worlds good and see our brother hath need and shut vp our compassion from them the loue of God dwelleth not in vs. Which words of his with such like should be as a mallet to break our hard hearts who in so great need as is to be seene in our townes are little mooued to compassion towards the needy And as God furnisheth vs euery yeere with new store so wee should hold on in mercy still as long as we remaine among them Me thinkes we should readilie and willingly giue at Gods commanding seeing he maketh vs able so to doe in whose hand and at whose pleasure it is to take from vs and giue to them that so wee might bee driuen to seeke to them for reliefe that before sought it of vs. To the iust reproofe of such I speake it who thinke all too little for a few bellies not feeling other mens wants for getting the fearefull sentence pronounced against them that omitted this mercy and compassion as well as to them that wrought iniquitie Goe ye cursed into euerlasting fire for I was hungry and ye gaue me no meate I was naked c. Out of the other reason that they fought for the safety of Israel wee are further taught that they ought to haue reliefe also euen as I said before it is lawfull and honest for them to aske it who haue been imploied against Gods enemies and ours to defend vs from their rage and tyranny Considering that they carry their life in their hands and are in danger of spending their blood in the cause of God and the peace of the land whilest wee may sit quiet at home and liue free from such feare So that although the persons themselues be leaud yet in regard of their seruice we should see them prouided for as Paul teacheth saying Doth any man goe on warfare at his owne cost 1. Corinth 9. And it is our sinne if they haue it not or if they should be driuen to goe about to begge and so to become rogues for that is contrary to Gods commandement who saith There shall be no beggar in Israel And as good order is taken to cut off rogueing from place to place without any certaine habitation by setting the poore on worke and ministring to their necessities that which they want not being able to maintaine their charge by their labour which good order of all faithfull Christians is to be vpholden so it is a great sinne in many who in stead thereof doe nourish them that are rogues indeed notwithstanding it bee straightly commanded that hee who will not labour should not eate and who will sooner be moued with compassion toward them then toward their pooe neighbours whose need they behold daily with their eyes But more of this in the men of Succoths answer The answere of the Princes of Succoth heere followeth with Gedeons words to them againe And it is like that his suite was carried to them and their answere returned to Gedeon by messengers which sheweth that it was the fault of them and not the peoples to answere Gedeon after that manner not only to denie them very bread but to giue them also rough and scornefull words And therefore Gedeon not vpon any priuate reuenge but as one that had authoritie to doe it seeing the fault redounded to the hurt of the Common-wealth and was not committed onely against Gedeon and his men answered that he would be auenged of them If they had been wise they would both haue relieued them and also in so good a cause if neede had been haue gone with them But let vs examine the words Are Zeba and Zalmunna in thy hands alreadie As if they should haue
of a Father fit to be vrged vpon such He that made thee without thee will not saue thee without thee He will not saue thee for thy labours sake but by thy labour They that gathered more Manna then their fellowes got nothing thereby but it fareth otherwise here gather much and haue much labour little and haue little euen as the Apostle speaketh of another thing on the contrary he that soweth sparingly shall reape sparingly As we mete to the Lord so will he measure out to vs againe He that laboureth not eateâ—â— not but he that laboureth much enioyeth the fruite thereof some thirtie some sixtie some an hundred fold euen as his diligence is Oh it is strange to see how men set themselues to work in earthly businesse wherein yet they haue no absolute promise of thriuing because faith the chiefe help is wanting but here where the Lord hath tyed himselfe to blesse their labour with abundance men haue no list to stirre A mediocritie of wealth contenteth few and that maketh them so endlesse and restlesse in their desires and traulles but the commonnest measure of grace pleaseth them best because that is gotten with least trouble It is fearefull that men should doe so much for the fulfilling of their lusts and so little that they might excell in goodnesse But their reward is thereafter And in the meane season God puts as great difference betwix such as there is betweene Alexander Caesar or the like Captaines who were vnwearied also in their conquests and Gedeon or others like who fought the Lords battels and laboured therein by faith in his promises Now it followeth 14 And tooke a seruant of the men of Succoth and enquired of him and hee wrote to him the Princes of Succoth and the Elders thereof euen seuentie and seuen men 15 And he came vnto the men of Succoth and said Behold Zeba and Zalmunna by whom ye vpbrayed me saying Are the hands of Zeba and Zalmunna already in thy hands that we should giue bread vnto thy wearie men 16 Then he tooke the Elders of the citie and thornes of the wildernesse and briers and did teare the men of Succoth with them 17 Also he brake downe the tower of Penuel and slew the men of the citie NOw in these verses following it is shewed that when Gedeon had taken the Princes of Midian and was returned to Succoth he seeks diligently to know the names of the chiefe men and Elders thereof and he brought and shewed the Princes Zeba and Zalmunna vnto them for hee kept them aliue not to make his boast of them but that he might shew them that God had deliuered them into his hands as hee made no doubt thereof before that so they might be the more ashamed and accused for that which they had done to him and his men in denying them bread And thereupon hee did vnto them as he had threatned for he tare their flesh to wit of them of Succoth with the thornes and briers of the wildernesse and then ouerthrew the tower of the men of Penuel and slew the citizens either because they insulted more arrogantly then the men of Succoth did or else because they resisted Gedeon trusting in their tower and so were slaine Whether they of Succoth died by the paine punishment as it is most like or whether their flesh was onely torne and yet life remaining in them though the storie doth not declare yet we cannot be ignorant how sore and extreame the paine was What kinde of execution was done vpon the men of Penuel themselues in putting them to death the storie setteth not downe but as it is sure they were slaine so it is not without good probabilitie that the other were torne to death also Gedeon meeting this young man causeth him to set downe the names of the chiefe Elders and gouernours of Succoth in writing as it might be the names of the Aldermen and citizens for he would not trust his owne memorie in so waightie a matter And this hee did because hee would not flie vpon any in rashnes and anger and would be sure by that his aduised deliberation to punish onely those who were guiltie and those were the ancients of the citie As Salomon also was very attentiue in hearing the cause of the harlots To teach vs our dutie in this point that when any fall into our hands to be corrected by vs wee doe not at any time hastily in an angrie mood and without due consideration vse correction but weigh the cause rightly and not reuenge our selues by satisfying our brutish affections vpon the persons yea and to let them also see iust cause why they be corrected And in this wee resemble the Lord himselfe of whom Abraham saith It is farre from the Iudge of the whole world to destroy the righteous with the wicked Genes 18. It is an hard thing to be ruled by the word of God in correcting others whereas flesh looketh to nothing but to the will and reuenge of it selfe and not to the bettering of the partie and the good example of other and discharge of a good conscience before God Therefore S. Paul hath giuen a good rule to all by teaching one kind of correcters namely fathers that they should not be bitter to their children euen as Achan in a waightie case was wisely handled and kindly dealt with by Ioshua in a matter of life and death and was regarded in and concerning his soule when sore punishment was inflicted vpon his bodie Sundrie waies doe men shroud this cursed humour vnder the false habit of zeale or lawfull seueritie sometime to couer their ambition as Iehu in killing Ahabs posteritie sometime couetousnes as Saul in slaying some of the Amalekites sometime pride and reuenge as the Israelites in warring vpon the Beniamites All of them failed of the ground end manner or measure in executing the correction all which being neglected and not obserued doth marre the action be it neuer so lawfull in it selfe and necessarie As when the offending partie seeth not the cause of his correction or is cruelly handled by the correcter who maketh nor the end of his correction or punishment to be the sauing of the partie and to make the sinne odious that he is punished for and the same an example to other And here is iustly condemned the doing of them who say they cannot correct but in anger and while their hearts are exasperated against the partie is if they should say they can neuer doe it rightly or without sinne whereas God saith Be angrie but sinne not for anger doth nothing well Although what neede the word of God or the examples of the Saints bee vsed to shame them whom heathens may shame Of whom some prescribe rules to such as are angrie how they may bridle anger from râ—sh outrage and one among the rest told his seruant I had surely beaten thee but that I was angrie This doctrine is to be
they were great men he shewed courtesie to them in entring speech with them though hee needed not so to haue done And he asked what manner of men they were whom they slew at mount Tabor they answered they were like him and so goodly and well fauoured as if they had been a Kings sonnes Whereby it appeareth that Gedeon was a man of singular fauour and person When those men were slaine the storie setteth not downe but seeing the Midianites inuaded the land of Israel in the haruest time euery yeere it was like that then they did it He answered if they had not killed them he would haue saued them aliue And he commanded his eldest sonne to fall vpon them but he durst not being yet young and they likewise scorned that and bad him doe it himselfe So Gedeon did it This enquiring into the act before mentioned by Gedeon was that they might see that they iustly suffered For notwithstanding this he might and ought to haue put them to death for that God had appointed them thereto being grieuous enemies of the Church and the killing of the other two princes Oreb and Zeb who yet slew not his brethren is commended in the Psalme therefore he ought to haue slaine them euen for that cause This speech of his therfore that he would not haue killed them but for that they slew his brethren though pitifull yet was sudden and passionate and cannot be iustified So that howsoeuer they might haue pleaded for themselues otherwise sure it is their mouthes were stopped that they could aske no fauour in this respect seeing they had slaine his brethren and his enquiring into that action was commendable in him if he had proceeded no further nor so diepely engaged himselfe by oath This is one thing that is here to bee noted that as Gedeon did it is meete that all who are to be punished should see iust cause thereof by examining them and to cleare other who haue been suspected as was done by Ioshua at the commandement of God to Achan and so the innocent shall haue no cause to complaine It is good therfore in respect of them that they may not feare they shall bee pursued without cause and also let the guiltie see how they shall be dealt with to wit that they shall be brought to shame and punishment openlie But here partialitie must be farre off and anger and al euill affection remooued And this is to be specially considered of all such as shall execute punishment vpon malefactors or vse correction towards seruants children or such like And as for such whose sinnes are manifest to themselues or other and yet not punishable by mans law God will meet with them and come against them in his good time their own consciences giuing them to vnderstand that they doe that which is wicked in his sight and that they shall bee iudged for it if they speedily repent not But of this I haue spoken more largely in his enquiring of the Elders of Succoth as touching their fact in slaying them at Tabor in their iollitie more God willing shall bee said in the next replie of Gedeon Their answer that they were goodly men as if they had been the sonnes of a King doth teach vs that many for all their outward prerogatiues that they haue aboue other men in fauour birth manhood or honour and wealth yet haue no hold of them yea rather they are depriued of them in an houre though they hoped and pleased themselues in looking for the continuance of them for many yeeres as may be seene in these that slew and were slaine So was Sisera soone cut off and Eglon Iezabel and many others For they lie open to many more dangers then meaner persons especially being wicked as I haue said All that are wise therefore will beware how they please themselues or rest in any earthly thing here below but vse it soberly for their owne and the good of others being like in this changeable world to change also and that daily and their pompe and glory to turne to vanitie and in the middest of all painted felicitie of this world happy is he onely who glorieth and reioyceth in the Lord. Which doctrine I confesse is often iterated but when I consider the great necessitie thereof and how contrary the most mens practise is thereto I conclude that it is the wisdome of the Spirit of God to giue occasion of the same almost in euery sentence sometime and oft in some chapter to the end that the commonnesse of the sin might bee somewhat checked by the often repeating and reproouing therof And so it becommeth them that are wise to iudge and prepare their appetite where the holy Ghost hath prouided sauoury meate and instruction and not to be wearie of hearing where he is not wearie of teaching And here as the fittest place let vs behold these desperate Princes how they are brought forth to their answere for a fact which they little dreamt they should euer heare of againe or answer too namely for killing of those men whom they slew at mount Tabor Tush they in their iollitie had put them to the sword with the rest of the company no respect had of persons nay it is like the rather because they seemed to bee of note and worth and all to make boast of their gallant spirits victorious braue and proud stomacks not vnlike to him whose glory it was to cut off the thumbes of seuentie Princes and put them like dogges vnder his bord to gather crummes As touching the abuse of mens prosperitie I haue oft spoken and of the right vse thereof but here one word more particularly let me adde to warne men how they ought to demeane themselues in their places when by reason either of their great successe vnlooked for preferment or what other occasion soeuer their corrupt flesh might take to forget themselues I say let men beware what they do in their iolly lusty or merry moodes when they thinke they haue the world in a sling and none may controll them euen then I say let them controll themselues and take heed lest any insolent disdainefull cruell iniurious words or deeds breake out of the superfluitie of their pride and brauerie which hereafter either God or man might bring forth against them when they shall bee abased and in meaner condition Which counsell I giue not to them who are in these pangs for I know it little bootes to tell a drunken man You haue done that in your drunkennesse which you will repent of being sober but to arme men both against all such vnlawfull occasions as the most seeke after to the end they may vtter this stomack of theirs as gaming drinking challenges quarrels contentions and suites of law c. as also against the corrupt abuse euen of lawfull blessings which if a man be not very warie will tickle and pricke him forward at one time or other to some odious carriage of himselfe
out of it by running into debt with other men neuer meaning to pay as both appeareth in many Seruingmen and Souldiers that haue been of any place and other better borne then the common sort and many more who say with the Steward Digge I cannot and to begge I am ashamed and liue I must some way or other but they will neuer fall to worke or to the doing of any thing beseeming them for their maintenance but hunt after pleasure harlots dice cards robbing and cousening the simple and beguiling sillie maides or matrons to enrich themselues c. And againe this sheweth the follie of such great persons as trusting to their greatnesse and wealth as to a strong hold prouide as little for their owne changes as for the hardnesse which may befall their children but bring them vp in all softnesse and delicacie not so much as inuring them to any labour or exercizing their bodies or wits to industrie and action wherby it commeth to passe that if their estate decline they are left destitute and shiftlesse and vrged by an vnhappy necessitie of their owne procuring to vse indirect meanes for maintenance Another thing concerning Gedeon followeth and that is the setting downe of his many wiues which was his great blemish And it teacheth vs that as well the faults and blemishes of Gods seruants are set before vs in the Scriptures as their vertues in which respect the Scriptures are vnlike to other stories or writings of men carried partially through hatred or flattery to obscure the truth So are Dauids Sampsons and Peters and the faults and infirmities of sundry other approoued seruants of God which yet is not done by the holy Ghost that wee should seeke libertie to follow them for many sorrowes shall be to such but to teach that wee euen the best should suspect our selues being full of selfe-loue to hide and winck at our corruptions and bad qualities and therfore to keepe with all diligence our hearts which we are hardly brought to doe though they be out of measure deceitful neither can we abide to be reprooued and shamed for the same But seeing God hath for sundry causes and in diuers respects left the infirmities and blemishes of his seruants in scripture to be knowne of vs I will briefly note and set downe some of them hauing so good and fit occasion offered that so we may profit by them accordingly He hath done it partly for our benefit and partly to teach vs our dutie Our benefit thereby is twofold One that if at any time we should fall into some grieuous sinne and despaire of Gods mercy thereby yet that wee may stay and vphold our selues by the examples of Gedeon and other such who fearing God did yet fall dangerously and recouered themselues againe that we knowing that may in the like case receiue hope of pardon likewise if we call our selues home againe by repentance For in such cases when we are exhorted by Gods faithfull ministers not to cast away our confidence though we haue so offended wee are ready to obiect thus Oh there were neuer any of Gods children that fell so and offended as we haue done so that we may iustly feare there is no remission nor pardon for vs to be hoped for Therefore when wee shall heare of the infirmities of the godly the cleere knowledge of this much auaileth to stay vs from dispairing This is not therefore to imbolden vs by their example to sinne though we do yet stand by the grace of God free from reprochfull euils but to vphold vs if we haue alreadie fallen dangerouslâ—â— that wee faint not altogether I say it serueth for preuention of deadly â—eare after sinne not to cause presumption in sinning For if any will abuse this knowledge to licentiousnesse hoping for pardon as they heare that others haue obtained it when they had sinned in like manner as they themselues haue done let them know that God will meet with them as their boldnesse requireth with terrors within and shame without till they shal wish that they had bin better aduised And as they may iustly complaine that they sinned more wilfully and purposely then the Saints of God did to speake of many of them so they may feare that they shall not so easily find mercy and forgiuenesse as they found And this is one cause that concerneth vs much why the Lord hath left the faults of the godly manifested in Scripture as wel as their vertues Another is that wee hearing how some rare people in ages past haue falne we should be more suspicious of our selues and more wary that wee slip not into the common euils of the time wee liue in seeing wee are much weaker in faith and grace then they were and therefore are like more easily to forget our selues and to fall grieuously vnlesse we count it our happinesse and oft tell it to our selues to labour and endeuour by all meanes to perseuere in vprightnes vnto our end and therefore wee are like to find it as hard to recouer our selues againe And indeed the bitternesse which they tasted in their falles were enough to deterre vs from following them though we were sure to speed at length aswell as they But few looke at the bitter but at the sweet onely and so are deceiued Another cause why God hath made knowne the blemishes of the faithfull that liued in former times is to teach vs our duty towards our brethren that if we heare any of them to haue falne into any grieuous offence and afterward when it commeth to their remembrance that they take such a deep conceit for so displeasing God and lay it so neere their heart that they feare it cannot be forgiuen them I say when it thus falleth out we are taught by this our dutie and that is to incourage and helpe to vphold them in meeknesse and with our exhortings of them and perswasions to rise vp and returne againe to comfort them also when wee see them repent and to beare with their infirmities and not to condemne and forsake them good things being found in them remembring our selues who would be glad to be helped vp when we haue falne rather then to be shamed forsaken and left to our selues To this end is that of the Apostle Brethren if any be fallen by infirmity you that are spirituall that is indued with more grace and seasoned with more fruites of Gods spirit restore such an one that is doe your indeuour with meekenesse to raise him considering your selues The vse in generall of this whole discourse is to bee afraid to offend seeing wee bee so vnwilling to heare of any rebuke for the same and not to be bold to sinne by authoritie of the fathers seeing we are not willing to take part with them in their punishments but as shame and sorrow are vnwelcome to vs so let the sinnes be also that bring them For they quench faith weaken grace and loose
instrument the sonne of a good man rose vp to attempt and worke the mischiefe which his father abhorred wee may see what wicked posteritie come oft times of a godly seed and how vnlike the parents in goodnesse whereas one would thinke that they should rather labour to resemble and to be like those their godly parents at the least The generation after Ioshuahs time degenerated from that which was before it Ely Samucl and Dauid most of the good Priests Prophets Kings had wicked children euen as is to be seene in all ages The reason is first the want of good education when they are vntaught and ill gouerned Secondly as the best corne breedes chaffe so the godly beget their children not as they are godly but as they are men naturall and sinfull neither is Gods grace tied absolutely to them for their parents sake Thirdly pride stubbornnesse wilfulnesse and seeking of libertie in youth and among the rest this is not the least the multitude of bad example I meane which are fit enough to poyson the best natures though they haue both instruction and outward gouernment So that many leaud youths are trained vp at the great cost of their parents who yet lose all and their hope also their children not walking in their steps Oh what multitudes are there of such in our age In which yet there is more done for making them good especially in some places then hath been in former times though they are rare who offend not herein euen in the sight of others A thing much to be lamented to see so many youths vnlike their good parents but where none or weake meanes are vsed to make them better it is not to be marueiled at The woe to both is not knowne cōmonly til it be so felt that it is past remedying The beholding of the contrary as it is rare so it is goodly and beautifull But it is a great cause why the death of childrē before they come to proofe should be borne patiently seeing it is not to be doubted but that most of them are taken away at the best and who knoweth to what woe they might be brought if they should liue It is to be lamented that the examples of good parēts being so few yet euen of these few few to speake of preuaile with their children from whence the common complaint of all sorts is as theirs to Samuel A good father but the child walkes not in his steps For the infinite bad parternes of gouernours are generally embraced none fearing to follow where they haue led the dance no though it bee to destruction as if all the beasts of the forrest should each follow the tract of his fellow to the den of the Lion because till they be within the den and past recouery there appeares in the footsteps no danger It is said of Iacobs ewes that beholding the pilled roddes laid in their water-troughes they conceiued particoloured lambes forthwith and so a man would thinke that so neere and domesticall examples as good parents are to their children who are nourished by them grow vp with them and are warmed by their heate as Nathan speakes of the poore mans sheepe yea haue the benefit of the familiar instruction and conuersation of such as are of their owne disposition and nature a man would thinke I say that such should take after them in grace as they doe resemble them in their visage or naturall properties A man would thinke that they should as it were through a mutuall feeling of the ioy which a good parent hath of a wise child and of the sorrow by the contrary that they should also reioyce in following their goodnesse Thus wee might thinke and thus it should be if God in his secret iudgement had not prepared some euen of them also to the euill day It is said of Elie his children they hearkned not to their father because God had determined to destroy them to wit for the in expiable offence they had caused to the people by their polluting the holy things of God And so also it is pitifull to thinke that the other sort the posteritie of bad parents dare venture so confidently to goe where their ancestours haue gone as it were taking sinne by tradition from them yea filling vp the measure which they attained not to as our Sauiour speaketh This in a manner is generally seene and where it is in a few otherwise there another father euen the Father of Christ hath reuealed it from heauen flesh and blood hath not taught it And this dregge of Poperie is naturall without teaching to make it a strong piller of a mans religion to do◠as the forefathers haue done In the story of the Church it is reported that a certaine Heathen Prince hauing receiued so much light of true religion that hee was content to bee baptized yet when hee came to the water stopped and asked the Minister this question Whether haue more of my ancestors being vnbaptized gone to heauen or hell To hell saith the Minister So will I then said he and refused Christianitie vrterly Yea doubtlesse nature teacheth no better then this euen rather to go to hell with the parents then to heauen without them Both these I say are lamentable as for the vse that both sorts are to make thereof I shall not need to insist vpon it here hauing oft vrged it in other places Now of his shifts which I will put together for breuitie sake matter arising so plentifully And marke by what fraud he goeth about it insinuating with them that it he be not King ouer them then his seuenty brethren must reigne together But that he thought they would neuer allow or consent to Secondly where hee telles them it were better be so that he reigned it was vntrue also for that is best alwaies that God appoints who did detest this Thirdly in that he setteth out himselfe as though hee should say who is firter for your benefit then I they ought to haue knowne that in creating of Magistrates the publike and not the priuate commoditie is to be respected That which we haue tolearne hereby is this that all shifts and subrile practises are ready at hand with them that intend mischiefe and that which they goe about is by lying cogging and falshood But as for the Lord in their dealings he must stand by and a same off The reason of both is the heart of men is euill aboue measure and is deepe and hath many abominations in it They deuise and goe to worke without him and we see likewise that thereafter they prosper To these way bee added other and some that professe the Gospell who should be ashamed to be found so grossely to degenerate as to vse like practises to the other though they be couered with some fairer shewes who cast off God and say in their hearts depart from vs we desire not to haue acquaintance with thee These shal one day
they thought their Idoll a sufficient treasurer and keeper of this siluer or else they would not haue made his Temple the treasurie and durst trust him with the preciousest things they had who yet had neither eies to see it or hands and power to defend it from robbers This is no wonder may some man say that they durst trust him with their money who durst venture their liues and soules vpon his protection as they in the daies of Eliah 1. King 18. did I answer It were the lesse wonder indeed if wee saw not Christians worshippers of God who professe themselues to ieopard their saluation vpon his promise to be yet farre behind these Idolaters in this thing For they will not venture nor cast their goods vpon his safegard nor thinke the Lord a meet and trustie keeper of their wealth they will put no more in his hands then they are willing to lose To such we may say Is he not much beholding to you the whilest He hath giuen you liuing Temples not of stone temples not of Baal but of his owne making euen the poore members of the Lord Iesus Into these he commandeth you to cast not your superfluities but some of your substance hee promiseth to be the ouerseer and steward of this treasurie he will reckon and returne againe such beneuolence of yours double and trebble vnto you yea tenfold which is vse and gaine enough nay an hundreth fold rewarding it with euerlasting habitations For why he hath vndertaken and is become the Surety as I haue said to repay all such loane againe abundantly But wee thinke these to bee but words and keepe the principall fast let the interest goe where it will for vs. As for these Temples we count them Sepulchres deuouring al asking giue giue but neuer returning ought againe and as they in Ecclesiastes who thinke all lost and cast vpon the waters that is well bestowed But these Idolaters and their confederates in Baal-berith shall stand foorth and witnesse against such to their shame Again when they had thus helped him forward we may see what maner of persons he hired prouided to bring his wicked purpose to passe to wit such as were empty light-headed and naught worth and which were lewd and loose and were carried headlong to that which they did and not by sound reason Whereby we haue a description of such graceles and wicked hangbies what they are and wherefore they serue which shall be to good purpose to note as for other causes so for this one to wit that we may see what iustice should be done and executed on such who liuing idly for the most part further then they needs must must worke should be laid for as of late yeeres they were by that Honourable Counseller of worthie memorie and kept from ranging about But seeing they are seldome punished the best vse we can make of them is to beware of them First they are if we will know them such as haue spent all and liued idlelie without practising any profitable trade or calling and how haue they spent it full leaudly and badly in gaming whoring gusling caualering fray-making c. and yet hanging in mens debts Secondly they are male-contents both with their owne penury and the welfare of others yea with the State it selfe often of the Common-wealth wherein they liue Thirdly they are such as are not to be ruled by reason much lesse by religion But their disposition is to run on head to bee set on gadding rouing c. And wherefore stay or waite they but euen for such troublesome times as these here were and for some tumult and insurrection that they may fish in troubled waters desiring a change of the present condition of these peaceable times as a fit occasion to practise and set a work this their diuellish disposition which in peace and gouernment is as it were emprisoned in them some by ioyning themselues with vaine and loose persons like themselues and wandring to and fro if there be no imployment for them at home into forren countries not through a desire of getting knowledge or experience much to trafficke for their maintenance but to trie their fortunes as they prophanely speake being wearie of their owne countrey wherein they are defamed for their leaudnesse prodigalitie and needlesse debts or other dishonesty others being readily hired to sort themselues with such as will rifle mens houses and companions in helping to make a head and if none of these hit as they say nor come to passe then fall they to robbing by the high waies And such dangerous and diseased members haue there alwaies been and are in al Common-wealths In the booke of the Acts in two or three Chapters the Iewes got such hang bies to make stirres and tumults in cities and then charged Paul to be the author of them when he yet was in danger of his life by them and all to make him seeme seditious and a raiser of trouble where he came Euen so such there are at this day idle companions who cannot choose but like Vultures and Cormorants pray vpon other mens goods who might easily haue been staied from these courses while they were young if they had not been suffered to haue their owne will so farre til this trade as miserable as it is yet because it is ioyned with ease waxed sweete vnto them And againe if they had not been saued and kept from prison and correction when they had so iustly deserued it which correction if the ciuill Magistrate or the Head-borrowes of townes wherein they lurked had neglected yet their owne parents and kindred should haue seene executed And if such as worke not ought not to eate why are they suffered whose life is idlenes Let such therefore be purged out from among vs and in all places let prouision be made that they who are idle and vagrant be restrained and set on worke though they haue somewhat of their owne that so will they nill they as they will doe no good they may bee compelled to stoope to good order and be held in from doing mischiefe at least that this euil may cease which threatneth so great danger to Church and Common-wealth which I must needs say is hard to doe considering how such persons flocke together to such places of the land as are populous and frequented where they may be in harbour and the safer from search and punishment but then that which we cannot amend let vs lament and blesse God if we be free from such molestation in the places where we dwell When this Abimelech saw how his bold and shamelesse deuices and attempts prospered and how he thriued in them he waxed much bolder and tooke heart to goe fall vpon his innocent brethren and slew them And herein is verified that of Salomon Eccles 7. There is a wicked man saith he who continueth in his malice meaning because he prospereth and is not resisted Thus Adonibezek chap. 1.
them was preserued from his crueltie and kept out of his reach it was done by Gods speciall prouidence both to hold him in feare seeing hee that was kept aliue was the lawfull sonne of Gedeon and borne of a lawfull wife Abimelech himselfe comming but of a concubine and further it was also a good dashing of his ioy And moreouer wee see there was good vse of the Lords sauing aliue of that one of his brethren Iotham I meane because of the prophecie that he vttered therein foretelling the destruction of Abimelech To teach vs that although the committers of euill haue their humors satisfied and their turne serued and things to fall out euen as they would wish yet there is and shall be euer somewhat reserued to vex and pay them home euen here in this world and to giue them a taste of further torment For example who had better successe then Haman and yet by Mordecay who was of no place to stand with or to crosse him how was his ioy quailed by him rather then there should be none to resist him yea and that which was very vnlike to be came vpon him for by Mordecaies counsell and well handling the matter Haman was ouerthrowne with his whole house So Herod and Herodias had nothing that troubled them but Iohn Baptist and yet when they had taken Iohn out of the way our Sauiour Christ role vp who through this that Herods conscience put him in feare kept him at that stay that he could not bee quiet Ahab had been at hearts ease but for Eliah and yet afterward Michaiah vexed him as much Gehazi sped well a while but at length his master dashed all And all this is a sauour of their woe before it come vnlesse they be teared driuen from their bad courses thereby and so humble themselues to seeke mercy as that third Captaine of Ahazijah did to Eliah seeing the danger And thus God feareth the whole rabble of the vngodly and by other terrors also when his word wil not doe it his workes shall and euen thereby I meane by the casting them downe by the law liuely preached to them and the feare of death iudgement day and hell hee doth so torment many a man that all his shiftes and deuices cannot deliuer him there-from neither is al that hee hath able to comfort him and cry downe this voice of the Ministery although it worke no true feare of God in him to repentance but onely awake and astonish him True it is that some though they bee apparantly crossed by God yet they feele it no more then the dead palsey as we see in Nabal But in that they be hardned they are in worse case So then God dealeth thus commonly that the wicked shall haue somewhat to make them lesse eager of their pleasures as either paine sicknesse or some such thing or else inward feare or the like Although alas what although they should neuer be interrupted they should yet be but caried to hell merrily when others goe mourning And when Gods seruants fall to the like sinne as to nestle themselues in the deceiuable inticements of this world hee giueth them the like medicine to cure them of their disease that they shal euer haue one thing or other to hold them in vnquietnesse and to feare them with which is euer like to light vpon them to vexe and sting them if they shall dare delight themselues in any euill thing or to rest in that which is transitory and so goe from the Lord. As the feare of losing a good wife their nearest companion to them to partake their commodities and delights with them or their crosses and decaies in the world to make them easilier borne which affliction disquieteth them much and dampeth all their earthly repast So also he exerciseth them with weakenesse of body meannes in estate petty losses c. and al to weane thē from the breast as it were sucklings by laying such bitter and distasteful corrections vpon them The vse of this is to rest and ioy our hearts in nothing here below but to see that our delight bee in the fauour and feare of the Lord continually which is the one thing though we may make them two that is necessarie And if nothing will rouse vs out of spirituall slumbering in earthly prosperitie and peace wherein to lie senselessely and sottishly is more then to haue one foot in hell already let this doe it that wee know not how soone wee must leaue al and goe to iudgement and to the yeelding vp of our account And yet if the Lord crosse vs in our enterprises that bee euill we may know the worst that the meaneth toward vs is that he would stop vs in our race toward destruction and misery that it may not come vpon vs. When Abimelech had so vnnaturally slaine his brethren which ought to haue stricken such a terror into the men of Shechem that they should haue abhorred him and pursued him openly calling the rest of the Tribes to ioyne with them therein till he had receiued his due punishment he so subtillie woound in with them and they were so credulous that they beleeued for all that hee would deale well with them as hee had promised them and therefore proceeded O fearefull to be spoken and vndertooke to make him King and this they did in a place that pertained to them none of the other Tribes being either called or made acquainted with the matter who yet had a farre greater stroke therein then they which must needs raise great dissention and deuision betwixt them But this they regarded not seeing they had taken in hand the effecting of the other Here we see when one sinne is intended of a man to be committed it goeth not alone but draweth with it many other as companions to it For neither can it be brought to passe without the helpe of other neither can a man take pleasure in it without the company of other sinnes He seekes to be King and how many sinnes doth he adioyne to the effecting of it As he here vsed fraud flatterie and cousonage and rose vp and drew after him a band of seditious hang-bies he slew his brethren and when he was made King what contention did he cause among them It is too manifest that sinne is no solitarie bird nor is euer seene out of company Euen as S. Paul teacheth to the Romans how strife carrieth enuying with it and gluttony draweth drunkennesse and chambering wantonnesse And this is the more to be marked because wicked persons alleage for themselues when they are reprooued for their faults that al men are sinners yea some sinne grossely in many kinds and for themselues they say they hope if they haue done amisse yet they may be borne with seeing it is but one trespasse and further they will say euery one for himselfe Such a man hath this blemish and such a one that all haue some one
men much lesse on weaker staies as some doe in their present estate of peace wealth habitation wife friends health and the like The same Prophet saith Cursed is he that maketh flesh his arme and trusteth in man and his heart departeth from God So the Prophet Dauid crieth out saying Trust not in earthly Princes who cannot saue others nor themselues And to King Asa it was said Because thou trustedst in the King of Aram and not in the Lord from hence foorth thou shalt haue warre In God onely our trust must be reposed Salomon saith otherwise we may vse mans helpe and other meanes but all in vaine And the vse of this doctrine is that we should retaine in all dangers and troubles our hope and confidence in Gods promises and for other slippery helpes our comfort is thereafter as wee rest in them and this appeareth more clearely the greater the matters are in which we doe so But this doctrine hath been diuersly occasioned before One thing I will adde to answere such as might say These Shechemites had no other shift now but to shroud themselues vnder this or some such like defence who therefore can blame them if they sought shelter against a tyrant where they could get it I answer To seeke succour against an vsurper is lawfull so the meanes be according but this vsurper was set vp by themselues neither did he any greater violence to them then they to him and therefore for this I say they might thanke themselues for that they brought wilfull bondage vpon themselues Indeed as the case stood with them either they must fence their citie and people whom they had brought into the snare being led by them against Abimelech or else yeeld and perish But what a cursed thing is this for the men either to vse vile persons to be their patrons in their desperate quarrels or else to bring themselues to that point that they might be come vpon by one that sought and waited to destroy them Therefore let not men defend their sins by this plea that they are driuen to a straight and haue no remedy but to fall vpon the smaller inconuenience that they may auoid the greater For who brought this wretched choice vpon them God alloweth his children to walke at large vnder his gouernment and keepes them from such streights as these Who then cooped them into so narrow a roome Surely their owne sinne when men haue liberty they are wearie of it till they bestreightned and driuen to their shifts Therefore this defence is as bad as the crime it selfe for if men haue fallen into extremitie by one sinne they must not redeeme and auoid it by another nor doe euill that a supposed good may come of it What then Humble themselues for the first sinne and cast themselues vpon Gods hand for the istue and danger so auoid the second as Dauids example excellently sheweth For who are they that hauing sinned they should scorne to beare the shame of it And especially if the extremitie they auoid bee but onely a punishment bodily as cōmonly that is the streight which men seeke to shun and they sin doubly by prouoking God through indirect meanes and al to saue themselues frō momentany trouble danger Indeed of two euils temporall the lesser may be chosen to auoid the greater but not of two euils morall and mortall which are sinnes much lesse when the one is a temporall euill the other morall For by this meanes an adulterer may say I haue no way to shift but one to buy off my shame except I would bee shamed for euer But O thou wofull man if thou haue deserued it beare it if God haue laid it vpon thee as the Church did in Micha saying I will beare my punishment because I haue sinned and thinke not by such a shift to escape shame being guiltie vnlesse thou fall into a greater without recouerie The Shechemites were so afraid of Abimelech that they durst not gather their grapes which were as their haruest therefore they hired this Gaal to helpe them who was we see sedicious a boaster and a deceiuer Now by his conduct they goe foorth into the field and in great lasciuiousnes reioyced and in their Temple cursed Abimelech By this among the manifold discomforts in warre which in other places I obserue let this one be numbred that men are thereby cut off from the 〈…〉 s of the earth from their haruests by which they liued all they ere which being spoyled how farre is their life from death and yet worse then death to lie in feare of it pinched with penurie They could not goe out of their doores nor reape their fruites till now they made this shift by Gaal and yet neither were they safe in their houses these besides many like effects of warre most frearefull are at such times brought against them who are by warre set vpon So that a man would thinke that knoweth this that such as are preserued from it and the like sore oppressions would binde themselues while they liue to submit themselues to God in all dutie and that most willingly And no doubt so would they most readily couenant to doe when they are vnder such oppressions vpon condition that they might then obtaine a promise of deliuerance from them which sheweth that there is good cause why they should doe so but can we say who marke it that men doe thus In smaller troubles we see alas the contrary I remember what is said in the Psalme when the Lord smote the people they sought him yea they sought him earely but what was there found in them when it came to the triall but false heartednes and vnfaithfulnes which I vtter with griefe as knowing how commonly this is offended in And wee that doe but heare of such things I meane of warre throughout this booke and other stories and see it not through the long continuance of peace wee I say doe not weigh the greatnes of the benefit such is our vnthankfulnes ioyned with blockishnes but abuse our peace to sensualitie and thus we deale with God in many other things But hauing oft obserued and bewailed this follie in men in other places and seeing it followeth here expressely what they did when they were rescued by that Gaal and gathered in their fruites I will note it from hence And what was their behauiour therein thinke we verilv most brutish and vtterly vnbeseeming such as had euer serued the Lord. For like mad men they did eate drink and made merrie without measure cursing their enemies and praising their Idols Which teacheth vs that it is hard to say whether the wicked are more to be pitied in their miseries and calamities or in their deliuerances out of them For by them they are held in some awe and feare but when they are set free they are most dissolute and vnruly and more offensiue by excesse therein then they are by
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
of Shechem died also about a thousand men and women AFter the forementioned slaughter and holding Gaal out of the citie the Israelites in Shechem thought among themselues that they would be auenged of Abimelech as it seemeth and they went out of the citie to pursue him They neuer considered what a punishment they had sustained already by their rash putting themselues vnder that vaine-glorious boaster Gaal but vnaduisedly followed their quarrell But he vnderstanding it tooke the aduantage of that their attempt and so disposed his bands of souldiers that hee set two of them to take those that came forth of the citie and slew them and hee and another band rushed to the entrance into the citie and hauing fought against it the whole day took it and slew the people in it and destroyed the citie and sowed salt in it If the men of Shechem had gone out of the citie but to walke or to doe some businesse as some perhaps would thinke they did Abimelech should not haue needed to prepare two or three bands of armed men to set vpon a few scatteringly here and there and those vnarmed comming forth to their worke or if they had gone out vpon pleasure what had he gained to haue gone forth with bands against a few persons But it is cleare therefore as I said and most certaine that they went out in warlike manner to fight with Abimelech though they went without Gaal their Captaine being much prouoked and incensed for the losse of their neighbours whom Abimelech had slaine the day before For they were many and for that they were now heated very much and more in spite rashnesse and desire of reuenge rather then good aduisednesse they went to worke being driuen and put to their shifts as they thought and that somewhat they must doe to him either that they must ouerthrow him or else they saw that hee would surelie root out them for to this it was now come that the word of God by Iotham might be fulfilled And by this we see to what desperate shifts men are driuen by their falsehood crueltie rashnesse vaine confidence in man and by the like sinnes and what wise man would looke for any better end of such doings If God had brought vpon them that trouble in their innocencie hee would haue taught them how to beare it whatsoeuer had been like to haue followed but now they runne vpon the swords point and therefore both they that sought to fight with him abroad and they that waited for to set vpon him and his men in the citie are both of them destroyed This is the best end that sinne bringeth vpon the committers And thus wilfulnesse stomacke and stubbornesse bring many to destruction while they who are contrary minded are in peace So contention whoring drunkennesse and riot doe the like in their kind and they that seeme to bee safest and freest from danger being of that sort may looke for no better fruit nor end of their euill doings but shame sorrow and a miserable death though not by enemies as these men of Shechem found it whether it bee in their beds or wrought by their owne hands all is one if repentance breake not off their euill course The which while Gods seruants behold and see to what a wofull end their euill doings bring many who yet in their iolitie thought themselues the only wise men of others and all fooles who walked in their innocencie and vprightnesse I say while Gods seruants see this they shall praise him highly for that they followed a better course by Gods direction and euen now I say when they see Gods threats executed vpon euill doers as they were told that it should be so in the middest of their prosperitie and iolitie And all that come after them shall see good cause and haue incouragement to hold on a Christian course and to turne neither on the right hand nor on the left although they shall see pietie and good conscience to be iustled to the walles and scorned yet shal the worst day of these that practise them be farre better then the best of the other for all their setting out of the matter for a while and when their time commeth in which they shall smart then shall Gods seruants reioyce in their owne sinceritie and innocencie Let the reader looke backe to the former chapter and inlarge this point by adding thereto that which hath been noted touching the sinne and iudgement of Succoth and Penuel Now followeth the further proceeding in and laying foorth of the ouerthrow of the men of Shechem Abimelech might for all the force of them goe and dwell safely in his house as he did at Arnmah not farre from Shechem their power being weakned and Gaal thrust out by Zebul But yet they rose vp against him as we haue heard of stomack if possibly they might any way be reuenged But their so doing being told to Abimelech turned to the destruction of them that did so and to them that were in the citie with it also as appeareth in these foure next verses Reade them in the text The Lord hauing purposed their ouerthrow did thus goe forward with it for he hath many waies to execute his iudgments threatned vpon his enemies It was a iust cause to astonish the rest when he began with the formost but alas where there is no counsell from God to direct them what can they do but waite their time to follow their fellowes in the like iudgement Euen so God sometimes sweepes away all the companie of bad men and euill workers in some one place at once as hee did whole kingdomes in Ioshuas time and made his people possesse and inhabit them Sometime he keepeth them vnder and wasteth his enemies by degrees and one after another as here as before I noted out of the space of Abimelechs raigne where the same point hath been handled So they that marke it shall finde that though hee giue them their scope and libertie for a time which hee doth that they may repent they in the meane while looking after no such thing I say they that mark it shall see how God either beginneth to blow vpon their prosperitie as the East wind in the Spring beginneth to nip and hold in the leaues that were comming foorth or else as a great frost doth all at once kill them so doth he suddenly send desolation vpon them one way or other when their time is come And therefore let no seruant of God feare or be dismaied for the greatnes and pride of such for in a small time their glorie and iollitie shall vanish it shall be no more seene there is a greater then they who will surely cut off their hope and lay their glorie in the dust Oh that the righteous could then praise God for that hee hath kept them in all those times of danger within their bounds not suffering them grossely to reach out their hands
which we remember hath hurt vs Therfore I say let men trust no such of whose fidelity and truth they haue no proofe but rather the cōtrary or no further at least then they may without any great detriment to themselues and where they must needs trust some such let them bind them the more strongly And so let those that vndertake suretiship beware that they lose not their liberty and bring themselues into bondage and their estate and posteritie to wilfull penurie Most of all let Christians beware of them that vnder a colour of loue seeke to vndermine them to betray them to get somewhat from them which might tend to the danger of their brethren or to the wounding of their owne conscience which I speake because many silly Christians thinke themselues happy if they can get countenance or benefit by such as are their superiors not knowing that the benefits of the vngodly are forked and bring more backe then they bestow Boner did more mischiefe by his flattering poore men till they abiured the truth then by all his crueltie for which cause Salomon admonisheth well of such saying Be not desirous of their daintie meates for it is deceiuable meate But where without inquirie and obseruing in the best manner we can by our selues and others we rashly beleeue euery one who can speake vs faire as indeed Faire words make fooles faine according to the prouerb I say they who are so light of credit I send them no further then to this present example let them looke what became of all the smooth words and faire shewes that this Abimelech made to these men of Shechem his kinsman and mothers brethren in whom they reposed such confidence for as they had no greater enemie then him euen so neither let these looke to find any better measure Now though this may bee laid forth in all kinds of fellowship among men yet it is most commonly seene in their earthly dealings wherin scarcely any promise is kept and most liuely it is to be seene in marriages What solemne kind and ioyful beginnings haue many of them had so as it might worthily haue prouoked the beholders thereof to praise God and reioyce for such a goodly ordinance of his so like to bring foorth such answerable fruit to those beginnings And betwixt the couples themselues so marrying and comming together what liking betwixt them and delightings one in another as if they could neuer be enough neither might one be well out of anothers sight but in continuance longer or shorter how haue all these been turned into the contrary What dislike and wearines hath there been one of another what alienating of affection crossing one the other chiding railing and reuiling separating from bed and board while yet they must needs liue together and afterward an vtter casting off the one the other I speake not this of the heauinesse which the Lords chastisements meeting and taking hold of them doe raise in them to the which all euen the best are subiect wherein they both should and haue promised to be companions and one to helpe the other to beare the burden which kind of behauiour would preserue their loue as it doth betwixt some others I speake not I say of these corrections of the Lord but of the mischiefe that their euill and corrupt hearts false raging proud wilfull and inconstant haue wrought betwixt them they being disguised and nothing like the persons they seemed to bee at their first meeting Oh therefore if towards men wee bewray this disease then how much more is it to be feared in professing our repentance to God it being secret and a thing hid from men and in comming to the word and sacraments what need haue we of this vprightnesse In these two verses it is shewed by what meanes he slew them and that was by cutting downe boughes from trees and bidding his men doe as he did and putting them to the hold and setting them on fire till all the men of Shechem that were therein died And there we may see what force is in example especially if it be bad Touching which though I haue spoken at large before especially in chap. 1. the end where the sinne of the most Tribes in neglecting the Lords charge is recorded which I desire the Reader to turne vnto yet vnto so apt an occasion as this is somewhat I will say here of it also Gedeons men followed him in carrying their pitchers and lampes after him in great danger to feare the Midianites but that was as commendable as this was wicked and cruell and most commonly followed yet it is not to be denied but if there were some to giue good example there would be some followers of them also as in meeknesse humblenesse innocencie faithfulnesse mercy pietie patience and the like And namely if rich men would for their parts begin to the rest and go before others in deeds of charitie and sell for lower prices to the poore when things are deare then the common prices be and would be examples in mercy in harmelesnesse in gentlenesse and such like It is hard to say what good might be done thus and by hauing religion and holy instruction in high account and louing heartily and well esteeming of Gods people But to this it is come that men and the wealthier sort especially whereas they might bring on many to Christian practise by well doing they haue alas cold loue to good causes but are slow and backward and therefore deadnesse and vnprofitablenesse is to bee seene thicke and threefold in other that should learne of thē the diuell labouring when he cannot make all sorts alike in wickednesse to leaue as few to giue countenance to good things as may bee And men bee so vnapt to learne to performe duties aright that except they see good examples before them they cannot tell how to set vpon or goe about them But as for euill courses they need none to goe before them therein they can find the way thereto without guides though they are much more fleshed and drawne on when they haue other to breake the ice to them But where the best examples are giuen let this bee our rule that wee follow them no otherwise then as they follow Christ and they that doe so let them perswade vs to al zeale and forwardnesse in duties of the first Table as to the reuerent receiuing of the word preached and the right manner of preparing our selues to the Lords Supper and such like exercise so in no wise follow we the common sort in their behauiour and practise about duties to men in the second Table But let vs goe forward The vnweariednes also of this cursed Abimelech in his businesse is to be marked how from one thing to another he toyleth himselfe yea and that not without perill of his life A base worke one would thinke to goe vp to the mountaine cut downe boughes from the trees and bring them on his necke and
will giue good successe both in mercies and deliuerances But I haue handled this point at large in this historie before In this Scripture is set downe that this wofull instrument had his deadlie wound and by what meanes euen in a base manner by a woman breaking his skull by throwing downe vpon him a peece of a mil-stone where wee may further note by Gods cutting off this cursed instrument Abimelech in the middest of his iolitie and before hee had done any more mischiefe that the prosperitie of the wicked is both short and vncertaine when and how it shall come to an euil end Which although I noted in general before out of the short time of his reigne yet a little I wil adde thereto by this present occasion here offered Now this their speedy taking downe is wrought by the Lord not only by the many waies that he hath to meet with and to punish them but also because they are euer putting the Lord as it were in fresh remembrance by their renewed and continued prouokings of him what hee oweth them And in the meane while he is not idle when he is still and patient toward them for hee knoweth and appointeth the time and the meanes to subuert them So the Psalmist saith Though the wicked flourish like a greene Bay tree yet a little while and his place shall haue no resemblance of such a one to haue been there and hee shall bee no more found Behold this verified in Zimry with his Cosby in Chorah the Rich man mentioned in the Scriptures and in many other in our owne experience who while they prosper are decaying but they that abide and remaine in the power of faith hope and patience as of Gods seruants is required and are thorowly set a worke in them they shall see good daies and be well liking and yet euen they also if they withdraw themselues from their confidence and will giue themselues to liue by eye-sight as other doe they shall see the Lord can soone change his course and their sorrowes will bee exceedinglie multiplied like other mens Dauids feet had well nigh slipt when hee beheld the present flourishes of the vngodly til God drew him out of his own fancie into the Lords Sanctuarie and taught him this wisdome to compare them with himselfe as well in one part of their estate as another and the bitternesse of their end and reward with the plausiblenesse of their iollity when they are in their flower and their slipperinesse when they are at the best Therefore as in a picture such as will throughly view it take not some note of the knee or foote or any one part of it but the whole for otherwise they should see nothing to any purpose so view wee the whole course of Gods dealing with the wicked as well the ending as the beginning and his proceeding with them and thereby our hastinesse in desiring their dainties will be abated full soone and our opinion changed as Dauids also was in iudging the bad to be happie after that he had better considered their end Lay we also sure hold on this that as the time and terme of the wicked is stinted and appointed so say we of the Lords dealing with our selues Yet a little while and he that commeth will come and not tarrie to bring our full redemption Furthermore we see here in that Abimelech had his deaths wound and after was slaine that he had not his will on the people of Thebez as he had on the other but as he suffered him to destroy the men of Shechem which fled to the Hold of their God Baal-Berith so yet he saued the men of Thebez and their wiues who betooke themselues to the Tower that was therein for shelter Wherein we may note that God doth oft times plague them whose iniquity is manifest as the sinne of these men of Shechem was when other who haue not sinned in the like manner though they be not yet religious are spared and borne with as these men of Thebez were The reason is the sinne of the one sort is manifest and grieuous and cannot be hid and crieth for vengeance the other either through ignorance or for that they haue not so wittingly or grossely offended are borne with that they may come to repentance And yet this is no excuse to them who liue in the light of the Gospell and haue knowlege if they liue and abide vnrepentant though they be not grosse offenders Neither on the other side haue they any cause to flatter themselues whose sinnes are notorious though they be not by and by cut off The vse of this doctrine is in this respect to incourage them who doe but walke in the way of the vngodly but stand not stiffely to maintaine their euill doings that seeing God giueth them time to repent and beareth with them they should not harden their hearts but take all occasions to turne vnto him And for such as are not fit to heare this doctrine but goe forward in euill they may euer feare that Gods vengeance is comming Now he being brought to bee past all hope of life by the blow the woman gaue him we see that hee who sought such glory as to be made King yea and obtained it also though most vniustly euen he did yet come to such shame and reproch as hee counted it as to be slaine by a woman and not so much as by the meanest man of warre Neither did it serue Abimelechs turne any whit at all that the last stroke was giuen him by a Page hauing had his deadly wound by the woman before onely it bewraied his pride which encreased the shamefulnesse of his foile And yet for him to be slaine by a Page was it such an honour to a great King so valiant and victorious as Abimelech now thought himselfe being in the top of his hopes and hauing brought vnder his enemies Therefore where God will set his brand of shame vpon a man it is but folly for him to striue against him or to elude him It was as confidently giuen out that Abimelech was slaine by the hand of a woman as that Sisera was dispatcht by Iael as for the Page hee slew as we may say a dead man in a mockery If this verifie not the saying God resisteth the proud what doth When men that haue carried thēselues aloft and borne their heads on high as the tall Cedars being terrors to their inferiors especially of the more religious sort are thus brought to shame as he was is it not notable to see them as much abased in their death below the meanest as they aduanced themselues aboue the greatest before It is reported of a Pope that he entred in like a Fox ruled like a Lion and died like a Dogge if he had also been buried as that proud Iehoijkon or Iezabel like an Asse what could haue been added to his shame and yet a liuing
of the children of Ammon 8. Who from that yeere vexed and oppressed the children of Israel eighteene yeeres euen all the children of Israel that were beyond Iorden in the land of the Ammorites which is in Gilead 9. Moreouer the children of Ammon went ouer Iorden to fight against Iudah and against Beniamin and against the house of Ephraim so that Israel was sore tormented 10. Then the children of Israel cried vnto the Lord saying Wee haue sinned against thee euen because wee haue forsaken our owne God and haue serued Baalim NOw followeth a new reuolt of the people of Israel and this is handled to the 17. verse wherein the things to bee considered are these to wit a double repairing and returning by them to God when hee afflicted them by their enemies for their sin in forsaking him In their first seeking to him they had the repulse for their repentance was not sound In the second God deliuered them they seeking to him in repentance In the former note these foure things First their sinne which was a ioyning to the nations among whom they dwelt and this in the sixth verse The second is Gods punishing them euen by those whom they ioyned with in Idolatrie which is snewed in the next three verses The third point is their crying to God and lastly the fruite thereof in the tenth verse and so forward The fruite was diuers for first God denied to deliuer them to the fifteenth verse But at the second crying of the people to God hee deliuered them which is set downe in the next two verses vnto the seuenteenth Now let these things be looked into more particularly To returne therefore to the sixth verse and to begin with the peoples sinne it is said after the death of these two Iudges in whose daies they had enioyed peace fiue and fortie yeeres that the people fell againe to prouoke God as wee haue heard their fathers did And how by committing Idolatrie after the manner of the seuen nations that are here mentioned For both that was liking to the flesh and besides they thought those nations that did so liued in more abundance and in more pleasure then themselues did for many delights to tickle the flesh forward they adioyned to their false worship to draw away their hearts from seruing the true God aright whom it is said here that they forsooke Thus much for the summe of this verse and therein of their sinne And here are diuers things to be considered First it teacheth that we should not greatly marueile that so many in this our age giue themselues to Popish religion seeing Idolatrie hath in most ages been so common by reason that it hath so many player-like toyes and bables of sights to bleare the eye and sonets to deceiue the eare that it maketh them thinke they be in a peece of paradise while they embrace and are made drunke with such fond conceits when indeed they be thereby caried as it were fast asleepe to hell There is nothing that moueth or delighteth them in all the word of God rightly vnderstood but only blind deuotion in their false religion wherein they haue been nuzled vp and then a fond and fantasticall conceit that they shall goe to heauen thereby As for the authoritie and warrant of their Masse and other trumperie in the beginning of the world nay in our Sauiour Christs time and many hundred yeeres after there was no shred nor ragge of it vsed or knowne especially to any such end whereas the true seruing of God was alwaies as now it is euen from the beginning And how prone people are to worship God with ease for so farre they like whether it be sound and true or counterfeit it may be seene not onely in Poperie which is coyned for the purpose to deceiue the simple with strong delusions but also in our religion which for the outward manner of it is holy pure and good and consisteth in hearing prayer and the vse of the Sacraments for the substance thereof And yet many of them who allow it as the true manner of worshipping God what doe they for the most part but draw neere to God with their bodies but their hearts are farre from him As if they would say they would gladly goe to heauen but they would haue an easie way thither but to serue God in spirit and truth which is the direct way thither they cannot bend themselues thereto whereas there is as great delight in the worshipping of God aright and that by the Lords allowance and promise which in the two former kindes of popish and the other of only outward worship are wanting as great delight I say and as sound in true performing it so farre as fraile flesh may attaine to as there is reward promised thereto which is vnutterable In this verse also may bee seene what fruite this people yeelded to the Lord of their long enioyed peace euen as wee haue seene their fathers did and that was how they fell to lasciuiousnes and forgetting of God a sufficient watch-word whereof they had giuen them before by Moses Now for the laying out of this sinne both in them and our selues how fearefull and great it is let vs onely consider of it thus Seeing this point hath been largely handled already if the diseased person pained with the stone or strangury or the famished and hee that is in penury or the man that is in exile and banishment if these I say might be set free from that which oppresseth them what would they not readily offer and couenant to doe in the seruice of God yea and that much more feruently then other men Therefore how grieuous is their sin let all men iudge who may in health in wealth at ease and in outward peace doe this I meane serue the Lord which is the thing that he requireth of them and yet they can by no means be brought to it But this I leaue to be further considered as euery one shal see cause But more particularly in that it is said they forsooke the Lord it may be marueiled at that they should forsake him whom they had loued and serued before But by this we may see what force there is in sinne to besot and make drunken them who giue ouer themselues thereto be it whoredome the loue of the world or any other For it is able to bereaue them of sound reason to turne away their delight from prayer and all good practise and to forget the ioy that they had in both sometimes and yet to blindfold them so that they shall not suspect any danger to be toward them for al this while they may merrily serue their humour therein Sampson and other went farre this way And let the best of vs feare lest we be carried away of our lusts to loue and like where wee ought not and tempt we not God but let vs resist the beginnings of euill wee know little what
wel all that they haue said but I will not take their word and why Oh there is no such heart in them saith he as their tongue would seeme to import For euen as a leaud houswife who is runne away from her husband or any ill debter who is fled for debt if they be taken and terrified with the law they will not sticke to say and sweare to any conditions which are offered them so that the present danger and shame may be remitted whereas yet they are as treacherous and loose afterward as euer before as the issue prooues in theeues and other malefactors euen so when vile persons are vnder Gods punishments from whom they see there is no breaking away by strong hand what will they not say in accusing and condemning themselues Nay who can shame them as they will themselues for their sinnes or who can so denounce and pleade against them as themselues What will they not promise vpon condition of release from the present woe they are in And yet when these men come to the triall they flie touch and recoile againe as if there were no witnesse to conuince them and as if all they said had been spoken in a trance Oh therefore those forced exclamations and complaints which either for horror and feare a grieued soule maketh or which a body pinched and in distresse compell a man vnto how may they be taken for approoued testimonies of repentance either by themselues or by other Yea such as know they haue often abused the Lord thus as if they had him at command to order him as they list vpon each flattering promise whereas it is his wonderfull mercy that hee will forbare them and offer them meanes of searching themselues better let them repent therefore of this playing wily beguily with God Oh how should this terrifie them and scare them that the Lord still counts them but hollow persons rotten at the heart and false in their couenant and therefore that hee will at one time or other reckon with them for all their villany and hypocrisie which they durst couer vnder the vizard speeches of humblenes and truth As for vs who haue learned and practised better let vs beware that as Paul bids Timothy not to lay hands suddenly vpon any so that we doe not lightly iudge well or commend the estate of any man vpon so slender euidence let his constancie speake for him time the mother of truth shall prooue him in the meane season lift not thou such an one vp to the third heauen in one moode when in another thou shalt bee vrged to condemne to the nethermost hell but be sober and leaue him to God to whom as to his master who knowes him he standeth or falleth More particularly in these two verses he telles them what deliuerances he had wrought for them bringing his benefits to their remembrance to prick their consciences And therefore to speake the truth what incouragement could they haue in comming to God in their need for helpe whom they had dealt so treacherously with before especially they hauing no testimonie that they came in remorse and shame for their former reuolts and with firme and resolute perswasion both that God would pardon them and that themselues would no more fal from him So how can any of vs in our need doe as they did but we must looke for the like answer from him And so we haue though not by voice from heauen yet by the fearefull accusation of our consciences and by his word in canonicall Scripture And as for men that haue bin so dealt with by any neighbours yea though it be but once if they haue been beneficiall to them they wil soone shew them their minds that is how greatly they detest such vnthankfulnesse and falsehood But how we should be moued by the hearing of Gods benefits brought to our remembrance and of such like matter I haue spoken largely in the second Chapter vers 1. 2. 3. This speech of the Lord namely I will deliuer you no more because afterwards he did deliuer them giuing occasion of some doubt and difficulty is to be considered of vs accordingly I meane with more regard His meaning is this Yee O people vnworthy to be beloued haue abused my facilitie and gentlenesse and you seeing me easily entreated heretofore to helpe you plied mee with your cries and complaints till yee had gotten that yee would haue euen deliuerance from your enemies naming many sorts vnto them But when yee got once elbow roome saith the Lord whereas I looked to haue been the God of your worship and seruice aswell as of your saluation ye turned your backs vpon me and rebelled against me If this bee the fruit of my loue and tendernesse that I must haue the worke to deliuer you but euery stocke and stone euery Idoll of Ammon Moab c. go away with the thanks and reuerence and get all the obedience and worship from me I will helpe you no more except I see better fruit come of it and otherwise I haue done with you goe seeke to them whom yee serue for succour and reliefe So then we see this refusall is conditionall and is applied to them for their former idolatry and their present vnsound dealing and reacheth onely to the present time though they cried vnto him as if he had said At this time in the case you are in I will not deliuer you I will not helpe you as fast as you complaine but when I shall see it meete that is when I shall see your repentance sound then I will giue you another answer So that it is manifest I say that he speaketh but conditionally and thus we must vnderstand it for otherwise they not hauing committed the vnpardonable sin this speech should haue been contrarily â—â— other Scripture Where the thing which is to be noted is this that God after the manner of men sheweth his fearefull speeches as hee did heere that he is offended with vs and for the same cause doth oft afflict vs to the end he may make vs search out see and feele some special sinnes they are fore and grieuous in his sight and yet of vs nothing or little regarded By this meanes therefore he bringeth vs to such a sense of them that we are not able to looke vp but our hart to the iudgement of flesh doth faint within vs as may bee seene in these heere This Dauid felt when he said Innumerable troubles haue compassed me my sinnes haue taken such hold of me that I am not able to looke vp they are more in number then the haires of mine head therefore mine heart faileth me So in another Psalme we may see the like This doe mens sinnes bring them to when God citeth them and seeth it expedient to awake them though he doe not this often especially to the reprobate and yet with slender or rather no vse nor benefit to them when he doth it they haue
commandement of the Lord in Deuteronomy to wit that there should be no whore in Israel And if it be demanded why God forbad such as were borne in bastardie to enter into the congregation of the Lord that is to beare any office in the Church it was not forbidden for that the man so borne was worse then others but that the people might know how greatly God abhorred whoredome and this was but a iudiciall constitution appertaining to the Iewes And in that Iphtah so borne was yet set in authoritie ouer the people which thing God forbad we must know that hee made not that law to himselfe but for the Iewes that it should not be lawfull for them to preferre any such but as for himselfe who hath authoritie to call him into question for that which hee doth Now for instruction we see here by this that Iphtah was begotten of an harlot that the law of God forbidding that there should bee any whore in Israel was not obeyed euen as before wee haue heard of Gedeon his concubine whereby we see how little Gods law is and hath been regarded in all ages of many whether this one law or what other of his soeuer wee vnderstand it of As for this of and against whoredome that it was neuer more common then in this age woful experience proues it to be too true so that there want now no such offenders more then in former times I may truly say in number they farre exceed them as if the antiquitie of corrupt example in this kinde were enough to license men to continue it still And so it is in all other kindes of sinne verifying to the full the Apostles prophecie to Timothy that in the latter daies shall come perilous times for men shall be louers of themselues couetous proud boasters and infected with diuers other sinnes And for this cause commeth the wrath of God vpon the children of disobedience and no marueile that wee haue many plagues seeing God is not obeyed almost in any thing And so may euery one particularly say to himselfe as he is most obedient so shall his blessing be And as this sin in any man had been bad enough so in Gilead a great man and who should haue punisht it in others rather being the father of a familie what a reproch was it Euen as in Dauid in Sampson in Iuda and in Reuben For alas when a meane person sees the commandement of God to be of no greater force then that euery great man is bold to dispense with it he growes to thinke it but a scare-crow and saith boldly as the strumpet in the Prouerbs Tush t is but a trick of truth But for such tricks of youth the Lord in wrath destroyed 24. thousand of Israel Yea when the great enemie of the Church Balaam being frustrate of his cursed attempt against Israel for they are cursed who can finde in their heart to curse Gods people sought how to bring an equiualent plague vpon the Congregation he could inuent no more fit and mischieuous a plot then to intice them to vncleannesse with the Moabitish women and to Idolatrie with their heathenish gods Therefore how great a iudgement of God hangs ouer this land for the lust of the eye a maine branch whereof is filthines and the vnlimitted lust of all sorts especially in places of darknesse wee can more easily coniecture then perswade them that are guiltie to redresse it Oh it is lamentable that such spots of our assemblies are suffered boldly to spit in the face of modestie and to hold vp their heads aloft as hauing the better end of the staffe I meane greater aduantage against their accusers commonly then they against them How should this moue vs to sue to the Lord that such should be noted and shamed for inordinate persons that the rest may blanke and feare by their example and so the anger of the Lord be staied as once it was by the zeale of Phiniees for the Lords cause thrusting thorow Zimri and Cozbi for their shamefull abomination So should the word preached be more forcible when the transgressors should see the price of their boldnes and so should the law of the Magistrate take better effect and not become ridiculous And so should not we feare that plague which Iehu denounceth vpon Iehoram saying What peace seeing the abominations and whoredomes of thy mother Iezabel are still in great number Of which I say the lesse because I haue noted it as the fruite of all sinne as well as this in the former parts of this booke Onely I say if the vngodly sort will not take the Lords bridle to restraine their flesh from this lewd course for adulteries as our Sauiour notes are the breakings out of the filthie heart euen as the sores and scabs of the body are the fruites of a corrupted blood then let the people of God learne this dutie euen to possesse their vessels in holinesse to keepe themselues vnspotted and pure and to preserue their bodies and spirits in chastnes except they wil make of the temple of the holy Ghost a stie of vncleane and loathsome lust fit to driue the spirit of God away And otherwise the Lord shall set a marke vpon them worse then the brand of a theese euen a marke of infamie which I dare not promise that repentance it selfe shall quite wash off while they liue but that the staine shall still continue For this sinne is of a scarlet dye as Dauid speakes Psal 51. Now to end this verse by that it is said that Iphtah was a valiant man we must know that in those times of warre courage and valiantnes was a gift much set by and of good vse So that though he had a blemish vpon him in that he was the sonne of an harlot which was not his sinne yet the Lord couered it as I may say with this excellent gift of fortitude that made him much desired It was a crosse to him all may see that hee was thus abased and yet if he had not been vnder that or some other such chastizement it had been like he should haue been a worse man and in greater danger For such blemishes in the body are occasions through Gods worke to turne the minde to better matters and to bring it in loue with them and to hold from the partie greater troubles thereby As we reade of Mephibosheth Ionathans young sonne that he being lame on his feete could not resist Dauid as Ishbosheth his vncle did to his great toyle and little preuailing but liued peaceably in the Kings fauour and fed at his table and how could he haue been in better state whereas if he had enioyed his limmes at libertie it is hard to say whether hee would not haue been stirring and taking part with Ishbosheth to his owne ouerthrow which had bin very like to haue befalne him whē Abner forsook him if he had not bin preuented by
violent death Thus doth the Lord as Paul speaks clothe the more vnseemly parts with most honour And in our experience many worthie men for their excellent parts both in Church and Common-wealth haue yet had their deformities One among the rest of late and godly memory Master Perkins that worthy instrument being lame of his hand testified often that his defect was the occasion of his training vp to learning as being vnfit thereby for other employment Wherein Gods admirable prouidence appeared in making him lame that his blemish might be an occasion of doing good to the Church Indeed the common speech is that Nature noteth some men for their sinister and notorious qualities by how much the rather all such had need pray much and vse good meanes to rectifie and perfect their inner man and purge out their corruption lest this imputation be iustly cast vpon them but wee must know that God hath a further stroke then Nature and laieth his hand vpon many that hee might be glorified by them and shew his workes on them as in a sense somewhat diuers our Sauiour speakes of the blind man Ioh. 9 So that such as are notable for their grace and gifts as the other are notorious Naturally we pitie such as are deafe lame blinde and we doe well for it is the part of a cursed Cham to deride such but the Lord oft turnes pitie into admiration yea and condemnes by such the shamefull vnthankfulnes of them who haue no bodily blemishes but inwardly are tainted with all that naught is God had done his part to vse the phrase one way to Absolon who had not a wemme from top to toe but who had a more disguised soule then that faire bodie carried within it Euen as we see the compleatnes of many a mans person drawes by degrees to the halter many a womans beautie makes her a strumpet Whether then of the two is more to be desired a copper ring with a precious Iewell set in it or a golden with a common peble While many children haue their parents liuing with them who are their glorie how bold sawcie and lewdly disposed are they so that they were better vnborne And other in the meane while being depriued of their parents which chastizement is nothing vnferiour to a blemish or scarre how haue they been driuen to liue vnder good gouernment and in good order For vse hereof let vs not wonder though the Lord mixe troubles with blessings and as I may say blemishes with beauties wants with perfections Paul lifted vp to the third heauen was not so safe as being buffeted A little abasement may preuent the greatest of all yea I say that some chastizement laid vpon vs by the Lord doth keepe vs oft times from perishing in the world and so sicknesse and pouertie doe take heart from sinning whereas health and wealth imbolden thereto Therefore if thine affliction come from the Lord I meane when no apparent cause of thy drawing it on thy selfe can be seene and so as thou sufferest not for euill dealing waite for some speciall good to come thereby vnto thee and to that end labour to make vse of it And if it bee an hindering of thy bodily commoditie by losse disease paine and such like looke that it be to the benefit of thy soule and that thou haue a rich and large supplie that way for so the Lord is wont to deale with his and that to the end they may see cause to say as Dauid did it is good for vs that we haue been afflicted It was sometime the speech of a vertuous and religious gentlewoman well exercised in Gods nurture that if there had falne to her any hard trouble and heauy crosse as there did many she did confidently looke for some great blessing more then ordinarie which was for the most part some addition of new grace or a quickning of the old And Saint Paul saith the same in other words that as God sendeth our afflictions for our good euen so we should looke for them to be to vs which if we did they should not be so vnwelcome to vs as now they be nor so discontentedly borne and gone vnder as commonly and for the most part they are For the blemish of his bastardie wee heard how his brethren thrust him out which was an vniust and cruell dealing with him For what had hee done and as for their fathers shame which they raised therby they ought to haue couered it as they had bin able rather then to haue reuiued it And who seeth not that the sonne for his part had sorrow enough in that he was so branded with disgrace for it so that there was smal cause that his brethren should adde more affliction vnto it By the shamefull fact of them here we are taught to beware that wee doe not despise any in their affliction being base meane and contemptible for the same commonly in the world and especially if there bee any good parts and gifts of God in them whereby they may bee like to bee profitable to Church or Common-wealth Yea and without respect of this also for because Christ died for them and they are our brethren For we are taught of God how to carrie our selues toward thē though the wicked will be taught by nothing We learne in the Psalme that he is happie that iudgeth wisely of the afflicted and that wee should pitie them and mourne with them that mourne And in such cases it were our wisedome to put the case and suppose what if such affliction and abasement were cast vpon our selues would we not desire to be pitied and regarded And besides this we haue learned that iudgement shall be to the hard hearted and mercilesse and that without mercie And therefore to adde sorrow to their bands who are alreadie wrapped deeply therein as it is a great sinne so it threatens to the committers that they shall not goe vnpunished but receiue the like measure themselues at Gods hands for their so doing And sometime they suffer the like disgrace and harme at their hands to whom they offered the iniurie For when God lifteth vp their heads out of aduersitie whom they haue abused and done the wrong vnto though they thought that they being once downe should no more get vp againe and recouer they take stomacke and reuenge the iniury that was done them much more eagerly As Ioseph might haue done to his brethren their owne consciences being witnesses when he was aduanced for their vnnaturall dealing with him in his meane estate and would most certainly haue done so indeed if the feare of God had not staied him But although there were no feare of any such reuenge to come by pitilesse dealing with others yet this were enough to disswade a true Christian from it yea and from any hard measure offering to any brother liuing by him how meane soeuer that beside other inconueniences by so doing hee should
of prison and that they did not so much to the gratifying of him as themselues the greatest persons of Gilead requesting it at his hand and professing themselues highly beholding vnto him if hee would grace them by returning who had disgraced him before by casting him off Nay and he must not be sent for but come for not by friends but by his ranckest enemies not to his former estate of a subiect but to be a Lord and Gouernor A carnal man hearing of this Oh how his teeth water and his fingers itch at the successe of Iphtah and how doth he wish he might haue his desire vpon his enemies and triumph ouer them as he did But oh foole this is no prerogatiue for thee to claime it is the glorie of innocencie the fruite of faith of patient waiting vpon God and committing a mans waies to him in wel-doing Such another example lest wee should say this is alone is Mordecai The Lord might haue put it into the Kings mind to peruse the Chronicles and recognize Mordecaies well deseruing long before he did but alas that had been an obscure fauour in comparison God meant his worthy seruant farre better then so he would haue this breake out when it was most seasonable and the season was when his prouidence might be most manifested therby Therefore when great Haman was working his ouerthrow and al the Churches then is the opportunitie to bring forth the record that so all vnder one the aduersary may be defeated with shame the Church notably deliuered from danger and Mordecai not rescued onely but brought forth out of trouble with the highest honor that his rankest enemie could be forced to giue him Come forth ye disciples of Machiauel and set your braines on worke in the politiquest manner ye can and see if ye can teach your nouices such a way as this so famously to supplant your opposites and set vp themselues in their roome ye cannot doubtlesse or if ye could yet ye teach them but diuelish policie to contriue it whereby you and they haue more cause of shame and repentance then boasting and insulting Therefore not to digresse now Iphtah is busie about Gods matters neuer thinking of a reuenge of his owne priuate wrongs and loe the Lord is as busie about Iphtahs affaires and contriuing how he may bring him foorth out of his trouble Is not this enough to perswade vs to make God our Factor and Aduocate to pleade for vs and bring about our matters yea to tie our owne hands behind vs from putting them forth vnlawfully in our owne defence May we not say now there is a truth in those words Roll thy waies or cast thy care vpon Iehouah and he will giue thee thy hearts desire Did he not so to Iphtah Euen that issue which he would haue desired and sought by reuenge or euill meanes if he had been a bad person I meane to haue his enemies to be his pages to conduct him home as their Commander that I say obtained Iphtah not by vsing euill meanes but without vsing any at all Was not this as a man would haue it What needed here any shifting any stirring any plotting Did not God effect it without these So when Ioseph in prison was forgotten by Pharaohs Butler to be set free how did the Lord remember him to bring him foorth with farre greater honour Thus hee dealt with his where they relye on him And if hee did this for Iphtah a poore souldier a bastard and banished and for Mordecai a despised stranger and for Ioseph a poore prisoner as wee haue heard will he not doe the like to vs if we would cleaue vnto him as our alsufficient God and honour him by putting ouer all to him to deale wholly for vs while wee sit still and goe about his seruice And what lesse can we doe then trust him with our matters and wholly giue vp our selues to be doers of his work when as our Master professeth himselfe to be wholly ours and to bring our matters to passe which our selues with much labour and more sinne should neuer be able to compasse We haue heard how Iphtah was repaired vnto by the chiefe of Gilead and what a free and large offer they made to him if hee would goe with them thus had the Lord prouided for his seruant Now followeth his answere Iphtah therfore as he might well told the Princes of Gilead of their fault by so good occasion and opportunitie as was offered and how iniuriously they had dealt with him in driuing him out from among them against all right and law and hereupon hee demanded of them how they could now in their streight seeke to him among all other and indeed they could with no sound reason request fauour of him whom they had hated and as for him hauing receiued such measure from them how could hee trust them And they could not denie it which was a shame to them to remember but now they would preferre him they said to make him recompence and the rather to perswade him thereof they confessed the whole matter vnto him But if he had been as wilfull now they stood in neede of him which he saw very well as they had been cruell and spightfull against him before hee would neuer haue condescended vnto them but would haue held them on the racke We learne here that God doth oft make vs stand in need of their helpe whom we hate and despise First to the end wee may see our fault in hating them and take shame for it as there is cause Secondly to ouercome enuie which if we had not need one of another would grow very strong For this cause did the Lord so dispose that the Tribes euer needed one another as we see through the stories of this booke and the bookes of Samuel that they might hold one with another against Idolaters and might not hate each the other and in a spirituall respect so God made the people stand in need of the Apostles whom before they had railed vpon in the second of the Acts. And so we if we weighed it would neuer hate each the other nor fall out as we doe too easily one with another considering the plunges we may be put to thereby as when we are driuen to stand in need euen of them among all other and it is in their hand to doe vs some great hurt And yet some doe so rest in their owne sufficiencie through the want of wise foresight of the casualties which after may befall them and through the pride of heart in their present estate that they would stand in neede of none neither be beholding vnto any which is but a nourishing of the hardnes of their hearts and high mindednes that so they may further glorie in themselues and therfore such will rather offer violence to themselues then they will vse the helpe of any such as they like not As Ahab spake of Michaiah when he both stood
of their fault but as the partie is able and fit to beare it and as the weightines of the matter requireth But without due regard had the ripping vp of matters and faults betwixt such as haue been at variance is oft times a reuiuing or an increasing of strife betwixt the parties But these men of Gilead seeing they were many and their offence had bin great and apparant in excluding him therefore hee maketh mention of the iniurie which they had offered him he hauing so good opportunitie and doing it so meekly and kindly and yet Gedeon did wel before in not ripping vp but burying an iniury done to him by the men of Ephraim and passing it ouer in silence when yet they had sore prouoked him Therefore herein we must craue of God the spirit of wisedome to direct vs how to deale in the like cases and whether to repeate wrongs done vnto vs and how farre and when as if they be but words and in heate and passion vttered then to passe by them But if it shall be found expedient to rehearse our wrongs yet this must be resolued of by vs to doe it without bitternes and prouoking of them who haue hurt vs and if we can make them see their fault it is well but to this end in the affection of our loue let vs goe about it and seeke it at their hands but not to cast them in teeth with it to ease and satisfie our stomackes thereby and so stinging them but earnestly desiring their good in any thing that wee say to them neither denying to them for all that mentioning of their offence any helpe wee can yeeld to them for their benefit And when we shall see cause to speake let vs also take heed of harshnes and tartnes in speaking whereby our hearts will otherwise easily be incensed and set on fire against them before we be aware Now in their answere to his exprobration made against them in vers 7. let vs in this verse note that they doe not deny but confesse that they had iniured him but indeed they shew that they conueying it cleanly another way are vtterly vnwilling to heare of it telling him why they came to him namely to make him their Captaine for their deliuerance by which kindnesse offered to him they hoped they said to make him amends Where we may learne that it was commendable in them and to be followed in that they doe grant that they had faulted and iniured him So is it euer to bee done of vs and contrarily that the washing away of mens faults whereof they may iustly bee conuicted by facing lying or otherwise hiding or cloaking or extenuating them must be carefully auoided By which meanes wee doe but lay them more open before God and as it were put them in remembrance of them the onely way to couer them is by confessing and renouncing them for to such belongs the promise of forgiuenes which is called the true couering of them by God himselfe Psalm 32. For if wee haue sinned wee ought to acknowledge it according to the nature qualitie and kinde thereof whether to God or man publikely or priuatly yea if it be to one according to S. Iames direction in these words Acknowledge your faults one to another And if we cannot be brought to do so and that willingly much more hardly or not at all will we offer further resistance of and violence to our corrupt nature which some sinnes doe and will require And yet if we come to yeeld so farre yet if we doe it houerly and for fashion or to get that which we seeke by our so confessing howsoeuer it may bee commendable before men yet before God it is nothing worth But in that they hasted from hearing much of that matter it being harsh in their hearing and sore against them it bewraieth a corruption to be noted in vs which is ouer common to wit how vnwilling we are to haue our faults brought to light we care not how little and seldome we heare of any thing that is against our corrupt nature or euill practise against which yet we should be ready to heare the hardest knowing that wee are not debters to the flesh but enemies to it and that professed A token no doubt of a filthie and hard heart much putrified for should we not be ready to purge out the poyson and putrifaction which will burst and kill vs In particular the practise of most men is like these Gileadites for if they haue slandered their brother by whispering reports in corners where they thinke they are safe enough from comming to light against them and afterwards are charged to make them good or take the shame thereof by eating their word they can cunningly winde themselues out of that argument by turning their speech to some other matter which they thinke will better please their accuser at least which may couer their owne lewdnesse And if they be pressed with it oh then say they let vs heare no more of that ve speake out of season c. Is this honest dealing to lay on loade of reproch vpon the innocent and to aggrauate conceits or false rumours against them and when the truth should bee brought foorth to the sauing and preseruing of our brothers good name then to leaue him in the briars vnconscionably Let Iosephs brethren condemne these who confessed their sinne against their brother and concealed it not If it be the propertie of a seruant of God to hunt and pursue himselfe for his inward sinne yea though it be but one as wee reade Dauid oft to haue done what ought we to doe for many and those also manifest before men But if men doe accuse and iudge themselues no sorer for their sinnes in priuate aggrauating and bewailing them to God with taking shame to themselues for the committing them then they giue testimonie thereof to men also if they doe not more resist them aloue then they loue to heare of them by others it is no marueile that they be so bad as they are And as it is too common to take a priuate reproofe vnkindly nay rebelliously and with hating him that offers it which yet he is commanded of God to doe euen so in publique hearing it fareth insomuch as if some mens consciences be touched in any liuely manner which is an wholesome warning yet wee see how vnwelcome it is to the most and excepted against though without the least cause of so doing but of the contrary rather to wit of yeelding thankes for it The vse is that if we cannot be willing to heare of faults we should in no wise giue libertie to our selues nay nor by any violence bee brought to commit them But of these points see chap. 9. in Iothams fleeing from his brother c. Now out of the offer of the Elders compared with Iphtahs speech in the ninth verse demanding assurance thereof for he did
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
seeing there are such deceiuers in the world as would prouoke euen the honest to contention if they can see any hole open or espie any aduantage And this rule holdeth also firme and good in religious actions before God For as it is the honour of a Christian to continue constant in his loue to the truth and the Church of God the fruit whereof is a sound and good report so if a man begin to warpe and bewray his hollownesse or treachery in either his staine is not easily washt out neither can he looke for that currant estimation or reuerēce which before he had nor scarce obtain so much afterward as to be credited for all his profession Although men will be trust their vessels with oyle or wine while they be sound whole yet if they begin to leake and run they will not commit any thing vnto them which is in danger of losing Our Sauiour asked Peter but once Whom sayest thou that I am and tooke his word when he deserued no other whereas afterward hee was not satisfied with one nor two professions of his affection Simon louest thou me good reason he had made a great cracke in his credit and therefore he that had forsworne Christ deserued not vpon his owne bare word and answere to be beleeued And those who haue deceiued the opinion of the Church touching their religion by falling into error and schisme or their pietie and honesty by grosse offences may thanke themselues if euer afterward the people of God haue them in a iealousic As we reade in the Ecclesiasticall historie that when once the baptized partie reuolted either from his religion or good conscience as Miriam by her arrogancie the Church admitted him not without serious repentance and confession of his fault But if he slipt the second time they practised greater seueritie towards them enioyning them not repentance only but for a space of time to remaine out of the Church as in famous Yea some euen of the reuerendest Fathers of those times as Cyprian and others grew to this erronious opinion that such were not to be admitted without rebaptization as if their former seale had been quite puld off by their sin I meane the seale of forgiuenesse Therefore let all Christians looke to their standing the didiuell if it be possible will quite ouerthrow them but if he cannot hee will foile them and take away the crowne of their reioycing which is their faithfulnesse and constancie And he is an impudent person who hauing foully dishonored God and his profession wil hold vp his head boldly and claime his old priuiledge Doe we not see that among men one periured or a forger is disabled from euer bearing any witnesse against or for any in publike court And haue not all men such a one in suspition Doth not treason taint euen the blood of the traitor so that euen when he is loyall he goeth for no better and hee who hath got a patent of restitution or pardon for his fellonie doth he not forfeit it by a second offence in the like kind But of this enough Another thing worth the marking is this that in as much as Iphtah went so easily from his iust quarrell that hee had against them of Gilead and had so soone done when he had wisely told them that which concerned them to heare and when they had assured him of that which he demanded by this I say we are taught not to hold in our harts an iniurie against vs by any but soone to remit an offence for it is an honour to passe by it He mentioneth the matter but once to them and once requireth security but goeth no further And who seeth it not to be a great grace in any man to doe so for therein he doth after the example of the Lord himselfe who doth not follow things against vs hotly but sheweth great lenitie and kindnesse And as we should not be rigorous and cruell in our dealings to prouoke men with our bitternes to wrath so should we make an end of controuersies as soone and in as few words as may be as for other causes so not in the least respect for this seeing in many words commonly there is much sinne Of this somewhat was said before in vers 4. but especially looke backe into Chap. 8. verse 2. And further learne what hath been the religiousnesse of an oath in times past to wit such that if it were once offered and taken there was no more question but the controuersie was ended As we see Rahab hauing it granted her by oath of the spies that she and her fathers house should bee saued aliue at the destruction of Ierrico rested satisfied Therefore men must looke to what they sweare seeing an oath is not to bee violated vnlesse it were made for the accomplishment of euill in which case the keeping of it were double sinne as Heroas was and the least euill therein is great And as heed must be taken how men sweare so must they who offer the oath to other that it be so done that they to whom it is ministred may be free from snare so that they may doe it as the Prophet speaketh in truth righteousnesse and iudgement Therefore such as draw men by oath to fulfill their desire and to doe things against conscience haue the more to answer for Men then must not be drawne and forced thereto to which they cannot yeeld nor of themselues rashly sweare to doe that which they approoue not but abhorre Iphtah doubted no more after the oath but goeth after the army But an oath is not strong enough now adaies to hold a man fast neither can wee safely rest in it for the deciding of controuersies although the Lord hath taught vs otherwise Now for the further ratifying of the couenant betwixt them it is rehearsed before the Lord in Mizpeh by them for thus the men of Gilead say We couenant with thee before the Lord to doe as we say and that he may punish vs if we breake it Therefore such as are common swearers are not to be admitted to this solemne oath either in accusation or decission of controuersies For as I said they haue lost their credit they haue often falsified their oathes for how should a common swearer auoid common periury and therefore that which another man vseth reuerently and with conscience such rush vpon commonly and carelesly through a prophane habit being herein worse then Heathens who counted not such worthie of societie but intestabiles as they called them that is such as were not to be admitted as witnesse And commonly such they are who prostitute themselues for gaine to sweare falsely before the Magistrate of whom there are many and some the Lord shoaleth out from among their fellowes as notorious monsters branding some with in famie and misery and terrifying the consciences of other with hellish feares if not with despaire And a step to
men that law be not attempted till all other meanes be first vsed and a great sinne it is among Christians to runne by and by to law and to the suing one of another as too many vse to doe hotly rashly and wilfully though themselues sustaine most hurt by it who doe so as being authors of the contention and suite Likewise the same may be said of offenders in other kindes who if they haue been lead away by leaud counsell or companie and yet relent for it afterward and take admonition against it willingly they are to be vsed more fauourably so farre as by the law they may be forborne euen as the stiffenecked and sawcie and bold defenders of their sinne are sharply to be dealt with lest they grow past recouerie and doe as the waters euen ouerflow all places where they come Some controuersies shall no doubt alwaies arise betweene man and man touching things the equitie whereof is vnknowne and vncertaine it shall be whose the right is But if contentions proceeding from manifest wrong or from vngrounded surmises were at the first taken vp and cut off in which commonly most rashnes heate and distemper is bewrayed yea if trifling quarrels were troden vnder foote then neither should men haue so many needlesse ianglings and those which are serious and could not bee auoided should more indifferently be handled and decided either priuatly or with peaceable consent of both parties by trauerse of law Yea I say if themselues could not hit vpon agreement they would yeeld to the discretion and loue of such as might compound their differences rather then multiplie one sinne vpon another as fiercenes of words to the gall of their stomacks and other actuall pursuite each of other to both the former shewing themselues vnappeaseable and inexorable It is the pride bitternes and enuie of the heart rather then the weightinesse of the cause which oft prouokes men to the heate and stomacke which they vtter and bewray all may see in their iarrings each against other And therefore they are so farre from Iphtah his practise that they reioyce they haue any pretence of debate and suite against their neighbour and follow it in such eager and odious manner that all may see they sue not because they haue cause but are glad they haue any occasion such a delight they haue therein that they might fall to suite The claime of a whole Tribes inheritance did not so stirre Iphtah to wrath against this vsurper as many of vs would bee stirred against him that would challenge a few acres of our possession what doe I say nay against him that contendeth about a twelue penny matter with vs and yet wee should exceed them that goe many degrees before Iphtah in the meanes of knowledge and acquaintance with Gods will in particuler duties if we did well consider it Let such doings be heard of among Heathens as for Christians if one partie will not heare of his dutie let the other giue him ouer and let him contend if he will needs with his owne shadow Doubtlesse in many contentions if either party were wise the others folly should soone appeare and the contention which growes past recouerie should cease and be at an end And further Iphtah by asking what wrong he had done him that he came to warre against him giueth all to vnderstand how absurd and odious a thing it is to doe wrong and deale hardly with them who haue done no iniurie to vs and therefore hee saith If I haue done wrong good reason it is that I should satisfie the challenge c. For if that be foolishnes when wee doe but meddle with a matter that belongeth not vnto vs and with the which we haue nothing to doe yea though wee meane no euill thereby if that I say be folly and as Salomon saith all one as if a man plucked a curst dogge by the eare then to hurt any willingly and to bee cruell and iniurious to him that would liue in peace by vs is an high degree of iniquitie And if we ought to sustaine a double iniurie rather then to offer to reuenge one how great a sinne is it to doe wrong or hurt any man wee not being prouoked by him It is abomination euen as it is to let the guiltie goe free and yet many make no conscience hereof But I haue spoken of this point in chap. 8. in Gedeons protestation to Zeba and Zalmunna and in other places The King of the Ammonites sends him word that Israel had taken away part of his land when they went out of Egypt toward the land of Canaan and therefore he made warre with them But how true this was ye may see in Deuteronomy where the Lord speaketh thus to the children of Israel when they should passe by them Thou shalt not lay siege against the children of Ammon neither make warre against them for I will not giue the land of the children of Ammon into thy hands And in the 37. verse Moses tels them they obeyed the Lord therein saying Vnto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not nor vnto any place of the riuer Iabbok vpon which it bounded So we see that whereas it is manifest that the Lord suffered not Israel to meddle with Ammon yet the King answers boldly they did This teacheth that such are to be found who neither meane well simply neither care what they say but as their hearts are full of falsehood and deceit so their mouthes are full of lying The Lord himselfe had said the people of Israel should not neither did they meddle with the Ammonites as the forementioned scripture testifieth yet their King boldly and vntruly auoucheth that they tooke his land and enioyed it as their owne The which who should not be ready to beleeue being so boldly auouched and that by a King Euen so many care not what lyes they coyne nor how shamelesly they lay claime to other mens goods and how boldly and impudently they set against the truth in many other dealings And this they doe either for their commoditie as this King did or for their credit and to set a colour on their doings as the old Prophet of Beth I did by lying and Gehazi also when hee had gotten the tallents of Naaman or for both respects together as Anantas and Saphira and Saul also See his answere 1. Sam. 15. Let the credit of such be with vs thereafter In stead of this dealing wee see the beautie of truth and faithfulnes without which how can men liue one with another Put away lying therefore as the Apostle willeth and speake the truth euery man to his neighbour In this vnreasonable and absurd answere of this King compared with Iphtah his wise and equall proceeding we see the contrarietie of mens dispositions there are some that striue by all possible meanes against contention and vnpeaceablenes there are others againe whose delight it is to
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
Ammonites before he got the victorie for theirs and the safetie of their brethren Thirdly their false accusing of him that he had not called them to helpe him in the conflict boldly making a lie in so charging him whereas hee had called them and they refused to come which shewed their disobedience to him who by his authority might command them and lastly their threatning to burne him and his house a fruit of their sedition and to void this their stomake of the baggage in it it is said they went Northward to Gilead against Iphtah that is to contend and fight with them To make some vse hereof first we see that such as beare the face of honest men and liue in countenance among their neighbours as these Ephramites did may yet possibly become and proue seditious Pride of it selfe is able to set men forward to it as it did Absolon and these here Much more ease and idlenesse ill counsell and enuy with such like And though the sprigges of it bud forth full fast and are readie too easily to yeeld fruit in all yet we must haue an especiall care that they grow not but let them be pruned-off yea and a digging at the roote betimes had need to be that the branches may wither See what I haue noted of this point out of the face of the Shechemites chap. 9. 2. 3. Now for the remedie hereof seeing pride and discontentment are the causes hereof let the heart bee kept with all diligence from nourishing of such affections and thoughts and to cracke pride and pull it downe thinke we of our selus as we are euen such as if we could see our faces in the cleare glasse of Gods law should appeare more loathsome then the most deformed Lazer such is the filthinesse of our inborne corruption and foule litter of most monstrous sinnes that proceed from thence so farre off should we be from swelling and thinking our selues to be great yea petty Angels as we are readie to doe whereby we imagine we be too good to be in subiection to our betters in the Lord yea or to the Lord himselfe in obeying his word There are many who accuse the sincere preachers and professors of the Gospell as seditious and tumultuous yea enemies of good order c. A man would not thinke that the accuser were like to bee stained with the crime which he chargeth vpon another But when for want of the feare of God some of the ciuillest and such as stand for law and gouernment in townes shal be puld out for notorious malefactors either in this crime of sedition as Demetrius and his fellowes or in any other riot and disorder while they whom they chargde shall be found innocent then they wish they had been a little preciser in that kind and confesse that onely conscience can resist these temptations to sinne They make a shift for a while to conceale their leaudnesse but if forcible occasions and prouocations assault them they haue no power to withstand them Thus much of this Looke vpon the quarrelling of the Ephramites with Gedeon Chap. 8. Secondly their bitter and causelesse contentions threatning to burne him and his house where they had cause rather to haue been highly thankfull to him doth teach of what mettall and disposition some be that they cannot liue in their place innocent and harmelesse with other but take vpon them to dominere ouer them holding them in feare of them when yet the Lord hath commanded that wee should not be many masters neither suffer any to liue in feare by vs. Such were the Iewes against Paul for this sin of contending with others though it be odious wheresoeuer it be found yet when it is raised for religion it is monstrous and they that hate their neighbours for their weldoing and for that they cannot ioyne with them in their vnfruitfull and shamelesse workes of darknesse but reprooue them rather such I say hate them with a deadly hatred and cannot in their disliking and malicious conceits against them be pacified or reconciled to them their wrath is vnapeazable as we reade that Cains for that very cause was towards his brother Abel that his brothers deeds were good and his euill This ought to teach vs not onely to liue peaceably with those that are quietly disposed though they be not framed to liue Christianly but also to doe our best to winne and perswade them to looke after the life to come and to feare God and that first by our innocent liuing among them and good example giuing vnto them and then by little and little drawing them forward by good instruction admonition or otherwise as there shall bee cause But especially it should vrge vs to be more neerely knit in brotherly loue one Christian with another and to beare the infirmities which we see each in other and helpe one another out of them rather then to take a pritch and conceit one against another and so to cause strangenes and breaking of fellowship wherein many offend greatly till they be forced by the hard vsage that they finde among the bad sort to make more account of their brethren afterward then they did before But of this often To the former doctrine this may be added as a limme or branch of it that ciuill men not Heathenish onely as the King of Ammon chap. 11. but Professors also sometimes as we see these Ephramites did to adde strength to their contentions and braules and to giue them more libertie therein will I say not sticke to set out their dislikes and accusing of other with lyes and false chargings of them that so they may seeme to haue iust cause to hate and contend as that wicked Ziba did bring into disfauour disgrace that innocent man Mephibasheth with Dauid as much as in him lay with lyes and false accusations Let the odiousnes of such dealing make the speaking of the truth to be more set by of vs and yet for loues sake to our brethren not to vrge the vtmost that we may doe though we might doe it iustly which is the right and kinde shewing of our loue to them Let the reader see chap. 11. 13. And by the vnthankfulnes of these Ephramites which it is no marueile to see in them towards Iphtah they being branded with such grosse euils as we haue heard to bee in them let vs learne what Gods seruants may looke for in this world for all their loue and labour in procuring the peace and welfare of other and in bringing them to good truly vnthankfulnes they may looke for if not ill will and the fruite thereof and that recompence is rendred them for all their good will to go about to bring the wicked world to a better point I meane in labouring to acquaint them with God They owe them more then all that they haue is worth as wee may see by Pauls words to Philemon yea and it is cleere also by the word of
God that they are beholding to them in great part for their liues as we reade that for ten righteous mens sake Sodome should not haue bin destroyed euen for this they are I say beholding to the same good seruants of God as well as for the welfare of their soules who by their holy prayers and other good endeuours would be helpers to them if they might be regarded of them yea to say much in few words if it were not for them the world could not stand so that they haue all that they enioy for their sakes and more might haue at Gods hands but that they willingly withhold it from themselues And what doth the whole rabble of them yeeld againe to Gods people thinke we but vnthankfulnes vnlesse it be a few whom God inlightneth to beleeue the truth euen as Iphtah did receiue at the hands of the Ephramites whom he set at libertie yea and that with all indignitie discourtesie and bad vsage But to omit them with whom there is little hope of good to be done this I say to them who desire to glorifie God by bringing foorth much fruite let them not be discouraged but beare it contentedly at their hands it is the onely recompence that the vnthankfull world can yeeld to such as Christ himselfe found and foretold it vs saying I haue done many good workes among you for which of them doe yee stone me And againe If they haue not knowne me saith he neither will they know you For the fuller vse hereof looke in chap. 8. verses 22. and 35. also chap. 8. 1. Lastly in this verse whereas this finne of contending and dissembling in these Ephramites is found to be not in one but many generations of them as partly we haue heard already in the 8. chapter of this book where we see the Ephramites did the same to Gedeon then that these their posteritie did here to Iphtah and afterward the like pride is read to be in their posteritie it reacheth how a sinne keepeth in a kindred for many generations after as treason whoredome flatterie dissembling and such like and such taints and staines are not worne out till speciall grace of God doe worke and effect the same But of this before chap. 8. 1. for in these points I shunne tediousnes of purpose In these two next verses is set downe the answere of Iphtah to these Ephramites by which answere it is cleere that he vsed all meanes like a wise and well gouerned man before hee would take vp weapon against his brethren the Ephramites notwithstanding their bold prouoking of him and he Iudge and gouernour ouer them and might therefore by his authoritie haue beaten them downe And the summe of his answere was this that they laid a false accusation to his charge for contrariwise at such time as he was sore prouoked by the Ammonites and driuen to make warre with thē he sought helpe of them and they would not goe foorth with him but put him to his shifts and when he fought with them to the perill and danger of his life the Lord deliuered them into his hands Therefore he demands of them what cause they the Ephramites had to assault and set vpon him in that manner they did Thus much of Iphtahs answer Now let vs a while consider of this more particularly as wee haue done before of the Ephramites quarrelling with him Where this commeth first to be noted by their disordered contending with him not in course of law but seditiously and with tumult how one affliction arose to this good man after another as the trouble that he had by his daughter was accompanied in some sort with this that came to him by his neighbours the Ephramites Whereby we may see the condition of Gods people as in a glasse that they are euer wrapped into new combats and troubles daily so as the end of one is the beginning of another As wee see in the booke of Iob it is said of his troubles how one complaint came to him in the necke of another and yet which is more to bee marueiled at God of his goodnesse so worketh by them that they who will be ruled by him may see them turne to their profit and benefit according to the saying of the Apostle to wit that all things turne to the best to them that loue God The like saith S. Iames Count it my brethren matter of the greatest reioycing whē ye fall into diuers tribulations And it is a doubt mercie of God that it is so For we are so corrupt and defiled that if things succeed with vs after our desire we are exceedingly lifted vp and forget our selues in such wise that our pride is intollerable and we shamefully disguise our selues so that such as feare God and behold vs knowing we are but wormes meate are greatly grieued to see our insolencie Therefore to keepe vs from such disguisednes and the danger that commeth thereby what a fauour of God is this that he after some prosperitie doth vse to exercise vs with new combats and afflictions and all to hold vs vnder yea and much to benefit vs. For as it is better to goe to heauen with one foote then to hell with both so he will rather saue vs with putting vs to some paine and griefe here rather then to lose and forgoe vs vtterly by suffering vs to enioy vncertaine and momentany prosperitie and the pleasures of sinne for a while Of this hauing spoken what I thought fit in chap. 11. vers 34. and 8. 1. I adde no more here Onely this watch word is necessarie to be taken of vs that although wee be now and then as Iphtah was before chap. 11. 35. humbled with some afflictions so that for the time we be brought to obedience and subdued as it is meete for vs to be yet because wee doe so soone wash them off therefore we haue need of many and those also strong afflictions as Iphtah had as mallets to beare vs downe one after another and bruse vs that so we may be meekned vnder the mightie hand of God and we must be importunate with him in our prayers that we may be more and more accustomed daily to beare the crosse patiently and contentedly till hee haue perfected and brought to his appointed measure the good worke that he hath begun in vs. And whereas the succession of heauie afflictions much dismaieth vs for the most part though alas they are not worth the naming in respect of Christs whose afflictions wee should be conformable vnto nor yet to the glorie which through him they worke vs as the Apostle saith I say it should be otherwise and we should cast one eye eft vpon the righteous and equall dealing of God and eft vpon the cause within our selues as well as vpon the greatnes of the affliction or the multiplicitie of them as hath often been noted before in handling this argument Secondly here we see
that answer is to be made to false accusations when they bee proudly giuen out against vs and are to our reproch and hurt as these of the Ephramites were against Iphtah such I say are not to be suffered to passe lest the authors of them bee imboldned thereby to doe so still yea and goe further So Salomon teacheth saying Answere a foole according to his folly lest he be wise in his owne conceit and so he waxe bold to make a practise of it For though wee walking in our innocencie and vprightnes in all good conscience should not regard the taunts and vniust reproches of euill tongues which they commonly send after vs much lesse hearken what they say of vs for then wee should neuer be quiet yet in weightie matters that touch our profession and the credit thereof we ought if we can obtaine it to vse the helpe of the Magistrate both to restraine the slanderer in which respect Mephibosheth complained to Dauid of Ziba and to procure vnto him his due vnlesse he repent But especially take wee heed that we giue them no iust cause to speake euill of vs while wee suffer as euill doers for so wee bring a double punishment vpon our selues And because much seed of contention is sowne in the world by bad persons this I say further of it that it is our part and dutie to roote it vp as fast and as much as in vs lieth And if ye aske how that is done I answere besides that which before I said we should carefully looke that we take all in good part if it may be but if it cannot be yet in defending our innocencie let vs shew all meeknes and striue against all bitternesse if the offender see his fault we haue good blessing of our labour if not it is lawfull to goe further and according to the greatnes of the fault so let satisfaction be vrged at his hands but in any wise let vs see that wee keepe the vnitie of the spirit in the bond of peace This I thought good to adde to that I haue said before in the eleuenth chapter in Iphtah his answere to the Elders of Gilead and in his replie to the King of Ammons lying answere To come more particularly to the matter we see that whereas they make this the chiefe cause of their quarrell against him that he called them not to helpe against the Ammonites hee telleth them hee did call them but they would not come So that he conuinceth them of a lye But who would thinke that so many should consent together so boldly to maintaine a false matter And men of the visible Church and of the tribe of Ephraim one of the famous tribes among the rest Therefore they who at this day doe carrie their heads aloft both for their profession and outward estate in the world haue great cause to suspect and feare themselues both in and about this sinne and the like But to terrifie and withhold men from standing stiffe in a lye let that fearefull example of Gehazi preuaile with them with such like in Scripture The heart of man is false and naught and will easily carrie men to that which is odious and vile especially if the matter sauour of profit or pleasure and selfeloue shall so blindfold them that they shall not see the euill they haue done till they smart for it vnlesse they be such as keepe a narrow watch ouer their hearts and a searching into them faithfully to finde out that which is amisse And this that it may be done God hath giuen vs two especiall good helpes the first is our comming to the light that our euill deedes may that way be made knowne to vs. The other our owne examinings priuatly of our waies and arraigning of our selues before God that so we may cast out such filthinesse of lying dissembling and the like sins See branch 3. of verse 1. These Ephramites dealt with Iphtah as the men of Succoth and Penuel dealt with Gedeon when hee followed the Princes of Midian to wit Zeba and Zalmunna for they dealt roughly and vnkindly with him So these when Iphtah their gouernour sent to them for helpe they most vndutifully denied it and yet which was much worse they came and quarrelled with him now when hee had got the victorie for that as they shamelesly affirmed he had not called them to the battell and so they would bee thought to haue deserued as much fame and commendation in that victorie as Iphtah seeing they boasted that they were as ready to haue gone against the Ammonites as he when indeed they meant it not Therein they bewrayed two foule faults very odious and to bee taken heed of the one hard-heartednes and barbarous vnkindnes not to helpe their brethren in their need the case being their owne as well as theirs and this was ioined with disobedience in that Iphtah was their gouernour The other fault was their subtiltie in that they did which way and on which side soeuer the victorie should goe prouide for themselues By the first we are taught to beware of this vnkindnes and incompassionate hard heartednes to bee senselesse of the miseries and necessities of our brethren but to be moued with pitie toward them in their distresses and this wee should doe as for the commandement of God and other causes so for this that we our selues are subiect to fall into the like troubles and doe also at one time or other In which case our consciences beare vs witnesse that we are iustly forsaken of other and left to sinke in our sorrowes and smart by our calamities and that none should offer themselues to pitie vs seeing wee shewed â—o little mercie and kindnes to other before in the like troubles but were rather hard hearted towards them And it is doubtlesse one cause as wee may see by the euill seruant who had no pitie on his fellow and therefore his master was wroth with him and deliuered him to the tormentors it is one cause I say why God afflicteth vs for as much as we should otherwise neuer pitie our brethren in their troubles but thereby we learne commiseration towards them Looke chap. 5. in Deboras complaint of the 〈◊〉 and chap. 8. vers 6. and 8. The other fault was their subtiltie and double dealing for they hauing an ill conscience propounded this to themselues that if the Ammonites had the victorie ouer Iphtah then they should be free from hurt and danger seeing they had not stirred against them to aide him and if Iphtah should preuaile against them as he did then they would come forth florishing boldly with a lye affirming that they had cause to take it hardly for that hee got the victorie proudly with a few and would not call them to bee partakers with him and so they did indeede And thus they had as men say two strings to their bow This falsehood is so common in the world
to deale subtilly as it is hard to know whom to trust as Salomon complaining asketh where a faithfull man shall be found Touching this vngodly policie and subtiltie enough hath been spoken vpon the like occasion before Now of their hollow heartednes and falsehood the ground of it I will adde somewhat more particularly This sinne as it is committed many waies so in three things especially I obserue it First in the professing of religion secondly in friendship betwixt and among men and thirdly in mens bargainings and worldly dealings For remedying of the which for it were very long to discourse at large of thē this should be done For the first because many professing are brought to like religion for credit profit and vainglorie and so fall from it againe by small occasions therefore take this for instruction let the power and beautie of the Gospell perswade thee to become a professor of it rather then hope of profit or the seeking of credit thereby c. and when thou hast felt it to haue wrought in thee by the powerfull preaching thereof faith and a new life and when thou seest how safe and well liking that hath made thine estate to be vnto thee in comparison of all that was before this by Gods blessing shall worke faithfulnes in thee to honour and beautifie thy profession so as thou shalt not start aside from it as too many other doe and otherwise thou shalt neuer hold out in thy profession what faire shewes so euer thou makest or if thou doest yet thou shalt reape no fruite in peace nor haruest of such profession because when it was at the best it was not sound To passe to the second for the remedying of doublenes and dissimulation in friendship let this be one chiefe rule Chuse thy friend for his goodnesse and his excelling others in pietie and vertue especially hee being approued to be a continuer therin and one that is free from strong affections as choller anger tetchines And loue him still for that seeing the thing that is to be desired of a man is his goodnesse whether there be other kindnesses enioyed therewith or no which if there be any and faile yet hold the principle still and nourish it by thinking true friendship to be both rare and precious and let not that counsell of Salomon be forgotten Thine owne friend and thy fathers forsake thou not And beware thy selfe of tetchinesse and conceits against him yea though thou thinkest he hath giuen thee cause or of the tale-bearer which would set diuision betwixt him and thee neither repeate any matter which ought to haue been buried and forgotten which may easily alienate him from thee and in no wise let hope of earthly commoditie tickle thee or the want thereof coole or diminish affection in thee towards him So faithfulnes in friendship will be preserued and hollownes and dissembling auoided otherwise like the league of fooles it will be soone broken off And to remoue falsehood and vntrustinesse in bargaining and worldly dealings thinke not that good for thee that thou seest is euill and hurtfull to another especially to a meaner man in wealth then thy selfe but most of all to a poore body And when the worth or value of the ware or commoditie shall be agreed vpon plainly and without subtiltie be willing to giue a penny for a penniworth and as Abraham weighed the siluer according to the manner and custome of the time to Ephron the Hittite for the peece of ground that he bought of him to bury his dead in so do thou pay currant money and coyne for it according to couenant that as neere as may be there may be equalitie to both If a day be set for paiment keepe it at least let there be no fault in thee but let it be seene that thou art disappointed and hindred from paying against thy will and so if the Common wealth be regarded of thee not thine owne priuate onely thou shalt come neere the rule that our Sauiour giueth for earthly dealings that is looke what ye would that men should doe to you euen the same doe yee vnto them So shalt thou not be guiltie of double dealing and falsehood And if thou thus shunne in these three hollownesse and subtiltie thou shalt haue great cause to reioyce in and for thine vprightnes and sinceritie and not easily brought to halting or dissembling in other matters Now let vs proceed Iphtah answers further to the Ephramites When I saw you would not helpe me saith he I put my life in mine hands meaning I aduentured without you and rested on God going foorth with smaller helpe when I could not haue greater And by this paterne wee are taught that we hang not neither depend on other men in the good things we take in hand For example that neither in those things that concerne our owne happines directly I meane the seeking of faith and conuersion nor which pertaine to sanctification of life godlines as mercie and loue righteousnes and innocencie we must neglect any good dutie because we see other backward in it but rather look we to the examples of the forwardest and most faithfull both in their generall and speciall calling and in no wise let vs regard to follow them that come behinde in good things As all will acknowledge that we should doe so in the preuenting a mischief neere at hand as Iphtah did here in following hard the Ammonites when the Ephramites refused to helpe him Abigails wisedome and eare is to be commended and imitated by many degrees before Nabals folly and senselesse blockishnes Euen so let vs say with Ioshua If other will not goe and ioyne with vs yet we and ours will serue the Lord. When our Sauiour saw many offended at his doctrine and departing away he asked Peter in the name of the rest Will ye also goe away Peter answers Whither shall we goe Lord if we forsake thee who hast the words of eternall life Be we sure therefore we prouide ill for our selues if we pinne our zeale and forwardnes vpon others and gather not strength enough from our owne assurance of Gods peculiar goodnesse towards our owne soules to keepe vs close and firme in our purpose of cleauing to him and that daily Who doth so is wise and builds vpon the rocke and no assault shall batter his building as for the declining or starting backe of others he leaueth that saying thus to himself They stand or fall to their owne master and whether they haue euer been truly perswaded of Gods fauour towards them or no I cannot tell But I know in whom I haue beleeued Therefore if other men will be blind shall I put out my owne eyes If I see the world generally disposed to coldnes loosenes and luke-warmnes shall I presently repent me of my zeale and forwardnes Haue I resolued vpon no better grounds then may be shaken with
Indeede i confesse life is sweete and if lying be lawfull in any case it is in the case of the perill of life But it is one thing for a man to omit some dutie of the law for mercies sake to our owne life another to commit an expresse sinne against the negatiue of the law Therefore although it bee lawfull for a man to preferre his life before the doing of some dutie commanded put case it be the Sabbath daies duties yet a man may not before a Magistrate answere falsely or equiuocating-lye vnder colour of mercy in sauing his life For it is not onely the omitting of some dutie but the doing of a grosse fault herein therefore the rule is true Euill must not be done that good may come thereof And the negatiue rules of the law admit no exception except God dispense as he did with the Israelites in robbing the Aegyptians who is aboue the law And hence it followeth if lying bee a sinne that it is as well a sinne to lye in the defence of a mans life as it is to lye needlesly or to please All three the officious the vaine and the shamelesse lye are of the same cloth though not the same colour nor equall and of so deepe a dye And to vs Christians it should seeme no hard condition neither to cast our selues vpon God rather then be beholding to a lye for our life if the case should so stand Better it is not to liue then to liue with that which is worse then any death an accusing conscience As the abiured Protestants in the time of persecution can witnesse It is not the fond and foolish pretence or colour warped by the subtile braine of man which can diminish one iot of the commandement of God much lesse disanull it He that will saue his life by euill and indirect meanes shall lose it when all is done as we see these Ephramites gained not by their lye but were conuicted of it by the same tongue that made it as it were with one breath The truth is as the case stood with them they fleeing before their enemies in so bad a quarrell as this was little better was to be looked for at their hands then to lye and shift for themselues hauing brought themselues into the briars by their contention rebellion and railing before But let vs beware we bring not our selues into such streights by our sinne for we shall finde it a matter hard enough to helpe our selues in extremitie of danger and trouble which God brings vpon vs if we be not the better fenced with faith and a good conscience But the danger of the former is desperate and remedilesse as elsewhere I haue more fully declared in the Shechemites and their Captaine Gaal chap. 9. Secondly whereas the text saith of these Ephramites that they failed of the full pronouncing of the word we see that although all the Tribes spake in one language yet euen therein such a difference was that one spake not as the other for we see that these Ephramites could not pronounce as the Reubinites and the Manassites did euen as also the Greekes haue great difference and we Englishmen namely southerne and northward differ much one from another in our dialect or manner of pronouncing though we all speake one language This should teach vs that as oft as wee heare or thinke of any hurt or detriment comming thereby we should call to mind and bee humbled in our selues for the sinne of them that caused the confounding of language first the fruite whereof remaineth among vs at this day and ought iustly to humble vs for that much toyle and time is now spent in learning to vnderstand languages which might else haue been otherwise bestowed And also by strange tongues wee see how the wicked keepe many from vnderstanding the pure word of God as the Romish Prelates long haue done which could not haue been if there had been but one language and speech ouer the earth as once it was Besides with what difficultie in respect of this which I speake of doe many trauell into forraine lands to exchange their wares and commodities or to other ends and purposes For except they haue learned their languages they cannot speake to each other but by an interpreter What labour is there bestowed in the translating of the Scriptures and other writings which else might haue bin spared which when all is done commeth short of the naturall tongue and language Not to insist in the inconueniences which arise by Translations euen controuersies in religion about faith which had been in some part cut off if one and the same language bee generally embraced and they which translate best attaine not vnto that significancie of words and proprietie of meaning which the naturall language would affoord them and that without difficultie These and other like discommodities arise from this diuision of tongues although they that liue at home in their owne countrey and conuerse with such as are of the same speech with themselues doe not so much obserue them let such consider that it is Gods mercie that this confusion reacheth no further then it doth but is confined though within so large bounds as it is And againe let vs know that mens dishonouring God by their tongues by periury yea or swearing by blasphemie or cursed speaking and specially by imprecations might bring a deeper iudgement vpon them in person though the generall little trouble them euen the taking away of their speech altogether which kinde of examples neither experience of former ages nor our owne haue been wanting in although if God should smite as oft as he is prouoked there should bee no end I conclude this therefore let it bee a watchword against abusing our language lest wee prouoke as many daily doe some curse and punishment from God and bee made examples to feare others seeing other mens would not admonish vs. Lastly from hence that they slew such as could not pronounce the word we learne that as these lost their liues in returning homeward though they escaped in the battaile so when wicked men passe by one danger yet they shall fall into another For the Lord being against them they are neuer safe nor free from feare or perill of some euill to light vpon them although not by and by For which cause the Prophet Amos saith If a man flie from a Lyon a Beare shall meete him And euen so we see it to be by experience if such escape by lying friendship money and such like by the hands of men God himselfe will certainely meete with them by the pestilence or arrest them by some strange disease debt imprisonment shame or some other visitation or els the worme of conscience as a serpent shall bite them and if they haue their conscience seared as it were with an hot yron yet this plague shal take hold of them euen an hardned heart which cannot repent and so they dying for few
God heard the voyce of Manoah and the Angell of God came againe to the wife as she sate in the field but Manoah her husband was not with her 10. And the wife made haste and ranne and shewed her husband and said vnto him Behold the man hath appeared vnto me that came vnto me to day 11. And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said vnto him Art thou the man that spakest vnto the woman and he said Yea. 12. Then Manoah said Now let thy saying come to passe but how shall we order the childe and doe vnto him 13. And the Angell of the Lord said vnto Manoah The woman must beware of all that I said vnto her 14. She may eate of nothing that commeth of the vine tree she shall not drinke wine nor streng drinke nor eate any vncleane thing let her obserue all that I haue commanded her NOw it followeth how the Angell appeared the second time and that to them both to wit Manoah and his wife and that was thus She like a good wife went and told her husband that such an one some Prophet or man of God appeared to her and told her of such a thing and what she should doe but she said she answered nothing to him againe Then Manoah besought the Lord that he might come againe and hee appeared againe to the woman who immediatly went and called her husband who finding the man of God in the field asked of him both of the former message which he had brought to his wife and also what they should do to the child when it should be borne and he answered him euen as he had before said to his wife Here the woman in her telling her husband of the messenger describeth him thus The fauour of the man of God saith she that appeared to me was as an Angell of God fearefull for so the Hebrew word is translated which signifieth also wonderful and so it is like she said and meant though it be translated fearefull And to preuent all doubts and suspitions further she telleth him that neither she knew him nor from whence hee was neither did he tell her his name But this onely hee said to her that she should beare a sonne and she must abstaine from wine and eate no vncleane thing for the childe should be a Nazarite from his birth vnto his death But let vs now peruse these verses throughout more fully Touching that which she vttereth of the reuerend presence of the Angell I will not insist in it hauing elsewhere noted the substance thereof I begin with this sixth verse where first know we this that the woman by and by going to her husband simply to signifie the matter to him as soone as she receiued the message which equally concerned them both did as became a good wife For so it behoueth that married couples should communicate their mindes one to another matrimony being a societie betwixt two as if they were but one For they ought to haue their fellowship together in imparting heauenly things one with another and earthly also euen as there were both in this matter heauenly seeing the message came in the name of God and from heauen earthly seeing it was of and about a temporall comfort or blessing pertaining to this life to wit of the bearing of a sonne This example betwixt two godly couples doth commend to vs the sociable and kind agreement and liuing together in mariage that both be of one minde in good things and shew foorth their inward consent in affection by the tokens of communion in outward things concerning them both as Abraham and Sarah Isaac and Rebecca with many other did And as God hath commanded that it should be thus so in like manner it standeth with all sound reason that they who are so neerely linked together in cohabitation and fellowship should be neerely affected and agree together most kindly Therefore Salomon wisheth the husband to reioyce in his wife and that she should be as the louing Hinde and pleasant Roe before him And so we should see cause why mariage should bee counted a singular benefit as the Scripture calleth it Concerning the which though some couples voide of religion haue some shadow hereof seeing they agree in vpholding the familie and in gathering wealth one with the other yet they are out and in their loue is not constant but full of vnsoundnes dislikes dissimulation inconstancie and vnquietnes for they want the principall which is some true measure of the feare of God for that is the chiefe staier of debate and the nourisher of true loue betwixt them which should therefore be laid for at their first comming together or else will hardly be wrought in them after But this kinde agreement betwixt couples is so farre from the most that strangenes and wearines one of the other doth soone meete with them with other blemishes manifold which deface the beautie of mariage exceedingly And yet lest while I vrge this consent some couples should catch more libertie then I or the Lord allow them let me adde that their agreement must be in things warrantable or else they rather band themselues together against the Lord and abuse his ordinance For they are not yoked together that they may ioyne their wits wils to do mischief as Ahab and Iezabel Ananias and Saphira which is not to be helpers of each other as they come together to that end except it be to euill and to hell This I say because many couples are neuer at one but when they consent in euill then they are as close as barke and tree where they should differ and disswade each other but in good duties their mutuall affections are so farre from ioyning that they are repugnant and diuided each from other as farre as may bee By vertue of this holy concord great is the blessing and sweete is the fruite of this ordinance In all duties of the familie as education of children in all actions of Gods worship in the workes of loue to the Saints in the vse of their lawfull liberties c. with freedome of minde what ioy and contentment ariseth in this vnanimitie and amitie betweene them which otherwise is much impeached And the fruite of this accompanieth them in their inward troubles of mind and outward crosses of body and estate the one being strengthened comforted resolued and holpen by the wisedome knowledge and assistance of the other Yea surely the precious memorie of this agreement remaineth as a pledge in the bosome of the suruiuor when death hath made a breach betweene them But woe to him that is alone double woe to couples that are diuided where the one scorneth to communicate with the other and the wife chuseth any to breake her minde to rather then her husband But to returne as the woman is to bee commended for telling her husband so the more she deserueth it seeing that the partie that appeared to her
The other part of his answere is this that he would not eate if he should prouide for him because he was no man as Manoah tooke him to be and therefore had no need to eate For though sometime the Angels of God did eate as with Abraham and Lot and did put on the shape of men when they had some message of God to doe and so tarried the longer yet here the Angell hauing done that he came for and so hastning to depart refused to eate seeing it was needlesse In this speech the Angell teacheth this that the creatures of God ought not to be spent needlesly but receiued for necessary vse euen as our Sauiour taught long since that the broken meate and fragments should not bee cast away which were left after the people had been satisfied And this commendeth frugalitie and honest sparing as it condemneth the prodigall lauishing and wasting that many stroy goods doe vse who fatte their dogges and famish the poore for whom broken meate should be reserued But of this I shall say more afterward God willing Neither is it vnworthy the nothing for vs to see how carefull the holy ghost is here to cleare the good meaning of Manoah from any blame Hee knew not saith the text that it was an Angell of the Lord q. d. If hee had known it ye may well thinke he would not haue spoken so but being ignorant he is to be excused I blame him not for it no reason therefore that his simplicitie should make him subiect to hard censure It is not simply indeed excusable in Manoah onely because he was ignorant for Peter was faultie for saying hee knew not what being with Christ vpon the mount but because he was neither bound to know nor able of himselfe to know any such matter See then how tender the Lord is of the credit of his good seruants that whiles they in their innocency walke according to their knowledge he auoideth all the blame that might grow to them by their vnauoidable ignorance the Lord will iudge the worke of his seruants according to that they haue but as for the defect which is inuincible it shall doe them no harme this by the way The thing I purpose to insist most in is that knowing afterward this messenger to be an Angell otherwise then he supposed was ashamed euen of his blamelesse error how much more ought we to blush for our faultie errors nay grosse ignorance or which is worst wilfull sinnes That which Paul Rom. 6. saith implieth no lesse That we being regenerate should be ashamed to looke backe into our olde profane course of blindnesse and badnesse as if a deuout Papist like Ephraim in the Prophet being conuerted should be abashed to consider the vnfruitfulnes of his deuotion and kneeling to the Crucifix and the image of the Virgin Mary and a peece of bread saying to these Idols Fie vpon you get you hence they were blinde that made them they themselues are like the makers of them and I as blind that worship them So should the proud boaster that hath scornefully disdained his neighbour in his heate and madnesse being come to himselfe and seeing he is no better then earth and a fire-brand of hell be ashamed of himselfe and say Who am I that haue thus basely forgot my selfe So he that hath come iollily to the Sacrament and yet profanely because hee could discerne no more at the Lords boord then his owne when he seeth his boldnesse and how farre hee hath ventured how should it astonish him The truth is knowledge and grace haue no greater enemies then the ignorant who if they could see themselues as they cannot how highly would they magnifie God for knowledge if for no other cause yet for this that thereby they are made to see their estate far other then they could euer beleeue it to be and so resting thankfull walke in the light thereof and abhorre their former blindnes The Angel seeing Manoah deceiued taking him to be a man led him further to more fit matters for him bidding him make a burnt offering of the meate that he desired to refresh him with For to no end was Manoahs speaking of meate to him offering him to eate the kid of the goates This speech of his sheweth that it is true wisedome to take occasion to draw one another forward to holy duties and to communication of heauenly things The most being earthly and fast locked vp therein Manoah was busie about prouiding for him which through his errour was to no end therefore the Angell drew him to that which was profitable indeed And so it well becommeth Christians to be ready to leade one another from vnprofitable expence of the time to talke of things more diuine and fit to the edifying one of another neither ought the wise christian to stumble at it when he meeteth in companie with such as are vnsauourie whose tongues are their owne to set themselues on worke as they please Alas what other is to bee looked for at the hands of such as neuer learned how to gouerne themselues either alone or in their priuate houses or in the publike actions of Gods worship How should their tongues be well seasoned in companie or bring foorth fauourie and gracious matter out of an vncleane heart abounding with the contrary But rather let him pitie such for all bad men are not bad of malice and by his milde and modest silence at least and much more by speaking that which is likest to preuaile and doe good turne off and put by their superfluous and frothie talke not fearing but that it will giue place and cause the vtterers thereof to say Indeed this speech of yours is farre meeter for the companie and deserueth to be accounted of and pitie it were that loose and vaine talke should haue put it by pardon vs for if we had knowne better wee would haue vsed better Is not this a good effect of Christian boldnesse though no more then needs thus to take occasion to breake off bad communication and to bee farre preferred before an offensiue giuing place to ill speech till it haue gotten the vpper hand so that it is too late to represse it But to come neerer to the occasion of this text A Christians dutie towards them that come behinde him in experience and the right vse of conference with such is not to make himselfe sport at their weaknes or to scorne their ignorance but to goe before them and teach them how to spend the time more profitably A man may discerne teachablenes and an humble spirit in many who out of a simple meaning vtter that little good speech that they can or which comes next to minde though they can little consider to what purpose or edifying Here is a fit occasion offered to the other with lenitie softnes to diuert rather then breake off such speech to loosen the bands of it rather then violently to cut them asunder
afterward or some other improuidence And while men are yet hot and glowing through the power of the word hee doth cast cold water vpon their affections and quencheth the spirit which had kindled good desires in them before And yet few are so wise as to suspect the danger but thinke themselues safe enough and well fenced from the diuell they hauing so lately been taken vp in holy duties as in hearing and prayer and so are easily beguiled by him that doggeth them though inuisibly from the Church as well as to the Church and in it And this I speake not onely of the common abuse of the Sabbath which of Christians ought to be abhorred but euen of other meetings occasioned besides and not auoided But let this be well considered after their publike hearing besides the shunning of vnseasonable companies that although I forbid not men to returne to their lawfull callings and affaires after hearing whereunto the word fitteth them much better and they are no enemies to the fruite which they haue gained in publique yet I say thus much first that there ought to bee some respite betweene the one and other if it may bee so much as may serue to draw the minde and affections together and settle some reuerence vpon them that they rush not forward loosely to matters of another nature as if with the foole in Iames they had forgot the hew whereof they saw themselues to be in the glasse of the word Secondly that if it cannot be that they separate themselues to the reuiewing of the things they haue heard Prou. 18. but it must needs bee that they haue to doe with others as in markets and faires where yet Sermons are vsuall heard by all sorts or the like occasions then let men watch more specially to their hearts and tongues that neither they breake measure nor forget the right manner and end of their companying together but rather take occasion to season others with such things as they lateliest heard then to driue out one nayle with another to vse the phrase of Ecclesiastes and lose all abroad which they should haue carried home for the prouision of their familie But alas as for the common sort whereunto shall I liken them They are like to foolish market men who hauing stored their purses with money and their sacks with necessaries steppe into some lewde house or other where they finde such companions as either by gaming or drunkennesse or iugling picke that money out of their purses and their commodities which they had bought so that they send them home farre more bare and empty then they came forth This dealing is bad enough at a market but worse at a Sermon or vpon the occasion of religious actions worse I say because the former commonly falls out against a mans will but the latter wrong men offer to themselues voluntarily It is not to be wondered at that there are many such for as they whom our Sauiour whipt out of the Temple because they made the house of prayer a den of theeues came not thither to serue God but themselues so now many come to the congregation onely to meete their copesmates with whom they are to deale contract buy and sell and the like the Temple is their place to them where they appoint to concurre their market begins not for the most part while Gods is done This point is needfull to be enforced daily where such meetings are How much more then are the loose and vnaduised gaddings from our owne houses wantonly and wailily without any good end how much more I say are they full of danger For of wilfull goings forth to euill ends and purposes as in youth and masterlesse persons is to bee seene I neede not speake all doe know how odious they are and what mischiefe they bring with them the most are easilie deceiued about the other Dinah Iacobs daughter who went to see the maydes of the countrey may bee an example to all such It were meeter for Christians to learne of Dauid in this behalfe what to answere when he was of his enuious brother Eliab asked what hee made there his father hauing sent him thither namely into the campe he answered him is there not a cause As if he should haue saide haue I not cause to be here then I might indeed be iustly found fault with So let all aduised persons see cause of their being abroad and that they are where they may defend their being to the peace of their conscience The most mischiefes that are now or haue been haue come by mens leauing of their calling and going into company without cause or hauing cause by not returning in due time But of this by the way more shall be said of it in his proper place And this be said of the signe and that which went before it now is added to the former in these three verses an other thing and that is a new trouble which befell Manoah and his wife which was this that because they had seene an Angell of God therefore he concludeth they should certainely dye To whom his wife answered as more strong in faith and confident then he wee shall not dye and sheweth her reasons as followeth to bee considered Thus as I noted in the story of Gedeon wee see how a new trouble arose to the good man and so doth daily to Gods seruants marueiled at by them no doubt but in great fauour brought vpon them by the Lord and seene of them also that will trie it out and receiue it meekely But of this in the storie now cited The trouble that oppressed Manoah and that caused him to breake out into these words we shall surely dye was for that they had seene the Lord. And by this we see what Angell it was that was so called in the 21. verse Euen the eternall word whom here he calleth God and in the next verse is of his wife called Iehoua who sometime put on the shape of a man and appeared to men as also Angels did And it is cleare in the stories of the scripture that after good men had seene God thus or an Angell they were exceedingly terrified and out of heart and looked for no other then present death for they knew what God had said to Moses that a man should not see him and liue but they misunderstoode the words when they tooke them to be meant of his appearing in a bodily shape for many had often seene him so and yet liued after as both Gedeon did and this Manoah and his wife with others The reason of this their feare reade before in verse 20. The thing I note here is this what great weaknesses oppresse Gods seruants oft times as wee see heere they did Manoah of which kinde is deadly feare doubting and distraction And who can say euen of the seruants of God that they haue not been wound and wrapped in with such sore disquietnes either in some sore affliction
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 gōe 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
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
opposition which were a double victory both ouer him and our selues See that example 2. King 6. 22. compared with the end of the 23. verse Now by this their seeking of Samson and requiring of the men of Iudah with threats and in armour to bring him bound to them as in this verse it appeared they did we see a new trouble arose against him for the faithfull and diligent performance of his dutie euen as Dauid receiued many discouragements for his well doing and namely by Saul and those many and great and before that of Eliab his brother in offering himselfe to fight against Goliah But so God hath prouided in his wise disposing of things that wee cannot bee forward in any good cause but commonly for the humbling of vs it shal cost vs trouble as either by our owne corrupt nature crossing and hindering vs seeing we are renued but in part the flesh resisteth against the spirit when we striue to doe well and to renounce euill or else by outward affliction befalling vs for the same As oftentimes ill will of men is ready to meet vs for labouring to keepe a good conscience and that many waies shewed and testified as by railing vpon vs and speaking euill of vs persecuting and other vnreasonable measure offering vnto vs because wee cannot brooke and digest the sinnes of the times that wee liue in nor walke after the bad examples of other as Saint Peter speaketh But oh little know wee or consider that by such opposition the Lord trieth what courage is in vs and whether wee were like to honour him by suffering greater things for him when we can so easily beare smaller reproches for his names sake and make them our crowne counting our selues happie that wee may suffer for well doing Moreouer this manner of our liuing and such carriage of our selues bringeth another way great reioycing For what ioy or comfort is like to that which ariseth from a good conscience which Salomon therefore compareth to the continuall feasting of the vngodly But this hath been often vrged This bee said of the first of these three things in this second part of the Chapter to wit of the Philistims comming armed against the men of Iudah to require Samson of them Now the next point followeth thereof that is to say how the men of Iudah being sore afraid of them went and bound Samson to deliuer him vnto them And this they did after they had asked of them why they came against them and they had answered to haue Samson brought bound vnto them The which they went about immediately as shall further be laid out in the 11. 12. and 13. verses But the men of Iudah demaund of them in this 10. verse why they took vp armour against them seeing they according to agreement with them submitted themselues to them and paid their tribute and had not prouoked them by rising against them vpon which condition they had promise of the Philistims that they should enioy peace and liue without feare But they answered for themselues by pleading how Samson had spoiled them who was one of them and if they would they said defend his doing then they would fight and make warre with them but if they would deliuer him bound vnto them they would depart for they would they said do vnto him as he had done vnto them They of Iudah thought they had great wrong offered them by the Philistims whiles they themselues did none to them for they did not defend Samsons fact And the Philistims thought much that they should be opposed by any of Iudah they hauing made peace with them vpon conditions and would hurt none but him they said that had hurt them By both wee learne that it is more then heathenish and a thing that reasonable men doe marueile at that peaceable and innocent people who giue themselues to leade an harmelesse life should be hurt by any and that they should not bee quiet and in safety by them with whom they liue and to whom they do no harme So saith Salomon Intend no euill against thy neighbour seeing hee doth dwell without feare by thee And they who enioy such peaceby them haue that earthly benefit that God alloweth them which how great it is who doth not know But on the contrary the vnpeaceable for the most part doe reape the fruit of their vnquiet liuing answerably For it must be granted that vnrighteous people and such as shiftingly hurt wrong others procure to themselues much hatred trouble and sorrow and the breaking out of men that way doth cause the exclamations disquiets and complaints that are in all places But God doth pay such home and requite the leaud and bad dealings of vnconscionable men oft times in this life causing them to find such measure as they offer to other From which dealing yet how farre they should be euen this teacheth that both the Philistims and they againe the men of Iudah do claime couenant keeping of the heathen Philistims and challenge them for the breach of it as being against the light of nature And how much more should Christians keepe couenants which they haue made for peace one with another howsoeuer things fall out and not breake and goe from them dishonestly when by Gods prouidence they sustaine some hurt thereby Euen as wee reade in the Psalme If thou hast sworne to thy neighbour disappoint him not though thou shouldest lose thereby Sundry are the bands which tye men otherwise lawlesse to dutie and peace The generallest is the common band of humanity Then our Baptisme profession the Communion for so we call that Sacrament and among some Matrimony consanguinity affinity friendship partnership neighbourhood yea the law or comprimize hath bound some from offering violence Here are lincks enough a man would thinke to make a cord not easie to be broken but where a boysterous and vnreasonable spirit nay brutish beareth sway what is there either holy thing or ciuill sufficient to containe men Euen as Samson did with those new ropes so doe these with such bands of loue and amitie shamelesly and at once breake all in two like flax But here an end of this Now to goe forward wee haue heard that the men of Iudah answered the Philistims that they had not risen vp against them and therefore marueiled why they came to make warre with them Whereupon ariseth a question whether they did well in yeelding so to the Philistims and in answering them so to wit that they had been subiect to them according to agreement Also whether they did well herein in offering to yeeld Samson to them And now as is said in this verse in forsaking him their countrey man and auenger nay in apprehending and binding him and so to deliuer him into their hands For God had raised him vp an helper vnto them his people against their enemies and should they be so vnthankfull as to offer him their
the occasions very strong or great by which he was brought thereto but euen the words of a silly damsell The vse of that which I haue said is this that both in tentation to the sinne of vncleannesse and the obiect thereof and to any other sinne wee keepe our hearts and eyes with all possible obseruation and diligence from allowing or liking the offer of it in any sort but that we curbe them vp and tie them short For though carnall reason would perswade vs that the giuing of a little liberty to our fleshly affections and couetous desires would content and satisfie them so as they would not desire to reach any further as some man will say If I were worth but thus many hundred pounds c. I would rest content yet this were a grosse bewitching of vs to thinke so seeing without Gods speciall grace as money encreaseth so doth the loue thereof also yea it were the next way to bring vs into vtter and extreame bondage and to prouoke vs further to endlesse ingaging of our selues thereunto Nay rather ioyne we prayer with watching and that we fall not from our vprightnesse so shall we be sure not to fall into any such tentation I say the lesse of this because I haue handled it in the speech of Adonibezek in cap. 1. vers 4. THE EIGHTIE THREE SERMON ON THE XVI CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES TO goe forward where I left heere note wee another thing to wit what vse and benefit wee commonly make of Gods long sufferance and patience and that is this euen to goe forward by spirituall delusion in our sinnes without making any question that God will call vs to any account for them but flatteringly to tell our selues and to be perswaded that all is well as long as God lets vs go vnpunished Whereas who should bee ignorant of this that the patience of God toward vs is to the end we should acknowledge it with vnfained thankes for he might iustly haue punished vs as he hath done others when he spared vs and that to the end wee should turne againe to the Lord by true repentance rather wondring at his lenity in so doing then with much adoe enduring the penalty and when we be enlightened and come to our selues and see that wee haue tempted God we should in no wise flatter our selues lest the Lord be forced thereby to tie vs shorter and vse more sharpenesse then we shal like well of The like I spake of Samsons escaping in the former verse Onely this I adde that it is a fearefull thing when the loue and conniuence of God which is a chiefe bridle to containe his faithfull people in obedience is become an occasion of the greatest licentiousnesse in them It argueth that their tender nature and filiall affection is waxen hardened and degenerated into slauish and desperate boldnesse Like to him who presuming himselfe sure enough of his master fell to waxe wearie of worke and to take vpon him iollity as they doe who reckon without their Hoste But there shall no one thing so much sting them at the heart when God is come to take correction on them as this that they were neuer well till they had turned the loue of a father into the iealousie of a foe whose swift wings in taking reuenge shall be sure to recompence the delay of his leaden feet slow to punish as Samson himselfe in the sequell found to his cost Thus much of Samsons sinne now it is shewed how the Philistims tooke occasion thereby to get him into their hands and that was by dealing with the woman whom he loued to intice him to tel her where his great strength lay that so they might doe to him as they desired but withall to the end they might draw and perswade her thereto they offer her the chiefe Princes of them I meane a large summe of money By this we may see the wisdome and readinesse of the men of this world in going about to remedie any bodily mischiefe that is comming toward them As soone as they heard where Samsons haunt was the chiefe of them went thither and tooke order for the suppressing of him and that not without their great cost and charge Oh this were commendable indeed if it might bee seene in vs yea and so much the more where greater mischiefe hangeth ouer vs I meane if wee could offer like violence to our sinne and giue it no rest till wee had rooted it out as they heere effected that which they went about The which yet all may see that we haue greater cause to doe then they that are in the most emminent danger of any temporall or bodily euill But here to see both our sloth and our follie it is both admirable and lamentable But of their prouidence together with their cost consent and diligence I haue noted more by the like occasion in the former verse It is no maruell that they counsell her to deceiue him by inticements and allurements such as harlots haue good skill in and fooles that are woond in with them are easily deluded by For Samson by the strongest reason and perswasion of the wisest carnall friend would neuer haue been drawne to this slauerie and shame which a base companion brought him to by delusion and deceiuing of him Whereby we may learne that when we are carried away to sinne and are giuen ouer to our lusts we depart not only from religion but also from sound wisdome and reason and are not in our right mindes as they say but are deluded mocked disguised euen made very fooles as Samson was heere if not mad and beside our selues as it was said of the prodigall sonne when hee had spent his goods with harlots hee came to himselfe at length whereby it is cleere that he was before beside himselfe and as we reade of the foole in the Prouerbs that hee followed as an oxe to the slaughter And if we be such then it is our due to bee shoaled among such and to be driuen from the companie of sober and wise men Yet thus was Samson deceiued and deluded when he was drawne and inticed by that wicked woman to vtter this secret namely where his great strength lay The vse that we should make of this is to abhorre that sinne and all fellowship with such persons and labour to retaine godly wisedome to guide vs in holie feare of offending rather then to take part in the pleasures of sinne for a season so shall we not be deceiued and deluded as otherwise wee cannot chuse but be yea and that in most sottish manner as Samson here was by her inchantment brought to bee Let this bee sufficient to shew that there is enough in the corrupt heart of man to humble him in the sight of God and the world if he were not in the depth of darknesse yea though there were no more but this that there is such a rebellion and deformitie
in the inferior appetite of the soule through originall sinne that whereas it was created most obedient and subiect to the pure light of the vnderstanding in all things now it is so infeebled and infatuated that it resisteth the iudgement of the minde and led away by the strength of any allurement euen contrary to that knowledge which still remaineth to guide it So that it is degegenerate and become most brutish and sottish and so bewraieth it selfe euen in them that otherwise goe for none of the simplest or vnciuill sort This offering of her money by these Princes of the Philistims and that also in such liberall maner which was as much as an hundred pound a piece of our money well nigh by the estimation of the shekell which they reckoned by for a common shekell was as much as twentie pence with vs and therefore eleuen hundred want little of an hundred pound at that rate This offering I say of so many hundreds to her according to the number of the Princes that came to her might easily draw on to their purpose such an one as was but light inconstant and false-hearted to Samson as harlots are without respect of the money Which teacheth vs that this hireing of people for money hath bin and is as readie a way to draw them to any lewd practise as it is commonly offered hath bin in all ages but neuer more then in this and especially by the Popish crue in the attempting of desperate murthers c. The like hath bin noted in the fact of Abimelech chap. 9. who hired lewd fellowes with the money of the Shechemites and that wofull example of the Priests preuailing thereby with Iudas one of the twelue Apostles to betray his Master and in hireing the watchmen Matth. 28. to defame the Resurrection may be notable presidents hereof And I mention this point to this end that seeing it is as common as odious that it may not reach also to Gods faithfull seruants to doe either the one or the other either to set a worke others or to sell their helpe either to corrupt or to be corrupted by money for they go together and are mutuall causes and effects of each other to bring wicked purposes to passe which in so euill an age as this is farre more subtile and skilfuller then the former to doe mischiefe may too soone preuaile by custome euen among them Touching the cost they were at see more in chap. 17. 2. Thus wee haue heard how this wicked woman was hired by the Philistim Princes to this wofull worke of deceiuing Samson which was the first point of the two as appeareth in the fourth verse in the second part of this chapter Now it followeth how she went to worke and preuailed and this is the second This is declared and laid foorth in the verses following to the 21. But she not obtaining at one time that which she sought she set vpon him fundrie times Foure seuerall attempts are expressed here to haue been made by her to this end and the first of them is to bee seene in these foure next verses Of these therefore as they follow in order In her first attempt we must not thinke that she went about it simply by asking him the question where his strength lay but as they had taught her to deceiue him so there is no doubt but she flattered him pretending that she marueiled at his so great strength and that she reioyced not a little for that she had a louer indued with such an excellent gift and qualitie and therefore that she as one louing him againe and trustie to him for his kindnesse towards her desired of him to know where that great strength of his did lie By this we see what boldnesse men though furnished with excellent gifts doe cause and cherish in harlots by hauing fellowship and keeping companie with them Samson was a man so spoken of for his manhood that such as were of good courage durst not be bold to looke him in the face yet she a base housewife dares boldly demaund of him weightie matters and the greatest secrets So the whorish daughter of an whorish mother Herodias I meane being so farre admitted as to dance before Herod the King being permitted to demand what recompence she listed euen to the halfe of his kingdome shamed not to aske the head of Iohn Baptist whom not onely all the people but euen Herod himselfe reuerenced and stood in feare of And these are the wares which the strumpets fardall is stuft withall euen subtiltie crueltie falsehood all so tempered together in this demaund of Delilah that a man knowes not which qualitie of them all is predominant and among the rest this whereof we now speake insolent impudencie and shamelesnesse It is the practise of this cursed kinde euen at this day with their Paramours to demaund of them vnreasonable pledges of vncleane loue as appeares by the embezeling of their patrimonie for their maintenance and sometimes causing them to spend euen their blood in their quarrell or by their occasion It is a true saying that too much familiaritie breedeth contempt But much more if it be in euill and in no euill sooner then in this kind I meane in whoredome A thing notoriously exemplified in that harlot Iezabel who so much abused the remissenes of Ahab as to insult ouer him as her vnderling It is the common phrase of them that are the companions of harlots to call themselues their seruants and them their mistresses But in deed they are their vassals and slaues and yet their bondage as great as it is and ioyned with miserie is sweete to them although indeed but a sweete poyson but it is a reward good enough for such employment And yet many chuse this kinde of life as a libertie rather then honest mariage But to returne to that which I said of familiaritie it is not meete for the best to swell I confesse and to bee high minded but humble and meeke toward all yet with grauitie whereby the bad may be afraid of them and not think them fit companions for them except they change their qualities and the good may cling and ioyne to their companie and acquaintance without feare But to haue familiaritie with the bad in euill is vtterly vnlawfull and serues onely to confirme and make them bold in wickednesse Thus is many a man otherwise worthie as Samson was brought into meane account by indiscreete and vnseasonable laying open his minde where hee should not euen so did he imbolden this woman thereby to aske him how he may bee bound and hurt the which how absurd a thing it was either for him to incourage her or for her to propound to him who seeth not Samson in answering her who should not haue admitted her to speake to him of any such matter and telling her how hee might be bound did make way to all the euill that followed
learne that the way to become our owne best friends is to be greatest enemies to the sinne which most preuaileth in vs as that which threatneth our greatest desolation God will take that mans part against himselfe who most striueth to hate himselfe I meane the corruption within him which is as deare to him as himselfe And till wee be come to this point that we can haue as heartie indignation at our sin that we haue most delighted in as wee haue against others for no cause or sometime against our selues for being circumuented and ouershot in a bargaine by a cunning cosener we are farre from repentance or from that estate that a wise man should rest in though the worke bee difficult I confesse which I speake of But about this businesse though a man haue many and those great enemies to hinder him yet his sinfull heart is more dangerous then all and by the trecherie whereof onely all other enemies doe him mischiefe And doubtlesse the diuell and the strongest allurements rebound backe and hurt not neither enter where the heart lieth not open to euill and vnfenced against it The euill that remaineth in the best occasioneth all externall euill enemies to stirre it vp and encrease it The pure Angels haue the diuels their enuious enemies Nay sinne makes God our enemie not for euer if euer we were reconciled to him while it lieth harboured and vnremoued but otherwise though hee correct vs yet hee loueth vs as a father his children The cause is much more the enemie I meane sinne then the effect which is Gods enmitie And therefore when hee afflicteth for sinne count not him our enemie no nor the crosse which hee inflicteth but patiently beare it and say I will goe vnder my triall willingly seeing I haue sinned and turne my griefe against my chiefe enemie knowing that except that which is my sinne vndoe me no other thing shall but turne to my good rather Also by this that Samson was brought to that which hee neuer meant to bee to wit to vtter his secret to a base housewife by the following him on with her importunitie note what force is in it The widow by importunitie ouercame the wicked Iudge to grant her iustice though he had no mind so to doe But let vs see that it be for good when men be importunate with vs for any thing or else turne wee away from hearing them as Ioseph did from his alluring Mistresse And let vs specially vse this importunitie and earnest suite as our Sauiour hath willed vs that is to God in our prayers for if the wicked Iudge would be moued saith our Sauiour to heare the poore widow lest she should make him wearie shall not God auenge his elect that crie to him day and night Of this more largely in the 14. Chapter by the like occasion Againe me thinkes this answere of Samson to such a strumpet I am a Nazarite c. if my locks be cut off I shall be as another man sauoureth of incredible sottishnes and argueth plainly that a wretched sinner who breaketh not off his course till he be in the heate and power of his sinne can no other doe then yeeld to the tyrannie thereof as hee that is bound hand and foote is carried whither his creditor or aduersarie not whither himselfe listeth It cannot be enough to excuse Samson that if he might haue had his will hee would rather haue chosen to haue kept his secret So it is like but who brought him into the stockes and set him by the heeles who brought him to this streight that hee would not but doe that which hee desired to shunne Himselfe his headstrong lust which hauing once got the hand ouer him vsed him impotently and made him a stark beast and slauish foole He knew the sorrow which must ineuitably ensue vpon his betraying himselfe yet hath he I say not the grace that was now vnder boord but not the strength to containe himselfe I said my minde touching this vpon the 4. verse Entice him c. but now the execution of the plot doth more liuely present to our eyes the nature of sinne that it takes wisedome from a man first and then imposeth what conditions it pleaseth knowing that a man would neuer be such a vassall so long as he is in his right minde and not out of his wits As Samson could say I am a Nazarite c. so he could haue said By this sin I shall make my selfe of the purest worshipper of God the most prophane creature and execrable But Samson would not say so at least not weigh it but desperatly runnes vpon the pikes Doubtlesse he had not had the power though his saluation had lien vpon it at this time to preuent it but blessed bee God who holdeth his election when men haue lost their grace in their feeling Samson had lost his eyes ere the Philistims put them out This let me a little more enforce vpon so iust an occasion then I did in the fourth verse Who will not boldly auerre and affirme this and say Tell me what sinne is and proue to me by good euidence that it will bring such sorrow as Samsons Peters Dauids Salomons did to them and then if I commit it count me a foole indeed Put in one thing more and I will beleeue thee If when the occasion is offered Gods grace bee stirring and effectuall in thee by watchfulnes and iealousie ouer thy selfe then thou wilt abstaine vpon that meditation But alas who finds that grace in the strength oftentatiō who sought it not before without which yet thou maist haue matter enough in thy minde to disswade and flaite thee I will not denie but thou shalt haue small list or power to weigh and ponder it nay thy intangled and drunken heart will make a sot of thy minde and a most disguised beast of thee An heart infatuate with lust stoppeth and freeseth vp the passage of the knowledge that it cannot succour the poore distressed and embondaged soule but leaue it to shift We conclude then Samsons sin was not presumptuous but impotencie yet vnauoidable the case standing as it did Oh then still learne men haue not quit themselues well as soone as they haue spoken a bold word against sinne in generall For when it comes to particulars what doe men I will haue his blood saith a cursed Cain though I be hanged presently yet hee knoweth the shame and woe thereof Of some Iewes not all for some knew well enough the Scripture saith If they had knowne they would not haue crucified the Lord of life And sometimes I denie not ciuill men are kept from crimes by this meane and good men from offending though strongly tempted to goe through stifly But this is no rule And I still say to thee that shall reade this beware of dalliance and venturing farre for thou shalt haue no power to withdraw when thou wouldest who wouldest not when thou
mightest Trust not thy selfe thy strength in this case will be a brused reede The best lawes leaue as little to the Iudge as may be because man is subiect to corruption and except Gods grace be a law within thee suspect that in a strong pursuite of lust thou who art as Iudge to aduise thy selfe wilt hardly be a law to thy selfe to gouerne thee But if thou be fearfull to giue a little libertie to thine heart in euill a great shall not master thee if thou feare anger thou shalt be no murtherer if thou flee from the baite the snare shall not catch thee Euer beare this in minde Sinne as it groweth it will be predominant and get the masterie And a man may as well be mad with reason as sinne with reason and think to moderate himself when he will yeeld once and be euer a slaue for sinne will force thee to yeeld after euen as a strong fit of an ague maketh him to doe whom it strongly shaketh Thus much for this time THE EIGHTIE FIVE SERMON ON THE XVI CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES NOw to proceed in the story because we see how Samson though otherwise indued of God with singular graces yet was most impotently giuen ouer to the loue of women when wee doe not reade that hee was else tainted with other sins let it admonish vs that we may possibly be more weake in resisting and more prone to the committing of some one sinne then of another and it shall not bee amisse for vs to think seeing we haue so many examples of it in Scripture that this sin of his is more common among the most then other The which I say to this end that euery one of vs should obserue our selues where we see our selues weakest and there to vse most meanes to strengthen our selues against the same as watching prayer reading and this not houerly but heartily if we seeke to be the better thereby and in no wise to dare be bold to commit it seeing we cannot but bee as sure of ill successe as Samson was before hee did it When the husband-man suruaies his ground he vseth not to fence where the quick set is strong and thicke but where the hedge is thin or troden downe wee loue to lay on load where there is no need but if there be a blemish in our liues which makes all the rest disgracefull and therefore requireth more labour to blot it out wee cannot abide to set our selues to amend it nor so much as to take knowledge of it And yet one dead flie corrupts a whole pot of the sweetest oyntment and the sweeter the sooner How did Salomons excessiuenesse in this kinde defame all his other excellency and gifts And doe we not see by experience the truth hereof He is an honest man saith one but a couetous an hasty an vncharitable a breaker of promise and one or other interposition there is to eclipse his light credit Yea and as Paul in the like kinde spake of the house of Cloe there is cause Now in this so weighty a case what do we euen tush off the matter and say One infirmity is none and wee hope that our many good qualities in our conceit at least must priuiledge vs and license vs for a few scapes Alas we erre foully one secret lurking companion is enough to betray the house and when we are espied what say men of vs but this Nay hee that will doe thus or thus will do worse I dare not trust him in any kind if occasion serue Oh cast out that diuell by watching fasting prayer and oft renued couenant which lurketh behind to doe mischiefe when many others seeme to be cast out And till then beare not thy head on high for doubtlesse God will not suffer such a one to prosper and what doe we professing if we take this liberty except we wil haue our good deeds shame our euil and become execrable because of their company as Israel was for Achans sinne Wee will not keepe a seruant in our house otherwise none of the worst but painfull for some leaud qualities sake though he would giue vs his seruice and shall God endure vs A man may feele what the sin is which hee cherisheth as well as the meate he loueth and he that doth know it let him know God is not mocked let him not suffer that sinne to rankle and fester in him but labour to purge out euery superfluity of flesh and spirit and to sanctifie the whole lumpe that it may bee seasoned in euery part and the conscience may bee good in all things Now we haue heard that she had brought him to tell her where his great strength lay let vs shut vp this second part of the Chapter and see what followed vpon this which is set downe in these next three verses First shee caused the Philistims to come yet againe to her in better hope then they did before And then causing Samson to sleepe vpon her knee his locks she caused to be cut off the Philistims were there ready to take him and he thinking to doe as hee had in times past done and to free himselfe out of their hands he found too late as Adam after eating the fruit that the Lord was departed from him Heere in that shee and the Philistims hauing been disappointed and deceiued so oft euen three times at the least yet for all that are not discouraged nor wearied but goe on still yea and preuaile at length we may see how euill persons are not withheld nor discouraged from their bad attempts but take hart and go forward after many repulses The reason is they haue hope to preuaile and doe not commonly misse of their purpose following it so earnestly and going so substantially to worke as they doe God suffering them to goe forward seeing hee is purposed to destroy them This is most cleerely to bee seene in the spitefull and shamelesse attempts of the Priests against our Sauiour in seeking his life Though Pilate had three times alleaged his innocency to them and giuen them their answere to desist yet could they not bee made to leaue off but procured by themselues their false witnesses and other confederates in such wise that they had that which they sought before they made an end But if this diligence and vnweariednesse in good causes bee sought for in them who yet are such as would gladly effect them where shall they bee found Nay they are soone answered and put off as faint suters Ester indeed and some other did ieopard their liues in and for a good cause to preserue the Church of God in their time but how many followers of them may be seene Indeed many logs are in the way to hinder goodnesse and much discouragement is giuen to such as would bee forward but yet mens backwardnesse for all that may in no wise be excused For what know we whether the Lord may one time
or other giue successe and are wee too good to tarrie his leisure But of this often before The Philistims hauing better hope to preuaile then in former times as shee had giuen them to vnderstand they came with their money in their hands ready to be paid according to their promise Where besides that we may see that the wicked spare no cost to bring their bad matters to passe while we who follow better causes looke vpon our penny and draw backe who shall begin I say beside that ye may see that they will not breake promise but bee liberall to such as further their businesse when they like well the successe which they haue therein But I would I might not truly say that in better attempts there is oft times a drawing backe euen of that which was promised so farre off are men from furthering goodnes but they deale heerein as the most doe in other promises though aduisedly made by them for therein the like is done Which elsewhere I haue also bewailed When this impudent and shamelesse woman had brought the Princes of the Philistims together as we haue heard in the former verse it is shewed in this how she made him sleepe vpon her knees and caused the seuen locks of his head to be shauen off and that shee began to vex him by calling the Philistims when that his strength was gone from him This was a most base thing and vtterly vnbeseeming him that hauing excellent gifts of God he should become a slaue to such an whorish mistrisse as to bee made to sleepe vpon her knees Hee that would not turne his face from a thousand men now to lie downe at the feet of a leaud woman Oh sottish follie almost incredible Thus they who for their gifts might bee reuerenced that I say no more and for such good graces as are in them might go before many are brought to shame for their abusing of them and the sins which are come in the place of them and no way more commonly then by a base housewife For as a mans gift bringeth him to honour euen so the same person if he deface his gifts is despised as a faire and comely garment when it is soiled in the filthie and lothsome channell of mire and dung For hee that cannot keepe credit and honour when God hath giuen it him is worthie to be without both and be had in derision This is memorable which the Lord spake of Hophni and Phinees for this sinne among others Them that despise me I will set light by Mens good parts neuer set them vp so much as their leaudnesse defaceth them How vile did sinne make that traitor Iudas What contempt was cast vpon Demas when he had forsaken Paul How base and what a by word doth many a mans vncleannesse make him nay many a professour of good hope though he haue repented yet what a brand of contempt and disdaine doth hee carrie about him to his dying day As Ruben in Genes 49. his dignity being gone But we are not yet come to Samsons punishment the basenesse we speak of is a companion rather then a fruit of sin But doubtles it would neuer appeare to many a man who thinks his sin his ornameÌ„t how vile his occupation is if sometimes hee saw it not in the base seruice it puts him to Very heathens saw no lesse who describe it by the shadow of a mighty Giant enamored with a strumpet who made him lay aside his harnesse and sit spinning with the distaffe betweene his knees And yet many a ciuill man out of his discretion would shun many a sinne for shame As for example Seeing a man of good quality and sort giuen to drinking and gaming and so farre giuen ouer to them that hee will rather make the basest fellow in a towne his companion then sit out which hee thinketh he may doe yet hee will loathe the basenesse of that sinne and such like in other and count it as repugning to common honesty But to returne to them who being men of good parts otherwaies doe shame themselues with grosse sinnes they are well enough serued who will needs venture so farre and for their owne lusts will forsake the seruices of Gods house the meanest whereof is honorable The next thing that followed was this that shee caused one to cut off his locks that is the haire that couered his head And this is the deadly wound that she gaue him For therewith his strength failed him and grace likewise forsooke him Heere we may see that by degrees a man shall bee brought to the lowest ebbe and depth of sinne as Samson now was he broke the law of the Nazarite which was solemne as the law of wedlocke betwixt couples and therby made himselfe profane and loose who had liued in the most holy estate of other Yea this sinne if comparison should bee made was farre greater then the breach of the law of wedlocke seeing that is but one particular but this is a general setting open the doore to many sins Oh how little thought he or thinke we that we shall euer commit them before wee begin to tamper with odious and fearefull sinnes as Hazael when the Prophet told him the euill that he should doe answered Am I a dogge that I should doe this great thing Yea and after we haue begun also to dallie with the means that leade to them we yet thinke to keepe farre enough from them But yet we see heere what followeth in the end But wherein this abasement stood shall appeare in the particulars that follow the losse of strength and Gods presence when his locks were cut off For the former of these it is said after this that his strength failed and was gone And heereupon some may obiect and say Did his strength lie in his haire I answere no but he lost that because it was the commandement of God to the Nazarite such an one as Samson was that no razor for the time should come vpon his head Which commandement Samson now brake by telling her so much as caused the cutting off of it and by that he going from Gods ordinance the Lord departed from him and left him to himselfe which hee found to bee weakenesse and therewith woe enough The obiection being thus answered this teacheth what followeth such outrage and coÌ„tempt of Gods ordinance to wit the losing of such good things as we enioyed before So that such actions doe not onely hold many good things from vs but also they depriue vs of those which we had Some sinnes depriue vs of one benefit of God and some of another As riot ill company spend our goods drunkennesse and whoredome waste our bodies cares of this world and voâ—uptuous delighting in riches doe as a moth eate vp our religion and our Sabbaths are lost by ill vsing them euen as Samson lost his strength whereby hee had slaine a thousand at one time without
him as we see it was iust that the Lord did to him be so prouoking him as hee did by the vncircumcised Philistims by this I say wee learne that if need bee and if they breake out boldly against him hee must make his owne deare children to smart as well as he loueth them as the Apostle Peter speaketh For as he brought them into the hands of his enemies as is heere to be seene euen so he vseth to doe to other of his when there is cause and he seeth it meet The reason is to the end they may rise vp againe out of their falles and repent for the working of the which affliction through Gods blessing fitteth them rather then prosperity which they are so ready to abuse as presently shall appeare in this story and in the meane while the wicked going on in their sinnes are the readier for iudgement which one time or other meeteth with them and taketh hold of them And if he should not thus take downe the pride and boldnesse of his in tempting him they could not be brought to good This being knowne to be so there is no cause why wee should discontentedly beare our afflictions especially we our selues hauing giuen iust cause thereof And as for them that reioyce in our troubles or which is more do themselues trouble vs I say no more but this that except they repent and so become true worshippers of God with vs the Lord shall trouble and vex euery vaine in their hearts so farre their troubles shall exceed and goe beyond ours as God threatneth in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians and we may see in the calamities of Diues and especially if they be compared with Lazarus his comforts But before I come to lay out his troubles in particular let vs see this one thing which is not to be omitted which is this In Samsons punishment wee may discerne a more euident proofe of Gods iust and equall proceeding to reuenge then in euery relapse mentioned in Scripture which I note that we may be the more afraid to tempt him For as wee see Samsons disease was very grosse and grieuous and his sinne began to bee seated and habited in him hee had scaped once before when the Philistims laid wait for him at Azza verse 2. and 3. and then God spared him and gaue him a safe conduct putting him to further proofe So now behold his sin not being subdued and abhorred as an vnkinde itch that is not killed by a milde medicine he prouoketh God a fresh by the same sinne that hee did before and the fire being but raked vp as it were in hot ashes catching hold of new and fit matter to worke vpon flameth out amaine the second time Therfore much water wil not now quench it much lesse the letting it alone was like to heale it What then doth God deale with him as before no now he taketh him in hand and paies him home and makes him see hee dallieth not with the dallier and so he is faine to beare the penalty of this and the former too So he dealt with Dauid It was no very extreme dealing for two so great and so rebellious sinnes as Adultery and Murther to take away the child borne in adultery especailly after so patient a respit all the while betweene But Dauid had forgot that gentle correction for so hainous offences and therefore waxed hee bold once againe with the Lord who had shewed him such lenity and so prouoked him againe in grieuous manner by his ambitious numbring his subiects But did he escape as cleerely then as before No God remembreth both and as the story well witnesseth sets himselfe to a resolute course of reuenge and so hee did till hee made Dauids heart ake so that he saw his boldnesse in tempting God how little it gained him For hee stayed not till the Angell had well slaked the matter of his ambition by slaying seuentie thousand of his people Let it be a watchword to vs that if God haue once mercifully passed by some wilfull offence of ours by sparing vs that I say we count it for a great aduantage and fauour for if we will dare to be bold to prouoke him againe we may iustly feare that his scourges wil bee smartie as Samson and many other found them to bee That I say no more Wee haue heard of the many sinnes that Samson committed and of the inward vexation of his mind in that God was departed from him though he saw it not by and by Now I will as I purposed a little before lay out more particularly his outward miseries as they are set downe in this verse and that is done by heapes one after another First it is said they tooke and apprehended him who was before at liberty and yet they did not then forthwith put him to death they would not bee satisfied with so short a reuenge nor so bee rid of him that hee should suffer no longer paine then so but they meant to keepe him aliue and so hold him as vpon the racke in much torment and vexation which might bee worse then any death vnto him therefore they then plucked out his eyes and thereby they prouided that he should not see any more to doe them mischiefe then they lead him to one of their chiefe Cities and put him among their rascall prisoners and made him grinde there as an horse All these with their apurtenances duely considered it may easily be seene what a depth of miseries he was plunged into And yet all this they did to him beside their mocking and laughing at him when they were disposed to make themselues pastime thereby and to bring him forth to that purpose By this we see that where many sins are committed there it is certaine that many iudgements of God are to be looked for to bee heaped vpon the persons that doe commit them euen heapes vpon heapes if wee haue eyes to behold it as the Psalmist saith Many sorrowes compasse such about on euery side and what cause their many sorrowes and troubles but their many sinnes Saul though a King yet found it so and seeing his life was full of iniquity he could not be free from many plagues till the last of all made an vtter riddance of him The Scriptures are full of examples both of the godly who haue turned aside and of other who transgressed many waies and how both sorts were punished accordingly And although many escape long and other flourish and prosper in the world for a while yet are they not altogether void of them for those which are inward doe sting them for the most part and the other are in a readinesse and shall bee thought to come too soone how farre off soeuer they seeme to be and the greatest iudgement of all is to whom soeuer it shall so fall out that they are suffered to go on without any But when destruction commeth vpon them happy shall they be who haue
honoured for the great workes that he did among them not only preferred a murtherer before him and vniustly got liberty of Pilate to crucifie him being Lord of glory but also railed and spitted on him and most shamefully reuiled and mocked him in the middest of his agonies and indeed herein they resemble their father the diuell who then most insulteth when hee hath a man vnder but the Lord is alway nearest to his as he was to Ionah in their extremities Now although God for his euill doing doe iustly punish such an one yet we should be moued with some pitie toward him and not to adde vexation to such as God smiteth And therefore wee reade that the Lord afflicting Israel for their iust deserts by sending them through the long and vast wildernesse yet when the King of Edom would needes vexe them also by for bidding them passage through his coasts was displeased with him And therefore the Prophet Amos writeth thus For three transgressions of Edom and for foure I will not be intreated neither turne to him and addeth that as the reason because he did pursue his brother with the sword and did cast off all pitie toward him And for that cause saith hee will not leaue him vnpunished The vse is to vs to beware of all crueltie and especially if it be mixed with enuie for which cause Salomon saith Anger is cruell and wrath is raging but who can stand before enuie Thus Dauid prayes against him who pursued the man whom God afflicted saying Let his daies be few and his prayer be turned into sinne because he remembred not to shew mercie but he persecuted the poore man and him that was contrite in his heart c. But these things wee reade and despise as if God would be mocked See more of this in other places of this booke and by name vpon the fourth verse of the first chapter And here consider againe notwithstanding such disguising of Samson as wee haue now heard and that he was thus brought into an high degree of shame contempt and miserie whereby it might be thought that he was no better then an abiect and castaway yet consider we I say that he was euen now reclaimed from his forementioned sinnes and reconciled to God againe as I said before and say it againe that none may mistake me in so saying and by that which I haue set downe of his repentance God sheweth how deare he was to him for all that hath been said of his fall not that he had merited by his patience in the prison forgiuenes of his sinnes but he acknowledged them there beleeued the pardon of them and as it became a godly man he repented as before hath been proued else these had turned him quite off from God This did greatly extenuate and asswage his miserie ouer it was with him before he thus turned to God So that the Lord who prouided for Ionahs body the shelter of a gourd lest the extremitie of the heate of the Sunne might haue added affliction to his disquieted minde euen hee I say did much more gratiously preuent this poore prisoner his seruant with mercie and fauour against the time that his enemies grew to the height of their malice lest it might otherwise haue been intollerable Yea and hereby the Lord animated him to beare the indignitie the more quietly because his strength was now also renewed and thereby he knew God had called this despitefull rabble together to be auenged of them Heereby let vs learne that whatsoeuer men haue been in their euill liues heretofore and howsoeuer they haue brought vpon their own heads much misery thereby yet there is much comfort to bee taken in them both by themselues and by others when they haue truly renounced and cast from them the workes of darkenesse to haue no more fellowship in them but do shelter themselues vnder Christs wing as the poore chicken vnder the hen that he may couer and remit them And this only is able to make them hold vp their heads when so many sorrowes and troubles doe otherwise oppresse them But oh then how happie and sweet is this vniting of vs to Christ by faith when we are so resolued that we may abide in his loue that wee carefully seeke to enioy and preserue it and doe wisely decline other things which doe make that benefit seeme farre lesse gainfull and beautifull vnto vs then it is It is truly said by Salomon that it is the wounded spirit which makes the trouble waighty and the spirit of a man free and cheerefull through a good conscience and supported by God which beares him vp in his affliction And howsoeuer the proofe hereof is sweetest in affliction sent vpon vs in our innocency yet it hath place also euen in crosses which are drawne vpon vs for some sinne when wee haue humbled our selues truly for them and haue not delayed to seeke reconciliation with his Maiesty for them For then a man recouereth his particular confidence in God and seeth that his affliction hauing done that for which it came shall speedily bee remoued and a supply of patience giuen the whilest to vndergoe the triall Therefore oh fooles that cause God thus to punish them but double fooles who abuse their correction and lie vnder it impenitent for these shall need no Philistims to adde sorrow vpon sorrow seeing they make their burthen double and treble by their sin aggrauated and by a conscience hardened against God Vers 26. Then Samson said to the seruant that led him by the hand Leade me that I may touch the pillers that the house standeth vpon and that I may leaue to them 27. Now the house was full of men and women and there were all the Princes of the Philistims also about the roofe were three thousand men and women that beheld while Samson played 28. Then samson called vnto the Lord and said O Lord God I pray thee think vpon me O God I beseech thee strengthen mee at this time onely that I may bee at once auenged of the Philistims for my two eyes 29. And Samson laid hold on the two middle pillers whereupon the house stood and on which it was borne vp on the one with his right and on the other with his left 30. Then said Samson Let mee lose my life with the Philistims and hee bowed him with all his might and the house fell vpon the Princes and vpon all the people that were therein So the dead which he slew at his death were moe then they which he had slaine in his life 31. Then his brethren and all the house of his father came downe and tocke him and brought him vp and buried him betweene Zorah and Eshtaol in the scpulchre of Manoah his father now he had iudged Israel twentie yeeres NOw it followeth in the end of this third part of the Chapter to consider the issue of this their dealing with Samson and that is
get no helpe against it but that death approched and drew neere hee vttered these words now at last whereby it is cleere that he had little thinking of any such thing before Why now I see that all is vanity Another hauing builded a goodly house when hee had shewed the commodities and pleasantnesse of it to a plaine countrey man asking him how he liked it he answered I like it well if a man might keepe it alwaies Thereby marring the ioy of it who could not commend it but together with the deadly and vnwelcome remembring the momentanie and flitting estate thereof and the vncertaintie of enioying it And all the ioy of the wicked is no better then I haue said and yet that none may thinke the Lord to deale partially bee it knowne that if his owne people degenerate and partake with the other in their sinne and play the fooles with them by reioycing in euill and things transitorie as their paradise they shall smart with them likewise and for the time enioy no better priuiledge then they doe Therefore let vs bee wiser and imbrace and prosesse that ioy which cannot be taken from vs neither shall euer be repented of that we haue sought it and that is our reioycing in the Lord in his word in his seruice and in his Saints and to be short in his all sufficiencie And this bee said more fully of this point which yet I handled by the like occasion in chap. 15. Againe heere let vs marke at what time and when the ioy of the Philistims was damped and taken from them And that was when they were met together to sport themselues and bee merrie and when they were furthest off from any thought of trouble or death or of losing and disappointment of their pastime euen then was the house throwne downe by Samson vpon them Like to that which the Apostle speaketh When men cry peace peace and al things are safe then shal sudden destruction come vpon them as trauell vpon a woman with child and they shall not be able to escape euen as Baltazar also was most fearefully threatned the losse of his kingdome in the middest of his banqueting This doctrine doth mauellously crosse our vile nature who giue our selues leaue when health and welfare meet together and abide with vs any time to make our selues drunke with them and to take our fill of them And therefore we cannot away with this to heare of any change nor to be awaked out of our carnall drowsinesse and for this cause seeing men will not hearken to the Lord bidding vs watch and beware of such surfetting and spirituall drunkennesse therfore he leaues many in the snare oft times wherein like fooles they be taken And by this we may see when God hath begun iudgement before with his owne so that they escape not that it shal much more grieuously meet afterward with his enemies and therefore that their iudgement sleepeth not This I enlarge not hauing spoken of it in the place before mentioned chap. 15. The casting downe of such an house we know all it passed the strength of a common man And as he had his strength restored to him againe as we see so had hee also his inward grace as appeareth by that which hath been said of his repentance and his prayer of faith Now therefore since that the case being thus altered with him we must behold him as another man then when he was besotted and made drunke with the wicked woman And here let vs marke what a difference there is betwixt the time of grace in a man while God guideth him and the time of bondage when God letteth him follow the deuices and desires of his wicked heart as may bee here seene in Samson Oh grace if it could be seene with eyes as we can see but a darke resemblance of it by some outward shewes thereof it would in an admirable manner draw vs to loue it as the meekenesse of Moses the loue of Ionathan the zeale of Dauid and the like and so would the foulenesse loathsomnes and terriblenesse of sinne cause vs to abhorre it as the diuell as in Iezabels cruelty Ioabs malice Hamans murtherous mind is to be seene Oh what a shame it is for a man that hath been reuerenced and highly regarded for his approued innocency faithfulnesse and constancy in good carriage to become a foole in Israel a base ridiculous and contemptible person And againe I say oh how glorious and worthy a thing it is to see such an one to be reformed and cast into the mould of the Gospell Looke vpon thy selfe if euer thou diddest serue God vprightly these vertues here set downe had place in thee yea prayer was sweet to thee and hearing with such like fruites of amendment were pleasant but when thou hast suffered thine heart to carrie thee after the corrupt inclination thereof thou art then become vtterly disguised as if thou haddest neuer been the same person I will here onely adde this how sinne maketh men impotent and taketh heart from the committers of it as I haue shewed other waies how loathsome and odious it is Reade that one example to this end in this booke When the Lord brought warre vpon his people for their Idolatry by the Canaanites it is said that the people were so put out of hart with the thinking of their sinne and so appalled in their consciences remembring how they had transgressed that among fortie thousands of them there was not one that durst take vp speare or shield against the enemie But of this point plentifully before and particularly vpon those words That he thought hee would doe as at other times But here an end THE EIGHTIE NINE SERMON ON THE XVI AND XVII CHAPTERS OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES NOw to proceed with Samson vpon this that hee casting downe the house vpon the Philistims died also with them it is demanded if he did not kill himselfe which if we finde that he did then all the commendations of his renued repentance falles to the ground and is washed away by this his last so wofull a fact and that also aduisedly done Hereto I answere that it cannot bee said hee killed himselfe indeed he died with them but the end that he propounded was not that he might die neither did he desire it but he sought reuenge vpon Gods enemies which was the worke of his calling and that which was like to bring and procure it but what was that but a faithfull seruing of God though with the losse of his life euen as the Apostles did If they preached Christ they saw it would cost them their life and that they should be slaine if they would needs preach him now when it fell out so indeed by their preaching shall we say therefore that they killed themselues and that they sought their owne death No no more then a zealous and diligent Preacher who by his paines in study and
his ministery empaireth and spendeth his strength and health can be said to be the procurer of his owne vntimely death for he hath spent his strength in his calling to which end God gaue it him And as Paul said he was ready to be bound and to die for the Lord Iesus so Samson said let me lose my life with the Philistims He runneth not rashly to death but followeth his vocation and if death come therewith vnto him he yeelds to it willingly and the rather because he had brought this necessity vpon himselfe by his owne sinne and hee could no otherwise pursue Gods enemies then with hazard of his owne life Euen as valiant souldiers who seeke not death but yet looke for no other The vse of this to vs is this that as wee should abhorre the least sinne this way yea the very speech or thought intending and seeking our owne death so yet it is our duty to walke in the estate in the which God hath set vs in such wise that we be not onely ready fit and willing to die but also if God will in our faithfull discharge of our duties meet with vs by death as hee did with the Apostles then to bee readie to yeeld to it and to remember That hee who loseth his life for Gods sake shall finde it And therefore let neither our life nor any thing we haue be thought too good for him who requires it And though all lose not their liues yet many doe forgoe other commodities which were not commendable in them if it were not for Gods cause Very Heathens when they spake according to their light saw it to be vnnaturall for men to deuoure themselues And as the souldier may not disranke himselfe or forsake his station without his Emperours permission who hath set him in his place so neither ought any to destroy his owne life and soule by wilfull death but waite the time that God hath appointed Indeed the Heathen saw not thus much that a man might not auoide apparant perill of violent death whether by an incurable disease as one of them starued himselfe to death to free himselfe from the stone or by the pursuit of their enemies This they made themselues erroneously beleeue to be magnanimity and the waiting for death in that case cowardise And like to them are many brutish people among vs who in some great distresse of mind or shame which their owne sinne hath brought vpon them bereaue themselues of their liues like Iudas and Abimelech And others being crossed but in a small matter are ready to wish themselues as deepe in the ground as they are high too And euen Christians often forget themselues and haue this pang vpon them to curse the day of their birth and to desire death I doubt not but many doe it in rashnesse for if death came and offered it selfe they would recant but howsoeuer it bee both this rashnesse and the other madnesse is vtterly vnbeseeming Christians and a token of an vnsauorie heart little seasoned with the doctrine of confidence and patience And if a wise man weigh it there is more cowardlinesse in preuenting trouble or crosses by violence then enduring them patiently And let such as the diuell hath woond in withall so farre as to worke vpon their melancholy and terrours of conscience or weaknesse of nature by such dangerous tentations as these to drowne hang stab themselues abusing the Scripture and such examples as this of Samson to that end let such I say bee fenced well against his malice by this instruction answering with our Sauiour in the like case Auoide Satan I dare not tempt the Lord my God But to returne a little to Samson It is so farre off from equitie to condemne that last act of his in losing his life with the Philistims that it was far to be preferred before his other annoying of them and euen his greatest auengings of them For he slew many more of them now at his death then he did in his life And was therein a liuely figure of our Sauiour Christ who though he destroyed the workes of the diuell in his life euen as hee came to the same end and foiled him shrewdly many waies yet at his death he triumphed ouer him led him captiue Both their acts I meane Samsons and Christs doe shew as in a glasse what we all should doe namely endeuour to doe the best good at our death which shall the better bee done if we lay for it in our life For liue well and dye better because wee ratifie and confirme all the good we did while we liued when we iustifie it at our death And this is one fruite and peece of honour that a good life receiueth that a good death followeth it Oh therefore begin wee betimes to feare God and as we are commanded remember we our maker in the daies of our youth and let it not bee tedious to vs to nourish those good beginnings that our last end may be like both or else an hundred to one that we shall haue small cause to reioyce in our end that I say no more And the like in this particular may bee said of the death of the righteous which is said of Samson yea and much more And it affoordeth no small encouragement to al such as are faithfull in the work of the Lord I meane in rooting out and destroying the enemies of their owne soules especially the corruption of their nature and the fleshly lusts which issue frō thence Their watchfulnes and diligence in suppressing them ought to be daily their prayers constant their faith in Gods almightie power to which nothing is impossible as armour ought continually to be exercised in the assaulting of their concupiscence and the fruites thereof And though they yeeld not at the first because they are strong and mightie yet hauing receiued their deadly blow at first by the death of Christ they shal decay sensibly and at death be quite abolished as the walles of Iericho fell downe the seuenth day of the compassing thereof Thus Samson dieth with the Philistims but in a most contrary and vnlike manner For they dyed in riot idolatrie crueltie and impenitencie but he in faith and as Stephen did in calling vpon the name of the Lord. So let it be well laid for and looked to that though wee must dye with the bad yet we may in no wise dye as they doe And so the outward manner of death though in paine disease and kinde of death it bee one and the same to vs and them as the Wise man saith to wit As the foole dyeth so dyeth the wise yet all that can iudge will say that wee must not measure the godlines and happy estate of men by outward things though they fall out alike to both And by this let vs beware that we feare not death with the wicked who say in token thereof we must dye but waite wee for
said if they were they would haue giuen them but that was no thanke to them but their owne benefit credit and honour but seeing they were not in his hands they vncourteously and barbarously denied it to them being their brethren and in subtiltie they did it lest they being ouercome of the Midianites they should haue been hardlier dealt withall by the Princes of Midian hearing that they had relieued their enemies And this subtilty ioyned with selfe-loue are the two strings to mens bow by the which they shoote out the most of their actions as arrowes For the good the most doe it is not done for the commandement nor for conscience sake but of selfe-loue for their owne priuate benefit hoping to be gainers thereby which may be done by the heathens for any religion or feare of God that is in it or when they hold back the good which in conscience they ought to doe of an euill minde they hold it back as these men of Succoth did for feare lest if they should doe it to some they should fare the worse at the hands of other as these men of Succoth here did A like point whereunto I obserued in the men of Ephraim And hereby wee may see what barbarous rudenesse was in these who yet were brethren and countrimen to the Israelites that to Gedeon their gouernour by whom they were vpholden in peace and who now was in the middest of this last worke of pursuing the Midianites and rescuing of Israel they should shew themselues so barbarous and voide of all humanitie Which was as if when the house top is on fire they in the nether part should lie still as though the fire could not hurt them or as if a man standing vpon the onely bough of an high tree and thereby only kept from danger of falling should with his hatchet cut it downe and by the fall of it breake his necke This rudenesse and irreligiousnes is in many brutish people at this day who are not onely no helpers in the wants and necessities of Gods people either for soule or bodie but hinderers yea and gripers of them Senselesse bloks they are who can neither heare see nor sauour any good towards any but as Nabal who not only gaue not any thing to Dauids men but rated them and railed on them thereby casting a mist as it were vpon his vnmercifulnes that it might seeme the more tollerable And this we may further note here in that they by their falsehood subtiltie and dastardlinesse sought to saue their liues that wee might not marueile when we see that some are readie to betray forsake yea and lend their helping hand to persecute their natiue Prince countrey and brethren yea and religion it selfe and all for the broken and shiuered hope of a transitorie life and safetie which yet they misse also oft times as is to be seene in that speech of Mordecai to Hester If we remaine in this danger doest thou looke to besafe For why God reuengeth such falsehood and cowardlinesse as our Sauiour saith He that will saue his life shall lose it The vse here of is that though life be sweete yet it is not to be preserued by subtiltie falsehood and preposterous feare when the Lord will haue it to bee brought into triall and requireth it at our hands Euen so in all other things subteltie and dastardlinesse is to be auoided and simplicitie and courage is to be practised Of this more God willing after in the conspiracie of the men of Schechem with Abimilek Now Gedeon threatneth the men of Succoth for their barbarousnes and boldnes towards him their deliuerer as they had iustly deserued euen to teare their flesh with the thornes of the desert The which he iustly did being their Magistrate for our Sauiour teacheth that hee who scorneth but his brother or neighbour is worthie of the highest degree of punishment And much more this which was committed against the gouernour might be thus met with and requited he not threatning them in wrath but vpon good consideration I will deferre speaking of the punishment till the inflicting of it be mentioned but let this be marked that Gedeon did euen then speake of preuailing against Zeba and Zalmunna without feare as if he had alreadie subdued them therefore he saith When the Lord hath deliuered them into my hands as not doubting but that he would then I will teare their flesh with briers In the meane time here let vs marke that hee left not off the greatest and most necessarie dutie which must of necessitie presently be done to wit the pursuing of the Midianites for the other namely the punishing of the men of Succoth which was to be done also but might better bee deferred This wisedome and discretion is to be learned of vs that of duties to be done of vs or euils to be auoided with the danger and punishment that followeth them that be first done in both which of necessitie must be first and yet the other not neglected nor omitted but in due season regarded also Instances may be these as there bee many other to visit parents in great sicknesse which requireth present duty without delay is to be preferred and performed rather then to iourney about profit though lawfull also which may as well be done another time Also to preferre hearing of a Sermon before common businesse if it be not to our greater hurt c. And this I say further that not onely common actions must giue place to seasons but euen one season to another In which our best rule is that wee preferre that season which occasioneth a worke of presentest vse although some other dutie of an higher nature offer it selfe Yea and here obserue that euen a ciuill season may sometime bee preferred before a religious As for example It falles out that a man is offered some fauour and hope of release out of some trouble which he is in or reconciliation with his aduersarie mightier then himselfe if he will vse some present helpe which else he cannot enioy or it may be he hath a summe of money to pay vpon a set day and that vpon a great forfeiture or he is sent vpon an errand of life and death say it be to fetch the Chirurgian to let his master or parent blood being in a desperate case otherwise or is commanded to serue the Prince c. Against these commeth some other opportunitie as of hearing the word of prayer in familie These bee all necessarie in their kinds and due times but in no wise ought to iustle aside the other more needfull to be done at that time and these may be attended vnto when leisure from the other will giue leaue the other are as the tide which staieth for no man Therefore we must beware lest through our ignorance though cloaked with honestie or neglect especially wilfull contempt we leaue the greater for the lesser Which causeth to the partie so offending shame