them to reade wanton comedies and to sing filthie rimes and peraduenture such as they maintaine with the Church reuenewes Eli the Priest was himselfe an holie man but because he brought not vp his children in discipline with due correction he fell backward and brake his necke And a litle after in the same place If the Apostle require of the Ephesians of Laye men and of such as were conuersant in the affaires of the world to bring vp their children in discipline and in the feare of the Lorde what may wee thinke he requireth at the Bishops and Priestes hands of whome he writeth to Timothie that their children must be brought vp in obedience and all honestie and repeating the same to Titus he saith A Bishops children must be faithfull not riotous not disobedient and as though the childrens offences were to be imputed to their fathers he addeth coniunctionem causalem a coniunction causall oportetenim Episcopum c. For it behoueth a Bishop to be without crime as the steward of God and concludeth thus Non est ergo sine crimine Episcopus cuius filius non fuerit subditus aut in accusatione luxuriae The Bishop therefore is not without fault whose sonne is either disobedient or dissolute Be it that some such there are that feede themselues and not the flocke some wicked irreligious accompting gaine godlines that haue made the house of God a denne of theeues that are but spots in our feastes yet the Lord be praised the Lord hath his that watch ouer Sion day and night that weepe for her that pray for her that preferre Hierusalem in all their mirth that goe in and out before Gods people that giue due foode in due season that care for the soules committed to their charge as men that must giue a strict accompt to the searcher of hearts and reines This land had some times euil Iudges and Iusticers that turned iudgement into wormewood and iustice into gall There was at Rome a proude Tarquine for their king yea this nation hath had tyrants what then Liuie saith of Rome regale ius non regni sedregis vitijs ademptumest the kinglie power was not taken away for the fault of the kingdome the manner of gouernment but for the kings faults Tertullian de praescriptione aduersus haereticos Quidergo si Episcopus c. What then if a Bishop if a Deacon if a widowe if a virgine if a Doctor if a Martyr fall from the faith shall heresies seeme to haue the victorie ex personis probamus fidem an ex fide personas Doe we approoue the faith by the persons or the persons by the faith let them flie away chaffe of light faith with euery blast of tentation the Lordes corne shal be put vp farre the cleaner into the Lordes garner Iudas the Treasurer became a traitor Philetus and Hermogenes Phigellus and Hymeneus forsooke Saint Paule S. Augustine saith well in Psal 131. Nonperijt fraternitas propter eos qui profitentur quod non sunt the brotherhood perisheth not for them that professe that which they are not Chrysostom hom 4. de verbis Esaiae Vidi Dominum QuuÌ„ videris Sacerdotem indignum ne traducas sacerdotium Iudas proditor fuit verùm ob id non accusatur ordo Apostolicus nec crimen est sacerdotij sedanimi When thou shalt see an vnworthie Priest accuse not his calling Iudas was a traitor yet was it not the fault of the Apostles order it is the fault of his minde not of his ministerie As water that runneth through a woodden or a leaden pipe neither washeth away the furrednes of the pipe nor defileth it selfe but watereth the garden whither it goeth and maketh it fruitfull and as the Sunne beames shine through many lothsome places and yet neither can purge the place nor the place pollute them euen so the word of God may be fruitfull to others when it is fruitlesse in him that teacheth others it may be a whetstone to giue an edge or a trumpet to stirre vp when yet we may be as dull as stones as heauie as lead and therefore the Apostle praieth that when he hath taught others he may not him selfe be found blame worthie Good corne is not the woorse for a patched sacke nor bad wine the better for a golden cuppe No man refuseth golde for the drosse that is mixed with it nor roses for the thornes that growe among them What if Saule be among the Prophets What if Iudas be among the Apostles If the like measure might be vsed against any estates against the nobilitie of this land the iudges gentlemen and you the Citizens of this citie for the pretended faultes of some fewe to ouerturne the state of all who might promise him selfe one howers securitie and we are some part of the bodie But I doubt not but as England hath heretofore had many notable men most worthie martyrs whom not England onely but all Europe doth for many excellent giftes of God admire so I doubt not but at this day there are many Abrahams Phineeses Noahs Loths Peters Paules euen seuen thousands that is to say innumerable who neuer bowed knee to Baal and would notvvithstanding all those calumniations accompt all as drosse to vvinne Christ and let them enioy Gods blessings in his Church I am sorie that I haue occasion to carrie you thus along vvith this discourse but I must ansvvere as Tertullian in another case said Conditio praesentium temporum prouocat hanc admonitionem nostram the estate of these times prouoketh this our admonition The second part The second thing that I noted in the Apostâ—â—s words was that there should be a mutuall care Let the members haue the same care one for another Al the members in the bodie haue one and the same beginning all one and the same substance and none can doe well if any one doe amisse if one perish or putrifie it infecteth first the next and so in time anoieth all or if any one in a common calamitie deny helpe to another all thereby are brought into danger euen so among Christians let no man suppose that his brethrens cause appertaineth not vnto him but as the meÌ„bers of the bodie the inferior serue the superior rule euery one careth for and regardeth another so in the Church so in the common wealth let the highest and lowest and all agree and consent to the good of all As in the bodie without the mutuall consent of the members neither all neither any of them can be long in health or continue without griefe so in the Church without a mutual care a mutual concord nothing can succeede to the good of the Church or the increase or aduancement of the cause or kingdome of Christ or any member thereof Let the members haue the same care A speech of great Emphasis euery word carying his iust waight First the name of the members teacheth obedience to the head care for all the rest loue to all the rest Let the members care Let
A SERMON PREACHED AT PAVLES CROSSE THE IX OF NOVEMBER 1589. By WILLIAM IAMES D. of Diuinitie and Deane of Christes-church in Oxford 1. Ioan. 4. Ne cuiuis spiritui credatis sed probate spiritus an ex Deo sint Queniam multi pseudoprophetae exierunt in mundum Beleeue not euery spirit but prooue the spirits whether they are of God or not For many false prophets are gone out into the world Iacob 1. Si quis videtur religiosus esse inter vos qui non frenat linguam suam sed aberrare sinit cor suum huius vana est religio If any man among you seemeth religious and refraineth not his tongue but deceiueth his owne heart this mans religion is in vayne Hieron ad Pammachium Foelices inquit Faebius essent artes side ijs soli artifices iudicarent Happy saith Fabius were the Arts if they onely who are skilfull in them might iudge of them IMPRINTED AT LONDON by GEORGE BISHOP and RALPH NEWBERIE 1590. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE MY ESPECIALL GOOD LORD AND MASTER Sir CHRISTOPHER HATTON lord Chancellour of England Knight of the most noble Order of the Garter and Chancellour of the Vniuersitie of Oxford c. IT pleased your good Lordship to require a Copie of my sermon which I preached lately at Paules crosse which albeit I had denied to my lord of London diuers others before yet seeing it pleased your good lordship at your leasure to vouchsafe the reading of it I haue now at my returne hither put it downe as neere as I could and I thinke almost verbatim as I vttred it VVherein as my chief purpose was to asswage if it might bee and for my small measure I endeuoured it the contentions stirred vp amongst vs so haue I not kept backe my opinion nay my conscience touching the man that troubleth vs and the matter by him entended VVherein I protest before God that as I flattered not the Church gouernment of I owe to no bishop therein for any benefite receiued any thing farther then dutie and good will so if it had bene my last speach that euer I should haue had euen for the dutie I owe to Gods Church either this or what so euer God should haue giuen to this sence should haue bene sayd I am sory and it grieueth mee to see the heapes of Nouelties that in her Maiesties most gracious raigne and in so plentifull a light of the Gospell our inconstant Islanders haue brought into the world It argueth that the enuious man sleepeth not but hath sowed tares and that they fructifie and laboureth by all meanes by sea and land to make Proselites There was a time when a learned ministerie a thing much to be desired as also your Lordships great care in bestowing the liuings in your gift and the regard which they haue whom your Lordship putteth in trust by preferring learned men and Graduates of the Vniuersities doeth testifie to all the world that your Lordship doeth seeke the like was by the wisest and most zealous thought sufficient But if our brethren in zeale thinke that this can not be done but by extinguishing the ancient names and functions of Bishops in the Church a calling begunne and continued from the Apostles time vnto this day and ouerturning the estate established I will say with the Apostle zelum habent sed non secundùm scientiam It is no way to bread a learned ministerie either to pull downe the reward that should encourage them or the meanes to maintaine them when they are bred If any Bishops haue transgressed in their callings especially in admitting of insufficient Ministers as it must be confessed they haue done be it that he were an eie though blind in this that is a chiefe one or but a hand or a foote that is of a lower place surely it is ill physicke for this bleard eye or for this sore hand or foote to choppe off the head or kill the body It is hard that nothing can please these men vnlesse the Church possessions in deede their mothers bowels be pulled out and the cause why they begin with vs is this they must first haue a footing somewhere and here they see the hedge is lowest It is pitifull to see howe to this purpose in many places of this land he is thought the onely zealous learned and godly preacher that can finde most faults pretend most wants neuer giuing God once thankes for the aboundance of his blessings vpon this Church and nation which for these 32. yeeres hath bene yea euen at this day is a nurse nay rather a mother to all the Churches almost in all Christendome And whereas we ought to teach repentance amendement of life faith to God obedience to superiors and charitie one to another to rebuke pride couetousnes wantonnes newfanglednes slaunderings backbitings and the like if none of these be once named but our spirituall Pastors torne and traduced our owne vices not once touched but the Church and Church-men paid home then is he in many mens iudgements a zealous man a childe of God neuer man spake on this wise In this simple sermon I did cast in my mite if it perswaded I haue my hearts desire and God I trust hath the glory if it but a litle staied any but to make a pause some Apollos may water it and some others may build vpon it If it offended I knowe the trueth doth not alwaies purchase friendes and that nulla medicamenta tam faciunt dolorem quà m quę sunt salutaria Surely as my meaning was not to sowe pillowes vnder any mans elbowes so was it not to grieue any or to be contentious For my owne part Liberaui animam meam This I here haue sent submitting it and my selfe wholly to your Lordships good pleasure humbly beseeching Almightie God to guide your Lordship to the glory of his name the good of his Church and Common wealth and of this Vniuersitie not the meanest member thereof From Christes-Church in Oxford the 17. of December 1589. Your Lordships Chaplaine humbly in the Lord to be commanded W. IAMES 1. Cor. 12. 25 Least there should be any diuision in the body but that the members should haue the same care one for another 26 Therefore if one member suffer all suffer with it if one member be had in honour all the members reioyce with it 27 Now yee are the body of Christ and members for your part THe Apostle S. Paul hauing planted a church at Corinth and now labouring with the glad tidings of the Gospel to lightē the hearts of the Philippians or as some thinke the Ephesians who sate in darkenesse and shadow of death absent from Corinth in bodie though present in spirite in the meane time it is not credible what tares the enuious man sowed in the Lordes field among the Lordes wheate neither how many rauening wolues entred not sparing the flocke Hence there arose in their religion in some Apostasie and falling from God starting a side like a broken
no man thinke his brothers matters not to appertaine vnto him Let the members not only haue a care but the same care let the members haue the same care let there be no distraction or separation of mindes This place requireth that they who are in the Church and common wealth the chiefe should haue good respect to them ouer whome they are placed euen of the meanest and that they whom the Lord hath not exalted to so high place should in the Lorde obey their rulers that as the bodie then prospereth when all the members agree together so they all shall prosper when they growe vp as one man in Christ Iesus which is the head ouer all in all and through all It is a great mischiefe and present danger to the bodie if the members care not one for another but it is farre greater if they rise one against another if they fight one with another There is a notable historie in Esdras of them that builded the Temple Wee say they will builde and we alone will builde and wee will builde together as if they would say Wee all couet we all care for wee all as one desire the speedie building of the Lordes house Apocal. 12. Michael and his Angels al fight against the Dragon all as one all desire the same victorie all set vpon the same enemie Virtus vnita fortior force vnited is the more forcible This teacheth vs thus much that all must concurre together that all must labour together that all must care together Art thou a member care for the bodie carest thou not thou bringest the bodie into danger and shewest thy selfe an euill member All the souldiers of Iesus Christ must prepare them selues to fight vnder the banner of Christ to fight the Lordes fight to put on the whole armour of God that they may resist in the euill day For as none is crowned but he that striueth and as none obteineth the goale but he that runneth and as no man receaueth the pennie but he that laboureth in the vineyard neither doth any raigne with Christ but such as suffer with him so except the members care and haue the same care they shewe themselues not sound members of that bodie whereof Iesus Christ is the heade God hath so mixed all things in this worlde that nothing that no estate can stand by it selfe Tum tua res agitur paries cùm proximus ardet Then is thy matter in hande when thy neighbours house is on fire The husbandman ploweth not soweth not for him selfe alone the seafaring man saileth not for himselfe the souldier fighteth for his king and countrey not for his owne cause the marchant aduentureth for forreine commodities but not for himselfe alone but for others also Nemo sibi nascitur no man is borne to himselfe no man may liue to himselfe The king ruleth not for his owne but for others cōmodities The preacher preacheth not for his owne but for others edifyings It was a lawe among the Lacedemonians as I take it that if any thing were stollen from any man his next neighbour should make it good and that because he had not greater care of his neighbours safetie The time suffereth me not to shewe how farre off all estats almost are from this regard one of another If we consider how that many that are the heads and greatest eate vp the poore as bread grinding their faces howe some ioyne house to house as though they would dwell alone vpon the lande howe they nestle themselues as high as Eagles as the Prophet saith call their houses by their owne names how you of this citie haue with vsurie eaten vp many ancient families the fat of the lande and by your Monopolie haue almost ouerthrowen all your sister cities turning the common wealth to your owne priuate commoditie what may we say thinke you that there is a mutuall care nay rather neither faith nor trueth nor loue left among men All which duely weied we shall appeare first scant to be members or if wee be members scarce caring members or if we care we care not idem we haue not the same care It was notably said of Agesilaus that citie that hath this care although it haue no walles yet hath it stronger walles then walles of brasse and where this regard is not although the walles be of brasse yet are they as weake as paper Magistrates ministers the highest the learnedest in the church cōmon wealths cause must all concurre The cutting off of the least part in the bodie doeth not onely bring a deformitie but a detriment to the whole bodie Chrysost hom 30. in 1. Cor. 12. Those members of the body which are but meane and seeme to haue litle vse yet being taken away disgrace the whole bodie quid enim capillis vilius what is more vile then the haires yet shaue them either from thy eie lids or frō thy brovves thou shalt not onely disfigure thy face but hinder the sharpnes of thy sight Cut off the nose let but one foote be lame the vvhole bodie is maimed though it be but the vvant of one member Cut off one finger nay but the litle fingers naile thou shalt finde the rest lesse able to doe their vvorke There is a notable treatise of S. Augustine in his 50. homilies homil 15. of the maner how we should loue one another Consider saieth hee and marke what is done among vs euen naturally how euery member careth one for another Ecce spinam calcat pes Behold the foot striketh against a thorne What is so farre off from the eie as the foote farre distant in place yet neere in affection the thorne pricketh but in one and that a litle place and yet see the backe bone boweth it selfe the eyes search the eares hearken if any can giue help the hands handle most tenderly and although the eies the eares the heart the head the hands and all be wel yea the foote it selfe euery where sauing where it is pricked yet heart eyes eares hands and all although they be not hurt yet haue a mutuall care to cure and comfort the part grieued though it be but the litle toe Mutuis auxilijs stant omnia All things are maintained by mutuall helpes Gen. 13. When Abraham heard that his nephew Loth was taken and caried away of the fiue kings that made warre against Sodome he prepared himself with 318. borne and bred vp in his house and pursueth the enemies slaieth the kings and recouereth and reskueth Loth and all his substance In the 10. of Iosue when Adonizedek king of Hierusalē Hoham king of Hebron Piraking of Iarmuth Iaphia king of Lachis Dabir king of Eglon make war against the Gibeonites for that they had ioined themselues to Iosue who had deuoted himselfe vnto the Lord then ought Iosue as a feeling member to send succour to them of Gibeon to pursue the enemies the Lord will shut them vp in a caue Iosues souldiers shall set their feete vpon their necks