this to be the most honourable that they are the Seruants of Iesus Christ and therefore the two former set that first and then Apostles after What shall we say to Noah He was a Prince of the world and yet a Preacher of righteousnesse To Melchisedech who was King of Salem and yet a Priest vnto the Lord To Samuel a Iudge To Dauid a King and yet Prophets both And to wise Solomon his sonne before whom there was none like him neither after him shall euer any rise like vnto him who amongst all his titles and that in his wisest and best dayes did count this to be the most honourable to be called a Preacher And to the glorious Angels of heauen who haue not refused to be publishers of the glad tidings of peace And to Christ himselfe who though equall in glory with the Father disdained not the title of a Minister How then can it be thought a thing not beseeming the worth of any to be the Lords Prophet Besides these examples weigh the Reasons Such serue the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who is higher than the highest greater than the greatest richer than the richest nobler than the noblest and can it be any disgrace to serue such a Master If it were such a noble priuiledge to be a subiect vnto Cesar And so happy a thing to be a seruant vnto Solomon How much greater is their priuiledge and how much happier are those seruants who serue such a Lord as doth at his pleasure pull downe one and set vp another vpon the throne Such are employed about that worke which is the highest holiest the heauenliest and greatest of all other workes viz. the saluation of mens soules By Ministers God worketh saith by them he conuerts by them he comforteth sanctifieth saueth By them he declareth to men their righteousnesse preacheth repentance free forgiuenesse and perfect saluation to all that truly beleeue in Iesus Christ In which respect saith Iob A good Minister is one of a thousand A good Lawyer may be one of ten A good Physitian one of twenty A good man one of a hundred But saith a Reuerend Diuine a good Minister exceeds all for he is one of a thousand A good Lawyer may declare vnto thee the true state of thy cause A good Physitian may declare vnto thee the true state of thy bodie But no man can declare vnto thee thy righteousnesse but a true and faithfull Minister The Lawyer then in caring for thy cause and the Physitian in caring for thy bodie are both inferiour to the Minister who careth for thy soules saluation No maruell then if the Apostle requires that they should be esteemed highly euen for their workes sake Such shall haue the greatest wages of any other for They that be wise shall shine as the brightnesse of the firmament but they that turne many to righteousnesse as the starres for euer and euer All good men shall haue glory yea great glory They shall shine as the firmament But such as labour in the word and doctrine shall shine and that with no ordinarie glory but as the starres which haue a brighter glory than the firmament Seeing then the Master which they serue is the highest The worke which they doe is the holiest The wages which they haue is the greatest It may beseeme the worth of any to be the Lords Prophet How guilty then are such as thinke basely of so honourable an office and function as the Ministerie is Oh cursed times wherein prophane liuers doe account no mens persons no mens callings so base and vile as ours The name it selfe of Priest and Minister by such is cast in our faces as termes of infamie and reproach and vsed no otherwise amongst vs than the name of Christian is amongst the Barbarians in Russia by way of disgrace And the very weed and garment of a Minister is enough to procure contempt though otherwise he himselfe be free enough from all contempt This is one of the blots of this our Nation that a Minister is seldome spoken of but with diminution And the simplest in a multitude though he be not able to giue the meaning of one petition in the Lords prayer yet hath eloquence enough to disgrace their persons and their callings A horrible confusion it was that was foretold by this our Prophet which should come on Israel The childe should behaue himselfe proudly against the Ancient and the base against the honourable Who sees not that this confusion is befallen this generation Who almost so vile but thinks himselfe a better man than the ablest Minister What Gentleman so meane but thinks his childe too good for this Priestly trade Yea his whole house disgraced his bloud and familie disparaged if either his daughter be matched with a Preacher or his sonne entred into that calling But be it knowne vnto thee who thus basely iudgest That God hath honoured the poorest Minister farre aboue thy selfe and taken him to serue at his owne table when he hath reiected thee and thy fathers house Be not then any more so much deceiued as to thinke the calling of the Ministerie to be base and beggerly and not meet for any but the poore to liue by fit only for the lame and such as are disfigured for younger brothers blunt-headed schollers and such as are good for no Trade else when Princes Peeres and Nobles and such as haue beene of the royall bloud haue held it as an honour to be employed in the seruice of the Lord. Nebuchadnezzar would haue only such to wait vpon him as were of the Kings stocke and comely witty and euery way well qualified both for lineaments of body and ornaments of minde none of the refuse must come into his presence And shall they that come before the Lord to administer in his presence be the scum and off-scowring of the people What is this but to serue the Lord with the blinde and lame which he abhorres Certainly this dishonour of the Ministerie threatneth the departure of the word and therefore let vs pray hard that this sinne of contempt and base esteeme of Gods Ministers and their callings may not be laid vnto our charge And so to fall from reprouing to perswading and exhorting let euery one beware how they refuse or reiect the Ministerie as thinking themselues their friends or children too high for it and it too low for them No man may be thought to be too good to serue God at his Altar and to administer at his Table If any so thinke he deceiueth himselfe and ouer-valueth his owne condition Amongst the Iewes the Priests were sometimes matched into the bloud Royall Numa Pompilius would be a Priest amongst the Romanes And the Aegyptians chose their Kings from amongst their Priests and shall we then thinke basely of them our fore-fathers counted it an honour to haue one of their children an Abbot or a
men would now at length be brought to looke about them and suffer themselues to be so farre preuailed with as to make tryall of these meanes in vprightnesse and sinceritie of heart Consider I beseech thee with thy selfe how exceedingly hitherto thou hast frustrated the Lords hopes and expectations as likewise in what a wofull estate and condition thou hast liued and still liuest in whilst thou art vnder that same curse that heauy curse which is neuer farre from thee Cut it downe why cumbers it the ground Vrge therefore and presse thy soule vnto this fruitfulnesse and in some good measure answer the Lords hopes hereafter and content not thy selfe with shewes and leaues but as a tree of righteousnesse do thou shew forth thy grapes and figs and sweet fruits for that is it which God expects But we are fruitfull members of the Church we heare the word receiue the Sacraments and delight therein we keepe good orders in our families speake against common abuses and reforme euils in our selues and ours what would you more Yet something may be wanting The fig tree had leaues enow and by the flourishing greenesse seemed to promise great store of fruit no wonder then if such faire greene leaues as these cause many a soule to deceiue himselfe and others also when alas all this and more than this may be and is in many who are like to haue the doome that figge-tree had Neuer fruit grow on thee more And therefore before thou boastest see thy fruits haue these properties First looke that the fruit thou boastest of be proper fruit It must be thy owne done by thy selfe not by a Deputie nor Atturney Thus the godly man is compared to a tree that bringeth forth her fruit in due season It must not then be borrowed fruit for so an heart as stonie and barren as Cheapside it selfe may be made a far richer garden than some of those are where those herbes brought thither naturally grew The Papists indeed would faine make vs to beleeue that if our owne lampes be without oile we may goe and borrow of our neighbours to supply our wants For holy men of God say the Rhemists haue done not only that which they ought to doe but more than was required at their hands as for example Iohn Baptist fasted more than he was commanded and Mary liued more strictly than she was required now these superabundant works as a Church treasurie becommeth an aduantage to others who are more defectiue and indeed hang as it were vpon the Popes tally for who giues most But these workes of supererogation are workes of superarrogation our Sauiour hath taught vs this lesson When we haue done all we can we are but vnprofitable seruants And therefore let none build their hope vpon such a sandy foundation as the good workes of others another mans meat cannot nourish me another mans garment cannot warme me another mans eie cannot guide me neither can another mans workes saue me You call vpon your Minister to preach for himselfe vpon your seruants to doe their worke for themselues and vpon your Captaine to leade his company for himselfe and therefore let me call vpon you to doe good duties by your selues and for your selues Let not great men thinke to goe to heauen by their Chaplaines nor Wiues by their Husbands nor Parents by their Children nor seruants by their Masters by whom vsually they are religious here and thinke to be glorious hereafter Let me craue your patience a little in hearing a Storie which though in it selfe it be idle and fained yet may be of good vse to set forth a truth vnfained There was a certaine man saith the Legend which would neuer goe to Church himselfe but euer when he heard the Saints bell ring would say to his wife Goe thou to Church and pray for thee and me one night he dreamt that both he his wife were dead that they knocked together at heauen gate for entrance Peter being the imagined and supposed Porter lets in the wife but keepes out the husband telling him thus She is entered in both for her selfe thee For as she went to Church for thee so she is gone to heauen for thee This is the Fable The Morall is good and instructs euery one to haue a personality of faith and proprietie of fruit that himselfe seruing God himselfe may be blessed of God So willeth the Apostle Haue reioicing in thy selfe alone and not in another It is his owne faith the iust shall liue by and a mans owne workes that he must giue an account of For at the last day the question will not be what hath he done but what hast thou done And therefore let thy grand care be to prouide an Answer to that Question which will put the greatest part of the world to a Nonplus See then that thou preach for thy self if thou haue a calling thereunto pray for thy selfe giue thankes for thy selfe serue God for thy selfe and thus make the Prouerbe good which otherwise is deuillish Euery man for himself God for al. And yet to auoid all scruples I would not so be vnderstood as if we might not ioine with others in holy duties for that we may yea must or that we are not to pray for others or haue others pray for vs for this ought to be only we are not to content our selues with what is done by them vnlesse we ioine in heart and doe the like our selues Neither doe I thinke it a thing vnlawfull but fitting if a Samuel be in presence that he should performe these holy duties be it in any family and blesse the meat be it at any mans table for at such a time the Lord and Master of that house or family how great soeuer should giue way But as for children to giue thankes at their Fathers board except in case before that they are Prophets I thinke it not expedient Sure I am Christ neuer put his Disciples to it though they were men growne vp and of ripe yeares but euer gaue thankes himselfe And therefore the practise of many parents is too too childish who make their children their chaplaines and if they be out of the house grace shall be out of the parlour as if it were vnbeseeming their worthinesse to call vpon God for a blessing vpon what they eat Secondly our fruit it must be kindly fruit For no man gathereth grapes of thornes nor figges of thistles Good ground we know bringeth forth fruit of the same kinde and nature with the seed that it was sowed withall and not tares when wheat was sowne nor cockle when barley was cast into the ground Thus a Christian mans fruit must be such a conuersation as may beseeme the Gospell thy fruits may not be fruits of the flesh which are so rife so ripe yea rotten No nor fruits of ciuill righteousnesse wherewith many content themselues concluding they are trees
truth the one is in regard of the godly and such as feare the Lord that they may not be taken at vnawares but may be awakened out of their securitie and timely preuent those iudgements threatned as those did who vpon the hearing of that plague of haile which Moses foretold would fall on Egypt sent their seruants to fetch their cattell into their houses The other is that the wicked may be left without excuse in the day of wrath If I had not come and spoken vnto them they had had no sinne but now they haue no cloake for their sinne saith our blessed Sauiour These may be some reasons why God giues a Caueat before his Capias and doth warne before he wound And is this Gods vsuall dealing why then are wee smitten plagued punished Were we not forewarned of iudgement Oh our wilfulnesse and folly Oh whom oh man canst thou lay the fault whom wilt thou charge with thy smart Canst thou iustly say Gods silence was any cause thereof Hath not he shot off many a warning peece and sounded many an alarum before he set himselfe in battell-array against thee In the secret of thy soule thou knowest he hath done thus Often and often he hath by his seruants the Ministers warned thee of danger at the doore and by thy owne conscience many a time reproued thee and premonished thee of future vengeance He hath not played the part of a subtill enemie and stollen vpon thee at vnawares but as Tamberlane that warlike Scythian displayed first a white Flagge in token of mercie and then a red menacing and threatning bloud before that blacke Flagge the messenger and ensigne of death was hung abroad Accuse not the Lord then of any hard dealing but the hardnesse of thy owne heart which will take no warning Hee need not to giue thee any warning of his iudgements thou gauest him no warning of thy sinnes no respit yet that God might approue his mercies to thee he giues thee warning and respit of repenting How loth art thou oh blessed God to strike that threats before He that delights in reuenge surprises his aduersarie whereas he that giues warning desires to be preuented Were we not wilfull what need wee euer feele smart Oh that this might teach vs wisdome to see the euill and flie from it which that we may the better doe let vs diligently obserue the vsual waies whereby the Lord premonisheth and they are sundrie As first By the miniserie of his seruants the Prophets whereby he foretelleth when wrath is readie to fall vpon vs for our sinnes By them he foretold the Israelites of the King of the Caldeans comming vp against them whom they laughed to scorne and contemned and by them Ierusalem was fore-warned as was before noted Their threatnings therefore and menaces should not bee lightly despised but feared not passed ouer but preuented not derided but applied to our consciences For though they die yet Gods word shall liue and his iudgements they denounced seize vpon vs except we die to sinne By signes and wonders of which sort was that Earthquake which happened in Vzziahs daies in the whole Countrey And those strange apparitions seene in the heauens a little before the destruction of Ierusalem as that Blazing starre like a sword which hung ouer the Citie a whole yeeres space Horses and Chariots with armed troopes of men seene in the aire the Eclipse of the Moone for twelue nights together with many other wonders whereof Iosephus hath at large written as that voice heard in the Temple the night before the Feast of Pentecost Let vs depart from hence And the constant crying of one about the walles for a long space Woe woe woe to Ierusalem and the like And thus doth God forewarne vs of the end of the world as our blessed Sauiour sheweth 3 By lesser and lighter iudgements by gentle and fatherly corrections that by them we may be brought to turne vnto him and so escape further vengeance Thus were the Israelites often warned from the Lord sometimes he smote them with Blastings and Mildewes and at other times by giuing their Gardens Vineyards Fig-trees and Oliue-trees to the Palmer-worme to deuoure and when these warnings would not serue then he sent amongst them the Pestilence after the manner of Egypt and slew their young men with the sword and tooke away their horses c. And when nothing would serue he ouerthrew them as he ouerthrew Sodome and Gomorrah And so our Sauiour hauing foretold many euils that should come vpon Ierusalem for their contempt of the Gospell and refusing of grace offered addeth All these are but the beginnings of sorrowes the end is not yet There were more in number and greater in weight to follow after these Thus lesser iudgements are as it were the prints of Gods foot whereby we may trace him if he be come out against vs. 4 By the death of the godly and such as feare his name are future iudgements forewarned especially if they be such as are great and eminent whether in Church or Common-wealth If these be taken away it is a fearefull signe that some grieuous iudgement will ouertake the remnant of the people This is that wherof our Prophet Esay speaketh Behold the Lord the Lord of hosts doth take away from Ierusalem the mightie man and the man of warre the Iudge and the Prophet and the prudent and the ancient The Captains of fiftie and the honourable man and the Counsellor c. And elsewhere thus The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to his heart and mercifull men are taken away none considering that the righteous is taken away from the euill to come Thus was that good King Iosiah dealt withall not long after whose death followed the Captiuitie of Babel In that graue wherein he was interred the libertie glory and peace of Iewrie lay also buried And so Luther after whose death presently followed that miserable calamitie vpon Germany which hee had often foretold would come vpon them for their contempt of the Word and which he desired he might neuer liue to see as Caluin obserues in his Comment vpon that place of Isay last quoted These are some wayes whereby the Lord fore-warneth vs that euill is at hand and therefore it behoueth vs when by any of these he premonisheth vs of danger nigh we prepare to meet him and preuent it And surely if euer there was cause then now there is why we should humble our selues before him in sackcloth and ashes for who can be ignorant of the many warnings we haue had in each particular kinde The Turtles of this Land haue groaned out the sad tunes of woe and misery God hath so guided the hearts and tongues of his Ministers as that they all euen as one man doe constantly crie out with that Iesus the sonne of Anani a little before the destruction of