befall according to our doctrine deliuered Secondly The Deuill is more forward and readie to doe euill than any Witch can be for he is like a roaring Lion going about seeking whom he may deuoure and like a red or fiery Dragon burning in malice against Gods Church and people so that hee needs not to be stirred vp or sent by a Witch hee being so forward and watchfull of himselfe to doe mischiefe Whence it followes there is no more nor lesse hurt done than would be done if there were no Witches for as the Deuill can doe nothing to hurt the poorest creature before he haue power granted vnto him from the Lord so when he is permitted and hath his power granted he is not so sottish as not to execute his power except some Witch doe send him true it is if he can he will doe it as intreated and sent by Witches so cunning and craftie is hee that hee may doe the more harme vsing them but for a colour to drawon worser matters Thirdly the Deuill is the commander the Witch is but his drudge and seruant He is the god of this world and ruleth with power in the hearts of the children of disobedience shee is but his slaue and subiect to serue him and not command him and vsing her as his instrument hee wholly directeth her heart vnto the wickednesse And therefore whereas there be many naturall causes in the bodies of men and beasts of tortures lamenesse and of death it selfe which though the learnedst and most expert Physitian cannot espie yet hee can see and know and can coniecture very neere the time when they will take effect he plyeth it with the Witch and enflameth her minde with malice and moueth her to send him against that partie vpon which sending the man or beast suddenly and strangely are tormented fall lame and die and then hee telleth her that he did it vpon her sending and command when indeed shee obeyeth him being led by his suggestion and not he her The like is his practise when God giues him libertie to strike with bodily plagues any of the godly for the triall of their faith and patience hee couets if hee can to bring it thus about So that wee see shee is but his drudge and not he her seruant Let vs not then bee so deluded by this deceiuer neither stand in feare of any witch or sorcerer but of God alone for neither one or other can any way molest or hurt vs vntill God please to giue way and suffer them For a second vse seeing none can hurt vs vntill God giue way let this serue for Admonition vnto vs all that would liue in safety that we keepe in with God for if he be our friend what need wee care who be our enemies If he be with vs who can be against vs Be then of Dauids resolution to make God thy shield and buckler thy refuge and thy fortresse and thus being in Dauids taking thou maiest be in Dauids tune The Lord is my light and my saluation whom shall I feare The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid I will not bee afraid of ten thousands of people that haue set themselues against me round about Though an hoast should encampe against me my heart shall not be troubled though warre should rise against me in this I will be confident For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pauilion in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me hee shall set mee vp vpon a rocke I end this vse as Dauid ends that Psalme Wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart wait I say on the Lord. Thirdly this may serue to daunt the hearts and proud spirits of the wicked who insult ouer the godly because they are so few so meane so simple and so weake and pride themselues oftentimes in the conceit of their owne geeatnesse power policy and malicious intendments against the godly But these grosly deceiue themselues for let them know their rage and power is limited by the Lord so that they cannot doe what they list but what God will they cannot execute what they please but what pleaseth him Let Atheists Papists and all other prophane persons desist from deuising euill against Gods Sion A Prophet of their owne side will teach them it is in vaine to curse whom God hath blessed Lastly as Noahs Doue brought in her mouth an oliue leafe so doth this doctrine bring with it tidings of peace and comfort to such as are in Christ For if it be so that man cannot hurt vntill God giue way then Let all those that put their trust in thee reioice let them euer shout for ioy because thou defendest them let them also that loue thy name bee ioyfull in thee For thou Lord wilt blesse the righteous with fauour wilt thou compasse him as with a shield What the Apostle speakes in case of damnation may bee spoken also in case of danger There is none vnto them They are alike safe in euery place euen in the midst of their mortall enemies as amongst their kindest friends and so likewise at all seasons for whereas the wicked who are without God are like a bird without a nest or a beast without a den liable to any storme that ariseth and danger that befals yet it is otherwise with the godly they know whither to goe to bee hid from the strife of tongues and violence of Tyrants Gods fauour ioyned with his mighty power and faithfulnesse is a strong tower thither the righteous runne and are exalted which fort and castle of defence is euery where and no time is vnseasonable to repaire vnto it no place an impediment to hinder them from it no bodily weaknesse can disable them of it their iourney may be vndertaken at midnight as well as at mid-day and they may runne apace as they sit in their houses or lie in their beds and the feeblest creeple may make as good speed as the swiftest footman the wals thereof can no enemy scale the forts thereof can no aduersary batter well may our enemies assault vs but no multitude nor power can preuaile against vs because he that is with vs is stronger than they that are against vs so that the flouds of great waters can neuer come nigh vs. Oh the security and felicity of the faithfull maruellous great it is who haue such a tower to flie vnto and such a shield to couer and compasse them round about as is impenetrable no sword no dart nor shot can possibly strike them vntill it pierce him so fenced are they in their goods in their cattell and in all that belongs vnto them that no wicked spirit by any art can come neere to touch them without a speciall commission from the Almighty When Philip King of Macedon had slept a sound sleepe and at length
the Wood or of the Leaues or of the Fruit there being no property in the one which is not in a sort answered in the other For the Root that we know sendeth sappe to euery Stem and Branch whereby they flourish and bring forth fruit and vnlesse they continue in the root they can neuer thriue nor prosper for thence it is whence they haue their moisture Thus the Church and euery true member of it receiueth the life and sappe of grace from Iesus Christ who is the root and into whom the multitude of true beleeuers are engrafted whereby they grow and bring forth fruit to God So that vnlesse they continue in him they cannot prosper but must needs fade and wither according to our Sauiours speech As the branch cannot beare fruit of it selfe except it abide in the Vine no more can ye except ye abide in mee I am the Vine ye are the branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without mee you can doe nothing If a man abide not in me hee is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them vp and cast them into the fire and they are burned In the Branches there is great resemblance diuers wayes 1. There are many branches in the root yet all make but one Vine so all the faithfull in the congregation and all the congregations of the faithfull in the whole world make but one only Church And albeit there are threescore Queenes and fourescore Concubines and Virgins without number yet saith Solomon speaking in the person of Christ my doâ—e my vndefiled is but one And so witnesseth S. Paul Now are they many members yet but one bodie One as sucking sap from one and the same root liuing by one and the same spirit and ruled by one and the same head Christ blessed for euer But of this more hereafter 2. All the branches of a Vine though they seeme to stand alike in the stocke are not alike fruitfull neither doe they all draw sap and moysture from the root for as some are fruitfull and flourish so some againe are barren and wither which are cut off and cast into the fire Thus is it in the Church visible all the members thereof are not alike incorporated into the root through the inuisible bonds of the spirit neither doe they bring forth fruit in him Some there are who are onely externally engrafted others there are who are also internally The former sort are such members of the Church visible who by externall baptisme haue giuen their names to Christ and so entred into the profession yet indeed are not Christs because they haue not the Spirit of Christ for though they are baptized with water yet they are not with the holy Ghost They haue Iohns baptisme but not Christs baptisme This kinde of Sacramentall engrafting will suffer a cutting off because they haue not the sap of grace ministred vnto them from the stocke of life but are as dead trees and branches The other sort are they who besides the outward engrafting are also inwardly engrafted by the holy Ghost into the stocke Christ Iesus and doe liue in him and grow in him and bring forth fruit to the praise of his name Notwithstanding both these sorts as they communicate together in the outward bonds of one profession as they visibly continue together like one visible body vpon that one root Christ Iesus on whom they all outwardly professe that they depend as on the fountaine of their sap and life so they both together make this visible Vineyard and Church on earth 3. There is no branch of any tree that exceedeth it in growing and spreading forth it selfe in one weeke yea night how exceedingly is it shot So the true members of the Church exceed all others in growth in grace they are still spreading forth their branches growing from one degree of grace vnto another They are all for Addition and Multiplication nothing for Diuision or Substraction except in euill They sing the song of degrees adding to Faith Virtue and to Virtue Knowledge and to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godlinesse and to Godlinesse Brotherly-kindnesse and to Brotherly-kindnesse Charitie They be not like the old Moone in the wane but like the new euer in her increasings 4. The branches of the Vine grow the better for their prâ—ning and not the worse bringing forth after it is cut more and better grapes not worse nor â—ewer Thus the Church and true members of the Church the more they bee afflicted the more they flourish as the people of Israel vnder Pharaohs tyranny the more they were oppressed the more they multiplied and grew Thus the Church of God euer riseth in its ruine prospereth in its persecution The bloud of Martyrs is but the seed of it and the chopping off their heads but as the pruning of this Vine And as Ioseph said so may euery true Christian say The Lord hath made me fruitfull in the Land of my affliction Their tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope and that maketh not ashamed And thus for the resemblance in the branches Now in the Barke or Rinde let vs compare them we see that the Barke of the Vine seemeth more withered dry than the Rinde or Barke of any other Tree whateuer yet it hath plenty of sap and abundance of moisture vnder it Thus the Church of God seemes blacke and deformed outwardly to the worlds eye which onely beholdeth and iudgeth the Rinde by reason of the scorching heat of persecution yet she is inwardly glorious and beautifull for there the inuisible graces of Faith Feare Hope Loue Patience Holinesse are hid This shewes the Psalmist The Kings Daughter is all glorious within and the Church maketh this confession of her selfe I am blacke but comely oh ye Daughters of Ierusalem as the tents of Kedar as the curtaines of Soloman And this is the cause that her mothers children looke vpon her and are angry with her In the Wood let vs see what likenesse we can finde 1. That we know is the weakest and feeblest wood of any other The trees of the Forest are strong and tall but the Vine so weake that it cannot beare vp it selfe without a stay or prop. Thus the Church of any society is least able to helpe it selfe it cannot stand against a storme without the prop of Gods protection by reason of her naturall weaknesse It is a weake tent in it selfe not fortified with any wals A small flocke of sheepe very impotent and feeble An humble and poore people yea a very worme for so the Lord calleth her Feare not thou worme Iacob and ye men of Israel I will helpe thee saith the Lord Feare thou not for I am with thee bee not dismaied for I am thy God I will strengthen thee
of the Church for all of them haue made the Catholique Church to be nothing else but the Romane Church and some of them haue made the Romane Church to be nothing else but the Pope And this is their One But now for Vse This vnitie or onenesse of Gods Vineyard should teach vs all vnitie and concord that professe our selues to be of this Vineyard And as in the naturall bodie there is a perpetuall sympathie betweene all the parts so ought there to be in this bodie mysticall If one member suffer all should suffer with it if one member be had in honour all should reioyce thereat The eye must not say to the hand I haue no need of thee nor the head againe vnto the feet I haue no need of you but euery member ought to be helpfull to its fellow-members willingly yeeld to euery one that which belongeth to them and according to that of S. Peter As euery man hath receiued the gift euen so minister the same one vnto another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God For as the incolumitie of the bodie depends vpon the concord of the parts in the mutuall performance of their duties so the welfare of the Church when we thus shew ourselues to be members one of another And therefore as God hath called vs so let vs walke whether we be Magistrates Ministers or others Art thou a Magistrate Then thou as the head shouldst rule and gouerne wisely woe be to the bodie when the head is phrenzie drunken idle or the like see thou be not so but as the head doth heare and see taste and smell for the good of the inferiour members so shouldst thou in that place wherein God hath set thee Art thou a Minister Then as the Heart thou shouldst be the fountaine of life and vitall spirits doctrine like dew should distill from thy lips Little ioy haue the other members when the heart is sicke or heauy Art thou in meaner place a Tradesman Husbandman or the like then as the foot see thou be sound and seruiceable being ready to goe or runne for the least good that may betide the bodie And that vnitie and loue may the better be continued and maintained let these euils be auoided First Enuie or repining at the gifts of others a sinne too common and yet vnnaturall for doth the foot enuie at the head because it is preferd before it as more honourable Or is it discontented because it is clad in leather when it may be there is a chaine of gold about the necke or a pretious stone vpon the finger Each member is apparelled and decked with such ornaments and vestures as are most seemely for it A garter is vnseemely about the necke and so is a chaine about the leg A foule fault then it must needs be to enuie any in higher place for that credit honour and respect which they haue aboue vs. Secondly arrogancie and highmindednesse for any gift that is in vs aboue our brethren The eie is honoured with that necessary and noble sense of seeing and so is the eare with that worthy and needfull sense of hearing and the nose is preferred before them both in that profitable and vsefull sense of smelling Thus he that taketh place before all in some things must be content to giue place and come behinde others in some things else Let this cause thee to contemne none that are inferiour to thy selfe in shew Thirdly curiosity or busie medling with things belonging not vnto vs. The eie meddles not with hearing nor the eare with seeing nor the foot with either of them both but each member knowes its owne office and that it lookes to So arrogate not to thy selfe any thing out of thy owne calling but containe thy selfe within thy owne bounds and limits If a more should fall into the eie were the foot a fit member to be thrust into the eie to plucke it out No for though the foot be sensible of the trouble yet it leaues the helping of it to the hand It is neither fit nor comely for the people to meddle with the office of Magistrates directing them how to gouerne nor with the calling of Ministers teaching them how to preach And therefore let all take the Apostles counsell and study to be quiet medling with our owne businesse leauing other things to whom they doe concerne For a second vse Is the Church but one Then woe to such as are authors or fautors of any diuision or separation and so breake the vnity of the Church Such sinne grieuously as S. Paul sheweth writing to the Corinthians and auoucheth that such are carnall and walke as men What answer will Brownists and Separatists make to God at the last day Oh they were wicked Magistrates vngodly Ministers c. But if the head ake doth the foot refuse to beare it Or if the eie be blemished doth the rest of the members disdaine it or contemne it or whilest it remaineth in the body refuse to haue fellowship with it and renounce their owne part in the body because of it Me thinks this being well considered must needs conuince them But of these before Hitherto I haue beene in the Proposition of the Parable The prosequution explication or narration of it followeth now to be handled which beginneth at the latter end of the first verse and continueth to the end of the sixth Wherein we haue laid downe to be considered first the Vineyards Plantation in the latter part of the first and in the second verses secondly the Supplantation thereof in the foure next In the first of these we haue two things to intreat of as first of the Vinitors great paines and cost which he bestowed vpon it and secondly of his iust expectation which he made to receiue fruit from it His paines cost and care for this his Vineyards good appeares in six sundry particulars First in the situation of it for it grew 1. vpon a Hill 2. vpon a very fruitfull Hill In an horne of the sonne of oile for so the words are by which Hebraisme is set forth the fatnesse and fruitfulnesse of the place For by an horne is noted strength power and height vsually in Scripture and by oile fatnesse and plenty and by the sonne of oile is meant that which commeth of the oile and is of it A phrase vsuall amongst the Hebrewes And so wee reade of the sonne of daies of the sonne of death of the sonne of plenty and the like By this phrase then is noted thus much that they were excellendy seated both for pleasure and profit and in so fruitfull a place as if it had beene the sonne of oile and borne of it Secondly in the Protection of it for hee fenced and enclosed it in strongly that it might not be wasted nor any way annoied Thirdly in the Elapidation or Cleansing of it casting out the stones and preparing of the soile by purging it from all
stocke and let in the imps no man can graft so without the word no hope of this benefit And this that hath beene said ouerthrowes a point of naturall and Popish religion viz. That a man may be iustified and saued by his good workes when by this that hath beene said we see that good workes can only be the fruits of persons already iustified and that which followes cannot be the cause of that which went before The fruit cannot make the tree to be good it doth only declare and manifest that it is good according to that speech of our Sauiour The tree is knowne by his fruit In the second place that thou maist be fruitfull see thou plant thy selfe by the running brookes Seat thy selfe vnder a powerfull Ministerie that so thou maist be partaker of those waters which flow from vnder the threshold of the Sanctuarie Water we know causeth fruitfulnesse as drought doth famine The inundations of the riuer Nilus caused Aegypt to be so fruitfull So these spirituall waters will cause vs mightily to fructifie and increase and make vs spring vp as amongst the grasse and as willow by the water courses Thus the Church as it was planted in a fruitfull field so was it likewise placed by great waters insomuch that it grew and became a spreading vine And the godly man being planted by the riuers of waters brought forth his fruit in due season Is it then the true desire of thy soule to fructifie and bring forth fruit See then that thou frequent the Sanctuarie of the Lord. Can the rush grow vp without mire or can the flag grow vp without water Is it possible that thou shouldst increase in grace and goodnesse and yet neuer drinke of the waters of Shiloah It cannot be If therefore thou hast not in thy owne fountaine seeke to thy neighbours and carry thy pitcher with thee for nothing can more dangerously or vncomfortably be wanting to thy soule Besides see thou labour for humilitie and tendernesse of heart The ground which is hard and stonie is vnfit for fruit as our Sauiour hath manifested in that parable of the seed For neither can the seed sowen take any root neither will it drinke in the raine that the heart of it might be moistned It may be the outside may be a little washie but it gets not in to prepare it to fruitfulnesse Thus hardnesse of heart keeps the soule dry and barren And surely here is the reason why after so long time of preaching there doth so little fruit appeare Much water hath beene powred on vs many a gratious Sermon hath beene preached to vs but what are we the better The inuincible hardnesse of our hearts will not suffer one drop of these heauenly deawes to sinke into our soules How many handfuls of good seed doe Gods Seeds-men daily cast amongst vs and can they say with Isaac that they haue reaped an hundred fold as he did in the land Alas So farre are they from seeing such an increase as that they would be heart-glad of thirty nay of ten Yea let me tell you many Ministers would be glad if they could see their seed againe and what is the reason but this that mens hearts are so stonie flintie Labour then for greater tendernesse of heart if thou wouldst bring forth more fruit in thy life and see thou retaine the waters and drinke in the raine hold fast what thou hearest by conscionable meditation Fourthly thou must beware of ouershadowing thy heart by any sinfull lust whereby the warme beames of the Sunne of righteousnesse is kept from it Husbandmen haue euermore a great care of this and will not by any meanes endure to haue their young nurseries ouershadowed by any bough or tree but so plant them as that they may enioy the benefit of the Sunne-beames for no ground or plant will euer proue good which hath not a fauourable aspect from the heauens And thus our hearts are made fruitfull by the heauens answering the earth as Hosea speaketh though in another sense I meane when Christ the Sunne of righteousnesse darteth the beames of his gratious countenance and fauour vpon our soules warming and cherishing Pauls planting and Apolloes watering with the influence of his grace for without him we can doe nothing nor haue any life in vs. And therefore beware lest through superfluitie of lusts or inordinate desires through worldlinesse and couetousnesse or any other such like sinne thy soule be so shaded as that this Sunne of righteousnesse cannot shine vpon it if thou wouldst grow fruitfull Fiftly a speciall care must be had to the root that that grow well if we would bring forth fruit abundantly Now faith is that same radicall grace which must especially be regarded if that thriue not no other grace can prosper Foolish then and preposterous is their care who seeke and studie how to be laden with the other fruits of Gods blessed Spirit as with Loue Ioy Peace Long-suffering Gentlenesse Goodnesse Meeknesse Temperance and the like and yet neglect the looking to this grace of faith This is no otherwise saith one than if a man should water all the branches of a tree and not the root Sixtly and lastly we must be earnest with the Lord that he would make vs fruitfull and giue vs wisdome from aboue which wisdome saith S. Iames is full of good fruits Call vpon him earnestly and frequently for grace and not only so but withall seeke the prayers of Gods Vine-dressers his Ministers and desire them to be earnest with God for you that you may be fruitfull for how euer this vngratefull world contemneth and despiseth these yet the truth is they can preuaile much with God and if they should not oftentimes rise vp and stand in the gap woe would be to thousands for the barrennesse of their liues And thus I haue shewed you the way how of barren you may become fruitfull If then any amongst you that heare me this day doe hereafter continue barren and fruitlesse it must needs be because they are wilfull or slothfull or both for put in practise what now you haue been taught and I dare passe my word and pawne my credit that in a short time the barrennest professor in this congregation will bud and blossome and bring forth fruit abundantly For what should hinder Is there any fault in the Husbandman to be found Surely no for we haue heard it before proued that he is no way wanting nor defectiue and therefore cannot iustly be charged with the barrennesse of any mans heart or life as hereafter shall be cleared Where then lies the fault Is it in the stocke or root No neither for we haue lately heard how liuely and full of iuyce it is insomuch that whosoeuer is set into it doth incontinently fructifie and bring forth fruit If then there be any want it must be in thy selfe in not vsing the meanes that hath beene now prescribed Oh that
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
vnderwent the heauiest trials especially when it hath beene for their Sauiours sake taking greater pleasure in their iron fetters than the proudest Courtier doth of his golden chaine It was Hardings inuectiue against our reuerend and pretious Iewell that we Protestants were worse than the very deuils For whereas bread and water and the Crosse could scar them away Princes could be rid of vs by no meanes but fire To whom that excellent Bishop answered that though it pleased his malitious humour to make but a iest of the bloud of Gods Saints yet it was no more ignominie for Lambes to suffer what Christ suffered than it was praise and credit for Wolues to betray him as Iudas did By our Zeale lastly may our loue be tried For whether it be an intention of loue as some would haue it or a compound of loue and anger as other describe it Certainly it is a spirituall heat wrought in the heart of man by the Holy Ghost improuing this good affection of loue as one of late hath well defined it By this Moyses discouered his loue for though hee were the meekest man vpon the earth yet he was not only grieued but wonderfully angry when he saw God to be dishonoured So Elijah Phineas Samuel Dauid Nehemiah and many others did the like as largely appeareth in their stories And surely if we loued the Lord it could not bee but wee would be zealous for the Lord. It is a cold loue that is not heated with this fire When men can disgest oathes and blasphemies as easie as the Ostridge iron and see God to be dishonoured without indignation let them conclude loue is wanting That same Spirit that descended first vpon the Lord Iesus in the similitude of a Doue descended afterwards vpon his Apostles in the similitude of fire As in somethings we should be meeke and patient so in other things hot and earnest Meeknesse in our owne causes but in Gods zeale and feruencie doth well And thus wee haue seene the first rule of triall wherein I haue beene somewhat large though I hope not ouer-large forgiue all good faults breuity in the next shall make amends The second way for the discouery of our loue is by our Speeches For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Experience makes this good The niggard will be talking of his niggardnesse the worldling of his wealth the voluptuous of his pleasures the ambitious one of his honours and preferments And whatsoeuer a man loueth most that will hee take his greatest ioy in talking of What commendation shall you heare the Huntsman giue of his Dogge The Faulkner of his Hawke How large are these in praising of their sport Thus is the tongue the Interpreter of the mind and by its language you may easily ghesse at the hearts meaning If the loue of God be there thy tongue will be the tell-tale and bewray it either in speaking of the Lord or for the Lord. Of him in commending or admiring him It was the loue of God in Dauids heart that fild his mouth with often praises The Spouse in the Canticles she loued much and praised much My welbeloued is white and ruddy the chiefest of ten thousands his head is as the most sine gold his lockes are bushie and blacke as a Rauen his eyes are as the eyes of Doues c. So shee goes on her tongue being as the Pen of a ready Writer hauing words at will to praise and admire euery thing that was in him So likewise for him the tongue will be imployed if loue bee in the heart Dauid will speake for God and for his truth euen before Kings and will not be ashamed To heare God to bee dishonoured his Word blasphemed his Gospell scorned his Children reuiled Loue cannot brooke It will worke within vs as Nature wrought in the sonne of Craessus of whom it is recorded that though he had beene alwaies dumbe yet seeing one come to kill his father the impediments and strings of his tongue were violently broken through the force of naturall affection so that he cried out Oh man kill not Craessus And surely wee may in this case say as that heroicall Luther said in the like Cursed be that silence that here forbeareth Thus may we make our tongues the touchstone of our hearts For as the doore-keeper said to Peter so say I Thy speech bewraieth thee The third and last way is by our workes and actions Loue is full of operation so shewes Saint Paul and hardly can it deny any worke which the party beloued doth enioyne Hence said Dalilah to Sampson How canst thou say I loue thee when thy heart is not with mee Thou hast mocked me these three times hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth Our blessed Sauiour makes this a rule of triall If you loue mee saith hee keepe my Commandements And againe thus Hee that hath my Commandements and keepeth them hee it is that loueth me And elsewhere thus You are my friends if you doe whatsoeuer I command you Thus Abraham made good his loue by his ready obedience to Gods command in offring vp his sonne and in leauing his owne Country to goe to that place whither God should send him And as loue maketh vs thus obedient and dutifull so it causeth vs to be bountifull and liberall as the Apostle speaketh For where the heart is inlarged the hand cannot bee straightned where the bowels are open the purse is neuer shut So that Herod may haue his pleasure which hee affects what cares hee though hee part with halfe his Kingdome What will a man spare from his speciall friend that may bee for his good All I haue is at his command to whom I haue giuen my selfe So said Iehosaphat to Ahab I am as thou art and my people are as thy people Ionathan loues Dauid as his soule and he will shew it by stripping himselfe euen to his sword and to his bow for the supporting and helping of his dearest Dauid Of so franke a disposition is loue that it will bee prodigall of its neerest and dearest things If Maries teares will wash her Sauiours feet she will powre them out and not thinke her haire too good to bee the towell No Spikenard shall bee too costly for his head whom her soule affects what though that vnguent might haue beene sold for some great summe of mony wherewith shee might haue done her selfe much good Yet shee had rather bestow it on her Sauiour than on her selfe because shee loued her Sauiour more than her selfe Thus loue will bee content to bee at cost for Christ and thinkes nothing too much that is done to him or for him As that renowned Master Fox of whom it is reported that hee would neuer deny Beggar that asked in Gods name Thus by our obeying of him and cost for him
and honour but Learning followes Homer with a staffe and wallet the studie of Diuinitie brings contempt and beggerie Looke how it was with the Iewes vnder the tyrannie of Egypt so is it now with vs when we should make bricke worke in our profession we are enforced to gather straw seeke out for sustenance and yet if our tale of bricke be not made vp we are cried out vpon for being idle But God heares our cries and will one day plead our cause In the meane time let such places and Parishes as would haue their Ministers thus to follow close their callings see that they so prouide for their certaine maintenance as that they may without distraction follow it We haue done with the Prooem Now we come to the Poem or Song it selfe My welbeloued hath a Vineyard in a very fruitfull hill c. Wherein is set forth Gods great loue towards his people Israel and Iudah and their horrible ingratitude and disobedience towards him together with their fearefull and finall ruine for that their disobedience All which is darkly and obscurely propounded vnder a continued similitude or allegorie of an vnprofitable Vineyard which did not answer the cost and expectation of the Vinitor by bringing forth of fruit meet for him that dressed it In opening whereof we need not doubt of finding out the true and proper sense and meaning in the Generall as who this Vinitor is and who the Vineyard and what the fruit these being explained and expounded by our Prophet vers 7. But in the Particulars there is question As what is meant by Hill Fence Stones Plant Tower Winepresse forasmuch as these parts are not followed by him and are diuersly interpreted by Expositors By Hill some vnderstanding the field of this world others the citie of Ierusalem which was higher than all other Cities and the Countrie thereabouts And others the Land of Canaan a land flowing with milke and hony By Fence or Hedge some vnderstand the Law which was giuen by Moses whereby the people of Israel were fenced in and kept within compasse Others the Couenant which God made with his people the Iewes wherwith he did hedge them in vnto himselfe to be his peculiar people And others vnderstand thereby the Diuine protection by which as by an hedge the Lord did continually protect his people By Stones some vnderstand their wicked Kings Saul Ahab and the rest who by their wicked practises did hinder the growth of Gods Church Others the Gentiles and Heathen people the Canaanites and Hittites with the rest whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel Others vnderstand thereby all kinde of Idolatrie Errors Abominations which the Lord purged his people from And there are some others who by stones vnderstand the Wall wherewith the Lord did make the fence or hedge and that because the word here vsed signifieth as well to build with stones and gather them together for that end as to remoue stones By the choice Plant some would haue the Lord Iesus to be meant and that because the Prophet speaketh in the singular number both in the Parable and in the exposition of it He saith not Vines or Plants but a Vine or Plant and the man of Iudah not the men of Iudah Others vnderstand thereby the best and choisest persons amongst that people especially them of the house of Iudah as Dauid Solomon and the rest whom God had chosen and endued with an excellent measure of his Spirit for rule and gouernment and others vnderstand it more largely for the whole body of that people the stems and branches of Abraham Isaak Iacob those honourable Plants By Tower some vnderstand their Prophets Priests and Princes whom the Lord gaue vnto them to watch as out of a tower ouer them for their good Others would haue vs vnderstand thereby Ierusalem that great Metropolitan Citie of the Iewes And others the Temple which was built therein By Wine-presse that was therein some doe vnderstand the Doctrine of the Prophets their exhortations and reprehensions whereby they did labour to bring the people to repentance Others Passions and Afflictions which the Lord laid vpon them for their sinnes And others vnderstand thereby the Altar in the Temple vpon which they did offer vp their sacrifices and oblations Thus we see the diuersitie of opinions concerning these particulars and the variety of paths wherein our Interpreters walke so that it is no easie matter to take the right yet amongst all I had rather follow them who by this fruitfull Hill vnderstand the Land of Canaan For of it the Scripture thus speaketh The Land whither you goe to possesse it is a land of hils and vallies and drinketh water of the raine of heauen A land which the Lord thy God careth for the eies of the Lord thy God are alwaies vpon it from the beginning of the yeere euen vnto the end of the yeere A good land and large flowing with milke and honie By Fence or Hedge his mightie protection whereby he defended and preserued his people from all their enemies This was that hedge which the Lord made about Iob and about his house and about all that he had on euery side And this hedge did the Lord promise to make about Ierusalem so that none should hurt it Of which Fence reade at large Psal 90. By Stones the Canaanites and Hittites of whom Dauid thus speaketh Thou didst driue out the Heathen with thy hand and plantedst them thou didst afflict the people and cast them out Of which Stones say some Iohn Baptist speaketh when he telleth the Iewes bragging they had Abraham to their father that God is able of these stones to raise vp children vnto Abraham But that I deliuer not for doctrine By choise Plant the seed of Abraham Isaak Iacob the men of Israel and Iudah as appeares verse 7. One number there being put for another the singular for the plurall a thing vsuall in Scripture And thus we reade Thou hast brought a Vine out of Aegypt thou hast cast out the Heathen and planted it Thou preparedst roome before it and didst cause it to take deepe root and it filled the land The hils were couered with the shadow of it and the boughes thereof were like the goodly Cedars She sent out her boughes vnto the Sea and her branches vnto the riuer And else-where thus I had planted thee a noble Vine wholly a right seed How then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange Vine vnto me In both which places the people of Israel are meant By Tower the glorious Temple that was in Ierusalem that stately edifice or building according to that of the Prophet He built his Sanctuary like high Palaces like the earth which he hath established for euer And so is it termed else-where A Tower of the flocke the strong hold of the daughter of Sion By Wine-presse the ministerie of the
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
knowes not how to intreat such whose goodnesse is but as the morning dew and whose righteousnesse is but as a cake not turned who haue some good purposes and motions in their minds and so begin to blossome but within a short space suffer all to fade See then thou bring thy actions to perfection let thy resolutions bee brought to execution and suffer them not to perish like an abortiue birth Thou hast a purpose to leaue thy vngodly course of life and sinfull trade and take a new course c. Thou blossomest very faire what a pitty is it if the frost should nip these in the head Many make their purposes like our Eeues and their performances like our Holy-daies Seruants worke hard vpon the one that they may haue the more liberty to play vpon the other So doe they labour hard vpon their purposes but are idle and play vpon their performances But purpose without performance is like a Cloud without Raine and not vnlike to Hereules club in the tragedie of a great bulke but the stuffing is mosse and rubbish Would such blossomes bring a man to heauen Baalam and many other wicked wretches who are now in torments would haue gotten thither long agoe The fiue foolish Virgins intended to goe in with the bridegroome but before the time their lights dropt out If a bare Intention would serue the turne Gods Church on earth would be fuller of Saints and his Court in heauen fuller of Soules Good motions and resolutions are to be respected but thou must vp and be doing else God distasts them A fift property of good fruit is vniuersalitie It must be All fruit as Isaiah speaketh fruits of the first and second table of holinesse towards God and righteousnesse towards man for what God hath ioyned may not be diuorced Particulars were infinite Fruits inward as good Thoughts motions purposes good Desires longings faintings after God and his graces good Affections as Loue Ioy Feare Sorrow Patience Compassion c. Fruits outward as Good words sauourie speech pure and wholesome language And good workes such as we are bound to performe within the compasse of our calling whether Generall or Speciall In a word Whatsoeuer things are honest whatsoeuer things are true whatsoeuer things are iust whatsoeuer things are pure whatsoeuer things are louely whatsoeuer things are of good report those things must we thinke on to doe and as Mary said to the seruants Whatsoeuer hee saith doe it so say I Whatsoeuer the Lord commands that must be done wee may not picke and chuse and doe what best likes vs but as once Israel said so must we alwaies Whatsoeuer the Lord commandeth that will we doe True it is many points of our Masters will wee know not but our desire must be to know And many things we doe not but our desire must bee to doe for our obedience must reach to Gods whole reuealed will Euery Christian duty thou must make account belongs to thee as well as to any other and therefore as a man that is to plant an Orchard will be sure to get of euery good fruit some so doe not heare of any fruit that good is but carry it home and set thy heart therewith Memorable was the practise of blessed Bradford who was content to sacrifice his life in Gods cause He vsed to make vnto himselfe a Iournall or day-booke wherein he vsed to set downe all such notable things as either hee did see or heare each day that passed If he did heare or see any good in any man by that sight he found and noted the want thereof in himselfe and added a short prayer wherein hee craued grace and mercy that hee might amend If he did heare or see any plague or misery hee noted it as a thing procured by his owne sinnes and still added Lord haue mercie vpon me Oh that wee would tread in this Saints steps how much more fruitfull should we then bee than now wee are Lastly our fruit must bee constant fruit Constancy crownes all Thus it is said of the blessed ground It bringeth forth fruit with patience And herein wee may not bee like to other trees wihch grow barren with their age but we must bring forth fruit in our old age and continue fat and flourishing nay not so much as a leafe must fade or faile there must not be any appearance of being out of the state of grace none of vs must seeme to be depriued or come short of entering into Gods rest Alas for such who haue left bearing yea lost their very leaues and shewes of profession which formerly they haue made being now worse than that cursed fig-tree which was greene what hope haue these who come short of those that come short of heauen Shall the former fruitfulnesse of such professors be regarded or rewarded Surely no All their righteousnesse which they haue done shall neuer be mentioned but in their trespasse that they haue trespassed and in their sinne that they haue sinned in them they shall die And if euery man shall receiue according to his fruits then such shall one day feed vpon the bitter fruit of their Apostacie and Back-sliding and finde how bitter a thing it is to forsake the Lord and feele what they will not now be brought to beleeue That it had beene better for them neuer to haue knowne the way of truth than thus to haue departed from the holy commandement Looke then thou walke not in a good course for a fit but bee constant to the death and so receiue the crowne of life For glory and immortalitie is the part and portion only of such as by constancie in well-doing seeke it To you saith our Sauiour which haue continued with mee in tentations haue I appointed a kingdome as my Father hath appointed me a kingdome And thus we haue seene what is necessarily required that our fruit may be acceptable and pleasing vnto God Now then thou that braggest of thy faithfulnesse and fruitfulnesse tell me darest thou abide the triall Why then answer me to these Interrogatories which I propound vnto thee Is thy fruit thy owne Is it done by thy owne selfe and in thy owne person Dost thou rest and rely vpon thy owne faith and liue by it and by no mans else Againe tell me is thy fruit kindly answerable to the good seed that hath oftentimes beene cast into thy heart and beseeming the stocke wherein thou saist thou art engrafted Is not swearing lying cogging and dissembling and such stinking fruit as this the fruit thou bearest I demand againe dost thou obserue the time and season not contenting thy selfe in doing good for matter vnlesse also thou doe it then when God may haue most glory by the doing of it Answer me yet further Dost thou labour that thy fruit may come to some perfection Not resting thy selfe in this that thou bloomest blossommest but still art striuing that euery bud
desart without any to inhabit it And here we haue a higher degree than either of the former for though the enemie might ouercome them and spoile their country yet there might remaine some Citie and albeit some Cities might be assailed and destroyed yet some houses in those Cities might still continue Or say it should so fall out that all their Cities and houses in their Cities should be laid leuell with the ground yet some men might haply escape by flight and afterwards returne and build new houses Cities and erect new lawes and gouernment But in that he threatens to lay it waste and make it a desolation all hope is gone This is that which the Lord speaketh in the next chapter where he seemeth to comment vpon these words The Cities shall be wasted without inhabitant and the houses without man and the land be vtterly desolate And the Lord will remoue men farre away and there shall be a great forsaking in the midst of the land All which befell this people at their carrying away into Babylon and much more fully and compleatly was it fulfilled after Christs time when Ierusalem was vtterly destroyed so that one stone was not left vpon another To which time some referre it It shall not be pruned nor digged By cutting or pruning he seemeth to vnderstand fatherly discipline and correction which now he would with-hold from them according to that in the first of this prophesie Why should you be stricken any more As if he should haue said I see it is but lost labour to smite you for the more I correct you the worse you proue And by digging he vnderstandeth that point of husbandry whereby the earth is drawne into ridges or heapes chiefly about the vines which is so conuenient and necessarie in such places where vintages are as that without it the vines will neuer prosper And here hee alludeth vnto such husbandmen as hauing barren vineyards and fruitlesse trees doe neglect to prune or cut them dung or digge about them because they take no pleasure nor delight in them But there shall come vp briers and thornes By briers and thornes some here vnderstand the Gentiles according to that of our Sauiour Ierusalem shall be trodden downe of the Gentiles vntill the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled But we may better vnderstand thereby Idolatry and superstition with other errors and abominations that for want of Gods husbandry should as afterwards there did grow vp amongst them And thus sinnes and transgressions are compared to thornes and briers elsewhere in Scripture And that fiâ—ly 1 For their wounding and pricking those that handle them for whom doth not sinne wound whom hath it not stung that euer dealt with it 2. For their holding together and twining one within another Sinnes grow in heapes and where you finde any you may finde many And therefore when the Apostle speakes of them hee couples them Chambering and wantonnesse gluttonie and drunkennesse strife and enuying thus they grow like thornes in hedges by companies 3. Because they choake the plants and hinder them from the Sunnes hear and influence of heauen thus the seed is choaked by these thornes as our Sauiour teacheth And therefore S. Peter willeth to lay aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisie and enuies and euill speakings those cursed thornes and briers and then As new borne babes desire the sincere milke of the word to grow thereby I will also command the clouds that they raine no raine vpon it By clouds vnderstand we the Prophets and by raine the Word The Metaphor is vsuall Moses thus begins his Song My doctrine shall drop as the raine my speech shall distill as the dew as the small raine vpon the tender herbe and as the showres vpon the grasse And so the word of the Lord came to Ezechiel and said Sonne of man set thy face towards Ierusalem and drop thy word towards the holy places and prophesie against the land of Israel And thus Amos speaketh to Amaziah Thou saiest Prophesie not against Israel and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac In which places it is apparant that Gods Prophets are as clouds and their words or prophesies like drops of raine Now in comparing the raine and the word we shall finde good resemblance in sundry particulars as 1. In regard of cooling heat 2. quenching thirst 3. cleansing the aire 4. allaying the windes 5. mollifying and mellowing the parched and heat-hardned earth In each one of which if wee should spend time we should finde an excellent agreement but especially in a sixth respect It is a principall meanes and subordinate cause that all things fructifie and grow And therefore this must needs be a heauy iudgement and argue Gods hot displeasure against his Vineyard in commanding the clouds to raine no more raine vpon it according to that charge giuen to Micah Prophesie ye not vnto them seeing that without it it was impossible the Vine should grow or flourish Thus we see that as by briers and thornes the Plants should be choaked so for want of raine their very roots should wither And thus much for the literall exposition Now to come to some particular obseruation And now goe to I will tell you This is the vsuall manner of Gods dealing To warne before he strikes and foretell the iudgement before he inflicteth it He punisheth none before he hath admonished them smiteth none before he hath forewarned them That of the Prophet Amos makes this good Surely the Lord God will doe nothing but he reuealeth his secrets vnto his seruants the Prophets He sendeth his Heralds to proclaime warre before he makes it and foretels them of such iudgements as he is purposed to inflict that they may forewarne others Take the old world my brethren for an ensample did hee not foretell the destruction of it vnto Noah before he brought that great Deluge vpon the earth And was not Noah a Preacher of righteousnesse vnto them whose hand taught them as much as his tongue His businesse in building the Arke was a reall Sermon to the world wherein at once were taught mercy and life to the belieuer and to the rebellious destruction And did he not the like by Sodome and Gomorrah vnto whom hee sent his seruant Lot whose righteous soule was vexed from day to day with their vnlawfull deeds Was not this likewise his dealing with Pharaoh and his people did he not againe and againe admonish them and threaten them by his seruants Moses and Aaron that if they would not let his people goe he would doe thus and thus vnto them And so with the Niniuites vnto whom he sent Ionah with this erie Yet fortie daies and Niniuie shall be ouerthrowne And with Ierusalem which was often forewarned by his Prophets and by our Lord himselfe of her destruction before it fell Two reasons may be rendered for this
the whole world were at her command hauing with her a rasor as if shee could at her pleasure cut off and end mans happinesse bearing in her right hand the sterne of a ship as if shee could turne about all things at her pleasure and in her left hand the horne of abundance as though all plenty came from her Which palpable Idolatry that was amongst them should be renounced and abhorred by vs Christians Yea so farre should it be had in detestation that the very name of Fortune should not once be named amongst vs and much lesse any thing ascribed to it whereof we see not an apparent cause Secondly seeing afflictions are inflicted by the hand of God this should teach vs patience as it did Dauid when Absolon rose vp against him I was dumbe I opened not my mouth because thou diddest it It must needs be a bold audacious impudencie to murmur in afflictions considering God is the author and inflicter If our inferiour strike vs we reuenge it treble if an equall we requite it if a superiour we haue learned this wisdome not to repine or if we mutter yet not to vtter our discontent Thinke whose hand strikes It is Gods who-euer be the instrument the blow was his whatsoeuer was the weapon It is vsually seene that in corrections comming immediatly from Gods hand we are not ordinarily so impatient as in those which come by meanes of wicked instruments and what is the cause but this we doe not so apparently behold Gods holy hand striking vs in these latter as in the former Did we but seriously consider that it is God that scourgeth vs by them we would be then ashamed of our folly in being angry at the rod without any regard of the smiter in snarling like dogs at the stone neuer considering the flinger Doe we not see how patiently Lords and Nobles condemned to die suffer the stroke of death at the hands of the base hangman shewing therein their subiection and obedience to their Prince Euen so should we quietly and patiently endure all the indignities that are offered vnto vs by wicked worldly men therein giuing testimonie of our obedience to God who vseth them as instruments of his iustice to correct vs. See then that thou dost so neuer seuer the crosse from Gods hand though there be neuer so many instruments but Heare the rod who hath appointed it so shalt thou with patience and meeknesse beare that affliction that is inflicted But if otherwise if when the crosse comes thou art willing to see any thing rather than God running vpon inferiour causes gazing on men or meanes regarding more the staffe wherewith thou art smitten than the hand mouing and ruling it it will then be intolerable and thou must needs breake the bounds of patience But may we not haue an eye vpon second causes Are we vtterly to neglect the instruments of our afflictions In all afflictions we are to consider not only the action and worke as it is simply naturall and the disposition of them to the manifestation of Gods glory and our good in which respect God is the chiefe author of them but also an accidentall confusion and malignitie of the action which is wholly to be ascribed to mans corruption by whom it is performed in regard of which malignitie and sinne we are to haue some respect vnto them that we may hate and flie that euill and iniustice that is in them and vse all good and lawfull meanes whereby we may crosse them in their wicked purposes and free our selues from their iniuries and oppressions hauing herein the word of God for warrant which enioyneth vs to vse all honest courses that spirituall wisdome can suggest vnto vs for our preseruation and safetie Thirdly if God be the author of affliction this may serue for direction vnto vs what course to take in time of danger euen that which is giuen vs by the Prophet Hosea to come and returne vnto the Lord for it is he that spoiles and he must heale it is he that wounds and he must binde vp there is none that can take off Gods hand but himselfe He is a foolish malefactor that seekes to the executioner and not vnto the Iudge yet as foolish are we who in the day of trouble rest vpon vaine helps that cannot profit hoping to haue releefe from some Saint or Angell in heauen or which is worse from Coniurers and Witches here vpon the earth As sometimes the Heathen man said If I cannot intreat the gods I will goe vnto the deuils and as King Ahaziah did who being sicke sent to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether he should recouer of his disease or no. Wofull is that cure which is wrought by such Physitians We haue learned better things The generall rule for all troubles is Call vpon me in the day of trouble and I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me As the eyes of seruants therefore looke vnto the hands of their Masters and as the eyes of a maidon vnto the hand of her Mistresse so our eyes shall wait vpon thee our God vntill that thou haue mercy on vs. And lastly seeing God hath a hand in all afflictions that befall this may afford great comfort to the godly in that they are not left into the hands of their cruell and crafty enemies but are in the hands of so gratious and mercifull a God and louing Father through whose sweet hand the sharpest and bitterest afflictions doe passe As for our aduersaries they are but as the rod in the hand of him that smites As therefore the rod can of it selfe doe nothing further than the force of the hand vsing it giues strength vnto it no more can they doe any thing vnto vs further than they haue power giuen them from aboue Boisterous Tubeco may haply dismay vs with his thundering speeches but let vs know there is an ouer-ruling hand to moderate and restraine him The swinging rod the childe sees in his fathers hand may somewhat terrifie him yet the childe may certainly perswade himselfe his father will so vse it as it shall doe him no more harme than a smaller one would doe Let the wicked storme and fiet and breathe out threatnings against Gods Church and people this we know assuredly they may doe what they can but they cannot doe what they would And thus much for the first circumstance which concerneth the Auther or inflicter of the iudgement Now followeth the second which concernes the punished or the parties on whom it is inflicted and they are Gods owne people a people whom hee chose for his peculiar before any other people in the world beside it was his Vineyard his owne enclosure as these words thereof and it doe note vnto vs. Let this then be our obseruation hence That God will not spare his owne people if they sinne against him but will visit their transgressions with the
though it is apparant that the tenths were got in old time from vs by most false and forged cauillations we only craue our owne we would aske no more nor willingly take lesse for our whole dutie is still required then why should not our whole due be paid And yet that the world may learne of vs contentednesse as well by our practise as our doctrine we would for the present take in good part and rest contented with a part of our owne And some competent portions out of the Impropriations proportioned to the quantitie of the charge imposed and the gifts and paines required would for a time be a reasonable satisfaction in our Ministerie vntill our state found it selfe either better enabled or more straitly tied in conscience to full restitution And therefore let all such as haue Impropriations in their hands be hereby moued to make some restitution in whole or part as their estates may beare as some already haue done to the disburdening of their consciences and good example of others But here I looke to haue that counsell giuen me which one did once giue Luther when he first began to preach against the Popes vsurpation and tyrannie You had as good hold your peace this wickednesse is so powerfull that you will neuer preuaile against it Get you to your studie and say Lord haue mercy on vs and procure to your selfe no ill will Well if the worst come I can but speed as others haue done before me I feare indeed I doe but beat the aire for his deuill is not easily cast forth The sonnes of Zeruiah are too hard for vs vnlesse Christian Magistrates who are nursing fathers to the Church doe by their power with good Nehemiah worke a reformation and compell them to bring their tithes againe into the house of God It is the Kings euill no hand but his can heale it But as the Prophet said in another case For Zions sake I cannot hold my tongue and for Ierusalems sake for the poore Churches sake I cannot cease and I would to God that Gods Ministers were here Boanerges sonnes of thunder to thunder out Gods iudgements against this horrible sinne of sacriledge And that all we who haue any thing to doe with any of these persons how great soeuer would cry aloud against them and not spare that if it be possible they might be rowsed and awakened out of this same sinne which in many places causeth prophesying to faile and consequently the people perish Leaue we now the Church and come we to the Common-wealth and there we shall meet with more of this bloudy generation First such as my text here especially speakes of corrupt Iudges and Magistrates Who iudge not the fatherlesse neither doth the widowes cause come before them as Amos speaketh who turne iudgement into wormwood and gall and the fruit of righteousnesse into Hemlocke who afflict the iust take a bribe and turne aside the poore in the gate from their right These the Prophet Zephaniah is not afraid to call roaring Lions and rauening Wolues And our Prophet Isaiah being very bold calleth them companions of theeues and why so did they take purses by the highwaies No but they tooke bribes in their chambers Euery one loued gifts and followed after rewards c. And as the Prophet Hosea speaketh they loued to say with shame Giue yee Now I pray you what difference is there betweene Giue yee and Deliuer yee except it be this Giue yee goeth often in chaines of gold whilst Deliuer ye lieth in fetters of iron before God there is no difference betweene the euery and briberie I doubt not but this kingdome will afford as worthie Iudges and Magistrates as any Land or people in the world And as Iustinian said so with a safe conscience many of our Rulers may They can lift vp their hands cleane to God to the King and to the Law and make protestation with iust and vncorrupt Samuel They haue defrauded none they haue oppressed none Yet I wish and therein I hope doe no man harme that all could say so Then would not Iustice be made a hackney to be backed for money neither could a golden spurre doe any thing to bring her to the desired iournies end of iniury and wrong But oh the wickednesse of these times wherein with Solomon we may obserue many a iust man to perish in his righteousnesse and the wicked to prosper in their wickednesse Is a man well monied then saith the Prouerbe he is too heauie to be cast for what is wanting in the goodnesse of his cause the greatnesse of the Fees will make vp So that the rich may say vnto the poore as Aesops Wolfe vnto the Sheepe when they were in contention together Thou hast a better cause than I but I haue stronger teeth than thou Gaine and rewards be the Remora to the ship of Iustice Shee cannot now be called the Speed but the Delay A Motion this Terme an Order next and instantly all is crossed A writ of Error puts all out of course Iethro was not pleased as it seemes to see causes hang from morning to euening had he liued in these daies how would it haue grudged him to see them hang from Terme to Terme from yeare to yeare And the best causes to be vsed as fore legges are by vnconscionable Chirurgions held long in hand not for the difficultie of the cure but for the gaine thereof The poore Client is faine to trudge vp this Terme and next emptying his purse with paying Fees to one and to another and still the web of his suit is drawne out of a greater length till he want weft to prosecute it and so after all his paines and cost is in the end enforced to let it fall Or say he haue the day yet he makes no sauing match by reason the charges of his suit are greater than the costs that shall be awarded Oh the vncertaine euents of suits besides the trouble I hope to see an end this Terme of my suit saith the poore bloud-drawne wretch when alas he sees no end the next Terme nor next after that yea oftentimes the next and next yeare is past first His suit is a suit of Durance almost an euerlasting suit And thus while the poore oppressed runnes to them who should be as a shelter from the winde and a couert from the tempest it oftentimes fals out that with the silly sheepe running in a storme to the hedge or thicket they are so ensnared amongst the thornes and briers as that they can hardly winde and wrest themselues out without losse of wooll and coat what with delaies demurres and a thousand trickes which money will finde out they lose their fleece and carry away their flesh whole vpon their backes with much adoe If this weather hold many men will goe nigh to be of the minde that Themistocles was sometimes of who professed
any bill of complaint to God against them yet the sinne it selfe will cry though they be silent Clamitat in coelum vox sanguinis Sodomorum Vox oppressorum merces retent a laborum Euery sinne indeed hath its voice to discouer it selfe to God saith one and not a voice only but feet also yea and wings too to make way and speed into heauen for vengeance but yet there are foure sinnes and but foure as is obserued mentioned in Scripture that are said to cry The first is Homicide murther or manslaughter whereof Almighty God thus speaketh vnto Cain The voice of thy brothers bloud crieth vnto mee from off the earth The second is Sodomie a sinne against nature whereof the Lord speaketh thus vnto Abraham Because the cry of Sodome and Gomorrha is great and because their sinne is exceeding grieuous I will goe downe now and see whether they haue done altogether according to the cry which is come vnto me The third is this of Oppression as the places before quoted shew as also that of Habakkuk where the very timber and stone from the building that is founded vpon falshood and oppression is said to cry for vengeance from heauen The fourth is The keeping backe of the labourers hire as that place euen now brought out of S. Iames for the proofe of our point witnesseth These sinnes are not only vocall but importunate they will haue no nay but hale downe iudgements vpon the heads of the miserable authors and wretched actors of them So then it is impossible for oppressors to escape vnpunished and howeuer vengeance may seeme limpingly to pursue them yet it will ouertake them in the end without repentance hinder As for the poore oppressed this may serue for their comfort and it may teach them patience He that is ouerswayed with might against equitie right in some one Court yet is not out of heart nor hope so long as he may appeale to some other that is higher especially if he be perswaded of the integritie and vprightnesse of that Iudge to whom he makes Appeale Art thou then wronged and iniured by the mighty yet be not discouraged for though thou canst haue no helpe at mans hand yet there is a higher to whom thou maist appeale euen God in his holy habitation who beholds thy troubles heares thy sighes bottles vp thy teares is acquainted with all thy griefes and will right thy wrongs For the oppression of the poore for the sighing of the needy now will I arise saith the Lord I will set him at libertie from him that puffeth at him Heare this you fatherlesse and widowes you poore and needy ones and albeit these mighty Nimrods ride ouer your heads and plow vpon your backs making long furrowes there and thus wound your flesh yet let them not wound your patience but let your weake hands be strengthned and your feeble knees confirmed for behold your God will come with vengeance your God will come with recompence Commit therefore your cause to him who iudgeth righteously and see you asswage your griefe and sorrow when you are thus oppressed He will come he will come assuredly in due time he will come and deliuer you from out the pawes of the bloud-thirstie and cruell man Though Passion therefore possesse your bodies yet let Patience possesse your soules And now for the Ecce which is here twice vsed Behold oppression Behold a cry once vsing it is not enough Behold and behold againe One cals this a starrie note Another compares it to a hand in the margent of a booke pointing to some thing of great succeeding consequence Another compares it to the sounding of a trumpet before some proclamation Another to the ringing of a bell before the Sermon of some famous Preacher And indeed as often as it is vsed for it is vsed six hundred times in Scripture it is neuer vsed but in matters of great moment worthy of our deepest and most serious obseruation being still put for a word of wonder and note of admiration So here Behold the wonderfull and vnspeakable mercy and goodnesse of the Lord towards this his Vineyard how great things he had done for it and what meanes he vsed for the prosperitie and welfare of it yea in euery one of the former particulars behold it Againe behold the horrible ingratitude of this his Vineyard Ingratitude in its full proportion with all the dimensions of its vgly stigmaticke forme in it behold Yea we may moue attention from this word to all that hath beene said For there is nothing in this Song but deserues to haue this Character Behold to be stamped on it Consider well of all this Scripture examine euery parcell let not one iod or tittle passe away vnregarded God hath commended yea recommended what is here taught vnto vs with this remarkable note Behold yea behold againe See therefore that you haue beene here present with your minds as well as with your bodies And all you that are here present behold from the highest to the lowest for it deserues deepe pondering vpon Let him that hath eares to heare heare And let him that readeth consider Euen so consider we what hath beene said and the Lord giue vs vnderstanding in all things FINIS AN ALPHABETICALL Table for the readier finding out the chiefe and most materiall things contained in this BOOKE A GOd cannot faile of his end in any of his Actions Pag. 139 Affections of people must be wrought vpon by Gods Ministers 58 Afflictions are Gods Winepresse 132 Not to bee bettered by our Afflictions is dangerous 199 Gods holy hand is in all Afflictions 223 Both the time measure and end of our Afflictions are ordered by God 224 Why God doth vse wicked instruments in the Afflicting of his people 225 How we may looke vpon second causes in our Afflictions 229 God is to be sought vnto when wee are Afflicted 230 They doe not disable vs from being Gods children 236 Amoz the father of Isaiah and Amos in the number of the small Prophets not both one 16 The Angels watch for the godly mans safety 111 Application is the life of Doctrine 278 Arrogancy a sinne to be auoided 101 Attendants of the godly honourable 121 Authority must bee shewed for what Gods Ministers doe deliuer 64 B BArren Professors are good for nothing 79 The world is full of such 159 Man degraded beneath the Beasts 85 Names of Beasts giuen to the wicked 254 Behold how often vsed in the Scriptures 318 It is euer vsed in matters of importance ibid. The abuse of Gods Blessings causeth the Lord to depriue vs of them 238 Pray for a sanctified vse of them 166 Bribery is no better than theeuery 308 Busie-medling dangerous 101 C CHildren are not saued by the faith of their parents 289 They should bee thankfull for religious Parents 295 Gods owne Children chastised 231 The Church weake in it selfe 79 112 She is