Short prayers if they be earnest are better then much babbling vvherin is no stedfastnes Abuse of meÌ„ if they mislike the man that precheth or if he vse common prayer Precise men haue noplace that pray at those times they like othervvise forget them selues the vvhole moneth and the vvhole yere 〈◊〉 Nature condempneth in the wicked that do as their kinde and manner is only they forget God. Christe alone vnspotted blameles maÌ„ of him selfe vvicked and shamelesse â–ª All our corruption is hidden and layed vp in Christe No maÌ„ hath hated his ovvne fleshe at any time then Christe can not cast of vs. This mishapen visage in a Christian is filtâ—y God thinketh vpon our imbecilleties in all he doth Papistes conuicted olde vviues fables haue no place presise and nise long prayers be cause that vvee slip so often Superstition crept in by ignorauce As murtherers Theues vse Kniues Svvordes togeather vvith good men so do the vvicked their praiers together vvith the fà ythfull yet to one they are life to the other death God permitteth the Diuel vvorketh and man sinneth vvilfully they proucke God The Sinner doth all hee doth to death hee vvanteth grace and light the godly they vvorke to life and vse the same thing vvell by the Spirite God hath notied vs to pray after one mannerâ— but this and others bee good for his vvill sake and the perfectnes therof vvee vse this God looketh not on man but on the minde All states can reason vvhy they need no praier but all must submit them selues and pray to God. As is the sapp the earth so is prayer and Inuocation to man As vvater confumeth all so God distroyeth all degrees if they call not vpon him As our life it aboue vvith the God of glory so must vvee be spiritually bent at prayer God named him our Father for that as a Father he giueeth all things that vvee his Children neede The Lorde is terrible yet in Christ is his loue and fauour opened in vvhoÌ„ only there is satisfaction God a Father in the cration and a Father in his blesing and a father to vs in giuing to vs but all alone is hee our father in the attonemente All thinges turne to our destruction if God helpe not If as vvee bee froÌ„ the eathe earthly so vvee vvere not also gouerned by the spirite then vvere vve in death Beeing in death in sâ—n it is requisite that vvee should haue a Mediator Vnmeasurable and vnsearchable is the loue of God that beeinge life gaue himselfe to death foâ— vs. Our Father Seeing our benefits are common to all it is reasoÌ„ that vve pray for alâ—â—and for that God is the author o life vve pray if it bee his vvill that all may liue The electe chosen of God none other come vnto him Why vvee pray to God. All things are not fit for all times For as mutch as God is vnsearchable incompreheÌ„sible it is good reason to submit our selues pray to him All Gods creatures are ready to fulfil his coÌ„maundements against his enemies We pray in the name of one for that the thâ—ee persons make but one God. The sainctes vvith god vve confesse they vvere good men but the honour due to the Lord is not to be giuen vnto them seeing all things be vvonderfull and straung hovv is he most glorious that made them In that perill vvhiche is greatest God is readiest If the heauens passe the creatures perish man also shall haue an end No maÌ„ hath feared God and remained helples Man commeÌ„deth maÌ„ much more man God. First seeke the glorie of God then thine ovvne glorie God honoureth those that honour him and in all thinges that are is he honored if man shuld holde his peace God needeth not man but man needetâ— God. All goodnes all perfectioÌ„ and all holinesse commeth of the spirite Not euery one that saith Lorde Lorde shal be saued but he onely that calleth on him and beleceuâ—th Plaine men begyled in time of poperie keepe the olde superstitioÌ„ still in much bab ling. God knovveÌ„ in all his vvorkes hath names giuen him to shevv the same Iunilius coÌ„tra haereticos Gen. 17. No fleshe shall die for others all flesh dieth or liueth to him selfe All flesh ought to seeke the glorie of god and then is the name of God hallovved God giâ—eth his glory vnto none and those that serue him those he helpeth Such vvere the holy thinges belonging to the teÌ„ple such also vvere the priâ—sts in the lavve such be the preachers novv that be kept as holy vnto god and seuered from the vvorld that they might â—â—lisse and sanctifie him Holy as like to god for that he is holy God most glorious and vvorthy all honour hath created al the treatures to seâ—ue for the vse of man man onely did he make to honour him These three are set dovvn for that his mercie and his loue appeareth most in them Theodoree Eucherius in Reg. Here is it knovven that vve loue God vvhen vve set out his name feare god increase the number of his Church These are vn searchable not to be attained of vs yet do they not and they cannot set out the full povver of God. God helpeth the good beatethdovvn the vvicked punisheth the sinner succoureth his faithfull in vvhich chiefely he is glorified Though Israel vvas as it vvere eaten vp of the vvie ked for a time and the tribe of Iuda extinguished and the root of Dauid forgotten and the temple forsaken yet soudeinly vvas all this renued and God glorified in his Christ This persecucion was greate yet vvas God honoured in the sight of men by the courage death of his saincts For all men vve pray for the good that God vvoulde strengthen them for the faithlull hee vvould deliuer them for the vveake he vvold incourage them for them vvithout that he vvould cal them and for the rebell and obstinat that he vvuld consume theÌ„ in all vvhiche God is magnified God is a consuming fier to the vvicked to them that feaâ—e him â—ee is a mercifull God. God trieth his people suffereth theÌ„ to fall that they may haâ—e a better risinge Sin raigning in our â—â—ortall bodyes vvee vvere câ—oked vp in the sanâ—e but thaâ— only vve are faued and liâ—ted vp in Christ Losenes of life in Christians is the cause of the dishonoring of God and maketh the infidelles the vvorse Scismes in our common vvelth be for our sinnes but the euill life in precise people certefieth vs that they haue an other ende in their dealing then all the vvorld knovveth If God vsed an order in praying then vve in our supplications and in our common vvealth must be also erdered first seeke the kingdome of heauen and the righteousnes therof then all things shall â— giuen you The â—aiâ—ctes holy men they pine avvay and take thought if any superstition do heare svvay rather theÌ„ the truth As the light is more excellent and better vvelcome vvhere
the causes of the institution thereof bée opened The first cause for which the Sabboth was ordayned was Economicall or politicke it is expedient for the preseruation and safety of man that hee may rest his weary bones and eate the labour of his hands and the sweate of his browes with ioyfulnes To this alludeth the spirite of God in Exodus thou and thy Seruaunt and thy Mayde and Cattell and thy Straunger that is within thy Gates The cause is that in care ouerlabouring tediousnes of thy soule thou shouldest not repine agaynst the lord Of the rest much is written Exod. 13. Deut. 5. The second cause of Sabbothe is ecclesiasticall or for the Church because as there was assembling togeather of the Iewes wherin the Lord was reuerenced and his Sabboth halowed so especiallye for this that agréeinge in one wée might be mēbers and professors of one Christe which was the only end of the law For as they had the Tabernacle to come vnto so they had thrée seueral time◠appoynted to meete in their Passouer for their deliuery out of Aegipt their Penticost for the rememberaunce of the lawe giuen by Moses their feast of Tabernacles for that God kepte and deliuered their Fathers in the Wildernes the space of forty yeares So that as they did meete and had seueral places for their offeringes so ought wee to bee gathered togeather at Prayer The thirde cause of the institution of the Sabboth is the rest and quietnes therin prefigured when the Saincts of God shal be associated all of them and dwell with the Lorde of the Sabboth and the vse therof I referre you to the Prophets In wholme I finde no one so great complaynt of them in Israel as I doo for the contempt and breach of the holy day The blessinge in keeping it the dreadfull cursing in breaking it is set downe Esay 58.13 and 56.2 The curse to him that dispiseth his ordinance is shewed in Deut. but his displeasure and wrath is opened to vs in that the fellow that gathered stickes on the Sabboth was stoned and in them sufficiently declared whom God checked for that they gathered Manhu on the Saboth and when they went out found none if it bée a cause of force enough to kepe a man from Church to breake the Sabboth to iourney many miles to heare a Sermond when thy aboade weare more acceptable to thy God and thy diligence more commendable Then truely these men named béefore may pleade with the Lord as vniustly punished For the one had no ster to warme him with the other lackte meate to féede him with and thou wantest a Prophet goest a gadding and seekest a straunger and huntest after the worde to delight thée with Surely this was looked too in Israell and it was neuer permitted amonge the Gentilles and the contempte of the worde and of the Sabboth was neuer suffered amonge Infidelles it was greeuously punished in the primatiue Church and if Constantine Athamasius and Ierom liued they would haue rowsed them out and haue fetchte them wholme long ere this I trust I neede not question heare with any man as touching the day that is appointed for the Sabboth For dayes of them selues are indifferent Math. 22.5 Luke 13.15 Ioh. 5.10 Rom. 14.5 Gala. 4.10 And God could haue appointed euery day to worship him if so his Maiesty had thought good therof but hee appoynted onely one that giuinge our selues to labour wée might bee readyer at appoynted day to learne our duety For as in other Ceremonyes there is sumthing that can not bee chaunged and there is that may bee forborne and lefte out so also is it heare For in Circumsitiō and in Baptisme it is necessarely required that those which pertayne vnto the couenaunt and bee lately ioyned to the Church should haue some external signe to shew it but the manner therof is for a time as first the cutting of the foreskinne the alteration therof renewed againe in the sprinkling of water Therfore to shew there was no necessity therof there was a time wherin none was circumcised and afterward giuen to Abraham established it was left vndoon in the Wildernes the space of forty yeeres so then we bee not tyed therunto and the external rites In like māner the case is all one in vs the Ministers of the word namely the we haue prouided for vs to liue by But whither we take it as tithe or out of the Kings tresury it is indifferent And so is it in the Saboth euen the we keepe a day holy vnto the Lord but whyther it bee the first day or the second or the fourth that for ought that I can yet see I finde not Then this is taken in of the Church as beeing hir right and at hir appoyntment and shée hath instituted the Sunday for the Saboth to magnefie the name of the Lord withall as for other Festiuall dayes then when I haue occasion to speake the breach of these beeinge as great as the abuse of the other at more conuenient place must bee examined for now I am already admonished to make haste only let this bée sufficient for the vnderstanding of that which I considered in Prayer that on s parte therof was publique and the other priuate The manner of prayer howe it is to be vsed whether knéeling sitting standing or going there is small cause to reason of it For if it be priuate to thy selfe the Lord accepteth as well the goer as the runner and the stander as the knéeler if he come in spirite and trueth Albeit I do wishe a reuerend feare in euery one that commeth before the lord For if there be duetie and reuerence and care to be had among men and those that dwell in teats whose building is but for a season What manner of humilitie ought we to vse vnto the Lorde our God that gouerneth vs and the whole earth But in publique prayer it is my desire that all would be of one mind not reading when one is preaching or another talking while he is ministring or thou knéeling when he is sitting but that we be alike affectioned vnto the Lorde For as the Leuites when the Trumpe did sound at once did agree alike so would I at one time wee might accorde in voice in gesture in prayer in supplication in soule in heart vnto our god For lift thou vp thy hands or beate thou on thy brest or speake thou openly or sigh inwardly or else what euer thy custome be be it not Iewishe or Ethnicke like it is all one vnto the Lorde Onely in the Congregation where God wil be knowen among vs where we may be iudged to be as seruauntes vnto one Lorde let there be no discorde or disagréement in any thing For as is of the seruaunt to the master so is there of vs by duetie in vs to our God and if in the house they be at variance among them selues will their Lord
and strong meate from you and I craue it in the name of Iesus Christ which hath bought you and for his bloudshedding which hath ransomed you and for the mediation on his behalfe which dayly prospereth you That you woulde be good and faithfull stewards in the house of God That henceforth you suffer no dissolute and gyddiheads to trouble her no dombe and doltish ministers to mussle her no Priestes of Baall no bringers of newfangles to come néere her You shall increase to the Lorde GOD the number of his chosen people you shall strengthen the weake helpe the féeble incurrage the poore in spirite make strong the féeble knées open the eyes of the blinde helpe the ignoraunt and builde vp the walles of his spirituall Hierusalem I haue described heatherto the halfe face of such a Prophet as I haue seldome heard of in any commmon welth please it you to giue me leaue to touch but the very hem of this his next garment If then I giue him not sufficient clothing I am content to let him go for this time hereafter when I am welthier more fully to attyre him To his bodie as to the whole man I haue giuē him this that he be blameles To kéepe him in awe as otherwise one wilde enoughe that he praunce not forth in his furie he hath a snaffle to drawe him backe euen a verie good vertue mutuall societie For that hee hath a house and a charge to hee hath a towre to looke out on where he must be watching For that he is in a verie brickle place I haue set one to waite vpon him to kéepe him in sobrietie hee is couered with discréetion and being a man of wisedome he regardeth not him selfe so much as others he bestoweth therefore on his neighbours and kéepeth hospitalitie And knowing that men liue not by breade onely hée diggeth for the pittes of the water of life and teacheth them to séeke the Manhu came downe from heauen Lastly as one able to discharge so great an office hee hath Abstinency as kéeper of him selfe and others that they absteine from such thinges as be hurtefull and séeke them maye profite all In the booke of God there is prescript commaundement giuen as touching them that abstayned Loquere ad filios Israel vir siue mulier si vouerint votum Nadir separēt se a domino a vino sisera abstineant c. Of abstainers I finde two sortes The one at the cōmaundemēt of the Lorde The other of frée will Commaunded of God was Samuel euen from the breastes of his mother when as Hanna wife of Helcana being barrē she desired of the Lorde a childe 1. Sam. 2.33 The like was of Sampson when the Angell appeared to Manoath of the tribe of Dan whose wife also had neuer childe til that time Iudg. 13. Like as was that of Iohn Baptist when as the Angell appeared to Zacharie at the Alter shewing him that his wife should conceiue and beare a sonne and that he shoulde drinke neither wine neither strong drink for he was a Nazarist as Luk. 1. An other kind of abstainer there was the lasted al onely for a time common to the Leuite to the Priest to man to woman vnto all for a certeine season which custome in maner was kept by Paul when he vowed a vow and shaued his heade in Cenchraea Priscilla and Aquila accompaning him This was that whereon the Papistes tooke so much holde for their vowings But as the Gopell is frée and tyed neyther to tymes and seasons neither to yeares and dayes so the libertie that wee haue in Christe doth abrogate these Paul speaking here of the abstayning meaneth not that we shoulde renewe this custome againe but warneth vs here of drounkennesse and of intemperauncie A vice verie common and in déede not cared for and I meruaile so much the more thereat as I sée them to be traunceformed into beastes and that manlinesse and liue bloud that followeth the greenesse of youth to be turned into blacknesse and vglinesse in the Face of whome you may haue a good note to discerne them by that sweltering and rottennesse you shall sée in them that be common quaffers Wherefore as there be nowe euery where in the house of God redier at Ticktacke then at the Bible that dishonest their calling of Dyceing and bring contempt to the word of God shame to them selues and a reproch for euer to their vocation by ouerdrinking so if any thing deserueth banishment from the sight of God from the ministerie from Bishoppricke this in my iudgement especially deserueth it And howe can it be that the true foode the spirituall perfect drinke can euer be tasted of if such mis-shapen deformed and disguised Ale house Knightes be suffered to haue any thing to doe in the seruice of the Lorde For this cause thinking my selfe most happie at this time though vnworthy to speake in so learned and Honorable an assembly as héere I sée Yet either as Phormio to Hannibal or as one emboldened to speake at this present I presume in the name of the Lord God in the behalfe of his Church and of the flocke he hath committed to vs to speake thus much Not therin to rip vp old sores which I know cannot be healed or to vnlase the wounds of any man which cannot be done without peril and ioperdy of the body neither yet as hauing cause to crie out for reformation in diuers cases in that many thinges be reformed most exactly But humblie to craue of your honour whome God hath placed in his eternall counsaile ouer vs Leuites to rub and race out all the stock of Iesabell to plucke out and deface them which haue no title to the true Priesthoode To rende the kingdome of those headlesse fellowes who hauing of a long time serued Peor and offered vp the first fruites of their youth to Accaron are nowe compelled to lie groueling in the Church of God and in the darknes wherin they haue loytered shoake vp the people with vnleauened bread nay with chaffe and superstition wherin they haue serurely lurked these many yeres The countrie is so full either of tongue tied ministers whiche speake nothing ▪ or of Vesselles without water good for nothing or of idle and sluggish Leuites which profit nothing that the people of the Lord are starued they lack meate euery corner so ful of newefangled disguised toyes bringing in of newes and straunge nouelties to delight the people in preching deuided in doctrine contrarie in life and behauiour filthy in instructions erronious in admonitions Phantasticall in their dealings innonating chaunging the olde for the newe that the shéepefolde of the Lorde is cut in sunder and faine to abide in manie angles and to lurke in priuate corners that they may better be satisfied in that they aske I am persuadid that a great number they are fitter for Mycah to serue and worship a Theraphin to the dishonour of the Lorde then once to offer vp true