Samuel told Eli every whit and kept nothing from him And He said It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him Good THe words are the words of old Eli the Priest and have reference to that message which yong Samuel brought him from the Lord such a message as did make both the ears of every one that heard it tingle ver 11. Come see the work of sin what desolation it makes upon the Earth Ophni and Phinehas the two prophane and adulterous Sons must die old Eli the indulgent Father the High Priest must die Thirty four thousand Israelites must fall by the sword of the Philistines The Arke the glory of Israel must be taken and be delivered up in triumph unto Dagon this was the word of the Lord which he spake by the mouth of the child Samuel and not a word of his did fall to the ground at the 19. verse for what God foretells is done already with him that calleth the things that are not as if they were as the Prophet speaks there is no difference of times Nothing past Nothing to come all is present So that old Eli did see this bloody Tragedy acted before it was done saw it done before the signal to Battle was given did see his Sons slain whilst the Fleshook was yet in their hands himself fall whilst he stood with Samuel the Israelites slain before they came into the field the Arke taken whilst it was yet in the Tabernacle a fad and killing presentment whether we consider him as a Father or a High Priest a Father looking upon his Sons falling before the Ark which they stood up and fought for as a High Priest beholding the people slain and vanquisht and the Ark the Glory of God the Glory of Israel in the hands of Philistines But the word of the Lord is gone out and will not return empty and void for what he sayes shall be done and what he binds with an oath is irreversible and must come to pass and it is not much material whether it be accomplisht to morrow or next day or now instantly and follow as an Eccho to the Prediction nam una est scientia Futurorum Hier. ad Pammach adversus errores Joann Hierosol saith S. Hierome for the knowledge of things to come is one and the same And now it will be good to look upon these heavie Judgments and by the terror of them fly from the wrath to come as the Israelites were cured by looking on the Serpent in the Wilderness For even the Justice of God when it speaks in thunder makes a kinde of melody when it toucheth and striketh upon an humble submissive yeelding heart Behold old Eli an High Priest to teach you who being now within the full march and shew of the Enemy and of those judgments which came apace towards him like an Armed man not to be resisted or avoided and hearing that from God which shook all the powers of his soul settles and composes his troubled minde with his consideration That is was the Lord in this silences all murmur slumbers all impatience buries all disdain looks upon the hand that strikes bows and kisseth it and being now ready to fall raiseth himself up upon this pious and Heavenly resolution Dominus est It is the Lord Though the people of Israel fly and the Philistines triumph though Ophni and Phinehas fall Though himself fall backward and break his neck Though the Ark be taken yet Dominus est It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good Which words are a Rhetorical Enthymeme perswading to humility and a submissive acquiescience under the Hand the mighty Hand of God by his power his justice his wisdom which all meet and are concentred in this Dominus est It is the Lord. He is omnipotent and who hath withstood his power He is just and will bring no evil without good cause He is wise whatsoever evil he brings he can draw it to a good end and therefore Faciat quod bonum in oculis let him do what seemeth him good Or you may observe first a judicious discovery from whence all evils come Dominus est It is the Lord. Secondly a well-grounded resolution 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to behave our selves decently and fittingly as under the power and justice and wisdom of God Let him do what seemeth him good The first is a Theologicall Axiome Dominus est It is the Lord There is no evil in a City Which he doth not do The second a conclusion as necessary as in any Demonstration most necessary I am sure for weaknesse to bow to Omnipotency In a word The Doctrine most certain Dominus est It is the Lord ... All these evils of punishment are from him and the resolution which is as the use and application of it most safe Faciat quod bonum in oculis Let him do what seemeth him good Of these we shall speak in their order and in the prosecution of the first for we shall but touch upon and conclude with the last that you may follow me with more ease we will draw the lines by which we are to passe and confine our selves to these four particnlars which are most eminent and remarkeable in the story First that Gods people the true professors may be delivered up to punishment for sinne Secondly that in these general judgements upon a people the good many times are involved with the evil and fall with them Thirdly that Gods people may be delivered up into the hands of Philistines and Aliens men worse then themselves Fourthly that the Ark The glory of their profession may be taken away These four and then fix up this inscription Dominus est It is the Lord and when we have acquitted his Justice and wisdom in these particulars cast an eye back upon the inscription and see what beams of light it will cast forth for our direction Dominus est it is the Lord c. And in the first place of Ophni and Phineas the Text tels us That they hearkened not unto the voice of their Father because the Lord would destroy them which word Quia is not casuall but illative 2 Ch. v. 25. and implyes not the cause of their sinne but of their punishment they did not therefore sin because God would punish them but they hearkened not to the voice of their Father therefore the Lord destroyed them as we use to say the Sun is risen because it is day for the day is not the cause of the Suns rising but the Sun rising makes it day They were sons of Belial vessels already fitted for wrath as we may see by their many fowl enormities and therefore were left to themselves and their sinnes and to wrath which at last devoured them Gods Decree whatsoever it be is immanent in himself and therefore could not because of that disobedience and wickednesse which was extrameous and contrary to him nor could there be any action of Gods either positive or negative
and Hell is Hell Virtue is Virtue and vice is vice to the Understanding nor can it appeare otherwise for in these we cannot be deceived what Reason can that be which teacheth us to Act against Reason Esau knew well enough that it was a sinne to kill his Brother but his Reason taught him to expect his Fathers Funerall Ahab knew it was a crying sinne to take Naboths Vineyard from him by violence and therefore hee would have paid down money for it and his painted Queene knew as much but that the best way to take possession of his Vineyard was to dispossess him of his life and the surest way to that was to make him a Blasphemer that was the effect and product of Reason and Discourse which is the best servant when the Will is Right and the worst when shee is irregular Reason may seek out many Inventions for Evill and shee may discover many helps and Advantages to promote that which is good she may draw out the method which leads to both find out opportunities bring in Encouragements and Provocations to both but Reason never yet call'd Evill good or Good evill 2 Thess 3.2 for then it is not Reason the Apostle hath joyn'd both together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they be wicked they are unreasonable and absur'd for they doe that which Reason abhorres and condemnes at the first presentment So that the will you see is origo boni mali is the prinipall cause of Good and Evill That I will not understand when I cannot but understand is from the will that the Judge is blind when he sees well enough what is just and what is unjust is not from the Bribe but the Will That my feare shakes me my Anger enflames me my Love Transports me my sorrow casts me downe and my joy makes me mad That my Reason is Instrumentall and Active against it self That my Passions rage and are unruly is from my will which being fastened to its Object drawes all the Powers of the Soul after it And therefore if the will Turne all these will Turne with it Turne to their proper offices and Functions The Understanding will be all Light and the Affections will be all Peace for the proper Act of every Faculty is its Peace when the Understanding contemplates that Truth which perfects it it rests upon it and dwells there as upon a holy Hill But when it busies it self in those which hold no proportion with it as the gathering of Wealth the raysing of a Name the finding out pleasures when it is a Steward and Purveyor for the Sense it is restlesse and unquiet now finds out this way anon another and by by disapproves them both and contradicts it self in every motion When our Affections are levell'd on that Affectiones ordinatae sunt virtutes Gers for which they were given us they lose their name and wee call them Virtues but when they fly out after every impertinent Object they fly out in infinitum and are never at their end and rest place Love on the things of this VVorld and what a troublesome Tumultuous Passion is it tiring it self with its own Hast and wasting and consuming it selfe with its owne Heat but place it on Piety and there it is as in its Heaven and the more it spends of it self the more it is increased Let your Anger kindle against an Enemy and it is a Fury that Torments two at once but derive it and lay it on your sin and there it sits as a Magistrate on a Tribunall to worke your Peace That sorrow which wee cast away upon Temporall losses is a Disease which must be cured by Time but our sorrow for sinne is a Cure it self is a second Baptisme washes away the Causes of that Evill and dyes with it and rises up againe in Comfort That joy which is rays'd out of Riches and Pleasure is rais'd as a Meteor out of dung and is whiffed up and downe by every winde and Breath but if it follow the Health and Harmony the good Constitution of the Soule it is as cleare and pure and constant as the Heavens themselves and may be carried about in a lasting and continued Gyre but is still the same And this Turne the Affections will have if the will Turne then they Turne their face another way from Bethaven to Bethel from Ebal to Garazin from the Mount of Curses to the Holy Hill We cannot Think that in this our Turne the Powers of the Soul are pull'd to pieces that our Affections are plucked up by the roots That our Love is Annihilated our Anger destroyed our Zeal quencht By my Turne I am not dissolved but better built I have new Affections and yet the same now dead and impotent to evill but vigorous and active in Good my steps are altered not my Feet my Affections cut off the Character is chang'd but not the Book That sorrow which covered my face for the losse of my Friend is now a Thicker and Darker cloud about it because of my sinne That hope which stoop'd so low as the Earth as the mortall and fading vanities of the world is now on the wing raising it selfe as high as Heaven That Zeale which drove Saint Paul upon the very pricks to persecute the Church did after lead him to the block to be crown'd with Martyrdome If the Will be Turned that is captivated and subdued to that Will of God which is the Rule of all our Actions it becomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Shop and Work-house of Virtuous and Religious Actions and the Understanding and Affections are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fellow-workers with it ready to forward and Compleat the Turne Saint Bernard tells us that nothing doth Burne in Hell but our will and 't is as true Nothing doth reigne in Heaven but the will In it are the wells of Salvation and in it are the waters of Bitterness in it is Tophet and in it is Paradise Aug. Hom. 8. Totum habet qui bonam habet voluntatem saith Austin he hath runne through all the Hardship and Exercises of Repentance who hath not changed his opinion or improv'd his knowledge but alter'd his will for the Turne of the will supposeth the rest but the rest doe not necessitate this when this is wrought all is done that is The Soul is enlightened purged renewed hath its Regeneration and new Creation in a word when the Will is turn'd the soul is saved The Old man is a New Creature and this New Creature changes no more but holds up the Turne till he be Turn'd to Dust and raysed againe and then made like unto the Angels THE SIXTH SERMON PART II. EZEKIEL 33.11 Turne ye Turne ye from your evill wayes c. This Turn is a Turn of the whole man of his understanding his affections nay of his senses of the eye and the ear from vanity of the tast from forbidden fruit of the touch from that which it must not handle a
joyned with it which might produce such an effect and what need of any such Decree or Action to make them disobedient who refuse to hearken to their Father or to harden them whose sinne was now great before the Lord But we must conclude these two within the 34000. that were slain And now C 2.17 the delivering up the people in such a number to the sword may seem to prejudice and call in question the Justice of God what His people His own people cull'd out of the Nations of the earth must these fall by the sword of these Aliens these enemies to God that know not his Name shall not the Judge of all the earth do right yes he will for even in this Dominus est It is the Lord. For as the Lord once said to his people Es L. 1. where is the bill of your mothers divorcement whom I have put away so here he may ask were is that Bill and obligation which I made to protect you if there be any brought forth we shall finde it rather like a Bill of sale then the conveyance of an absolute Gist on the one side God promiseth something on his behalf on the other there is something required on ours Read the Covenant and contract between them they had his promise to be their God and they were the sons of promise Gal. 4. but then these promises were conditionall and in every conditionall promise there is an obligation and command I will be their God that is his promise and they shall be my people that 's their duty and if these meet not the promise is void and of none effect There is not a more true and naturall glosse upon this promise than that of Azariah in the Chronicles 2 Chron 15.2 Hear you men of Asa of all Judah and Benjamin The Lord is with you whilst you are with him and if you seek him he will be found of you but if you forsake him he will forsake you both must go together or both are lost for if they will be his people then his promise is firm being found in the eternall essence of God and so as constant and immutable as Himselfe but if they break his commandment and put it from them Then to be their God were not to be their God then to make good his promises were to vilisy and debauch them This were liberalitarem ejus mutare in servitutem Tertul. to turn his liberality into slavery prodigally to pour the Pretious oyl of his goodnesse into a vessell that could not hold it to protect and countenance a man of Belial because he bears the name of an Israelite And therefore in the 27. of Isaiah at the 11. verse where God upbraids his people of folly he presently cancells the bill and puts them out of his protection Therefore he that made them will not have mercy upon them he that sramed them will shew them no favour what though they be the people which he hath purchased yet he will take no care of his own purchase though they be his possession he will give them up he will not do what he promised and yet be Truth it self for if they do not their Duty he did not promise Though he made them though he formed them yet he will not own them but forsake and abhor his own work he will surrender them up and deliver them to Destruction Even here upon the forehead of a desolate and rejected Israelite we may set up this Inscription Dominus est It is the Lord. And now if we look up upon the Inscription Dorrinus est It is the Lord we may read and interpret it without a Guide and learn not to Trifle with God because he is our Lord not to mock him with our Hypocrisy and force in our profession to countenance our Sin to be worse then Philistines because we are Israelites to be his Enemies because we call our selves Gods people to be worse then Turks or Jews because we are Christians Oh the Happy times of the Infant Church when the Pagan could finde nothing amongst the Christians to accuse but their Name and then what Times are These when you can scarce see any thing commendable in the Christian but the Name you may call it if you please the dotage or blindnesse of the Church for the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord The Israelite the Israelite The Christian the Christian the Protestant the Protestant This is the Musick with which most use to drive away the evil Spirit all sad and melancholy thoughts from their hearts but indeed saith Basil the Devil doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth daunce and leap for joy to hear it when he hears not withal the noise of our groanings of our prayers of our good works nor the Harmony of a well tuned and well composed life to go up to Heaven along with it Oh what pitty is it that God should place us in Paradice in a place of pleasure and safety and we forfeit it that he should measure out unto us as it were by the line a goodly Heritage and we pluck up our own hedges and lay our selves open to every Wild-Beast that he should make us his people and we force him to be our Enemy in a word that our Inheritance should begger us our security betray us and our royal prerogative undo us and further we carry not this consideration 2. We passe to the second particular and in the second place in so great a number as 34000 I may say in the whole Common-wealth of Israel for a Common-wealth may suffer in a far less Number we cannot doubt but some there were that fearred the Lord and shall there be as the Wise-man speaks 2 Eccle. 14. Horat. Gen. 18.23 the same event to the righteous and the wicked to the clean and him that sacrificeth not will God Incesto addere integrum will he destroy saith Abraham the righteous with the sinner This indeed is the depth of God and a great part of the world have been troubled at the very sight of it but yet if we behold it with that light which Scripture holds forth we shall finde it is not so unfordable but we shall make some passage through it For I if we could not make answer or render any reason yet this ought not to prejudice or call in question the justice of it especially with us men who are of Dull and slow understandings and when we have wearied our selves in searching out causes of natural things yet after all our sweat and oyle cannot attain so far as to know why the grasse which is under our feet is green rather then purple or of any other colour and therefore far below those Supernaturals and most unfit to search out those causes which God may seem to have lockt up in his own Brest God is the lord of all the earth Psal 90.4 and as the Prophet tells us a thousand years in his sight
command deliver up his own Ordinance what deliver up his strength into Captivity and his Glorie into the enemies hands yes even here Dominus est it is the Lord. God did it because he suffered it to be done did it tanquam dormiens as one asleep withdrew himself when he awakes then he will lift up his hand and it shall fall upon the Philistine and bruise him to pieces then it shall be his power and irresistible Arm now it is but his connivence and permission What the rage of the Persecutor what the Philistine what the Devil doth God is said to do and in many places of Scripture it is called his will â— quia volens permittit because he willingly permits it for should he interpose his power it could never be done 2. Because he foretels and threatens it and binds it with an Oath as he doth here which he would never do if he meant to hinder it Lastly Though he will not the thing it self as murder and Sacriledge and the Profanation of his Ark yet notwithstanding some good will of God is accomplished by it For even in the most horrid Execution some good will of God may be accomplisht he delivers up Christ to be Crucified but his will was to save the World and he that was willing his Son should suffer yet hated the Jew and for that very fact made their house desolate he found them in the gall of bitternesse and left them so to do his will when they brake it the malice was their own and God suffered them to breath it forth but the issue and event was an Act of Gods will of his wisdom and power And thus he delivers up the Ark but it was to preserve it as Agesilaus abrogated the Laws of Lâ—curgus that he might establish them ut semper essent aliquanâ—o non fuerunt Valer. Max. l. 7. c. 2 saith the Historian they were laid aside awhile that they might remain and be in force for ever so God suffers his Ark to be lead into Captivity that it might conquer first Dagon and then the Israelite strike off his hypocrisy and work and fashion him to the will of God of whom the Ark was but a representation suffered it to be removed for a time that it might be restored again both to its place and dignity For we may observe in these Israelites what if we could be impartial we may soon discover in our selves in the use of those helps which God hath graciously afforded us They both honoured and dishonored the Ark gave it too high an esteem and yet undervalued it they called it their God and made it their Idol A strange contradiction yet so visible in the course and progresse of carnal worshippers that he that sees them in their race would think they ran two contrary wayes at once were very Religious and very profane at once did invade Heaven with violence and yet drive furiously to the lowest pit And first we have just reason to imagine that when the Ark was taken up upon the Levites shoulders and they sang let God arise which was the set and constant form they spake not by metaphor but as if indeed they had their God on their shoulders for in the fourth Chapter when Israel was smitten at the 2. ver let us bring say they the Ark of the Covenant at the third The Ark is brought out and now victory is certain for when it cometh amongst us it willsave us say they But as Epictetus once taught his Scholars that they should so behave themselves that they might be an Ornament to the Arts and not the Arts unto them so the integrity of the Jew should have been a defence to the Ark and not the Ark made use of to stand up for a prophane impenitent Israelite For what a wile and sophisme of Satan is this to perswade a polluted sinful soul that when he hath scornfully rejected the substance that piety which should make him strong in the Lord at the last in the time of Danger and the furious approach of the enemy a shadow should stand forth and fight for him that when he had broken the Law and Testimonies not regarded the Oracles forget all the Mercies of God and robd him of his glory that then I say the shell the Ark the Shittim wood should be as the great power of God to maintain his cause certainly if this be not a wile of the Devil I know no snare he hath that can catch us if this be not to deceive our selves I shall think there is no such thing as error in the World But again in the second place and on the contrary as they did Deificare Arcam as the father speaks even deifie the Ark attribute more unto it then God ever gave it or was willing it should have so they did also depretiare vilifie and set it at naught called it their strength their glory their God but imployed it in baser offices then ever the Heathen did their gods who called upon them to teach them to steal and deceive Not long since their Priests committed rapes at the door of the Tabernacle Pulcra laverna Da mihi fallere c. Hor. and now they expect the Ark should help those prophane miscreants who had so polluted it Oh the Ark the Ark the glory of God that is able to becalm and slumber a Tempest to binde the hands of the Almighty that he shall not strike to scatter an Army to make kings to fly to crown a sinful Nation with victory to bring back an adulterer Lanreate a Ravisher with the spoiles of a Philistine that shall be a buckler a protection to defend them who but now defiled it that shall be their God which they made their Abomination bring forth the Ark and then what are these uncircumcised Philistines God heard this saith the Psalmist Psal 78.59 and was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel and seeing that all the cry was for the Ark no thought for the statutes and Testemonies which lay shut up in the Ark and oblivion together seeing the signe of his presence had quite shut him out of whose presence it was a signe seeing it so much honored so much debased so sanctified and so polluted he delivers up the people and the Ark together into the Philistines hands that they might learn more from the Ark in the Temple of Dagon then they did when it stood in their own Tabernacle learn the right use of it now which they had so fouly abused when they enjoyed it in a word strikes off their embroydery that they might learn to be more glorious within I remember there is a constitution in the Imperial Law st seudatarius rem Feuae c. if he that holdeth in see farm useth contrary to the will and intent of the Lord redit a Dâ—menum it presently returns into the Lords power And we may observe that the great Emperour of Heaven and earth proceeds after the same
built up his assurance as strong as he can yet thinks himself not sure enough but seeks for further assurance and fortify's it with his Feare and assiduous diligence that it may stand fast for ever whereas we see too many draw out their owne Assurance and seale it up with unclean Hands with wicked hands with hands full of Blood We have read of some in the dayes of our Fore-fathers and have heard of others in our own and no doubt many there have been of whom we never heard whose Conversation was such as became the Gospel of Christ and yet have felt that hell within themselves which they could not discover to others but by gastly looks Out-cryes and deep Groanes and loud complaints to them who were neere them That Hell it self could not be worse nor had more Torments then they felt And these may seem to be breath'd forth not from a broken but a perishing heart to be the very Dialect of Despaire and indeed so they are for Despaire in the worst acception cannot sink us lower then hell But yet we cannot we may not be of their opinion and think what they say that they are cast out of Gods sight No God sees them looks upon them with an Eye full of compassion and most times sends an Angel to them in this their Agony as he did unto Christ a message of Comfort to rowse them up but if their tendernesse should yet raise doubts and draw the cloud still over them we have reason to think and who dares say the contrary that the hand of Mercy may even through this cloud receive them to that Sabbath and rest which remaines for the people of God I speak of men who have been severe to themselves and watchfull in this their Warfare full of good works and continued in them and who have many times when they were even at the gates of heaven and neere unto happinesse these Terrors and affrightments who are full of Charity and therefore cannot be destitute of hope although their owne sad apprehensions and the breathings of a Tender Conscience have made the operation of it lesse sensible and their hope be not like Aarons rod cut off dryed up and utterly dead but rather like a tree in Winter in which there is life and faculty yet the absence of the Sun or the cold benumming it suffers no force of life to worke but when that draws neere and yeelds its warmth and Influence it will bud and blossome and bring forth fruit and leafe together The Case then of every man that Despaires is not desperate but we must consider dispair in its Causes which produce and work it If it be exhal'd and drawn up out of our corrupt works and a polluted Conscience the streame of it is poysonous and deleteriall the very smoake of the bottomlesse pit but if it proceed from the distemper of the body which seises upon one as well as another or a weakness of Judgement which befalls many who may be weak and yet Pious or an excessive sollicitude and tendernesse of soul which is not so common we cannot think it can have that force and malignity as to pull him back who is now thus striving to enter in at the narrow gate or to cut him off from salvation who hath wrought it out with Feare and trembling At the Day of Judgement the Question will be not what was our Opinion and conceit of our selves but what our conversation was and what we thought of our Estate but what we did to raise it not of our fancied application of the Promises but whether we have performed the Condition For then the Promises will apply themselves God hath promised and he will make it good we shall not be askt what we thought but what we did for how many have thought themselves sure who never came to the knowledge of their Error till it was too late How many have called themselves Saints who have now their portion with Hypocrites How many have fancied themselves into Heaven whose wilfull disobedience carried them another way on the other side how many have beleeved and yet doubted how many have been synceere in the wayes of Righteousnesse and yet drooped How many have fainted even in their Savours Armes when his Mercies did compassed them in on every side how many have been in he greatest Agony when they were neerest to their Exaltation How many have condemned themselves to hell who now sit crowned in the highest Heavens I know nothing by my self 2 Cor. 4.4 saith Saint Paul yet am not thereby Justified Hoc dicit Dialogo adv Pelagium ne forte quid per ignorantiam deliquisset saith Saint Hierom though he knew nothing yet something he might have done amisse which he did not know and though our Conscience accuse us not of greater crimes yet our Conscience may tell us we may have committed many sins of which she could give us no Information and this may cast a mist about him who walketh as in the Day In a word a man may doubt and yet be saved and a man may assure himself and yer perish a man may have a groundless Hope and a man may have a groundlesse Feare and when we see two thus contrarily Elemented the one drooping the other cheerfull the one rejoycing in the Lord whom he offends the other trembling before him whom he loves we may be ready to pitty the one and blesse the Condition of the other cast away the Elect and chuse the Reprobate and therefore we must not be too rash to Judge but leave the Judgement to him who is Judge both of the quick and dead and will neither condemne the Innocent for his Feare or justifie the man that goes on in his sinne for his Assurance Take Comfort then thou disconsolate soule which art strucken down into the place of Draggons and art in this terror and anguish of heart This feare to thine is but a cloud and it will drop down and distill in Blessings upon thy head This Agony will bring down an Angel This sorrow will be turned into joy and this Doubt answered this despaire vanish that Hope may take its proper place againe the Heart of a poenitent Thy Feare is better then other mens confidence thy anxiety more Comsortable then their security Thy doubting more favoured then their assurance Timor tuus securitas tua thy feare of Death will end in the firme expectation of Eternall life Though thou art tost on a Tumultuous Sea thy Mast spent and thy Tackling torne yet thou shalt at last strike in to shore when these proud Saylors shall shipwrack in a Calme Misinterpret not this thy dejection of Spirit thy sad and pensive Thoughts nor seek too suddenly to remove them an afflicted Conscience in the time of health is the most hopefull and Soveraigne Physick that is thy feare of Death is a certaine Symptome and infallible signe of life there is no Horror of the Grave to him that lies
delighted tradidit repletos non replendos Isid Pelus l. 4. ep 102 saith the father he gave them over not be filled but being filled already with all iniquity he delivered them over to a reprobate minde they retained not God in any part of their time and now that is run out is at an end and that time will be no more they would be evil and now they cannot be good The Jewish Doctors had a proverb that God did but in this his proceeding farinam jam molitam molere but do that which was done already to his hands grinde that corn that was ground already and leave them who would be left to themselves and their own hellish wickednesse which was their ruine For that of Basil is most true Bas Hom. 22. c. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Judgement follows mercy at the heels to take revenge upon those who wantonly abuse her strikes them dead who would not live and seals them up to damnation who were condemned already You may now Turn and he will receive you that 's the dialect of mercy but you shall not if you thus put it off from time to time that 's the voice of an angry and despised God Oh that thou hadst known in this thy day see Mercy gave her a day and shined brightly in it by which light she might have seen the things that concerned her peace nunc autem but now now it is past are as the black lines of reprobation drawn out by the hand of Justice It was thy day but now it is shut up and now nox est perpetuo una dormienda thy Sun is set for ever all is night eternal night the light is hid from thine eyes and thou shalt never see it more You will say this was spoken to a People to a Nation 't is true but may it not also be so with every particular person may it not be so with one Pharisee with one viper as well as with a generation was it not so with Judas as well as with Jerusalem I have read that a Body or a Society that a Common-wealth may fall under a censure and be subject unto penalty yet bodies do not offend but in their parts 't is not Rome that commits the fault but Sempronius or Titius who are parts of that Common-wealth Not the Amorites alone Not the sect of the Pharisees not Jerusalem alone but every man may have Diem suam his allotted time in which he may turn from his evil wayes and this day may be a Feast-day or a day of trouble it may beget an eternal day or it may end in the shadow of death and everlasting darknesse Oh that men were wise but so wise as the creatures which have no reason so wise as to know their seasons to discover hanc diem suam this their day wherein they may yet turn that we could but behold that Decretory hour or but place it in our thoughts or make it our fear that such a one there may be in which Mercy shall forsake us and Justice cut off our hopes for ever Certainly we should not make so many Dayes in our year we should not resolve to day for to morrow and to morrow for the next and so drive it forward till the last sand till we can resolve no more For he that thinks so lightly of eternity to think it may be wrought out in a moment and yet will not allow it so much but when he please hath just cause to fear that his day is past already Now though there may be such a day such a moment yet this day this moment like the day of judgement is not known to any and it may seem on purpose to be removed out of our sight that we may be jealous of every moment of our life and when the devil tempts the World flatters the flesh rebells set up this thought against them that this may be our last moment and if we yeeld now we shall be slaves for ever For as the long suffering of God is Salvation the second of Pet. 3.15 so is every day every hour of our life such a day and such an hour which carries along with it eternity Sen. de benef 2.5 either of pain or Blisse That thou mayest therefore turn now think that a time may come when thou shalt not be able to turn tardè velle nolentis est not to be willing to turn to thy God now is to deny him delay is no better then defiance And why shouldest thou hope to be willing hereafter whoart not willing now and art not willing now upon this false deceitful hope that thou shalt be willing hereafter Wilful and present folly is no good presage of after-wisdom and it is more probable that a froward will will be more froward and perverse then that after it hat joyned with the vanities of this world and cleaved fast unto them it should bow and bend it self to that Law which makes it death to touch them He that leaps into the pit upon hope that he shall get out hath leapt into his Grave at least deserves to be covered over with darknesse and to buried there for ever Feare then lest the measure of thy Iniquity be almost full and perswade thy self thy next sin may fill it Think this is thy Day thy houre Thy moment and though peradventure it may not be yet think it may be thy last It is no error though it be an error For if it be not thy last yet in Justice God might make it so for why should Heaven be offer'd more then once and if it be an Error It is an happy Error and will redeeme us from all those Errors which delay brings in and multiplies even those Errors which make us worse then the Beasts that perish A happy error I may say an Angel that layes hold on us and snaches us out of the fire out of the common ruine and hastens us to our God A happy Error which frees us from all other errors of our life And yet though it may be an errour for it is no more Then it may be it is a truth for onely Now is true there may be many more Nows 't is true a now to morrow and a now hereafter and a now on our death-bed but these are but may-bees and these potentiall Truths concern us not for that which may bee may not bee that which concerns us is an Everlasting Truth To day if you will heare his voice harden not your hearts if you harden them to day and stand upon May-bees then they may be stand for ever And therefore if you expect I should point out to a certaine time The time is now Turne ye Turne ye even now now the Prophet speaks now the words sound in your eares Now if you will heare his voice harden not your hearts For why was it spoken but that we should hear it It is an earnest call after us and if we obey not it
fall into a cold sweat and faint at another mans labour Now therefore Now let us close with it whilst it appear's in Beauty whilst it is amiable in our eyes whilst our will begins to bend and our heart inclines to it for if we let this so faire an opportunity to passe within a while Vanity it self will appeare in Glory and that Holinesse which should make us like unto God will be taken for a monster There will be Honey on the Harlots lips and gall on Chastity a Lordship shall be more desireable then Paradise and three lives in that then eternity in Heaven now God is God and if we doe not Now fall down and worship him the next Now Baal will be God The world will be our God and the True God which but now we acknowledged will not be in all our wayes The first now the first opportunity is the best the next is most uncertaine the next may be Never But now Turne now Sole puro in Times of Peace if we will stand to distinguish times by the events as by their severall faces the divers complexions they receive either from Peace or Trouble either from Prosperity or Adversity Then certainly the best Time to Turne to him is when he turns his face to us Cum candidi fulgent soles when he shines brightly upon our Tabernacles when God speaks to us not out of the Whir winde but in a still voice when Plenty crownes the Commonwealth and Peace shadows it when God appeares to us not as Jupiter to Semele in Thunder but as to Danae in a showre of Gold whilst he stands as it were at the Doore and intreats entrance and not stay till he knock with the hammer till he breake in upon us with his sword because to Turne to him now in this Brightnesse will rather be an Act of our love then our feare and so make our Repentance a Free-will Offering a Sacrifice of a Sweet smelling Savour unto God and make it evident that we understand the Voice of his calling the language of his Benefits the miracle which he works which is to cure our inward blindness with this Clay with these outward Things that we may see to Turne from our evill wayes unto the Lord. This is truely to prayse the Lord for all his Benefits this is truely to Honor him to beare our selves with that Fear and Reverence that wee leave off to offend this God of Blessings Negat beneficium qui non Honorat he denies he despiseth a Blessing that doth not thus Honor it Ingratitude is contumelious to God is the bane of merit the defacer of goodness The Sepulchre the Hell of all Blessings for by it they are turned into a Curse Ingratitude loaths the light loaths the Land of Canaan and looks for Milke and honey in Egypt And this is it which the Prophets every where complaine of that the People did enjoy the light of Gods Countenance but by it walkt on in their evill wayes and made no other use of it then this That they did per tantorum honorum detrimenta Deum contemnere as Hierome speaks lose the Favour of God in their contempt and were made worse by that which should have Turn'd them from being Evill that being his pleasant plant they brought forth nothing but wilde Grapes And to apply this to our selves Dare we now look back to the former times what face can turne that way and not gather blackness God gave us light and we shut our eyes against it God made us the envie and we were ambitious to make our selves the scorne of all Nations he gave us milk and honey and we turn'd it into Gall and Bitternesse God gave us Plenty and Peace and the one we loath'd as the Jews did their Manna the other we abused our Peace brought forth a Warre as Nicippus sheep in Aelian did yean a Lion God spake to us by Peace and we were in Trouble till we were in Trouble till we were in a Posture of Warre God spake to us by Plenty and we answered him by luxury God spake to us by love and we answered him by Oppression He made our faces to shine and we grinded the poore He spake to us in a still voice and we defyed the Holy One of Israel Every benefit of his cryed Give me my price and lo in stead of Turning from our evill wayes delighting in them in stead of leaving them defending them In stead of calling upon his Name calling it down to countenance all the Imaginations of our Heart which have been evill continually This was the Goodly price that he and all his Blessings were prized at and then when this light was thus abused our Sun did set our day was shut in That Now That Then had its end The next call was in Thunder and he gave us Haile for raine and flaâ—… fire in our Land But such a then such an opportunity we had and we may say with shame and sorrow enough that we have lost it but since we have let slip this time of peace this acceptable time yet at least let us turn now in the storm that he may make a calm turn to him in our trouble that he may bring us out of our distress turn now when our Sun is darkned and our Moon turned into blood when the knowledge of his Law of true Piety begins to wax dim and the true face and beauty of Religion to wither When the stars are fallen from Heaven the teachers of truth from the Profession of truth and set that up for truth which sets them up in high-places when the powers of Heaven are shaken when the pillars of the Church sink and break asunder into so many Sects and divisions which is as musick to Rome but makes all walk as mourners about the streets of Jerusalem when Religion which should be the bond of love is made the title and pretense of war the somentor of that malice and bitternesse which desiles it and puts it to shame and treads it under foot Now when the Sea and the waves thereof roar when we hear the noise and tumult of the people which is as the raging of the Sea but ebbing and flowing with more uncertainty and from a cause lesse known Now in this draught and resemblance of the end of the World when he thus speaks to us in the whirl-winde when he thus knocks with his hammer when he calls thus loud unto us turn ye turn ye now let us bow down our heads and in all humility answer him Ecce accedimus Behold we come unto thee For thou art our Lord and God For as our Saviour speaks of offences so may we of these Judgements and Terrours which he sends to fright us to him Necesse est ut veniant It must needs be that they come not only necessitate consequentiae by a necessity of consequence supposing the condition of our nature and the changes and chances of a sinful world or rather supposing
And first Every particular sinne is of a monstrous aspect being committed not onely against the Law written but against the Law of Nature which did then Characterise the soule when the soule did first enforme the Body for though we call those horrid sinnes unnaturall which Saint Paul speaks against in the 1. to the romanes yet in true estimation every sin is so being against our very Reason which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. or 34. the very first Law written in our hearts saith Naz. for sin is an unreasonable Thing nor can it desend it self by discourse or argument If Heaven were to be bought with sin it were no Purchase for by every evill work I forfeit not onely my Christianity but my manhood I am robb'd of my chiefest Jewel and I my self am the Theef Who would buy eternity with sinne who would buy Immortallity upon such loathed Termes If Christ should have promis'd Heaven upon condition of a wicked life who would have beleeved there had been either Christ or Heaven And therefore it is laid as an imputation upon man Solum hoc animal Naturae fines transgreditur no Creature breaks the bounds and limits which Nature hath set but Man and there is much of Truth in it man when he sinnes is more unbounded and irregular then a Beast For a Beast follows the conduct of his naturall Appetite but man leaves his Reason behind which should be more powerful and is as naturall to him as his sense Man saith the prophet David that understands not is like to the Beasts that perish and Man that is like to a Beast is worse then he No Fox to Herod no Goat to the Wanton no Tyger to the Murderer no Wolfe to the Oppressor no Horse-leech to the Covetous for Beasts follow that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that instinct of Nature by which they are carried to the Object but man makes Reason which should come in to rescue him from sin an Instrument of Evill so that his Reason which was made as a help as his God on Earth serves onely to make him more unreasonable Consider then though it be but one sinne yet so farre it makes thee like unto a Beast nay worse then any though it be one yet it hath a monstrous aspect and then Turne from it Secondly though it be but one yet it is very fruitful and may beget another nay multiply it self into a numerous issue into as many sins as there be haires of thy head for as it is truly said omne verum omni vero consonat there is a kind of agreement and harmony in truthes and the devout School-man tells us that the whole Scripture is but one copulative proposition because the precepts therein contained are many and yet one many in regard of the diversity of those works that perfect them but yet one in respect of that root of charity which begins them so peccatum multiplex unum there is a kinde of dependencie between sins and a growth in wickednesse one drawing and deriving poyson from another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Epiphanius speaks of heresies Epiphan Heres Bastlid as the Asp doth from the Viper which being set in opposition to any particular vertue creepeth on and multiplies and gathers strength to the endangering of all And sin may propagate it self first as an efficient cause Removens prohibens weaking the power of grace dimming the light of the Gospel setting us at a greater distance from the brightnesse of it making us more venturous taking off our blush of modestty which should restrain us one evil act may dispose us to commit the like and that may bring on a thousand Secondly as a material cause one sin may prepare matter for another thy covertousnesse beget debate debate enrage thee more and that not end but in murder Last of all as the final cause thou mayest commit theft for fornication and fornication for theft that thou mayest continue a Tyrant be more a Tyrant that thou mayest uphold thy oppression oppresse more that thou mayest walk on in safety walk on in the blood of the innocent that thou mayest be what thou art be worse then thou art be worse and worse till thou art no more Ambition leads Absolon to conspiracy conspiracy to open Rebellion Rebellion to his Fathers Concubines at last to the Oak where he hung with three darts in his side For sin saith Basil like unto a stone that is cast into the water multiplies it self by infinite Gyres and Circles The sins of our youth hasten us to the sins of our age an the sins of our age look back upon the follies of our youth pride feathers my ambition and ambition swells my pride gluttony is a pander to my lust and my lust a steward to my gluttony Sins seldom end where they begin but run on till they be infinite and innumerable And now this unhappy fruitfulness of sin may be a strong motive to make me run away from every sin and fear one evil spirit as that which may bring in a Legion Could I think that when I tell a lie I am in a disposition to betray a kingdom could I imagine that when I slander my Neighbour I am in an aptitude to blaspheme God could I see luxurie in gluttony and incest in luxurie strife in covetousness and in strife murder in idleness theft and in theft sacriledge I should then Turn from every evil way and at the sight of any one sin with fear and trembling cry out behold a troop cometh But in the Third place if neither the monstrosity of sin nor the fruitfulnesse of sin moves us yet the guilt it brings along with it and the obligation to punishment may deter us For sin must needs then be terrible when she comes with a whip in her hand indeed she is never without one if we could see it and all those heavy judgments which have fallen upon us and prest us well-neer to nothing we may impute to what we please to the madnesse of the people to the craft and covetousnesse of some and the improvidence of others but t was sin that called them down and for ought we know Josh 7.2 Sam. the last c. but one For one sin as of Achan all Israel may be punisht for one sin as of David threescore and ten thousand may fall by the plague For Jonahs disobedience a Tempest may be raised upon all the Marriners in the ship and what stronger winde can there blow then this to drive us every one out of every evil way how should this consideration leave a sting behinde it and affect hand startle us It may be my sacriledge may the Church-robber It may be my luxury may the wanton It may be my bold irreverence in the House of God may the prophane man say whatsoever sin it is it may be mine which hath wrought this desolation on the earth and then what an Achan what a Jonah what a Murderer am I I
is to whom the law is given and if he be a man he cannot but behold it for when he sees it not he doth exuere hominem he puts off the man quite devests himself of reason and becomes like to the beasts that perish Many hindrances there may be to keep it from our eyes that we do not rightly judge of this Good in which the man is lost and swallowed up in victory Isidore of Pelusium hath given us three the 1. is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the narrownesse of the understanding and judgment the 2. is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sloth and neglect in the pursuit of it the 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the improbity of mens manners and a wicked and profane conversation And first the narrownesse and defect in the understanding is an evil incident but to a few for how can the understanding be too narrow to receive that Good which was fitted and proportioned to it if it will receive Evil it will receive Good for there can be no reason given why it should be as the needles eye to piety and holinesse and a wide open door of capacity enough to let in a legion of devils No this befalls none but those who know it not indeed and yet shall never be questioned for their ignorance as naturall fooles and madmen Non est dementia quae est in hominis potestate Quint. declam 348. which bring that disease with them into the world which they can neither avoid nor cure and of which the cause cannot be found out saith the Orator and these men come not under the common account nor are to be set down in the roll and catalogue of men Pet. Faber adel 124. Furiosus pro absente saith the law wheresoever they are they are as absent and whatsoever they do they do as if they did it not They are not what they are and they do not what they do and why they are so and what shall be their end is casus reservatus is lockt up and reserved in the bosome of God alone and he that shall ask how it comes to passe that they are thus and thus may well claim kindred of them both To these it is not shewed who are as far removed from being men as they are from the use of reason August l. 1. de doct Christ and how should he see a star in the firmament saith Saint Austin who cannot see so far as to my finger which points up to it how should they see this good who are so distitute of reason which is the onely eye with which we can behold it The 2. is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sloth and neglect that we do not search it out not fix our eyes upon it but walk on towards our journeyes end sport our selves in the way and onely salute it in the by and then as travellers do many objects and occurences they meet with behold it passe by and forget it or as Saint James speaks look on it as on a glasse not as women with curiosity and diligence but as men perfunctorily and slightly and never once think more of what we have seen we first slight and at last loath it for a negative contempt is the immediate way and next step to a positive venit ignavia Plaut Mostell ea mihi tempestas fuit saith he in the Comedy sloth comes upon us binds our faculties and that is the tempest which spoiles us of our crop of that fruit which we might have gathered from this tree of life For though this Good be most fully and perspicuously set forth in Scripture shewn in all its beames and glory yet this gives no encouragement to neglect those meanes which God hath reach'd forth unto us to guide and direct us in our search There is light enough and it is plain is no argument that we should shut our eyes For as we do not with the Church of Rome pretend extreme difficulty and with this pretence quite strike the Scripture out of the hands of the Laity and busie their zeal with other matters bind them as a horse is bound to the mill and lead them on in the motion of a blind obedience so do we require the greatest diligence both in reading Scripture and also in asking counsel of the gray haires and multitude of yeares of the learned of those whom God hath placed over them in the Church and if the great Physitian Hippocrates thought it necessary in his art for those who had taken any cure in hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippocrat in praecep Nâ—…z cp 120. to ask advice of all even of Ideots and those who knew but little in that art much rather ought we 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ask counsel of God by prayer and to be ready to be instructed by any who is a man for though the lesson be plain yet we see it so falls out that negligence doth not passe a line when industry and meditation have run over the whole book that diligence hath a full sight of this Good when sloth and neglect have but heard of its name Saint Hierom speaks of some in his time qui solam rusticitatem pro Sanctitate habebant who accounted rusticity and ignorance the onely true holinesse and called themselves the schollars and disciples of the Disciples of Christ who we are told were simple and unlearned fishermen Idcirco Sancti quod nihil scirent as if ignorance were the best argument to demonstrate their piety and they were therefore holy because they knew not what it was to be so I will not say such we have in these our dayes no they are not such as professe ignorance but who are as ignorant as they could be who did professe it Like the lilies of the field they labour not they study not and yet Solomon with all his wisdome was not so wise as one of these Some crummes fall from their masters table some passage they catch and lay hold on from some Prophet which they call theirs and this so fills them that they must vent that it runs over and defiles and corrupts that which they will not understand for bring them to a triall and you shall find them as well skilled in Scripture as he was in Virgil who having studied it long at last ask'd whether Aeneas was a man or a woman Faith is their daily bread their common language religion they speak of as oft almost as they do speak piety dwells with them purity is their proper passion or essence rather but then this Good in the text Justice and Mercy and honesty in conversation if we may judge of the tree by his fruits is not as the Psalmist speaks in all their thoughts for it is scarce in any of their wayes and we have that reason which we would not have to feare that they do but talk of it Now to cast a carelesse look upon this good is not to see it to talk of it is not to understand
one and the same and therefore to rise upon another mans ruines to enrich our selves by fraud and deceit is as much against nature saith Tully as poverty which pincheth it or grief which afflicts it or death which dissolves it for poverty may strip the body Ibid. grief may trouble it and death may strike it to the ground but yet they have a soul but injustice is its destruction and leaves a dead soul in a living body For as we have already shewn man is naturally 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sociable creature but violence and deceit quite destroy all Society and Lully gives the same reason in his Offices which Saint Paul doth against Schisme in his Epistles 1 Cor. 12. If one member suffer all the members suffer with it and therefore the intent and purpose of all must be saith the Orator ut eadem sit utilitas uniuscujusque singulorum that the benefit of one and every man may be the same so that what deceit hath purloyned of stollen away or violence snatcht from others is not Profit because it is not honest Res surtiva quousque redierit in Comini potestatem perpetuò vitiosa est and the Civilians will tell us that that which is unjustly detained is not valuable is of no worth till it return to the hands of the lawfull proprietary Again in the second place Justice and Honesty are more agreeable to the nature of men then Profit or4 Pleasure For these reason it self hath taught us to contemne and he most enjoys himself who desires not pleasure and he is the richest man who can be poore and we are never more men then when we lest regard them but if we forfeit our integrity and pervert the course of Justice we have left our selves nothing but the name of men Si quod absit spes foelicitatis nulla saith Saint Austin If we had no eye to eternity nor hope of future happinesse Tull. Off. 3. Si omnes Deos hominesque celare possimus saith Tully if we could make darknesse a pavilion round about us and lye skreend and hid from the eyes of God and man yet a necessity would lye upon us to be what we are made to observe the lessons and dictates of nature saith one Nihil injustè faciendum saith the other nothingmust be done unjustly though God had no eye to see it nor hand to punish it and this doctrine is current both at Athens and Jerusalem both in the Philosophers School and in the Church of God To give you yet another reason but yet of neere alliance to the first whatsoever we do or resolve upon must habere suas causas as Arnobius speaks must be commended by that cause which produceth it now what cause can move us to desire that which is not ours what cause can the oppressor shew that he grinds the face of the poore the theef that he divides the spoile The deceitfull tradesman that he hath false weights Pondus pondus a weight and a weight a weight to buy with and a weight sell with If you ask them what cause they will eitherlye and deny it or put their hand upon their mouth and be ashamed to answer here their wit will faile them which was so quick and active to bring that about for which they had no reason it may be the cause was an unnecessary feare of poverty as if it were a greater sin then cosenage It may be the love of their children saepe ad avaritiam cor parentis illicit Foecunditas prolis Gregan 1 Iob c. 4. saith Gregory many children are as many temptations and we are soon overcome and yield willing to be evil that they may be rich and calling it the duty of a Parent when we feed and cloth them with our sinne or indeed it is the love of the world and a desire to hold up our heads with the best which are no causes but defects and sinnes the blemishes and deformities of a soul transformed after the image of this world These are but sophismes and delusions and of no causality For ti 's better I were poore then fraudulent better that my children should be naked then my soul better want then be unjust better be in the lowest place then to swim in blood to the highest better be drove out of the world then shut out of heaven It is no sinne to be poor no sinne to be in dishonor no sinne to be on a dunghill or in a prison it is no sinne to be a slave but it is a sinne and a great sinne to rise out of my place or either flatter or shoulder my neighbour out of his and to take his roome It is no sin to be miserable in the highest degree but it is a sinne to be unjust or dishonest in the least Iniquity and injustice have nothing of reason to countenance them and therefore must run and shelter themselves in that thicket of excuses must pretend want and poverty and necessity and so the object of my concupiscence must Authorize my concupiscence and the wedg of gold warrant my theft and to gain something is my strongest argument to gain it unjustly Ibid. And therefore Tully saith well If any man will bring in and urge these for causes argue not against him nor vouchsafe him so much as a reply omnino enim hominem ex homine tollit for he hath most unnaturally divided man from himself and left nothing but the beast Nature it self our first School-mistris loaths and detests it nor will it suffer us by any means to add to our own by any defalkation from that which is anothers and such is the equity of this position that the Civil Law alwaies appeales unto it videtur dolum malum facere qui ex aliena jactura lucrum querit He is guilty of cosenage and fraud who seeks advantage by another mans losse where by Dolus malus is understood whatsoever is repugnant to the Law of nature or equity For with the beames of this Law as with the beames of the Sun were all Humane Laws written which whip idlenesse which pin the Papers of Ignominy the best hatchments of a knave in the hat of the common barretter which break the teeth of the oppressor and turn the bread of the deceitfull into Gall upon this Basis this principle of nature whatsoever you would that men should do unto you even so do unto them hang all the Law and the Prophets For the rule of behaviour which our Saviour set up is taken out of the Treasury of nature and for this is the Law and the Prophets Matth. 7.2 that is upon this Law of nature depend the Law and the Prophets or by the due and strict observing of this the Law is fulfilled as Saint Paul speaks Rom. 13.8 or this is the summe of all which the Law and the Prophets have taught to wit concerning Justice and Honesty and those mutuall offices All. Lamprid. and duties of