chambers to be clensed and the vesselles of the house of God to be brought thither againe 3. because the portions of the Levites and singers had not beene giuen to them and everie one was fled to his lande hee reprooued the rulers Why is the house of God forsaken 4. he caused the tithes to be restored brought the Levites togither to their place againe and apointed faithfull officers and treasurers to distribute vnto them The petition that hee maketh vnto the righteous Lord who will not forget our labours at the foote of every of those services is framed to this effect Remember me O my God in goodnesse and wipe not out my kindnesse concerning this and pardon me according to thy great mercies Thus Nehemias you see was not vnmindefull of the Lord that the Lorde might be mindefull of him againe Neither in the building nor in the warding of the wals of Ierusalem nor in releeving the burthens of his brethren nor in sanctifying the sabbath nor in purging the people from commixtion with strangers nor in replenishing the chambers of Gods house vvith maintenaunce for his ministers All which he zealously vndertooke and constantly followed to the end fastening his reproofes like nailes that are driuen in a sure place and shewing himselfe a carefull Magistrate both in warre and peace in civill religious affaires towardes the children of the lande and towardes strangers that traffiqued within the borders thereof Vndoubtedly your charge is greate whome the Lorde hath marked out to places of gouernment and if euer you hope as Nehemias wished that God shall remember you concerning this or that kindenesse shewed in his businesse remember you whose image you carry whose person you present whose cause you vndertake whose iudgmentes you execute vpon earth And though yee are not troubled vvith building and warding the wals of your countrey because peace is the walles and the strength of God our bulwarkes and fortresses and mine eies would faile with expectation of that day vvhen the chambers of the Lordes house vvhich Tobiah the Horonite hath seized into his handes should be restored to their auncient institution for the maintenaunce of Levites and singers yet in the oppressions of your brethren vvhose vineyardes fieldes houses libertie living are wrung from them and their sonnes and daughters vndoone if you doe not in all respects as Nehemias did lend them money corne hee and his servauntes of their owne and bestowe the fees of your places tovvardes their reliefe for hee ate not the breade of the governour in twelue yeares and an hundred and fiftie hee mainetained dailie at his boarde with sufficient allowance yet such as oppresse too much exhort ' reprooue cause them to respight cause them to remit tie them by promise to do it binde them by oath and if that will not serue vnlesse you be loath to throw a stone against an adulterer or to shake your lap against an oppressour because you are guilty in your heartes of the like trespasses shake the lappes of your garments against them and with an vnfeigned spirit beseech the iust iudge that such as will not restore may so be shaken out and emptied from all his mercies Likewise for the sabbath of the Lord the sanctified day of his reste helpe to bringe it to reste it is shamefully troubled and disquieted the common daies in the weeke are happier in their seasons then the Lords sabbaths Then are the manuary craftes exercised every man in his shop applying his honest and lawfull businesse the sabbath is reserved as the vnprofitablest day of the seven for idlenesse sleeping vvalking rioting tipling bowling daunsing and what not I speake what I know vpon a principall sabbath for if the resurrection of Christ deserue to alter the sabboth from day to day I see no cause but the cōming downe of the holy ghost should adde honour and ornament vnto it I say vpon a principall sabbath not onelye those of Ierusalem and Iudah solde their wares but those of Tyre also vvhich came from abroade brought in their commodities and neither your gates shut nor forreiners kept out nor citizens reprooved nor any thing donne wherby Gods name and day might be honoured Go now and aske if you can for blushing as Nehemias did O Lord remember vs concerning this kindnesse It is not enough for you to beare the place of preeminence in the shippe but you must reprooue as the maister here did nor enough barelie to reprooue but you must goe forwardes in hunting securitie from her couche by vrging how hard it is to appease the anger of God if it bee throughly enflamed how dangerous against the life and soule if it be not prevented It is the fervency of the spirite even of a double spirit as Elizeus sometime wished the spirite of magistrates which are more then single persons perfit hatred to sin crushing both the egge the cockatrice courage in the cause of the Lord zeale to his house both kindling and consuming your heartes a good beginning and a good ending which the Lorde requireth Will you saue-gard the ship in the Ocean sea and breake her vvithin a league of the haven will you put your hande to the plough of the best husbandry and thriving in the world and then looke backe vvill you lay the foundation of the house rere vp the vvalles and not seeke to couer it you know the parable This man beganne to builde It had beene better not to haue knowne the way of trueth then not to persist in it nor to haue set your shoulders to the worke of the Lorde vnlesse yee hold out The leafe of a righteous man neuer fadeth vvherevpon the glosse noteth that the fall of the leaues is the dying and decaying of the trees When it repenteth a man to haue begunne well it is a sinnefull repentaunce and much to bee repented of The fire vpon the altar of the Lord must alwaies burne never go out and the sedulitie of Gods lieutenantes vpon the earth must euer bee working neuer wearied All vertues runne in the race one onely receiveth the garland the image of most happy eternitie happy continuance I tolde you before that nature directed the Marriners to the acknowledgement of a God it is heere further ratified with manie other principles of nature if they vvere needefull to bee examined as 1. that God only is to be invocated and called vpon Call vpon thy God 2. the vnity of the godhead is avowed For the shipmaster forgetting the multitude of Gods nameth one singlie without other associates If so be God 3. That the felicity of mankinde dependeth vpon the serenity gracious favorable aspect of God as I gather by the phrase here vsed if God will shine vpon vs. 4. It is implied that our life death are in Gods hands That we perish not But let those passe a while The matter we are now to examine is the liberty and freedome vvhich the shipmaister gaue vnto Ionas
altered his nature to haue boyled him into nourishmente and to haue incorporated his flesh into an other substaunce Yet Ionas liveth But if the LORDE had not beene on my side might Ionas nowe say if the LORDE had not beene on my side vvhen the beast rose vp against mee hee had swallowed mee vp quicke vvhen his vvrath vvas so sore enflamed But praysed bee the LORDE vvhich hath not given mee over a pray to his teeth My saule is escaped even as a birde out of the snare of the fowler The snare is broken and I am delivered Let all those whome the LORDE hath redeemed from the hande of the oppressour from fire or water or from the perill of death take that songue of thankesgiving into their lippes and singe it to his blessed name in remembraunce of his holinesse O thou the hope of all the endes of the earth sayeth that other Psalme and of them that are farre of in the sea shevve vs but the lighte of thy countenaunce and vvee shall bee safe giue vs but the comforte of thy mercies and wee will not feare though the earth bee mooved and the mountaines fall dovvne into the middes of the sea and the sea and the vvaters thereof rage fearefully though Leviathan open his mouth wee will not quake at it yea though the Leviathan of the bottomelesse pit open the throate of hell never so vvide to devoure vs wee vvill not bee disquieted VVee knowe that there is mercy vvith the LORDE and that vvith him there is plentifull redemption I meane redemption a thousande waies by nature and against nature by hope and against hope by thinges that are and thinges that are not Hee that hath saved his people by gathering the vvaters in heapes like vvalles and making a path in the redde sea hee that hath kept his children in the middest of a fiery oven when if arte coulde adde any thinge to the nature of fire they shoulde have beene burnt seven times for one because it was seven times hote and delivered his prophet in a denne of lyons though dieted and prepared for their pray before hand yet shuttinge their mouthes so close and restrayninge their appetite that they forbeare their appointed foode and committed this servaunt of his to the belly of a fishe as if he had committed him to his mothers vvombe to be kept from harme he is the same GOD both in mighte and mercye to preserue vs no time vnseasonable no place vnmeete no daunger vncouth and vnaccustomed to his stronge designementes Our onely helpe therefore standeth in the name of the LORDE that hath made heaven and earth blessed and thrice blessed bee that name of the Lorde from this time forth for evermore Amen THE XXIII LECTVRE Chap. 2. vers 1. Then Ionas praied vnto the Lord his God out of the fishes belly and saide THIS second section or division of the prophecie wherein the mercy of God towardes Ionas is expressed I parted before into three branches 1. That he was devoured 2. praied 3. was delivered The tearmes that Lyra giveth are these the place the manner the successe of his prayer The marvailes that I haue already noted vnto you were 1. that so huge a creature was suddeinely provided by the providence of God 2. that a whole man passed thorough his throate 3. that he lived in his bowels three daies three nightes Now whither he fulfilled that time exactly yea or no three naturall dayes complete consisting of twenty foure howres neither can I affirme neither is it materiall over-busily to examine Our Saviour you know in the gospell applyeth this figure of Ionas to his buriall As Ionas was in the belly of the whale three daies and three nights so shall the sonne of man bee in the heart of the narth But if you conferre the shadowe and the body togither you shall finde in all the evangelistes that the Lorde of life was crucified the 6. howre of the preparation of the sabbath and the ninth gaue vp the ghost that late in the eveninge his bodie vvas taken downe from the crosse and buried that hee rested in the graue the night that belongeth to the sabbath togither vvith the daie and night nexte ensuinge after it and that in the morning of the first day of the weeke he rose againe So as indeede the body of Christ was not in the heart of the earth more than 36. hovvers to weete two nightes and a daie vvhich is but the halfe space of 72. howers Some to supply this defect of time accompte the lighte before the passion of Christ and the darkenesse till the 9. howre one day and a night because they say there vvas both lighte and darknes And then the light that followed from the 9. howre and the succeeding night a secōd day night likewise the third til the time he rose againe Others expoūd it by a mistery thus 36. hours they say to 72. which is the absolute measure of 3. daies 3. nights is but simplum ad duplū one to two or the halfe of the whole Now ours was a double death both in soule by sin in body by paine Christes was but single only in the body because concerning his soule he was free frō sin therfore they infer that the moity of time might suffice him Hugo Cardin. hath an other conceite that from the creation of the worlde till the resurrection of Christ the day was evermore numbred before the night both in the literall and in the mysticall vnderstanding first there was light then darknes but from the resurrection of Christ forwardes the night is first reckoned for which cause he thought the vigiles were apointed for sabbathes other festivall daies that vvee might be prepared with more devotiō to solemnize them herehēce he cōcludeth that the night which followed the sabbath of the Iews was the angular night must twice be repeated as the corner of a square serveth indifferently for either side which it lyeth betwixte for both it belonged saith he to the sabbath praeceding must be ascribed againe vnto the Christian sabbath or Lords day whereon the son of God rose from death And he thinketh there is great reason of his invention because Christ by one night of his tooke away two of ours So they are not content to be sober interpretours of the minde of God but they wil ghesse and divine at that which he never meant They thinke their cunning abased if they go not beyond the moone to fetch an exposition What needeth such curious learning to apoint every egge to the right hen that laid it as some did in Delos so these to think their labor vnprofitable in the church of God vnlesse they can make the devises of their own heads reach home to the letter of the booke in al respects Our soundest divines agree that the triduan rest of Christ in the graue must be vnderstood by the figure synecdoche
dissemble with thee they are a rebellious nation they and their fathers before them vnto this daie children harde of face and stiffe harted Thou shalt say vnto them thus saith the Lorde God but surely they will not heare neither will they cease for they are rebels and thornes and scorpions I haue now vnfoulded the conditions of thy charge If thou findest thy courage sufficient to endure the gain-saying of rebels the pricking and rending of thornes tearinge the eares with contumely and the name of thy maker with blasphemous speech the hissing and stinging of pestilent scorpions then go to the children of Israell if not thou art vnmeete for this busines As if a prophet of our daies should be sent to Constantinople and haue his instruction given him at his setting forth that it is a portlye and insolent city the seate of the greate Turke the hart of the Empire a cage of all vncleanenes an enemy to the name of Christians vvarring continually against the saints a scorner of our crucified Redeemer a worshipper of the false prophet Mahomet vvith other such like colde encouragements feeling his pulses as it were and examining his spirit whether it hath a power to fight with these daungers It was some comfort no doubt amongst the discomfortes to come that our saviour lessonned his Disciples before their goinge abroade Beholde I send you as lambes among Wolues They will deliver you vp to the Councelles and scourge you in their synagogues and you shall bee brought to the governours and Kings for my sake in witnes to them and to the Gentiles In the 16. of Iohn hee plainely professeth his meaning in these kinds of predictions these thinges haue I saide vnto you that yee should not bee offended They shall xcommunicate you yea the time shall come that whosoever killeth you shall thinke that hee doth God service But these thinges haue I told you that when the houre shall come you may remember that I told you of them The foreknowledge of dangers ensuing gaue invincible constancy and resolution to Paul as appeareth in his excellent oration made at Miletum behold I go bounde in the spirit to Ierusalem know not what things shall come vnto mee there saue that the holie Ghost witnesseth in everie citie saying that bandes and afflictions staie for mee Herevpon he composeth his heart to patience and calleth all his forces home to himselfe to resist those afflictions But I passe not at all neither is my life deare vnto me c. And when Agabus at Caesarea had taken the girdle of Paul and bounde his owne hands and feete saying from the mouth of the holy Ghost So shall the Iewes at Ierusalem bind the man that oweth this girdle when his friends would haue held him backe from going to Ierusalem he aunswered boldly and saide what doe ye weeping and breaking mine heart For I am ready not to be bounde onely but also to die at Ierusalem for the name of the Lorde Iesus Peter perswadeth the dispersed saints dwelling here and there to patience in troubles by an argument drawen from the knowledge and experience thereof before had Dearlie beloved saith he thinke it not strange concerning the fierie triall which is amongst you to proue you as though some new thing were come vnto you as if he had saide this fire is auncient and well knowen you haue long seene the smoke thereof and therefore the breaking forth of the flames should not so greatly astonish you His owne practise was not inferiour to his advise For vpon that praesage which his maister gaue in the last of Iohn when thou art olde thou shalt stretch forth thine handes and an other shall girde thee c. hee tooke his occasion to vse more diligence in his calling knowing as himselfe speaketh that the time was at hand whē he must lay downe his tabernacle even as the Lord Iesus Christ had shewed him Thus much on the behalfe of Ionas that if the greatnes of the citie were anie terrour vnto him hee might not complaine that he was taken at vnawares sodainely called and improvidently thrust forth but with alacritie of minde set his shoulder to the vvorke and settle his confidence in the greatnesse of that God from whom he was commaunded It is a direction to vs all whatsoever our service be wherein God shall employ vs whether in Church or in common vvealth vvhether vve sit vpon the thrones of David for execution of iudgment or in the chaire of Moses for exposition of the lavve vvhich are the combersomst charges vpon the earth the very heate and burthen of the day if I may so tearme them not to remit our labours and vvith the sonnes of Ephraim being armed and bearing bowes to turne our backes in the day of battell but though vvee be crossed vvith a thousande afflictions and haue iust cause to crie out as Moses in his government why hast thou vexed thy servant yet to persist and go forward in our paines addressing our soules to contentment and quietnes this was I called vnto I cannot pleade ignorāce neither had I reason to expect lesse travell vexation anguish of spirit were giuen me for my lot and my portion to drinke when I first entered into these affaires 2 Touching the place vvhen vvee heare it commended for a great citie shall vve inferre heerevpon Therefore priviledged to carelesnesse hautinesse oppression wickednesse vvhich are the wormes and mothes for the most part that breede of greatnesse therefore may Niniveh sin with impunity and say I am the Queene of the earth who shall controll me therefore must sinnes set vp a monarchie also in Niniveh must Prophets go to Bethel and prophecie in out-corners because Niniveh is the Kings Court and cannot beare the words of Prophets can the mightines of her state singularity of her government climing of her walles aspiring of her towres multitude of her people make her secure against the vvrath of the Lorde of hostes or can the barres of her gates keepe out his iudgementes Alas vvhat is the greatnes of Niniveh compared with the greatnes of the Lord The landes of Alcibiades in the mappe of the vvhole vvorlde vvere lesse then a center and small title they could not be espied all the islandes of the sea are as a little dust in the sight of the almighty and the nations as the droppe of a wel bucket vvhat is the number and the heigth of thy proude turrets though they hold the earth in awe they cannot threaten heaven and the closer they presse to the seate of God the nearer they lie to his lightning The challenge of God to the selfe same citie is notablie set dovvne in the prophecy of Nahum Art thou better then No which was full of people that lay in the rivers and had the waters rounde about it whose ditch was the sea and her wall was from the sea Aethiopia and Aegypt were her strength and there was no ende
conscience I am afflicted the inheritaÌ„ce I am diminished liberty I am restrained for thy sake These are arguments perswasions that haue done good as Augustine affirmeth of the Donatistes and Circumcellions in Affricke that being terrified by paines they began to enter into consideration with themselues whether they suffered for iustice or for obstinacie and presumption But you will say that some men are not bettered hereby Shall wee therefore saith Augustine reiect the phisicke because the sicknesse of some is incurable For of such it is written I haue smitten your children in vaine they receiue no correction And for the better managing of the whole cause he addeth this iudgement If they were terrified and not taught it would seeme tyrannie againe if taught not terrified it would harden them in an inveterate custome make theÌ„ more sluggish to recâ—iue their saluatioÌ„ As for that obiectioÌ„ of liberty of conscience he answereth it in an other place It is in vaine that thou saiest leaue me to my free will for why proclaimest thou not liberty in homicides and whordomes aswell GOD hath given indeede free will vnto man free from coaction but it vvas not his will meane time that either the good will of man shoulde bee without fruite or his evill will without punishment Tertullian is of the same minde with Augustine that it is meete that heretickes shoulde bee compelled to doe their duetie not allured I say compelled if allurement will not serue for they must not alway bee prayed and entreated Hee that hath a phrensie must be bound â—nd he that hath a lethargy must be prickt vp and he that hath strengthned himselfe in heresie whether he keepe it privately to himselfe or diffuse it amongst others must violently be pulled from it These persons hath Augustine distinguished For there are some heretickes troublesomely audacious others anciently sluggish and taken with a sleepy disease neither of these may in wisedome be forborne There are some makers others but followers proselytes disciples in heresies these are either weake or indurate So then first counsell and afterwardes compell them if that will not serue to bring them to the service of God according to that forme which the lawes of our countrey haue set downe though I wish not one haire of their heades diminished but vvhen they strike at our heade and had rather powre bloude into their veines then let it out but when the atrocity of their actes can no longer bee tolerated yet were I worthy to giue advise I would haue a writer go with his inckhorne from man to man and marke them in the foreheades that mourne for the vvelfare of our realme and as bond-men to their brethren they should hew woode and draw water to the hoast of Israel as Iosuah vsed the Gibeonites for their guile Who will pitty the charmer that is stung by the serpent because it was the folly of the charmer to go to neare or who will favour that man that nourisheth a gangrene within his body and seeketh not helpe to remooue it We nurse vp lions whelps for our owne overthrow as Amilcar brought vp his sonnes for the ruine of Rome we play too boldly at the holes of aspes we embolden the faces encourage the harts strengthen the handes of them that keepe an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a daily recorde of all our actions and haue taken to vse whatsoever hath beene spoken or done against them these many Halcyon yeares of ours meaning to exchange it ten for one if ever they see the day of their long expected alteration But the cause is the Lords Whatsoever they looke for let vs vindicate his dishonor who hath made this countrey of ours a sanctuary for true religion a refuge and shade in the heate of the day for persecuted professors who haue beene chased like bees from their owne hiues a temple for himselfe to dwell in Let vs not make that temple a stewes a coÌ„mon receit for all coÌ„mers that both Atheists Papists Anabaptists and all sortes of sectaries may hold what conscience they will and serue such God as like themseles THE EIGHT LECTVRE Chap. 1. vers 6. Call vpon thy God if so bee that God will thinke vpon vs that wee perish not I Haue noted before out of these words both the carefulnesse of the Ship-master continued towardes his charge and the liberty or rather license hee gaue vnto Ionas to serue his peculiar God Touching which indulgence of his I shewed my opinion whether it bee expedient that a governour shoulde tolerate a distraction of his subiectes into divers religions Mee thinketh there are two thinges more implyed in this member Call vpon thy God carying the reasons why hee called vpon Ionas after this sort For either he affected the person of Ionas supposing perhappes that some merit and grace in the man might more prevaile by prayer then the rest or els he affianced the God of Ionas and as one weary or distrustfull of his owne hoped there might be an other God more able to deliver them I will not enter into coniectures too farre but surely it is likely enoughe that either by the lookes or speech or attire or behaviour or some forepassed devotion or other the like notice the maister conceaved a good opinion of Ionas The forehead sometime sheweth the man as the widow of Shunem by the very vsage countenance speech of Elizeus was able to tell her husband Beholde I know now that this is an holy man of God that passeth by vs continually If this were his reason it was not greatly amisse because there is great difference betweene man and man For neither the priority of birth which Esau had of Iacob Gen. 25. nor the heigth of stature which Eliab had of David 1. Sam 16. nor the pompe and honour of the world which Haman had of Mardochai Esther 3. nor all the wisedome of Chaldea which the Astrologers had of Daniel nor the antiquity of daies which many daughters of Sion had of the blessed Virgin nor the prerogatiue of calling which the Scribes and Pharises had of poore fishermen nor the countrey which Annas and Caiaphas had of Cornelius nor eloquence of speech which Tertullus had of Paule nor any the like respect is able to commende a man in such sort but that his inferiours in that kinde for more vertuous conditions may be magnified aboue him It may be the maister of the shippe vvas so perswaded of Ionas that though he were but one to a multitude a stranger amongst strangers a scholler and puny amongst marchants and souldiours whose state and carriage was every way beyond his yet he might haue a spirit blessing and wisedome beyond all theirs and therefore repaireth vnto him Arise call vpon thy God How onelye and incomparable vvas the favour vvhich Abraham the great father of many people found in the eyes of God who being but dust and ashes as himselfe confessed pleaded vvith his maker as
aliue through ranges and armies of teeth on both sides without the collision or crushing of any limme in his body and entereth the streights of his throate where he had greater reason to cry thaÌ„ the childreÌ„ in the prophet the place is to narrow for me and liveth in the entralles of the fish a prison or caue of extreame darkenesse where he found nothing but horror and stinch and loathsome excrementes What shall we say herevnto but as Ierome did vpon the place where there was nothing looked for but death there was a custodie in a double sense first to imprison and yet withall to preserue Ionas Thus farre you have hearde first that a fish and for his exornation great fish secondly vvas prepared thirdly by the Lorde fourthly to swallow vp his prophet Now lastly if you will learne what tidings of Ionas after his entring in the monsters mawe it is published in the nexte wordes And Ionas was in the belly of the fish three daies and three nightes Therein I distinguish these particularities First the person Ionas not the bodye of Ionas forsaken of the soule as the bodye of Christ lay in the graue but the whole and entire person of Ionas compounded of bodye and soule livinge mooving feeling meditating not ground with the teeth not digested in the stomake not converted into the substaunce of the fish and neither vitall nor integrall part diminished in Ionas Secondly the place vvhere he was in the remotest and lowest partes the bovvelles of the fish as Ieremy was in the bottome of the dungeon where there vvas no water where what nutriment he had amiddest those purgamentes superfluities the Lorde knoweth but man liveth not by breade alone or what respiration and breathing being out of his elemente amongst those stiflinge evaporations vvhich the bellye of the whale reaked forth but wee may as truely saye man liveth not by breath alone Thirdly the time hovve long hee continued there three daies three nightes when if the course of nature were examined it is not possible to bee conceived that a man coulde liue so one moment of time and his spirit not be strangled within him Physitians giue advise that such as are troubled with apoplexies falling sicknesses or the like diseases should not be buried till the expiration of 72. howres that is three daies and three nightes In which space of time they say the humours begin to stop giue over their motion by reason the moone hath gone through a signe the more in the Zodiake For this cause it was that our Saviour vndertooke not the raisinge of Lazarus from the dead till hee had lien 4. daies in the graue least the Iewes might haue slaundered the miracle if hee had done it in hast and saide that Lazarus had but swooned The like he experienced in himselfe besides the opening of his heart that if falshoode woulde open her mouth into slaunder it might bee her greater sin because he was fully dead Who would ever haue supposed that Ionas fulfilling this time in so deadly and pestilent a graue shoulde have revived againe But the foundation of the Lord standeth sure and this sentence hee hath vvritten for the generations to come My strength is perâ—ited in infirmity vvhen the daunger is most felt then is my helping arme most welcome We on the one side vvhen our case seemeth distresseful are very importunate with God crying vpoÌ„ him for help It is time that the Lord haue mercy vpon Sion yea the time is come if in the instant he answer not our cry we are ready to reply against him The time is past and our hope cleane withered But he sitteth aboue in his provident watch-towre who is far wiser than men thinketh with himselfe you are deceived the time is not yet come They meete the ruler of the synagogue in the 5. of Marke tell him thy daughter is deade why diseasest thou thy maister any further Assoone as Iesus hearde that vvorde a word that he lingred and waited for he said vnto the ruler of the Synagogue be not afraid onely beleeue And as Alexander the great solaced and cheered himselfe with the greatnes of his perill in India when he was to fight both with men and beasts their huge Elephantes at length I see a daunger aunswerable to my minde so fareth it with our absolute true monarch of the world who hath a bridle for the lippes of every disease and an hooke for the nostrels of death to turne them backe the same vvay they came it is the ioy of his hart to protract the time a while till he seeth the heigth maturity of the daunger that so he may get him the more honour Martha telleth him in the 11. of Iohn when her brother had beene long dead lien in the graue till he stanke past hope of recovery Lorde if thou hadst beene here my brother had not beene dead And what if absent was he not the same God Yet he told his disciples not long before Lazarus is deade and I am gladde for your sakes that I vvas not there that you mighte beleeue You see the difference Martha is sory and Christ is glad that he was not rhere Martha thinketh the cure commeth to late and Christ thinketh the sore was never ripe till nowe In the booke of Exodus when Israel had pitched their tents by the red sea Pharaoh and host marching apace and ready to surprise them they vvere sore afraide and cryed vnto the Lord and murmured against Moses hast thou brought vs to die in the wildernesse because there were no graues in Egypt wherefore hast thou served vs thus to carrie vs out of Egypt c. Moses the meekest man vpon the earth quieted them thus Feare yee not stande still and beholde the salvation of the Lorde which he will shew to you this day For the Egyptians whome yee haue seene this day yee shall never see them againe The Lorde shall fight for you therefore hold you your peace Neither did Moses feed them with winde prophecy the surmises of his owne braine for the Lorde made it good as followeth in the next verse vvherefore cryest thou vnto mee speake vnto the children of Israell that they goe forwarde Thus when the wounde was most desperate they might haue pledged even their soules vpoÌ„ it we cannot escape when their legges trembled vnder them that they could not stand still their hearts fainted that they could not hope the waters roring before their face the wheels of the enimy ratling behinde their backs they are willed to stand still not on their legges alone but in their disturbed passions to settle their shivering spirites to pacifie their vnquiet tongues and to go forwardes though every step they trode seemed to beare them into the mouth of death The state of the daunger you see Ionas is in the belly of the fish three daies and three nightes Long enough to haue
ages were heapes of ashes and cloudes of pitch but fire and brimstone from a bottomlesse mine which burneth in the lake of death and shall never cease from burning Lastly this is that greate wine-presse of the wrath of God where the smoke of torment ascendeth for evermore and there is no rest day nor night those endlesse and vnmercifull plagues which the angels powre out of their vialles when men have given them bloude to drinke and boile in heate and gnaw their tongues for sorrowe And yet are these but shadowes and semblances which the scripture hath vsed therein to exemplifie in some sorte the calamities to come fearefull enough if there were no more to make the heart of the strongest melte and fall asunder within him as the yce against the summers sunne but that as the ioyes of heaven are vnmeasurable for their parte so concerning the paines of hell the eye hath never seene the eare not hearde the tongue not vttered the heart not conceived them sufficiently in their nature and perfection That accursed glutton in the gospell who coulde speak by experience of his vnestimable discruciatioÌ„s as Aeneas did of the troubles of Troy Et quorum pars vna fut what I haue felt and borne a parte of he giveth a warning to al his brethren in the flesh not to accounte so lightly as they doe of the tormentes of that place The flames fervour wherof were so importunate to exact their due of him that hee craved with more streams of teares thaÌ„ ever Esau sought his blessing but one drop of water to coole his tongue with could not obtaine it And what if all the rivers in the South if all the waters in the Ocean sea had bene graÌ„ted him his tongue notwithstanding would haue smarted and withered with heat stil he would haue cried in the laÌ„guage of hel It is not enough Or what if his toÌ„gue had bene eased his hart his liver his lunges his bowels his armes his legs would haue fried stil. O bitter day when not the least finger I say not of God whose hand is wholy medicinal but not of the poorest saint in heaven nor the skantest drop I say not from the waters of life but not of the waters of the brooke shal be spared to a soule to giue it comfort Which if the latest day of al the running generations of men if the great yeare which Plato dreamed of might ever end the ease were somewhat for hopes sake But it is apointed for a time times no time even when time shall be no more then shal it continue The gates are kept from egresse as the gates of paradise were warded from entrance not by the Cherubines with the blade of a sworde but by the angels of Sathan with all the instrumentes of death and the seale of Gods eternal decree set thereunto as the seale of the high priestes and rulers were set vpon the tombe-stone of Christ. The covenant of day and night shall one day bee changed The starres shall finish their race the elements melt with heat heaven and earth be renued sommer and winter have an end but the plagues of the prisoners in hell shall never be released If you aske the cause why I enter so large and vngratefull a discourse of hel vpon so smal an offer in my text as some may conceive I will not dissemble it Some may be deceived by the translation impropriety and abuse of words For because they heare the name of hell alleadged and applied to the present tribulations of this life they are induced thereby to thinke that there is no other hell nor sorer vexations elswhere to be sustained as some on the other side hearing the rest of God to be called by name of Ierusalem that is aboue the wals foundations wherof are saphires carbuncles c. take it to be no more thaÌ„ IerusaleÌ„ in Palestina or Venice in Italy or any the like glorious and sumptuous cittie vpon the face of the earth and therefore dispose themselues with so much the colder affection to the attainment of it Some haue taught and commaunded their tongues to speake a lye to say that there is no hel for I caÌ„not thinke that ever they shal commaÌ„d their harts to deny it as Tully spake of Metrodorus an atheist of his time I never sawe any man that more feared those â—hings which he said were not to be feared I meane death the gods so I wil never perswade my selfe but the atheists of our times hartilie feare that which they are content to say they feare not Now lest these sleepy adders should passe their time in a dreame or rather in a lethargy no man awaking theÌ„ vp from their carelesse supine opinions wherwith they enchant their soules infect others Let not the watchman hold his peace least they die in their sins for waÌ„t of warning let the truÌ„pet of iudgmeÌ„t ofteÌ„ be blowne vnto theÌ„ let it be published in their eares 7· times as the rams-horns 7 times souÌ„ded about the wals of Iericho that their ruine downfal is at hand that hel gapeth for theÌ„ that God hath ordained long since their impious blasphemous spirites to immortal malediction Of others that is true which God complaineth in Esay Let mercy be shewed to the wicked yet he wil not learne righteousnes Preach honor glory peace a garlaÌ„d of rightousnes an vncorruptible crowne fruit of the tree of life sight of the face of God following the laÌ„be fellowship with angels saintes the congregatioÌ„ of first-borne new names and white garments pleasures at the right hand of God and fulnes of ioy in his presence for evermore they are as obstinately bent vnmovably setled against these blessings of God as Daniel against the hire of Balthazar keepe thy rewardes to thy selfe and giue thy giftes to an other They are not wonne nor enarmoured with the expectation of good thinges and the revelation of the sons of God which the whole creature longeth groneth for savoureth no more vnto them than a boxe of putrified ointment What is there no way to quicken put life into them yes If the blessings of sixe Levites vpon mount Garizzim will not mooue them let them heare the cursing of sixe others vpon mount Ebal if they take no pleasure in the beautie of Sion let the thundering lightning of Sinai fire to the midst of heaven mistes cloudes smoke ascending like the smoke of a fornace the exceeding lowde sounde of a trumpet put them in feare make them beleeue that there is a God of iudgment if the spirit of gentlenes take no place shake the rod over them as the Apostle speaketh Giue theÌ„ mourning for ioy ashes for beauty the spirit of heavines for the oile of gladnes a rent insteed of a girdle teare I say not their garments but their hearts a sunder pull their bodies
vndone both gentlemen meane men in our country so much broughte some to shame as their backe bellie pride and profusion What means shall we vse to crush these vipers amongst you declaiming will not serue Denouncing of the iudgements of God we haue found vnprofitable by over-long experience Haue we not beaten your eares I mistake the aire the winde a thousand times vvith faithfull earnest detection of these monsters pride prodigality strangenes of apparell excesse of meates drinkes and haue we not gained thereby as if we had preached but fables Niniveh is fallen long since because shee returned to that wallowing which here shee repented her of But Niniveh shal rise againe and stand vpright against vs and condemne vs face to face for shee repented in hunger and thirst we in satiety gluttony surfetting drunkennes for either we never repente at all or these are the stomakes which we bring in repentance And Niniveh repented in sacke-cloth and ashes stuffe of the coursest woofe and workemanship and of the simplest fashion that their wits coulde invent we in our silkes and velvets of French Italian Iewish Turkish Barbarian hellish devises for either vve never repent at all or these are the guises and shewes we bring in repentance These these are the stomakes we goe with I say not to our beddes to stretch our selues and to take our ease till we haue gotten our appetites againe and these are the weeds we carry I say not to the theatres to bee stared vpon nor to the kings court where soft raiment is more tolerable to be worne But vvith these stomakes and these weedes we goe to the temple of the Lorde his house of praying and preaching and as boldly present our selues therewith as if the favour of God were sonest wonne by such intemperancies Whither we be a people defiled and corrupted as these in Niniveh were vvee are not so shamelesse to dissemble and whither prophets haue beene amongst vs as Ionas was in Niniveh let their wearied tongues and sorrowfull soules for their lost labour witnes an other day whither the iudgementes of God some we haue already felt and some wee haue cause to feare though not so grievous as they did we neede none other messengers to report then our eies standing in our heades and beholding some parte of them accomplished And lastly we would thinke it a great wrong vnto vs to be chardged with vnbeleefe Wee say wee beleeue God as frankely and confidently as ever the men of Niniveh did Thus far wee will be equall with Niniveh But shewe me your faith by your workes as they did in Niniveh If your sinnes haue deserved a iudgement and iudgement hath beene sounded by prophetes besides the preaching of experience and prophets you say are beleeved because you receiue them as those that speake in the name of the Lord I say againe shew me your faith by your workes as that citie did When did you fast I name not bread and water but from superfluous sustenance VVhen did you pull one dish from your tables or one morsell from your bowels Nay doe you not daily adde and invent for pleasure even till the creatures of God which die for your liues cry out vpon you we desire not to bee spared but not to bee abused vvee refuse not to serue your necessitie but your riot kill to eate but to eate deliciouslie and intemperately kill vs not Or when did you chandge one sute or thred of your rayment in signe of suppliant and contrite spirites shall I say by proclamation no nor by the secret and single decree of any private heart Or from the greatest to the least No. For greatnesse will not stoupe but at greater iudgementes The Lorde doth bruise but the heele of the body when the poore are smitten vnlesse he reach the head the rich and mighty amongst vs feele it not Brethren there must be some ende of these things our eating and drinking not to liue but as if wee woulde die with fulnesse and wearing of pride like a chaine to our neckes and a mantle to our whole bodies or if Moses and Samuell vvere amongst vs they woulde be weary of their preaching Yea there must be some ende or if Moses and Samuell vvithall the angels in heaven vvere amongst vs to bestowe both their preachings and praiers that we might be saved they should saue but their owne soules and neither vs nor our sonnes and daughters This is an yeare of temptation whereof I maie saye as Moses did in Deuteronomie of a straunge prophet Tâ—ntat vos dominus vester The LORDE your God prooveth you whither you loue him or no vvhither you can bee contente for his sake to leaue superfluities a while and to lay aside vanitie and converte your heartes and handes to the workes of mercie In the timeliest time of your harvest hee covered the heavens with a sacke to teach you the way to sacke-cloath and sent leanenesse vpon the earth to teach you frugalitie and thriftinesse in the vse of his blessinges Manie the poorer of our lande vvoulde bee glad vvith the disciples of Christ to rubbe an eare of corne betweene their handes for reliefe of their hunger if they coulde come by it Their bowels sounde like shaumes for vvante of foode and their teeth are cleane vvhen your barnes and garners are filled to the toppe your presses runne over and your bellies are satisfied vvith more then the flower of vvheat O take somewhat from your bellies and backes if you haue any loue to that hidden Manna the meate that perisheth not the fruites of the tree of life in the middest of the paradise of God if any desire to those vvhite garmentes washt in the bloud of Christ and rather to shine hereafter as the starres in the firmament then as glo-wormes vpon the earth in this present life take from your bellies and backes both in regard of your owne soules to witnesse humility and sobriety before God and man and for your poore brethren sake that they may bee fedde and clothed It is Christ that hungreth and Christ that must satisfie you Christ that craveth and Christ that must give vnto you Christ that lieth at your gates and Christ that must advaunce you to glorie Hee is the advocate to the poore and the iudge of the rich hee hath the sentence of blessing and cursing in his mouth and to those that are plentifull givers he shall render a plentifull recompence THE XXXV LECTVRE Chap. 3. ver 6. For word came vnto the king of Niniveh and he rose from his throne c. THE first of those fiue verses vvherein the repentaunce of Niniveh is laide downe is nothing else I told you but a generall comprehension of that which is afterwarde repeated and repolished with more particular declaration Therein they lay their foundation low and sure for the first stone of their building that beareth vp al the rest is faith plainly and expressely mentioned which if
handes but at your feete to your feete submitte their neckes and hold your stirrops or that Princes shoulde eate bread vnder your tables like dogges I shame almost to report that a skar-crow in an hedge should thus terrifie Eagles Wher was then the effect of that praier which David made in the Psalme O Lord giue thy iudgement vnto the king wheÌ„ the kings of the earth were so bewitched and enchanted with that cup of fornicatioÌ„ Christ though the iudge of the quicke and dead refused to be a iudge in a private inheritance who made me a iudge or divider over you these wil be iudges and disposers of Kingdomes Empires Dukedomes and put Rodolph for Henry Pipin for Childericke one for another at their pleasures And when they haue so done no man must iudge of their actions why because the disciple is not aboue his maister Let not a priest giue an accusation against a Bishop not a Deacon against a priest not a sub-deacon against a Deacon not an Acolyth against a sub-deacon not an exorcist against an Acolyth but as for the highest prelate hee shal be iudged by no man because it is vvritten non est discipulus c. So did the Devill apply the scriptures The Apostles all concurre in one manner of teaching let every soule be subiect to the higher powers hee meaneth of temporall powers because they beare the sword require tribute Chrysostome expoundeth it of all sortes of soules both secular religious Submit your selues to every ordinance of man feare God honour the king let prayer and supplcation bee made for all men for kinges those that are in authority that wee may leade a quiet and peaceable life vnder them This is the summe of their doctrine Now either the Bishop of Rome hath not a soule to be subiect or he is a power aboue all powers and must commaund others And so in deede he vsurpeth abusing that place of the Psalme Omnia subiecisti sub pedibus eius thou hast put all thinges in subiection vnder his feete all sheepe and oxen yea and the beasts of the field Where by oxen are meant Iewes and heretiques by beast of the field Pagans and infidelles by sheepe Christian both kings and subiects by birdes of the aire Angelles in heaven by fishes in the sea soules in purgatory I do wrong to your sober eares to fill them with such fables but subiection I am sure they deny if the whole world should be filled with bookes legall Evangelicall to admonish them Nay they will take both the law and gospell and make them speake vanity blasphemy meere contradiction rather than want authorities to vphold their kingdome Thus when Adrian set his foote in the necke of the Emperour he alleaged the words of the Psalme thou shalt tread vpon the adder the basiliske c. The Emperour highly sinned that he had not a sting to thrust forth against him and to tame his pride Iohn the 22. perverted the words of Christ to this purpose behold I haue set theeover kingdomes c. Innocentius the 3. fetcheth a prophecy of his vsurped Hierachie from the first creation God created two light in the firmament of heaven so in the firmament of the earth two rulers a greater light and a lesser light that is the Pope and the Emperour the one to governe the day the other the night that is the Pope to governe the Clergie the Emperour the laitie for this cause they say to shew the difference the Pope hath his vnction on the head the Emperour but on his armes· To leaue their glosses and devises let vs harken to their practise What a strange commauÌ„dement was that which Gregory the 7. sent forth we commaund that no man of what condition soever he be either king or Archbishop Bishop Duke Earle Marques or Knight be so hardly to resist our legates if any man do it we binde him with the bond of a curse not onely in his spirit but in his body and all his goods In excommunicating the Emperour then being he vsed this forme Henry the king sonne of Henry late Emperour I throw downe from all both imperiall and royall administration and I absolue from their othe of obedience all christians subiect to his authority and being requested to vse more mildnes in proceeding to excommunicate him answered for himselfe when Christ committed his church to Peter and said feed my sheepe did he exempte kinges afterward he calleth vpon Peter Paul saith vnto them go to now so vse the matter that all men may vnderstand if your selues haue power to binde loose in heaven that we may haue also power on earth both to take awaye and to giue Empires kingdomes principalities and whatsoever mortall men may haue Boniface the 8. whome Benevenutus called the tyrant over Priests Petrarch the terrour of kings nâ—mâ—d himselfe the Lord not only of FraÌ„ce but of the whole world Philip sirnamed the faire theÌ„ king of FraÌ„ce advised him not to vse that kind of speech to the overthrow of his kingdome Hence grew all those stirres and tumultes betweene them It is a notable admonition which Massonus there giveth in the knitting vp of his life I vvoulde wish the Bishoppes of the cittie not to make kings their enemies who are willing to be their friendes for let them not thinke that they are sent from GOD as bridles vnto kinges to maister them at their pleasure as wilde and vnbroken horses let them admonish and pray them and ther harty praiers shall bee insteede of commanding but to threaten terrifie raise vp armes is not beseeming Bishoppes Platina concludeth him almost to the same effect thus dieth Boniface vvhose endevours evermore were rather to bring in terrour than religion vpon Emperours kinges princes nations and peoples This Platina was a professed catholique living within a colledge at Rome that you may the lesse thinke the author willing to sâ—aunder them On a time vvhen Paul the seconde vvent about to pull downe that colledge hee besought the Pope that the matter might first bee hearde before the maisters of the rowels or other like iudges itané aâ—t nos ad iudices revocas What Is it come to this saieth hee doest thou call vs backe vnto iudges doest thou not knovvs that all the lavves are placed in the shrine of my breast Innocentius the sixt sendeth Carilas a Spanish Cardinall but withall a cardinall warriour into Italie to recover Saint Peters parrimonie if praiers were vnavaileable by force of armes for armes are the succours of Popes vvhen praiers vvill not serue Innocentius the seventh had a meeker spirite of vvhome Bapâ—ista Fulgosus vvrireth that such idle houres as hee had he bestowed in pruning his orcharde and wisheth that other Popes had done the like vvho vvere better pleased with making warre for it is fitter for the Bishopes of Rome to prune orchardes than men Iulius the 2.
of a fierce countenance and vnknowne language all the commoâ—ions and perturbations of kingdomes invasions of kings one vpon the others dominions rebellions of subiectes and so much of Christendome at this day buried in the very bowels of Turcisme and infidelity yea the extirpation of the Iews and planting of the Gentiles vpon their stocke and hereafter the casting out of the Gentiles and filling of the Iewes againe they are al rightly and orderly derived from the former cause For the sins of the people the princes the people themselues the government the policy the religion the peace the plenty of the land shal often be chandged We haue long and faithfully preached against your sinnes the dissolvers you see of kingdomes common weales that if it were possible we might bring them also to their periode and set some number and end of them VVill you not be made cleane when shall it once be But if our preachings cannot mooue you he that in times past at sundry times and in sundry manners spake vnto our fathers hath also sundry voices and sundry kindes of preachers to speake vnto you You heare that the chandge of a Prince is one of his Preachers It shall preach more sorrow vnto you more wringing of your hands rending of your harts than ever erst you were acquainted with Remember the vision that Michaeas saw all Israell scattered like sheepe because their king was taken from them and thinke how wofull a day it will bee when this faithfull shepheard of ours which hath fed her Iacob with a true heart Formosi pecoris Custos formâ—sior ipsa an happy Queene of an happy people the Lord yet saving both her vs with the healthfull power of his right hand shall be pulled from vs. Wee haue hitherto lived in peace equall to that in the daies of Augustus such as our fathers never sawe the like and vvhen wee shall tell our childrens children to come thereof they will not beleeue it VVe haue sitten at ease vnder the shaddowe of our vines nay vnder the shaddow of this vine wee haue shaded solaced our selues and lived by her sweetnes But it may fall out that as when the Emperour Pertinax was dead they cried with redoubled showtes into the aire till they were able to cry no longer while Pertinax lived and governed wee lived in safety and feared no man so wee may send our late and helpelesse complaintes into heaven O well were wee in the daies of Queene Elizabeth when perfite peace was the walles of our country and the malice of the enemy prevailed not against vs. The sword of a forrein foe bandes and captivitye is an other of his preachers Will you not feele the warnings of Gods wrath till the yron haue entred into your soules and drawne bloud after it you knovv vvho it is that hangeth over your heades of vvhome and other princes I may say as they said in Athens of Demades and Demosthenes their oratours Demosthenes is meete for Athens iustly assised and fitted to the city Demades over-great so vvhen other kinges holde themselues contended vvith their kingdomes he is too greate for Spaine and many other kingdomes and Dukedomes cannot suffice him but he yet devoureth in hope all the dominions of Christendome and drinketh downe with vnsatiable thirst the conceipt of a Monarch and for this cause there is a busye spirite gone forth in the mouthes of all his Prophets Vnus Deus vnus Papa vnus rex Christianismi Magnus rex Catholicus vniversalis There is but one God one Poâ—e one King of Christendome the greate and Catholicke and vniversall Kinge Hee hath once already buckled his harnesse vnto him with ioye and assured presumption of victory But they that pulled it of by out-stretched arme of one more mighty than himselfe more reioyced God graunt that they bee not found in England vvho haue saide vpon that happye and miraculous event in discomfiting his forces vvee vvill trust in our bovves and our svvordes and speares shall heereafter deliver vs. There touching of late in Cornevvale the vtmost skirt of our lande no doubt vvas some little vvarning from God But it vvas no more vnto vs than if the skirt of our cloake had beene cutte avvay as it vvas to Saule vvee say our skinne is not yet rased The commotion in Irelande thoughe a quicker and more sensible admonition is but a dagger held to our side and till the pointe thereof sticke in our heart till there bee firing of our tovvnes ransackinge of our houses dashinge of our infants against the stones in the streetes vvee vvill not regarde O cease to incense the iealous God of heaven Turne not his grace and mercie into wantonnes Let not his strength bee an occasion vnto you to make you vainely confident nor his peace licenciouslye secure nor the abundance of his goodnesse abundant and intolerable in transgressing his lawes And if there were no other reason to make you tremble before his face yet do it for your owne politicke good because you are threatned by a deadly enimy vvho accompteth himselfe the cedar and vs but the thistle in Libanon and whose povver is not contemptible though God hath often cast him downe Neveuiant Romani auferant regnum à nobis at least that the Romanes and Spaniardes for they are brethren in this case come not vpon vs by the righteous sufferaunce of our God and take away our kingdome Surely our sinnes call for a skourdge and they shall receaue one For they even whip and torment the patience of God The arrowes of death are prepared against vs and they shall shine with our gall if with humble repentance we prevent them not Our pride calleth for humiliation shee is ascended on high and asketh who shall fetch me downe yet I haue red of those whose wimples and calles and perewigges haue beene turned into nakednes and baldnes and they haue run too and fro smiting their breastes and tearing the haire of their heades suffering it to be blowne about their eares with the wind and not regarding to bind it vp so much as with an haire-lace Our clocks are not vvell kept nor our chimneyes good which I haue heard to be two signes of a well ordered common wealth that is our hours are mispent our callings not followed and the breathing of the chimneies is choked vp hospitalitie and reliefe to the poore almost banished The poorer haue had their plagues already skarsitie of bread within these few yeares often renewed Their teeth haue beene cleanâ— and white through want of food when yours haue beene furred with excesse of meats and drinkes But rich men gentlemen looke also for your draught in the cup of the Lord either some mortal sickenes to your bodies to eate vp your flesh as you haue eaten others and then whose shall these thinges bee which with so much sweat of your browes carefulnes of heart wracke of conscience breach of charitie wrong to humane