reiect vs the matter shall not much skill wee haue our Iudge And so although the world wander after vaine fantasies although euerie one forge vnto him selfe that which seemeth him best let vs alwayes consider of appearing before the tribunall seate of our God and that vnto him we must render our account Now he hath deliuered vs his lawe and by that he will iudge vs And therefore let vs leaue all that the world imagineth know that all is but vanitie and lying Withall Moses addeth that concerning his office he hath deliuered nothing of his owne And this protestation is well worthie to bee noted For wee must remember what hath bene before said that Moses was the most excellent prophet that euer God raised yet notwithstanding he taketh to him selfe in this place no such libertie as to teach any thing according to his owne iudgement For he knew well that he himselfe was a mortall man subiect to the lawe as were others Behold why he protesteth that that which he bringeth is that which he hath receued from God and that he dispenseth and deliuereth it as it were from hand to hande Sithence Moses doth this who will dare to say that it is lawfull for him to passe further And yet we see what is happened herein For among the whole rable of Papists is there any so giuen to heare what God shall say as to preferre his word before the doctrine of men Nay But they haue their holy mother the Church as they terme it they haue their determinations their decrees their statutes and they thinke it sufficient to haue this couerture of the Church and in the meane time they robbe God of his authoritie to cloth men which are but rottenesse therewith Behold an intollerable sacrilege when God shall no longer be a Lawegeuer to conduct his people and to holde them vnder his yoke but that men will vsurpe and challenge to them selues such an authoritie So much the more heedfullie ought wee to obserue that which is here conteined namelie that Moses albeit he was as an Angel of heauen although God had exalted him aboue all men though he had bene in the mount fortie dayes without eating or drinking any thing to shewe that he was no longer of the number of others yet nothwitstanding when he came from this heauenlie glorie and as it were from the companie of Angels he humbleth himselfe and declareth that he commendeth vnto the people nothing of his owne that he will not feede them with fansies and dreames of his owne head but that hee is contented to haue heard what GOD hath pronounced and that he reciteth it as a faithfull seruaunt which addeth nothing thereto which falsifieth not the commission which is geuen vnto him Ye see then what we haue againe to beare in mind upon this place There followeth now the exhortation which he addeth that is That the people discharge themselues in keeping of the lawe As if he said That it is not geuen for men only to confesse that all that it conteineth is good iust and of great equitie but to this ende also that men shewe whether they be obedient vnto God or no. And that is the cause why he saith That thou feare the Lorde thy God and that thou keepe his commaundementes and statutes Vnder this worde of feare he signifieth that God by declaring his lawe meant to make a proofe whether we will serue him or no. For albeit we obserue all the commaundementes in such sort that men can find no fault with vs yet if this feare of God bee not rooted in our heart if we beare him not this reuerence to desire to bee his all the time of our life this outward obseruing of his commaundementes shall be but a friuosous shewe and a pompe of great vanitie For wee must not thinke that God is contented with that which outwardlie appeareth although it be highlie priced and esteemed of men yet is it but as a vapour of smoke before him We ought therefore to beginne at this point if wee will obserue the lawe of God duelie and in such sort as our life may be agreable vnto God namelie that we beare him all reuerence that wee seeke to be vnder his hande vnder his guide and direction that we seeke to doe him homage as our souereigne King we seeke to dedicate our selues vnto him as to our Creator we seeke to honour him as our Father When this affection and desire shall bee in vs then haue we the beginning of the whole lawe and of all righteousnesse that is the cause why it is said That the true wisdome is the feare of god And when wee will knowe whether wee haue profited in the lawe of GOD we must sounde our heartes to make the triall hereof to feele if wee haue such a zeale and desire that GOD bee honoured and glorified of vs For if there bee such a feare in the heart the fruites thereof will appeare both in our handes and in our feete and in all the partes and members of our bodie as God hath also ordeined this rule when he published his lawe So that they which boast themselues of the feare of God when their life is losed to all wickednesse their owne tongues tell them they lie and they shew full well howe impudent and past shame they are when they vaunt so much of the feare of god Wee see then a place which is well worthie to bee obserued wherin Moses first declareth that to serue God aright it behoueth that our heartes bee wholie giuen ouer vnto him that it sufficeth not that in outwarde appearance wee haue all the vertues that a man might imagine except such an affection and inward desire of the hearte goe before Againe that the feare of God is no hidden and idle thing although it bee in the heart of men yet must it appeare and shew it selfe in their life For it is the heart whiche gouerneth both the handes and the feete and all the other partes and members of the bodie We must therefore learne to shew by effect and experience that wee feare God by ordering our whole life according vnto his will. Now hereby wee may well gather that God disalloweth althings which men attempt beside his woord as the Papistes are continuall men and religious as they say in the seruice of God but in the meane time what doe they They trauell much and are neuer the neere for they profite nothing because in the whole woorshippe of God which they pretend there is nothing but the inuentions and deuises of men To serue God is to mumble a fewe small prayers and to crouch before their moppets and idols to trudge from altar to altar to chaunt their Masses to gad on pilgrimage to fast such a day in the honor of such and such a Saint to eate no flesh on Fridayes nor Saturdayes brieflie it is nothing else but a dongeon of such like trumperies whatsoeuer they haue vnder this shadowe
end the Iewes seing their stables closed vp shuld be put in minde to say How now God setteth here before our eyes this signe and sacrament visible euen in the brute beastes and this is to the end that we on our part should be the better kept and holden in his seruice that wee shoulde knowe that this were to breake the whole lawe if wee haue not regard vnto this which is the chiefe and principall point of all our life namelie that wee learne to renounce our selues and followe not our owne lustes reason or wisdome but that we suffer our God to rule and gouerne vs and that wee bee as dead creatures that he may liue in vs and not followe our owne swinge which is altogether corrupted Thus it behoued the Iewes deepely to weigh euen in the brute beastes this visible signe which was giuen to the end this might restreine them so much the more and that they should bee admonished by this meane to obserue the Sabbaoth day with all reuerence Withall we see how in all times God handleth men according to their hardnesse and that he hath prouided them of meete and conuenient remedies for asmuch as they are not inclined of them selues before he draweth them in this manner And this is not onely for the Iewes but for vs Let vs therfore acknowledge the great goodnesse and mercie of our God which forgetteth not nor omitteth any thing of all that which might remedie our vices And withall let vs acknowledge the peruersnesse which is in vs that wee flatter not our selues nor geue the bridle to our affections sithence we haue neede to bee constreined and that God geue vs many prickes with the spurre as to dull and restie iades And when God pricketh and spurreth vs in such sort knowe we that it is not without good cause but that he doth it because we are so croked and peruerse to be ruled because wee are so froward and rebellious Let vs then beginne to displease our selues in all our lustes and affections and learne to imprison our selues so farre that nothing hinder vs to follow the way which God would lead vs in And although our nature alwayes resist yet let vs enforce our selues to walke after his will vntill we bee fullie ruled and ordered by our god Loe what we haue to beare in minde vpon this place besides that which shal be by and by touched of man seruantes and maide seruantes namelie that God putteth the Iewes in remembraunce that they were seruantes in the land of Egypt and therefore that they ought with all gentlenesse to entreate them which are vnder their rule and authoritie For he saith Thy man seruant thy maid shall rest them selues And why For thou wast somtime in bondage the time hath bene thou couldest well haue wished that one had giuen thee some rest and release from thy labours Thou oughtest then to vse such gentlenesse towardes them which are vnder thy hand But here it might seeme that God hath ordeined the Sabbaoth day not for a spirituall order as it hath bene aboue said but that it might serue as a meane vnto charitie For he saith If thou wert in bondage wouldest thou not that one shoulde giue thee some release Wouldest thou alwayes bee oppressed with labour and trauell Surely by thy good will thou wouldest not It behoueth then that thou be are also with others Now this is not for the seruice of God but rather instituted for common charitie whiche ought to bee extended toward our neighbours howe euer in degree they be vnderlinges vnto vs But for asmuch as this commaundement is conteined in the first table of the lawe it is certeine that this whiche is here touched is but as accessarie I say the first table of the lawe for it is not without cause that God hath so diuided his lawe whiche he wrote in two stones Might he not haue wrote them in one stone if he had would Why then hath he made of them two seuerall partes This is not without great reason For in the lawe of God there are two principall articles The one concerneth our dutie towardes him the other our dutie we owe to our neighbours which liue and are conuersant with vs As our whole life if we consider well ought herevnto to be referred That is that first in knowing we haue a God to whom we are to liue we walke in obedience seeing we hold our life of him we doe him homage and reuerence therefore seeing he hath created vs into a farre better hope and hath adopted vs for his children we glorifie him for so great mercie and goodnesse seeing he hath redeemed vs by the bloud of his sonne we beecome his â–ª endeuoring to withdraw our selues from the defilements of the world to be vnto him liuelie and vnspotted sacrifices we call on him hauing our recourse vnto him alone we render him thankes for all his benefites bestowed vppon vs Yee see then the first point of our life consisteth in the honour we ought to giue to our god Againe seeing it pleaseth him further to proue our obedience by liuing with men in all vprightnesse none be giuen to his priuate profite but that we seeke to serue to the commoditie one of an other that there be mutuall honestie betweene vs so as wee absteine not onelie from fraude violence and crueltie but that our life be sober and modest that wee bee not dissolute wicked and brutish in our liuing And this is the second point of our life Nowe seeing it is so that this commaundement of the Sabbaoth day is conteined in the first table it followeth that it apperteineth to the spirituall seruice of GOD and that here is no question to bee made of the charitie wee owe vnto our neighbours And why then is this matter here treated of It is asmuch as if our Lorde did say This day of rest of some super aboundaunce and ouerplus shall serue you to this that your men seruauntes and your maides haue a release with you from their laboures Not that this was the chiefe and principall end wherevnto GOD tended For this was not his principall meaning that there shoulde bee one day in the weeke in the whiche a man shoulde cease from his labours to the end he might breath for that day and not toile so continually as to faint for wearinesse This was not the cause which moued God to ordeine the Sabbaoth day or day of rest but it was to this end that the faithfull should know they ought to liue so holily as to rest from all their affections desires that God might wholie worke in them For the rest it serueth as a benefite of supereâ—ogatioÌ„ as we say Behold our Lord saith Consider ye that sith you haue this warrant among you that I sanctifie you that you seeke to giue vp your selues wholy vnto me Yet loe one thing which shall serue you further and this is for your profite namelie that your familie shall not toile
c. The. 14. Sermon Deut. Chap. 5. 23 And when ye heard the voyce out of the middest of the darknesse because the mountaine did burne ye came to me all the chiefe of your tribes and your elders 24 And ye said Behold the Lorde our God hath shewed vs his glorie and his greatnesse and wee haue heard his voyce out of the middest of the fire we haue seene this day that God hath talked with man and he remaineth liuing 25 And now why should we die c. WE thinke if God in stead of preaching his worde by the meane and ministerie of men should in his owne maiestie speake or that some Angel sent from him should appeare vnto vs that wee should bee more liuelie touched than we are and that the whole world incontinently would be conuerted that euerie one would yeld obedience without any either contradiction or rebellion But alas we knowe not what is conuenient and profitable for vs For if wee considered of our owne frailtie and weakenesse wee would soone vnderstand that it is not possible for God to touche vs with his maiestie and power but hee must needes altogether ouerwhelme and confounde vs Therefore when men desire that GOD would manifestlie shew himselfe with some visible signe or that hee would descend from the heauens to teache them they knowe not what ones themselues are neither consider they howe weake and fraile their condition is For if they would well consider and bethinke themselues hereof the infinite glorie of GOD would strike them with a wonderfull feare and trembling knowing full well that they are not able to beare it Therefore let vs knowe that GOD procureth our profite and saluation when hee declareth vnto vs his will by the mouth of men when hee ordeineth and appointeth ministers of his worde to bee messengers vnto vs of such thinges as he knoweth to be meete and conuenient for vs And yet so is it that for once he would by euident proofe holde men conuicted that it were not good and profitable for them to heare his voice thunder from heauen And that is the cause why he would publish his lawe not simplie by Moses but descending in his owne person as we haue alreadie handled And yesterday wee said that the lighteninges the whirlewinde and the flaming fire and all that we reade of in the 19. and 20. of Exodus that all this I say was done to the end the people of Israel should learne to beare greater reuerence vnto the worde of God. Now this instruction apperteineth also vnto vs For God would that the memorie of these thinges should last for euer and that the vse of them should bee perpetuall So then beholde GOD hath once displaied and laid open his glorious maiestie to the ende wee might learne to receiue his worde in all feare and humilitie But withall he would also that the people of themselues should bee constrained to say It is not good that God speake vnto vs againe onelie let vs haue a man to bring vs such doctrine as it shall please him to sende vs And this rule is for to condemne vs if we followe not the example of this people which hastilie put forth themselues to speake in this sorte Now if any one alledge that this which was then spoken cannot binde vs he is easilie thus answered That if at this day God would doe the like he did then that is would pronounce with his owne mouth that which we now heare by the mouth of mortall men it should bee impossible for vs to abide his glorie and not to be altogether ouerwhelmed therewith and vtterlie confounded And so let vs learne that this is here recited vnto vs to the ende that in the person of the people of Israel wee knowe that God applieth himselfe to our slendernesse and infirmitie when it pleaseth him to sende vs his worde to bee preached by men like vnto our selues which might bee his messengers respecting herein what is behoouefull and profitable for vs And knowe we that this is an inordinate and foolish desire to wishe that God would appeare vnto vs from heauen or shew vs some apparant and visible miracle For we cannot comprehend his maiestie and glorie And although it bee the proper nature of the lawe to fraie vs yet apperteineth this as well vnto the Gospell For wee must take this as a generall rule that as soone as we feele the presence of God wee must needes bee confounded We see how the Angels hide their eyes because the glorie of God is greater than they can beare and they are constrained to confesse that they are ouerweake to beholde it as beeing creatures What shall then be said of vs For wee are farre inferiour vnto the Angels And there is beside in vs an other thing which maketh our infirmitie the greater namelie that wee reteine not that integritie and innocencie of our first nature wee are not such as God created vs that is to say earthlie men onelie as was our father Adam but we are altogether corrupted and there is nothing in vs but sinne and wickednesse And therefore it must needes bee that God be made our enimie and that we flie from his throne as malefactours will keepe themselues as farre as they can from the iudgement seate of their Iudge brieflie wee are poore miserable wormes and stinking carions So then as soone as GOD shall approch and come neere vnto vs we must needes be frighted with so great a feare as to be beaten therewith downe to the ground Therfore it is profitable for vs that God declare himselfe vnto vs in such sort as hath bene alreadie touched namelie by the meane and ministerie of men that he ordeine and appoint men to expounde vs his will as if he himselfe spake and that his worde be receiued of vs in such reuerence as if we heard him to thunder from the heauens But it shall be profitable for vs more fullie to vnderstand that which in a worde we haue here touched and els where more largelie handled namelie that the lawe in comparison of the Gospell frighteth and fraieth vs with a wonderfull feare And why is this Because that in the lawe God requireth of men that which is his due Now consider we whether wee are able to discharge our selues herein Nay contrariwise whether we bee not as poore and miserable debters which haue not one farthing to pay Ye see then in what a desperate case we are For howeuer the case standeth with vs God dischargeth vs not but declareth that we are worthie to beaccursed and condemned of him And for this cause hauing shewed how the life of men ought to be ordered he addeth this curse and malediction as thundring on vs Cursed are they which obserue accomplish not all those thinges which are here conteined As if hee said All men must passe here vnder condemnation from the greatest to the least all must knowe they are indebted vnto me and that by right I may cast
thereto and our fleshlie mindes alwayes stirre vs vp to inuent I knowe not what nouelties and new-fangled things And loe howe in Poperie euerie one hath enterprised to clout vnto the word of God his patch and piece and howe manie lawes they haue made one on the backe of another And why For it seemeth vnto them that it sufficeth not to walke vprightlie according vnto the word of God but that it were further good and conuenient that their medlie should be made therein Howe God contrariewise saith That if we haue his lawe we shal haue his statutes commaundementes ordinances and rites as if he said That mortall men must not be so presumptuous and ouerweening as to desire to seeme wiser than he For when they shall haue made their longest discourses they shall not finde any thing which they can amend or wherevnto they may make addition yea let them know that all that they shall seeke to put vnto of their owne shall not bee superfluous onelie and vnprofitable but shall marre all as if one would mingle vinegre with wine And now God hauing spoken in this sort warneth them further that they beware they obserue that which hee shall commaunde them without anie turning either vnto the right hande or vnto the left In these words our Lord declareth that hee will not that his law be honoured of men in approuing it onelie with the mouth as if we would seeme to be acquited of all the dutie we beare thereto when we doe no more than this but he sheweth that for to retaine vs vnder his subiection and in his seruice he hath published his lawe and at this day will haue it preached For herein it is his pleasure to proue whether he shall dispatch and come to anie agreement with vs as with a quiet and tractable people whom hee hath nowe lured to his traine Let vs therefore diligentlie note that when we come vnto a sermon this is not to say that the doctrine we heare is holie and good God shal be much beholding vnto vs when wee haue pronounced that his word is worthie to be receiued Hee will not that we be his iudges I graunt that we owe vnto him this confession that when we shall haue heard his worde euerie one acknowledge that it is the pure and sincere veritie that there is no other vprightnesse nor iustice nor wisedome beside that which is there conteined but in the meane time we must proceede further namelie to order our selues vnto the seruice and honour of God Behold one profitable point which we haue to gather vpon this place Againe wee are diligentlie to obserue that which he saith Take heede ye do that I command For hereby God sheweth that we must seriouslie applie all our might and power herein for men shall not followe God by sleeping seeing that when they vse the greatest force they may with themselues they shall with much a doe drawe their legges after them their infirmitie and weakenesse of nature is so great Let vs not thinke then to acquite our dutie towardes God without bestowing much paine and labour therein for the thing is of great difficultie considering what ones we are namelie slowe and euer lazie to bestirre our selues about that which is good Nay I say yet further that albeit God hath affectioned moued vs with some desire thereto albeit he gouerneth vs with his holie spirit the thing will not be ouer easie For if he leaueth vs to remaine such as we are wee shall not onelie be slow herein but we shall drawe cleane backward from that which he willeth vs if he call vs vnto him selfe we shall recule and flee backe from him yea we shal be forced to followe that which is euill so farre shall we be from being able to desire any manner of way that which is good But note we that which wee haue alreadie touched that although God hath giuen vs some good affection albeit he hath set vs in some good way yet are we still slouthfull and loth to remoue one foote whereas a minute of time ought to serue we had need of an houre we winch fling in such sort when we are put forward and if happilie we moue one steppe either we stumble or else we start backe two paces for one or we take so greuous falles as it is pitie to behold So it is not without good cause that God saieth here Take heede ye do that I commaund you as if he saide True it is that my lawe is giuen you that you should put it in practise and to yeelde obedience therevnto but thinke ye not that this is so easie to be done Therefore let euerie one prepare him selfe with such diligence to walke after my commaundementes that ye thinke and meditate on them that ye be diligent to bestowe all paine in them that ye take a full tast and sauour of them that yee bee vigilent to stand on your watch for feare that you bee not turned aside be ye therefore attentiue and heedefull herein This wee see brieflie that our Lorde exhorteth vs in this place seriouslie to trauell and bestirre our selues when question is of walking vnder his obedience And why For the things he requireth of vs are not so easily performed And moreouer wee are so euill disposed as is lamentable to beholde that except wee bee pricked on and driuen thereto as by force wee can not set one foote forward as wee ought in our dutie If is needefull therefore that wee awaken our selues better to bee more diligent and attentiue and to stand alwayes more warilie on our garde to accomplish that which our Lorde commaundeth vs Nowe he afterwarde addeth That this must be done without turning either to the right hand or to the left but that altogether they walke in that way which he hath shewed them True it is that this place shal be expounded more at large in the twelfth Chap. of this booke but yet wee must not so passe it ouer in this place but that wee vnderstande what God meant to say in forbidding vs That wee bee not turned neither vnto the right hand nor to the left For he sheweth vs that his pleasure and will is in all things to bee hearkened vnto of vs nothing whatsoeuer excepted Now this importeth two thinges that is wee neither adde vnto nor diminish any thing from his lawe To adde any thing is as if wee woulde turne on the right hand For they which adde vnto the lawe of God doe it as thinking that it is not enough to obserue all that which is therein conteined but that it were good to put somewhat more therevnto Loe how men woulde haue some place for their fantasies that if they can bethinke them selues of any thing it seemeth them that God hath forgotten it and that it were good to bee obserued And beholde what hath bene the cause of making so many ordinances so many lawes ceremonies in Poperie The Iewes had the like vice reigning among
his inheritaunce Let vs therefore diligentlie note when it it is saide That thou maiest prosper in the land that God ment not to busie his people in this present life but by this meane it pleseth him to conduct them higher namely to the hope of immortalitie which he had promised them Neuertheles our Lord promiseth his blessing in such sort vnto this people that euen in this life they shall perceiue it and haue thereof some tast waiting to haue the full enioying thereof when they shall be withdrawne out of this world And at this day we ought also to call to minde the testimonie of S. Paule That when we shal feare God we haue the promises of the present life and of the life to come For God wil in this life giue vs some feeling of his goodnes to the end we might therby be led vnto an higher hope and that we also learne to receue the benefites of God in such sort in this world as that we be persuaded we shal be satisâ—ied with them when we shal be come into his kingdome where we shall enioy them in all fulnesse and plentie Now let vs cast our selues downe before the face of our good God with acknowledgement of our faults praying him to make vs feele them better than we haue done vntill we be sed to a true repentance and that more and more feeling our owne wretchednesse wee may learne to resist all the affections of our flesh and all our wicked and peruerse desires and not this only but that cursed presumption which is in vs of attempting to do that which we thinke good that nothing may hinder vs to followe the pure and simple worde of our GOD knowing that this is the true and perfect rule to order vs by that wee attempt to adde nothing thereto but simply rest in that which is therein conteined to profite more and more therein vntill that hauing atchieued and ended our course here on earth wee come vnto that heauenlie rest wherevnto he calleth vs and in the meane time pray we him to reach vs out his hand to stay vs when we shall seeke vnto him and call on him in all our needes and necessities That it will please him to graunt this grace not onely to vs but vnto all people and nations of the earth c. The. 16. Sermon Deut. Chap. 6. 1 These are the commaundementes ordinaunces and lawes which the Lord your God hath commaunded me to teach you that ye might do them in the lande whither ye goe to possesse it 2 That thou mightest feare the Lorde thy God by keeping all the dayes of thy life thou thy sonne and thy sonnes sonne all his ordinaunces and commaundementes which I commaund thee that thy dayes may be prolonged WE haue often heretofore sene how Moses did put the people in minde of the things conteined in the law euen yesterday we sawe how to the same purpose he made mention of them yet againe in this place he doth the like Howbeit this is no needlesse or vnprofitable repetition seing that men haue so soone forgot the things they learne in the schoole of God except the memorie of them for their better remembrance be often refreshed And we see there needeth nothing to turne vs aside from our duetie herein for we are so much inclined vnto vanitie that there is nothing more harder than to reteine vs vnder the obedience of god As soone as we haue conceiued a fantasie it carieth vs away headlong and we remember no more what God had said vnto vs Moreouer because he seeketh no other thing than to winne vs vnto himself he must roote out of vs those false opinions wherewith wee are alreadie forepossessed For it is with vs as with a ground which hath lien fallowe a long time whereon a man must bestowe exceeding great labour before he can applie it to some profitable vse And that is the cause why Moses saith againe That these are the commaundements and ordinaunces and lawes which the Lord hath committed vnto him that hee deliuer them vnto the people and that they bee obserued Now by these woordes he signifieth that God will reteine the people in his obedience when hee semeth to say What meane ye ye wretched ones to wander Loe I deliuer vnto you my lawe when you shall holde your selues in this doctrine you can not erre this is the way of saluation therefore keepe your selues in it Nowe for all this men are still wandering they are borne away headlong hither thither and God continueth to raine them with the bridle as when an headstrong horse is hardlie ruled the rider restraineth him backe with bitte and bridle not for one time onely but so long as he continueth wild and vntamed Yee see then how God vseth the same order with his people And hereby he sheweth that the minde of man is full of rebellion or full of lightnesse and rashnesse and that he can not wholie rest him selfe on the woord of God wherein notwithstanding our whole saluation and happinesse consisteth Seeing then it is so let vs note that vnder the person of the people of Israel we are here warned that when God hath set before vs his worde wee must not thinke on it for one day onely but that we ought to exercise our selues therein all the time of our life And when wee heare this Beholde the statutes Beholde the ordinaunces Beholde the commaundementes which I propose vnto you we must remember that it is not for vs to establish lawes and rules to gouerne our life by but that this authoritie apperteineth onely vnto god Moreouer he hath also admonished vs that he hath shewed vs the right way Let vs therefore followe it and walke therein let vs not make further inquirie what wee ought to doe for there remaineth no doubting when our Lord hath once spoken wee must no longer alledge I know not whether this bee good I knowe not whether somewhat else bee to bee added Content wee our selues with that which God hath shewed vs for he shall alwayes bee a good maister to teach vs if so bee wee bee not peruerse and euill scholers to learne vnder him And for this cause here is againe mention made of commaundementes statutes and ordinaunces that we might not thinke that God woulde instruct vs by halfes There is then in his lawe comprised a full perfection of all wisedome so that there resteth nothing but that wee yeald obedience therevnto that wee bee not so curious as to desire more than God sheweth vs that we haue no foolish deuotions which leade vs wandering hither and thither knowing that God hath not enuied them which were vnder his charge the knowledge of any thing behouefull for them but hath taught them all that which was profitable and necessarie for them Let vs therfore gouerne our selues according vnto his will let vs applie all our senses thereto let his lawe suffice and content vs albeit the whole world scorne and
learne it and obserue it Here againe Moses setteth downe the preface of which before we tooke some view that the Lawe is not geuen onely to the end that men should heare it to knowe what it conteineth but that by it we should also be reformed and that God might proue herein what subiection we yealde vnto him In fewe wordes we see that the doctrine of God consisteth in practise and that we must by our doinges shewe that we haue not in vaine bene taught it Nowe then Moses saith in the first place Heare the Lawe whiche I propose in your eares to the end you should learne it As if he should say that God will not that the doctrine which is preached vnto vs in his name and authoritie should fall to the grounde but that we must receiue it with all diligence and applie our whole studies therein For what is the causes that wee profite so euill in the woord of God but that wee are ouermuch busied in the thinges of the world And if we come to the sermon if we read the holy scripture it is but for fashion and manners sake wee seeke not to performe our dueties as we ought in obseruing that whiche is taught vs But let vs aduise our selues to be better and more diligent scholers while the Lord vouchsafeth to instruct vs by his woord and that is the cause why Moses saith he hath told the Lawe in their eares Indeede this manner of speaking would bee verie hard in our tongue howbeit it importeth as much as if God should say That he speaketh not vnto vs in an vnknowen strange language but sheweth himselfe in as plaine and familiar manner as may be desired Seeing then it is so that God cōmeth downe vnto vs in such sorte as to make a plaine and familiar declaration of his will what excuse shall we haue to alledge if his woord be lost in vs or if it slippe from vs or if we keepe it not to make our profite thereof It is true that for asmuch as we are ouer dull and ignorant we shall alwayes find much obscuritie in the woord of God that the langauge of the Lord is to high and profound for vs but to whom should the fault therof be imputed Let vs note therefore that all they which complaine that the woord of God is hard and obscure as if it were hid vnder an vnknowen tongue are here reproued of a manifest lie Yea that they do God great iniurie yea blaspheme him for that they despitefully dissemble denie the bountie goodnesse which Moses protesteth was shewed the people at the publishing of the law for it is there said that God spake to the eares of the people by the mouth of Moses So that the doctrine which he deliuered ought to haue bene throughly knowen of them And at this day we haue lesse occasion to vse this shifte to alledge that we vnderstand nothing of that which is conteined to holie Scripture for GOD speaketh so neerelie and familiarly vnto vs that we neede but to haue our eares cleansed and prepared to heare him And let vs note that there remaineth nothing but that we be attentiue diligent to profite in the doctrine of saluatiō But withall let vs call to mind that we haue aboue touched namely that this doctrine must be kept folowed throughly for if we doe not allowe the worde of God and yeald our consentes that it is good and true and holie God is much beholding vnto vs What must we doe then See God will make a triall whether he shall be maister ouer vs or no. Now then if the worde of God rule our life that is if we not onely inquire after that which he telleth vs but forsake our naughtie lustes and desires and endeuour onely to please him and to be gouerned by him and his righteousnes when we come to this then see we one good proofe that he hath such dominion and superioritie ouer vs as he deserueth But vntill wee haue profited so much that we are come hither let vs not thinke that we haue profited any thing at all in the doctrine which hath bene taught vs Let this worde therefore of Doing be often called to minde and imprinted in memorie of them which heare the worde of god As howe Beholde God doth vs this courtesie in vouchsafing to teach vs And why is that Is it to this end that we shoulde onely lend our eares to say in the end Yea well said that is good Nay but to the end our life shoulde be reformed and because it is a true and certeine rule that we shoulde not erre as we haue done and as many poore ignorant wretches doe which are straied from the right way and are not instructed as we are vnto whome this doctrine ought to serue for mortification and newnesse of life that God may beare rule ouer vs and that we be subiect to him Thus wee se in effect what Moses meant when he protested vnto the people in this preface that he set before them the lawe not that they shoulde heare it and so but haue their eares beaten there with but that they should receiue it and keepe it Nowe for the better confirmation of this he alledgeth That God had made his couenaunt with that people on the mount Horeb the better to persuade them to feare God and to continue in his obedience For if God woulde onely require of vs that which is his due yet were we sufficiently bounde to cleaue vnto him and to obserue his commandements but when it pleaseth him of his infinite goodnesse to couenant with vs to binde himselfe vnto vs when he needeth not to stand on articles with vs that he wil be our father and sauiour that he will receiue vs for his flocke and heritage that wee may liue vnder his gard and protection offering vs euerlasting life seeing that he doth all these thinges ought not our heart to be softened though it were of stone When the creatures behold that the liuing God abaseth himself hitherto as to treate the matter with vs and to say Goe to let vs consider what we are both you see what an infinite distance is betweene you and me and knowe that I could commaund you what seemeth good to me and not haue any thing to deale with you and that you are not worthie to come nighe me or to haue any acquaintaunce with him which can command what he will without any further declaration than this See this I will and this is my minde yet loe I yeald of my right I come hereto offer my selfe to be your guide and sauiour I will gouerne you you shal be my familie if so be that you will content your selues with my worde I wil be your king and you shall be my subiectes for all this thinke you not that the couenant which I haue made with your fathers was to gaine any thing of you for I haue no neede nor want of any
thing whatsoeuer and what benefite can you bestowe on me But all which I haue done and doe is onely for your profite and for your welfare I am then here readie to couenaunt by articles with you and to bind my selfe vnto you on my part Seeing I say that the liuing God doth abase himselfe so farre I pray you shall not we be to vnthankfull if we be not herewith beaten downe to humble our selues vnder him laying aside all our pride and hautinesse It is not therefore without cause that Moses speaketh here of the couenaunt which God hath made with his people to the end that especially his fauour and goodnesse shoulde be knowen Nowe if this was to be done in the time of the lawe there is at this day much greater reason thereof for the Lorde hath not onelie made a couenaunt for one time as with the Iewes but when he sent this onely some then declared he him selfe to be our father and sauiour much more fullie than before he had done and that after so sweete so gratious and so amiable a manner as nothing more in such sort that he hath here as it were laid forth his bowelles of loue and compassion towards vs Seeing therefore God hath presented vnto vs his heart in the person of our Lorde Iesus Christ and wee heare besides the protestation which Iesus Christ maketh that he will call vs no more his seruaunts but his friendes because he hath so familiarly communicated vnto vs all the secrets of his will must it not I beseeche you needes be that the diuell hath bewitched vs if wee bee not hereby moued to frame ourselues wholy vnto him renouncing euen our selues and all our affections So then when we perceiue in our selues any wickednesse wherby we are hindred to serue God when we feele our selues idely disposed in the worke of the Lord are euen brought into an heauie sleepe by the cares of this world to stirre our selues vp to praise our God let vs haue in minde this couenaunt which the Lord hath made with vs Nowe herevpon Moses further addeth The Lord made not this couenaunt with our fathers but with vs euen with vs which are aliue at this day This place may bee vnderstood after two sortes for it may bee taken for a comparison which Moses maketh the better to declare that the people which then liued ought to bee so much the more diligent in the seruice of God because they had receiued greater benefites than their fathers In which sense he speaketh in Exodus I haue not communicated this name to your fathers where God speaking vnto Moses saith that he declared not him self so plainly to bee God to Abraham Isaac and Iacob as he did vnto Moses And by this he signifieth that the people should be now more attentiue because God had reuealed himselfe vnto them after an vnaccustomed manner Euen so in this place one may vnderstand this God hath not made such a couenaunt with your fathers It is true that God spake vnto his seruaunts Abraham Isaac Iacob and did sufficiently instruct them And it is expresly said in the. 18. of Gen. Shall I hide from my seruant Abraham that which I will now execute vpon Sodome and Gomorra For I knowe that he will instruct his housholde in my decrees and ordinannces in my statutes and iudgements See then howe Abraham instructed his familie not after some bare and naked manner but in the iudgements and statutes and ordinaunces of the Lord Briefly wee must needes say that Abraham had the lawe of God imprinted in his heart yet loe besides a benefite not to be contemned when God hath sent this lawe in the two tables to the end the instruction thereof might remaine and abide for euer to his people and that the thinges therein conteined might be ratified for euer and testified to all posteritie as well as to them We see then what we may gather vpon this sentence euen as much as if Moses should haue said vnto the people Beloued acknowlege we the benefite the Lord bestoweth on vs this day euen such an one as our fathers haue receiued none the like for he deliuered not vnto them the lawe by writing as vnto vs he hath not declared to them these thinges in such plaine order True it is that he did sufficiently instruct them as much as was necessarie requisite for their saluation but here is yet an higher degree further steppe to which we are come at this day and therefore wee ought to drawe so much the neerer to him seeing we see that he hath so stooped vnto vs And this is the meaning of Moses if we vnderstand the place in this sense As if a man shoulde say at this day that God hath not done so to our fathers as he hath done vnto vs And this is that which Christ said to his disciples That many Kings and Prophets haue desired to see those thinges which you see heare those thinges preached which you heare and yet haue not had their desire Seeing then it is so that God of his infinite mercie goodnesse vouchsafeth to preferre vs before the Patriarches and Prophetes as it is also said that the Prophets serued not so much their owne time as ours we ought with greater diligence to suffer our selues to be taught vnder him to applie our selues wholy to his doctrine Notwithstanding when all is well considered although this we haue alledged be profitable and the exhortation is often brought in holy Scripture yet when we shall haue weighed all the wordes wee shall finde that Moses when he saith that God did not make his couenaunt with them which heard the lawe the first day it was published meaneth to say that not onely with them he made his couenaunt but also with those which ouer liued them and succeded in the place of those which were dead So that in fewe woordes Moses woulde here declare that the lawe was not transitorie to endure onely for the life of them which first heard it but that it was a doctrine which shoulde reteine his strength authoritie foreuer The Lord our God saith he hath not made a couenant with our fathers that is to say he woulde not onely haue our fathers for his people he was not tied to them so that his lawe should serue but for fortie or fiftie yeares but he hath made a couenaunt with vs as well and with them which were not borne when the lawe was published You then which were not at the mount of Horeb which haue not seene the fire on the montaine nor heard the thunderinges know you not withstanding that your God did then adopt you also to himselfe and that he made a couenaunt in the which you also were comprised You must therefore obserue his lawe because it hath bene established to bee perpetuall to endure from age to age and to bee preached euen to the end of the worlde And this is
gelous God visiting the iniquitie of the fathers vpon the children euen to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me 10 And shewing mercie to thousandes of them that loue me keepe my Commaundements BEcause men are so farre inclined to corrupte the worshippe of God by wicked superstitions it behoueth that God feare them by his threates to the end they might be as it wereforceably kept backe when otherwise they woulde carrie them selues headlong by their vanitie to imagine of GOD cleane contrarie to all that which is agreeable with his Maiestie And this is a pointe worthie to bee noted For it seemeth as wee haue alreadie touched that it was now needelesse to forbidde the people of Israel to make any images after they had knowen the liuing god But because of our cursed inclination it was requisite that this so streight a forbidding as wee see should be adioyned And this is done as well for vs as for them because this vice is as it were settled in our bones If God shewe not that he will not suffer idolatrie and that wee bee not wounded with such threats there is not one amongest vs which forgeth not an infinite number of idols and by this meane the honour due to the liuing God is transported vnto our fantasies Let vs note then that here we are reproued of hauing a cursed and peruerse nature whiche alwayes draweth vs to superstition and that there is great need that we be held backe after some violent and forceable manner For of our owne good will we neuer serue GOD in such sort as that we imagine nothing of him but that which is proper to his Maiestie And withall wee may note to what purpose our good meanings serue vs For if there be any thing in whiche men may excuse them selues with this that they thinke they do well it is when they forge vnto them selues idols For to what end doe they make them but to serue God to bee stirred vp to greater deuotion and to haue a more strong assuraunce that GOD will heare them in their requestes These then are the men whiche may best pretend this colour of good meaning but yet we see on the contrarie side that God hereby is grieuously angred wee see how he pronounceth an horrible sentence of condemnatiō vpon all them which leaue them selues to be gouerned by their thinking and meaning They will say still and the thing is so That they thinke to serue God but what He accepteth no such seruice but rather accurseth it and that by good right For as wee haue aboue shewed his maieslie is disguised when one will make vnto him a visible image We are then instructed in this place to doe nothing as seemeth vs especially when there is any question of the seruice of God that we attempt nothing after our owne fantasies but that wee followe in all simplicitie that which he appointeth by his worde without adding of any thing vnto it whatsoeuer For assoone as wee shall haue declined neuer so little herein what euer we alledge to make our cause good God will not leaue vs vnpunished For this is no vaine threate when he saith That he is a God of gelousie and anger which visiteth the iniquitie of parentes vpon their children Thus you see then two pointes which wee haue to beare in minde in this place The one is that because wee are by nature ouer much giuen to idolatrie this threatning of God commes alwayes before our eyes to the end we presume not to mingle any thing with his word or to deuise any kind of idolatrie but that we serue him purely according to his nature and not according to our fantasie And let this be for one note The other is that we knowe we must not pretend our good me aninges to iustifie that which we shall haue inuented and deuised but contrarie wise let vs remember that the principall seruice which God requireth is obedience Nowe let vs come to the wordes which are set downe in this sentence God saith in the first place I am thy euerliuing thy God or thy mightie and strong one Here againe he setteth himselfe against all idols For wee haue alreadie seene that to redresse the superstitions of the Israelites he declared himselfe in his maiestie Nowe this is to take all excuse from men when GOD once manifesteth himselfe vnto them When wee knowe not which is the true religion neither can discerne who is the true GOD it is no maruell if all our senses wander and wee runne hither and thither without any right directing of our wayes as poore wanderers but when God hath once declared himselfe vnto vs and wee knowe his trueth then is there great reason that all our dreames fall to the grounde and that wee abide stedfast in that whereof wee haue knowledge For this cause God repeateth this thing That he hath declared himselfe to his people and hath chosen them to himselfe and that he will gouerne them euen by the lawe which is nowe published And of purpose nameth he himself A gelous God wrathfull For this word importeth both these thinges And againe although he be called here God notwithstanding the worde he here vseth is deriued from a word which signifieth strength feare Now when he nameth himselfe Gelous there is no doubt but he meaneth thereby to signifie that he will not suffer that his honour be violated or that he be robbed of that which properly belongeth vnto him to haue it geuen to creatures that he can not patiently endure any such treacherie Therfore when the honour of God shall not be so priced on our part as it deserueth let vs knowe that he will not neglect it For wee shall feele in the end that he forgetteth not himselfe but will mainteine his glorie as he declareth throughout all the holie scripture Verely if wee had but one droppe of true vnderstanding wee woulde be zealous for the honour of our God so that wee needed not to be stirred vp herevnto wee woulde of our selues endeuour to accomplishe that which is written in the Psalmes that is That his zeale should deuoure vs that we shoulde burne within our selues when wee see his maiestie reprochfully abused it would be I say that wee should then feele within vs a burning and consuming fire But what Wee are curious to mainteine our owne honour and in the meane while wee will suffer that the honour of the Lorde bee trampled vnder feete that men make their sporte and game of it that men haue it in derision and mockerie or at least that men mangle and teare it in peeces And therefore when the worlde shall be wholie set on idolatrie when all of vs shall neglect our duetie in the seruice of God shall not our Lorde after he hath reproued our loosenesse and vnthankfulnesse in this point shewe that although wee haue bene carelesse herein he will yet haue such a zeale as behoueth him to mainteine his honour and
it is certeine when he punisheth them this shall not be without good cause but we shall alwayes knowe that he proceedeth herein in all equitie iustice as an vpright iudge by greater reason they which are elder further striken in yeeres are punished as not innocent for one shall finde them by many degrees more faultie And so as concerning the place of Ezechiel the case is cleare that God punisheth not the innocent children for the transgression of their fathers for the faultes shal be also founde in themselues As for this when he saith That he punisheth the iniquitie of fathers vppon the children let vs consider howe this is done and then this hard knotte shall bee easily vnties First then let vs knowe that God oweth vs nothing and that if he bestowe any benefite vppon vs this is altogether of his meere liberalitie not that he is any thing beholding vnto vs In the meane while if he will vse his rigour towardes vs he may leaue vs in condemnation as wee are Let God onely withdrawe his mercie and shewe himselfe iudge ouer the whole worlde and what shall beecome of vs Surely wee shall all perishe there is no remedie little and great fathers and children without exception I say wee are all condemned if GOD drawe vs not out of the curse in whiche wee are and that by his free mercie without the least occasion of beeing bounde vnto vs So nowe seeing GOD may bring vs all to destruction if it please him to vse his goodnesse and clemencie towardes some if he call them to himselfe if he deliuer them from this deepe dongeon of damnation in which they are may any one accuse him for this May any one reprooue him herein the least that may bee No. For our eye must not bee euill if he of his goodnesse taketh pitie and compassion of his creatures And although he vse not the like measure towardes all yet notwithstanding wee must haue our mouth closed vp or rather wide open not to murmur but to confesse that all which he doth is in equitie and iustice although it surmount our sense and reason For wee comprehend not alwayes the reason why GOD disposeth so of men and yet must wee laie aside our prating and learne to reuerence and adore God in his iudgementes when they shall bee ouer high for vs ouer wonderfull ouer secrete How euer it bee let this generall rule abide certeine that is to say That God might leaue vs in our destruction wherein wee are if so it pleased him and that by this meanes the whole world shoulde perishe but because it pleaseth him to shewe himselfe gentle and pitifull not towardes all but towardes a parte see what discerneth the one from the other Nowe herevppon he leaueth them as it seemeth good vnto him in the curse wherein they are borne And if one demaunde why God vseth his mercie towardes some when on others he executeth his seueritie It is certeine the first and principall cause is vnknowen vnto vs neither ought wee to enquire after it And why For it behoueth that all our senses bee locked vp captiues in that behalfe and that wee confesse that God hath libertie to choose whom he pleaseth and to refuse the rest But howsoeuer the case standeth he maketh this promise to the faithfull that he will take pitie on their children and that as he hath begonne his mercie in their persons so he will continue it in their posteritie euen to a thousand generations Seeing God hath made this promise to his seruauntes wee see nowe there is some cause why God hath pitie of the one rather than of the other 〈…〉 contrarie part he threatneth the vnfaithfull that the 〈…〉 not onely in themselues but also in their issue and 〈…〉 which shall descende from their stocke and familie But nowe let vs come to the mercie which God sheweth and to the punishmentes he executeth His mercie then is not in this that he blesseth the children of the faithfull with riches with health or other like thinges or that he maketh them to prosper to the world ward those are not the chiefe blessings of God that is not the end whereat he beginneth but rather he sheweth them his goodnesse and mercie when he gouerneth them by his holie spirit when he geueth them the marke and seale of the adoption of his children when he correcteth them and purgeth them from their sinnes to reforme and renewe them to his image and likenesse Ye see then the mercie which God extendeth to the children of the faithfull that is to say he suffereth them not to remaine in their corruption and wickednesse but that he reformeth them and gouerneth them by his holie spirit This being done he continueth his mercie further more and more and maketh them to prosper euen in this world vntill the fulnesse of his mercie be heaped vpon them namely vntill he hath drawen them out of this world into his kingdome and geueth them there the fruition of euerlasting life On the contrarie side whereas he punisheth the iniquitie of fathers vpon the children this is as much to say as that he will leaue the stocke of them in the same plight they are in There is a wicked man there is a despiser of God there is an hypocrite there is an vnfaithfull and vnbeleeuing man well he shall haue children God will as we may see forget them and account them for straungers And whereas he acknowledgeth them not in the number of his owne he daineth not nor vouchsaleth to shew himselfe a father towardes them So he leaueth them as forsaken and then it must needes be that Sathan possesse them being destitute of the spirit of God what other thing may happen vnto them than euill and mischiefe so as they procure to themselues the wrath and anger of God more and more Nowe then doth our Lorde punish them without good cause Can then say they are innocent and guiltlesse No. For there is sufficient fault in them before hande Wee see then a great deale the better how this which God hath pronounced by Ezechiel is true namely that he which hath sinned shall beare the payment and punishment as he hath deserued and that the innocent shall not bee punished for the cause of the sinner and transgressour Notwithstanding we see also that not without cause he declareth that he will punish the iniquitie of fathers vppon the children For why It is in him to shew mercie to the children of the wicked and vnbeleuing or of the contemners of his word or of hypocrites which abuse his name it is I say in the choice and libertie of God to withdrawe his grace from their posteritie And when their children are estraunged from God what reteine they but the filth and corruption of Adam There is nothing else in them but sinne and wickednesse And therefore needes it must be that they bee enimies to god Ye see then how he punisheth them in iustice and that they
fire of his wrath and indignation shal be kindled among you it shall not bee so soone quenched as you thinke but yet for all that God will not cease to bee pitifull and his mercie shal be alwayes greater than his anger And in verie deede as God by the threat we haue here heard would reteine the world in true religion to the end it shoulde make no idols nor puppittes to counterfeit him so he would by his promise here conteined as it were allure vs to beare him the loue and reuerence which we owe vnto him and he desireth rather to winne vs by his gentlenesse than to restraine vs by his threatenings Ye see then in what sorte he speaketh My children thinke not that I will deale roughly with you it is true if you prouoke mee I shall not suffer that men make a sport and game of me but when I haue declared mine anger I desire yet rather to traine you and winne you to my selfe by mercie and gentlenesse I protest then and declare vnto you if you abide wholy and sincerely in my obedience I will continue to bestowe my benefites vpon you euen to a thousand generations so that your children after your death shall finde mee the same I haue beene to you Beholde what wee haue to beare in minde vppon this place And moreouer for conclusion let vs note that it is not without greâ—t cause that God placeth here this worde of Mercie although it bee as a rewarde of the seruice which is done him He might well haue saide I will consider the seruice of them which shall haue honoured and worshipped me which shall haue loued mee in obseruing my lawe I will shewe them that it is no lost labour to haue serued and honoured mee as they shall haue done God might haue spoken so But he saith I will shewe mercie And how so Seemeth it not that if wee serue God as he hath appointed he oweth vs a recompense Nowe he declareth that he will bestowe a benefite vpon them which haue honoured him and obserued his commandements and that this is not by any obligation of due debte or because of their merites and desertes for he vseth herein mercie So this worde of Mercie is to beate downe all pride of men in such sorte that they may not boast of their woorkes as if they were worthie of reward and payment but rather knowe that God ment to declare by this that when wee serue him the best that wee can wee haue alwayes neede to bee borne withall of him and that he pardoneth vs our vices and our infirmities Thus are there two thinges which wee haue to note in this place The one is that although we shoulde serue God in all puritie if he recompense vs it is not of any duetie he oweth vnto vs For in deede from whence commeth this that wee haue serued him but from his meere and onely grace And what then may he owe vs The other is that wee shall bee all founde guiltie when it shall please him to examine vs according to the exact measure of his iustice So then in that God recompenseth vs when wee haue serued him he doeth this for his mercie and goodnesse and not that he is bounde vnto vs Nay which more is he must forgeue vs our sinnes and beare with vs euen in that which wee doe well Knowe wee therefore that GOD sheweth himselfe gentle and liberall towardes vs in that it pleaseth him to beare with our infirmities making vs to tast his mercie where he might of right make vs feele his rigour For let vs not thinke but without this mercie wee shoulde all perishe yea though we shoulde enforce our selues to obey him wee shoulde notwithstanding bee alwayes founde faultie were it not that he would vse this mercie towardes vs of which he here speaketh So then this is that whither vnto we must flee for refuge if we will be assure of our saluation Nowe let vs cast our selues downe before the face of our good God with acknowledging of our faultes praying him that he will make vs feele them better than we haue done to the end he may lead vs to a true repentance and that being taught to feare him we tremble and stand in such awe of him assoone as he shall threaten vs with his anger wee may conceiue the force thereof that being humbled therwith we run to his fatherly goodnes not doubting but that if he hath once begonne to shewe himselfe our father and Sauiour he will continue it euen after our death if so be we withdrawe not our selues from him by our wickednesse and rebellion That it will please him to graunt this grace not onely to vs but to all peoples and nations c. The. 4. Sermon Deut. Chap. 5. 11 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine for the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse which shall take his name in vaine IF wee were but well aduised there were no neede that men should teache vs to beare reuerence vnto god For nature ought to leade vs herevnto For to what end are we created And why liue we in this world but to do homage to him to whom we be beholden for all good giftes and to applie our selues to honour and glorifie his Maiestie Behold the whole end and summe of this life But for all this in steede of honouring our God and applying our whole studies and endeuours herevnto it seemeth that wee haue conspired the cleane contrarie For some woulde haue the remembrance of God burried others despise and mocke him others with full throate open mouth blaspheme him so that we sufficiently declare that wee knowe not why wee liue or should haue our being Nowe because there is such a vice in vs God to remedie it sheweth that wee ought likewise to abkeine from abusing his holie name for this is as it were to vnhallow it therfore he hath forbidden that his name be not taken in vaine By these wordes we ought diligently to consider what is the right lawfull vse of his name True it is that we are not worthie to take in our mouth the name of the Lord in what sort soeuer it be for we must consider of that whiche Esaie speaketh in the. 6. Chap. Lord I am a man of polluted lipps I dwel in the middest of a people which is altogether filthie and defiled Seeing then we haue such filthinesse and vncleanes in vs it is certeine we can not take the name of God in our mouth were it not that God of his goodnesse would that we vse his name so it be to glorifie him withall Let vs then note well that when it is said That we take not the name of God in vaine that the Lord reproueth vs of vnthankfulnesse if wee vse not his name as he hath permitted vs and folowe not herein the rule which is conteined in his word For this is the lawfull meane by which we may
as saith S. Iohn in his Canonicall epistle Yea men neede not goe forth of themselues to haue battell with God and his iustice For all our senses and reason and all our affections as saith S. Paul to the Romanes are enimies against God. When men loose the bridle to their thoughts and imaginations to their desires and lustes then make they open battell with god And we are not ignorant of that which is declared in the sixt of Genesis That all that which man can thinke and imagine is nothing but euill continually and all that which man forgeth in himselfe frameth in his owne shop is vntoward and corrupt before god So then we see well that we cannot be sanctified before our God that is to say we cannot serue him in holines and purenes being not yet separated from that vncleannes and those defilings which are contrarie therevnto not hauing first abolished al that which is of our own nature It behoued then that this should be represented in a figure to the ancient fathers for that Christ was not yet fullie reuealed vnto them But at this day we haue in Iesus Christ the accomplishment the performance of all thinges In this wise s Paul speaketh of the old man vnderstāding by this word al that which we haue of Adam that it ought to die be eleane abolished namely not the nature of our body or of our soule but the malice which is within vs the blindnes which maketh vs erre the lustes euil desires which are altogether rebellious to the iustice of god It behoueth that all this in as much as it is drawn frō Adam be beaten down cleane taken away And how is this done This is not by our own industrie labor but Iesus Christ dying for vs and to wipe out our sinnes that they might be no more imputed vnto vs hath gotten vnto vs also this prerogatiue that by the vertue power of his holy spirit we might renounce the world our selues in such sort that our carnal affectiōs to more reigne in vs And albeit they be ful of rebellion yet notwithstanding shall the Spirite of God beare rule euer them to represse them and to hold them backe as it were with a bridle Therfore it is said That we are raised with him And S. Paule declareth the same also in the Chap. which I haue alreadie recited to the Colossians Now this was not yet manifested vnder the lawe It behoued therfore that the fathers which liued in that time should haue some aide herein as they had the sacrifices which nourished them in the hope of the death of Christ to the end they should know that their sinnes were purged by the bloud of this Mediator So had they also the Sabbaoth day for a testimonie witnes that the grace was obteined vs to mortifie our thoughts affections to the end that God might liue in vs by the vertue of his holy spirit Now we haue some entrance to the vnderstanding of this which hath bene shortly touched namely that the Sabbaoth day was as a figure to represent this which in very deed hath bene accomplished at the cōming of our Lord Iesus Christ And so let vs note that the Sabbaoth day extendeth it selfe to the whole seruice of God to declare that men could not purelie sincerely honour him but by renouncing of themselues and by being separated from the defilements of the world of their owne flesh And for this cause the prophet Ezech. reproueth the Iewes that they kept not the Sabbaoth For this is said vnto them as if they had in general brokē the whole law not without cause For he which setteth at naught the Sabbaoth day hath cast vnder foote all the seruice of God as much as in him is And if the Sabbaoth day be not obserued all the rest shal be worth nothing as is spoken to the prophet Esay That men must bereaue themselues of their own proper vertues that they must humble themselues otherwise that this is not the rest of the Lord which is agreable to him or allowed of him By this we perceiue that it auaileth nothing to kepe the ceremonie only For albeit the Iewes had well obserued the ceremonie albeit they should haue assembled themselues together on the Sabbaoth day without putting a finger to their houshold affaires yet in the meane time should nourish in themselues their wicked thoughts affections after put them in practise this would haue bene but a mere mocking of God an abusing of his name a defacing peruerting of the whole order he had instituted as he also reprocheth thē For the principal point was to haue respect to the truth of the figure namely to the spiritual seruice of god And yet notwithstanding it behoued also that the Iewes should kepe the ceremonie which was cōmanded them For God held them in this bridle as not content that they should haue only the substance of things but also the shadowes figures of them vntil the cōming of Iesus Christ Now hereby vnderstand that which S. Paule saith That now we are not tied vnto this bondage of the auncient fathers to obserue in this sort the Sabbaoth day For we must do this honor to our lord Iesus Christ that we cōtent our selues with that which he hath brought to vs in his owne person without reteining any longer that which was exterior ceremonious vnder the law Now thē it is easie to gather how this obseruation perteineth vnto vs at this day Touching the ceremonie as I haue said it is past done away We must then come to the substance that is that to the end we may serue God well sincerelie we learne to withdraw our selues frō all our owne wils all our euil thoughtes affections And why For otherwise whē we will serue God we marre all It behoueth therfore that all our own wisdom be laid aside that we heare God speake not folowing our own wisdom fantasies Thus ye see the beginning first step to the right obseruing of the Sabbaoth day as we ought namely not to trust to that which we think imagine to be good For we must rest And how rest For sooth we must abide stil quiet Our thoughts must not stir to wāder deuise this that We must I say remain quiet in the obedience of our god And when we shal be pricked stirred vp by our lustes let vs call to minde that these are enimies against God that all our affections are wicked rebellious We must then quietly rest in that behalfe and yelde our selues ouer vnto God to the end that he onely may worke in vs that he may conduct and gouerne vs by his holy spirite By this we see that GOD hath omitted nothing when he appointed the Sabbaoth day For if it extend so farre as vnto his whole seruice what is wanting vnto
confesse that our chief desire is willingly vnfeignedly to honor God that we cānot suffer any reprochfullie to abuse his maiestie Thus ye see what we haue to beare in minde vpon this place which we ought at this day with all diligence to obserue albeit it be preciselie geuen in commādement to the Iewes for in substance truth it belongeth vnto vs For as in old time our lord brought this people out of Egypt so at this day hath he drawen vs out of the gulfe of hell hath deliuered vs from eternal death from those deepe and darke dongeons wherein we were plunged to bring vs into his heauenlie kingdome hauing redeemed and purchased vs to himselfe by the bloud of his welbeloued sonne our Lord Iesus Christ Now let vs cast our selues downe before the face of our good God with acknowledging our faults praiing him to make vs feele them better than we haue done that labouring to reforme our selues more and more to his iustice we fight daily against the lustes and desires of our flesh and continue so long in this combate vntill he hath fullie freed vs from it and reformed vs vnto his image in the which we were first created That hee will graunt this grace not only to vs but to al people and nations of the earth c. The. 7. Sermon wherein it is entreated of the second Table Deut. Chap. 5. 16 Honour thy father and thy mother as the Lorde thy God hath commaunded thee that thy dayes may bee prolonged and that it may be well with thee in the land which the Lorde thy God geueth thee WE are now come vnto the second Table of the lawe wherein God sheweth vs how we ought all to liue here together For as it hath bene aboue touched there are two principall thinges required in our life The one that wee serue God purelie and sincerelie The other that we liue with men in all integritie and vprightnesse rendring vnto euerie one that which apperteineth and belongeth vnto him Now as the honour of God is more excellent than all that which concerneth men so it behoued that in the first and principall place the rule of honouring God as we ought should be geuen And this is handled dispatched in the first Table Here then God beginneth to declare vnto vs in what sort our life ought to be ordered if we wil applie our selues vnto the dutie we owe vnto men Now we haue also declared that God requireth no honour of vs for any neede he hath of it or for any profite it bringeth vnto him but it is for our welfare and saluation that he requireth it So then he will proue our obedience and the loue we beare him when he commaundeth vs to walke in all equitie and vprightnesse with our neighbours and that we liue together in such concord and fellowship that any one bee not geuen vnto himselfe but that we communicate together and that euerie one according to his abilitie and power to do well employ and force himselfe therevnto This say I is the proofe which God maketh to knowe whether we worship him vnfeignedly and from our heart For we might make many faire countenances and vse great ceremonies but God shall not content himselfe with it And this is the cause why our Lord Iesus Christ saith that the principall point of the law is iustice iudgement vprightnesse faith which worde importeth here fidelitie or faithfulnesse Therefore when we liue with men without hypocrisie and dissimulation when we are not geuen to our subtile sleightes nor malicious practises wee studie to minister vnto and to serue euerie one in his commoditie we mainteine right resist wrong as much as lieth in vs loe the chiefe and principal part of the lawe Not that the seruice of God ought in the meane while to be forgotten or that it is of lesse importance but because it is vnpossible that men acquite themselues in their duetie toward their neighbours except they be led herevnto by the feare of god Now let vs handle this commaundement last recited which concerneth the honouring of father and mother And here although expresselie mention be made of the father and the mother there is no doubt but GOD meant to deliuer a generall doctrine of hauing all superioritie in honour For graunt we which must needes be confessed that the lawe conteineth a perfect rule of doctrine wherein nothing is wanting and this which we haue said must needes be so For if it hath not touched any thing of the duetie we owe to other superiours as princes and magistrates and those which haue the sworde of iustice if it hath deliuered nothing concerning maisters it should haue some default in it Therefore we must conclude that God hath commaunded that all they which are in any degree of honour and authoritie be honoured and obeyed Moreouer seing all preeminence and superioritie commeth from God and that this order is established and appointed by him without the which the world could not stande what might be thought if God made no account of this when he gaue forth a certeine forme of liuing well and in all holinesse Neither ought we to account it straunge that vnder one speciall kind of obedience to bee yelded to all superiours the whole is comprised For we haue alreadie touched how this ought to be obserued in the law and we shall see it more plainlie hereafter And this was not done because God could speake in no other manner but for our better profite and instruction For we know that albeit men desire to seeme subtile and sharpe witted yet cease they not alwayes to couer themselues with the buckler of ignorance If we might espie that the law of God presseth vs ouer sore we would feigne haue some excuse to exempt our selues from the subiection of it And if the lawe of God were not apt and conuenient to instruct the rude and ignoraunt many would alledge that they are no great Clerkes that they neuer went to schoole It should seeme then that the law of God might not bind them But when we see that God abaseth himselfe to our rudenesse and that he speaketh grosselie according to our capacitie this taketh from vs all excuse this remoueth all pretences whatsoeuer and euerie one is bound to order him selfe aright and we all must confesse that there is nothing which hindereth vs from doing our dueties but that we be rebellious against God and will not beare his yoke Lo why vnder one kind God comprehendeth the whole that he might instruct traine vs vp like yong children whiche are not capable nor apt to be taught after some absolute and perfect maner This therfore is the true and naturall sense of the place as we shall see hereafter For as God deliuered the ten commaundementes or wordes as he calleth them so he annexed also the exposition of them to the end nothing might be obscure and that men might not doubt or dispute of that which
cannot like here together beeneath except this order which God hath ordeined bee holilie kept and obserued namely except those which haue superioritie bee had in honour bee had in estimation and be obeyed For without this there shal be an horrible confusion All they then which cannot submit themselues vnto Magistrates they which are rebellious to fathers and to mothers they which cannot beare the yoke of Maisters and Mistresses declare sufficiently that as much as in them lieth they peruert and ouerthrowe all order of nature that they mingle and confound the heauens with the earth as wee say For beholde the onely meane by which God would mainteine and preserue mankind Let vs adde further to that we haue said the consideration of this which is elswhere mentioned that when God sendeth Magistrates and Princes he bringeth the feare of them not onlie vpon men but also on brute beastes For so speaketh he hereof in Daniel and of this we may gather that they which lift themselues vp against the rule of gouernment appointed by God are worse than the brute beastes deserue to be sent to such a schole as theirs For our Lorde to make men ashamed which are reasonable creatures saith That the feare of Princes Magistrates ought to be extended euen to the brute beastes May not a man then see that the diuell possesseth also them which cannot order themselues in all modestie to the subiection which God hath established without the which it must needes be that all come to ruine confusion in this world as we haue alreadie declared Yes And therefore if we feele and perceiue in our selues such an hautinesse as maketh vs worse subiects to them which beare rule ouer vs let vs fight against this pride of ours let the authoritie of God suffice vs for a bridle For were we more wilde sauage by nature than we are yet this ought as I may so say enchaine and fetter vs herein that God declareth that he is dishonoured by vs except we doe him homage in the persons of them whom he hath placed in his roome in whom he hath imprinted his image To speake briefly we see that charitie beginneth at this end that we be humble and modest and that none lift vp themselues arrogantlie presumptuously that none esteeme of themselues aboue mesure but that we be redie to humble our selues to the end we may be ruled gouerned in whatsoeuer it shal please God to require our obedience See why in this sort S. Paul leadeth vs to charitie when he expoundeth this cōmandement of obeying magistrates For he sheweth that if we haue not this mildnesse gentlenes in vs to bow the neck when our Lord putteth on the yoke we beare no charitie towards our neighbors If we desire such a confusion meddlie in the world that we would that rules superiors haue no dutie reuerence done them it must needs come to passe that all be set out to the spoile of the robber and it were much better that euerie one liued apart without companie than in the societie of men to see such a confusion as should be if we keepe not the rule of gouernment which God hath appointed Let vs then well remember that to the end we may liue with our neighbours it behoueth euerie one to correct in himselfe this hautinesse presumption and not reteine keepe it in our hearts But let vs learne to be humble lowlie knowing that this is to order make our selues equal to them of the lower sort as S. Paule speaketh That we may so do let vs consider our selues what we are For behold what abuseth vs euen this that euerie one would haue greater preeminence than God hath geuen him being as we are blind we forget our selues and know not our own pouertie our own faults vices Euerie one will thinke himself a maruelous man when he is nothing And herehence issueth this that we make no account of our neighbors yea that we despise all the vertues good gifts which God shal haue bestowed on them It is then spitefulnes vnthankefulnes which stirreth vs vp vnto pride in such sorte that euerie one yeeldeth vnto himselfe more than apperteineth vnto him this is the cause why we cannot frame our selues vnto obedience as we ought But in steede of this let vs learne by our dutifulnes to doe homage vnto God when we see that he hath commanded vs to obey our superiours And besides let vs know that such as they are he hath placed them ouer vs If a childe haue a father or mother he must not say O loe my father is not at all such a one as he ought to be I haue iust cause to withdrawe my selfe from his obedience yea but if he be thy father it behoueth that this worde content thee if thou wilt not abolish and bring to naught the order of nature either this which God hath ordeined must be made of no value or thou must honour thy father what a one so euer he be ▪ And why Because euen he which hath communded thee to honour thy father thy mother hath giuen thee such a father as thou hast As much is to be said of maisters of Princes all other superiours For they came not at all auenture or by chance it is God it is God which sendeth them as S. Paule hereof speaketh as all the holie Scripture giueth sufficient testimonie Yea precisely we are also ledde to know by experience the prouidence of God the fatherly care which he hath of vs when he appointeth Magistrates Let vs learne then wisely to consider Gods goodnesse in all those which are in superioritie ouer vs that we may therby be moued to orderour selues to their obedience Thus ye see what we haue to beare in mind in this place Now seeing it is so that God hath comprised in a word set downe vnto vs in a short summarie the rule of obeying all superiours let vs note that by this he resigneth not his owne right nor bereaueth him selfe of that which is proper belonging vnto him It behoueth therfore that God be honoured aboue all others yea and so that the honour we yeeld vnto mortall men hinder not but that we geue him the seruice we owe him and that euerie one studie to acquite his duetie principallie towardes him Shal not he thinke you discharge his duetie of obedience fairely which obeyeth an vnder officer in the meane while spitteth in the face of the Iudge or the Prince What madnesse were in this Now the like is done when wee will debarre God of his preeminence and so obey men that wee make no account of him which is aboue all For this is against nature that the authoritie which is giuen vnto men should darken and diminish in any part the glorie of god Let vs therefore diligently note that when we are commanded to obey our superiours there
as to geue them the scepter of iustice to place them in his seate take good heede they rule exercise their authoritie in the name of God procure that he be serued honoured of all let them bee as mirrours spectacles to shew good example let them hold their subiectes in such good awe rule them in such order that the name of God be blessed the mouth of all euill speakers closed vp stopped Loe one point for them Let fathers mothers haue the care of well instructing their children let them studie to make them to knowe God for their onelie father and touching their men seruantes and maides let them so serue themselues with them that God haue alwayes the principall place Let them not doe as accustomablie men are woont who so they be serued to their owne profite and contentation care not if God be forgotten But let maisters knowe that God must beare rule ouer them as also ouer those which are vnder their subiection And this is spoken and noted touching them which are in authoritie Now on our part let vs consider that when we haue Magistrates set ouer vs if we be rebellious if we presume to arme our selues against the rule of gouernment if we seeke to subuert the order which God hath set that wee commit not this outrage against men onelie but that we assaile bidde battell vnto god And what can we winne by warring with him Can we he the stronger in this conflict No but he will reuenge himselfe without striking any blowe so that we shal be astonnished to beholde how he shall mainteine that which by his owne mouth he hath ordeined euen by a power admirable and wonderfull Thus much touching the first point And againe let children also consider and take heede they be not ouer arrogant and presumptuous they be not headstrong geuen to their lustes and appetites but that they order themselues quetly to the obedience of their fathers knowing that they are in combate against God when they cānot subiect themselues vnder the yoke which God putteth vpon them Let men seruants and maides knowe that if they refuse to be subiect vnto men whom they serue that God is thereby offended and that they in the end shall be found guiltie of so great a fault as this that they would not be gouerned by his hand Now in the meane time let vs note that God must be obeyed first of all that the people so obey their princes and magistrates that this derogate take away nothing from the right which God reserueth vnto himself as he is also worthie thereof If Princes will induce vs to do euill if they will ouerthrow the pure doctrine of God as we see ouermuch in the world that this furie and madnes is in many which would haue religion bended at their lust making it but an image of waxe which would haue the seruice and worship of God ordered according to their fantasies it pleaseth not God that we be obedient vnto them in that behalfe For who are they They haue lost all authoritie when they reuolt from the obedience of him who hath the chiefe and souereigne empire Must the diuels be forced to bend the knee before God our Lord Iesus Christ and shal there be men found which would vsurpe such maistership that in the meane time the honour of God shall bee ouerthrowen and all religion cast downe to the ground So then let vs learne so to obey both Princes fathers and mothers that God reteine his entier right fullie wholie and that we be not hindered to yeld him the honour which apperteineth vnto him but as farre as we may without wounding our cōscience we must obey them in all quietnesse And though they which haue authoritie ouer vs acquite not themselues of their dutie yet we owe them obedience so that the children ought not despitefully to behaue themselues when their fathers shal be ouer sharpe bitter vnto them shal exercise too great rigor against them True it is that fathers are forbidden to vse crueltie against their children yea forbidden to discourage them But yet although the fathers consider not to gouerne their children by gentlenesse yet ought the children to beare with it patientlie Briefly we ought to beare the iniuries quietlie and patientlie of all those which haue authoritie ouer vs And thus yee see what God would giue vs to vnderstand in this commandement Now he addeth also the promise That thy dayes saith he may bee prolonged that thou maist prosper vpon the land which the Lorde thy God giueth thee But there resteth yet a clause in the commaundement which for that we are hardlie ordered to humilitie God placeth for a spurre to quicken vs forward saying Thy God commandeth thee this And it serueth to the confirmation of the doctrine we haue aboue touched namelie that these shal be vaine friuolous shiftes to call into question whether they which are in degree of honour aboue vs deserue so or no whether they discharge their dutie in ttah office authoritie wherevnto they are called all this shifting to excuse our disobedience must be laid aside And why For we must content our selues with this which God hath appointed we must rest altogether vpon his good pleasure Loe for what cause Moses here addeth in expresse termes The eternall or euerliuing thy GOD hath so commaunded thee As if he did say True it is that men wil kicke and fling when they shal be rained with any bridle of obedience one shall neuer haue their good will and leaue to haue them in subiection Againe their pride and arrogancie alwayes stirreth them vp to a desire of lifting them selues ouer high So then there shall bee no voluntarie subiection before God beginne to worke and to put therevnto his hand But will you be rebellious vnto God saith he when you enter into these disputes Must he beare rule ouer me And must I obey him when he is no better than I If you so enuie at men see God opposeth him selfe and he will know whether he shal be obeied serued of you or no. And when he sendeth you his lieftenants you wil not receiue them it is a sure certein signe that you refuse also his yoke in such wise that his iustice is violated he perceiueth that he is despitefullie entreated of you Sithence it is so know ye saith Moses that the children which are rebellious to fathers mothers shall haue happily to alledge this or that and the people which are occasions of seditions and troubles shal wel haue some faire tale for their defence but this shal serue them to no purpose And why Because that God which hath established rules superiorities in the world will also that we mainteine them He hath pronounced the sentence herein which cannot be called back retracted When God hath geuen forth his ordinance decree we must make no questiō of our
retracted when he declareth That all murders are mutinies and seditions and all mutinies murders So then let vs learne to laie aside our owne fantasies when we will be iudges of our owne faults let vs quietlie and peaceably receiue the sentence which God hath giuen and knowe we that all those which violentlie attempt any thing against their neighbours are alreadie guiltie of murder before god Loe what we haue briefly to beare in minde But now to make a triall whether wee absteine from all harme doing from committing any outrage against the persons of our neighbours wee must come to the examining of our heartes and secrete thoughtes For God hath not giuen some ciuil lawe onely to cause vs to liue honestlie but he hath giuen a lawe conuenient agreeable to his owne nature We know that he is a spirit will be worshipped in spirit and truth Seeing it is so it behoueth vs to knowe that he hath prescribed a rule not only for our hands feete but for our thoughtes also affections It is true that men as they are carnall when first the lawe of God is pronounced to them they thinke they haue well acquited them selues when they are faultlesse before the world On the other side they are verie readie by enlarging their conscience to dispense with them selues to take all libertie of doing euill And this is the cause why euen the Iewes which ought to haue bene nourished from their infancie in the lawe of GOD they tooke this commaundement Thou shalt not kill ouer grosselie vnderstanding that they offended not GOD in this pointe if so be they had not openlie set on their neighbour to wound and to hurte him Therefore except the fault were euident and apparant to the eyes of men it seemed vnto them that it ought not to bee imputed vnto them before the face of god But our Lord Iesus reproueth them of this shewing them that the lawe is spirituall and expounded of them verie sottishlie When it is saide Thou shalt not kill you thinke saith he that you shal be absolued as guiltlesse before GOD when men can not bring you to the barre for it But I tell you that whosoeuer shall call his neighbour Foole that is to say doth but declare any token of indignation against him is worthie to bee punished with hell fire Whosoeuer iniurieth an other is culpable of a Councell and constitution from heauen so that GOD and all his Angels shall arme them selues against him Whosoeuer murmureth against his neighbour who so muttereth and grummeleth I knowe not what betweene his teeth although he doe not open iniurie is in daunger of iudgement Wee see to what point our Lorde Iesus leadeth vs namelie to shew that albeit wee shal be able to protest that wee haue committed no outrage that wee haue not lifted vp our fist to giue one blowe much lesse drawen our sworde against our neighbour and that wee haue not wounded him that yet this is not enough But know yee saith he that GOD will beare rule ouer your tongues ouer your thoughtes and ouer all your affections as by good reason he ought Seeing it is so who so euer shall haue spoken euill of his neighbour the same is alreadie a murderer for the tongue is as a sharpe swoorde Therefore albeit you shoulde haue neither sworde nor dagger to strike withall when the tongue is so armed to speake euill against your neighbours when you abuse their persons it is a kinde of murder in the sight and iudgement of GOD and although you haue done no open and manifest iniurie yet thinke yee not to bee quited for all this for when you shall haue but muttered and mumbled something betweene your lippes against them it sufficeth to make you culpable and guiltie before GOD you shal be condemned from the highe throne of the heauens albeit you bee absolued before men and that earthlie iudgement proceede not against you When we heare this let vs knowe that it is he whom GOD the father hath giuen to iudge the world who speaketh vnto vs We ought not therefore here to dispense more largelie with our selues for wee shall gaine nothing by all our cauilling shiftes but let vs learne to haue respect alwayes vnto GOD to haue a right and true exposition of the lawe For what is he whiche speaketh He whiche beareth rule ouer our heartes and thoughtes he which will not bee serued of vs with eye seruice he which is not contented that before men we absteine from doing of euill but will bee worshipped in spirit and trueth who will haue that our consciences bee chaste and pure that we bee purged from all wickednesse Thus when wee shall haue respect vnto the nature of GOD wee must no longer extend the lawe of GOD to the outwarde woorkes but wee ought to conclude that when God speaketh of murders he vnderstandeth all enimitie he speaketh of all anger indignation of all rancour malice against our neighbours And in deede that is the verie cause why expreslie S. Iohn saith that he whiche hateth his brother in his hearte is a manstear As if he did say You may make many faire countenaunces but albeit the hatreds you conceiue bee verie hidden and secret and that you dissemble so deepelie that you shewe no token of malice against your neighbours thinke yee not for all this that GOD hath his eyes shut and closed vp Well it may bee hidden and priuie from men whiche you haue not made open and manifest but when you hated your neighbours in your heartes that is to say most secretelie in such sorte that none bee able to perceiue it yet loe notwithstanding a murder committed before god And in verie deede the reason of this is most euident and manifest It is true that when the Princes and Magistrates of this worlde make lawes it is not after the manner and fashion of GOD but to this end onely that euerie one rule and gouerne him selfe according to outwarde order and policie that none bee openlie iniuried but that euerie one haue his right and that peace and concord bee mainteined among men That is the intent and meaning of Magistrates when they make their lawes And why They are mortall men they can not refourme the inwarde and hidden affections this apperteineth vnto GOD they sound not the hearte for this is the proper office of GOD as the holie scripture attributeth it vnto him But yet this notwithstanding when a ciuil lawe is made although one shedde not one droppe of bloud yet is he adiudged worthie to bee led to the gallowes if it shall bee knowen and proued that he endeuored with all his might to haue murdered one If a man hath drawen his sword vppon one who wardeth off the blowes in such sort that he touched not his skinne yet notwithstanding the lawes euen of the Painims condemne such a man to the gibbet as well worthie thereof And why For the lawe
regardeth not what is happened but respecteth the counsell and purpose of men Seeing then earthlie Princes and Magistrates punish him which endeuoureth with all his might to doe euill although beeing hindered he bee not come to the full end of his enterprise what shal be thought of God Shall he haue lesse authoritie than a mortall creature Beholde I say to what point wee ought to come if wee will knowe that of good right God condemneth all them whiche hate their neighbours And why Consider wee I say what his nature is Will wee therefore obserue this commaundement Wee must beginne in short and summarie wise with murder And why For God would haue vs preuented and foretaken with some fright and horror that when we thinke of hurting our neighbors of committing any violence of doing any iniurie wee remember that this is an horrible and detestable thing which he can by no meanes bee able to suffer And why Because this is a kinde of murder Yee see then howe GOD at the first would daunt vs and this is the point whereat we ought to beginne And if we thinke it a straunge thing that God condemneth one boxe on the eare for murder nay one verball iniurie as we may terme it which is done but in a woord yea one wayward grudging be it neuer so secretlie hidden within vs if wee account it straunge that this bee condemned as murder before God let vs consider what his nature is and that he deserueth to haue more yealded vnto him than vnto mortall men But earthlie Iudges punish an euill and wicked affection when it sheweth it selfe what shall then God doe vnto whom nothing is hidden And againe we haue to note that which the Apostle saith in the Epistle to the Hebrewes That the woord of GOD resembleth him which is the authour thereof so that it must bee as a two edged sword whiche pearceth euen to the marrowe of the bones that there is no thought in vs whiche it searcheth not And why For nothing is hidden in the presence of god Seeing it is so that nothing is hidden before GOD it behoueth that this woord proue and sound the depth of our heartes So then it is necessarie that all that which is secrete and vnknowen vnto men come into account before God and by this wee bee admonished to walke in such sorte that wee beare no enimitie nor euill will vnto our neighbours But yet notwithstanding wee must proceede further For this is not enough that men absteine from doing of euill seeing they are created to aid and helpe one an other and to mainteine and defende one an other God therefore in forbidding of murders sheweth on the contrarie side that the life of our neighbours ought to bee deare vnto vs that we ought to employ all our trauell and paine to preserue and mainteine it as much as in vs lieth But he would beginne at the negatiue point the better to declare vnto vs that whiche he commaundeth And why For we see how vicious and wicked we are as many thoughts as are in vs so many thornes briers are there within vs as many affections as wee haue so many brambles and thistles such like thinges growe in vs GOD therefore not without great cause would plucke out of our heartes and out of our thoughtes the wickednesse and the vice wherewith they are ouergrowen yea he would correct euerie euill and corrupt part of vs For without this it is not possible to moue one finger to that whiche is good nay it is impossible to haue one good thought This is the cause why the Prophete saith That men must breake vp their fallowe ground and not sowe among the thornes as if he said I see well what you doe when one telleth you that you haue offended God you counterfeite some faire countenaunce and it seemeth that you bee as it were reformed and yet you alwayes continue the same you were But it is not enough to sowe in a field but one must ridde the grounde of rootes and thistles and first breake vp the ground whiche hath lien fallowe But while you doe nothing else but endeuour to appeare faire vnto the eye the thornes the brambles the nettles and such other like euill weedes remaine still within Yee shall not therefore haue any good seede so farre shall yee bee from bearing of good fruite And for the same cause our Lorde saith here Thou shalt not kill in steede of saying Take ye heede ye defend and preserue the life of your neighbours And verilie we see by common experience how men would acquite them selues before GOD with some faire shewe and appearaunce when notwithstanding they reteine still their vices and corruptions according to that which wee haue alledged of the Prophete For if one exhort vs to doe well vnto our neighbours true it is wee knowe not how wee might altogether contradict and gainsaie him Wee would therefore acquite our selues in some sorte but yet our filthie corruptions remaine still within vs and wee doe but plaster and white lime them ouer as they which would bee at no great cost doe when their houses are ruinous and full of cleftes For what doe they They stop vp the holes and creuises with morter and plaster them ouer and all this while the runious and decaide places of their houses remaine still vurepaired So is it with vs wee plaster and parget ouer and so wee would lightlie discharge our selues in our dutie And yet nature teacheth vs the contrarie for if one will sowe a field will he cast his corne among briers and thornes No but when he seeth his ground after it hath bene laide fallowe to bee couered with thistles and thornes he breaketh it vp with the plough he grubbeth vp the brambles he manureth and tilleth it Let vs then learne that not without great cause GOD condemneth first of all the vices which are in vs For he seeth well that they haue taken deepe roote and that he shall neuer bee able to hold vs in such a stay as to cause vs to walke according to the rule of his iustice except he first plucke vp this cursed roote of euill which he knoweth to bee within vs Loe why he saith Thou shalt not kill as if he said Will you liue in mutuall loue and charitie one with an other It behoueth that euerie one enter into himselfe you must all diligentlie examine your owne heartes whether you beare any hatred any enimitie any euill will against your neighbours whiche may occasion you to attempt any one thing against them Let vs then beare in minde all these thinges and let vs knowe that when wee shal be purged from all anger and choler from all hatred from all iniuries and wronges wee must then come to this point to vnderstand that it sufficeth not that we abstaine from all harme and iniurie from all violence and oppression that we haue attempted nothing against the persons of our neighbours that wee nourish no
onelie the exteriour acte and permitteth vs in the meane while to bee geuen vnto our wicked lustes and affections For GOD will not bee serued with eye seruice and forbiddeth not onelie the acte it selfe when marriage shall be broken and violated but he interdicteth all wicked desires and affections And this is the cause why Iesus Christ saith That he which loketh but awrie on the wife of another that euen he is an adulterer before God and albeit he be not culpable by the lawes of men and that he may bee accounted chast as not hauing committed any whoredome yet notwithstanding before God he is alreadie condemned as if he had committed fornication Therefore when wee heare this worde of adulterie which is so condemned let vs learne to absteine from all fornication not onelie touching the act thereof but to keepe and reteine all our senses chast that chastitie continencie be both in our eyes and in our heart For behold how S. Paule hath defined true chastitie when he saith That all which are vnmaried ought to studie how they may obey God by keeping their bodies their minds pure cleane He saith not That they who haue not defiled their bodies with fornications remaine chaste but they which tooke paines to keepe both their bodies and soules vndefiled And when we shall haue considered how God abhorreth and detesteth all adulteries we must yet go further applying and extending the same to all fornication vncleannesse True it is that he which breake◠the faith and truth of marriage committeth a double offence and much more enormious as I haue alreadie said but we must alwaies remember this that God will not haue men only not to attempt any thing against mariage but he commandeth also that men lead not a brutish life that they suffer not fornications to haue their ful flote Hee forbids them which are not maried to wander hither and thither in their concupiscences and to abandon themselues to all lustfull meetinges willing them to be pure and cleane both in bodies and minds For he saith That not onely their soules but also their bodies are the temples of the holy ghost as it hath bene alreadie recited And these are the wordes of S. Paul when he warneth the Corinthians that this were a wicked and infamous thing for them to suffer as they had alreadie suffred fornications among them Knowe ye not saith hee that your bodies are the temples of the holy ghost Loe then seing God doth vs this honor to choose our vile bodies which are not only britle vessels but carions euen earth and rottennes yet notwithstanding God honoreth them so far as to make them temples of his holy spirit to dwell therin shal we venter so to moil them in al filth infectiō Shal we make them as stables and sties for hogs What a trecherie is that What an abhominable wickednesse Neither is this all For let vs consider whither S. Paule leadeth vs. Our bodies saith he are the members of Iesus Christ This is then all one as if a man shoulde rent in peeces the bodie of Iesus Christ when he abandoneth his bodie vnto fornication and vncleannesse For it is certeine that we cannot intermingle the sonne of God with our filthes abhominations he being the fountaine of all puritie So then when a man yeldeth himselfe vnto fornication he doth as it were teare in sunder the bodie of our Lord Iesus Christ as much as lieth in him not that we may do it for the sonne of God is not subiect vnto vs to be so dishonoured but we notwithstanding shal be culpable of such a blasphemie as this we shall be guiltie of such an iniurie done vnto him Therefore let vs lerne that God will that not only euerie one for his part obserue the loyaltie and faithfulnes required in mariage but in generall that we be sober and chast to walke in all puritie of life not to giue the bridle to all filthinesse and vncleannesse The reasons which I haue alreadie alledged ought well to moue vs herevnto and this also which I haue alreadie touched of adulteries beeing applied of vs to this purpose may lead vs to all sober and chast liuing Let vs therefore haue all our senses tied vnder such temperance and sobrietie that when the diuell shall sollicite vs to anie vncleannesse wee may alwayes giue him the repulse that hee finde no accesse vnto vs beeing excluded from all enteraunce A certeine Painime knewe well to say That it is not ynough for a man to haue his handes abstinent that is that he be not giuen to rapine and spoile to wrong and iniurie any one but hee must also haue his eyes continent that is to say he must not be giuen to vnchaste and wanton lookes If this hath beene taught by those poore ignoraunt and blinde wretches what shall become of vs if wee remember it not when we are warned as I haue alreadie saide that God hath shewed vs this honour not onely to refourme our soules vnto him but our bodies also although they bee mortall and that we see they haue nothing in them but rottennesse and corruption Seeing then it is so that God accounteth our bodies as his and that he will dwell in them let vs learne to walke warily that wee committe no vncleannesse and bee giuen to no kinde of filthinesse to driue God from out of vs who would possesse vs for his dwelling place and for his holie Temple And withall wee must remember that which Saint Paule saith That other sinnes which a man doth are cōmitted without the bodie but fornication is committed in the bodie For it is certeine that by thefts and oppressions we defile our bodies and our handes as the holie Scripture in this sense speaketh that when we violently oppresse anie we haue our handes full of bloud as the Prophet Esaie speaketh But Saint Paule considering well that fornication is more shamefull and ignominious and that men ought specially to keepe themselues from it declareth that fornication leaueth a marke behinde which remaineth imprinted in the bodie whereby it is open to all infamie and reproch We are verie desirous to conserue our honor and estimation vnspotted it would grieue vs much that any one should staine vs with some euill infamous note why then will we runne hedlong into such vncleannesse as to draw on vs a marke impression of infamie and reproch in the sight of God before his Angels and in the face of al men So then let vs diligently note this and we shall the better be withheld from such corruption filthinesse For albeit our frailtie be such that the diuell tempteth allureth vs herevnto yet shall this serue vs for a bridle to restraine vs to this puritie which I haue mentioned not onely of bodie but also of minde And moreouer let vs heedfully note that which Saint Paule annexeth to the threat he remembreth of wicked persons
of heauen That it will please him to graunt this grace not onelie vnto vs but to all people and nations of the earth c. The. 10. Sermon Deut. Chap. 5. 19. Thou shalt not steale IF we well vnderstood but in one word the will of God which hee plainlie inough declareth vnto vs we should not neede to studie much for the right knowledge of ordering our selues and of leading an holie and righteous life But no such ignorant person as hee who wil not vnderstand none so deafe as he which will not heare as we say in common prouerbe And this is the cause why we are so blinde albeit our Lorde Iesus Christ hath shined before vs with his brightnesse and hath made vs priuie of his will and meaning as well in this precept of the lawe as in all the rest we haue aboue handled for if euerie one would enter into his owne conscience to make a iust and true examination of his faultes should he not finde that it is easie to iudge that when we do our neighbour anie wrong when we deceiue him in his goods what couerture soeuer and cloake we haue for it that we be culpable of theft before God But what If so be we may hide our shame before the world it sufficeth vs and the iudgement of God in the meane time is troden vnder foote and we care not for it but yet all these fig leaues with the which we couer our selues shall serue vs to no purpose wee must in the end come to our account before the heauenlie Iudge and then shall we finde that it is not spoken in vaine which he hath pronounced by Zacharie That his malediction and curse shall come vpon him which sweareth and vpon him which stealeth that is that in what matter soeuer of the lawe and in what point soeuer we shall haue offended he shall not faile to take vengeance thereon Men therefore may well iustifie them selues or flatter them selues yet God in the ende shall displaie and shewe foorth his indignation both against swearers and against theeues But the better to vnderstande the will of the Lorde let vs knowe that hee hath vsed this word of theft or stealing to make vs haue in greater hatred all deceite and all rapine in all kinde of wrong which we are able to deuise against our neighbours as we haue alreadie aboue declared of murder and adulterie If one call a man theefe he wil be grieuouslie offended for this is a woorde of infamie and reproche and therefore he will not suffer him selfe to be so dishonoured in the face of the whole world God then to the end he might induce vs to hate all deceitfulnesse all harme doing all extortion that we might vse in the goods of our neighbours vseth this word in steade of all other He might well haue spoken after some other manner hee might haue said Take heede how you do pull vnto your selues the goods of an other take heede you make not your gaine by the losse and damage of your neighbour take heede of vsing anie such violence but in a word he saieth Steale not And why Euen to this end that deceits rapines and pillages and all harme doing be had of vs in greater detestation that we be ashamed to do wrong vnto anie that we stand I say in greate feare hereof when wee see that wee are guiltie of theft before god Moreouer let vs note that there are manie kindes of theeueries for some vse priuie and secret sleights when they draw to them selues by subtile meanes and practises the substance of another others vse open force or violence and this is properlie called rapine pillage extortion others vse yet more slie feates and closer conueyance yea a man shall thinke they moue not a finger to touche anie thing of their neighbours a man shal not be able to accuse them before the world and yet because they walke not in all simplicitie vprightnesse they are theeues before god Ye see then how we must consider of the kindes of the euerie when we will vnderstand what is forbidden in this place But in the meane time we haue to note that God iudgeth not of theftes after the manner of men for they which liue in great credit and reputation before men shall not cease to bee condemned before God yea albeit none accuse them but that the poore whom they haue eaten and deuoured shall crie for vengeance and although none of them speake one word yet the afflictions which they endure crie alowde in the eares of God and sue processe against their oppressours without sounding one woorde So then we must not bring our owne fansies to iudge of theftes thinking to escape the hand of God when we shall not be cōdemned of men nor punished by earthly iudgment for God proceedeth in this much further higher Let vs therfore briefly beare in mind that touching God all kind of harme doing when wee desire to plucke vnto vs that which is not ours is named theft throughout the holie scripture And in deede when God manaceth a woe by the prophet Esaie that he which hath pilled and spoyled others shall be rewarded with the like he speaketh not of pettie theeues which we lead to the gallowes but he speaketh of great Princes and Monarchs which bare then the sway through out the whole worlde And againe in the first Chapter when he addresseth his talke against the holie people which was the Church of God Thy princes and gouernours are companions and Princes of theeues saieth he Now certeine it is that none charged these of theft nay these sat as Iudges condemners of other pettie theeues and yet failed they not to be condemned before god And thus the theeues which are honourable here belowe on earth are notwithstanding accursed by the lawe of God and he hath pronounced on them his determinate sentence in this text Wee must therefore humble our selues vnder the iudgment of God and know that we shall gaine litle albeit our theueries be excusable before men although we couer them and colour them For in the meane time the lawe of God shall haue his full course and the execution thereof shall be readie at hande for our condemnation God hath forbidden nothing which he will not call into account Ye see then what we haue to beare in minde concerning this place Now it resteth that that which wee haue briefly touched we handle more amply and as we may say by peecemeales specifying it by examples to the end it may be better vnderstood as I haue alreadie said if we were diligent and attentiue to hearken vnto that which God declareth vnto vs we need not make here any long exposition But what We seeke nothing else but to cloke and hide our selues with some dissimulation and albeit the thing be cleare ynough to be knowne alwayes to make some doubt And this is the cause why we must be so precisely charged and more neerely pressed in all
not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine For it seemeth hereby that this is but a superfluous repetition And in one so little summarie of the lawe where there are but ten sentences to reiterate and put downe one thing twice it seemeth not good or conuenient But we must note for answere hervnto that the commandement which we haue before expounded of not taking the name of God in vaine was in the first table where God had respect vnto the maiestie of his name to the end wee might haue it in greater reuerence Therefore when we speake of God let vs consider of the infinite glorie which is in him that we open not our mouth at any time but in feare and humilitie So then be it we are to sweare be it that we are to speake of God in any manner wee must alwayes thinke that his name ought to be had in reuerence that we must not vse it at randon rashlie or vnaduisedlie Thus much then touching that we haue before seene Now God speaketh of an other thing namelie of not hurting our neighbours of not doing them any iniurie or working them any damage by our wicked tongue So then seeing these commaundementes haue two diuers endes wee see how these two sentences are different and that there is nothing superfluous or more than needeth Let vs therfore diligently note that forasmuch as it is in this place handled and intreated how men ought to bee conuersant together in all charitie and vprightnesse that although the name of God be profaned in false witnessing the lawe notwithstanding is not superfluous when it is commaunded That we beare no false witnesse against our neighbours Now we haue in this place to declare that God would in this cōmaundement generallie condeme all slaunders all false reportes all defamations and such like things And to shew that this is so it is said expreslie in an other place Thou shalt not walke about with tales against thy neighbour thou shalt not speake euill of him to defame him And if the lawe of God conteine a perfecte rule of well liuing it followeth that this is therein comprised Now where shall wee place it but vnder this sentence Wee must therefore conclude that albeit GOD hath here specified the name of false witnesse that this notwithstanding he woulde extend this doctrine to all slaunders to all false reportes to all by tales whiche tend to the discrediting of our neighbours or to the hurting of them in their good name and estimation Wee see then howe God would here ioyne vs together in loue and friendship in as much as he permitteth not any to bee hurte in his good name no more than in his person or goodes Wherefore he which defameth his neighbours he which slaundereth them in what manner so euer as much as in him lieth maketh as it were warre with God and breaketh the bond of charitie which ought to be betweene men and when wee shall haue well considered all it is certeine that false reportes slaunders backbiting doe more harme oftentimes than doe theftes And so let vs knowe that if wee will obey GOD we must mainteine the honour and credit of our neighbours as much as shall lie in vs For when he hath forbidden vs to hurt his good name he willeth also on the contrarie side that wee mainteine the honour and estimation of all Now it is not sufficientlie mainteined in his estate when we harme it not except we withall procure the good thereof Nowe wee ought to proceede by the degrees which God would here signifie when he speaketh of false witnesse bearing The first is therefore that when wee shall come into iudgement we take heede of hurting those by any false report any lying any forswearing whose honour and good we are bound to procure For he which shall beare false witnesse against his neighbour he slaieth he robbeth him as much as in him is and he doeth all the euill which proceedeth from periurie True it is that oftentimes we shall not thinke hereof but the thing notwithstanding is so And this is the cause why GOD commaunded in his lawe that the witnesses should bee the first which should laye handes to the execution of him which was punished for any euill deede to the end it might be knowen that by their voices and by their tongues they hadde put him to death and that the witnesses should be put in greater feare of speaking otherwise than the truth when euerie one should thinke he hath to render an account vnto God if he shall haue bene a witnesse against any So then when question is of being a witnesse euerie one must deepelie consider of the matter and take diligent heede he enlarge not his conscience but that he speake in pure simplicitie that which he knoweth to bee true before god And here we are to thinke not onely of false witnessinges whiche shal be against the life of a man but of such also which concerne their goodes and estimation So then wee are warned in all respectes to procure the honour and profite of our neighbours when wee are to beare witnesse and yet not so that vnder this shadowe of couering the iniurie of him which hath offended or of preseruing his goodes we lie before god For if the honour of men bee deare vnto vs what ought the honour of God to bee if wee will make comparison When he forbiddeth me to beare false witnesse against my neighbour it is because God will that there bee loue betweene men that none be iniuried either in his good name or in his goodes Now if God haue a regarde and care of vs which are but poore wormes of the earth thinke wee that in the meane time he will forgette him selfe But if by false witnesse I seeke to beare out and bolster him whiche hath done euill if I couer the fault if I dissemble it certeine it is that I blaspheme God as much as in me is And why For I protest that I will speake the trueth and in the meane while I come to lie And is not this to vnhallowe the name of GOD Is not this to deface his glorie So let vs not thinke that God in this place woulde gratifie euill doers to couer the iniquitie and wickednesse of men when he saith Thou shalt not beare false witnesse against thy neighbour but he would brieflie shew vs that wee ought as farre as wee shal be able to procure the credit and mainteine the good name of our neighbours so bee it this may be done in trueth Moreouer let vs note that GOD hath respect here rather to the wicked affections and desires which proceede from rancour and malice than to the deede it selfe as wee shall better perceiue in that which remaineth to bee handled For wee haue alreadie touched that God speaketh not here onely of those false witnessinges whiche are giuen in iudgement when a solemne oth is taken but withall of all slaunders and defamations So in
what sort soeuer I backbite my neighbours this shall alwayes bee accounted for false witnesse before god If I shall goe and blabbe a tale in ones eare to defame my neighbour loe a false witnesse It is true that I haue not bene called before the Iudge I haue not put forth my hand to the booke I haue not vsed any of these ceremonies yet wee see how GOD speaketh hereof and therefore beholde howe wee shal be culpable of so great a fault as I haue saide But nowe if I shall aduertise one vppon no euill will that I beare the man that there is such and such a wickednesse in him shall I for this bee accounted a false witnesse before GOD No. For God hath respect preciselie vnto the enimitie and euill will. If then I hate one and shall vppon this goe about to discredit him by false reportes if for the euill will I beare him I shall seeke to slaunder him loe in what I am condemned for a false witnesse If I bee led with a desire of euill speaking to defame my neighbour if this vice reigne so in mee that I endeuour with all my might to staine his credit beholde I am a false witnesse And loe for what cause it is saide That charitie and loue couereth a multitude of sinnes but hatred discouereth a multitude of faultes See howe Solomon hath briefly touched in this sentence what the roote is of such false witnessings as GOD by the lawe hath forbidden and condemned namelie that wee are led herevnto by hatred And why For if wee loued one an other without all doubt wee would endeuour to liue together in all loue and friendshippe Wee knowe full well that when we speake euill of one to hurt his honest name wee can but kindle a fire of dissention for be for the maintenaunce of his credit must needes bee forced to chafe and fret against vs and then behold all loue and friendshippe is broken So then as long as wee shall haue a care to mainteine charitie wee shall couer as much as wee may the faultes of our neighbour But bee wee at variaunce Our tongues shall forthwith be ouerlauish to speake euill of them with whom wee disagree and as our heartes shal be empoisoned with malice so must it needes haue his vent in the tongue that the euill will wee haue smoking within vs may bee set on light fire abroade Let vs therefore diligentlie note that GOD in this place hath condemned all slaunders whiche proceede from enimitie and euill will. When wee hate one wee could with him hanged and if wee are not able to hurt him neither in his person nor in his goodes by spoiling him of his substaunce yet wee will seeke to shame him with some malicious scoffe or other wee will endeuour by all the meanes we may to defame him Therefore when wee beare such haired against any this is sure an euill roote and it must needes bring foorth like fruite Yee see what the point is wherevnto wee must come if wee will haue the right vnderstanding of this commaundement of god Now withall let vs note by the way that when it is said That charitie couereth the multitude of sinnes that this is not so to bee taken that wee must flatter one an other and by lying nourish the vices which are in vs but this is spoken for this purpose that wee blabbe not foorth the faultes of others as desirous to defame them whereby we might happilie discourage then and bee an occasion peraduenture that they shall abandon all shame and giue them selues ouer to vtter impudencie as wee see many desperate persons doe Let vs note then that the holy Ghost meaneth not to make vs flatterers or mainteiners of the vices whiche are in our neighboures or to make vs liers but he will that wee endeuour with all our might to correct and amende the faultes which are in them and yet so that wee beare charitablie with them without driuing them to despaire when they shall bee spotted with many vices For when a man shall see that one disgraceth and shameth him and that despitefullie he will desperatelie giue him selfe ouer vnto all mischiefe and harden him selfe therein Wee are therefore the cause that those which haue heretofore followed some euill trade of liuing harden them selues therein and in despite of God and man persist in their wickednesse if rudelie and vndiscretelie without any affection of charitie wee reprehend them Wherefore let vs take greate heede that when we reprehend the vices of any we doe it with such mildnesse and gentlenesse that they whiche are reproued may know that for a loue we beare them we would withdraw them from the way of destruction And loe why S. Iames hath applied this place to them which by gentle corrections by sweete and amiable words seeke to drawe and allure their neighbours to god Therefore when I shall see one ledde away vnto witkednesse if I warne him of his faultes and by admonishing of him can winne him into the right way loe saith he howe this sentence shal be accomplished That charitie couereth the multitude of sinnes I graunt that Solomon speaketh hereof vnto an other end but Saint Iames hath not euill applied this doctrine signifying that when wee would couer sinnes it must not bee by closing vp our eyes or by not speaking one word of them Therefore when one shall haue offended GOD by dronkennesse wee must not dissemble the matter altogether to couer it by charitie for this were to practise this doctrine verie ill but we must rather vse gentle and brotherlie correction and withall procure that the vices beeing buried before God they be not called to remembrance before men We must then content our selues to haue put our neighbours in minde of their faultes holding alwayes this measure in our reprehensions that the faultes beeing corrected and amended we defame not if wee may possibly choose them who must haue some shame for their repentaunce but in no wise bee cast into despaire But this doctrine is euill practised For wee see howe wee erre alwayes in both these extremes and that the meane is neuer kept namelie to correct the vices by mildnesse and gentlenesse which wee see in others and to seeke so to hide them as yet to remember the offenders of them howbeit in such sort that it bee not to their reproch and infamie But what We seeke the loue and fauour of men and this wee will winne by flattering of them in their sinnes Wee shall perceiue howe they offend GOD in one thing or other this wee let passe As wee would they should spare vs so we will winke at and beare with the euill wee see in our friendes Yee see then a wicked couerture wherewith Satan blindeth the eyes of wretched sinners And wee are the cause hereof because wee dissemble the faultes which ought to be reproued of vs But yet as if this euill sufficed not the worlde at this day is proceeded so
into an other sense than he had spoken them and so sought to bring him into hatred charging him with so wicked a slaunder as if he had spoken of the materiall temple of Hierusalem when he spake of his owne body which was the true temple in the which dwelt all the fulnesse of the God head for hee was God manifested in the flesh So then we see that the falshoode which God here condemneth is not then only cōmitted when we contriue a lie when we forge that which was neuer said or done when we deuise a tale neuer knowne or heard of before but then also when we shall haue maliciously disguised and altered a matter which might bee well interpreted turning it to an euill sense when it might be well ment and herein we bee false witnesses For example There are some so wayward and ouerthwart that as soone as they perceiue anie thing which displeaseth them albeit it haue no euill at all in it neither against God neither against man yet are they readie to make an accusation thereof and to say O see such a man hath spoken or done such a thing so that a man shall not haue giuen I know not what the smallest blotte that may be but that which was a vertue shal be taken for a vice So then when wee shall haue wrested and depraued for one onely word that which hath bene well said loe we charge a man with euill wee hurt his good name and harme him in his reputation Let vs therfore note that we are false witnesses not only when we forge inuent that which hath neuer bene done or spoken but when by anie subtile cauill by any euill sinister interpretation we shall turne that to euill which might haue bene well taken Now as I haue said this is oftentimes done when men are too reprehensiue ouer captious when they are wayward frowardly bent for then will they turne all to ill It is said That charitie is not suspicious as S. Paule hath spoken hereof and that we must know the euill before we condemne it It is verie true that we may bee often times deceiued in iudging of that which is good and that which is euill but when there shal be such signes and markes that the things shal be so manifest that we may be bolde to say Behold a wicked thing yet if we be ouermuch bent to snatch at it we may offend And aboue al when we haue so malicious a nature as to backbite to slander men for we know not what know we that we are cōdemned as false witnesses before god Now if those which on some occasion giuen haue shewen themselues hardie bold in reprehending are yet to be condemned because they haue proceeded therin ouer rigorously what shall be said of them which of manifest hatred will peruert that which hath bin done or spoken which ought notwithstanding to haue bene well taken wherein there shal be no manifest vice If they will peruert depraue it by their ill wicked handling are they not false witnesses before God So then let vs lerne so to procure the honor profit of our neighbours that alwayes we haue a regard vnto it in our talking Be it then that we reprehend them be it that we speake of their vices to the end they may be punished for them that they which might be seduced led vnto euill by their wicked example be not peruerted let vs neuerthelesse alwayes haue this regard to procure their profite welfare as much in vs lieth And let vs alwayes obserue this measure in reprouing that we defame not men in such sort that they be wholy discoraged to returne to do well For we ought rather to burie their vices asmuch as wee may both before God before men that they may call to minde their dutie not lose all shame to giue ouer themselues inordinately vnto all wickednesse Thus ye see in what sort we ought to procure their good Now if we will as we ought obserue this which is here cōteined we must come to an higher point principle namely to consider why God hath made our tongue for what cause he hath bestowed on vs the gift of speking knowing he hath granted it vs to this end that we might cōmunicate together Now the cōmunication which is betwene mankind what other end ought it to haue than to maintein vs in charitie We must therfore briefly lerne so to bridle our tongues that the vnitie peace which God commandeth that we haue among vs be always kept nourished asmuch as is possible And lo why S. Iames vseth such vehemencie when he mentioneth euill speeches he saith that the tongue which is but a smal portion of the bodie a litle morsell of flesh kindleth notwithstanding such a fire as might burne the greatest thickest forests in the world Let vs therefore returne to this principle namely to know that God hath bestowed on vs a singular benefite in giuing vs the meane to be able to cōmen conferre together Lo the thoughts affections of men are secret hidden the tongue which openeth and displayeth the secrets of the heart Let vs therfore consider diligently how to vse well so great a benefite let vs beware how we defile our tongue with our vices wickednes seeing God hath giuen it to nourish a loue brotherhood among vs let vs take heed we abuse it not to babble prattle of this that so as to turne our speeches to ill purposes to be empoisoned one against another Behold what is the point whervnto we must come Now seeing we haue in generall known how we shal auoid this vice of being false witnesses because this is an hard matter to bridle our tongues let vs trauell herein with so much the greater diligence We see how many ill speches easily escape vs when we haue spoken at rouers without any thinking what we say because we are so accustomed herevnto we thinke it no vice before god But let vs note that the more we are by nature inclined to speake vndiscreetly to reproch and backbite our neighbours the more paines we must bestowe to represse and bridle our tongues For if we be giuen to any sin this inclination and accustoming our selues vnto it shal not serue vs for an excuse before god Nay when we shall haue knowne anie vice to bee in vs wee must bee so farre off from flattering our selues herein that we ought to sigh and say Alas I see this vice reigneth ouer much in mee I must therefore more manfullie warre against it and force my selfe through the grace of my GOD so farre as to represse in me that thing which I see God condemneth And to be the more heedfull in this thing let vs thinke on the manace and threat he gaue against it For when Saint Paule saith That neither fornicatours nor dronkards nor extortioners nor murderers shall inherite
against Sathan But this is not to say that we are exempted and freed from all fault and that we may so plucke out of vs all sinne and ransome our selues so fullie as if it might not staine and spot vs no longer Alas we are farre wide from this For on the one side it is true that we haue great cause to praise God that he bestoweth this grace on vs by his holy spirit to surmount ouercome all wicked affections But in the meane time we ought to bewaile our selues knowing that we are on our part ouerweake and that if he take not pitie on vs forasmuch as we haue within vs an euill and wicked conscience which is to prouoke his vengeaunce against vs we should well deserue to be throwen downe of him into the bottomlesse pit of hell But let vs note how God would here open and discouer the shame and reproche of the Papists and how he would shew that the greatest Clerkes among them are more rude and ignorant than the poore vnbeleeuers which neuer heard one word of the holy scripture And why For let vs consider of that which is conteined in the lawe It is said that the summe of the lawe is That wee loue God with all our heart with all our minde with all our vnderstanding with all the faculties and powers we haue If it were said Thou shalt loue God with all thine heart a man might with some colour conclude that there is no sinne but when the will is certeine and resolute For the heart in the Scripture although it signifie sometime the vnderstanding yet is it taken for the will. Now then one might vse this cauill It is said That we must loue God with all our heart if so be then our will be not contrarie well it is inough we haue quited our selues before god For one might happilie restraine the will from consenting to this wicked affection and so it should seeme that the wicked desires which first incite and stirre vs vp and yet hold vs not captiues be not comprised vnder sinne But God addeth With all thy heart with all thy vnderstanding and thoughtes and with all thy powers Let vs now consider if I conceiue any thing against God if I conceiue any euill lust or desire of fornication or stealing albeit I cleaue not at all vnto it whether one part of my soule vnderstanding bee not alreadie corrupted and whether I loue God with all my heart when one parte of my vnderstanding is bent against him There is no question of the heart but of this apprehension and conceiuing of the minde which is in the soule of man Nowe I shewe well that there is vanitie in this that the feare of God withholdeth me not as it ought It followeth then that I am culpable and condemned because I discharge not my selfe in louing GOD as he hath commaunded me And againe is there not some vertue and power of my soule which applieth not it selfe to thinke on this or that which is contrarie vnto GOD and his iustice So then wee see that euill and wicked thoughtes are condemned and that wee cannot so excuse them but that GOD shall worthilie punish vs for them And let vs knowe that albeit men neuer consent vnto euil to haue their will resolutely bent therevnto yet cease they not to bee accursed before GOD if hee would vse his seueritie against them Now therefore wee haue the true sense and meaning and wee see withall that wee must take diligent heede to this place that we bee not seduced and abused herein And the example of Saint Paule ought to pricke vs forwarde so much the more seeing that he confesseth that hee was ignoraunt of the lawe of GOD vntill our Lord Iesus Christ had enlightened him by his holy spirite to the ende hee might knowe what this worde of concupiscence imported It remaineth that we now applie this which hath bene touched to our vse and profite In the first place therefore let vs learne that to serue God well and as we ought we must not onelie desire to doe well neither is it sufficient that we profit herein and proceede effectually but we must purge our selues of all euill and wicked affections and of all corrupt thoughts in such sort that all our senses vnderstanding tend to this end to giue ouer our selues fullie and wholie vnto God that we may shew wee haue not bene so distracted as to bend on one side or other but that wee bee held vp so streight as to runne without beeing hindered or staied yea to runne in that way whiche God sheweth vs so that there bee in vs nothing but all puritie and when wee shall haue well and throughlie vnderstood this wee shal be aduertised to bee watchfull and to stand on our garde For wee see howe men wander and lead them selues astray And what is the cause hereof Because they reckon as wee say without their host For they expounde the lawe of GOD after their owne fansie and they thinke it sufficient if their will bee not wicked and that they rest not them selues on their euill thoughtes Well God will not impute this vnto vs say they and herevppon they walke on in their wicked concupiscences and they haue an headband whiche they put before their eyes that they might not knowe howe closelie they deceiue them selues Now when men speake thus yet this will not serue them to escape the hande of the heauenlie Iudge Let vs therefore take diligent heede we restraine our selues in our concupiscences For God hath not onelie condemned wicked intentes and purposes but all desires also which prouoke vs to euil and driue vs therevnto Let vs therefore walke in so much the greater feare let euerie one hold him self as it were vnder lock forasmuch as there is no part in vs which is not infected with sinne For let vs examine all the faults of our soule and wee shall finde sinne dispersed ouer all as when a poison hath entred the bodie of a man so that euerie part thereof is infected There is in vs such an vniuersall leprosie as possesseth both the bones and the marrowe the thoughts and the affections and all which is in vs Seeing then it is so that our nature is thus corrupted ought wee not to be so much the more vigilant and watchfull to hold our selues in bridle seing God by the law hath condemned all wicked thoughts which tend to incite vs vnto euill seeing hee hath condemned the smallest motion which flattereth tickleth vs and when we onelie feele our will a little pricked and stirred albeit it be not at all held captiue When we see this I saie haue we not great occasion to awaken vs to walke vnder the hand of God in so much the greater heedefulnesse So then behold how this precept ought to awaken vs when wee are so sleepie and southfull and would so easilie acquite our selues of our duetie towardes god But let vs knowe that no
we might know how we ought to gouerne our selues towards him and then how we are to liue to be conuersant with our neighbours Will a man order his life in all perfection It behoueth first that he giue him selfe to the seruice of God that he knowe what God requireth and approueth and after this we must liue in such vprightnesse and equitie with our neighbours that we sheire hereby that we are the true children of god First therefore we must know how God wil be honoured and worshipped of vs Secondlie we must render to our neighbours that which apperteineth to them obseruing this indifferencie of nature not to do to another which we would not haue done to vs So God hath declared in two tables in what sorte hee will bee serued of vs as wee haue aboue declared that hee proposeth him selfe onelie to be worshipped that men should forge no newe Gods. Againe hee hath declared that he wil not be represented by images normoppets that he is a spirit and will be spirituallie worshipped of vs and not as men shall fansie to reare vp this or that kinde of worship but hee will be serued in spirit Againe he will haue his name sanctified hee will that men exercise them selues in his woorde and aboue all that euerie one withdrawe him selfe from his owne thoughtes and affections that wee rest vs to bee ruled and gouerned onelie by god And this is conteined in the first table of the lawe Touching the second we haue seene howe hee commaundeth vs to obey father and mother howe hee forbiddeth vs murders adulteries theftes euill speakings all wicked lustes and concupiscences Yee see then why GOD hath diuided his lawe into two tables Will we therefore order our life well and as wee ought Let vs first learne to honour GOD and after that to liue with our neighbours in all integritie and vprightnesse For there are some which will absteine from iniuring of others but in the meane while they haue litle regard of GOD and they thinke they are quited absolued if so be none indite them nor complaine of them in this worlde But I pray you what shall this be not to be theeues if wee commit sacrilege Is it not a greater and more enormious crime to rob GOD of his honour than to spoile a man of his goods to cutte his purse or to picke his chest So let vs not thinke wee haue fullie discharged our duetie when men shall sue no processe nor make anie complaint against vs for God must also haue that hee requireth and is due vnto him for wee are bounde to doe him homage all our life time We must therefore bestowe so much the more studie to obserue the first table of the lawe that wee leade not a Philosophicall life as did some of the Painims to liue honestlie and vprightlie with men but let vs haue in greatest price and estimation the honour of GOD and let vs beginne first of all at this point Nowe againe there are some which would seeme verie deuoute towardes GOD as hauing some great zeale to serue and honour him but when they bee conuersant with men they fall to pilling and spoiling and beating of them they are full of crueltie of enuie malice But let vs note that GOD hath not separated the two tables of the lawe hee hath made a distinction of them but hee hath not giuen to some the first table of the lawe and to others the seconde table He hath said Behold my lawe and that which I haue ioyned together must not bee seuered but must remaine vnseparable It is true that you ought to bee warned to followe that charitie which you owe to your neighbours but yet when you haue discharged your dutie in one point you must conforme your selues vnto the other and you must not retchlesly neglect to walke in all equitie and vprightnesse when you shall haue shewed some great deuotion of honouring and seruing of me There are also manie which will serue God but how As there owne blinde deuotion shall teach them as doe the Papists But God meant to bridle vs herein when he gaue vnto vs the first table of his lawe that we might learne to serue him as he commandeth and that we accept of nothing as good which he approueth and liketh not See then wherevnto this apperteineth which is said That God wrote his law in two tables of stone to the end it might remaine and continue For it hath not bene giuen to remaine for a certeine time it is not transitorie I graunt that the ceremonies haue an end as this is a reason why the law is called temporall for as much as this order which had bene established among the auncient people to endure vntill the comming of our Lorde Iesus Christ was then taken away and abolished and the things were perfect so that we are no longer vnder these figures and shadowes of the law which serued for that time But the truth and substance of the law was not to remain for one age but it is a thing which endureth and shall neuer ceasse or haue end Let vs therefore learne that God in such sort published his will when the people came out of the lande of Egypt that he so spake in the mount of Sinai that withall he deliuered vnto vs there an order which we should obserue and so prouidedst that his doctrine should alwayes haue his full force and vigor And for this cause he hath written his lawe in two tables of stone He hath not written it in barke as at that time the maner was or as we might now say in paper or in parchment but he would that it should be engrauen in stone that there might be a memoriall thereof to endure to the end we should be confirmed in this which he hath spoken For he was not contented to haue spoken for one time but hauing engrauen his lawe in stone he would we should haue attentiue eares to receiue it all the time of our life Now withall let vs note that it is true that it serued to no great purpose that the law of God should be ingrauen in stones If this were all what is then further required We must know that the doctrine of God proposed vnto vs is indeed necessarie and profitable for vs but yet that it should serue vs to small purpose except God should adde therevnto a second grace namely that this which hee hath pronounced should be imprinted in our hearts and inwarde partes Therefore as God with his finger that is by his diuine power hath written his law in two stones so must he now by his holie spirite write it in our heartes which are of stone full of hardnesse as the Prophet declareth when hee saith That God shall giue vs heartes of flesh which shall bee loft pliable and apt to be taught and to receiue whatsoeuer he shall commaund vs So then seeing God hath visiblie declared that it is he which must write
the lawe to haue it well knowne and vnderstoode let vs make our request that it will please him by the vertue and power of his holie spirite to write it at this day in vs that wee may holde it within vs and that howe soeuer the diuell labour herein hee may neuer wipe it out of our remembraunce Nowe withall Moses concludeth that the lawe was deliuered vnto him to conserue and to keepe it and to bee also the minister and dispenser of it to the people that he might bee acknowledged of them for a Prophet for otherwise he could not haue executed his office he could not haue edified the Church of GOD except men had knowne that this charge was committed vnto him As at this time if wee were not persuaded that GOD would that his Gospell should be preached by the mouth of men that there should be pastours in the Church to carrie abrode his word which of vs would daine or vouchsafe to heare a minister I am not nor ante creature beside of such dignitie as that I might persuade the worlde to receiue what I say But when I speake here in the name of God that men hearken to his doctrine to rule and order them selues thereto and to doe him homage beholde this is of more force than all the lawes than all the statutes than all the edictes of Kings and Emperours Hath a mortall man done this No. But when we knowe that God would that this policie and rule of order should be in his Church and that men should inuiolablie obserue it that is that there be Pastours which may beare his word abrode which may be expounders of it which may be as his messengers to announce and declare the remission of sinnes in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ which may reprehend which may reproue which may comfort and exhort when I say we vnderstand that God would such a regiment should be in his Church then are we ashamed to resist and withstand him which hath formed and created vs Loe why Moses in this place saith that God deliuered him the lawe It is true that God deliuered it to all the people in generall as we haue said Why then is Moses now the onelie possessor of it It seemeth that God would depriue the whole world of it and that Moses onely were priuileged therein as if the lawe were written for him and all other as it were excluded and shut out from it But this is nothing so And yet albeit the lawe was giuen for the whole people Moses is appointed the garder and protectour of it And this which God hath pronounced of him we must extend further as we see the Prophetes were appointed in the selfe same charge namely that they were as stewardes and dispensers of the treasure of saluation of this couenaunt of God and that this office was giuen vnto them alwayes to declare the will of GOD and to preach it vnto vs in his name And this is the generall rule which Saint Paule hath deliuered That men ought to esteeme vs as the ministers of God and dispensers of the secretes which hee hath sent the world Now when Saint Paule saith That we are disposers of the secretes of GOD he sheweth hereby that it is not ynough that we haue the holie Scripture that euerie one reade it in his house but it is further required that it be preached vnto vs that we reteine among vs this order to be taught by the mouth of men that there be pastours and teachers whose ministerie God vseth to the end that when we shall heare them we may profite more and more in the doctrine of saluation And this is the cause why Saint Paule in an other place saith That the Church is the piller of truth and as it were the safegard and towre thereof The Papists alledge this verie foolishly to yeeld vnto themselues a licentious libertie of making new articles of faith and of establishing lawes after their owne fansie for Saint Paule hath vnderstood the cleane contrarie He saith therfore That the Church is the piller and sure prop of the truth of God because that when GOD published his trueth vnto men by the lawe by the Prophetes and the Apostles hee would that this ministerie shoulde indure and bee perpetuall that is that there shoulde bee some deputed and appointed to this office and charge to expounde his worde to edifie the Churche in this sort Let vs therefore knowe that it is by meanes of the Churche that the trueth remaineth in his perfect and entire estate For when GOD raiseth vp men which are indued with his spirite to confirme vs in the faith to enlighten vs and to shewe vs the right way Loe how the truth of God remaineth vnto the worlde how it is not extinguished howe it perisheth not Let vs then note that Moses meant not here to make himselfe the onelie possessour of the lawe to exclude the people from it and to shut them out of doores but hee speaketh as thus vnto them Welbeloued it is verie true that the lawe is common vnto vs all wee are all the children of God I challenge nothing vnto my selfe aboue you yet for all this if I will discharge my dutie in the office wherein God hath appointed mee I must be a faithfull expositor of the lawe to you I must be the keeper of it that you tread it not vnder foote I must put you in mind of it euerie day that you neuer forget it Seeing then it is so let all them which are here appointed ministers of the worde of God take heede they be prest and readie to serue and minister vnto the ignorant and let all consider that it is not ynough to read the holie Scripture but we must be diligent to profite therein and to come with all humilitie to heare them which are ordeined ministers of the worde to deliuer vnto vs the meaning and vnderstanding thereof Thus ye see whereto this text is to be referred Nowe let vs cast our selues downe before the maiestie of our good God with acknowledgement of our faultes praying him to make vs feele them better than we haue done and to lead vs to such a repentance that we desire onely to serue and please him without seeking after anie thing of our owne And because we are so giuen to the things of this world pray we him the sooner to drawe vs hence and in the meane while to giue vs his grace to order our life to his will and to conforme it to his iustice And for the doing hereof pray we him that his word may beare such rule ouer vs that we be gouerned by it and conforme our whole life thereto vntill that being despoiled of all our carnall affections wee be clothed with his heauenlie glorie when we shall haue neede neither of scripture nor of preaching That it will please him to graunt this grace not onelie to vs but vnto all people and nations of the earth
them downe to the bottomlesse pitte of hell If I pronounce this sentence there is not one may bee able to replie against mee for all are vtterly lost and condemned Beholde the language and speache of the lawe beholde the style which God vseth and now must not all needes tremble hereat It is not then without great cause said That the law fraieth vs and if withall it should please God seuerelie to require of vs that which wee owe him we must all needes perish and be confounded Now in the Gospell there is no such thing for there GOD beareth with vs and not onelie pardoneth vs our faultes but he writeth also his will in our heartes Moreouer albeit wee serue him but by halfes yet hee pardoneth vs our default and as I may saie winketh and closeth his eyes when wee are halting in our duetie And as a father dealeth not ouer streightlie and preciselie with his childe to oppresse him so God in his Gospell vleth a fatherlie gentlenesse towards vs that we should not feare to come vnto him And this is the cause why the Apostle in the epistle to the Hebrewes saith That we are not come to this mount which smoketh that wee are not come to Sinai to see the bruning fire which might astonnish vs to see the lightenings and all those other thinges which were to amaze and confound the people but that we heare a sweete and pleasaunt melodie by the which we are accompanied of the angels of heauen with the soules of the holy Patriarches and of the fathers which liued in the hope of eternall life although they had yet nothing but obscure shadowes that God now coupleth ioyneth vs with them which in olde time haue waited for the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ Seeing it is so we must not drawe backe but euerie one must set himselfe forwarde to come with a bolde courage to heare our GOD forasmuch as hee speaketh so gentlie and louinglie vnto vs and vseth so fatherlie a speache as which serueth not to feare and amaze his children but sweetelie to entise them and to winne their heartes vnto him This difference therefore is worthie to bee noted that in comparison of the lawe the Gospell may seeme sweete and amiable vnto vs But for all this wee must returne to this generall principle namelie that it is much better that the worde of GOD bee preached vnto vs by the mouth of men than if GOD him selfe should thunder from heauen And why For heare wee onely this naturall thunder and behold wee are taken with a great astonishment and yet here is nothing expressed God only maketh a noise with a confused and vnperfect sounde What should bee then when he should speake vnto vs and when he should shewe vs his glorie Wee can not looke on the Sunne which his a corruptible creature and how then shall wee bee able to behold the maiestie of GOD if it were fullie shewed vs and in his perfection And therefore it is said that a mortall creature can not see GOD and liue can not behold his glorie and not bee vtterlie confounded I graunt that GOD appeared vnto Moses and that not in such sort only as to other of the Prophetes as it is said in the booke of Numbers That he gaue him this speciall priuiledge to be seene of him face to face euen plainelie as of his friend that he appeared not vnto him either by dreame or by vision onelie but after such an especiall manner that Moses seemed to bee exempted from the companie of men to bee made more familiar vnto god But what euer bee said hereof yet God manifested him selfe vnto him in portion and measure For if he had shewed him his infinite being Moses must haue needes what grace soeuer he had receiued of the holie spirite bene ouerwhelmed therewith and vtterlie confounded Yea when at one time beeing yet among the liuing GOD shewed him his glorie in more ample and plaine manner than euer hee had done yet sawe he him not but as it were by the backe and hinder partes In this similitude it is declared vnto vs that as in beholding a man in the backe wee haue not the plainest sight of him for the plainest sight of a man and the principall view is in the face so albeit Moses had an especiall familiaritie with GOD yet this notwithstanding in this souereigne and principall vision which was giuen him in the mount then when he was separated from the condition of this mortall and transitorie life when he was as an angel of heauen yet he sawe GOD but in part as when wee see a man by the backe So let vs learne to content our selues when GOD vseth this order towardes vs namelie that his woord bee preached vnto vs by men and let vs so receiue it at their mouth as if wee sawe his maiestie face to face For it is profitable for vs to haue pastours which be appointed for ministers of the word forasmuch as we could but perish and be brought to nothing by the appearaunce of the glorie of God if it should bee manifested vnto vs And to the end that none might take any occasion to complaine as if the woorde of GOD were not sufficientlie approued and that men might not doubt whether they ought to hold them selues vnto it or no in publishing his lawe he shewed himselfe And we haue here the testimonie of the people which say It is the Lorde he hath made vs this day to feele his glorie and greatnesse wee haue seene that it is he which speaketh he hath interposed none to be his spokesman vnto vs but wee haue hearde his voice with our eares This then hath bene done for once Withall let vs take this which is here recited for a testimonie and witnesse that Moses spake not of him selfe that he hath not forged and deuised of his owne braine the doctrine wee hold of him but that he hath bene a faithfull steward of GOD who aduowed and approued him and not onely ratified and confirmed by miracles this whiche Moses taught but in his owne person declared that it was he who was the authour of all this doctrine Nowe forasmuch as by great reason the Gospell should bee as authentike and aswell authorized as the lawe wee haue had also a witnesse from heauen that this is no humane doctrine but that it proceedeth from god And this is that which S. Peter toucheth in his second canonicall Epistle saying That he and his companions heard the voice from heauen by the which the father declared his sonne to be the souereigne maister and doctour of his whole Church Behold my welbeloued sonne heare him Therefore when this voice thundered from heauen GOD declared that wee ought not to take the Gospell for a doctrine bredde and borne here beeneath but that wee should alwayes haue this maiestie before our eyes As at this time if wee will bee true disciples of GOD when wee come vnto the sermon
and title of the seruice of god But shall one finde that God euer sounded one woord or syllable hereof No all this hath bene deuised by men Let vs now consider by this place whether God accepteth such a seruice as good and lawfull nay contrariwise he saith That thou feare the Lord thy God that thou obserue all his commaundements But when men turne themselues aside from such a way and followe their owne fantasies and whatsoeuer shall haue bene forged by men they sufficientlie declare that there is no feare of GOD in them for otherwise they would offer vnto him the sacrifice which he aboue all other preferreth namelie obedience as hereof it is entreated in the first booke of Samuel the fifteenth Chapter That if men hearken not vnto the voyce of God to subiect them selues thereto but contrariwise followe that which shall haue bene inuented in their owne braine or forged and deuised by men it is as idolatrie yea as the sinne of witchcraft which is detestable in the sight of god Behold how theholie Ghost speaketh hereof although mortall men are of a cleane contrarie iudgement Now therefore we see how Moses hath here declared that when we shall vnfeignedlie and in deede feare God we will doe him this honour to be gouerned according vnto his will wee will not graunt men this leaue to leade and conduct vs whither it seemeth them good but when GOD shall speake we will knowe that euerie mouth must be stopped that our eares must be opened to heare and to receiue whatsoeuer he shall say vnto vs But yet it sufficeth not that euerie one for his owne part onelie employ him selfe to serue and honour God but we must procure and endeuour as much as in vs lieth that he be adored and worshipped of the whole world yea we must labour that his seruice may endure and continue after our death that the name of GOD liue not and die with vs when wee shall be taken out of the world but that it remaine and abide vnto all posteritie And loe what is the cause why Moses saith Their children and those which shall issue from their race shall continue to serue God and too bserue his lawe Let vs therefore diligentlie note that Moses in this place not onelie exhorteth euerie one for his owne time to serue and obey GOD by conforming his life vnto the lawe whiche hee hath deliuered but he will that fathers bestowe all their paines to instruct their children that we may leaue such a seede after vs if it be possible as that God be worshipped of our posteritie that his name be alwayes purelie and sincerelie called vpon that by this meane they which shal be descended from our loynes may be blessed and that the couenant of God wherein our saluation is conteined endure for euer and neuer perish albeit we are mertall and of small continuance But we are so farre from discharging our dutie in this doctrine that we may see fathers giue such examples vnto their children that it seemeth they haue conspired to abolish and to take cleane away the feare of God and the whole obseruation of his lawe We ought not therefore to maruell if GOD also withdrawe him selfe from vs and that it seemeth that hee will cut off quite all the benefites and blessinges which hee had bestowed on vs For are we worthie vnto whom he should continue them seeing we are so retchlesse and negligent to procure that his seruice and worship may continue in his entire and perfect estate And yet this should serue vs to so good a purpose as I haue said that it be not spoken in vaine Let vs therefore labour with all our might to teach those which shall come after vs in such sorte that the worship of GOD and his seruice may continue for euer and that men alwayes knowe and acknowledge him for the Father and Sauiour of all the worlde and giue themselues ouer fullie and wholie vnto him Withall Moses hath adioyned that whereof he had before spoken that this is To the end that their dayes may bee prolonged and that GOD may make the people to prosper according to the promise which hee made vnto their fathers that he would geue them a land flowing with milke honie We haue alreadie expounded what Moses hath vnderstood by this worde namelie that God albeit by one word he may constraine vs to serue him notwithstanding vseth towardes vs a most milde and amiable manner to winne vs to himselfe when he promiseth vs a reward when wee shall haue serued him not that our woorkes deserue any thing or that he is any thing at all bound vnto vs But when he gratifieth vs so and is in such wise beneficiall towards vs it is to this end that wee may bee so much the more liuelie touched that we may serue him with a more ardent zeale desire For shall wee not bee ouer wicked and vnthankfull when wee heare that God of his owne good will bindeth him selfe vnto vs and that he will propose vnto vs a reward and recompense shall wee not I say bee ouer wicked and vnthankfull if wee applie not our selues wholie vnto his seruice We are his and whatsoeuer we are able to doe we owe vnto him as our Lord Iesus Christ speaketh plainlie hereof Who are you saith he I demande of you when a man shall haue a seruant yea a slaue whom he shall burden and presse as an oxe or an horse whether if this slaue haue done him any seruice he will rise from the table to serue him when he returneth from his worke No for all that which the bondslaue doth he oweth of dutie to his maister and superiour So you owe all vnto God saith Iesus Christ he oweth you nothing But yet God of his owne free good will bindeth him selfe to promise vs if we serue him we shal be well recompensed and perceiue our labour paine shall not bee lost And for what end and purpose doth he this This is euen by gentlenesse to breake our heart For as I haue alreadie said wee are to to wicked if wee bee not altogether inflamed to serue GOD when wee see that it pleaseth him of his meere goodnesse to propose vnto vs a reward and to promise vs a recompense when wee are in no respect worthie thereof And withall let vs also note that when God shall haue passed a thousand contractes with vs to reward and recompense our woorkes it wanteth so much that wee may say he oweth vs any thing that he might rather accurse and detest vs For who is he among vs which obserueth the lawe as were requisite If wee obserue one article thereof wee faile in an hundred and when we thinke to fulfill that which God hath cōmanded vs in his lawe we falter therein wee traile our legges after vs there is alwayes such great imperfection and weakenesse in vs that wee can neuer runne in such wise as wee ought and
them as it is vpbraided them that by their traditions they had set at naught the statutes and commandements of god So then let vs beware howe wee walke rightlie I meane on the right hande to turne our selues from the way which God hath shewed vs And why Wee turne then on the right hand when wee will bee to wise and to iust and when wee thinke it is good to doe more than wee are commanded But herein wee are the seruantes and ministers of the diuel for GOD disalloweth whatsoeuer wee shall adde vnto his woorde he will no such medlie Now wee decline vnto the left hand when we diminish and take away any thing from the woorde of God namelie when wee thinke wee haue done enough if wee haue discharged halfe our dutie and that for the rest he giueth vs leaue to followe our owne lustes and desires A man that shall not bee subiect to some number of vices will happilie desire to acquite him selfe towardes God so far forth but because he can not restraine him self from some one he would that God should notwithstanding be contented giue him leaue to cōdition with him to say Well if I misse in this thing I will make a recompense in another But take we heed of walking on the left hand that is to say of diminishing anie thing from the word of God for when he hath forbidden men murder he hath forbidden them also to steale to commit adulterie We must therefore without any replie yeelde our obedience vnto him in all things For as we ought not to adde any thing vnto the lawe of God so is it not lawfull to take anie thing from it but we must walke in all the way he sheweth vs And nowe when he saith The way it is to exhort vs to hold our selues therein as we shall see in the end of the booke Behold the way walke ye therein will Moses say as if he said Who soeuer turneth him selfe aside from the doctrine which I set before you he wandereth he runneth but acrosse the fields the further hee runneth on the further he is from the end of his iournie So in this place Walke ye in the way that is to say Wander ye not wilfullie ye wretched ones straie not from the way wherein your God leadeth you ye can not misse of your way by folowing of him but if you giue your selues ouer to go whither your owne head leadeth you God must in the end declare vnto you that you shal be but as straying wandering beastes for that you haue not kept forward your course in the right way And so know ye that the word of God is your way wherein you must walke If this word were well imprinted in our minds we should be held shorter than to runne wandring at rouers and ranging whither soeuer our flitting fansies desires shall carrie vs as we accustomablie vse to do we should I say beheld backe in this way which is prescribed vs for our God sheweth vs continuallie which is the way And yet for all this men enter into their disputes and make long questions what is to bee done and what is not to bee done As if it had not bene saide That GOD neuer openeth his mouth but to shewe vs the right and perfect way and when hee sheweth it vs doe not wee him great wrong and iniurie if we followe him not And doe we not accuse him as if hee had lost all his time and paine he bestoweth to instruct vs Wee see nowe what this worde way importeth namelie that without the woorde of GOD there is nothing but errour and deceite and that men farre abuse them selues when they shall thinke to do well except they leaue themselues to be gouerned by the worde of God which sheweth vs the best and the streightest way And purposelie he saith All the way For hee will not part stakes with men in this place as they desire hee should that is they would alwayes reserue some thing I knowe not what vnto them selues they would serue GOD by peece meale as wee say but beholde GOD on the contrarie side saith I must be obeyed of all throughout all pointes or else I renounce you I will none of you So then will wee approue our life vnto GOD We must not thinke to yeelde him obedience in part onelie but wee must take heede we order our whole life vnto that which hee commaundeth vs in such sort that wee may truelie protest and say That wee haue helde our selues in all the way of the Lorde But here one might make a question whether it be possible that we may walke altogether in the way of God For contrariwise seeing it is so that men doe not the good they desire to doe it shal be much when we shall haue endeuoured to come to the right way and to goe as far forward towardes the end as we may though we come not thereto Saint Paule him selfe complaineth that he could not do that which he had desired for to discharge his duetie towardes god But here is no speaking of such perfection as is required in the law but we must onlie vnderstande that God will haue men employ them selues with all diligence in his seruice and that they inforce them selues thereto that they make their race therein albeit they can not atteine the end thereof Therefore although for all our life time wee go as drailing our legges after vs and that wee come not fullie and perfectlie vnto God yet must we proceede herevnto and goe on forward not in part onlie but in all that which is conteined in the lawe It is true that we can not acquite our selues herein in such sort that there be a full and correspondent agreement betweene the woorde of God and our life but when we shall haue this desire to order our selues vnto God and to conforme our selues vnto his will not in one point or article onelie but in all without exception and when wee shall haue bestowed our whole trauell and industrie herein beholde howe we shall holde vs in all the waye of GOD. For he beareth with vs in such sort that hee accepteth in good part such a desire when he seeth vs to go roundly to worke in his seruice and that we double not with him and that we reserue not to our selues our owne lustes and desires nor yeeld vs the libertie and leaue to fulfil them but that we labour to please and to serue him as much as we may and according vnto the grace which is giuen vs Now withall he also adioyneth That they may prosper and that it may be well both with them and with their children Wherein hee giueth vs to vnderstand that as we haue alreadie touched all the miseries and afflictions which wee endure in this worlde are so manie chastisements and corrections for our sinnes And we cannot say that we are anie other way miserable and vnhappie but by our owne fault True it is