righteousnesse We are easily induced to thinke our selues euery one as Simon Magas some great man There must bee a deiection of this thought an annihilation of our owne worth that we can doe nothing meete for God or worthy his iust acceptance For Serdet in distinctiâ—â—e Iudicis quod fulget in opinione operantis That is often foule in the sentence of the Iudge which shines in the imagination of him that doth it But as Physitians say no man dyes of an ague or without it so seldome any soule dyes of pride or without pride not meerly of pride for though that sicknesse were enough to kill it yet it is euer accompanied with som other disease and vicious wickednes nor without it for it is so inherent vnto mans nature that pride if it doth not prouoke yet at lest holds the dore whiles any iniquitie is doing Hence flow so many errors and factions and singularities For as in the body a raw stomach makes a rhumatick head a rhumatick head a raw stomach So in the soule an indigested conceit of some good thing in vs makes the head rume of some rheumaticke opinion or madde factious singularitie and this petulant rheume in the braine keeps the conscience raw stil that the physicke of repentance or good diet of peaceable obedience cannot helpe it Let vs correct these exorbitant and superfluous conceits which are like proude flesh vpon vs and knowe wee are able to doe nothing of our selues but God is faine to put euen good thoughts in vs. And if wee doe good from him how good soeuer it be as from him yet running through vs it gets some pollution Neither let vs run into the contrary errour as if in a stupid willfullnesse what good soeuer wee did we could not hope that God in Iesus Christ would accept it There is a thresholde of despaire below to stumble at as wel as a post of high presumption to breake our heads at There is a base deiection a sordid humility Barâ—ena the Iesuite told another of his order that when the deuill appeared to him one night out of his profound humility hee rose vp to meete him and prayed him to sitte downe in his chaire for hee was more worthy to sitte there then he This did appeare a strange kind of deiectednes Surely I thinke a man should by Gods word and warrant take comfort in his wel doing and be cheared in the testimonie which a good conscience on good cause beareth to him So Dauid hartned himselfe against all the malicious slanders of his his enemies O Lord thou knowest mine innocence Good workes are the necessary and inseparable effects of a true faith We are by nature all dead in sinne and by sinne concluded vnder death Our Sauiour bore for vs this death and by his passion freed vs from eternal damnation It was not enough to scape hell how shall wee get to heauen Loe we are cloathed with the garment of his righteousnesse hung with the Iewels of his merits So not onely hell is escaped by his sufferings but heauen got by his doings Why should wee then worke what need our gardens stand so full of herbes Good reason Shall God do so much for vs and shall we do nothing for him for our selues If the Lord of a Forrest giues me a Tree it is fit I should be at the cost to cut it downe and bring it home if I will haue it I cannot say that I deserued the tree it was anothers gift but my labours must lead me to enioy that which was freely giuen me Neither can the conscience haue assurance of eternal life so frankly bestowed in Christ without a good conuersation Faith doth iustifie and workes do testifie that we are iustified In a clocke the finger of the dyall makes not the clocke to goe but the clocke it yet the finger without shewes how the clocke goes within Our external obedience is caused by our inward faith but that doth manifest how truly the clocke of our faith goes As a mans corporall actions of sleeping eating digesting walking declare his recouery from sicknesse and present health So his life witnesseth by infallible Symptomes that the disease and death of sinne is mortified in him and that he hath taken certaine hold of eternall life It is meet then that we should doe good workes but all our works are made meete and worthy in him that bought vs. I will conclude then with that Antheme made by a sweet singer in our Israel Pendemus ate credimus in te tendimus ad te non nisi per te Optime Christe AMEN THE GARDEN Or A Contemplation of the HERBES The THIRD SERMON The Song of Salomon Chap. 6. Ver. 2. My Beloued is gone downe into his Garden to the beds of spices to feede in the gardens and to gather Lillies AMB. super LVC. Non Virtus est non posse peccare sed nolle LONDON Printed by George Purslowe for Iohn Budge and are to be solde at his shop at the great South-dore of Pauls and at Brittaines Burse 1616. THE GARDEN OR A Contemplation of the Herbes THE THIRD SERMON HEB. Chap. 6. Vers. 7. For the earth which drinketh in the raine that commeth oft vpon it and bringeth forth Herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receiueth blessing from God THat the Herbes of our graces may be meete for the dresser contentful to GOD who hath planted watred husbanded the Garden of our hearts wee will require in them foure vertues Odour Taste Ornament Medicinall Vertue 1. That they haue a good odour God is delighted with the smell of our graces My Beloued is gone downe into his Garden to the beds of spices to feed in the gardens and to gather Lillies The vertues of Christ are thus principally pleasant and all our herbes onely smell sweetly in his Garden Because of the sauour of thy good ointment thy name is as ointment powred forth therefore doe the Virgins loue thee This sauour is sweetly acceptable in the nostrils of God All thy garments smel of Myrrhe Aloes and Cassia It is his righteousnesse that giues all our herbes a good odour and in him it pleaseth God to iudge our works sweet When Noah had built an Altar and sacrificed burnt offerings on it the Lord smelled a sweet sauour and sayd I will not againe curse the ground any more for mans sake Myrrhe and Prankincense were two of the oblations which the Wise-men offered to CHRIST being an Infant Tres Reges regum Regitria dona tulerunt Myrrham homini vncto auruÌ„ thura dedere Deo Tutriafac itidem dones pia munera Christo Muneribus gratus si cupis esse tuis Pro myrrha lacrymas pro auro cor porrige purum Pro thure ex humili pectore funde preces Three kings to the great King three offerings bring Incense for God Myrrhe for man gold for king Thy Incense be the hands a white soule reares For gold giue a pure hart for
must be Lapathum Patience This Rue is affliction which hath a profitable effect in those that qnietly digest it Of all the herbes in the garden onely Rue is the herbe of grace How much vertue is wrought in the soule by this bitter plant It is held by some a sicknes it is rather Physick a sharpe and short medicine that bringeth with it much and long health This if they wil needs haue it a sicknesse may be compared to the Ague The Ague shakes a man worse then another disease that is mortall At last it giues 〈◊〉 a kinde farewell and sayes I haue purged thy choler and made thee healthfull by consuming and spending out that humor which would haue endangered thy life Affliction in the taste is often more bitter then a iudgement that kills outright but at last it tells the soule I haue purged away thy foulenesse wrought out thy Iustes and left there a sound man So the good Physician procureth to his Patient a gentle Ague that hee may cure him of a more dangerous disease Vt curet spasmum procurat febrim Christ our best Physician deales a little roughly with vs that hee may set vs straight And howsoeuer the Feuer of affliction disquiet vs a while we shall sing in the conclusion with the Psalmist It is good for me that I haue been afflicted that I might learne thy statutes Saepe facit Deus opus quod non est summ vt faciat opus quod est suum GOD by a worke that is none of his effecteth a work in vs that is his He molests vs with some vexations as hee did Iob which is Satans worke immediately not his that thereby hee might bring vs to patience and obedience which is his work immediatly and wholly not Satans So wee are chastned of the Lord that wee might not bee condemned with the world Bees are drown'd in honey but liue in vineger and good men grow the better affected the more they are afflicted The poore man for his ague goes to his garden and plucks vp thyme The remedy for this spirituall seuer is true but sensible pâtience Men should feele Gods strokes and so beare them It is dispraiseable either to be senselesse or fenselesse Not to know wee are stricken or not to take the blowes on the target of Patience Many can lament the effectes but not the cause and sorrow that God grieues them not that they grieue God They are angry with heauen for being angry with them They with heauen for iustice that is angry with them for iniustice But Maereamus quod mereamur paenam Let not the punishment but the cause of it make thy soule sorrowfull Know thou art whipp'd for thy faults and apply to the prints the herbe Patience Hearts-case and spirituall ioy DOth sorrow and anguish cast downe a mans hart and may he complain that his soule is disquieted within him Let him fetch an herbe out of this Garden called Hearts-ease an inward ioy which the holy Ghost worketh in him Though all the dayes of the afflicted be euill yet a merry heart is a continuall feast This is Heauen vpon earth Rom. 14. Peace of conscience and ioy of the holy Ghost His conscience is assured of peace with God of reconciliation in the bloud of IESVS and that his soule is wrapp'd vp in the bundle of life This may be well called Hearts-ease it is a holy a happy herbe to comfort the spirits When worldly ioyes either like Rahels children are not or like Eli's are rebellious there is Hearts-ease in this Garden that shall cheare him against all sorrowes certainty of Gods fauoâ—r Let the world frowne and all things in it runne crosse to the graine of our mindes yet with thee O Lord is mereie and plentifull redemption And if no body els yet God will be stil good to Israel euen to those that are of a pure heart Those which we call penal euils are either past present or to come and they cause in the soule sorrow paine feare Euils past sorrow present paine future feare Here is Hearts-ease for all these Miseries past are solaced because God hath turned them to our good and we are made the better by once being worse Miseries present finde mitigation and the infinite comfort that is with vs within vs sweetens the finite bitternesse that is without vs. Miseries future are to vs contingent they are vncertaine but our strength is certaine God Noui in quem credidi I know whom I haue trusted Heere is aabundant ease to the heart Balsamum or Faith HAth the heart got a greene wound by comitting some offense against God for actuall iniquity makes a gash in the soule The good man runnes for Balsamum and stancheth the bloud Faith in the promises of Iesus Christ. He knowes there is Balme at Gilead and there are Physicians there and therefore the health of his soule may easily be recouered He is sure that if the bloud of Christ bee applyed it will soone stanch the bloud of his conscience and keepe him from bleeding to death and that the wounds of his Sauiour will cure the wounds of his soule And though this virtuall healing herbe be in Gods owne Garden yet he hath a key to open it prayer and a hand to take it out and to lay it on his sores faith This is a soueraigne herbe and indeed so soueraigne that there is no herbe good to vs without it It may bee called Panaces which Physicians say is an herbe for all manner of diseases and is indeede the principall herbe of grace for it adornes the soule with all the merits and righteousnes of IESVS CHRIST Saint Iohns-wort or Charitie DOth the world through sweetnesse of gaine that comes a little too fast vpon a man begin to carry away his heart to couetousnesse Let him look in this Garden for the herbe called Saint-Iohns-wort Charity and brotherly loue It is called S. Iohns herbe not vnproperly for hee spent a whole Epistle in commending to vs this grace and often inculcated Little children loue one another And he further teacheth that this loue must be actuall For he that hath this worlds goods and seeth his brother hath need and shutteth vp his cowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the loue of God in him He hath no such herbe as Saint-Iohns-wort in his garden The good Christian considers that he hath the goods of this world to doe good in this world And that his riches are called Bona Goods Non quod faciant bonum sed vnde faciat bonum not that they make him a good man but giue him meanes to doe good to others He learns a Maxime of Christ from the world which the world teacheth but followeth not that is to make sure as much wealth as he can as if it were madnes to leaue those goodes behind him which he may cary with him This policie we all confesse good but faile in the consecution The world
A DIVINE HERBALL Together with A Forrest of THORNES In FIVE SERMONS 1. The Garden of Graces 2. The prayse of Fertilitie 3. The Contemplation of the Herbes 4. The Forrest of Thornes 5. The end of Thornes By THO. ADAMS ESAY 55. 11. My word sayth the Lord shall not returne to me void but shall prosper in the thing wherto I sent it AVGVST de benedict IACO ESAV Simul pluit Dominus super segetes super spinas sed segeti pluit ad horreum spinis ad ignem tamen vna est pluvia LONDON Printed by George Purslowe for Iohn Budge and are to be solde at his shop at the great South-dore of Pauls and at Brittaines Burse 1616. TO THE RIGHT Honourable WILLIAM Earle of Pembroke Lord Chamberlaine of his Maiesties household and one of his Maiesties most honourable Priuie Councel and Knight of the most noble order of the Garter The most noble embracer and encourager of GOODNESSE Right Honourable I Am bolde to present to your Honour a short contemplation of those Herbes cut in rough pieces which grow really and plentifully in your owne Garden and giue so good nourishment to your vertues delightfull taste to the Church and odoriferous sauour to all that like the Vine in Iothams Parable they cheare the heart of both God man Your Honour I â—now cannot dislike that in sight which you so preserue in sense and for a happy reward doth and shall preserue you You are zealously honour'd of all those that know goodnesse and haue dayly as many prayers as the earth Saints Into this number I haue hopâ—fully presuming thrust myselfe as loth to bee hindmost in that acknowledgement which is so nobly deserued and so ioyfully rendred of al tongues dedicating to your Honour some publicke deuotions that can neuer forget you in my priuate I will not thinke of adding one Herbe to your store I onely desire to remember your Honour what hand planted them what dew waters them what influence conserues and enspheares a sweet prouident ayre about them and when gay weedes that shoote vp like Ionas gourd in a night shall wither in an houre for moriuntur quomodo oriuntur Your Herbe of Grace shall flourish be prays'd both ob eminentiam and permanentiam and at last bee transported into that heauenly Paradise whence it receiues the originary roote and being Your Honour will excuse mee for coupling to a Diuine Herball a Forrest of Thornes by a true obseruation in both materiall and mystical Gardens though a Poet records it Terra salutiferas herbas eadernque nocentes Nutrit et vrticae proxima soepe rosa est Your Honour will loue the light better because the darke night followes so neare it That your Sunne may neuer set your noble Garden neuer wither that your honours may bee still multiplied with our most Royall and Religious King on earth and with the King of Kings in heauen is faithfully prayed for by Your Honours humbly deuoted THO. ADAMS To my worthy friend Tho. Adams on his HERBALL THe Herbes which these dead leaues now bring Thy liuing voice did sweetly sing That thy transported Hearers thought A PARADISE before them brought As if their inward eyes had seene Another EDEN fresh and greene How they will smell or taste thus sent Will be perceiu'd in the euent I stay no censures for my part May they grow greene still in my hart VV. B. R. S. His good-speede to the Herball TRuely thou dost the world disclose which growes Promiscuous here a Thorne there a Rose So shall blacke vices vgly face adde grace Vnto the vertue which shines next in place So when a stinging Thorne shall wound is found An Herbe to heale the Soule and make it sound To the diuine Author of the diuine Herball his true friend dedicateth this small Encomium of that which his pen dispaires to prayse HAd ADAM liu'd till this decayed age And seene an HERBALL so Diuine and Sage He would haue sayd that no succeeding man Might doe for Adam that which Adams can For while he till'd his Garden his darke mind In all that compasse no Herbe-Grace could find This man hath found it and herein is blest Adam was good my Adam's still is best W. R. D. of Physicke To the prayse of the Herball THe Ground Gods Image his word the Raine His Christ the Sunne neuer ecclips'd againe The Cloudes his Ministeriall instruments His Mercy the all-working influence From these a Garden of sweete Herbes doth grow With such a Spring as shall no Autumne know I. STOKES GReat Persons loue a GARDEN for delight To please their nosthrils or content their sight The poore mans state likes it to feast withall Physicians for the vertues medicinall For Odour Ornament and med'cinal worth A sweeter HERBALL neuer yet came forth Cecinit The. Parny A DIVINE HERBALL OR GARDEN Of GRACES HEB. Chap. 6. Vers. 7. 8. For the earth which drinketh in the raine that commeth oft vpon it and bringeth forth herbes meet for them by whom it is dressed receiueth blessing from God But that which beareth thornes and bryars is reiected and is nigh vnto cursing whose end is to be burned I Presume heere is no Atheist to heare and denie The Gospell is the power of God to saluation I hope here is no Libertine if there be let him heare also It is the power of God to confusion It is a double-edged Sword and giues vel vitam vel vindiâ—tam either instruction or destruction It is Fire that doth melt waxe to repentance and harden clay to vengeance It is here a Raine or Deaw falling on the ground of mans heart causing one soyle to bee fertile in good workes another to abound with weedes of impiety For it returneth not backe to him that sent it in vaine That it conuayes grace to vs and returnes our fruitfull gratitude to God is a high and happy mercy That it offers grace to the wicked and by their corrupt natures occasions greater impietie is a heauy but holy iudgement Not to trauell farre for Diuision heere lyes Earth before vs. And as I haue seene in some places of this Iland one hedge parts a fruitfull medow and a barren heath so of this Earth Man the same substance for natures constitution clay of the same heape in the creating hand of the Potter for matter masse and stuffe none made de meliore luto though in respect of Eternities Ordination some vessels of honour of disshonour others here be two kindes a good and a bad soyle the one a Garden the other a desart the former an inclosure of sweet herbes excellent graces the latter a wild and sauage Forrest of Bryars and thornes scratching and wounding offences For the better ground we wil consider 1. The operatiue meanes or working cause of the fertility the raine that commeth often vpon it 2. The thankefull returning of expected fruite it bringeth forth herbes meete for them by whom it is dressed 3. The reward of
way the blow will come nor where it will light Therefore Put on the whole armour of God that yee may bee able to stand against all the wyles of the diuell The loins the brest the head the feete all parts must bee armed The fruite of the Spirit those happy fruits which the Spirit of God worketh in vs and bringeth out of vs is manifold Galat. 5. Loue ioy peace long-suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meeknesse c. The Apostle chargeth vs to bee rich in good workes 1. Tim. 6. And for this cause bowes his knees vnto the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ that according to the riches of his glorie wee might be filled with all the fulnesse of God The reason is giuen by Christ. To whom much is giuen of them shall much be required And it was his commendation of Mary Magdâ—lâ—n that because shee had much forgiuen her therefore she loued much Happie then is that ground which abounds with good herbes the fruits of faith patience content charitie Not our riches but our worâ—s shall follow vs. Goodnesse shall only giue Pulchrum sepulchrum and as we vse to sticke dead bodies with herbes so these herbes our fruitfull good workes shall adorne and beautifie our memorialls when the name of the wicked shall â—ot I know England inueigh the Papists till their galls burst is full of pious and charitable workes It is a Garden full of good herbes Not to vs but to God bee the prayse who hath moued such instruments to workes of his glory Yet Queâ—on fecimus ipsi vix ca nostra voce let â—uery man quiet his owne conscience with the good herbes his owne garden produceth The rich man growes easily richer so the good man easily better It is the custom of most men to be pleased with a very little religion For the world wee are enraged and transported with such a hunger that the graue is sooner satisfied but a very little godlinesse contents vs. But if we would not bee barren nor vnfruitfull in the knowledge of our Lord Iesus Christ we must sayth the Apostle abound with these herbes And then for a proportionate reward An entrance shall be ministred vnto vs abundantly into the euerlasting kingdome of our Sauiour Christ. Blessed is he that brings forth herbes many herbes and lastly such as are 4. Meet for them by whom he is dressed THe word By whom may as well be translated For whom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Two instructions are here necessarily offered vs. 1. By whom this goodnesse comes 2. For whom it must be intended 1. By whom it is dressed GOD is the Husbandman that dresseth this ground and causeth in it Fertillitie It was the Pelagian errour A Deo habemus quâ—d homines sumus a nobis ipsis autem quod iusti sumus We are beholding to God that we are men to our selues that we are good men But the contrary is here euident God doth not onely make the ground but hee makes the ground fruitfull he raines vpon it hee dresseth it hee blesseth it Christ sayd not Sine me parum potestis facere sed sine me nihil Without me ye can doe nothing sayth our Sauiour and to the best men euen the Apostles not a little but nothing If God had onely made thee a man and thou made thy selfe a good man then is thy worke greater then Gods worke For Mel us est iustum esse quam te homâ—nâ—m esse Our meere being is not so happie as our better being No this Text conuinceth that lye For according to that distinction of grace 1. Here is Gratia operans God begins the worke he makes the ground good sanctifies the person 2. Here is Gratia cooperans God that begins performes the worke he raineth vpon he dresseth the heart and so causeth it to produce herbes 3. Here is Gratia saluans whereby hee crowneth our will and worke in the day of our Lord IESVS It receiueth blessing from God So Qui viret in foliis venit a radicibus humor The sappe of grace which appeares greene and flourishing in the branches and fruit comes from the root Now in all this Deus non necessitat sed factlâ—tat God induceth the good to good by alacritie not enforceth against their wills Quoniam probitate coacta Gloria nulla venit For God doth not worke vpon vs as vpon blockes and stones in all and euery respect passiue but conuerts our wils to will our owne conuersion Qui fecit te sine te non iustificabit te sine te Fecit nescâ—entem Iustificat volentem Hee that made thee without thy selfe will not iustifie thee without thy selfe without thy merite indeed not without thine act He created thee when thou knewest it not he doth iustifie thee with the consent of thy owne will Let this consideration lay vs all prostrate before the foot-stoole of God kissing the feete of his mercy who is the Beginner and finisher of our faith Who hath made the ground good and encreased the number of herbes with his holy dewes from heauen dressed it with his graces and promised to reward it with his blessings Thus By whom now For whom Meete for them who dressed it AND is it possible that man should produce herbes meete for the acceptation of God Hath he not pure eyes which see vncleannesse and imperfection in all our workes Is there any man so happy as to bee iustified in his sight No but it pleaseth him to looke vpon our workes in the Crystall glasse Christ and because they are the effects of a true faith in him to esteeme them meete S. Peter sayth This is thanke-worthy if a man for conscience toward God endure griefe suffering wrongfully Doe euen our sufferings then merite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euen this is grace To you it is giuen not only to beleeue in him but euen to suffer for his sake This was none of yours but giuen you And when you haue suffered yet you must truely with Paul reckon that the afflictions of this present world are not worthy of that high inestimable waight of glory There are no workes acceptable Quae praecedunt instificandum sed quae sequuntur iustificatum which goe before Iustification but these that follow it All of vs as Luther was wont to say haue naturally a Pope bred in our bellies a Mountebanke-opinion of our owne worth Narcissus-like wee dote vpon our owne shadowes and thinke our workes acceptable enough to God If wee haue prayed releeued beleeued the history of the Gospell or attentiuely heard the word these are works meete for God The Monke had but one hole in his Cell and though it was in the toppe vpward to heauen yet the Diuell made a shift to creepe in there The Serpent thrusts in his head often in some cracke of our good workes Luther paradoxically 〈◊〉 â—niustitiarum â—ere sola causa 〈◊〉 Almost the only cause of all vnrighteousnesse is a too-well conceited
best monument and that Epitaph shall last as if it were written with a pen of iron and claw of a Diamond which is made vp of vertuous actions Good herbes beautifie more then dead stones Wheresoeuer thou shalt be buried obscurity shall not swallow thee Euery good heart that knew thee is thy Tombe and euery tongue writes happy Epitaphes on thy memoriall Thus height vp your soules with a treasure of good works Let your herbes smel sweetly let them tast chearfully let them adorne beautiously So Gods palate his nosthrils his sight shall be well pleased 4. That they be medicinable and serue not onely as Antidotes to preuent but as medicaments to cure the soules infirmities The poore mans physicke lyes in his Garden the good soule can fetch an herbe from his heart of Gods planting there that can helpe him Plinie writes of a certaine herbe which he calls Thelygonum we in English The grace of God A happy herbe and worthy to stand in the first place as chiefe of the garden For it is the principal and as it were the Genus of al the rest We may say of it as some write of the Carduus benedictus or Holy-thistle that it is herba omnimorbia an herbe of such vertue that it can cure all diseases This may heale a man who is otherwise nullis medicabilis herbis Wretched men that are without this herbe The grace of God in their gardens Hysope and Humilitie IS a man tempted to pride and that is a sawcie sinne euer busie among good workes like a Iudas among the Apostles let him looke into this Garden for Hysop Humility of Spirit Of which herbe it is written Est humilis petraeque suis radicibus haeret Let him be taught by this herbe to annihilate his owne worth and to cleaue to the Rocke whereout he growes and whereof hee is vpholden IESVS CHRIST Or let him produce the Camomill which smels the sweeter the more it is trodden on Humility is a gracious herbe and allayes the wrath of God whereas pride prouokes it It is recorded of an english king Edward the first that being exceeding angry with a seruant of his in the sport of hawking he threatned him sharply The gentleman answered it was well there was a riuer betweene them Hereat the King more incensed spurr'd his horse into the depth of the Riuer not without extreame danger of his life the water being deep and the banks too steep and high for his ascending Yet at last recouering land with his sword drawne he pursues the seruant who rode as fast from him But finding himself too ill-hors'd to out-ride the angry King he reyned lighted and on his knees exposed his neck to the blow of the kings sword The King no sooner saw this but he put vp his sword and would not touch him A dangerous water could not with-hold him from violence yet his seruants submission did soon pacifie him Whiles man flyes stubbornely from God hee that rides vpon the wings of the winde postes after him with the sword of vengeance drawne But when dust and ashes humbles himselfe and stands to his mercie the wrath of God is soone appeased This Camomill or Hysop growes very lowe Humblenesse roots downeward yet no herbe hath so high branches We say that proud men haue high mindes they haue not For their mindes only aspire to some earthly honours which are but low shrubbes indeed The humble man aspires to heauen and to bee great in the eternall Kings fauour and this is the true but good height of minde His desires haue a high ayme though their dwelling bee in the vale of an humble heart There are engines that raise water to fall that it may rise the higher A lowly heart by abasing it selfe in the sight of God and men doth mount al the other graces of the soule as high as heauen and the eye of mercie accepts them Pride is a stinking weede and though it be gay and garish is but like the Horse-flower In the field it is of glorious shew croppe it and you cannot endure the sauour At the best the proud man is but like the bird of Paradise or the Estridge his feathers are more worth then his body Let not thy Garden be without this herbe Humilitie It may be least respected with men and among other herbs ouerlooked but most acceptable to God Respexit humilitatem ancillae suae sings the Virgin MARY He had regard to the lowlinesse of his hand-maiden It shall not want a good remembrance a good recompence For the last the least and the lowest may come to be the first the greatest and the highest This is a necessary herbe Bulapathum The herbe Patience IS a man through multitude of troubles almost wrought to impatience and to repine at the prouidence of GOD that disposeth no more ease Let him fetch an herbe out of the Garden to cure this maladie Bulapathum the herbe Patience The Adamant serues not for all seas but Patience is good for all estates Gods purpose cannot be eluded with impatience and man vnder his hand is like a bird in a nette the more he struggles the faster he is Impatience regards not the highest but secondary causes and so bites the stone in stead of the thrower If our inferiour strike vs we trebble reuenge If an equall we requite it If a superior we repine not or if wee mutter yet not vtter our discontent Thinke whose hand strikes it is Gods Whether by a Pleurisie or a Feuer or a Sword or what euer other instrument The blow was his whatsoeuer vvas the weapon And this wound will not bee cured vnlesse by applying the herbe Patience The good man hath such a hand ouer fortune knowing who guides and disposeth all euents that no miseries though they bee sodaine as well as sharpe can vn-heart him If he must dye he goes breast to breast with vertue If his life must tarry a further succession of miseries hee makes absent ioyes present wants plenitudes aâ—d beguiles calamity as good company does the way by Patience A certaine man drew a bowe at a venture and smote the King of Israel betweene the ioynts of the harnesse The man shot at random or as the Hebrew hath it in his simplicitie but God directed the arrow to strike Ahab So Dauid spake of Shimei Let him alone and let him curse for the Lord hath bidden him It may be that the Lord will looke on mine affliction and that the Lord wil requite good for his cursing this day Consider wee not so much how vniust man is that giueth the wrong as how iust God is that guideth it Non venit sine merito quia Deus est iustus nec erit sine commodo quia Deus est bonus It comes not without our desert for God is iust nor shall be without our profite for God is mercifull God hath an herbe which he often puts into his childrens sallet that is Rue and mans herbe wherewith he eates it
cor All his affections haue a low obiect not out of humilitie but base deiection His hope desire loue ioy are set on these inferiour things and like a Mole he digs still downewards till he come to his Center his owne place Hell Telluris inutile pondus 2 For coldnesse Experience teacheth that the earth is cold coldnes is a natural quality pertinent to it though accidentally there be bred in it fierie vapours The wicked man hath a cold heart frozen vp in the dregs of iniquitie though there be an vnnaturall heat sometimes flaming in him the fire of lust and malice tormenting his bowels but this is no kindly heate to warme his conscience That is deriued from the fire of the Temple that neuer goes out and only giuen by Iesus Christ that baptizeth with the holy Ghost and with fire 3 For foulenesse The squalid earth for we speake not heere of any good ground is called Lutulenta terra miery and noysome yet is it neate and cleane in comparison of a sinne-contaminated soule The body was taken from the earth not the Soule the body shall resolue to the earth not the soule yet the polluted soule is more sordid then either a leprous body or a muddy earth In the eye of GOD there is no beautie so acceptable no foulenesse so detestable as the soules The Doue carried the prayse of beautie from the Peacocke by the Eagles iudgement that though the Peacocke liuing had the fayrer plumes yet dead he hath but a blacke liuer Gods iudgement of all mens fairenesse is by the liuer the cleanesse of the heart in his eye-sight 4 For obscuritie and darkenesse the earth is called a place of blacke darkenesse the land of forgetfulnesse So Iob and Dauid tearme it The wicked Soule is full of darkenesse thicknesse of sight caecitie of vnderstanding not seeing the glorious libertie of the Sonnes of God Our Gospell is hid to those that are lost Whose minds the god of this world hath blinded There is in them Hebetudo mentis which is acutae rationis obtusio carnalis intemperantiae crassis sensibus inducta They are so vtterly ignorant of heauen that as it is in the Prouerbe ne pictum quidem viderunt they haue not seene it so much as in the mappe or picture As to men shut vp in the low cauernes of the earth not so much as the sunne and starres and the lights of heauens lower parts haue appeared Tolerabilior est poena viuere non posse quam nescire Ignorance is a heauier punishment then death sayth the Philosopher Darkenes is their desire because their deeds are euill Perhaps at last after a long dotage on their darke delight earth they come to heare of a better richer countrey and then take onely with them the Lanterne of Nature to find it But so erepto lumine can delabrum querunt Hauing lost the light they grope for the Candlesticke A man that comes into his house at midnight sees nothing amisse in the day-light he finds many things misplac'd Nature is but a darke Lanterne when by it we endeuour to ransacke the conscience Onely the light of grace can demonstrate all the sluttish and incurious misorders in our soules 5 The maine resemblance betweene an euill ground and worse man consists in the ill fruites that they both produce bryers and thornes and such not onely vnhelpefull but hurtfull vices This is the principal analogie which our Apostle intends the pith and marow of this reference But before we come to a particular anatomizing of this Subiect some obseruable doctrines fall profitably to our instruction Obserue therfore 1 The word of God will worke some way It fals not vpon any ground in vaine but will produce herbes or weeds It is such Physicke as will either cure or kill It mollifies one makes another more hard Some hearts it pricks others it terrifies though conuerts not as it made Foelix tremble None euer heard it but they are either better or worse by it We preach Christ crucified vnto the Iewes a stumbling blocke vnto the Gentiles foolishnesse But vnto them which are called both of Iewes and Greeks the power of GOD and the wisedome of God In this Epistle it is called a double-edged sword c. It is either a conuerting or conuincing power sealing receiuers to redemption contemners to reiection The word which I haue preached shall iudge you in the latter day If this doctrine were considerately digested in hearers hearts what a zealous preparation would it worke in their soules It would bring vs to these seats with other minds if we remembred that wee returne not backe to our owne doores the very same wee came out but either somewhat better or much worse Sergius Paulus was turned Elimas obdurated at one Sermon After our Sauiours heauenly Sermon Iohn 6. Some went backe and walked no more with him that Christ bespake his Apostles Will ye also goe away Others stucke more close Lord to whom shall we goe Thou hast the words of eternall life The Prophet Esay speakes fully to this purpose As the raine commeth downe and returneth not backe but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may giue seede to the sower and bread to the eater So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not returne vnto mee voyd but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it The word that we haue preached shall either saue you or iudge you It shall be either a copy of your pardon or a bill of your inditement at the last day Iohn Baptist cals the Gospell a Fan that will distinguish betweene true and false children betweene Wheate and Chaffe It will make knowne the faithfulnesse of those that with honest harts embrace it and scatter hypocrites like chaffe by reason of their insolid leuity Simeon so prophecied to Mary the Virgin of her Son That he should be the fall and the rising the reparation and ruine of many and whiles he is set for a signe Which shall bee spoken against by this meanes the thoughts of many hearts shall be reuealed The word is like fire that hath a double operation vpon the seuerall subiects it works stubble or gold It fires the one and fines the other Some hearts it enflames with zeale to it other it sets on fire to quench impugne persecute it It is to conuersion if beleeued to confusion if despised Lo Christ himselfe preaching some faithfully entertaine others reiect as the Gergesens that had rather haue their hogges saued then their soules 2. That thornes are produced the fault is not in the good Raine but the ill ground What could I sayth God haue done more to my Vineyard I haue done inough to make it beare good grapes Wherefore then or from what cause brings it forth wild grapes The earth desires the influence